Stones had
been rolled together in a manner to form a little breastwork in his front,
so that, had there been any wandering gaze sweeping over the face of the
mountain, it was far from probable that it would have detected the
presence of a man whose whole form, with the exception of the superior
parts, was so effectually concealed.
It would have been difficult to say, whether this secluded being had thus
placed himself in order to indulge in some habitual and fancied
communication with the little world of the valley, or whether, he sat at
his post in watchfulness. There was an appearance of each of these
occupations in his air; for at times his eye was melancholy and softened,
as if his spirit found pleasure in the charities natural to the species;
and at others, the brows contracted with sternness, while the lips became
more than usually compressed, like those of a man who threw himself on his
own innate resolution for support.
The solitude of the place, the air of universal quiet which reigned above,
the boundless leafy carpet over which the eye looked from that elevated
point, and the breathing stillness of the bosom of the woods, united to
give grandeur to the scene.
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