nt of the Poet never seemed so true before," said Bernard,
looking at her with admiration.

She made no reply, for her whole soul was absorbed by the view before
her.

They had arrived at the platform, which, somewhat higher than the
Fall, commands a prospect of the river and surrounding country. Below
them foamed and thundered the torrent, which, first, making a leap
some twenty feet down, over large, irregularly-shaped boulders of
granite, that strove to oppose its passage, rushed in a steep descent
over a bed of solid stone, irregularly worn by the action of the
water; and, then, contracting itself between its adamantine walls,
burst in distracted fury, like a maniac, from the narrow throat.
Against the opposing rocks, which, perhaps, had fallen into the
Yaupaae, when the fierce convulsion of nature opened the chasm, and
bade the river pour down the gorge--the water lashed with ceaseless
rage, throwing the spray high into the air. This, freezing as it
fell, encrusted the rough sides of the beetling crags with icy layers,
covering them all over with plates like silver, and hanging them with
stalactites. Right in front, and separated only by the narrow pass
from the ledge on which they stood, still higher than which it rose,
towered a huge rock, perpendicularly, to a height of ninety or one
hundred feet above the cataract. Its foam-beaten base, just above
the water, was encased in icy incrustations, higher up, gray moss
overspread its flat side, and tufts of cedar struggled through the
fissures, whilst its top was canopied with hemlocks and savins, and
white oaks. Looking towards the left, the eye swept over the green
hill-side, along which they had walked, and, glancing over the islands
in the Yaupaae, followed the winding coarse of the river, catching
here and there on ground, that sloped to the stream, the sight of
white buildings, with green blinds, till the surrounding hills shut in
the view.

They both stood silent, as they looked, she, unwilling, by an
exclamation, to break the charm; and he, with his mind full of the
lovely creature before him. Surely, never so angelic a being gazed
upon that scene! As, with kindling countenance and suspended breath,
her dark eyes flashing with enthusiasm, her soul drank in the
sublimity and sparkling radiance that enveloped her, she seemed
no being of mortal mould, but some celestial visitant. The rapt
expression of her face gradually settled into awe, and she softly
murm