Had an adder stung her, she
could not have sprung with greater celerity than she recoiled from the
object against which she was leaning, and which she for the first time
noticed. The two upright posts, with a crossbeam on their tops, and a
rude platform beneath, told but too plainly the nature of the structure;
even the cord was suspended from an iron staple, and was swinging to and
fro, in the night air. Frances hesitated no longer, but rather flew than
ran across the meadow, and was soon at the base of the rock, where she
hoped to find something like a path to the summit of the mountain. Here
she was compelled to pause for breath, and she improved the leisure by
surveying the ground about her. The ascent was quite abrupt, but she
soon found a sheep path that wound among the shelving rocks and through
the trees, so as to render her labor much less tiresome than it
otherwise would have been. Throwing a fearful glance behind, the
determined girl commenced her journey upwards. Young, active, and
impelled by her generous motive, she moved up the hill with elastic
steps, and very soon emerged from the cover of the woods, into an open
space of more level ground, that had evidently been cleared of its
timber, for the purpose of cultivation. But either the war or the
sterility of the soil had compelled the adventurer to abandon the
advantages that he had obtained over the wilderness, and already the
bushes and briers were springing up afresh, as if the plow had never
traced furrows through the mold which nourished them.
Pages:
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554