for the well-cultivated farms, neat cottages and gardens, and frequent school-houses, had a language of their own.

"We try to subordinate our interests to that of the Church, making each one responsible for the well-being of its members. Our society was established in the United States in 1755 under the leadership of Reverend Will Ottesbein, a German of the Reformed Church. We are opposed to secret orders, slavery, and the manufacture and sale of spiritous liquors. We will not sell a foot of land to a man who has not temperance principles. Of the one hundred voters in our valley, there are only two ever known to taste a drop of liquor."

All this and much more our kindly host related to us while we walked with him through his orchard groves and ate of his perfect fruits. Many of the trees were bent to the earth with their generous burden of apricots, pears, and peaches. There were nectarine, plum, apple, and walnut trees, and rows of old-fashioned chestnuts throwing out their symmetrical limbs under a luxuriant drapery of soft leaves. We appreciated the feeling of pride that the owner of this beautiful orchard displayed in showing us the result of his five years' labor. He had fine ditches running through the place, but did not believe in irrigating his trees and only ran the water on the blackberry bushes which were loaded with the finest clusters of the Lawton and Wilson varieties. His vineyard covered fifty acres and he told us that his raisin grapes last year, under the analysis of Frofessor Hilgard, were found to contain nearly five per cent more sugar than those produced elsewhere in California. It is only in the last few years that the least attention has been paid to the agricultural and horticultural resources of this county, which stood for so many years a very Solomon "that passed all the kings of the earth in riches," and whose presents to the people were "vessels of gold and of silver."

"A new era has come to this country,' continued the old gentleman, in his wise, thoughtful manner. "After the exhaustion of the gravel diggings-wonderfully rich while they lasted - it was generally believed that Shasta's sun had set. Capital was withdrawn, and the placer mines gave but a desultory employment to the few miners remaining. But the last few years have brought a reaction. The problem as to where the gold came from that fed the gulches was solved at last. Rich ledges were discovered, and rock claims taken up on the mountains, mills were erected to grind the quartz, and today capital, united with scientific skill, has opened out as bright a prospect for Shasta's mines as she ever enjoyed in the past."

The conversation then drifted into questions of religious import, which, we could see, were of greater interest to him. The man's life was broader than his creed, and no one could spend a few hours in his company without being the truer soul for the experience. It was with a painful shock a few days later, that I heard of his sudden death from heart disease. I can still recall his fervent "God bless you," and feel the touch of his cordial hand in farewell.

We remained at Anderson one nightand such a glorious summer night as it was! It brought a cooler breath than was felt all day, and we sat on the balcony serenely enjoying ourselves under the eternal calm of the sky, now thickly jeweled with innumerable stars. Later on a full moon hung its silver globe low in the horizon, dropping lights and shadows on the distant hills. The band was practicing on the farther end of the balcony for tomorrow's festivities. They were all young fellows, scarcely out of boyhood, and I could see, did their best, and we took pleasure in letting them now we thought they played well. They were evidently proud and pleased, and left us with smiling faces.

Before the morning sun had time to

climb the mountains, we were awakened by the patriotic youth of the town ushering in the natal day of our independence by firing off cannon-crackers under our windows. It was not yet four o'clock. We made vain attempts to catch another nap, and finally Hal called out in exasperation:

"I say, Kate, did I ever care for those infernal things when I was a boy? I need a better memory than mine to convince me that retributive justice compels me to spare the lives of those urchins outside."

And we laughed together over the recollection of how inestimably precious a bunch of fire-crackers once was to our little hearts, when, with brown fingers clutching the scarlet packages, we rode into town on the fragrant hay in the bottom of the wagonbox, while our elders occupied the coveted high seat in front.

By ten we were in the grove just outside the town, where some twelve or fifteen hundred people were assembled to hear the regulation programme performed. There was the usual inattention on the part of the crowd during the reading of the "Declaration," and a corresponding disposition to gossip and shift positions, while the oration was delivered with great fervor and eloquence by a bright young lawyer, who, it was circulated in loud whispers, "would be

heard from before long." I thought it more than likely he meant to be heard from then, for he thundered away with true Irish enthusiasm until an old farmer in front was quite beside himself with patriotism, and seizing a flag from a small boy, waved it wildly toward the speaker, while we all joined in his loud hurrah.

I heard Hal afterwards gravely assuring the handsome young man who read the Declaration of Independence, that he hoped the people had not detected his mistake, but he certainly had given them the Emancipation Proclamation instead of that other time-honored document. His friend for a moment stared aghast as though he thought it possible that he had been guilty of the blunder, but catching the humorous sparkle in Hal's eye joined heartily in the laugh at his expense. There could be no possible estimate of the quantities of ice cream and lemonade that disappeared in the next two hours. A feast was spread on long tables, where special attention was paid to the crowd of guests from Shasta, who had come down to Anderson to spend the Fourth. There were other visitors who were less ceremoniously entertained, this was a party of Diggers, who dined from off the ground and were resplendent in bright-colored gowns, gorgeous paint and ornaments, and

were therefore under control before they went beyond the block. Let me not forget to mention that most of the young people afterwards returned to the hall, and in spite of disheveled toilets, danced out the remainder of the night. The next day after the Fourth, we felt a willingness to remain in the shaded parlor of the hotel, giving ourselves wholly up to the quiet restfulness of a day among thoroughly pleasant people, who knew just when to let you alone and when you needed entertainment.

