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See America First

Chapter 2 THE MOUND BUILDERS

Word Count: 17001    |    Released on: 29/11/2017

relenti

barriers round

ers sure

enter thy unbr

y realm,

it in sullenn

rious a

in the shadow

ny a mi

epths, unutter

e are si

arts, an

C. B

f creation's morn? It is not written in history, neither does it live in tra

y of man is full of interest in proportion as the solution is set with difficulties. We question the past, but only here and there a response is heard. Surely bold is he who would attempt, from the few data at hand, to reconstruct the history of times and people so far removed. We quickly become convinced that many centuries and te

strangers; new sciences have enriched human life, and the fair structure has arisen on the ruins of the past. Many centuries, with their burden of human hopes and fears, have sped away into the past, since 'Hundred-gated Thebes' sheltered her teeming population, where now are but a mournful group of ruins

gigantic earthworks, also deserted mines, where we can trace the sites of ancient camps and fortifications, showing that the Indians of America's unbounded primeval forests and vast flowery prairies were intruders on an earlier, fairer civilizatio

e creeping southwestwardly from the region of Niagara and passed over two-thirds of our state, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River there were people here of an older race than the hills, as the hills now are; for the glaciers ground away the hills as they once were and made new ones, with new valleys between them, and new channels for the streams to run where there had never been water courses before. The earliest Ohioans must have been the same

of chipped stone and similar tools and weapons dropped on the gravelly banks of new rivers which the glaciers upheaved. Such an

e, or they may have remained in Ohio, and begun slowly to take on some faint likeness of civilization. There is nothing to prove that they stayed; but Ohio must always have been a pleasant place to live in after the great thaw, and it se

ts the highest point attained by this lost race in their earth-work structures. Why make a journey to Europe to see the old forts when we have in Ohio one so old we have no record of its building? Truly we were more impresse

could have produced such wonderful works as we find scattered about the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. It is stated that every Indian requires fifty thousand acres to live upon. If this be true this country in which we find

only a fort but was probably used as a village site, and has some features about it which are regarded as of a religious nature. The hill on which it stands is in most cases very steep towards the river. A ravine starts from near the upper end on the eastern side, gradually deepening towards the south, and finally turns abruptly towards the west of the river. By this means nearly the whole work occupies the summit of a detached hill, having in

bles the heavy grading of a railway embankment. Only one who has examined the walls can realize the amount of labor they represent for a people destitute of metallic tools, beasts of burden, and other facilities to constru

e decayed. Others, however, think that the wall was originally entire except in a few instances, and that the breaks now apparent were formed by natural causes, such as water gathering in pools, and muskrat

s it has been thought to have been the means of defending one part of the work, should an enemy gain entrance to the other. It has also been s

ent of Science, and one of the foremost scientists this country has produced, gave an ad

. Availing themselves of spurs of the old table land which were almost entirely cut off by the gorges tributary to the river, they ran their earth walls with infinite toil in a tortuous, crenulated line along the margins of the declivities. Where the latter was sharp and precepitous the earth walls were left lighter. Where it became necessary to cross the table land, or where the slopes were gradual, the walls were made

ith continuity. Here again you must think of the conditions under which the work was accomplished. There were no beasts of burden to share the labor of their owners; the work was all done by human muscles. Buckets full of earth, each containing from a peck to a half bus

