IN THE MOUNTAINS.

They exploring, crossed the great Cuyamaca Range, traversed its broad plateaus, and thro’ the Silence of its lofty domes and canyons; Then beyond, where boiling waters gurgling Flowed thro’ Indian villages. They saw The waving pines upon the lofty crest Of Palomar; and wandering, vainly sought Along its base for passage leading to Its heights. They often reached an eminence, And thought they neared the goal, when overhanging Walls of granite turned them back. At last, by Persevering, came upon its table- Lands; and pressing forward found the place he Long had pictured in his mind—the sheltering Boughs of giant trees, the gushing fountain, Level plot of fertile land below, well Watered by the rivulets that trickled From the springs. Here he sowed the garden seeds And grain; and from the chaparral he bro’t The antlered buck and lesser game. The sweets The toiling honey bee had stored away, Drip’d from the boles of sycamore and oak. They happy lived in Nature’s luxury. Lest in their quietude he might become Indifferent or wasteful of the time, He took up an ancient system which they Faithfully observed thro’ all their years of Hermitage—eight hours for labor, eight for Rest, and eight for study and improvement Of his mind, and teaching Zola. He was The builder of the hidden cabin; for Zola it was builded, for her boudoir. With loving hands, he axe and auger plied, Without compass, square or trestle board, But with all the tenderness that ever Mother bird provided for her nestling. He building, furnished it with draperies— Bright Indian blankets, rugs and robes of Fur, arranging all as beautiful as Tho’ her mother’s spirit hands had guided His. Perchance they did. If love be spirit, And spirit love—or soul—then such as hers Might overleap the balustrades of Heaven and find its own; or such unselfish Soul as his might rise and view the palace Of the skies. He teaching, opened first the Book of Nature, and strolled with her among The flowers and botanized. Then to the rocks; He told her of the slow formations of The ages. From the books selected in The days when she was cradled on the sea, He, in learning, carried her beyond her Years.