Evening star., 1921-09-25

four fingers of it. 1t was good to be
alive.
Then. around the bend. We came
upon two young men. grazing by the
wanted a lift. explaining that they had
been working their way through col
lege and were now beating it 200 miles
home-sans baggage, eXchequer or
commissary. They had arisen early be-
cause of insects, rodents and other dis
comforts in their sleeping quarters-a
wheatstack in the adjoining field. They
complained of the poor pasturage this
year-one had accumulated seven blue
berries for breakfast and the other
three. Needing both ballast and COM
pany, they were welcomed in.
Along the road inquiries were made
for a good place to eat, which line of
talk met with their interested APPROX
al. At the crossroads appeared the old
mended, and preparations were made
for an assault in force. Piercing the
outer defenses, we dug in, discovering
in the basement a dining room, clean
and cool.
A Lovely Vision Appears.
Hardly were we seated when a
lovely vision emerged from the pan
try-the wholesomest looking little
waitress who ever waited. In some
trepidation she asked our wants We
FASTENED to explain that while ap-
pearances were against us. we were
tame, kind and gentle, but were vic
tins of famine and wanted every
thing on the bill of fare right away
The good looking youngsters could
hardly keep their blue eyes off the
little girl-neither could the old man
for that. though he regarded her, OF
course, merely as a purveyor of food
A private explanation to the young
lady about our guests got her fn-
terested, and we had a bully break
fast.
AS we were leaving one of the boys
said to the proprietor: What is that
handsome girl doing, stuck here in
this out of the way place? She
Philadelphia, Boston or New York
He replied: Il got her from New
York. Can't get help like that around
here. And you needn't be cutting
your eyes at her. young feller. She's
married and got a daughter seven
the kid? She's pretty little thing
Well, it was about time for us to
be moving on. And we did.
The boys had lot of sleep to make
up, and they took turns at it in
the rear. along with the oil and water
latter in bag for protection from
tar. For miles we bumped along over
an old macadam road. gone bad. One
at time, they slept serenely through
1t all. Any one who can sleep on
the back seat of the Fierce under
such circumstances deserves the
congressional medal of honor On
one bleak hillside the Sparrow
paused abruptly. due to a broken wire
leading from the magnetic. Repairs
were made quickly. When the cradle
stopped rocking the sleeper awoke
and tried to help.
At Kingston inquiries were made
about the road On the west side of
the Hudson. Our informant thought
1t was under repair at places. and
advised the east road. We learned
later it was in excellent shape, re-
turning by that route
Descending the steep hill to the
ferry, collision was narrowly avert
ed The driver of delivery wagon
drawn up at the curb, attempted to
turn left just as We were opposite
Fortunately the old horse was of the
kind that responds to the bit by
merely turning it's head, keeping its
feet still. He got mild crack from
the Sparrow'S right wing. We stop
ped at once. but the driver called
All right, brother, go ahead"
OF course, we reached the slip as
the boat was pulling out. and it was
an hour later when we disembarked ed
at Rhinecliff on the east side. A de-
tour took us up to the state road on
top of the hills, where the going was
perfect.
Some time after midday we passed
q beautiful cherry orchard just as
man emerged with baskets of cher
ries for sale. Laying in half a peck
we prepared for lunch. The first boy
getting taste made a wry face
| they were the tart kind, for cooking
but they soon mastered the taste