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, pufifing 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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