66 LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 



kept silence; but without a moment's ces- 

 sation the musical hum of distant millions 

 like it filled the air, — a noise inconceivable. 



I would gladly have sat longer, as I would 

 gladly have gone much farther into the 

 woods, for I had seen none more attractive ; 

 but a rumbling of thunder, a rapid blacken- 

 ing of the sky, and a recollection of the 

 forenoon's deluge warned me to turn back. 

 And now, for the first time, although I had 

 been living within sound of locusts for a 

 week or more, I suddenly came to trees in 

 which they were congregated. The branches 

 were full of them. Heard thus near, the 

 sound was no longer melodious, but harsh 

 and shrill. 



It seemed cruel that my last day on Look- 

 out Mountain should be so broken up, and 

 so abruptly and unseasonably concluded, 

 but so the Fates willed it. My retreat be- 

 came a rout, and of the remainder of the 

 road I remember only the hurry and the 

 warmth, and two pleasant things, — a few 

 wild roses, and the scent of a grapevine in 

 bloom ; two things so sweet and homelike 

 that they could be caught and retained by a 

 man on the run. 



