of his wages; a neat, trig damsel tripped by in
cool morning dress; a buxom dame, unmistakeably English, in great round
hat, brim about a foot radius, swept past the humble market stand; a
natty storekeeper came to his door, and looked out for customers; a
servant lass, sent out with a pretty child in a little wagon to purchase
a newspaper, stopped at a milliner's to read some interesting item to
the shop girl; two young officers, in gay new uniforms, sauntered by; a
crippled soldier hobbled along on a crutch, stages rushed down from the
mountains, parties in buggies and on horseback flew past, the dust
thickened, the sun came out clear and burning, the din increased, and I
went down to the little parlor in search of shade and quiet.

At one the stage for the Mountain House started. The passengers had
already waited three hours for the arrival of the down boat, delayed by
the fog. They were consequently in no very cheerful frame of mind, and
grumbled and growled all the way up the mountain. The day was very warm
(94 deg. in the shade), the horses were wearied out by so many journeys up
and down, and the five outside and two inside gentlemen seemed by no
means willing to relieve their aching limbs and panting hearts. When we
reached the steep portion of the ascent, not a single one offered to
walk. I felt ashamed--three were Germans, and four my own countrymen. Of
the inside ladies, one was German, and four were Americans. In vain did
the mountains, with alternate sun and shadow, shining slopes and
passionate thunder clouds, don their loveliest aspect. Though never up
before, the young German lady and one of the New Yorkers _read_ nearly
the whole way to the summit; another lady kept down her veil, and
refused to look out, because it was _so_ sunny; the German youth slept,
and one only of the inside passengers seemed to feel any real interest
in the beautiful and gradual unveiling of the mysteries of these noble
hills. When about half a mile above the toll-gate, the horses stopped
to rest, and I could no longer endure the idea of their straining up the
steep declivity under so heavy a load. I asked a gentleman to open the
door for me, as I would walk a way, and thus relieve the poor animals of
at least one hundred and ten pounds. Walk I did, but not a single
individual followed my example. Heavy drops began to fall, the thunder
muttered, and I reached Rip Van Winkle's fabled retreat barely in time
to escape a wetting. As