motes of tbe 



the river. I recognized the sound, but where were 

 the ducks. The sky was clear as crystal, and I 

 had seen the bats occasionally cross the face of 

 the moon; but no dark streaks were seen even 

 where the light shone brightest. There were many 

 of them, judging by the sound, and they flew but 

 a short distance above the tree-tops ; yet I failed 

 to see even a single one. 



The woods were very dark when I reentered 

 them ; and because a mist was gathering, I sup- 

 pose, the light that straggled through the inter- 

 twined branches of the trees was not diffused but 

 solid like pillars, and I thought of the ghosts of 

 those trees that once stood here : ghosts of oaks 

 and beeches and stately liquidambars, compared 

 with which the present trees were pygmies. Stand- 

 ing in these pillars of misty light, the forest was 

 very dark beyond their boundary, and passing into 

 the unlit woods these same lights seemed not to 

 cast any shadows, but to illuminate themselves 

 alone. It was a cold, cheerless condition that I 

 had not found before ; one that made the darkness 

 visible but could not dissipate it. I was glad to 

 reach the wide, open meadows and to know that 

 the river was not far off. The moonlit meadows ! 

 There 's music in the very name! Mist, as I 

 stepped upon them, was rising from all the damper 

 portions and rolling its filmy waves over the pas- 

 tures. Not an outline was distinct ; yet there was 

 light enough to dispel all doubt. The brilliant 

 38 



