in twenty miles of Philadelphia,
on the Schuylkill. At the pace we had been going it did not seem
reasonable. This must be enchantment, sure enough.

"Look here," I said, "you don't mean that this is Valley Forge where
Washington was quartered."

"Don't know anything about that," he said, still grunting over the
crooked limb, "but I've been quartered here for more 'n sixty years, an'
it's always been the same Valley Forge in my time."

"Is--is this Connecticut?"

"That's what it is."

I breathed easier. If he had said Pennsylvania it would have meant that
we were a hundred and fifty miles from home.

"Do you know of any place called the Glen?"

"Of course; right up ahead a few miles. Where'd you folks come from,
anyway? You don't appear to know much about locations."

I side-stepped, thanking him profusely. We were all right, then, but it
seemed a narrow escape.

At last we entered the Glen and recognized certain landmarks. It was a
somber place now--its aspect weirdly changed since the first days of our
coming. Then it had been a riot of summer-time, the cliffs a mat and
tangle of green that had shut us in. On this dull December evening, with
its vines and shrubs and gaunt trees bare, its pointed cedars and
hemlocks the only green, its dark water swirling under overhanging
rocks, it had become an entrance to Valhalla, the dim abode of the gods.

How friendly Westbury's lights looked when we crossed the bridge by the
mill and turned into the drive, and what gracious comfort there was in
his bright fire and warm, waiting supper. We did not go up the hill that
night. Good Old Beek found rest and food and society in Westbury's big
red barn.

IV

_The difficulty was to get busy_

I have referred more than once, I am sure, to my study behind the
chimney, a tiny place of about seven by nine feet, once, no doubt, the
"parlor bedroom." I selected it chiefly because of its size. I said one
could condense his thoughts so much better in a limited area. I shelved
one side and end of it to the ceiling, put dull-green paper on the
walls, padded its billowy floor with excelsior, put down dull-green
denim as a rug basis, and painted the woodwork to match. Then I set my
work-table in the center, where I could reach almost anything without
getting up; and certainly with its capable fireplace it was as cozy and
inviting a work-room as one would find in a week's travel.

The difficulty was to get busy at the condensing