78 THE SNOW-WALKERS. 



brought out, begins to decline. Vague rumors are 

 afloat in the air of a great and coming change. We 

 are eager for Winter to be gone, since he too is fugi- 

 tive, and cannot keep his place. Invisible hands de- 

 face his icy statuary ; his chisel has lost its cunning. 

 The drifts, so pure and exquisite, are now earth- 

 stained and weather-worn, the flutes and scallops, 

 and fine, firm lines, all gone ; and what was a grace 

 and an ornament to the hills is now a disfiguration. 

 Like worn and unwashed linen appear the remains of 

 that spotless robe with which he clothed the world 

 as his bride. 



But he will not abdicate without a struggle. Day 

 after day he rallies his scattered forces, and night 

 after night pitches his white tents on the hills, and 

 would fain regain his lost ground ; but the young 

 prince in every encounter prevails. Slowly and re- 

 luctantly the gray old hero retreats up the mountain, 

 till finally the south rain comes in earnest, and in a 

 night he is dead 



