Those who have lived on the mountain roads between Springfield and Albany, have heard of THE 4 CORNERS, famous for the sign-post with its white lettering on a black background, the figure “4” large and conspicuous in the centre, instead of the word itself. Why it was painted thus no one knows. It has been there since the oldest inhabitant can remember, and when a high wind blew the post down and broke it another was put in its place and the old board retained. It is a reminder of past glories, and gives the Corners a kind of distinction, the people think, and they are very proud of their figure “4” and the sign-post, although few come there now inquiring the way to Albany, or other towns whose names are upon the board. Should you wish to visit “The 4 Corners” on a summer morning, take a Boston and Albany train for the way station, Millville, a town hemmed in by hills which look like mountains, and mountains which seem no higher than the hills. There is no daily public conveyance there now for The Corners two miles away, for the glory of the place was crushed beneath the wheels of the first locomotive which climbed the steep grade of the mountains and consigned stage coaches and the goodly cheer of the wayside inns to oblivion. Very few except those who live in the vicinity of The 4 Corners visit it, but sometimes you will find behind the station an old sorrel horse and a buggy, the latter with its square box seat telling of many years of service, and the former, the horse, sleek and fat and lazy, and untrammeled by check rein of any kind, seemingly asleep and paying no heed to the rush and roar and smoke of the train as it dashes by. But in his younger days, when he first saw and heard it, he started off at break-neck speed towards his home, which he reached with a broken thill and three wheels, the fourth having been left by the big gate as he entered the yard. Possibly Dr. Stannard may be there with one or the other of his horses, Pro and Con, named to suit a fancy of his. Failing old Sorrel and Pro and Con, there is a livery stable across the broad common where a conveyance can be had, and within fifteen minutes after you signify your wish to go to The 4 Corners, you will be driving along a road as smooth as an asphalt pavement, unless the wheels of your vehicle run into a rut full of stones washed down from the hills or up from the earth by some heavy fall of rain.