The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-02-11

~ nctie old city Of Philadelphia winds
the lovely Wissahickcn. faircst and most
enhancing stream yet undeflsd by man.
Retairing its Indian name Of Wisauck-
s,elan. or tho yellow colored stream. IT
has It's source miles away among the fer
tils Dutch meadows and witching hills Of
Bucks end Montgomery counties. IT
springs from n region fun OF quaint SUI
perstitions, and every riyulet feeding st
or homestead or hamlet it passes. furnish
ca an added fancy. legend or weird ole
tale: until, reaching the gorge through
which for twelve miles It winds in fan
tastic abandon before cmptying into the
SchuyIkill, IL becomes n very witch nest
OF phantasm. hobsoblin n myth.
For seven or eight miles above its
mouth the channel is strangely torturous
between banks of ROCKS of mica Bchist,
rising In every imaginable fantastic form
TO picturesque and noble heights. These
banks are bewilderingly multiform. cloth
ed In the rarest and most varied foliage,
while ascending and browning the heights
on either side are the noblest or .Ameri-
can forest trees. ranging singularly from
the magnolia to the cedar and the oak,
ever set In majestic beauty within the
same narrow confines. Scarcely more than
"a rivulet as II enters the gorge, the
stream increases in volume from upland
10 the last deep pool where the Schuyl-
XIII guips it down at a swallow and
stream and bank. shadow and shine,
rock and forest, water below and sky
above. blend I'm one matchlcss and per-
feet dream Of rest.
There is not a spot upon which you
may stand your feet, place your hand, or
rest your eye which does not throb and
pulse back TO your own, nstantly-ac-
corded sympathy. The sense OF genial
solitude and Of loving restfulness is al
most startling. II is as a soothing dream
set In a stiffness so calm and hushed that
Il is palpably felt At the very spot
where the entrance 70 this wonderland
shudderingly faces the crowded avenues
10 the great city, and shrinks aghast at
the thunderings OF the flaming forges
along the %Schuylkill. a few rods only
will bring you to such solitude that the
sound Of your own voice seems a desc
Grafton. Here reaches a long. lake-like
tarn, rippleless. dark as ebon. but shining
like FURNISHED silver. BEYOND. there is a
wall of green and bloom. This seems
ali-all but silence. Breaking the spell,
YOU come 20 tits wall Of green and bloom
10 find an abrupt winding of the chan
mel; and here in a cleaning circle, IKE the
fu;tering wings Of myriad posing but
ternies, the stream Is whisperingly break
Ing away from another tarn above. but
so softly that all is silent still.
Then another deep pool on whose sur
face the ovorarching trees rim dark fhad-
-. NJ lI-l [e--t-r a lan1 aI
sapphire where Is mirrored the blue sky
above. This yoiceless spot, mayhap is
fed by swiftly speeding water, level and
even for a little, by a thread of trembling
1 ashings where all the elflns' songs are
or by q leecy cascade white and
as a shower of thistledown; but
here Is never tumuit nor turbulence here.
Again appears q little lake, or "A wide
swirl Of waters where the spirits OF the
stream seen in wild bacchanalian chase
In some cleaning caldron; but the mirth,
OF witchery. or spirite-madness Is in a
Wild turmoil revealed only in a simmer
and CLINT and motion. Lake or tarn
again and again. open and white TO the
or folded in gloaming-like shadows:
century-old dam where the moss IS al
most blended with the rocks and the out
roots of great trees: riv1lets
down from countless springs. or
shadowy creeks creeping into the greater
stream through legend haunted gorges:
tiny waterfalls where the sunshine litter
ing through the tree branches darts and
quivers over notified splashes of shade;
whirling eddy where leaf of tree or feath-
er or passing bird is dancing lively min
net to ceaseless rythm OF unheard tune;
murmurous shadows in beauteous wind
ings for cleaning distances, but hesitant
and soft as a whispered lullaby rhyme:
deep n dark ~backwater. whore the
rocks point straight to heaven:
outlets where the waters sinu-
ously weave in and out around the pol
bases CT great powders. like threads
OF silver cleaning through some Jagged
armor; covert channels winding through
passages beneath ~overhanging Iedg-
es. AK II the waters huidled together for
fcathery cascades where the
OF the clouds are again resolved TO
and swirl into humid. ~soundless
ne~eciness below-each and all, in all
places. forms. moods. are % this en-
stream as IL the gentle spirit OF
the place. which shall forever soothe and
.solace. must reveal Itself 10 the human
soul alone In endless and unceasing eN-
preston OF unobtrusive beauty and sur
passing tenderness.
The Gypsies. born naturc-lovers that
are. are ever hoveang near. 1t is
their Already of delight. The canp-nres
are seldom dim among the little glens and
above the Wissahickon gorge. the
long, bright summer through. The city
ana sts dickering are near, The farms
md their dukkering are close at hand; |
and beside them is the melodious stream
which for very love they have come 10
call. In their secret Romany tongue. "sUt- |
coro." or the dear. sweet. sleep
dell.
On a Tune morning not many years ago,
the going OF Baba syria from out a WIS
Gypsy camp was 50 sad a th'ng
10 these tawny folk OF the tent and the
road that all the place was hushed and
still.
Baba SYRIA was only n feeble old Cyp-
~ woman: SO old that her name OF
Stanley had not been heard in
rafnp for years; so old that the G.osy
word for gfeat-great aunt. and old, old
bahia, had long since obliterated
her own; no old that Griscida. her only
child that had lived, was born when lsa-
ba SYRIA was still an aged woman. as
Gypsies measure age: so old that twenty
years had already gone since Griselda, a
full-grcwn lass. had left this very amp
never 20 return. and the old aoui's
puest began. all had called her "Ba-
syria" long before
Hut the oiden mystic fires had burned
With deadly hatred then. Griselca had
her race. She had come and
bctwee the camp-side and the
great city at win. Those who seek the
souls OF heather. n kindred and neigh
boris be lost, had planted IN one Gypsy
heart the spiritual seeds of endless un-
rest. Crise;da had come to Baba SYRIA,
Bible In hand. n besought her 10 for
the tent and the road: to lead the
Torgo mon-oipsy) merripen or life; 10
with her int the PEACE OF Chris.