122 FOOTING IT IN FRANCONIA 



vacation, unlike theirs, was not an all-sum- 

 mer affair. It was fast running out, and 

 there were stiU many things to be seen and 

 done. Immediately after breakfast, there- 

 fore, with an umbrella and a luncheon, I 

 started for the Notch. I would reverse the 

 usual route, going by way of the railroad 



— reached by a woodland trail above 

 " Chase's " — and returning by the highway. 

 Of itself this is only a forenoon's jaunt, but 

 I meant to piece it out by numerous waits 



— for coolness and listening — and sundry 

 by-excursions, especially by a search for 

 Selkirk's violet and an hour or two on Bald 

 Mountain. If the black flies and the mos- 

 quitoes would let me choose my own gait, 

 I would risk the danger of sunstroke. 



As I come out upon the grassy plain, 

 after the first bit of sharp ascent, a pleasant 

 breeze is stirring, and with the umbrella 

 over my head, and a halt as often as the 

 shade of a tree, the sight of a flower, or the 

 sound of music invites me, I go on with 

 great comfort. Now I am detained by a 

 close bed of dwarf cornel, every face looking 

 straight upward, the waxen white "flowers " 