Men have always shown that they do not love hard work, and yet hard work was done persistently here. Are

t known to the ancients of Europe or Asia, but within these formidable lines there might be congregated at a mome

feet, their distant ends joining around a small mound. As this mound was not well situated for signal purposes, inasmuch as it did not command a very extensive view, and as the emb

morning ere yet the mists have arisen in the valley below, on the gently swelling ridge on which the ancient roadway lies. They near the mound, and a solemn stillness succeeds their chanting songs; the priests ascend the hill of sacrifice and prepare the sacred fire. Now the first beams of the rising sun shoot up athwart the ruddy sky, gilding the topmost boughs of the trees. The holy flame is kindled, a curling wreath of smoke arises to greet the coming god; the tremulous hush

m the top downward, and from one side of the base to the center disclosed the fact that the mound contained two sepulchres, one at the base and one near the center of the mound. These chambers had been constructed of logs, and covered with stone. T

rth for its construction was probably scraped from the surface and carried to the mound in baskets. A people who could erect such a monument as

heir roots into the earth, and so high that it is a hill, even among the hills that Nature planted around it. The very river, as though it shared one's feelings of compassion for the extinct tribes who lived so pleasan

by a vanished race as their last resting p

and sad

of ruthl

es and summit

f the white man

ling in

ice a thousand h

speaks of l

e city's e

tenants of th

got, their memo

s top I

around m

nsions, and th

labor that th

heir bloom

nature's face

and the

m's meand

view; and west

louds in crims

r's clang

e the Ind

ild fowl from

ld deer's and th

ly oaks

x-the canebr

k canoe

seless fro

morial of a

of art rises th

. A.

dous example of the work of the Mound Builders that it well deserves mention here. It is located in one of the most fertile sections in Illinois. It is well

that the earth for its construction was scraped up and brought thither without the aid of metallic tools or beasts of burden, and yet the earth was obtained somewhere and piled up over an area of fifteen acres, in one plac

istoric earthwork. It was originally more than thirty-five feet hi

ose for which this mound was erected. The second platform is reached at about the height of seventy-five feet, and contains about one and three-fourths acres. The third platform is elevated ninety

ters think that this huge piece of work was performed so that their tribe would have an elevation upon which to place their village, as an elevated site has always been an important factor in defenses. Other writers consider

om Columbus to Chillicothe, a distance of about forty miles, twenty mounds may be selected, so placed in respect to each other that it is believed if the country was cleared of forests, sign

Adams County. It is the largest and most distinct of this class of mounds in the United States if not in the whol

d by the hazy clouds and reveled in the unsurprising riches of the charming landscape. The road led through thick forests of oaks, linden and maple, through smiling vales and to the crests of hills overlooking l

bird as he fluttered about the elm like a dash of southern sunshine. Try as we would we found our thoughts straying from the dim days o

ed with those about which their poets have written so charmingly. They never were out among our blossoming wilderness while

he small brooklet, which attract the immediate passerby, are lost in the distance, but the range of forest clad hills, the wide expanse of fertile plain, or the purpling hills in the distance, determine the landscape and claim

ical of immortality. "Then a kite, by producing death, would be to them the working of some powerful spirit through that serpent. Its power to destroy life no doubt caused it to be held in great veneration by many primitive tribes. Likewise any striking object in Nature, such as a river, lake, precipitous cliff, with singular shaped stone such as we have here on the crescent shaped plate

n County, but space forbids a description of it. Not far

ry remarkable and distinct serpent, constructed of stone. This work has so much in common with the Ohio

since wholly disappeared. On excavating the circular cairn, or circle of stones forming the head, a chamber containing burnt bones, charcoal and burnt hazelnuts, and an implement of flint were found. The removal of peat, moss and heather from the back of the reptile showed that the whole length of the spine was carefully constructed, with regularly and symmetrically placed stones at such angles as to throw off rain... The spine is, in fact, a long narrow causeway made of large stones, set like the vertebrae of some

the dark blue water, at the base, as it were, of a triple cone-Scotland's Mou

pective situations? Each has the head pointing west, and each terminates with a circular enclosure, containing an altar, from which, looking along the most

es published represent the oval as the end of the works. Prof. Putnam who visited the works in 1883, noticed, between the oval figure and the edge of the ledge a slightly raised, circular ridge of earth, from either side of which a curved ridge extended towards the side of the oval figure

