ack as a bear. Ben, being elderly, and of very
circumspect habits, was respectfully requested, by Cousin Eustace, to
stay behind with the four little children, in order to keep them out
of mischief. As for black Bruin, who was himself nothing but a child,
the student thought it best to take him along, lest, in his rude play
with the other children, he should trip them up, and send them rolling
and tumbling down the hill. Advising Cowslip, Sweet Fern, Dandelion,
and Squash-Blossom to sit pretty still, in the spot where he left
them, the student, with Primrose and the elder children, began to
ascend, and were soon out of sight among the trees.

[Illustration]

THE CHIMAERA

[Illustration]

BALD SUMMIT

INTRODUCTORY TO THE CHIMAERA

Upward, along the steep and wooded hill-side, went Eustace Bright and
his companions. The trees were not yet in full leaf, but had budded
forth sufficiently to throw an airy shadow, while the sunshine filled
them with green light. There were moss-grown rocks, half hidden among
the old, brown, fallen leaves; there were rotten tree-trunks, lying at
full length where they had long ago fallen; there were decayed boughs,
that had been shaken down by the wintry gales, and were scattered
everywhere about. But still, though these things looked so aged, the
aspect of the wood was that of the newest life; for, whichever way you
turned your eyes, something fresh and green was springing forth, so as
to be ready for the summer.

At last, the young people reached the upper verge of the wood, and
found themselves almost at the summit of the hill. It was not a peak,
nor a great round ball, but a pretty wide plain, or table-land, with
a house and barn upon it, at some distance. That house was the home of
a solitary family; and oftentimes the clouds, whence fell the rain,
and whence the snow-storm drifted down into the valley, hung lower
than this bleak and lonely dwelling-place.

On the highest point of the hill was a heap of stones, in the centre
of which was stuck a long pole, with a little flag fluttering at the
end of it. Eustace led the children thither, and bade them look
around, and see how large a tract of our beautiful world they could
take in at a glance. And their eyes grew wider as they looked.

Monument Mountain, to the southward, was still in the centre of the
scene, but seemed to have sunk and subsided, so that it was now but an
undistinguished member of a large family of hill