Up Sterling 



know which of them was better worth my ex 

 penditure of time and strength. On the one 

 side the White Mountains, on the other side 

 the neighboring peaks of the Green Moun 

 tain range nearer at hand all lay spread 

 before me like a gigantic map. The air was 

 clear as a bell. I could see, with my field- 

 glass, to the utmost limit of unobstructed 

 human vision. It was a grand sweep for a 

 lonely, pigmy human being, with the sense of 

 his own littleness and weakness emphasized 

 by aching legs and back. But there I was, 

 and there was the glorious world beneath 

 my feet, and the unsearchable sky above my 

 head. I forgot that I was tired; I forgot 

 that there was a nine-mile homeward tramp 

 awaiting me. For an hour I lay on the peak 

 of Sterling, in exaltation of spirit and body. 

 Then I got up, gave a last look north, east, 

 west, and south, rubbed myself, and walked 

 slowly down the ridge toward the "White 

 Rocks." 



179 



