46 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
the flying truant when he had once safely passed 
that scene of youthful terrors, and the latch¬ 
string of the humble home was pulled with a 
desperate jerk, and the door once more snugly 
closed behind him. 
“ The memory of that landscape was a dark 
one. For years it was the image which the 
young mind associated with the dark abode 
of the lost. 
“ Years of absence and study had corrected 
and modified many early mistakes and miscon¬ 
ceptions, and had opened up new scenes of 
beauty and sources of pleasure where only bar¬ 
renness seemed at first to abound; but still the 
dark imagery of that lake of desolation remained 
clear and distinct. After wandering for a quar¬ 
ter of a century amid other scenes, and gaining 
a somewhat extensive knowledge of the wonder- 
treasures of the world, the home of childhood 
was again revisited. When the steps were first 
turned in that direction, there hung the dark 
scene of the dismal swamp and stagnant stretch 
of water, as vivid as ever. Standing at last on 
the familiar old spot, and looking out on a scene 
but little changed in its outlines, the weird en¬ 
chantment of other days was broken. The 
