to Breezy Point House, at its base, where
buck-boards are chartered for the ascent. At first the road leads
through rocky pastures, thence into primeval woods in which the way
becomes more and more precipitous; and as we go up the trees become
dwarfed to bushes, until as one emerges to the open space on the
shoulder of the mountain a most impressive scene breaks upon him. An
immense gulf lies beneath him, while before him towers the lofty summit.

[Illustration: ADAMS AND MADISON, FROM GLEN PATH.]

The morning or evening view from Moosilauke is grand in the extreme. The
valley of the Connecticut for many miles is in view, through which winds
the "long river" like a blue ribbon. Over in Vermont are the Green
Mountains, commanded by Mount Mansfield, while across the State and over
Lake Champlain one catches a glimpse of the distant Adirondacks. In the
south can be seen Ascutney and the mountains and lakes of central New
Hampshire, while a distant peak beyond Monadnock may be Mount Wachuset
in Massachusetts. To the eastward is massed an ocean of mountains, of
which Mounts Washington and Lafayette are monarchs. To the north lies
the Gardner range, and in the valley near at hand the sheltered
community incorporated by the name of Benton and overlooked by Mount
Kinsman.

As the sun sinks below the western mountains, one stands in brilliant
daylight, while the valleys below him are shrouded in the gloom of
night; when the sun has disappeared, darkness has come. One can well
spend a night on the summit if only to behold the glorious sunrise in
the morning. Before the dawn comes, one is on an island in an ocean of
foam. The sun springs gladly from behind the hills on the eastern
horizon, and scatters the early mists as by an enchanter's wand. As a
matter of course there is a Tip Top House on Moosilauke, and a genial
landlord.

[Illustration: CASTELLATER RIDGE OF MOUNT JEFFERSON.]

Owl's Head the traveller passes on the right as he leaves Warren summit.
Between Owl's Head and Moosilauke there is a deep valley through which
winds a road leading from Warren to Benton and Dansville, affording a
lonely but pleasant route through the mountains.

"That road," said Molly, "looks as if it might be haunted by Claude
Duval and his ilk; I suppose there are robbers among the mountains."

[Illustration: RAVINE IN MOUNT ADAMS, FROM RANDOLPH HILL.]

Fritz smiled. "We find them at the hotels now and then, and they wear
diamond studs ge