Julia M. Olin

“ Norman broke off a piece of the sand-stone as a memorial of the cave, and then hastened to the carriage.
Over the prairie, with its abundant blossoms; along the high bluffs upon which St. Paul is built; through a long busy street; a pause at the door of a gentleman whom Mrs. Lester had known in her old home in the East, and they were once more on the Grey Eagle. ”

“ On the western shore is the celebrated Maiden’s Rock, a bold, precipitous bluff, rising four hundred feet above the lake. All eyes were turned toward its towering height. Its story is one of great beauty.
A maiden of the Sioux had given her heart to a chief of her own tribe, who had sought her love. The parents, however, would not consent to her alliance with the young brave, but insisted on her marrying an old chief, of great wisdom and influence in the nation. ”

“ They had seen a great many Indians, painted in all their bravery, in Wisconsin. They had seen a squaw, with her papoose strapped on her back, riding on a small Indian pony, with a child before and a child behind.
“This, mother,” said Norman, “is pleasanter than all; one day on a prairie is worth ten days in town.” He was up early in the morning to see the horses watered before they were sent off to the field. There were more then twenty of them, and Norman’s cousin, Justin, selected the handsomest colt on the farm, and gave it to Norman for his own. Norman was enchanted. ”

“ Slowly, slowly the shadow of the hills crept up the falls, vailing their dazzling beauty, and obscuring their radiant bows. The sunset came too soon to close that day of exceeding beauty; but then the moon faintly lighted up the splendors of the scene, kindling the rapids above the falls, and making a path of light in the profound depths below. A little way in the moonlight, down the road to the ferry, to gaze on the wonders of that fearful chasm, softened rather than heightened by that silvery light. ”

“ Norman looked with astonishment on the lofty and massive arches of the bridges over which the railroad crosses the valley, and had a glimpse of the water leaping down the ravine at Cascade Bridge. A number of men were working there on the steep sandy sides of the 16cliff, that seemed to afford them a most perilous footing.
One noble view he had of the Susquehanna with its islands; and then, as they changed cars at Elmira, the rain obscured the lake and the fine country on their way northward to Niagara. ”

“ Exclamations of wonder and admiration were echoed 133from one to the other at some of these marvelous combinations; and it was with reluctance they turned, as the twilight deepened, from the margin of the woodland to the clear outline of the trees against the western sky. There was still room for fancy to sketch her pictures, and call up birds and beasts in that varied outline.
“This is the pleasantest afternoon of all,” cried Norman; “it is so nice for us to be by ourselves.”
“And yet you forsook me first, Norman, and, absorbed in your play, lost the first views of the Mississippi. ”

“ He charged his hearers to try not to be first, but to be second. “In your plans and pleasures think of some one before yourself; prefer the comfort of some friend to 164your own; sacrifice your own ease to promote the well-being of another, and you will tread in the footsteps of Him who pleased not himself.”
Norman saw the tears in his Aunt Lester’s eyes, as he turned to look at her, and he thought that she had learned that lesson well, that she was always thinking of other people, and preferring their comfort to her own. ”

“ Well, the day will come when all the idols will be cast to the moles and the bats, and when from every hill-top and valley, from the broad prairie and the green savannah, the incense of praise shall ascend to the one living and true God. ”

“ It was fearful to think of; but how many are daily and hourly borne, by the mighty tides of worldliness and sin, over a more tremendous precipice; and there are no cries or prayers of pitying love; no man careth for their souls!
Norman was very silent as he looked for the first time on that wondrous fall, the sight of which, he said, took away his strength. ”

“ As the falls of a mighty river, they are worth seeing; and they are at the point of transition from the prairies of the Upper Mississippi, to the rugged limestone bluffs below; oaks growing above, and cedars and pines below.
On their way to the hotel Norman gathered some purple flowers growing in great profusion, while his mother wandered to the suspension bridge so gracefully thrown over the river, looked at the 107pretty wooded island, and at the mass of drift logs collected in the boom. ”

“ Four old men advanced to meet them, bearing the calumet, the peace-pipe, adorned with brilliant feathers, and saying, “We are Illinois,” which means, “We are men.” The Indians invited the strangers to their village, prepared a feast in their honor, and entertained them for six days. Several hundred warriors then escorted them to their canoes, hanging around the neck of Marquette, on parting, the calumet, with its plumage of various hues, a pledge of safety for the wanderers among savage tribes.” ”

“ Walking down the street for some distance, they crossed a little bridge leading past a large stone mill, and after scrambling over a stony path, they came to the edge of the river and in view of the falls. Norman’s disappointment was great. “Why, mother,” said he, “have we come all this distance to see these falls?”
In truth they were not very imposing. The stream above was filled with logs, floated down to be sawed in the mill, and many of them were lodged above and below the fall, while a shingle-machine was built in the center. Man’s work had taken away all the wild grace of nature. ”

“ The large garden, filled with flowers and shrubbery, blooming most luxuriantly in that fertile soil, looked cool and inviting. Mrs. Day handed Norman some flowers as the beginning of his bouquet, and told him to go and pick what he liked. Pink and white spireces, double China pinks, a few lingering June roses, the pretty bee larkspur, the coreopsis, candytuft, and verbenas, were gathered in profusion by Mrs. Day’s lavish hand, and arranged in two bouquets for Mrs. Clayton and Mrs. Lester. ”

“ Pontiac turned pale, and presented the calumet without the preconcerted signal.
“Major Gladstone then stepped up to one of the Indians, pulled aside his blanket, and revealed the gun cut short, just as the squaw had said. He accused Pontiac of treachery, but said that as he had promised them a safe audience, they might go out of the town unharmed.”
“Perhaps if he had kept them prisoners,” said Mrs. Lester, “he might have prevented the war that ensued.”
How beautiful the island looked in its commanding position! The high land in the center, with its lofty forests rising like a curve. ”

