46 
SOUNDS OF NATURE. 
Frequently the heavy hammer of the quarryman, 
falling and falling on the sandstone, resounds in the 
distance with a hoarse, dull echo. 
And finally, if you listen attentively, you catch a 
significant hum, and see, at your feet, legions of ants,— 
countless populations, the true inhabitants of the place, 
speeding over the withered and falling leaves. 
So many images are these of persistent toil, which 
blend with the fanciful a serious gravity. Each in his 
own way digs and digs. And do thou too pursue thy work, and 
exhume and stir up thy thought. 
■A 
IV. 
OUR STUDIES AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 
( Continued .) 
Even in its hours of silence, the forest occasionally 
finds a voice, a sound, or a murmur, which recalls to 
you the remembrance of life. 
Sometimes the laborious woodpecker, laboriously 
toiling at its task of excavating the oak, cheers itself 
with its singular cry. 
