Evening star., 1919-02-16

ALE mile west or where the
ancient River road crosses
Cabin John creek is a road
which beckons toward the
horth and calls out In the sign Ian
Euage Of old roads. Follow me-" The
electric line from the intersection Of
wisconsin avenue and Bradley lane
TO Great Falls crosses this road. and
tt that crossing fs a sign. Morning
eide" 80 far as the Rambler knows.
there is no relationship between the
pleasant sounding compounded word
fArorningside" and the old road which
he now sees In his minds eye, and
hlong which he would lead those
easy-chair pedestrians who have the
goodness. the patience and the leisure
to Great Falls crosses this road. and
pld road Is concerned. Morningside
might Just as well have been called
Eventide, Sunnyside. Shadyside or
Noontide. Dawn or Moonshine cross
ing. Old roads are never consulted
by men who nail UP signboards on
trolley poles.
But this particular road seems to
nave no name. Inc RahDitt hhoShSu
1t q house perched on a hill above 1t
and asked the man who opened the
door: what do you call this roadT'
sWhat. that there roadT" said the
Wan. pointing his finger at It,,
Yea, that road" replied the
at never had any name that / ever
heard Of. It is Just road that leads
from the River road over to Henry
bradley's place"
Further along the way the Rambler
met three men. One of them had an
trmful OF damson suckers plucked
from Q parent tree and which he was
koing to set out on his own place.
These mon confirmed the information
that the road had never been christi
ened by road builders or map-makers
ad Hsnry sna, sradisys s place. sS nat to e aSs
t4rm which was once Henry Bradley's
jace.
Having walked over 1t, the RAM
Her can tell few things about this
yUad, its direction and Its habits.
~ begine st the River road about
two miles southeast Of the village Of
Potomac, etrays north for about
mile, swings northwest and then west
close upon two miles, and comes out
Into the broad. big world again on
the road which leads from Rock
vile TO Great Falls and which has
Rambler can count as the Falls road.
The anonymous road joins the Falls
road opposite Potomac Church.
Nearly all roads that have not been
20 highly improved that people call
them 'boulevards" make an appeal
- thn nav hstt al
made strong appeal. The road is a
rambler itself. 1t makes many turns
~ though In no especial haste to get
anywhere. When depression suits
tts mood 1t digresses. II climbs sew
eral hills and then climbs down again.
It crosses two branches. or the same
branch twice, without the aid of
bridge. 1t has no telegraph or
telephone poles and wires along Its
side. It winds through shadowy
which the shade of night fingers at
noon. Emerson. in one Of his essays.
raid something like that about the
tr trees, but Emerson said 1T we'll
Then. after getting through the dim
pines. II travels over wide fields, and
along this part OF the way one gets
q big picture of the world. 1t was
a glorious winter day and the sun
was shining. The picture was "A gol-
den landscape framed I'm purple haze
ana into the picture the Master OF
mems minds and souls. the Master
Architect and the Master Painted of
uniyerses had sketched hills and
valleys, woods and fields and ravines
down which bright little branches
sang, and by these merry brooks
birches white and naples premature
ly putting forth pink buds grew.
When the Rambler came upon this
road II spoke to him in the language
OF old roads. 1t Is not difficult
language to learn. One Is not under
the need of committing to memory
long lists of regular and irregular
verbs One need not trouble ones
self about the infinitive, the future,
the conditional the present indicative,
the past indefinite, the present and the
Imperfect subJunctive the active and
the passive yoicee and a perplexing
maxe Of rules of grammar. 1t is a
plain and sympathetic language, but
to understand It one must have
proper feeling toward old roads. They
will not talk freely with a man who
looks upon a road only as thing to
be walked on or driven over, or
merely as a means of getting from
one placc to some other place. If
what the old road said to the
Rambler were translated into English
Il would run something like this:
II am lonely old road. Few men
como my way. They shun me be-
cause ! am old and rough and plain.
When they climb my steep hills or
get stuck in my mud. they speak
evil. I have known men TO travel