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The Heart of Monadnock
43

another look at that possible cairn. At any rate I will take the next step, whether it apparently leads anywhere or not. That is what the mountain tells me."

In a moment he climbed on the little ledge beside the stones that had attracted his eye. Yes, he could now see they had been purposely put together but so long ago that on them lay the deceiving moss; and a few steps beyond, but where he could not see them from below, lay another little pile of stones pointing out the way around a slight curve—all hidden from one standing below. It was the little trail he had been seeking, now showing plainly with well-marked blazes again, as he went on; it had all depended on that little obscure cairn, pointing the way from below . . . He stopped a moment to put another stone on it, and then went meditatively on his loitering way, his thoughts drifting over many things.

How constantly life arrived at some blind place and seemed to stop abruptly with a sharp "No Thoroughfare." It would not