Walter Prichard Eaton

“ The coffee smelled good in the cold air, and Peanut toasted a great piece of Art’s bread, and varied his breakfast by making himself scrambled eggs on toast as a special treat. They broke camp as the sun was rising, and by the time they had climbed into the floor of the ravine the shadow of the Lion’s Head was beginning to climb down the cliffs of Boott Spur, and in Pinkham Notch behind them they could see the billows of white mist tossing and stirring, Lou said exactly as if a giant was sleeping underneath, and tossing his bedclothes. ”

“ Rob went with him, and the two Scouts, forgetting how weary they were, began almost to run up the five hundred feet of the summit cone, without any path, scrambling over the great stones without thought of bruised shins.
When they reached the peak, the clouds were entirely off the range—they had disappeared as if by magic—and the sharp cone of Adams to the northeast, almost two miles away in an air line, was plainly visible. As they stood on the highest rock, a flash of light sprang at them from the other summit.
“Hooray!” Peanut cried, “they’re there! They’re flashing a mirror at us!” ”

“ The path below this point swung over to the side of a rushing brook, and they began to enter a region where the lumbermen had been, stripping the forest down to bare soil and leaving behind dry, ugly slash. The path grew steeper every moment. The brook went down the mountain in a series of cascades, one after the other, and at almost every waterfall the path beside it dropped almost as steeply. In some places there were rough ladders to descend by. At other places you simply had to swing over a root and drop, often landing in soft, wet leaf-mould, and sinking up to the ankles. ”

“ The rest followed, but the first pair slipped away quickly into the cloud, going down the carriage road till the lamp of the coach house was invisible.
The universe was deathly still save for the continual moaning of the wind. There was nothing at all visible, either stars above, or valley lamps below—nothing but a damp, chilly white darkness. Lou was silent, awed. The man set his bugle to his lips, and blew—blew the sweet, sad, solemn notes of taps. ”

“ He and Peanut were both asleep when the rest sat up and rubbed their eyes, and it was not till Rob rattled a pan and Lou began to chop wood that the two boys aroused.
“Because you’re heroes is no reason you should be lazy,” Rob laughed.
Peanut propped himself up on his elbow, and regarded the scene. The sun had not yet risen high enough to look in over the northern shoulders of Lafayette, and it was still dim among the great hemlocks. Some forest birds were singing sweetly, a hermit thrush far off sounding like a fairy clarion. The brook could be heard running close by. ”

“ The camp-fire was built of dead spruce, with some live stumps added, and a kettle of water kept beside it lest a spark ignite the trees close by. Night had come on before supper was ready, and with the coming of night it grew cold, colder than the boys had guessed it could be in July. They put on their sweaters, which, all day, they had been complaining about as extra weight, and they kept close to the fire while Art, with the skill of a juggler, tossed the flapjacks from one side to the other in his fry pan, catching them neatly as they came down. ”

“ The railroad hung dizzily on the side wall, with the rocks apparently tumbling upon it from the left, and it about to tumble down the rocks to the right. It curved eastward a mile or two ahead, and at the bend, facing down the Notch, was the precipitous southern wall of Mount Willard, almost a sheer rock cliff a thousand feet high. As the party walked up the track, the cliff grew nearer and nearer, and as the daylight faded in this deep ravine, it seemed more and more not to be straight up, but to be hanging forward, as if ready to fall on top of them. ”

“ South westward lay the bare stone pyramids of Adams and the two lesser Adamses (Jefferson was hidden) and finally the great bulk of Washington to the left of Clay, lying high above them all, far off against the blue sky. Due west, they looked down into the yawning hole of King’s Ravine. It was a mighty prospect of bare rocks piled more than a mile in air, of great gulfs between them, of far green valleys and far blue hills.
“Oh, I like the mountains!” cried Lou. “I want to come to the mountains every year! I want to stand up under the sky and see off—way off, like this!” ”

