The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-07-12

E&PHf uut500 Bt<u HIS o4xc neokS aS 0C alternately prodded and jerked at the bit Of his haEd-mouthed beast to force her into something resembling trot He, too. angling bells and ancient mule, soon turned corner into a narrow lane :: and by and by as we vent on the golden eyed dandehons came put from their hooks n the fcnee-eoEners. and starekl up a; us in seeming surprise : violets, flash ing on grassy moss-tnfts. sparkled with that .s5sSc.h.e air ef cheeyfnlness and dewy coolness, which only . wild violet possesses on May morning. Now and then we passed some fields where already some one was out plowing, the sod land turning up with moist dew-smoke that reached far back 10 the beginning of the furrow. the foam-covered farm-horses Qpegcheron Normal snor,ing with arching neck and flashing eyes as they bent their deep. powerful shoulders to the draft.
 Southwestern Kentucky, being newer. lacks the prairie-hke landscape beauty of the Blue Grass region proper. yet it is questionable if its diversified scenery is not more attractive from an artistic and picturesque point of view. Here we have slender belts ot wood ringing the wide fields; sometimes some bold aeclivity in the centre of a field is crowned with a small cluster Of flores, nees-an oasis of palm in a desert of pasture-land here, too, there are gentle little valleys running three or tour miles, again little creeks running between farms, mostly fringed over by golden-rods, lady-hngers. touch me-nots and sun-fowers. Sometimes. too, the little reedy pools are overhuug by water-liilies and flaming marsh-pinks. Then, as we go on, the view changes: Reaches of meadow lay on either hand.
 Cleaning like frost, deep seas. and after
 these
 Grea, waves of rolling grass slope down to The far of woods which stand like froSnins
 walls
 Low hills jut up al random. here and there, Cone-shaped, niist-capt, clad in fror, foot 10
 crown
 With quie, fields of waving grass and A hanging landscape 10 swing
 around
 We wheel pas, the fields and the graz ing herds, gradually dropping down into the rich alluviai bottoms. Now we ramble across little bridge, turn a sharp corner, and enter into the deep silence of the deeper woods. Here were grez. oaks towering up, poplars iust putting out their delicate leaves, and ash casting down great worm-like whoris of soft, gray bleom. A dense mass of under brush made it almos, as impenetrable as a jungle. Further on, the woods opened somewhat into little verdurous vistas and sylvan lawns, deep-hushed d in shadowy quie,ness. Here the red-hnds and dogwoods (cercis siiiquasirum and cornus) shook their tangled banners of purple and snow, and a great yellow poplar let fall its golden chalices upon the wavy plots of bluegrass which grew wild in this little valley. Here and there deep-foliaged elm lifted its sinewy boughs; and overhead, in the ,opmost branches, the hang bird. or oriole, flashed in and ou; like a shuttle of crimson flame. Further on VIC came upon spot stil! more quiet and shadowy-a rninia- ture park miles from the open country which had that fresh, unsullied air Of woody, reed-like silence common to glades seldom trodden save by wander ing cattle Tn quest of the long grass of its bosom. In local topography this last little glade of whispering grasses is known as "Green Lick" and Is a sudden CIT cular opening surrounded by wild crab- trees (Malus coronaria) and species of giisteny-leaved wild haw, now in full bloom, loading the air with a subtly in- vigorating and pungent fragrance. In the centre of this quiet plot rises a little pyramid about four feet high, which one might fancy Druid's altar. The base of this steep earth-mound has the appear ance of carved-work, waere for years the red deer of the forest have plied their tongues in search of the curious saline substance which its soil contains. The margin of this sudden droop is also fretted into many Assured cavities by the same process. On the outer rim of this basin, under the s,un,ed shrubberies, grow many waving ferns and moses, and through the open spaces we could see the wild lark-spurs flashing among the fiery whorled marsh-pinks in the tall reeds near by. From where we sat we could hear the waters babbling down some rocky cascade in the creek (Highland ), save that, the silence reigned and we sat awed. as docs one in listening to some soulful air of the old masters, by the deep stiffness and the deeper quiet of the grea, dusky shadows which fell upon us from the overhanging foliage. All was hushed, deep, profound. There was earthly gloom, silence, calm, when sud denly "patter, batter. batter /" fell few raindrops from passing cloud; and inn mediaiely out of the inner depths of a great maple near by arose the strange, mournful call of the rain-crow: "Cho- luk. cho-luk! chuck-chuck-chuck" A tree-toad answered momen.ly, in a voice grating and harsh as the terrible
 Lasciate ogui speranza, vol ch entrase. '' of Dante Then again silence sa, under the shadows and brooded-
 There is always something weird in such quietness. It is inexplicable: the tangible and intangible meet in the soul, shadowy and unreal, as the ghossiiness of the duskily surrounding gloom. Here u>< she ion0 tanofA.i 0ra<< of 0uy drsar.