In the afternoon the entire party of Porters and Wycliffs drove to Twin Mountain, near by, there being a wood-road, almost to the summit, nearly as good as the average mountain highway. Sixty miles eastward was Mount Wachusett, seen to-day very dimly, and only visible at all in the clearest weather. Nearer, guarding the Connecticut Valley, were Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. “Say, pop, what mountain is that? It looks like a pyramid from here.” “That is Monadnock. What state is it in, Robbie?” “In New Hampshire,” answered the boy, proud to exhibit his knowledge of the geography of the states hereabouts. “And there, very dim, scarcely more than a blue line in the west, are the Catskills and Adirondacks. I don’t believe you remember where they are.” “Surely I do. What did I go to school for? They are in New York.” “And that beautiful mountain close by. Can you tell the name of the highest mountain in our own state?” “Greylock, or Saddle Mountain.” “We have a view here of portions of New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont, besides a large portion of Massachusetts.” “And this mountain-top is to be sold very cheap,” said Mr. Porter. “Mr. Daniels, the owner, is in California, in poor health, and has directed me to sell it for fifteen hundred dollars. There are three hundred acres in the farm, one hundred acres being heavy wood and timber, one hundred and fifty acres pasture, and fifty acres good tillage land. The house is comfortable, and the barn excellent. But I hardly need to tell you, as you are familiar with farms about here. Only for its location, so far from railroad, it would bring many times the price asked. As it is, it is the best bargain I know of. I would be glad to pay two hundred and fifty dollars for fifty acres of the pasture, which joins mine, but I don’t want the whole.” “What do you say, ma?” asked Wycliff of his wife. “It’s the best bargain I’ve heard of in many a day. We’re not obliged to live on it, you know, we can rent it.” “Buy it if you think best,” replied his wife. “We may be glad to use it for a summer home, if we are prospered.” “I’d like to live here the whole year,” said Robbie. “It must be fine coasting here in the winter.” “We get snow in July from the Bear’s Den,” said Mrs. Porter. “I will take the farm at fifteen hundred dollars, and you may have the fifty-acre tract on your own terms,” said Wycliff. Just then Robbie, who had wandered a few rods in advance of the rest of the party, came running back. “Oh, ma, come quick! Here are some deer, just like those we used to see on Mrs. Colt’s grounds, in Hartford. Pop is right. This is God’s country, all right.” Sure enough, there at the foot of the bluff were a half dozen of the beautiful creatures. “They seem to understand that the law protects them,” said Mrs. Porter. “Sometimes they come into the barnyard with the cattle.” CHAPTER VII.