ce, and the vapors which exhaled from it,
that what at first might seem a plain was one of the mountain lakes,
locked in the frosts of winter. A narrow current rushed impetuously
from its bosom at the open place we mentioned and was to be traced for
miles as it wound its way toward the south through the real valley, by
its borders of hemlock and pine, and by the vapor which arose from its
warmer surface into the chill atmosphere of the hills. The banks of
this lovely basin, at its outlet,[61] or southern end, were steep, but
not high; and in that direction the land continued, far as the eye
could reach, a narrow but graceful valley, along which the settlers
had scattered their humble habitations, with a profusion that bespoke
the quality of the soil, and the comparative facilities of
intercourse.

[Footnote 61: The outlet of this lake is the Susquehanna River.]

Immediately on the bank of the lake and at its foot stood the village
of Templeton.[62] It consisted of some fifty buildings, including
those of every description, chiefly built of wood and which in their
architecture bore no great marks of taste, but which also, by the
unfinished appearance of most of the dwellings, indicated the hasty
manner of their construction. To the eye they presented a variety of
colors. A few were white in both front and rear, but more bore that
expensive color on their fronts only, while their economical but
ambitious owners had covered the remaining sides of the edifices with
a dingy red. One or two were slowly assuming the russet of age; while
the uncovered beams that were to be seen through the broken windows on
their second stories showed that either the taste or the vanity of
their proprietors had led them to undertake a task which they were
unable to accomplish.

[Footnote 62: Templeton is another name for Cooperstown.]

The whole were grouped in a manner that aped the streets of the city,
and were evidently so arranged by the directions of one who looked to
the wants of posterity rather than to the convenience of the present
incumbents. Some three or four of the better sort of buildings, in
addition to the uniformity of their color, were fitted with green
blinds, which, at that season at least, were rather strangely
contrasted to the chill aspect of the lake, the mountains, the
forests, and the wide fields of snow. Before the doors of these
pretentious dwellings were placed a few saplings, either without
branches, or posses