THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
43 
of the theory, it would at least afford a pleasant 
evening’s entertainment. It was therefore ar¬ 
ranged that, if Mr. Dean would consent, an 
evening should be spent at the cottage in lis¬ 
tening to this recital, and the young friends 
separated to await the event. 
When the appointed evening arrived. Doctor 
Dean gave a cordial welcome to the young 
students, and most cheerfully acceded to their 
request. He* began by saying: 
“ In my early years I spent many hours in 
rambles around the lake and marsh which you 
visited the other day. It has but a small outlet, 
and consequently is in a state of almost tota. 
stagnation during the hotter seasons of the 
year. To make the prospect still more deso¬ 
late and repelling, an extensive marsh and peat¬ 
bog stretches away, filling the whole range of 
vision. The borders of the bog and lake then, 
as now, were fringed with thick clumps of 
alders, white birch, larches, vines, and other 
rank growths of such localities. Reeds and 
spatterdocks abounded everywhere, generally 
fringing some dread shaking bogs, where more 
than one tragedy has occurred which make them 
objects of terror to the juvenile gatherers of the 