e streams on either side of it, may have been given to tradition. The isolation of the spot is remarkable. Two streams which here separate the tongue of land from the adjoining country unite just below the cliff, and form an extensive open valley, which lays the country open for ma

erect an effigy on the summit which would both satisfy the superstition and represent the tradition. It would then become a place where the form of the serpent divinity was plainly seen, and where the worship of the serpent, if it could be called worship, would be practiced. Along with this serpent worship, however, there was probably the formality instituted here, and the spot made sacred to them. It was generally 'sacrificing in a high place,' the fi

tion which found its embodiment here was the old Brahmanic tradition of the serpent and t

of Hiawatha we have

di

Hiawatha

solitar

musing in

lfare of

uch he took

nts of diffe

th bark of

ny shapes

and myst

igure had

rd or though

anito, t

ter of Life

with points

winds of t

is the Gr

aning of t

anito, t

aded Spiri

pent was

k the grea

fty, ver

eping Spir

aning of t

om "The Egg

fell through the stained glass and darkened the vast aisles. The grandeur and solemn beauty of this noble pile at this time of day touched the imagination most deeply. Then listening to the me

ads to a height of five hundred two feet, the exact length of the cathedral. Here we gazed out over the level plain that stretched away to the marvelous scenic region of the Seven Mountains. The foundation of t

daughter of Germanicus and the mother of Nero. It was from Cologne that Hadrian received his summons to Rome as emperor.

its superb towers numerous birds darted to and fro, where they dwelt safely as in a citadel. Pretty falcons circled gracefully about them as though they were crags of some wild mountain; rooks cawed from their lofty stations below the bells; chimney swifts glued their lo

this feeling of reverence. "We remembered that this glorious structure had been erected to the 'God of Peace' in the midst of strife and bitterness, and by men estranged by the first principle of the Gospel." But here we beheld French officers, Scotch Highlanders, English and American sol

, a primitive people erected their altars and offered up their sacrifice to their gods. Here as the rays of the sun filtered through the leafy windows of the trees falling upon the richly wrought mosaic of ferns and flowers, where the gorgeous cardinal blossoms flamed from a hund

of those ancient people, filled the solemn place. The aged trees sighed in the evening wind, telling over and over their mournful legends, lest they forget. The storm-swept maples repeated their "rhythmical runes of these unremem

usand gleaming eyes peered out of the velvety canopy around us. The mournful distressing notes of the ghost bird broke the stillness. The scream of some passing night bird replied as if in answer to their weird calls. A great horned owl made us shiver with his "hoo, hoo, hoo," as the flame shot upward in scarlet circles. The night wind stirred the branches, which sighed audibly, and died away leaving the place lonelier than before. Then the sharp bark of a fox rang out from a neighboring hill. The breeze started up again and a limb of a tree that rubbed against its neighbor produced a wailing sound as of some one in distress. We could see fantastic shapes ou

n our own land? Then as if we heard a voice from the shadowy past, rising from these silent ruins, we begin to gain their secret at last. The Parthenon and Coliseum call u

e notes through the silvery spring nights over the graves of this vanished race of America. Let us concern ourselves about the past only as that past shall contribut

thousand years came and went and the Indian warrior reverently spared the last resting place of these unrecorded dead, another people reared their legislative halls out of their mouldering sepulchres and crumbling bones. O, American

we fancied, "they are not here," as he did on that first morning. Man, yes, nations pass away and are forgotten, yet the spirit of life is ever perpetuated in a thousand new and lovely forms. At times we are touched by the fluttering of the maple leaves as if we read a mournful prophecy. Even now the petals of the wood rose are lying around us and we see signs where earlier blossoms have faded. Yet will they

race who toiled here. How well the secrets of the past are guarded! "Try as we might we could not roll hack the flight of time, even by the aid of ancient history, by whose feeble light w

ese ancient mounds. The vandal hand of conquering man has destroyed or hid from sight many of the monumental works of this primit

