LOON-SHOOTING IN A THUNDER-STORM. 105 



ment in the air, then die away. Then, nigh at hand, 

 a rushing sound, as the broom-like top of some 

 mighty pine swept through the air, would faU 

 upon the ear, followed by the crash of broken 

 boughs and the heavy thump of the huge trunk 

 as it smote the earth. Then, far away, half 

 smothered between the mountains, would rise 

 again the dull roar, and we knew another mon- 

 arch of the woods had yielded its life at an 

 unknown summons. 



I am free to confess, that John's remark as to 

 the effect of such a phenomenon upon one, was 

 then and there fully verified by myseK. I know 

 nothing more mysteriously solemn than this sound 

 of faEing trees coming up from the forest, — falling, 

 so far as you can see, without cause. What unseen 

 hand smites them ? What pressure, unfelt by man, 

 pushes their vast trunks over ? Is it to the Spirit 

 of the coming Storm they bow, prostrating them- 

 selves in anticipation of his chariot's approach ? Is 

 there some subtle and hostile chemistry in the air 

 which penetrates their fibres, weakening them to 

 their fall? Or do these aged patriarchs of the 

 wood, with fearful prophecy, foresee their hour 

 of doom, and, in the breathless luU ere the tem- 

 pest breaks, yield like an ancient Eoman to their 

 fate? 



" Perchance," I said to John, " He who noteth 

 the falling of a sparrow and marketh the boundary 



5* 



