RECREA TION. 



185 



inside the great crater on Mount Edge- 

 combe, but his sides were ablaze with 

 the light of the evening sun, and the 

 streaks of lava which seamed the 

 glistening snow looked like streams of 

 red wine down the sides of some 

 mighty wassail-bowl of the gods. 



Twenty years and more have since 



gone by, but the four sportsmen still 

 have pleasant memories of their red 

 letter day amid the glaciers. They 

 tell their children, and perchance their 

 children's children, the story of how 

 they caught the salmon trout at the old 

 Russian mill, away up in Alaska, on ihat 

 day long, long ago. 



SUNRISE IN THE SIERRAS. 



Elizabeth A. Vore. 



O'er Sierras' snow-crowned summit, 



Climbed the smiling god of day, 

 To caress the slumbering morning — 



Kiss the dewey mists away 

 From her heavy, sleepy eyes, 



Till the morn awakens, blushing, 

 And with maiden haste she flies 



From the sun's hot glance away, 

 Through the kindly shielding vapors, 



To put on the robes of day. 



Hark ! upon the blissful silence 



Comes a burst of music sweet, 

 As the feathered songsters hasten 



The fair young bride to greet. 

 Warbling, thrilling— lark and linnet 



Join the chorus one by one, 

 As they hail with joyous outburst — 



The glad nuptials of the sun. 



Through the valley softly stirring 



Sweeps the faint breeze from the Fa>t, 

 Where majestic San Jacinto 



Tranquil, white-robed, like a priest, 

 Raises its bared head to heaven. 



As in silent, earnest prayer — 

 So the mission fathers ofttimes 



Frayed with eyes directed there. 



Far beyond the distant foothills, 



To the westward, doth the sky 

 Meet the distant restless ocean — 



Tossing its white arms on high 

 Beckoning to the radiant bridegroom 



Smiling in the day's fair eyes, 

 Chanting low a benediction 



On the lovers of the skies. 