arn humility from the past; and when, here and there, we come upon some reminder of a vanished people, trace the proofs of a teeming population in ancient times, and

moral of all

same rehearsa

and then glory-

corruption,-ba

with its v

ut one

in "Allan's History of Civilization." We are also indebted to Mr. Randal

NANDOAH

stern direction to the Potomac Water Gap at Harpers Ferry. Through it runs what was once known as the "Great Valley Pike" and which is now part of the National Highway. Not only its incomparable scenery but its many thrilling campaigns of historical sign

rom it during the Revolution Morgan conducted his vigorous operations against the British; last but not least, it was

r barrier on the north where the Federals were compelled to wade to victory; while the western front, a high range of the Blue Ridge, stretched along the sky like a vast wall, its purple ramparts frowning down in defiance, or the nearer hills rising impressive

cks rise and tower above you and the broad stream is filled with boulders of various sizes, making innumerable cascades, which present a scene of rare beauty. After climbing by many and variou

raight toward Washington, while a Union advance south would lead from a straight course to Richmond. The Potomac flows at right angles to the line of the ridge, therefore a Confederate force crossing the valle

ns led. It was the bloom-time of the year in the uplands; the landscapes of the valley were sparkling in the sunlight, the songs of numerous larks rose like incense from every meadow, the vireo filled in every pause

orange of the butterfly weed, the purple of various mints, the gleaming gold of numerous compositae making the place rich in floral bea

vation had been here many years, yet this only served to enhance the loveliness of the scene; and we wandered enchanted from place to place in long wavering curves, knowing that each ne

wn, that impulsive but noble soul for whom Freedom was a passion. What matter though he was hanged, the nation shall ever honor his memory. Ther

f this poem which, in its majestic sweep

sawatomie spoke

shrive my soul a pri

lave-mother whom I

from the gallows st

r

awatomie, they le

mother with her littl

eye grew tender, an

w m

n the jeering ranks

il

stormy life that

the bloody hand forg

ts guilty means rede

fighter's hair the m

e folly that seeks

rous purpose unsta

dnight terror, but

erl

pride of daring,

rif

Blue Ridges the no

of blazing homes f

ea

inged angel Truth

al

t is more than mig

n m

Virginia set her

ing squadrons knea

h c

e pouncing eagle,

the

bars to Hate shal

itt

and defeats that it was known as the "Valley of Humiliation." It had to be wrested from the enemy before the Richmond Campaign could be carried out. General J. F. Johnston, commander of the forces known as the Army of the Shenandoah, was stationed at the outlet of the valley. Jackson, too, began his

e Confederacy" and a granary it really was, "for it was rich not only in grain but an abundance of fruit and live stock; and what more would the North want for the support of its army? It was in the possession of the Confederates; much wanted by the Federals, and in time came to be a great campaign ground of both armies"-the Belgium of America. What thrilling marching and counter-marching the lower valley might tell! What a history those villages must have had from 1861 t

terrible the scenes of devastation and the toll of life! Waste were the golden fields of grain upon which we gaze with such rapt admiration. Waste, too, were these mills with their whir of industry. The fury of war fell on those sunny acres like a great pestilence, and their usefulness and beauty became desolation. The o

e shadowy hemlock and fragrant pine swaying in the breeze still tell their age-old songs. The sunbeams spangled on the broad green leaves of the sycamore tree, their tracery of white boughs relieved against the dense groves of evergreens, made studies in light and shade worthy of an Innes; while beneath these grand trees tall ferns and velvety mosses contrasted their various shades of green over which rose spikes of flaming cardinal flowers and blue mists of mints making the picture complete. Then, too, song birds enlivened the fair scene with their notes. In th

plane without bombs. The spider weaves pontoons from tree to bush and sits in his silvery fortress trying to beguile the unwary flies by his kingly demeanor. The great blue heron, like a French sentinel on duty along the muddy Meuse, awaits in silence any hostile demonstrations from those green-coated Boches among their camouflaged fortresses of spatterdocks and lily pads. The muskrat goes scouring the w

