82 



JOHN BURROUGHS 



GREEK CHURCH AT KADIAK. 



town upon American soil. There is a Greek church near 

 the wharf and its chime of bells was in our ears for hours 

 at a time. The only incongruous thing I saw was a build- 

 ing with a big sign on its ridge board: ' Chicago Store/ 



I went in and asked for 

 some fresh eggs ; they did 

 not have any, but directed 

 me to a cottage near the 

 beach. 



I found here a large 

 Russian woman who had 

 the eggs, for which, after 

 consulting with a younger 

 women, she wanted ' four 

 bits.' The potatoes in 

 her garden had tops a foot high, and her currant bushes 

 were just in bloom. Our stay of five days in this charm- 

 ing place was a dream of rural beauty and repose : warm 

 summer skies above us, green flower-strewn hills and 

 slopes around us, our paths were indeed in green pastures 

 and beside still waters. One enticing path left the old 

 Russian road half a mile north of the village, and led off 

 northwest across little mossy and flowery glens, through 

 spruce groves, over little runs, up a shoulder of the moun- 

 tain, and then down a couple of miles into a broad green 

 silent valley which held a fine trout-brook. The path was 

 probably made by the village anglers. In looking into 

 such a peaceful verdant sweep of country, one almost 

 instinctively looked for the farmhouses or for flocks 

 and herds and other signs of human occupancy; but 

 they were not there. One high mountain that cut into 

 the valley at right angles had a long easy ridge, appar- 

 ently as sharp as the ridge board of a building. I mark- 

 ed it for my own and thought to set my feet upon it, 

 but the way was too beguiling and I never reached it* 



