The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1884-12-03
MAUD.

w Nh y VIZ HSShVh hiS SNS't WI Assa Aes'S
handsY
MAUD.
We met BY chance, Of course; and
equally, of course, it was a case Of
love at first sight. We had no for
NAL introduction, no odrawing-room
acquaintance. On one of the love-
Hest lakes in the midst of the Ad.
irondack wilderness Maud's beauti.
tul eyes we're first turned upoa me.
1t was two years since Tom Wat
kins and 1, proud Of our four years.
experience and our brand.new
sheepskins, had left Amherst with
mingled feelings of joy and regret.
Tom went Immediately into the Of.
fee Of famous New England morn
ing paper, and made his way stead.
lily up on its editorial corps.
| had gone into partnership with
my father, and worked like a slave
lest he should be ashamed of me;
for l had an immense respect for
him, and | knew he despised lazi-
ness.
Having then worked two years
without Interruption, Tom and /
both felt that we had earned a va.
cation, and, by a little planning,
we managed to set off together in
September of the comparatively
uneventful year eighteen hundred
and eighty.
We both voted for the mountain
instead Of the sea, and for New
York instead of New Hampshire;
so we started out determined to see
all that We could Of the North
woods.
As we had both jogsod on thus
far through life without meeting
any young woman who seemed alb.
sOlutely essential to our happiness,
we could look forward to a complete
rest from the use of the pen. There
would be no love letters to write
every night when tired and dull;
an occasional postal card, whereOr'
we're sctibblcd a few words in pen.
Gil, would satisfy our friends at
home.
Neither did we set out with any
idea of meeting our fate. Wewent
10 enjoy the woods and each other;
we rather Stunned than sought So
ciety, especially that of ladies,
After day on Lake George We
took the eastern route 10 the woods
spendinga night at Elizabethtown.
Thence wo tramped to Keene,-
the clear mountain streams, deep,
cool woods, and grand towering
peaks, more than making up for
the hard roads and thick dust, SO
that, though tired, we were more
than satisfied with our first days
experiences.
As we had resolved to "do" the
mountains, we climbed the cloud.
tleayer, Tahawas; we spent o shiv.
ering night on Whiteface; whence
we watched Lake Placid brighten
under the morning SUM- we picked
a four.lesved clover from John
Browns grave al North Elba; we
started a deer in the Indian pass,
and saw our guide kill it; and, 10
crown all, we came out Of the
woods by way Of the lakes.
Our guide was a wiry little fsl.
low,-too slight to carry a boat, We
thought, until we watched him in
a wrestling-match, when he showed
himself tough as whip.cord, and we
had no fears,
Starting from the lower saranac
on a dull afternoon, a gorgeous
sunset lit up the clouds and lbtps
as wo'rOwod swiftly along; then, as
the rich purple and crimson faded,
the Crescent moon broke through
the clouds, and we had our first ex.
,perience Of "Carries" in this uncer.
tain twilight. 1t was only a short
walk, however, and then we glided
across the black waters Of Round
Lake in an utter silence, save for
the plash Of the oars aud the scream
Of tile loon or nighthawk.
Next day we wound along the
Raqueste,riVer, whose waters were