THE SEARCH AND FINDING. 37 



sped on past neat white houses, rising gently, skirt 

 ed by hedgerows of tangled cedars, and presently 

 stopped before a grayish-white farmhouse, where the 

 air was all aflow with the perfume of great purple 

 spikes of lilacs. And thence, though we had risen so 

 little I had scarce noticed a hill, we saw all the spires 

 of the city we had left, two miles away as a bird 

 flies, and they seemed to stand cushioned on a broad 

 bower of leaves ; and to the right of them, where 

 they straggled and faded, there came to the eye a 

 white burst of water which was an arm of the sea ; 

 beyond the harbor and town was a purple hazy 

 range of hills, in the foreground a little declivity, 

 and then a wide plateau of level land, green and 

 lusty, with all the wealth of June sunshine. I had 

 excuse to be fastidious in the matter of landscape, 

 for within three months I had driven on Richmond 

 hill, and had luxuriated in the valley scene from the 

 cote of St. Cloud. But neither one or the other for- 

 bade my open and outspoken admiration of the view 

 before me. 



I have a recollection of making my way through 

 the hedging lilacs, and ringing with nervous haste at 

 the door bell ; and as I turned, the view from the step 

 seemed to me even wider and more enchanting than 

 from the carriage. I have a fancy that a middle-aged 

 man, with iron-gray whiskers, answered my summons 



