The herald., 1893-11-19

chantment is thrown over the mind, and
the
Land of the mountain and the food,
Land OF brown heath and shaggy wood"
rises before the imagination.
Away above the rocky walls that en-
close the narrow gorge dense growth
OF low bushes covers the steep mountain
side. This recalls the "bonnie bloom
ing heather" that clothes in purple the
mountains OF Scotland, where
soft, long ago, in my rowing youthful days,
l hae nestled and rolled 'mang the bright SUI
There I courted my love amans the rocky
felis,
And won s,1n my Mary's heart upon the heather
A little later in the season much of
the shrubery will be covered with bright
flowers, like the broom that grows
$50 fair on Cowdenknows;
For sure, SO sweet, SO soft bloom
Elsewhere there never grows"
From every crevice in the rocks, where
any fiat spot offers lodgment for
little soil, trailing vines, ferns and
flowers grow luxuriantly, and
"Like penons and like banners bright,
DO all the walls adorn."
The stream flowing down the glen
recalls the 'burnie" imortalized by
Burns:
"whyles owre linn the burnie plays,
Az tnrO' The g en- II win pePt;
WhyIes round d rocky s,aur IL strays;
WhYlesin a Will /. dlmppt.
Wtyles ,iJterd TO tn IL ghtiy rays
wa btckerlng dancin dazzle;
Wdyl .cookir underneath the braes,
Below tue spreading hnzs."
Ascending. the gorge becomes narr ow,
the enclosed walls oil rock much higher,
and The shade deepens to the gloaming.
Pretty cataracts and pools of crystal
clearness are met at short distances
apart. The gorge is steep and very
rugged, and to 90 up it-would be tori
some, ii it we're not that good plank
walk is made most of the way
to the upper fall, with stairs at
ell the steepest points. The
path ends on a board platform. On
both sides and in front walls of granite,
nearly verticle, shoot up several hum
dred feet. From what appears to be a
mere crack or hole in tine face of the
cliff, at height of 13O feet above the
platform, the stream ruehes ont. 1t
does not fall vertically, but very nearly
so, rushing down the face of the cliff
like an endless web of snowy whiteness.
And once more the scene calls up recol-
lectiona OF the Highlands.
"While DER their heads The hazels hing,
Ihs little brides biythely sing,
Or lightly fit on waut wing,
In the Dlrks of berfeldy.
The brass ascend like lofty was.
Tne f0aming stream deep roaring fas,
U'erhung wi fragrant spreading shaws,
Tne birks of A berfeldy.
TIE hoary cliffs are crowned VII flowers,
While DER the linn the burnie pours,
And. rising, vets wi misty showers
The birks Of Aberfeldy."
A deep pool in front of the platform
receives the stream at the base of the
cliff, where it seems to pause for rest
before it again plunges on down the
gorge.
On the platform sat couple OF young
people. She is "a daughter of tine gods,
divinely tall and most divinely fsir;"
he as fine specimen oil young man
hood as ever the eye OF woman loved to
look upon. There might have been
come doubt in the minds of two other
visitors who stood upon the platform at
tho same time as these young people,
whether they were brother and sister.
or she was sister to somebody else.
But this doubt WAS quickly set at rest.
A small pipe reaching from the platform
to the falling water, and intended to
got stopped up. The young man saw
the two other visitors trying to get
water in vain; he at once lightly leaped
over the railing and approached the
pipe in order to remove the obstruction.
To get at the pipe he must cling to the
lace OF the rock where the only foothold
was mere crack, not affording 30 much
as two inches space to rest his feet up
on. To fall would be to plunge into the
deep pool OF ice-cold water below him.
But he kept his hold upon the rock, ad-
iueted the pipe and god back to the plat
form all right. After this exploit the
other visitors did not need to be in
formed that the young couple were not
brother and sister, his inspiration was
plain.
"Love rules the court, the camp the grove,
Aud men below and saints above,
For love is heaven and heaven is love-"
Knowing from reeollections of enrly
life that the lips of the young lady alone
could confer acceptable reward upon the
hero OF the adventure, the other visitors
promptly withdrew down the glen, in
order that the reward should not be
delayed. In very short time the
young couple also reached the station
in the cnfion, and it was easy to see
from the proud walk and happy look of
the young man that he, too, would say:
"Let fortunes gifts at random flee,
They neer shall draw wish fac me,
Supremacy blest wi love and thee,
In the birks of Aberieldy."
Such scenes and incidents inspire the
most profound love of country and make
patriots and heroes. The most endur-
ing and most pleasing recolections in
later lie are those connected with the
scenes OF early love and friendship,
.still oer these scenes my memory wakes,
And fondly broods with mfser care:
Time but the impression deeper makes, z
AS streams their channels deeper veal"