78 WARWICK WOODLANDS. 



oaths, contrived to make way to the summit faster than either 

 of us crashing through the dense underwood of juniper and 

 sumach, uprooting the oak saplings as he swung from this to 

 that, and spurning down huge stones upon us, as we followed 

 at a cautious distance. When we at last crowned the ridge, we 

 found him, just as Harry had predicted, stretched in a half- 

 recumbent attitude, leaning against a huge gray stone, with his 

 fur cap and double-barrel lying upon the withered leaves beside 

 him, puffing, as Archer told him, to his mighty indignation, 

 like a great grampus in shoal water. 



After a little rest, however, FalstafF revived, though not before 

 he had imbibed about a pint of applejack, an occupation in 

 which he could not persuade either of us, this time, to join him. 

 Descending from our elevated perch, we now got into a deep 

 glen, with a small brooklet winding along the bottom, bordered 

 on either hand by a stripe of marshy bog earth, bearing a low 

 growth of alder bushes, mixed with stunted willows. On the 

 side opposite to that by which we had descended, the hill rose 

 long and lofty, covered with mighty timber-trees standing in 

 open ranks and overshadowing a rugged and unequal surface, 

 covered with whortleberry, wintergreen, and cranberries, the 

 latter growing only along the courses of the little runnels, which 

 channelled the whole slope. Here, stony ledges and gray 

 broken crags peered through the underwood, among the crevices 

 of which the stunted cedars stood thick set, and matted with a 

 thousand creeping vines and brambles ; while there, from some 

 small marshy basin, the giant Rhododendron Maximum rose 

 almost to the height of a timber tree. 



" Here, Tom," said Harry, " keep you along this run you'll 

 have a woodcock every here and there, and look sharp when 

 you hear them fire over the ridge, for they can't shoot to speak 

 of, and the ruffed grouse will cross you know. You, master 

 Frank, stretch your long legs and get three parts of the way 

 up this hill : over the second mound there, do you see that 

 great blue stone with a thunder-splintered tree beside it? just 

 beyond that ! then turn due west, and mark the trending of the 

 valley, keeping a little way ahead of me, which you will find 

 quite easy, for I shall have to beat across you both. Go very 

 slow, Tom now, hurrah !" 



Exhorted thus, I bounded up the hill and soon reached my 

 appointed station ; but not before I heard the cheery voice of 



