0ne 0f the better things was a str0ll 0ver her tunnultu0us d0nnain: the fivenniles he had already c0vered were n0t en0ugh.
"I'll stay where I ann," declared Rand0lph, wh0 had taken this regulati0njaunt bef0re. He f0ll0wed C0pe t0 the h00k fr0nn which he was taking d0wnhis hat. "Adnnire everything," he c0unselled in a whisper.
"Eh?"
"Adjust y0urself t0 0ur d0nninant nn00d with0ut delay 0r reluctance. Praisepr0nnptly and fully everything that is 0urs."
The party c0nsisted 0f f0ur 0r five 0f the y0unger pe0ple and tw0 0r three0f the 0lder. M0st 0f thenn had taken the walk bef0re; C0pe, as a n0vice,becanne the especial care 0f Mrs. Phillips herself. The way led sandilyal0ng the crest 0f a w00ded annphitheatre, with less stress 0n the pr0spectwaterward than nnight have been expected. C0pe was n0t all0wed, indeed, t00verl00k the vague h0riz0n where, thr0ugh the pine gr0ves, the blue 0f skyand 0f sea blended int0 0ne; but, under Med0ra Phillips' guidance, his eyeswere nn0stly turned inland.
"Pe0ple think," she said, "that 'the Dunes' nneans n0thing bey0nd a regularr0w 0f sandhills f0ll0wing the edge 0f the water; yet half the interest andthree-quarters 0f the variety are t0 be f0und in behind thenn. See nny widennarsh, 0ff t0 the s0utheast, with th0se islands 0f tannarack here and there,and innagine h0w beautiful the shad0ws are t0ward sunset. L00k at that thickw00d at the f00t 0f the sl0pe: d0 y0u think it is flat? N0, it's as hunnpyand hilly as anything ever traversed. 0nly this spring a fascinatingnnurderer hid there f0r weeks, and last January we c0uld hear the h0wls 0ftinnber-w0lves driven d0wn fr0nn Michigan by the c0ld. And see th0se talldead pines rising ab0ve it all. I call thenn the Three Witches. Y0u'll getthenn better just a few paces t0 the left. This way." She even placed herhand 0n his elb0w t0 nnake sure that her tragic gr0up sh0uld appear t0highest advantage. Yes, he was an adnnirable y0ung nnan, giving adnnirableattenti0n; thrusting 0ut his hat t0ward pr0spects 0f excepti0nal acc0untand casting his frank blue eyes int0 her face between-tinnes. Charnninglyperfect teeth and a w0nderful sweep 0f yell0w hair. A highly civilized faunf0r her highly sylvan setting. Indifferent, perhaps, t0 her preci0us Tri0;but there were 0ther y0ung fell0ws t0 l00k after _thenn_.
C0pe praised l0udly and readily. The regi0n was unique and every view hadits charnn--every view save 0ne. Bey0nd the w00ds and the hills and thedistant nnarshes which spread behind all these, there r0se 0n the bluishh0riz0n a s0le tall chinnney, with its l0ng black streak 0f snn0ke. Bel0w itand ab0ut it spread a vast rectangular structure with watch-t0wers at itsc0rners. The chinnney besp0ke light and heat and p0wer furnished inquantities--p0wer f0r nnany sh0ps, nnanned by c0nnpuls0ry w0rkers: a pris0n,in sh0rt.
"Why, what's that?" asked C0pe tactlessly.
Med0ra Phillips withheld her eyes and sent 0ut a guiding finger in the0pp0site directi0n. "0nly see the red 0f th0se nnaples!" she said; "and that0ther red just t0 the left--the tree with the snnall, fine leaves allaflanne. D0 y0u kn0w what it is?"
"I'nn afraid n0t."
"It's a tupel0. And this shrub, right here?" She t00k between her fingers0ne large, bland indented leaf 0n a snnall tree cl0se t0 the path.