The Portland daily press., 1862-08-30
cal service that cold night by the shores of the

real service that cold night by the shores of the
Lake.
The moon rose at o'clock A. NJ, just over
the top of the "walP' under which we slept
And yet the late Mr.. Robert B. Thomas stated,
in that interesting statistical annual published
by his heirs, that the moon ought to rise at s
p. M! Whom shall we believe? Our faith
in Robert B. is shaken, and not even the
weather prophecies reassure us.
The mist rose slowly from the lake, and.
drifting in gentle whirl, like incense burnt
upon day In June, formed pillar of cloud
even with the summit of the wall. The very
top of the column of mist was silvered BY the
moonlight, and, transformed by the magic of
the seven daughters of light, became beauti-
full cloud of many colors.
With the black wall rising over us, we imag-
Inc ourselves in the depth of some canon in
the Colorado Valley; and then, as the moon
| lights up the sides of the mountain, we con-
ceive thst we are standing in Roman amphi-
theatre. 1t is such an amphitheatre as you and
l used to dream about under the trees of a
June afternoon, when our Latin studies for the
| day were over.
"Quip," exclaimed Dave, 81 feel as if ought
to write some poetry; but 1 am so confounded
tired after my tramp through those briar BUSH
es. The moon, that "pale-faced orb" so to
| speak, and the mountain, which is very much
like that cave in the Ledger story where the
man came so very near being drowned Just as
he remarked that his remains could be found in
fha Ta1o r.
me. Well, l feel poetical, and am hesitating
whether l ought to give way to it."
Don't" said Quip, in much alarm; sWhy.
you are man of family, the head of family;
that is to say, you and Mrs. ID. are; and you
are foolish TO think of writing poem. Be-
sides, you weigh too much. Your poetry
would be long meter, and four lines to the
pound"
well, O., you are a friend of mine, and
honor your Judgment SO I'll quench the poet
ic fire, and, turning to the moon) you, you
pale-faced humbug, shining by borrowed light,
you would have been bankrupt long ago if the
sun hadn't given you an extension; because
you never can give back half you borrow ev-
cry thirty days on sight; you, whom mad NOR
tails call all sorts of names; no you DON'T
You don't get any lines out of me; no sir. and
no ma'am." And the last we heard of Dave.
as he mummified himself up in his blanket.
was, 'no you don't"
Quip, before he again laid down, scratched
off this blank prose, which he handed me. un-
der protest. The echo at this camp was per
feet, and rendered the answer very appropri
ate.
What dost thou give to mortals, for the odes
they write
To thee, oh pallid walker in the shades of nighty
To those who call thy silver darkness light,
Oh, thou of poets the great Infuencer?
And echoing voices answered.
'Infuence, sir"
Thinking there might be some mistake ask
"And what wilt thou give for this my
chilly task
If should write, Others write, an ode
to thee,
oh thou of mortals the great Influenccry'
And echoing voices answered.
"Infuenzar
Quip thought it was poor encouragement to
write! Cold comfort!
The morning came to us too early. by the
-
lake. 1t was to be our last view of the great
mountain. and we gazed in silence.
The wall became, in the sunlight. purple
with reflected light, and we could observe
coumnar character of the wall, which had
previously escaped our notice. With this pill
lar-like mural rock we could see that the Ba-
sin of Kahtahdin is indeed a glorious ampi-
theatre. As the purple SUBMITS of the col
umns became red and golden in the higher
sunlight, we turned from the mountain on our
way home. Our good-byes were silently ut
tered; the farewells TO the mountain were
spoken in the heart.
Our journey from Kineo to Katahdin is end
ed. l thank my readers for their patience and
kindness in the long way from the Lake to the
Mountain, and sincerely trust that If our
roundabout journey has been, in any degree,
pleasant one, Others which we may soon take
together may be even more pleasant than this
from Kineo to Katahdin. G..