TANGLEWOOD PORCH. 4.9

distant, in the lap of the valley, now appeared a beauti-
ful lake, which reflected a perfect image of its own
wooded banks, and of the summits of the more distant
hills. It gleamed in glassy tranquillity, without the
trace of a winged breeze on any part of its bosom. Be-
yond its farther shore was Monument Mountain, in a re-
cumbent. position, stretching almost across the valley.
Kustace Bright compared it to a huge, headless sphinx,
wrapped in a Persian shawl; and, indeed, so rich and
diversified was the autumnal foliage of its woods, that
the simile of the shawl was by no means too high-colored
for the reality. In the lower ground, between Tangle-
wood and the lake, the clumps of trees and borders of
woodland were chiefly golden-leaved or dusky brown, as
having suffered more from frost than the foliage on the
hillsides.

Over all this scene there was a genial sunshine, inter-
mingled with a slight haze, which made it unspeakably
soft and tender. O, what a day of Indian summer was
it going to be! The children snatched their baskets, and
set forth, with hop, skip, and jump, and all sorts of
frisks and gambols; while Cousin Eustace proved his
fitness to preside over the party, by outdoing all their
antics, and performing several new capers, which none of
them could ever hope to imitate. Behind went a good
old dog, whose name was Ben. He was one of the most
respectable and kind-hearted of quadrupeds, and probably
felt it to be his duty not to trust the children away from
their parents without some better guardian than this

feather-brained Eustace Bright.
3 D