“ Rogers said. “But in the Alps, of course, people go roped together, and if one falls, the rest brace and the rope holds him. How would you like to climb that gully if it was all ice and snow instead of rock, and you had to cut steps all the way with an ice ax, for ten thousand feet?”
“Say, there’d have to be a pretty big pile of twenty dollar gold pieces waiting at the top,” answered Peanut.
“Oh, get out,” said Art. “That isn’t what makes folks climb such places. It’s the fun of getting where nobody ever got before—just saying, ‘You old cliff, you can’t stump me!’ isn’t it, Mr. Rogers?” ”

“ The rocks of the path were getting slippery, too. The girl had stumbled once, and strained her ankle. She was paler than ever.
“Oh, why did I wear these high heeled shoes!” she half sobbed.
The words were no sooner out of her mouth (and probably nobody heard them for the shrieking of the wind along the stony ground) , when a terrific gust hit the party in the faces, its force knocking their breath out, the hail-like, freezing cloud stinging their faces, the damp cold of it numbing them. ”

“ Art retorted. “Gee, Peanut, you got your face slapped, all right!”
“Sure I did,” said Peanut. “That’s a mark of affection. I made a hit with her, you see.”
“That’s a rotten joke,” said Art.
“All right. Here’s another. You go off and eat your lunch by yourself, if you don’t like girls. The rest of us’ll have ours with the crowd. We’ll let him, won’t we, fellers?”
Art only grunted, and made no answer to the laughter of the rest.
“All of which goes to show, Art,” remarked Mr. Rogers, who had been listening, “that it’s not safe to generalize about women. ”

“ There was a trail through from North Woodstock over Twin Mountain to the Twin Mountain House, with branches to Thoreau Lake and Carrigain. It was wonderful timber—hemlocks a hundred and fifty feet tall, great, straight, dark spruces like cathedral pillars! I tramped through it once—took three days as I remember. And look at it now!”
“Oh, why do they allow it!” cried Rob. “Why, they haven’t planted a single new tree, or let a single old one stand. They’ve just stripped it.” ”

“ It was half-past five, and getting dusky in the ravine, when suddenly a hermit thrush in the firs right behind the cabin emitted a peal of song, so startling in its nearness and beauty that every one of the six dozers roused with a start.
“Say, that’s some Caruso!” exclaimed Peanut. He rubbed his eyes, and added, “What’s the matter with you, Art? Where’s supper? You’re fired!”
Art laughed, and jumped out of the shelter, giving orders as he went.
“Water, Lou. Rob and Frank, more wood. Peanut, you lazy stiff, get out the bacon and light the lantern. Mr. Rogers, more boughs for the beds.” ”

“ At first everybody was chattering gaily, and Peanut and Art were telling over again all their experiences of the night before. But gradually, as the sun mounted, as the trail grew still steeper and rockier, as their packs and blankets got heavier and hotter, conversation died out. Everybody was panting. Rob, who was pacemaker for the morning, would plod away, and then set his pack down to rest. The others rested when he did, and no oftener. Climbing began to be mechanical. Art consulted his watch and his pedometer.
“That Appalachian guide book isn’t far from right,” he admitted to Mr. Rogers. ”

“ Now they could see below them, far down into the Notch, and across the Notch they could see the steep side of Kinsman going up, and the peak where they had unfurled the flag on the Fourth of July. They began to realize for the first time, too, how difficult it could become in a cloud to keep the path, for where the trail led over bare rocks it was almost indistinguishable under foot, and you had to look ahead to find a pile of stones, or a place where it wound through the mountain cranberries or other Alpine plants, to find it. ”

“ It was eight o’clock the next morning when the five Scouts and Mr. Rogers, tanned and lean, with shoes battered and worn thin by the stony trails, marched up Southmead Main Street from the railroad station, and found the village just as they had left it.
“It’s all here, as if we’d never been away!” said Rob.
“But we are changed,” said Lou. “We’ve got pictures in our heads, and memories, that we didn’t have before. We’ve lifted up our eyes unto the hills!”
“And our feet, too,” said Peanut. “Yes, sir, we are changed. ”

“ The summit of Moosilauke is about a mile long, nearly level, but highest on the north end, where the hotel is. This road ran all the way along the summit, to the southern end, where it vanished around the little south peak. It was a crushed stone road, all right, for there was nothing but stones to make it of. It was just a white ribbon, winding amid the gray boulders and mountain cranberry plants. The man led the way rapidly down it, and the tired boys had all they could do to keep up. Half a mile from the Summit House he stopped, leaped on a boulder beside the road, and pointed back. ”

