244 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
Virgin to save him, that he might, by a long life of pen- 
ance, obliterate his sins. On the twelfth day of his 
wanderings he sank upon the earth to die, and, casting 
his eyes upward in prayer, he saw, far in the distance, 
towering above every other object, the cross ! 
It seemed a miracle, and inspired with strength his 
trembling limbs; he pressed forward that he might 
breathe his last at its foot. As he reached it, a smile 
of triumph lighted up his wayworn features, and he fell 
insensible to the earth. 
Never, perhaps, was this emblem more beautifully 
decorated or more touchingly displayed than was the 
one that towered over Rousseau. From indications, 
some fifteen years might have elapsed since the Kuro- 
pean pilerim had erected it. One of the largest forest 
trees had been chosen that stood upon the surrounding 
bluffs; the tall trunk tapered upward with the propor- 
tion of a Corinthian column, which, with the piece form- 
ing the cross, was covered with ten thousand of those 
evergreen vines that spread such a charm over the 
southern landscape. It seemed as if nature had paid 
tribute to the sacred symbol, and festooned it with a 
perfection and beauty worthy of her abundance. The 
honey-suckle and the ivy, the scarlet creeper and fra- 
grant jasmine, the foliage enamelled with flowers, shed 
upon the repentant, and now insensible Rousseau, a 
shower of fragrance. 
Near where he lay, there was a narrow and amply- 

