Music — Poetry — Fiction 



along in the lovely forest, in a rural solemnity, in a local calm, 1886 

 almost a seclusion, except for the ever-present shuddering roar 

 in the air. On the shore above the Horseshoe they first compre- 

 hended the breadth, the great sweep, of the rapids. The white 

 crests of the waves in the west were coming out from under a 

 black, lowering sky; all the foreground was in bright sunlight, 

 dancing, sparkling, leaping, hurrying on, converging to the angle 

 where the water becomes a deep emerald at the break and plunge. 

 The rapids above are a series of shelves, bristling with jutting 

 rocks and lodged trunks of trees, and the wildness of the scene is 

 intensified by the ragged fringe of evergreens on the opposite 

 shore. 



Over the whole island the mist, rising from the caldron, drifts 

 in spray when the wind is favorable; but on this day the forest 

 was bright and cheerful, and as the strollers went farther away 

 from the Great Fall, the beauty of the scene began to steal away 

 its terror. The roar was still dominant, but far off and softened, 

 and did not crush the ear. The triple islands, the Three Sisters, 

 in their picturesque wildness appeared like playful freaks of 

 nature in a momentary relaxation of the savage mood. Here 

 is the finest view of the river; to one standing on the outermost 

 island the great flood seems tumbling out of the sky. They con- 

 tinued along the bank of the river. The shallow stream races 

 by headlong, but close to the edge are numerous eddies, and 

 places where one might step in and not be swept away. At 

 length they reached the point where the river divides, and the 

 water stands for an instant almost still, hesitating whether to take 

 the Canadian or American plunge. Out a little way from the 

 shore the waves leap and tumble, and the two currents are like 

 race-horses parted on two ways to the goal. Just at this point 

 the water swirls and lingers, having lost all its fierceness and haste, 

 and spreads itself out placidly, dimpling in the sun. It may be a 

 treacherous pause, this water may be as cruel as that which rages 

 below and exults in catching a boat or a man and bounding with 



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