Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/293

Rh alone here through the wilderness, my wings unfolded, and my whole being was full of joy. But then the morning and the wilderness too were so unspeakably beautiful! The live-oaks stood in their magnificence with their masses of hanging moss, their arcades penetrated by the beams of the ascending sun. The morning dew lay fresh and sparkling on the leaves of the amber-tree, on the innumerable small plants and bushes which bordered the path. The earth was full of fragrance. I kissed the dew from the leaves; I laid them upon my eyes, my brow, those fresh morning leaves of the young new earth; I wished to bathe anew in this Urda-fountain; I wept, half from pain, half from unspeakable gratitude and joy. Light as a bird I went onward, and sang a hymn of praise with the birds, for I had here indeed drank of the refreshing draught for which I had thirsted, during a long pilgrimage in the desert; I had drank—I still drink the fulness of life from the fountains of God's abundance, and was sustained alone by His power, and by the wings which he had given me! Who was more free, who was more rich than I? What were the common joys and pleasures of life, those which I had childishly thirsted after, in comparison with those which now were mine; and not mine alone—might, would become those of many others, if the many only knew that—God gives them wings, and teaches them how to use them.

Thus rambled I onward, full of blissful emotions and thoughts, until I reached an open space in the forest, where man had been, where probably a settlement had formerly existed. But now the place was deserted. The lovely forest surrounded in silence the open, deserted spot. Neither man nor beast was to be seen. It was a profound, wild solitude. I so much enjoyed my morning ramble, that I wished Mrs. W. H. to participate it, and returned to seek for her. I found her sitting on the shore at the