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PART
II
Near Somerset Dam, Vt.
Thurs., July 16, 1925
Saying
goodbye to our friends took so long yesterday, that it was
nearly dark and we'd covered only thirty miles from North
Dorset before we found a camping spot in an orchard on a
hill. It seemed ideal--except that apparently there was
no water. After pitching the tent we set out with a lantern
to find some, walking and walking until we met a man in
a buggy who told us there was a good well, half a mile back,
in an orchard on a hill--right where we were camped!
This morning, noticing that there was a house near by, we
hid behind bushes while dousing each other with buckets
of water. Then, gazing at the extensive view, we breakfasted
on sandwiches and fresh pineapple Mother had put up for
us; the pineapple having worked a little, Bill found delectable.
We were still in sight of our own Dorset Peak when the front
chain of the motorcycle broke with a terrible bang. Bill
tried but couldn't fix it. What a forlorn couple we were
as we walked the machine into the Harley agency in Bennington--mechanical
trouble so soon on our long journey.
However, with the cycle wearing her brand new chain, our
spirits rose, as she flew up the mountain without a grumble
or whimper, the grades steep but the road fine, leading
through the wildest country. Five young partridges, hardly
able to fly, fluttered across the road and a big hare leaped
ahead of us for a long distance. We passed a few deserted
houses, one bearing the sign, "Town Clerk's Office,"
another announced boldly that it was the "Town Hall"--everything
handy but the town itself!
Somerset dam is huge--nearly a mile long, forty feet wide
at the top, and sets back eight miles of lake. What Bill
calls a penstock carries the water, and crawls out of the
dam like a great wooden centipede, worming its way to the
power house.
After carefully selecting a spot with a marvelous view of
the distant hills, in no time we were attacked by every
known species of gnat and fly, forcing us to eat supper
inside the tent, with the netting drawn tight.
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