LEDGER AND THE ROAN 329 
ature chestnut tree whose little sweet nuts are scat- 
tered so plentifully about the roadsides in the fall? 
And what a pretty custom it is to speak of coins 
of small denomination as "chinkapin change." It 
quite takes the sordidness out of money. The buck- 
eye, too, has over it a glamour of romance, and while 
its large glossy nuts are not to be eaten, it lights up 
the forest in an enchanting manner with its large 
clusters of red, pink, and yellow blossoms that cover 
the tree and open about the time the tulip-tree 
begins to bloom. Throughout the hardwood forests 
of the higher mountains it grows to perfection. 
One never thinks of Ledger without recalling de- 
lightful walks in search of pictures, for there are no 
better fireplaces and looms, nor more picturesque 
little mills and bee-gums any where in the moun- 
tains than in the neighborhood of Ledger. Can one 
ever forget Bear Creek and the friendly people there ! 
— how one would like to speak their names, for the 
names of the people recall cherished memories of the 
mountains, each region having its own names. It 
was up Bear Creek that we found an old lady of 
ninety spinning on her porch, and up Bear Creek we 
learned new patterns on old coverlets, and got many 
a picturesque washing scene and interior where the 
great fireplace was draped with strings of beans or of 
pumpkin, and where we saw big wild grapes strung 
like beads, and hung up to dry. 
Wandering about the country, how many an 
open-air cane-mill we visited where the people were 
grinding out their winter supply of "long sweeten- 
