[Ankur-dictionary] Y are amazed at their calmness and

[Haacke O. <chu...@nd...>]

 upon the normal state of man's being, which there, indeed, appeared to
be an endless floating over placid waters, with the tinkling of oars and
the even song of birds for all needful sounds, and those long, low,
slanting rays of golden light forever stealing through half-closed lids,
and steeping the nerves and brain and tired senses in long dreams of
peace and quietude--dreams without the wearisomeness of monotony or the
shock of awaking. Night, however, came at last, and with it
forgetfulness; morning, too, came in due season, and with it, the daily
call for active thought and exertion. From Saranac, by means of boats,
guides, and camping out, delightful excursions can be made through the
lakes, the two Saranacs, Round, Long, and Racket Lakes, and the Racket
River. This region has been much travelled and often described. Our
faces, however, must be turned eastward, and the following day found us
again in our wagon, _en route_ for Placid Lake. To reach this, we left
the return stage about two miles west of North Elba, and walked
northward two miles through open country and some beautiful woodland,
until we came out upon Bennet's Pond, on whose shore stands the pleasant
farmhouse where we intended to pass the night. The owner and his family
were absent, but we found a smiling little handmaiden, who brought us a
cooling draught, and an antique whaler, who offered to show us the way
to Lake Placid and give us a row. Placid Lake is a beautiful, clear
sheet of water, about five miles long and two or three wide. It is
divided down the centre by three islands, charmingly wooded. The
surrounding mountains are high, and at the north-easterly end rises
Whiteface, nearly, if not quite, 5,000 feet in height, the lower portion
clad in deciduous trees, the middle in spruce, and the upper rising bare
and white, with a great slide of many hundred feet extending from the
top toward the lake, and marking out the steep pathway by which the
ascent must be made. Bennet's Pond is about a mile and a half long, and
half a mile broad. Bennet is a contraction