Page:Boy scouts in the White Mountains; the story of a long hike (IA boyscoutsinwhite00eato).pdf/241

 *—the head of the Saco. This lake is one of the head waters of the Ammonoosuc, which is the biggest northern tributary of the Connecticut."

"It's a bit cleaner than the Connecticut is at Hartford or Springfield," laughed Rob. "My, it's like pure glass! Look, you can see every stick and piece of mica on the bottom."

"And it's cold, too!" cried Art, as he dipped his hand in.

"Now, let's look at the Alpine wild flowers as we go back," said the bugler. "They are what interest me most."

The party turned toward the path again, and they became aware that almost every crevice between the loose stones was full of rich moss of many kinds, and this moss had made bits of peaty soil in which the wild flowers grew. There were even a few dwarfed spruces, three or four feet high, all around the border of the lake.

The wild flowers were now in full bloom.

"It's spring up here, you know, in early July," said the bugler. "Look at all those white sandwort blossoms, like a snow-storm. What pretty little things they are, like tiny white cups."

"What's the yellow one?" asked Lou, who was always interested in plants.

"That's the geum," the man replied. "Look at the root leaves—they are just like kidneys."