14 The Catskill Fairies.

against the heavens, and it seemed as if the snow would never
come from the bleak North this year. Here and there the hills
had a white line on their slopes, as if they had trimmed their

robes with ermine, yet the peaks were still uncovered.

 

Far down in the shadowy hollow was the spot where Rip
Van Winkle had slept for twenty years, according to the le-
gend. All through the leafy Junes, the glowing Octobers, when
the woods burned in scarlet and crimson, and the cold, silent
winter, Rip must have slumbered. No wonder he was stiff
when he awoke at last. Job had been to the very spot, and
tried to feel sleepy also. Grandfather said the story was all
nonsense, yet somehow Job believed it. Yes, and far away,
over on the brink of a distant precipice, was the hotel, now de-
serted and gloomy, where the gay people flocked in the warm
weather. Job would hide behind the bushes, like a ‘shy, wild