ct. I fled, with my hands upon my ears.

"On and on! winding among boles, creeping beneath branches, climbing
ledges, vaulting over fissures and chasms, I reached the open plain at
last, and halted unnerved upon the brink of the abyss.

"The glory of the prospect filled me with exquisite pain. A mist,
arched by a delicate rainbow, rose from the tumbling flood, and the
sunny valley was visible, at intervals, beyond it, inclosed by blue
mountains and intersected by the pale, ribbon-like Susquehanna. It was
my fate to endure, not to enjoy; but at this moment the cataract was
forgotten in a deeper torment; the boughs opened, the sky split with
the shock of feet, and a man bounded from the wood.

"He was tall, handsome, and athletic, and his ruddy cheeks were
flushed with exercise. He made a trumpet of his hands, and hallooed,
long and clear,

"'Hera--a--a--ine!'

"Then he whistled through his fist till the rocks and water rang.

"'Where the deuce is the dear girl?' he said, and his eyes fell upon
me.

"A terrible hatred rose in my heart against this man. It was the first
great passion I had nurtured, and had received no other provocation
than the empty sounds of his footfalls. But antipathies are not
accidental merely; they are organic; and my quick sense took alarm
even from his tread. One's character may be defined in his gait, but I
knew from the tramp of this person that his nature was averse to mine.
Why had he followed my affianced across the seas? Why had his crashing
drowned the music of her steps? Why had he uttered her name with an
endearment? Why had he been retained at her side, and I sent alone and
wretched before? My wrists knotted nervously as these accusations took
shape, and my blood became gall.

"'I beg pardon,' he said curtly; 'but are you the young man we are
looking for?'

"I asked through my teeth whom he designated in the term '_we_.'

"'Heraine, of course,' he replied; 'give me your hand! We have
followed our little invalid--that's what we call you--over many a
league, and may make his acquaintance at last. Ralph Clendenning, at
your service!'

"I shrank menacingly from him, and counted the dull throbs of my
heart.

"'What! timid!' he said; 'and with so old a friend? I never met you,
indeed, but then I have talked of you so often that you have grown to
be quite a brother.'

"I saw that he was frank and winning, and hated him the more.

"'Upon my word,' he added, 'there was none wh