A DAY IN JUNE 141 



Even here, so far below the crest of Lafay- 

 ette, I am above the world. Yonder is one 

 of my pair of deserted farms. Good hours 

 I have had in them. Beyond is the Chase 

 clearing, and still beyond, over another tract 

 of woods, are the pasture lands along the 

 road to " Mears's." Then comes the line of 

 the Bethlehem road, marked by a house at 

 long intervals — and thankful am I for the 

 length of them. There I see my house ; one 

 of several that I have picked out for pur- 

 chase, at one time and another, but have 

 never come to the point of paying for, still 

 less of occupying. When my friends and 

 I have wandered irresponsibly about this 

 country it has pleased us to be like children, 

 and play the old game of make-believe. 

 Some of the farmers would be astonished to 

 know how many times their houses have been 

 sold over their heads, and they never the 

 wiser. Further away, a little to the right, 

 I see the pretty farms — romantic farms, I 

 mean, attractive to outsiders — of which I 

 have so often taken my share of the croj) 

 from Mount Agassiz, at the base of which 

 they nestle. To the left of all this are the 



