64 THE QUEST OF A THRUSH 



for on questioning my host I learned the 

 frequency of that entertainment ; I could 

 no doubt learn to dispense with such little 

 things as window-shades and closed doors. I 

 might, perhaps, reconcile myself to any one 

 of these, but all of them combined was too 

 much for my philosophy. So " in the morn- 

 ing," I said to myself, blinking before an 

 unusually vivid flash, " in the morning I '11 

 go back down the mountain the other way," 

 for I had discovered there was another 

 way. 



But in the morning it poured, and I did 

 not like to ask to be taken back. Two days 

 the downpour kept me prisoner, but the third 

 morning dawned cloudy, but not absolutely 

 raining, and very early, in order to meet the 

 " stage " as it passed the road below, we 

 started down the mountain with the same 

 rickety buggy and inadequate horse. This 

 road was mostly a steep descent of three 

 miles, and again I omit the details. Suffice 

 it to say that I proved myself a tolerable 

 pedestrian before we met the stage, which 

 drew up with the cheerful information that 

 it was full. 