“ Percy took Mrs. Lester and Norman and Emily to her husband’s grain warehouse, the top of which they reached after ascending many flights of steps. The roof is of canvas, covered with tar, upon which, while it is warm, pebbles are thrown, making a durable and fire proof roof. The city lay beneath them; they could mark its great extent, trace the course of its dividing rivers, with their sails, and steamers, and 52propellers; see trains of cars arriving and departing; count the spires which
“With silent fingers point to heaven,” and around all see the great lake and the encircling prairie. ”

“ It was very warm, and all were glad when the steamer was once more in motion, and the fresh breezes of the lake came with their cooling for heated brows. It was rather too fresh after a while, and there was more motion than was consistent with the enjoyment of some of the passengers. There was a shower, too, dimpling the lake, and driving most of the people into the saloon.
Norman had his first experience of seasickness, and retiring to his berth at five o’clock, he slept there till the morning. His mother was very sorry to have him miss that magnificent sunset on Lake Michigan. ”

“ The tender green of the foliage, orchards in full bloom, neat farm-houses, glimpses of the river Passaic, and their noble views of a beautiful valley, in the midst of which rose the spires of Port Jervis, lying prettily among the hills, were presented to the eye and as rapidly withdrawn. Then the scenery became more wild as the train rushed along the high embankment, following the course of the Delaware, and looking down upon its rapid waters. It is a wild, rugged region ”

“ The path down the hill to Juna Island was very muddy and slippery, and they were obliged to walk down very carefully, lest a misstep should plunge them into the mighty current.
18Mrs. Lester told Norman of a happy party that once crossed the bridge to this island; of the little girl playfully thrown toward the fall by a young man; of the sudden terror that led her to jump from his arms; of his fearful plunge to save the life he had periled, and of the twain borne over that giddy verge. Those fresh young lives, gone in one moment, with all of earthly hope and aspiration. ”

“ Norman watched with great interest a race between a little sloop and schooner, round the light-house. The wind was so fresh that the vessels leaned very far over, and seemed in some danger of being capsized. ”

“ This lovely valley had recently been the scene of a bloody battle between the Sioux and Chippewas, and the driver told Norman that he had seen 111some of wounded Indians carried through St. Anthony by some of their tribe.
From the earliest times these two nations have been at war; a feud transmitted from generation to generation.
How few of these Indians have learned the great lessons of loving kindness which the white men ought to have taught them. ”

“ Crossing the railroad, they paused a while to see the gravel-train get its load of sand from the banks.
“There,” said Norman, as the locomotive gave a snort or two, as if in impatience at the pause; “there stands the grand old fellow to be looked at, as Mr. Beecher says.”
A far-reaching view of the undulating prairie, heightened at intervals by flashes of the river gliding among the fertile 60meadows, repaid them for the ascent to the octagon house. ”

“ It was a most lovely country, soft rolling prairie, with its wealth of golden wheat, of waving corn, of graceful barley, bordered by rich groves of timber, and dotted here and there with towns and villages.
At Mendota they left their cars, and 180entered those of the Illinois Central Railroad. There were several trains there, and a great number of passengers hurrying to and fro, and rushing in to dinner. Norman ran first into one store, and then into another, to buy some torpedoes, as he was very anxious to make some noise, to give vent to his patriotic feeling. ”

“ Great patches of purple phlox, a profusion of yellow flowers, and bright 152red lilies, made all the broad expanse a vast flower-garden. His Aunt Clara said that many of the prairie flowers were disappearing in the progress of cultivation. The cattle that now covered the plains destroyed them, and the plow rooted them up.
“Yes,” said his uncle to Norman, “your Aunt Clara sometimes fancies her mission is to cultivate a blooming inclosure, in which she will preserve all the prairie flowers from the extinction to which they are rapidly tending.” ”

“ The next day there was to be a school picnic in the grove, and Willie was to speak on the occasion. Norman said it would be impossible for him to dress himself; but when the animating strains of the band floated in his window, as the procession marched to the grove, he thought he might make the effort. His mother helped him to put on his clothes, as his back was all blistered, and he walked with her and his aunt and uncle rather soberly to the picnic. ”

“ At two o’clock they approached Fulton, 141and the captain courteously took them on shore.
Fulton, the terminus of an air-line road from Chicago, is rather an uninviting looking place, with a grand hotel, suitable for a great city; a destiny Fulton does not seem likely to achieve.
Seated in the cars, Norman saw the sun set for the last time on the great river that had become to him a familiar friend; saw the Rock River gleam in the moonlight; and soon after the welcome lights of his uncle’s home. ”

“ A road ran along the river bank, and 69some men were quarrying stone; near this was a deserted log-house.
On passing a very high red bluff, that stood in the forest, like an Egyptian idol, so curiously was it fashioned, Mrs. Lester ran to the east side of the boat to call Norman to look at it. He came, but after a hasty glance returned to his play, which for the time wholly absorbed him. He was engaged in some merry games with Helen and Frank Lisle, and he had no thought for anything else. Mrs. Lisle found that Norman was the son of a minister who had been an intimate friend of her sister’s. ”

“ She had that within which many of the rich and wise and great, who look at will on the glorious scenery of earth, who command the treasures of literature and art, who surround themselves with all the comforts and appliances of a home of elegant sufficiency, fail to gain—calm peace in her heart, perfect contentment with her lot, and a spring of never-failing happiness. ”