leads you! "At Staunton the Virginia Central railroad crosses the valley on the way to Charlottesville. Fifty-five miles north of Staunton an isolated chain of mountains known as the Massanutten range, which is high and abrupt, divides the valley for more than forty miles until at Strassburg it falls again suddenly to the plain. Like the Appalachians it breaks into two ridges-Massanutten

a medley of bird notes that fell thick as shrapnel around us. The vast hills covered with their leafy verdure of summer; the rich valley spread below us made radiant by the beauty of the descending sun and a light rain; voices rising on the misty air from the valley below-all seemed to unite in weaving a magic spell for the coming scene. As we gazed out over the peaceful valley a rainbow seemed to spring from

e one company was detached and thrown out as skirmishers in the woods of the river bank. The line across the rising ground of another slope in front was held by Moore. What a moment of awful suspense it must have been when Breckenridge moved to attack with the veteran brigades of Echols and Whartons! How the mountain must have sent back the roaring echoes as McLaughlin's artillery went into action on a sharp ridge that ran parallel with the pike! Breckenridge overlapping Moore drove him in confusion to the rear and with scarcely a pause came in excellent order against Thoburn's position, but

es were destroyed. It must have been a most dreadful sight for the inhabitants of this fertile valley to witness the eighteen thousand men under Crook, Averell, and Hunter marching through t

ed for want of fodder and rest; cattle were driven along by day and eaten at night; many wagons had to be burned b

nite gradations of azure and purple hues. The swift flowing streams with their liquid music rising from the distant woods; the graceful forms of hemlock and elm; the dim twilight vi

ting of trees, shrubbery and vines, we noticed hill rising above hill, some covered with fields of grass and grain, others clothed with forest; while the main line of the Blue Ridge rose sharp and clear against the sky with a ser

, then became more and more abrupt, until they grew precipitous and climbed high up, printing their faint outline on the azure sky of June. Looking out over th

d here. He was hanged in this city. Sadly we turned to look at the old courthouse on Main street where he was sentenced to death. Seven miles from here are located Shennondale springs which are said to be very much like those of Baden-Bade

, dating from the close of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. "Greenway Court," the h

as if they had no end." It must be a beautiful sight in spring to see the pink and white blossoms of these extensive orchards foretelling an abundant harvest. In June it is one vast expans

ember Winchester, for north of the city on a high knoll situated in a clump of trees is th

the territory until March 23, 1862, when the Federal forces under General Shields defeated an inferior federate force at Kernstown, four miles south of Winchester. The second battle of Winchester occurred on June 14, 1864, when the Confederates, under General Early, drove the Union troops from the town. The th

South at b

Winchester

d air with a

n haste to the

rumble, gru

battle was o

an twenty

ill those bi

long the ho

et into Winc

that red sea

lood of the

f the stake in

an twenty

a road from W

d highway l

h the flush of t

ack as the st

ass, as with

new the te

away with his

fell but his

an fifteen

those swift hoofs,

smoke from the

comet sweeping f

traitors the d

steed and the h

prisoners assaul

e where the ba

chargers has stra

an only ten

purning fee

owy Alpine

dscape sped

n flying bef

ike a bark fed

th wild eye

nearing his

the smoke of th

an only fiv

the general saw

and then the re

hat to do? A gla

is spurs with a

he line, 'mid a

retreat, checked

e master compel

h dust the black

is eye, and the r

the whole gre

t you Sherida

ter down to

urrah for

rah for hor

statues are p

dome of th

Soldiers' T

e glorious ge

letters both

steed that s

Sheridan i

ster-twenty

ley into two parts. Thus it may readily be seen why the possession of this place was all important to the Union troops, for with Strassburg in the hands of the Confederates, they could have menaced Washington, "either by way of H

