FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



eral, " why, I have been taking those for 



gulls." 



"Not at all," said the lady, "they are road- 



runners." 



" But," said Mr. A., still unconvinced, I sup- 

 pose, but still polite, " I understood that road- 

 runners were to be looked for on the dry uplands." 



"Oh, no," insisted the lady, who had no objec- 

 tion to instructing a specialist ; " you '11 always 

 find them, plenty of them, right along the shore." 



And there the lessson ended. 



" Keep your ears open, my son," said a wise man, 

 " and in process of time you may get to know 

 something." 



Inspiration Point, as its name implies (" Per- 

 spiration Point," a profane young fellow called it 

 one day, as he halted near me, puffing for breath 

 and mopping his forehead), is justly renowned 

 for its prospect of the Valley, which here— where 

 in the old days the visitor used first to see it — 

 lies visible in all its loveliness and grandeur almost 

 from end to end. This enchanting prospect I 

 would stop to enjoy, while eating my luncheon, 

 after a visit among the marvelous sugar pines 

 (whose long, outstretched arms seemed always to 

 be blessing the world, as I am sure they blessed 

 me) in the forest a mile or two beyond. 



Sometimes, one day of days in particular, the 

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