182 LITERARY PILGRIMAGES 



limited only by the requirements of safety. Ver- 

 mont whole-heartedness runs through the train 

 chaff, however, and the favorite salutation is 

 " neighbor." To take the trip is like attending a 

 lodge meeting, and long before the final stop you 

 feel a friendly interest in everybody present. If 

 you don't know most of the others by their first 

 names it is because you have not kept your ears 

 open. At this season at least you learn how strong 

 a hold the good old business of sugar making still 

 has on the hearts of the people of the Green Moun- 

 tain State, and the gossip of the groves and farms 

 is yours without the asking. The free, wholesome 

 air of the mountains is in it all, and as you breathe 

 more and more of it you feel that the good old- 

 time New Englander does not need to come back. 

 He is there, up under the purple shadow of Hay- 

 stack, talking maple sugar and drawing its essence 

 of vitality from the white wood of mighty trees 

 that clothe mountain slopes with the kindly peace 

 of their stately groves. 



