shallow with the Summer drought; and its shining reaches and wooded
banks lifted up our hearts. She, like ourselves, was on her way to
join the Susquehanna, a mile or two below, and we said to ourselves,
that, beautiful as the land had been through which we had already
passed, we were now entering on a Nature of more heroic mould,
mightier contours, and larger aspects. We were henceforth to walk in
the company of great rivers: the Susquehanna, like some epic goddess,
was to lead us to the Lehigh; the Blue Mountains were to bring us to
the Delaware; and the uplands of Sullivan County were to bring us
to--the lordly gates of the Hudson.

Our chests expanded as imagination luxuriated in the pictures it made.
Our walk was only just beginning.




CHAPTER XXIV

AND UNEXPECTEDLY THE LAST


We had seen the two great rivers sweep into each other's arms in a broad
glory of sunlit water, meeting at the bosky end of a wooded promontory,
and yes! there was the Susquehanna glittering far beneath--the beautiful
name I had so often seen and wondered about, painted on the sides of
giant freight-cars! Yes, there was actually the great legendary river. It
was a very warm, almost sultry noonday, more like midsummer than
mid-October, and the river was almost blinding in its flashing beauty.
Loosening our knapsacks, we called a halt and, leaning over the railing