Reuben knew the sound of the cascade, for he had lived near it all his
young life, and he knew it was not far from his home; but he did not
consider that he never passed it on his way from his father's house to
Mr. Jameson's, but still, not mistrusting the road he was going, he ran
along till he suddenly found by a turn of the lane, that he was in full
front of the stream. The child however was not disconcerted by this, and
the fresh air meeting him, and for the moment raising his spirits, he
stepped on over the loose stones brought down at different times by the
waters, boldly, and even gaily, though his course was impeded by the
unevenness of the way. He must have stepped on some distance, when all
of a sudden he was unable to proceed farther along the path, by the
jutting out of a rock into the stream, for the water was pouring down
rapidly and more profusely than was general, for there had been heavy
rains in the mountains, and thus the bed of the torrent was fully
covered, its width being very inconsiderable beneath the rock. The spot
was one wholly unknown to the child, and surely it was a terrible sight
to meet the eye of a babe, who hitherto had not known what it was to be
left without a mother's or nurse's care. The place was in the heart of a
mountain gorge, famed for its rare beauty, and the cascade came dashing
from the rocks, which were very bold and picturesque in the little creek
or gully where the child stood. The water, as I said, was pouring down
white with foam, and majestically pursuing its course, shaking the
earth around with its terrible roarings.

Fancy our little forlorn one then standing under the shelter of the
rock, which, hanging over him in rough masses, threatened to fall an
crush his baby form, the stream rushing impetuously at his feet, and one
little place beneath the rock, in fact part of the rock itself being
somewhat elevated from the bed of the stream below, forming his only
secure and dry resting place. I have said before, he had no covering on