It was one of the finest days of the summer, one of the days when
the season seems to have reached its height and appears to be
standing still, for a moment, in the full enjoyment of its own
beauty. A shower early in the day had washed away the dust, and
every leaf and blossom by the roadside stood up in all the glad
pride of its clean face, and turned its eyes disdainfully upward,
away from the brown earth below. The girls chattered and laughed
while they rode through the town, past the cemetery, where Mrs.
Adams had some difficulty in overcoming Job's desire to turn in,
across the long white bridge over the river, and through the quiet
little village on its eastern bank. Then they turned southward,
where the road lay over the level meadows, now past a great corn-
field, now by the side of a piece of grass land dotted thickly
with large yellow daisies. At their right was the broad blue
river, shining like metal in the sun; before them rose the two
mountains that watch over the old town, one beautiful in its
irregular outlines, the other impressive in its bold dignity. No
one who has lived near these hills can ever forget their spell.
Though long years may have passed before his return, yet his first
glance is always towards the bare, rugged cliffs, the wooded
sides, and the white summit houses of these twin guardians of the
quiet valley town.
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