a charming picture. As we journeyed on, the landscape had that luxuriance of foliage that reminded us of the vales and hills of Scotland. We became aware that our observation was correct, for we soon saw in the distance the town of Edinburgh. In Scotland we miss the vast wealth of forest-crowned

vidences of gruesome warfare between unknown Indian tribes long before the day of the Pioneer. At Redbanks Farm, north of Mount Jackson, is a great mound filled with the skeletons of a whole tribe exterminated b

among its glorious hills or swept with varied speed across the fertile plains. The old-fashioned country homes, quaint and peaceful villages, a

s with their forests of varying shades of green. Hemlock and pine made dark green patches interspersed with the brighter green of maple, tulip, poplar and beech, enlivened with the frosty blossoms of the chestnut and the creamy tints of the basswood; then there was the rich green of the meadows, the silvery bluegreen of the oats fields, and the golden green of the ripening wheat-a

ling ale from Nature's fountain among the cool fern-clad rocks, and we shall not lament the fact that we are so far removed from the public boarding house! Here in place of soulless melodies issuing from automatic players we have the heavenly notes of the woodthrush, the clear call of the crested titmouse, and the wild ringing notes of the cardinal. A matchless trio, accompanied by the vagrant breezes played upon the tree-harps, seconded by the singing of distant waterfalls. With greater reverence one breaks bread out here where spicy aromatic fragrance drifts by. Here you have become a pilgrim unawares, for before you are stately tulip poplars and graceful hemlocks like long sought shrines, bo

make the insects more active. The locusts shrill through the long sultry noon, the bees hum with greater industry among the flowers, multitudes of butterflies flit joyfully from place to place, and the turkey-vulture soars high above the forest, for the intense heat only serv

and Gorges creek coal region, and its rapid growth and prosperity are largely due to the traffic in coal collected here for shipment over the canal. It is also a manufacturing center possessing extensive rolling mills for the manufacture of railroad materials. It has iron foundries and steel shafting works. The city occupies the site of Fort Cumberland, which by order of General Burgoyne

-five miles in length that would lead through another country of such varied and picturesque scenery. The road wound through a very hilly, wooded, and farming country. The fields of wheat were a ri

ants to gladden the place with their beauty. Beauty lingers all around; there is much knowledge never learned from books and you receive from many sources, invitations to pursue and enjoy it. How one gazes at those glorious hills clad in their many green hues or distant purple outlines lest their beauty be lost! You will need neither notebook no

ng again and again the wondrous beauty of the trees, flowers and ferns, now gazing far out over some point to streams and woods and softly lighted fields or vast orchards whose straight rows disappear

e-like clusters along the mountain side or spread their lovely fronds along some river bank, while the dainty bladder bulblet draped ravines, gorges and steep banks of streams with long feathery fronds whose points overlapped the delicate light green of which formed a vast composite picture in sunlight and shadow. Here we first discovered the lizard's-tail, a tall plant crowned with a terminal spike whose point bent gracefully over, no doubt giving it its name. The stout stalks of elecampane with their large leaves and yellowish brow

ees. This delightful summer resort overlooking three states, as well as the broad Potomac and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, is worthy of a visit. About eleven miles from Hancock we crossed a long stone bridge over a stream with the unpronounceable name of "Conococheaque creek." This valley was inhabitated by other than the whites in days gone by. Here, where the golden harvest waits to be garn

and through the valley it seemed as if every leaf and flower and grass blade instantly took on new life. How fresh and pure the old trees looked! The fragrance from the pine, sweet-scented fern and numerous mints was more pronounced. "Detached clouds seemed to be continually leaving the main mass like scouts sent out in advance to drop their silver spears on the heads of ferns and flowers on other hills." Some of the detached portions moved up the valley, others rose slowly above the wooded ridges or trailed their tattered fringes near the tree tops that seemed to have torn their edges. Every bush and leaf was sat

