broke their ranks with a huge wall or ledge of granite, where
no tree could stand. The cedars had climbed round to the top
and went on again above the ledge, more mingled there with
deciduous trees, and losing the exceeding beauty of their
supremacy in the valley. In the valley it was not unshared;
for the Virginia creeper and cat-briar mounted and flung their
arms about them, and the wild grape-vines took wild
possession; and in the day of their glory they challenged the
bystander to admire anything without them. But the day of
their glory was not now; it came when Autumn called them to
shew themselves; and Autumn's messenger was far off. The
cedars had it, and the roses, and the eglantine, under
Summer's rule.

It was in the prime of summer when the two fishers went down
to their boat. The valley level was but a few feet above the
river; on that side, with a more scattering growth of cedars,
the rocks and the greensward gently let themselves down to the
edge of the water. The little dory was moored between two
uprising heads of granite just off the shore. Stepping from
rock to rock the brothers reached her. Rufus placed himself in
the stern with the fishing tackle, and Winthrop pushed off.

There was not a stir in the air; there was not a ripple on the
water, except those which the oars made, and the long widening
mark of disturbance the little boat left behind it. Still --
still, -- surely it was Summer's siesta; the very birds were
still; but it was not the oppressive rest before a
thunderstorm, only the pleasant hush of a summer's day. The
very air seemed blue -- blue against the mountains, and kept