68 NEW HAMPSHIRE 



chief ; but their voices were much of the time 

 too soft, too iatimate-soimding, too lacking in 

 belligerency. Some of the birds might even have 

 been communing with themselves. Their whole 

 behavior had an air of preternatural gravity and 

 cunning, and their remarks, whatever the pur- 

 port of them, were in the highest degree varied. 

 One fellow was a masterly performer upon the 

 bones (jay scholars will understand what I mean, 

 and I should despair of explaining myseK in a 

 few words to any one else), while another fur- 

 nished me with a genuine surprise by whistling 

 again and agaiu in the manner of a red-tailed 

 hawk. 



Well, the conspirators dispersed, the solitary 

 climber pocketed his curiosity, and in a few 

 minutes longer his feet were at the top. The 

 rocky cone of Lafayette was still densely 

 capped, but under the fringed edges of the 

 cloud there was plenty of snow in sight. All the 

 upper slopes of Kinsman, Cannon, and Lafay- 

 ette were covered with it, except that the de- 

 ciduous trees (broad patches of yellow) stood 

 bare. Apparently the snow had stuck only upon 

 the evergreens, and the effect at this distance 

 was very striking, the white over the green pro- 

 ducing a beautiful gray. I could never have 

 imagined it. The hotel and its cottages, nestled 



