Part 9 (1/1)

But you must have hope, and you --and so, If you work, if you wait, you will find the place Where the four-leaf clovers grow”

CHAPTER xxxI

MOUNTAIN-CLIMBING

Mountain-cli is rare sport And it is sport if only one has the courage to do it We had gone to the top of Vesuvius on the funicular railway; but one ot the volcano in our ading this way and that, slipping, falling, and struggling till at last he reached the summit Then, fifty throats poured forth a lusty cheer to do hi was crumpled and soiled, the veins stood out on his neck, his hair was tousled, his face was red and strea with sweat; yet, for all that, we cheered hied our applause in an honest, si as a heroic figure, but was just an honest e of thewe did just what the world does: we gave the laurel wreath to the e

I think ”Excelsior” is pretty good stuff in the way of depictingchap as he fights his way toward the top He could have stopped down there in the valley, where everything was snug and comfortable, but he chose to cliht of hi There ere, nearly ain the midst of ice and snow in lad in spite of the cold As Virgil says: ”It will be pleasing to res hereafter” I have often noticed that the old soldiers seem to recall the hardest reatest privations more vividly than their every-day experiences

So the irls stands out like a cameo in my retrospective view Sometimes we looked back toward the valley, and it seemed so peaceful and beautiful that it caused the e see, we needed to reinforce one another ords of cheer The steep places seeh at times, and I could hear a stifled sob soe her level and call out to the-place We would often sing a bit in the ed to a laugh I felt that life orth while

As we toiled upward I was ever on the lookout for a patch of sunlight in the ht lure theic that sun-spot always quickened their pace, and they often hailed it with a shout They would even race toward that sunny place, their weariness all gone When a bird sang ays stopped to listen; and the song acted upon the soldiers On the next stage of the journey their eyes sparkled, and their step was more elastic When one stumbled and fell, we helped hi the fall Soed and would want to drop out of the coather about hiood it was to have him with us, how he helped us on, and how sorry we should be to have him absent e reached the top When he decided to keep on with us, we gave aon our upay

We constantly vied with one another in discovering chaste bits of scenery along the way, and ere ever too generous to withhold praise or to appropriate to ourselves the credit that belonged to another If one found the nest of a bird hidden away in the foliage, we all stopped in ad out from beneath the rocks, we all refreshed ourselves with the limpid water and poured out our thanks to the discoverer When a rare floas found, we took time to examine it minutely till we all felt joy in the flower and in the finder To us nothing was ever sible that any one of our co we all joined in heartily as if we had been waiting for that one to lead us in the singing Thus each one, according to his gifts and inclinations, became a leader on one or another of the enterprises connected with our journey

So, in ti tree caive its kindly shade for our coift to us to give us new courage; that the flower ht time and place to shed its way to our feet to quench our thirst, and to share with us its coolness; that the ave us a special invitation to enjoy its hospitality; that the cloud had heard our wishes and came to shi+eld us fro the thickets to guide us on our way Because inning, all nature see us on as the people cheered the ether in eloquent silence We had toiled, and struggled, and suffered together, and so had learned to think and feel in unison Our spirits had become fused in a common purpose, and we could sit in silence and not be abashed We had becos, honest with one another, and honest with ourselves, and so could smile at mere conventions and find joy in one another without words We had encountered honest difficulties--rocks, trees, streales, sand, and sun, and had overcome them by honest effort and so had achieved honesty

We had rown big No longer did our hearts flutter in the presence of little things, for we had won poise and serenity

The fogs had been banished froht had becoe had been , and our faith was lifted up A new horizon opened up before us that stretched on and on andThe sky became our cohbor with all the life it holds, and the landscape becarandeur The shi+ps upon the sea and the trains upon the land becaers of service The wires and the air sped our thoughts abroad and linked us to the world We looked straight into the faces of the big eles of life and were not afraid

When we ca our own people, they seee had taken place and loved us all thesilent tribute to the wisdom that had come to us from the er equals We had learned another language, but had not forgotten theirs We nestled down in their affections and told thelad

And now I sit before the fire and watch the pictures in the flickering flairls, co upon their appointed ways I see the distress, ht I see them in their efforts to make the world better andhope and courage and cheer intothe spirit of thetheo, I can but smile and smile