THE HOME OF THE WATER OUZEL 



were following him at a rapid rate, 

 their tremulous baying echoing in the 

 canons brought a tingle of excitement. 

 We followed them through tangled 

 thickets, over windfalls and over the 

 rolling hills, but we came ofT victors. 



The excitement of the chase soon 

 wore off, and we pursued our way 

 among the changing mazes. Ferns, 

 azaleas and trailing vines interspersed 

 the fascinating reach of woodland 

 grandeur, while the shaggy limbs of 

 the old trees were draped in golden 

 mosses. 



The music of the crooning wind 

 coursing through the boughs came 

 softly from the peaceful hills, and the 

 talkative brook added its liquid voice 



to swell the "harmonies of nature," as 

 it wound its tortuous way through the 

 forest. In the depth of the forest 

 gloom the brooding calm enhances the 

 enchanting picture, where the ever- 

 greens, Oregon grape, maiden-hair 

 ferns and leaves of scarlet, gold and 

 sepia brown, interwoven with mosses 

 of every imaginable color, vie with 

 each other in jealous rivalry in the ef- 

 fort to be most beautiful. Gaily plu- 

 maged birds wiere there, singing, scold- 

 ing and flitting among the branches, as 

 if trying to attune man's wanton heart 

 with the wonders of Nature's book. 



There the mountain brook races 

 over the rocks and plunges clown to 

 the depths, where the dainty gray 



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