Page:Boy scouts in the White Mountains; the story of a long hike (IA boyscoutsinwhite00eato).pdf/177

 "This boulder was thirty feet high in 1826," he said. "The landslide, as you see, nearly buried it; but it split the stream, and the debris all rushed in two currents on either side of the house, uniting again in the meadow in front. The house stood for many years after that. I think it was destroyed finally by fire."

"But what gets me is, why should anybody want to live in such a lonesome spot, anyhow?" said Peanut. "Gee, it's getting dark down here already."

"Well, there was no railroad in those days," Mr. Rogers answered, "and the road through the Notch was the main artery of travel to the northern side of the mountains. I suppose the Willey House made a good stopping place for the night. Let's go up to the railroad now, and get a look at the engineering job, which was a big thing in its day—and is still, for that matter."

They climbed some distance through birch trees up the steep western wall of the Notch before reaching the railroad. Once upon it, they saw the great gap in the hills to far better advantage, however, than from the road below. Willey shot up directly over their heads, as steep a long climb, probably, as there is anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains. The Scouts came very near deciding to give up a day from Washington, and tackle it. Directly