Wilkins,’ he said. ‘You were looking at the mountains, I think? Well, I hope we shall be there tonight. The train stops at Reading, and I dare say we shall manage to find our way.’

A few hours later the brakesman brought the train to a standstill at the Reading depôt, and we got out. I noticed that the town, though of course built almost entirely of frame-houses, was larger and busier than any we had passed for the last two days. The depôt was crowded; and as the bell and whistle sounded, I saw that a number of persons were preparing to leave the cars, while an even greater number were waiting to get on board. Besides the passengers, there was a pretty dense crowd of people, some of whom had come to meet or to see off their friends and relatives, while others were mere loafers. Several of our English fellow-passengers got down at Reading, but the confusion was so great that they were lost to my sight almost immediately. Mr. Smith beckoned to me to follow him, and we were soon in the thick of the mass; and the continual ringing of bells, the hubbub of voices, the shrieking of whistles, and the hiss of escaping steam, confused my senses, and I wondered dimly, as I struggled after my employer, where we were going, and how we should be able to find our way through an unknown country. Mr. Smith had put on a wide-brimmed hat, which he had sloped over his eyes, and as all the men wore hats of the same pattern, it was with some difficulty that I distinguished him in the crowd. We got free at last, and he struck down a side street, and made one or two sharp turns to right and left. It was getting dusk, and we seemed to be passing through a shy portion of the town;there were few people about in the ill-lighted streets, and these few were men of the most unprepossessing pattern. Suddenly we stopped before a corner house. A man was standing at the door, apparently on the lookout for some one, and I noticed that he and Smith gave glances one to the other.

‘From New York City, I expect, mister?’

‘From New York.’

‘All right; they’re ready, and you can have ‘em when you choose. I know my orders, you see, and I mean to run this business through.’

‘Very well, Mr. Evans, that is what we want. Our money is good, you know. Bring them round.’

I had stood silent, listening to this dialogue and wondering what it meant. Smith began to walk impatiently up and down the street, and the man was still standing at his door. He had given a whistle, and I saw him looking me over in a leisurely way, as if to make sure of my face for another time. I was thinking what all this could mean when an ugly, slouching lad came up a side passage, leading two raw-boned horses.

‘Get up, Mr. Wilkins, and be quick about it,’ said Smith; ‘we ought to be on our way.’

We rode off together into the gathering darkness and before long I looked back and saw the far plain behind us, with the lights of the town glimmering faintly; and in front rose the mountains. Smith guided his horse on the rough track as surely as if he had been riding along Piccadilly, and I followed him as well as I could. I was weary and exhausted, and scarcely took note of anything; I felt that the track was a gradual ascent, and here and there I saw great boulders by the road. The ride made but little impression on me. I have a faint recollection of passing through a dense black pine forest, where our horses had to pick their way among the rocks, and I remember the peculiar effect of the rarefied air as we kept still mounting higher and higher. I think I must have been half asleep for the latter half of the ride, and it was with a shock that I heard Smith saying —

‘Here we are, Wilkins. This is Blue Rock Park. You will enjoy the view tomorrow.