One expects steady weather in October; so it was really not extraordinary that the next morning should break fair and quiet, with a sunny haze lying over the river. Nevertheless, Maggie rejoiced.
"What a pleasant day we had yesterday!" she exclaimed, as the party sat at breakfast.
"Are not all your days pleasant?" said Meredith.
"Yes, but yesterday was uncommon. O Ditto! we didn't look at the map last night!"
"We were looking at stones."
"Yes, but we must look at the map after breakfast. I want to find all those places."
"Take time," said Meredith, "and eat your breakfast. Luneburg heath will not run away."
But, after breakfast, indeed, the great atlas was fetched out to the sunny terrace in front of the house and laid on a settee, and Maggie and Meredith sat down before the map of Germany with business faces.
"Now, here is the Elbe," said Maggie, "it is big enough to be seen; here is the mouth of it, just in a corner under Denmark, where those ships went from."
"What ships?"
"Why, the ships in which the Saxons went over to England--the Saxons that conquered England, Meredith."
"You do remember," said Meredith smiling. "It is worth while reading to you."
"They sailed from the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser--and here is the Weser. The mouths are pretty near together. Now, between the Elbe and the Weser were--which Saxons, Ditto?"
"Towards the Elbe and beyond it were the Eastphalians; those our story belongs to, among whom Landolf went."
"Well, here is the Aller, Ditto! they lived _there_, you know; that is pretty far west. And here is Hermannsburg! Oh, I am glad we have found that. And here is Luneburg--all over here, I suppose. I suppose we couldn't find the stone-houses, Ditto?"
"I suppose not. But here is Verden on the Aller, Maggie, where Charlemagne had those 4500 Saxons hewed to pieces. And here are Osnabruck and Detmold, where the Saxons beat him again, and took the 4000 captives that they slew at the stone-houses."
"Horrid Charlemagne!"
"It was all horrid, what concerned the fighting. But here is Minden, Maggie, from which good Landolf set out in his little boat, and dropped down the Weser to go to the East Saxons."
"And, then, when he got to the Aller he went up _that_; then he had to row hard, I guess."
"I guess he did a good deal of hard rowing, first and last, Maggie."
"Then to get to the stone-houses he went further up the Aller and turned into the Oerze. Here is the Oerze! Then the stone-houses must be somewhere hereabouts, Ditto; for they are not very far from Hermannsburg."
"There is the little river Wieze, Maggie; and here, where it flows into the Oerze, was that oak wood, sacred to Thor, where the village of Muden now is. And here is the village of Munster where Freija was honoured.
All over the land, then, it was wild country, woods and morasses. And now--think what Germany is!"
"What is it, Ditto?"
"It is the land of Thought, and Art, and Learning, and Criticism."
"Look here!" broke in a lively voice behind them. "Do you know the sun is getting up in the sky? and we have settled nothing. And here are two heads over a map!"
"It would not hurt a third head," said Meredith. "And Maggie and I have settled a good deal, thank you."
"But where are we going to-day?"
"Yes," added Esther behind, "where are we going? I think it is time to be getting ready, because it takes us a good while."
"Esther," said Maggie, "Fairbairn and the men are going over to the pine terrace to cut down some trees papa wants cut; let us go there and have a big bonfire, and then Ditto will have plenty of coals for his friar's omelet."
"Betsey is making us a chicken pie."
"Well, the omelet will do no harm besides."
"No. It is a good way over to the pine terrace."
"I don't care how far it is. So much the better. It is nice walking. Do you care, Flora?"
"She don't care," said Meredith. "Come, let us load up. If we have a journey before us, best be about it."
"And then, Esther," Maggie went on, "we can go to the Lookout rock to read."
"It will be sunny there."
"Well, it's all nice on the pine terrace, and we can find plenty of shade. Now, then, Ditto--if you'll bring up the waggon."
The business of loading-up began. There were always some varieties every time. To-day a basket of sweet potatoes formed one item, going to be roasted in the great fire-heap which would be left from the bonfire. A great chicken pie, fresh and hot, was carefully wrapped up and put in.
