CHAPTER XXIV.

WILD WOODS AND MOUNTAIN PASSES.


Oh, give me a home on the mountains high,
Where the wind sweeps wild and free,
Where the pine-tops wave 'gainst a crimson sky,--
Oh, a mountain home for me!

A travelling carriage, drawn by four grey horses, toiled up an ascent
of the mountains some twenty miles back of Catskill. It was a warm day
in September, and though the load which those fine animals drew was by
no means a heavy one, they had been ascending the mountains for more
than two hours, and now their sleek coats were dripping with sweat,
and drops of foam fell like snow-flakes along the dusty road as they
passed upward. This carriage contained Judge Sharp, the two orphans,
and Mrs. Farnham, looking very slender, very fair, but faded, and with
a sort of restless self-complacency in her countenance, which seemed
ever on the alert to make itself recognized by those about her.

The gentleman had been reading, or rather holding a book before his
face, but it would seem rather as an excuse for not keeping up the
incessant talk, for conversation it could not be called, which the
lady had kept in constant flow all the morning, than from any
particular desire to read.