hushed; nothing was there to
distract the sense of sight, save the power of reflection.

This, indeed, would aid the effect of such a scene. A cloudless sky, the
stars all radiant with beauty, while the moon, rising higher and higher
in the heavens, increasing in the strength and refulgence of her light,
and dimming the very stars, which seemed to grow gradually invisible as
the majesty of the queen of night became more and more manifest.

The dark woods and the open meadows contrasted more and more strongly;
like light and shade, the earth and sky were not more distinct and
apart; and the ripling stream, that rushed along with all the
impetuosity of uneven ground.

The banks are clothed with verdure; the tall sedges, here and there,
lined the sides; beds of bulrushes raised their heads high above all
else, and threw out their round clumps of blossoms like tufts, and
looked strange in the light of the moon.

Here and there, too, the willows bent gracefully over the stream, and
their long leaves were wafted and borne up and down by the gentler force
of the stream.

Below, the stream widened, and ran foaming over a hard, stony bottom,
and near the middle is a heap of stones--of large stones, that form the
bed of the river, from which the water has washed away all earthy
particles, and left them by themselves.

These stones in winter could not be seen, they were all under water, and
the stream washed over in a turbulent and tumultuous manner. But now,
when the water was clear and low, they are many of them positively out
of the water, the stream running around and through their interstices;
the water-weeds here and there lying at the top of the stream, and
blossoming beautifully.

The daisy-like blossoms danced and waved gently on the moving flood, at
the same time they shone in the moonlight, like fairy faces rising from
the depths of the river, to receive the principle of life from the
moon's rays.

'Tis sweet to wander in the moonlight at such an hour, and it is sweet
to look upon such a scene with an unruffled mind, and to give way to the
feelings that are engendered by a walk by the river side.

See, the moon is rising higher and higher, the shadows grow shorter and
shorter; the river, which in places was altogether hidden by the tall
willow trees, now gradually becomes less and less hidden, and the water
becomes more and more lit up.

The moonbeams play gracefully on the rippling surface, here and there