14000 MILES 



many inquiries were very courteously answered, and one 

 or two hotels within a few miles were mentioned. At 

 this point a young man came forward, commenting on 

 the modesty of the storekeeper, whom he said was the 

 hotel proprietor as well, and advised us to stay where we 

 were sure of good care, as we should be no nearer Wolfe- 

 boro at either of the places suggested. We were directed 

 to a modest house, one-story front, which we had just 

 passed, where the wife of the gentlemanly storekeeper, 

 hotel proprietor and farmer also, we afterward learned, 

 kindly received us and gave us a cosy front room on the 

 first floor. We soon felt we were in a home, as well as a 

 hotel, and we sat on the front doorstep writing letters till 

 dark, then talked of our friends in Hollis. How long ago 

 it all seemed ! And yet we only left there that morning. 



There was not a sound to disturb our slumbers that 

 night, and we awoke fresh for our drive of twenty-five 

 miles to Wolfeboro. It was still hot, but the drive was a 

 striking contrast to that of the day previous. We were 

 approaching the rough country which borders Lake 

 Winnipiseogee, and more than once fancied ourselves 

 among the Berkshire hills. We stopped at a farmhouse 

 for a pitcher of milk, and took a little lunch sitting on a 

 stone wall under a large tree. The good old people 

 begged us to go into the house, but we assured them we 

 preferred the wall, and when we returned the pitcher, 

 they had come to the conclusion that it might be pleasant 

 to eat out of doors once in a while. We knew they had 

 watched us through the curtain cracks in the front room. 



Every mile now, the country was more and more 

 delightful, so wild and hilly. Up and down we went, 



41 



