er pretty brown head,
they sauntered forth.

The sun had gone down, but the western sky was all ablaze with crimson and
orange, which gradually faded into soft purple and deeper blue in the
upper sky. There were mountains all about them, some darkly green with
fir, spruce, and pine, others of brighter and tenderer tints in their
dress of oak, maple, and birch, while here and there arose one bald and
gray, all of solid rock, with now and then a patch of moss clinging to its
time worn sides, but giving variety to the scene and enhancing by contrast
the whole picture.

"Where would you like to go?" Virgie asked, as they passed out of the
little gate into the rough road.

"Wherever you will take me," Mr. Heath replied, as he looked smilingly
down into the beautiful face upraised to his.

"Then I will take you up to the Bare Ledge; the finest view can be
obtained from there," the girl replied as she moved on to hide the blush
which his look had called to her face.

It moved her strangely whenever she met the gaze of the grand man, for
grand her soul told her he was, with that magnificent head, that
intelligent face, and that quiet, yet high-bred dignity of manner which
she had never seen in any other save her father.

"The Bear Ledge?" repeated Mr. Heath. "Why is it called that? Is it
haunted by wild beasts? If it is, I shall certainly object to your going
there."

"Oh, no; it is not that kind of a bear at all," laughed Virgie, the
silver ripple of amusement breaking like music upon the evening air. "It
is called so because it is a mass of rock entirely barren; nothing will
grow upon it; it seems to be the one spot in all this region that is
absolutely desolate, and yet from it you may view a world of beauty."

On they went up the mountain, conversing now upon one topic, now upon
another, yet both conscious of but one prominent fact--that they were
together, and supremely happy in each other's society.

At last, however, their climb was over, and following a rough path that
led along the side of the mountain for some distance, they at length came
out upon a broad ledge or table rock, which was indeed barren to
desolation.

But the vista that opened out before them was beautiful beyond
description.

Mountains everywhere--above, below, and on either hand; but between them
were fertile little valleys, with here and there glittering lakes with
tiny streamlets trickling into them, that seemed like silver brooches an