“ Art, as captain of the minute men, suddenly strode over to her, grabbed Prattie, dragged him away, and put him into line with the other soldiers. Lucy looked indignant, and forgot to wipe her eyes. Art glanced at her triumphantly, and Miss Eldridge cried, “Do that on the night of the play, Arthur! That’s fine—only don’t glare at Lucy.”
This inspiration rather restored Art’s spirits. He had got square with Lucy Parker, anyhow! He and Peanut dressed as quickly as they could, and left the school building, walking home up the village street, where sleigh-bells were jingling. Art grew glum again. ”

“ Peanut got up upon the farther bank, and stood dripping in the path. He was soaked from the waist down. “Ho, what do I care? It’s a warm day,” said he. But he pulled off his boots and emptied the water out of them, and then wrung out his stockings and trousers. The rest didn’t wait. They went laughing down the path, and Peanut had to follow on the run.
When he caught up, everybody was looking very stern. “Now, Peanut, no more nonsense,” Mr. Rogers said. “You’ll keep to the path hereafter. We want no broken bones, nor colds, nor sore feet from spoiled shoes. ”

“ Ernest in the story just stayed down there in his own valley, under the shadow of the mountain, and did his daily work quietly, and loved his neighbors, and preached wise words to them, and made his corner of the world a little better and happier—and suddenly it was he who resembled the Great Stone Face.
“Look out, boys, over the Notch, and see what the Old Man sees. Doesn’t it make all our little human rows and rights and ambitions seem small and petty? The Old Man will still be looking when you and I are dead and forgotten. ”

“ Beyond Monroe, rising a thousand feet higher into the air, at last the great summit cone of Washington was fully revealed, and even as they gazed upon it, a thin streamer of grayish white cloud blew against it out of nothingness, and then shredded out to the southward.
“I don’t like that,” said Rob.
“Hm,” said Mr. Rogers, “if it’s no worse than that we needn’t worry. It’s those two behind I’m thinking about.”
The Scouts moved on, across the col between Franklin and Monroe, with the north wind blowing an increasing gale, and always now on their right the yawning pit of Oakes Gulf. ”

“ In fact, this is the only spot where the human likeness is perfect. At many points along the road the full face view shows only a mass of rocks.”
Lou was still looking at the great stone face gazing solemnly down over the valley.
“It’s like the Sphinx, somehow,” he said. “I’ve always thought of the Sphinx looking forever out over the desert, and this old man of the mountain looks just the same way forever down the Notch. It gives me a funny feeling—I can’t explain it. But somehow it seems as if he ought to be very wise.”
Peanut laughed, but Mr. Rogers didn’t laugh. ”

“ The Scouts got off their boots and rolled up in their blankets, all of them glad of the chance. Lou blew out the lantern, and turned in, also. The wind which rushed steadily overhead, with a moaning sound, did not reach them down here to leeward of the peak, amid the thick spruces. But it was cold, nonetheless. They lay close together, and drew their blankets tight.
“A funny Fourth,” said Peanut sleepily. “Hope we don’t roll off in our sleep. Good-night, everybody.” ”

“ You want a motor to chase ’em in? Get mine out, quick!”
Three minutes later, four motors were brought from the garages, and more than a dozen of the men who were gathered in the road piled into them. Peanut and Art rode in the first car, with two of the watchmen. Art had his hatchet in his hand, and the watchmen had their revolvers ready, too. They went down the road at high speed, the search-lights throwing the road and the bordering trees into brilliant white relief ahead, amid the surrounding gloom. The occupants of the car sat with their eyes glued on the end of the white shaft of light. ”

“ Rob, Art and Peanut were making time down the head wall, but they were also using up shoe leather, for the wall of the Great Gulf is composed of innumerable loose stones, often of a shaly nature, with sharp edges, which turn under the foot. The head wall trail, too, because of its steepness, is not so much used as many others, and at times the Scouts had some difficulty in keeping it. It grew warmer as they descended out of the breeze into the still air of the Gulf, and, as Peanut said, his forehead was starting another brook. ”