Where Town and Country Meet 



chattering indignation, but presently re 

 turned and carried away the egg-shell in 

 his mouth. 



Up and forward again. And now began 

 the real labor and difficulty of my enter 

 prise. The ground began to rise abruptly. 

 Ledges confronted me, some of which I 

 had to skirt for a considerable distance be 

 fore I was able to climb them. I soon 

 realized that I was on the steep north 

 eastern flank of Sterling, with a hard 

 climb between me and the ridge that led 

 up to the peak. But there was encourage 

 ment in the thought that I was fairly 

 grappling with the mountain at last, that 

 I had reached it by the air-line route, as I 

 planned, and was adventuring where, per 

 haps, no white man's foot had ever trod 

 before. 



The character of the woods changed, as 

 I progressed, from an admixture of hard 

 and soft wood trees to wholly evergreen. 

 Somber, thick-growing firs, pines, and 

 cedars shut out the light and hemmed me 

 in more and more closely. These were the 

 trees which, as I had noticed from a dis- 

 176 



