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MALABSKA.
CIAPTER I.
The brake hung low on the rifted rock
With sweet and holy dread,
The wild-flowers trembled to the shock :
Of. the red man’s stealthy tread; - gee!
And all around fell a fitful gleam :
Through the light and quivering spray, : :
While the noise of a restless mountain-stream —
Rush’d out on the stilly day... : :
Tue traveler. who has stopped at Catskill, on his way up the Hud-
son, will remember that a creek of no insignificant breadth washes
one side of the village, and that a heavy stone dwelling stands a lit-
tle up from the water on a point of verdant meadow-land, which
forms a lip of the stream, where it emptics into the more majestic
river. This farm-house is the only object that breaks the green
and luxuriant beauty of the point, on that side, and its quict and en-
tire loneliness contrasts pleasantly with the bustling and crowded
little village on the opposite body of land. here is much to attract
attention to that dwelling. Besides occupying one of the most love-
ly sites on the river, it is remarkable’ for an appearance of old.
fashioned comfort at variance with the pillared houses and rustic cot-
tages which mect the eye everywhere on the banks of the Hudson.
There are no flowers to fling fragrance about it, and but little of
embellishment is manifest in its grounds ; but it is surrounded by an
abundance of thrifty fruit-trees; an extensive orchard sheds its
rich foliage to the sunshine on the bank, and the sward is thick and
heavy which slopes greenly from the front door down to the’river’s
brink, |
The interior of the house retains an air of substantial comfort which
answers well to the promise conveyed without. The heavy furniture
has grown old with its occupants ; rich it has been in its time, and
now it possesses the rare quality of fitness, and of being in harmony
with surrounding things. Every thing aboug that house isin perfect
keeping with the character and appearance of its owner. The oceu-
pant himself, is a fine stately farmer of the old class — shrewd, pen-
etrating, and intelligent — one of those men who contrive to keep
the heart green when the frost of age is chilling the blood and whiten-
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