They all laughed at this sally, for Hamilton was seldom silent.  He answered lightly:—­

“Someone to fight.  Someone to love.  Three warm friends.  Three hot enemies.  A sufficiency of delicate food and wine.  A West Indian swimming-bath.  Someone to talk to.  Someone to make love to.  War.  Politics.  Books.  Song.  Children.  Woman.  A religion.  There you have the essence of the millennium, embroider it as you may.”

“And scenery,” added Jay, devoutly.

The road for the last quarter of an hour had led up a steep hill, above which other hills piled without an opening; and below lay the Hudson.  As they paused upon the bare cone of the elevation, the river looked like a chain of Adirondack lakes, with dense and upright forests rising tier beyond tier until lost in the blue haze of the Catskills.  The mountains looked as if they had pushed out from the mainland down to the water’s edge to cross and meet each other.  So close were the opposite crags that the travellers could see a deer leap through the brush, the red of his coat flashing through the gloomy depths.  Below sped two packet-boats in a stiff breeze.

“Friends or enemies?” queried Livingston.  “I wish I were with them, for I must confess the pleasures of horse travel for seventy-five miles must be the climax of a daily habit to be fully appreciated.  It is all very well for Hamilton, who is on a horse twice every day; but as I am ten years older and proportionately stiffer, I shall leave patriotism to the rest of you for a day or two after our arrival.”

Hamilton did not answer.  He had become conscious of the delicate yet piercing scent of violets.  Wild violets had no perfume, and it was long past their season.  He glanced eagerly around, but without realizing what prompted a quick stirring of his pulses.  There was but one tree on the crag, and he stood against it.  Almost mechanically his glance sought its recesses, and his hand reached forward to something white.  It was a small handkerchief of cambric and lace.  The other men were staring at the scenery.  He hastily glanced at the initials in the corner of the scented trifle, and wondered that he should so easily decipher a tangled E.C.C.  But he marvelled, nevertheless, and thrust the handkerchief into his pocket.

They reached Poughkeepsie late in the afternoon.  Main Street, which was the interruption of the post road, and East Street, which terminated the Dutchess turnpike, were gaily decorated with flags and greens, the windows and pavements crowded with people whose faces reflected the nervous excitement with which the whole country throbbed.  The capital for ten years, the original village had spread over the hills into a rambling town of many avenues, straight and twisted, and there were pretentious houses and a certain amount of business.  Hamilton and his party were stared at with deep curiosity, but not cheered, for the town was almost wholly Clintonian.  The Governor