is seen disappearing behind a range of hills that rises high above the town to the northwest; while to the southea

seen rising from their numerous tepees, like small clouds of vapor after a summer rain. Here if you look westward you may see the gap in the Massanuttens, through which Stonewall Jackson's army ma

eckenridge's forces. In this desperate crisis of the last months of the war, these brave lads reached New Market at night after a strenuous march of three days. "The early hours of the morning found them in battle line, where for several hours they held their position in spite of a galling fire from the infantry and a heavy destructi

nized the care of this boys' army and carried on the nursing and relief work. No wonder those brave la

ises that wonder of wonders, Old Massanutten. It may be an outcast among mountains, for the other ranges leave it severely alone. It is a short range and rises very abruptly from the valley being parallel to the other ranges. Its rough bouldered sides form a striking contrast to the other ranges of the valley. It is a strange, solitary range

untain in a Ford. He must have been prejudiced toward this type of auto for he was heard to repeat again and again: "No, sah, I'se nebber gwine to go to de top ob old Massanutten in a 'Fod.' No, sah, yo ain't nebber gwine to ketch me goin' up dat frien'ly invitation to de open grave, in dat Fod. Man, Oh man! you-all don' know what chances you-all is takin. Look away out over the valley to de homes you am leaben

as evening drew on and the shadowy ravines seemed hushed and serene as his "angelus" sounded in these vast mountain solitudes. Each note was a pearl to string on the sacred rosary of memory and how often "we shall count them over, every one apart" and be drawn nearer the Master of all Music! Oh these vast, immeasurabl

ted men who are deceived into thinking their education would take the place of honest toil. This particular man doubtless never learned that "all values have their basis in cost, and labor is the first cost of everything on which we set a price." The prizes of life

at he had business that brought him from the fertile valleys of Ohio to his mountain home. When anyone unsolicited begins to tell of his business or what it used to be, beware, for the real workers of the world have no time to tell what they are doing. "Now, you see it is like this," he said, "a man who owns forty-eight acres of timber here hired me to guard it against timber thieve

ny disputes in regard to their right location. To save a certain strip of land he "done bought eleven acres more or less, then he goes down on the other side and buys twenty-nine acres more or less, twenty-eight for sure." We soon became fairly familiar with the lay of the land over which this man held ever a watchful eye while he o

aginary one as he had seriously contemplated moving down in the valley some day. He said "'a rolling stone gathers no moss,' neither does a settin' hen grow fat, but, I'll

sitting out at the front gate beneath an elm tree, waiting for something to turn up. She had failed to see patches of weeds in the yard and the veget

ound thar many a day." Looking at the flock of children who lacked many of the bare necessities of l

terspersed with villages, homes and vast stretches of corn, oats and wheat, all clothed in that blue filmy veil making all appear like a rich garden of various emerald tints. Far away toward the horizon rose a lovely forest-crowned ridge so glo

background. High in the azure dome a few rose-colored clouds were drifting, scarce seeming to move in the light filled ether. Over all the vast exp

floated to us from the nearby forests. The light vanished from the sky but the mysterious charm of the time was not broken. In the east a softer and more quiet splendor tipped the foliage with silvery radiance, edging the fleecy clouds w

nlight Sonata floated dreamily upon the calm night a

prayer; the b

leams through t

trembling in t

ain looms dim

home to rest; th

ust, stirred by t

tars gush forth

en flings the

ath-all blend i

aveler gropes h

il, with wrong,

ht! with sober

d, the sheep's s

ns opprest with

es for rest, and

es with angels

strange pleasu

ittle face upra

s, barefoot knee

r with selfsame

common Fathe

sleep, the gol

usy day's las

uous flitting th

lips and golde

o'er bright flow

ustered cradles

childhood! sim

bers! peaceful,

ship! ever ga

to the harmon

th the wing en

yer the infant

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