rather more iron than the Ute Iron, and Spa rather less. On the whole,
Manitou has the advantage of the most celebrated medicinal springs in
Europe, and has a climate even in midwinter preferable to all of them.

On the edge of the pretty hamlet at Manitou stands a cottage half hidden
like a bird's nest among the trees. I saw only the peaks of gables under
green boughs; and I wondered when I was informed that the lovely spot
had been long untenanted, and wondered still more when I learned that it
was the property of good Grace Greenwood. Will she ever cease wandering,
and return to weave a new chaplet of greenwood leaves gathered beneath
the eaves of her mountain home?

At the top of the village street stands Pike's Peak--at least it seems
to stand there when viewed through the telescopic air. It is in reality
a dozen miles distant; but is easily approached by a winding trail, over
which ladies in the saddle may reach the glorious snow-capped summit and
return to Manitou between breakfast and supper--unless one should prefer
to be rushed up and down over the aerial railway. From the signal
station the view reminds one of a map of the world. It rather dazes than
delights the eye to roam so far, and imagination itself grows weary at
last and is glad to fold its wings.

Manitou's chief attraction lies over the first range of hills--the
veritable Garden of the Gods. You may walk, ride or drive to it; in any
case the surprise begins the moment you reach the ridge's top above
Manitou, and ceases not till the back is turned at the close of the
excursion--nor then either, for the memory of that marvel haunts one
like a feverish dream. Fancy a softly undulating land, delicately wooded
and decked with many an ornamental shrub; a landscape that composes so
well one can scarcely assure himself that the artist or the landscape
gardener has not had a hand in the beautifying of it.

In this lonely, silent land, with cloud shadows floating across it, at
long intervals bird voices or the bleating of distant flocks charm the
listening ear. Out of this wild and beautiful spot spring Cyclopean
rocks, appalling in the splendor of their proportions and the
magnificence of their dyes. Sharp shafts shoot heavenward from breadths
of level sward, and glow like living flames; peaks of various tinges
overlook the tops of other peaks, that, in their turn, lord it among
gigantic bowlders piled upon massive pedestals. It is Ossa upon Pelion,
in l