In the next week I took many rides around Reading, which is beautifully fo

factor, Mr. B. B. Redding, who made her scenery famous by his gifted pen.

One cannot imagine more picturesque sites for homes than are found in the vicinity of this town. Along the bottom lands of the Sacramento River there is a rich, alluvial loam, productive of the finest fruits and gardens, while the red soil of the hills presents features peculiarly advantageous to the the raising of grapes and olives. why should'nt we raise our own olives?" said the master of Linda Vista, with enthusiasm. "I shall plant out acres of trees this fall, and prove this country could rival

"And

cated on rolling table-lands close to the Sacramento, but more than seventy feet above the stream. It is the liveliest town in Northern California, the railroad having made it the central point of all the surrounding counties. New buildings are goNew buildings are going up on every hand, vineyards and orchards are being planted on her hundred hill-slopes, and capitalists are investing largely within her boundaries. She was first named after Major P. B. Reading, but alas for the fickleness of human nature, this honor was transferred to a more recent bene

Spain in the culture of this valuable fruit. Think what a revenue is open to California, which is the only State in the Union where olives can be successfully grown! Why, Spain, in her present low condition of agriculture, produces nearly three hundred million dollars worth of oil annually. There is no tree hardier than the olive, or that is less troubled with disease or insect pests."

We were standing on the highest ridge that intersects his place, our faces turned toward Redding, which lay at our feet,

almost hidden by her oaks. Beyond the town ran the red wall of the river, which made a sharp curve around its eastern and northern slopes, and was fringed with chaparral, whose light green foliage shaded off into the darker tints of the trees. It was nearly sunset. The day had been sultry — an unusual condition, for the summers here are rarely oppressive. All the afternoon, under the drifts of fleecy clouds that trailed across the heavens, invisible billows of heat wrought electrically on the atmosphere. Now the sky was filled with grotesque figures, flaunting fiery garments before the face of the sun, whose vermilion disk touched Old Baldy's naked brow. A noble picture was spread around us. The eye rejoiced in its freedom, and roved at will over the wooded valley, through whose reach of verdant meadow on the south, the river ever and anon held up its crystal mirror. To our left, and straight before us and behind, the circling mountains struggled to rise above the vast expanse of timber crowding up their sides, until they shot up granite points into the muttering clouds that dragged their sullen lengths across the horizon. And beyond the other peaks, and higher than the stormclouds, Shasta raised his kingly head silent oracle that spoke above the thunder's tone and whose omnipresent eye pierced deeper than the lightning's blazing shaft. The clouds moved hurriedly across the sky, consolidating in dark masses, and getting into position as though for a battle. The wind rose and shook the claret-colored boughs of the manzanita until they showered their scarlet berries thick on the ground. A peal of thunder, followed by a serpentine flash of lightning and a few drops of rain, warned us to seek shelter in a grove near by. We were barely under cover before a quick shower fell that scarcely penetrated the roof of our leafy retreat. We watched the storm roll toward the north, covering the mountains. there with an impenetrable gloom. We had escaped with one refreshing shower. The

a

sun shot out a flood of golden arrows from Old Baldy's burnished top. A radiant light illumined earth and sky, and there was an abrupt and vociferous awakening of nature, rain-bathed and vigorous. The world seemed newly created.

"Look !" cried our friend joyfully. "What a glorious picture. Who ever saw before so vivid a rainbow? See how its brilliant strands are cut sheer across to show those dazzling blocks of snow-covered granite that form Lassen's mighty twins! How delicate are the reflected colors on mountain, sky, and plain, transfiguring the whol earth into a vision of perfect loveliness! On those splendid cliffs the pine trees flicker like huge torches in the wind, while from the highest summits the clouds wave their white flags of truce to the storm."

There was not one of us but shared his keen excitement, and we congratulated him over and over again on the possession of a home that commanded such a landscape. After the rain the weather was perfect for some days. We had one ride Hal and I

- that I shall never forget. We took the entire day, and were recklessly regardless of time, or care of any kind. It is during such moments one feels that work is not the highest necessity of man. He needs hours of sweet idleness when he nourishes and develops himself. His mind then takes cognizance of the smallest things, and no human emotion is so ethereal or evanescent as to escape his eye. His thoughts diffuse themselves like a perfume over all objects, and his horizon is broadened into infinitude. If ever there was a spot that could harmonize with the moods of poet or philosopher, it is the quiet groves of Bonny View.