. Wit bought, or, A New York boy's adventures when the empire state was young . gs, that a speech, uttered inmomentary passion and seeming thought-lessness, clung to his mind, and never partedfrom him till death. Could that poor boyhave had the advantages of wise cultivation,what a noble heart had now beat in hisbreast! But, alas! he was bound to abriefer and more inglorious destiny! We pursued our way up the valley, loth toleave the course of the rivulet; for there is afascination about running water that few canresist—there is a beauty in it which enchantsthe eye—a companionship like that of
. Wit bought, or, A New York boy's adventures when the empire state was young . gs, that a speech, uttered inmomentary passion and seeming thought-lessness, clung to his mind, and never partedfrom him till death. Could that poor boyhave had the advantages of wise cultivation,what a noble heart had now beat in hisbreast! But, alas! he was bound to abriefer and more inglorious destiny! We pursued our way up the valley, loth toleave the course of the rivulet; for there is afascination about running water that few canresist—there is a beauty in it which enchantsthe eye—a companionship like that of life,and which no other inanimate thing of all brooks, this that I now describewas to me the sweetest. After proceeding a considerable distance,the valley became narrowed down to a rocky THE LAKE. 41 ravine, and the stream tumbled over a ruggedand precipitous rock. At last, about half-wayup the mountain, and at a considerable ele-vation, we reached the source of the rivulet,which consisted of a small lake of as purewater as ever reflected the face of It was surrounded on three sides by tallcliffs, whose dark, shaggy forms, in contrast,gave a silver brilliancy and beauty to themirror-like water that lay at their feet. Theother side of the lake was bounded by a WIT BOUGHT. sandy space, of small extent, in the centreof which stood a lofty tree. The objects that first presented them-selves, as we approached the lake, were awoodpecker sounding his watchmans rattleon the dry limb of a tree that projectedover the water, by way of warning to the tenants of the moun-tain that danger wasnear; a heron, stand-ing half-leg deep inthe margin of thewater, and seemingto be lost in a lazydream; a pair of har-lequin ducks thatwere swimming nearthe opposite shore;and a bald eagle, thatthe point of a rock which pro-jected a few feet outof the water near the centre of the lake. It was a time of feeling, rather than ofspeech. Neither my companion nor myselfspoke of the beau
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