Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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The Mary Baldwin Seminary. ?t han ds on the graves of her two noblest sons, George Washing- ton and Robert Lee. Margarkt Lane. CAMPING-OUT ADVENTURES. July iist.- Ve are all so worn out with the hot weather that we have decided to go to the mountains for awhile to re- cuperate. Just at the foot of a spur of the Blue Ridge there is a tiny little glen, which is the favorite resort of the people of this neighborhood; and we think that a fortnight ' s stay there might do us all a world of good. We are to go the day after to-morrow. I, for one, am quite impatient to start, for I have heard such wonderful stories of the beauty of Fern Glen, that I am filled with curiosity to see it. July 24th. -Here we are at Fern Glen. We arrived yester- day, and I must say that for once, reality equaled anticipation. As we came in sight of our destination, after a drive of ten miles over a rough mountain road, we all clapped our hands with delight at the prospect before us. To the right lay the little glen, nestling in among the mountains that surround it on three sides, and to the left a beautiful lake, whose clear waters sparkled in the sunshine, as here and there a stray beam made its way in through the branches of the overhanging trees. The • glen is bordered on each side by a row of white-washed cabins. The green sward lying between these is smooth, beautiful and as soft as velvet. At one end of the lawn is a pavilion where the young people congregate in the morning to dance, and the old folks to look on and chat. As I passed by this morning I noticed some boys and girls playing cards in one corner, a young man smoking in another, while in a third a young lady and gentleman were evidently engaged in a very sentimental con- versation, blissfully unconscious of the fact that a red-headed boy was crouching on the ground behind them eagerly drinking in every word they .said. This place seems to be a perfect hot-bed for sentiment, and no wonder, there are so many romantic little nooks round about. It is impossible to take a walk without in- terrupting half a dozen tete-a-tetes.

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12 The Anmcal of chain to which was attached scissors, nutmeg-grater and also a whistle of the same metal, and woe to the tardy servitor whom the shrill sound of the latter did not bring quickly to his mistress ' s side. Her life was outside and about her and she had little leisure for morbid introspection. Such a woman was Mary Ball, the Rose of Eppin Forest and she was one among many ; They looked well to the ways of their house- holds and ate not the bread of idleness. ' ' No small wonder that the colonial gentleman thought she served God better in the shelter of her own home, than in the cloister cell. Winter found the planter preparing to attend the House of Burgesses and he and his family made a triumphal entrance into Williamsburg. Yule-tide logs blazed merrily and all the beauty and the chivalry met to tread the minuet in stately cadence to the music of the fiddles. There was laughter and jollity at the old Raleigh tavern and at the Apollo where Jefferson danced with his Belinda and was content. The students and even the Indian proteges of the Honorable Mr. Boyle forsook the learned halls of William and Mary and join- ed in the joyous revelry. The Virginia Commedians disem- barked from the Charming Sally and for the delectation of colonial society reproduced the plays of Congreve and Shake- speare. Here the knights of the Tramontane Order displayed their golden horseshoes and the dignified members of the House of Burgesses transacted their business and defied royal authority to interfere with their rights . They tell us that the old days are not better than the present ones, that the years have cast a charitable veil over the past. They say too, that the colonial ideal was a false one, that it encouraged pride, unreasonable prejudice, obstinacy, and unnecessary luxury. Granting this, did it not foster in our forefathers the love of honor, which Virginians regard as their dearest heritage, kindly hospitality, generosity, truthful- ness and courage ? Twice in her history has the flood of war surged over the fair and fertile fields of Virginia. The noise of the captains and the shouting has been stilled however, for many a year. The bitterness of that last struggle is wearing away and in mingled sorrow and pride, for the sake of Colonial Virginia, who made them what they were, we can lay our

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14 The A 71711 1 a! of July 27th. -I have not had a chance to write any in my diary for two days, on account of callers, so I determined to slip off before breakfast this morning and come down here to the lake where I could be all by myself for awhile. This is the first time that I have been on the lake, for there is a certain young cou- ple here, Miss Browne and M r. Smith, who seem to think that the boat was built for them alone. They take possession of it as soon as breakfast is over, row away back under the laurel and ferns that border the lake, and there remain, completely hidden from view, till time for dinner. In the afternoon the same thing is repeated. I am ahead of them this morning, though, and I have a great notion to do without my breakfast and stay here all morning just to spite them. As- to breakfast, I don ' t know but that I had just as soon do without it anyway, as to eat on a table that somebody has been sleeping on. Last night we were awakened by a terrible pounding and thumping and the sound of smothered cries and groans, and thinking that robbers must be murdering poor Brother who sleeps on a cot in the dining room, Mother seized the broom and I the pitcher of water (the best implements of warfare we could find on the the spur of the moment), and we both rushed wildly to the res- cue. Without waiting to see which was uppermost, I dashed the water upon the struggling mass we found in the middle of the floor, and Mother plied her broomstick vigorously. But finding that the uproar only increased under our attack, and thinking that maybe the wicked wretch had repented of his evil purpose and was begging for mercy, we desisted for a mo- ment, and found to our amazement, that no one was there ex- cept my poor brother whose cot had closed up and fallen over with him; there he lay almost smothered by the bed-clothes and completely at the mercy of his would-be defenders. With some difficulty we extricated him from his trying position, and the poor boy decided, that rather than risk the repetition of this accident, he would in the future sleep on the table. The table, by the way, consists of an old door snpported by two barrels, so I guess we can turn it over and dine off it without scruples. July 2 8th. -Here I am, back in the boat again, and I did not have to go before breakfast, either. My manoeuvres yester- day morning had a magic effect. As I was writing away, I