sical tone of the Alp-horn,--(the cow-horn used by the Swiss for
the same purpose,)--which sounds well at a distance.

CHAPTER TEN.

SEEKING THE UPLANDS.

Now that the great occasion was come,--that brightest day of the year,--
the day of going to the seater, how unlike was it to all that the lovers
had imagined and planned! How unlike was the situation of the two!
There was Rolf, cooped up in a dim cave, his heart growing heavy as his
ear grew weary of the incessant dash and echo of the waters! And here
was Erica on the free mountain side, where all was silent, except the
occasional rattle of a brook over the stones, and the hum of a cloud of
summer flies. The lovers were alike in their unhappiness only: and
hardly in this, so much the most wretched of the two was Erica.

The sun was hot; and her path occasionally lay under rocks which
reflected the heat upon the passenger. She did not heed this, for the
aching of her heart. Then she had to pass through a swamp, whence
issued a host of mosquitoes, to annoy any who intruded upon their
domain. It just occurred to Erica that Rolf made her pass this place on
horseback last year, well veiled, and completely defended from these
stinging tormentors: but she did not heed them now. When, somewhat
higher up, she saw in the lofty distance a sunny slope of long grass
undulating in the wind, like the surface of a lake, tears sprang into
her eyes; for Rolf had said that when they came in sight of the waving
pasture, she would alight, and walk the rest of the way with him.
Instead of this, and instead of the gay procession from the farm,
musical with the singing of boys and girls, the lowing of the cows, and
the bleating of the kids, all rejoicing together at going to the
mountain, here she was alone, carrying a widowed heart, and wandering
with unwilling steps further and further from the spot where she had
last seen Rolf!

She dashed the tears from her eyes, and looked behind her, at the
entrance of a ravine which would hide her from the fiord and the
dwelling she had left. Thor islet lay like a fragment of the leafy
forest cast into the blue waters; but Vogel islet could not be seen. It
was not too far down to be seen from an elevation like this; but it was
hidden behind the promontories by which the fiord was contracted. Erica
could see what she next looked for,--knowing, as she did, precisely
where to look. She could see the two graves belonging to the
house