Valley of the Black River. 33 



locusts, to the thin vertical branches, clustering 

 thicker and thicker until the high trees looked 

 black with them ; then a mightier gust would 

 smite and sway the tall tops down, and the swal- 

 lows, blown from their insecure perch, would rise 

 in a purple cloud to scatter chattering all over the 

 windy heavens, only to return and congregate, 

 hovering and clinging as before. 



Lying on the grass, close to the river bank, I 

 would watch them by the hour, noting their unrest 

 and indecision, the strangeness and wild spirit that 

 made the wind and vexed poplars congenial to 

 them ; for something new and strange had come to 

 trouble them the subtle breath 



That in a powerful language, felt, not heard, 

 Instructs the fowls of heaven. 



But as to the character of that breath I vainly 

 questioned Nature, she being the only woman who 

 can keep a secret, even from a lover. 



Rain came at last, and fell continuously during 

 an entire night. Next morning (February 14fch) 

 when I went out and looked up at the sky, covered 

 with grey hurrying clouds, I saw a flock of forty or 

 fifty large swallows speeding north ; and after these 

 I saw no more ; for on that first wet morning, 

 before I had risen, the purple cloud had forsaken 

 the valley. 



I missed them greatly, and wished that they had 

 delayed their going, since it was easier and more 

 hopeful to ponder on the mystery of their instinct 



D 



