le proof of its popularity. That their researches
are really valuable is demonstrated by the fact that Professor Hitchcock
in his geological works quotes them frequently in support of his own
theories.

On the seventeenth of June some twenty members of the Appalachian
Mountain Club gathered at an early hour in the Lowell station at Boston.
The party was unusually small for one of their popular excursions. The
majority were young and strong and looked amply fitted for mountain
climbing. Yet grave men were there whose silver hair told that they had
already climbed life's rounded hill and saw its westering sun; but
elderly people are never old, so long as they remain young in heart and
spirits, and pleasant anticipation beamed from the faces of all as the
train steamed away toward the north, and the two days' outing was fairly
begun.

The morning was cloudy and a possible rain storm threatened the plans
of the Appalachians. But the clerk of the weather-bureau evidently
understood the necessity for favorable conditions and issued them
accordingly. Before we had reached Canaan, N.H., the clouds had broken
away and the afternoon promised to be perfect. We had with us a Harvard
professor, a topographical surveyor, an amateur photographer, a Concord
philosopher and the champion walker of the club. Apropos of some of the
feats of the latter a story was told of the man who walked forty miles
in two hours. This was putting the Appalachians entirely in the shade,
and the story called forth incredulous remarks. Investigation proved,
however, that the Appalachian was not outdone, for the hero of the
canard accomplished his feat only by taking a Champlain steamer at
Burlington, Vt., and walking deck the entire distance to Rouse's Point!

After passing Concord we advanced through wilder regions where the
swiftly changing views of clustering villages and quiet farm-houses
alternated with wooded slopes and glimpses of pond or river forming a
series of charming pictures. Nature was at her best and the picturesque
hills of New Hampshire were beautiful in all their June finery.

At Penacook the granite monument on Dustin Island was pointed out. In
1697 Hannah Dustin, with her six weeks' old babe and its nurse, were
captured by Indians at Haverhill and brought to the wigwam camp on this
island. The babe was killed before her eyes but the mother planned an
escape. Awaking the nurse and a white lad who had been taken prisoner
also, she too