ocorua far beyond,
piercing the blue vault of heaven.

Sitting on the cheerful piazzas of any of the many hotels, one can
breath the mountain air as freely as if they sat under the tower of
Fabyan's or the French roof of the Twin Mountain House, but much of the
grandeur of course is missed. The mountains do not seem to frown down
upon you; they smile rather, and seem to beckon and wave as if desiring
to gain your closer acquaintance. To know the mountains you must visit
them, press their scarred rocky sides, feel their cool breezes on your
forehead, then you will love them, reverence them. And this privilege is
free to every one. Great railroads penetrate into the very heart of the
hilly region, and the cost of travel is reduced to such a minimum that
the poorest man can once in a while take his family for a pleasant
sojourn among the mountains. One can start from Boston in the morning,
take a dinner at the Pemigewasset House, Plymouth, and at night eat his
supper at Fabyan's. And even a short visit is so refreshing, so
invigorating to mind and body, that it repays when even the sight is not
a novel one.

Glorious, grand, old mountain, lifting thy brow among the eternal snows;
thou needst not the presence of Jove, nor the voice of a Homer to
consecrate thee; and although Greeks and Trojans have never battled at
thy base, still to us art thou dearer than Ida's wooded height where the
gods sat enthroned to witness that divinely-recorded combat. Thy hoary
peaks bear the names of chiefs and heroes who are not myths, and in the
hearts of the people they are an everlasting memory.

[Illustration: WHITE MOUNTAIN NOTCH.]

* * * * *

THE PAST AND FUTURE OF SILVER.

By David M. Balfour.

Silver, next to iron and gold, is the most extensively diffused metal
upon our planet. It is found frequently in a natural state, though
never chemically pure, being invariably mixed with gold or copper,
or sometimes antimony, arsenic, bismuth, quick-silver, or iron. It is
distinguished by its whiteness, its brilliant lustre when polished,
its malleability, and its indifference to atmospheric oxygen. It is
remarkable for its beauty, and is ten times heavier than water. It does
not appear to have been in use before the deluge. Moses does not allude
to it before that event, but mentions only brass and iron; but in
Abraham's time it had become common, and traffic was carried on with it,
and its value