Page:1880. A Tramp Abroad.djvu/44  From Wikisource Jump to:
navigation, search This page has been validated.  of brown
needles that one's footfall made no more sound than if he was
treading on wool; the tree-trunks were as round and straight and
smooth as pillars, and stood close together; they were bare of
branches to a point about twenty-five feet above ground, and
from there upward so thick with boughs that not a ray of
sunlight could pierce through. The world was bright with
sunshine outside, but a deep and mellow twilight reigned in
there, and also a silence so profound that I seemed to hear my
own breathings.   I still made no reply. Now the adversary
raised his head and called. There was an answering croak from a
little distance in the wood,—evidently a croak of inquiry. The