









; 



. 



then a slow recession back to silence, 

 am not discouraged; sooner or later that 

 multitudinous rustle of the wild woods will 

 break into clear-voiced speech. I am sure, 

 too, that some great movement of life is 

 about to display itself before me. Is not 

 this hush the sudden stillness of those whom 

 I have surprised and who have, on the 

 instant, sprung to their coverts and are 

 waiting impatiently until I have gone, to 

 resume their interrupted frolic ! I have 

 often watched and waited here before in 

 vain, but surely to-day I shall beguile these 

 hidden folk into revelation of that wonder- 

 ful life they have suddenly suspended ! So 

 I throw myself at the foot of a great pine, 

 and wait ; the minutes move slowly across 

 the unseen dial of the day, and I have be- 

 come so still and motionless that I am part 

 of this secluded world. The sun shines 

 abroad, but I have forgotten it ; there are 

 clouds passing all day in their aerial jour- 

 neyings, but they cast no shadow over 

 me ; even the flight of the hours is un- 

 noticed. Eternity might come and I should 

 94 