Meredith provided a hatchet to trim branches with. Worsted work and afghan, of course; but the only book was in Meredith's pocket. The cart was quite loaded when all was done; for you know, cups and saucers and plates weigh heavy, if you put enough of them together, and the chicken pie in the dish was a matter of a good many pounds, and potatoes are heavy, too. Somebody had to carry the bottle of cream, and Fairbairn went laden with a pail of water.
The day was just another like the day before, but the direction of the walk was different. The party turned to the left instead of to the right, and leaving the flower-beds and shrubbery, entered a pretty winding road which curled about through a grove of red cedars. The air was spicy, dry and warm. A soft, rather thick, haze filled the air, turning the whole world into a sort of fairy land. The hills looked misty, the river still and dreamy; outlines were softened, colours were grown tender. The happy little party, it is true, gave not much heed to this bewitchment of nature, with the one exception of Meredith; Flora and Esther were in a contented state of practical well-being which had no sentiment in it; Maggie and her dog were a pair for jocund spirits and thoughtless delight-taking. They both went bounding about, very much taken up with each other; while Meredith pulled the cart steadily on and feasted mentally on every step of the way. The road brought them soon to the neighbourhood of the river again, and ran along a grassy bank which sloped gently down to the edge of the water. The green sward was dotted with columnar red cedars, growing to a height of thirty feet, with a diameter of two or two and a half all the way, straight as a pillar. On the other hand a low, rocky height grown with oaks and hemlocks overhung the valley, and the rocky ridge seemed to sweep round to the front of them in a wide amphitheatre, giving a sky-line of variegated colour, soft and glowing under the haze. Travelling on, they got next into a wood and lost the river. Here all was wild; the ground strewn with rock and encumbered with low growth of huckleberry bushes, brambles, and ferns. The road, however, was good; and Meredith drew the cart without any difficulty. After a time the ground began to rise, for, in fact, they were approaching the further end of the rocky ridge before mentioned, where it swept round to the river. Midway of the height the hill shelved into a wide plateau or terrace; at the back of it the sharp, rocky hillside, in front of it a green slope leading down to the river. The ground on the plateau was gravelly and poor; it gave foothold to little beside white and yellow pines, which in places stood thick, in other places parted and opened for spaces of mossy turf, where the too shallow soil would not nourish them. Here, there was a wild wilderness of natural beauty. Now and then a lovely low-growing white pine spreading abroad its bluish-green branches; in other parts scraggy, tall-shooting specimens of the yellow variety; at the hill-foot and on the rocky hillside golden hickories and brown oaks and flaunting maples.
The turf was dry and warm, being in fact half moss; the openings and glades allured the party from one sweet resting spot into another.
"We may as well stop here," said Flora at last. "We might go round and round all day, it is all so pretty. We must stop somewhere, if we are to have any reading."
"Let us go over yonder to the edge of the bank," said Meredith, "where we can have a view of the river."
At the edge of the bank the cedars began to occupy the ground, and indeed hindered the view, but a few strokes of Fairbairn's axe set that right, and the party sat down in the shade of some taller trees with a lookout over the pretty conical cedars (not columnar here) down to the water, and across to the green and gold promontory which on the other side of the river closed the view. The girls got out their work. Maggie sat down panting after a race with Rob Roy. Meredith lounged upon the mossy bank and looked lazy. Presently the strokes of a couple of axes began to break the silence. One, two; one, two; one, two----
"It only wanted that!" he exclaimed.
"What!" said Esther.
"That chopping. That ring of the axes. It completes the charm. This is elysium!"
"We have got to make our bonfire!" said Maggie starting.
"Wait,--not yet; they have not cut down a single tree yet. Hark! there it goes, crashing down. They have got to trim it yet, Maggie, before there will be anything to burn."
"And they must cut and trim a good many trees before there will be enough to begin," said Esther. "It is more fun to have plenty to pile on at once."