The record-union., 1891-07-04

| the thermometer. The redwoods are
| giants, and tower straight and proudly
far into the blue of heaven. They are in
| their gala attire, and look fresh and
| bright. AT the tip of each branch is a
| growth Of very light, dainty green, as if
some idle painter with an eye to the
| unique, had given each tip pat with his
| brush. There is brook that gurgles by
| banks of ferns higher than ones head:
! there are schools Of minnows that play in
! the deep holes where the sun strikes
| through the jealous, over-hanging bushes
IN shafts of silver, striking through the
smoky, idle waters to their pebbled bed.
Brown. alder leaves, like tiny boats, go
| skimming along with one side twisted
and upturned for sail, as if to invite the
! careSS OF each vagrant breeze.
| A haif-doZen great redwoods have
! grown purposely to accommodate dane
| ing platform, which CLEANS slick and
smooth through its disorderly carpet of
! brown leaves. Benches are ranged
around the edge, and in the cozy arms of
| two towering monarchs is the perch for
| the musicians. On summer evenings
when the moonlight struggles for en-
trance through the dense masses of
green, the little stage is a merry scene of
| dancing and laughter, to say. nothing of
the flirting. On the benches are hewn
initials of the Jacks and Gills, and in one
| little corner the pen-knite Of some artis-
tic Jack has traced heart with an alb
normal arrow piercing its core.
Across the rushing brook comes the
| sweet notes of a violin. ''Sweet." ''yio-
| lin," do [ say? Who can encourage ones
| fancy sufficient to say that amateur vio-
| lin-playing is sweet, or that the instru-
! ment that responds to the bow is vio-
| lin? Nay, tits fiddle" and the tunes
| that 1ioated to the idly listening ears were
enhancing in their very ugliness. Buy
/
| ferred to cold, unSympathetic paper
| They only exist in hearts that viii never
] forget them they are twined among the
! heart-stringS and attuned to ones moods
| until to forget them would be to forget
ones existence. Catalogued in the pages Of
! memory they read: "iSoapsuds Over the
! Backyard Fence" Leather Breeches,"
| Chicken in the Bread Tray" Devils
! Dream" etc. They are susceptible to
| every variation, to every wild Vagary of
! the players brain.
! In this vicinity is a farmhouse, the de-
! light Of summer boarders, where are
| hammoclIS stretched in the shade; there
are graceful cherry trees, all blushing
! with crimson fruit and a-chatter with
| pilfering birds; tall lilies, some red and
| buNOm as a country lass, some waXen
and pale as a maiden dead; there are
| rows Of poppies waist high, vividly red
as Splotches Of gore; a hound sleeps in
! yeranda; he raises one eyelid languidly,
wags his yellow and black ears and per
mits all visitors to walk around him.
Once you gain the nights that stretch
up right steeply from the brook there is a
feast for the eye 1t is so very up and
down, this hill, that it almost hangs over,
and up that incline scrambled those two
picnickers. Why they carried the
basket SO StudiOuSly Y was q mystery, but
clear to the top it went with them. No.
One wanted to lunch at the top of the
hill, but Two had her heart set on eating
on the banks.of a ''purling stream,' and
so down again 1t must be carried in order
to find said purling waters. Nothing else
would suffice.
The panorama is magnificent. On the
opposite side there are abrupt peaks and
deep gorges, and at their base are slopfng
hills, all laid out in precise rows Of trees
and vines. Down through the valley You
trace two streams by the thick growth of
willows and naples that seem to creep
along like great, green, Woolly worm.
The train came Screeching along, and
thinking the guest was on board, and
wishing to be at camp to give him well
come, there was Il start for the bottom Of
the hill. 1t took two long hours to gain
the top and no time to come down. The
saying that there was woman at the
bottom of it'' applies in many cases. but
this time there was man at the bottom
OF IL. Alas, ne came not, and spreading
the contents OF the basket on the dancing
platform the banquet proceeded. The
guest had missed the return train, and
though
Burning June waved his red flag at pitch of
nOOn,'
he took his foot in his hand and
walked. Just as the last of the second
dozen of sandwiches had disappeared, he
arrived aud recounted his woes.
The sun was hot, the way was long, but
he had seen a vision lovely. He was
stepped in the bliss of infatuation. His
heart was his'n no more. He was in love
from his perspiring brow to his dusty
shoes Patiently his hearers sat and
heard her praises sung until it became
unbearable. Is there anything more ex-
asperating, besides beiug courted second
handed, OF course, than to have to listen
to gallant sing of his inamorata?
He dropped into q rustic seat and sim
ultaneously dropped into poetry 1t is
mean of me to tell on him, for men dis
like these little affairs barred to the scru-
tiny of a scOtfing world, but the poem
was such gem, and its musical cadence
yet reverberates in the corners of mem |
Ory's hall. l give it as | remember it:
I,