So saying , she began to skip the rope . Meantime , the day was drawing towards its close . Out of doors the scene certainly looked dreary . There was a gray drift , far and wide , through the gathering twilight ; the earth was as pathless as the air ; and the bank of snow over the steps of the porch proved that nobody had entered or gone out for a good many hours past . Had there been only one child at the window of Tanglewood , gazing at this wintry prospect , it would perhaps have made him sad . But half a dozen children together , though they can not quite turn the world into a paradise , may defy old Winter and all his storms to put them out of spirits . Rambling on foot in the spring of my life and the summer of the year , I came one afternoon to a point which gave me the choice of three directions . Straight before me , the main road extended its dusty length to Boston ; on the left a branch went towards the sea , and would have lengthened my journey a trifle of twenty or thirty miles ; while by the right-hand path , I might have gone over hills and lakes to Canada , visiting in my way the celebrated town of Stamford . On a level spot of grass , at the foot of the guidepost , appeared an object , which , though locomotive on a different principle , reminded me of Gulliver 's portable mansion among the Brobdignags . It was a huge covered wagon , or , more properly , a small house on wheels , with a door on one side and a window shaded by green blinds on the other . Two horses , munching provender out of the baskets which muzzled them , were fastened near the vehicle : a delectable sound of music proceeded from the interior ; and I immediately conjectured that this was some itinerant show , halting at the confluence of the roads to intercept such idle travellers as myself . A shower had long been climbing up the western sky , and now hung so blackly over my onward path that it was a point of wisdom to seek shelter here . `` Halloo ! Who stands guard here ? Is the doorkeeper asleep ? '' cried I , approaching a ladder of two or three steps which was let down from the wagon . The music ceased at my summons , and there appeared at the door , not the sort of figure that I had mentally assigned to the wandering showman , but a most respectable old personage , whom I was sorry to have addressed in so free a style . He wore a snuff colored coat and small-clothes , with white-top boots , and exhibited the mild dignity of aspect and manner which may often be noticed in aged schoolmasters , and sometimes in deacons , selectmen , or other potentates of that kind . A small piece of silver was my passport within his premises , where I found only one other person , hereafter to be described . `` This is a dull day for business , '' said the old gentleman , as he ushered me in ; `` but I merely tarry here to refresh the cattle , being bound for the camp-meeting at Stamford . ''
Perhaps the movable scene of this narrative is still peregrinating New England , and may enable the reader to test the accuracy XXXXX my description .
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