70 OLD PLYMOUTH TRAILS 



dual in its characteristics still remains in the 

 State. The very pavements smack of it. Here 

 is an old-time cobblestone, then long, smooth 

 stretches of asphalt. Again, just dirt, and the 

 three meet and mingle in stretches long and 

 short, in whose variations one seeks in vain for 

 a reason. So with sidewalks, brick passes to 

 flagging, to asphalt, to dirt and back again in 

 the distance of half a block. And even the brick 

 changes often and suddenly. Here it lies flat, 

 ten feet along it is on edge, perhaps ten feet 

 further on end. A blind man could know his 

 exact location in any part of the town simply 

 by the sound of his own footfall on the sidewalk 

 surface beneath him. 



So it is with the houses, and I fancy in this 

 lies one great charm- of the town to the city- 

 bored summer visitor. No doubt every old sea 

 dog was his own architect, and the houses show 

 it from main truck to keelson. Yet hardly in a 

 single instance is the result displeasing, within 

 or without, above decks or below. Instead, there 

 is a fine harmony of contrasts that delights while 

 it rests. As for location, it would seem as if 

 each shipmaster, once he had the structure 

 launched, brought her up at full tide and let her 



