The chase of a mystery." "And let us hope," added I, "we do not come back disappointed hunters." In the afternoon the whole chain of the Blueridge stretched before us at a distance of only six miles.

The mountain crests were sharply outlined against the clear sky.

Well wooded at the base, they grew more bare and showed only stunted evergreens toward the summit.

There the scraggly trees, grotesquely twisted, gave to the rocky heights a bleak and bizarre appearance.

Here and there the ridge rose in sharp peaks.