mighty hills to give them peace--and they lay down
to sleep at the mountain's feet.

There is no sleeping late in the morning when one sleeps in the open,
under the stars. After breakfast, the artist received another lesson in
packing, and they moved on toward the world that already seemed to dwarf
that other world which they had left, by one day's walking, so far below.
A heavy fog, rolling in from the ocean in the night, submerged the valley
in its dull, gray depths--leaving to the eye no view but the view of the
mountains before them, and forcing upon the artist's mind the weird
impression that the life he had always known was a fantastically unreal
dream.

And now,--as they approached,--the frowning entrance of Clear Creek Canyon
grew more and more clearly defined. The higher peaks appeared to draw back
and hide themselves behind the foothills, which--as the men came closer
under their immediate slopes and walls--seemed to grow magically in height
and bulk. A little before noon, they were in the rocky vestibule of the
canyon. On either hand, the walls rose almost sheer, while their road,
now, was but a narrow shelf under the overhanging cliffs, below which the
white waters of the stream--cold from the snows so far above--tumbled
impetuously over the boulders that obstructed their way--filling the
hall-like gorge with tumultuous melody. Soon, the canyon narrowed to less
than a stone's throw in width. The walls grew more grim and forbidding in
their rocky nearness. And then they came to that point where, on either
side, great cliffs, projecting, form the massive, rugged portals of the
mountain's gate.

First seen, from a point where the road rounds a jutting corner on the
extreme right, the projecting cliffs ahead appear as a blank wall of rock
that forbids further progress. But, as the men moved forward,--the road
swinging more toward the center of the gorge,--the cliffs seemed to draw
apart, and, through the way thus opened, they saw the great canyon and the
mountains beyond. It was as though a mighty, invisible hand rolled
silently back those awful doors to give them entrance.

Abruptly, upon the inner side of the narrow passage the canyon widens to
many times the width of the outer vestibule; and the road, crossing the
creek, curves to the left; so that, looking back as they went, the two men
saw the mighty doors closing again, behind them--as they had opened to let
them in. It was as though that spirit sentin