THE SEARCH AND FINDING. 37 



sped on past neat white houses, rising gently, skirt 

 ed by hedgerows of tangled cedars, and presently 

 stopped before a grayish-white farmhouse, where the 

 air was all aflow with the perfume of great purple 

 spikes of lilacs. And thence, though we had risen so 

 little I had scarce noticed a hill, we saw all the spires 

 of the city we had left, two miles away as a bird 

 flies, and they seemed to stand cushioned on a broad 

 bower of leaves ; and to the right of them, where 

 they straggled and faded, there came to the eye a 

 white burst of water which was an arm of the sea ; 

 beyond the harbor and town was a purple hazy 

 range of hills, in the foreground a little declivity, 

 and then a wide plateau of level land, green and 

 lusty, with all the wealth of June sunshine. I had 

 excuse to be fastidious in the matter of landscape, 

 for within three months I had driven on Richmond 

 hill, and had luxuriated in the valley scene from the 

 cote of St. Cloud. But neither one or the other for 

 bade my open and outspoken admiration of the view 

 before me. 



I have a recollection of making my way through 

 the hedging lilacs, and ringing with nervous haste at 

 the door bell ; and as I turned, the view from the step 

 seemed to me even wider and more enchanting than 

 from the carriage. I have a fancy that a middle-aged 

 man, with iron-gray whiskers, answered my summons 



