Rock Island Argus., 1896-02-05
CHAPTER XVI.

lOscul.tc valley. having promised MIS-.
Remscn and Dora, however, to join
them i'll the White mountains before the
end Of the season. About the 1st of
July the Rcinsens and tho Van Rawl-
stons went to jefferson, y. T., small
town along the base Of the Pliny range
OF mountains, from which a magnificent
view Of the Presidential range, only ten
miles away, is to be obtained. About
the middle Of the month Mr.. Randolph
determined to visit the same place and
was intensely d;sgustcd on alichting
from the stage, which reaches the
Waumbeck hotel about 8 o'ciCci. at
| night, to be greeted famil;arly By Mr..
Alphonsc Thaurct. 1t was evident that
his rival did not intend to lose any
chance to win the hand of Dora RemseI.
If one has anything Of the artistic il
| his nature, be could scarcely fail to en-
| joy himself at jefferson. Tho town is
| practically Il single road, we'll up the
| sido Of tho mountain range. Thus the
hotels. all look out over q long and beau.
tiful valley. From the piazza OF the
| Waumbcci;, Cr Il clear day, 10 less than
80 mountain Ica.s can bo easily count.
| ed, the G.Ccn mountains over i'll Ver-
mont being visible rs distant line OF
| blue and not in tic total.
OF course the most conspicuous and
| most admired peak is Mount Washing
| ton. One who !i.s not visited the region
l might suppose that he would soon be.
| como sated with the sight Of the salrc
mountains day after day. This is II great
error. All the mountains, and especially
Mount Washington. are ever presenting
new aspects. All changes OF atmosphere
| produce corresponding variations. Tht
shadows CT Passing clouds, the effects at
sunrise or as CGnset, the moonlight, the
partly cloudy weather when tie top oi
the mountain is hidden, the mis;s and
the rain, all offer such totally differeu,
colorins ard picturesque effects that the
artistic eye is never tired.
| Dora was an artist in every fiber OF
her being, as ono would know who lis
tened to her talking TO Mr.. Randolph
| hall an hour aijer lis arrival, as they
sat together OF the piazza. In his de.
| ligh, to be with hex AID to hear her, be
wCuld have forgotten TIE very existence
of nr. Ihaurot were it not that lie sal
near tlicln i'll tie ro:u:;da at the end OF
the plaza, AID so shared the entertain
ment that she offered.
''N ii:.t u pity" she was saying, "that
you did not coIae up yesterday. Yor
have missed the grandest sights thai
mortal ever beheld. suppose on youl
trip up you saw nothing beautiful il
the rainstorm that we had this after.
nUon?"
Nothing whatever" said Mr.. Ran
dolph. However it may have been here
among TIE mountains, the rain did no
make the valleys more attractive. In
deed / thought it simply beastly day. ,
"What mistake that you were moi
here instead of in the horrid cars. Why
tell you that 1 haven't words will
which to describe the magnificent pic
tures that l have enjoyed. Yet an
about to try. You must not lose it all
You know. May tell you about it,"
"Assuredly. shall be delighted"
well, then, to begin. Look out ovel
the valley. What Go you see:''
1.-The moonlight shedding beautiful
i LAY oNCT tEc Ilh ID
| Exactly, saiS Dora, laughing heart
lily. THAT is just the funny mistake
thought you would make. That is not :
lake at all. 1t is mist, or clouds rather
In the morning, if had not told you
you would have been astonished to fine
that your lake is all trees and meadows
To begin, then. About o'clock it be
gan to cloud up. That was very inter
os;ing. Tho sun was shining brightly
fero. hut we could see that 10 was rain
ing hGri over in tho direction of Ian
castor. Slowly it began to come toward
US. Some of the boys made wagers as Il
how soon il would rain here. Then ont
Of the proprietors came cot and sur
prised Us all by saying that it woalt
probably ra:n over Oh the Presidential
range before it did here. This seemed
extraordinary to us. yon know, becaus,
why should it skip right over Us and g
to the big mountains?"
"Well, did it? 1t does seem impossi
blc."
"That is exactly what occurred. Yo,
see, il is like this: Whenever q storm
comes from Lancaster way, the cloud
when they get here are divided by tn
Pliny range and pass on either side
leaving US dry. Then they strike agains
the sides Of the Presidential range an,
roll back into our valley. 1t was curl
Gus sight, assure you, to see the cloud
flying in exactly opposite directions.
"Well, but, after all, there could no
have been any great beauty in the rain
1t must have blotted out all the view.
Eyes, bat think how odd it was t
find all these tremendous peaks sudden
ly gone. Not o mountain in sight il
any direction. But, then, the thunder
Oh, that was grand! The way it roll
about and reverberates gives one a goo
idea Of great battle. There was some
thing afterward that carried out thi
similarity, too. which I wish I coul'
describe. 1t was after the storm ha'
passed and the bright setting sun shon
forth. Try to see the picture. Imagin
yourself sitting just where am now
and looking toward the Presidents
range, the sun setting red behind N
; Mount washin2ton. had shaken th