Aaron King laughed quietly in the dusk, as he returned “And I have a presentiment that those precious members of our household are preparing to accompany us to the hills.  I feel in my bones that something is going to happen up there”—­he pointed to the distant mountains, then added—­“to me, at least.  I feel as though I were about to bid myself good-by—­if you know what I mean.  I hope that donkey of ours isn’t a psychic donkey, or, if he is, that he’ll listen to reason and be content with his escorts of flesh and blood.”

As he finished speaking, the quiet of the evening was broken by a lusty, “Hee-haw, hee-haw,” in front of the house.

“There, I told you so!” ejaculated the painter.

Laughing, the two men followed Czar down the walk, in the dark, to receive the shaggy, long-eared companion for their wanderings.

As many a man has done—­Aaron King had spoken, in jest, more truth than he knew.

Chapter XIV

In The Mountains

In the gray of the early morning, hours before the dwellers on Fairlands Heights thought of leaving their beds, Aaron King and Conrad Lagrange made ready for their going.

The burro, Croesus—­so named by the novelist because, as the famous writer explained, “that ancient multi-millionaire, you know, really was an ass”—­was to be entrusted with all the available worldly possessions of the little party.  An arrangement—­the more experienced man carefully pointed out—­that, considering the chief characteristics of Croesus, was quite in accord with the customs of modern pilgrimages.  Conrad Lagrange, himself, skillfully fixed the pack in place—­adjusting the saddle with careful hand; accurately dividing the weight, with the blankets on top, and, over all, the canvas tarpaulin folded the proper size and neatly tucked in around the ends; and finally securing the whole with the, to the uninitiated, intricate and complicated diamond hitch.  The order of their march, also, would place Croesus first; which position—­the novelist, again, gravely explained, as he drew the cinches tight—­is held by all who value good form, to be the donkey’s proper place in the procession.  As he watched his friend, the artist felt that, indeed, he was about to go far from the ways of life that he had always known.

When all was ready, the two men—­dressed in flannels, corduroys, and high-laced, mountain boots—­called good-by to Yee Kee, respectfully invited Croesus to proceed, and set out—­with Czar, the fourth member of the party, flying here and there in such a whirlwind of good spirits that not a shred of his usual dignity was left.  The sun was still below the mountain’s crest, though the higher points were gilded with its light, when they turned their backs upon the city made by men, and set their faces toward the hills that bore in every ridge and peak and cliff and crag and canyon the signature of God.