94 BY-WAYS AND BIRD-NOTES. 
quaked, as if in a convulsion of pain. Sud- 
denly the gorge closed up till the slimy walls 
thereof oppressed us and its jagged teeth 
grazed us on either side. But on we rushed, 
tempest behind us, thunder before us, the 
blackness of utter darkness all about us, and 
at last, with a mighty explosion of all terrors, 
we were hurled like a missile from some giant 
engine—a very missile, indeed—forth from 
the grim, stony lips of that awful fissure, reel- 
ing and spinning far out upon the swift, level 
bosom of the little river lapsing into the open 
country. 
The evening farewell of the sun was glorify- 
ing the distant mountain lines, the sweet 
maple trees on either side of us were waving 
betwixt gloom and splendor, and the breeze 
was a deep, tender sigh of relief. 
“ Unde hec tam clara repente 
Tempestas ?” 
The belted halcyon turned aside in his flight, 
and perching upon a bough laughed his fill at 
us as we drew past him. ‘The roar of the rap- 
ids receded and faded, leaving at last in my 
heart a tender melody which never can depart. 
I had hovered on the THRESHOLD OF THE 
Gops! 
—= 
