Page:The heart of Monadnock (IA heartofmonadnock00timl).pdf/169

 noise of any kind—no noises caused by the needs of humanity—still one is not beyond the physical recognition of the ceaseless, impalpable vibrations that are the basis of sound. Though these may be too broad in wave or too few in number for the ear to receive their impact as sound, they still reach the nerves as sensation, though not consciously registered.

The Mountain-Lover closed his eyes for a moment and he visioned the atmosphere for many miles around a great city as an ocean of thick-crowding currents; currents of vibration not merely of words but of the myriad vibrations that accompany any motion whatever of animal or mechanical life; of every mode of locomotion; of every hammering beat of machinery; even of every footfall. He could see these currents surging to and fro, beating on every brick and stone and wooden thing, flung back by the force of their impact along with a thousand others that they themselves brought into being—crossing, fighting, conflicting, con-