38 MOUNTAIN SOLITUDE. 



when we came upon them suddenly, and they 

 ran off affrighted, something between a hiss 

 and a whistle. Surely I was not mistaken ! 



PISCATOR. You were not. I believe the cry 

 is peculiar to our mountain breed of sheepf It 

 is wel] known to the shepherds. It denotes 

 their wildness, and the wild sheep, I have read, 

 uses the same note of alarm. The silence you 

 speak of, is indeed peculiar, and worthy of 

 note : commonly when I have been here, it has 

 been less marked. I have rarely been here at 

 this season without hearing, besides the wan- 

 dering voice of the cuckoo, the shrill scream of 

 the hawk, soaring over its eyrie, or the deep 

 croak of the passing raven floating in mid-air, 

 and to the angler, the more pleasing and 

 cheering sound, that of the leaping trout. The 

 perfect calm bodes us anglers no good. Were 

 there a wind we should hear its music amongst 

 the rocks, and might have a chance of success 

 in our angling. I fancied when we stopt, 

 after climbing the steep ascent of the mountain 

 side, coming from Far-Easedale, that I saw you 

 counting your pulse. If so, what was the 

 result ? 



AMICUS. My breathless state and my beating 



