THE SEARCH AND FINDING. 35 



The natural impression of a stranger would be 

 that the city was situated upon a considerable emi 

 nence, which had required deep boring for the proper 

 adjustment of levels. The impression would be an 

 unjust one ; in all that dreary sink of a station, there 

 is no height involved except the height of corporate 

 niggardliness.* The town is as level as Runnimede. 



A friend called upon me shortly after my arrival, 

 and learning the errand upon which I had been scour 

 ing no inconsiderable tract of country, proposed to 

 me to linger a day more, and take a drive about the 

 suburbs. I willingly complied with his invitation ; 

 though I must confess that my idea of the suburbs, 

 colored as it was by old recollections of college walks 

 over dead stretches of level, in order to find some 

 quiet copse, where I might bandy screams with a 

 bluejay, in rehearsal of some college theme all this, 

 I say, moderated my expectations. 



It seems but yesterday that I drove from among 

 the tasteful houses of the town, which since my boy 



* The mere fact that the roadbed is beneath the general level, is 

 a source of great convenience, but affords no reason for converting 

 the station into a Peking cellar. The purchase of certain adjoining 

 premises, and the transfer to them of offices and refreshment rooms, 

 and the glazing of the roof, would enable the company to pour down 

 a flood of light upon the dreary depot, and give it a height and 

 breadth and airiness, which so rich a corporation fairly owes to the 

 comfort of the public, as well as the reputation of the city. 



