Page:Walks in the Black Country and its green border-land.pdf/201

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and its Green Border-Land.
187

dow for the northern aspect, embracing the whole end of the building. Although only a third of the way up the height, this out-look commands a prospect worth the ascent to the cottage to see. We were most agreeably surprised at the ease and comfort of the rest of the journey. We had fancied a rough, steep, and broken ascent over crags and precipices without a beaten track. But instead of this there was what might be called an inclined lawn all the way from the cottage to the summit, and thence down on the other side for a long distance. It was a lawn carpeted with that short, elastic moss which seems to quicken and delight one's footsteps. On each side was a thick growth of firs, birches, and other trees, with here and there an opening to give you a peep into the wide world beyond. We preferred, however, to pass these side glances without much notice, that the whole panorama might burst upon us at once at the top. And this fully realized our imaginations thus excited. We purposely restricted our eyes until we reached the summit, crowned by a small mound, with a short post or stake stuck in the centre of it, like the spike in the helmet of a Prussian soldier. This was "Heaven Gate;" and it opened upon a view of heaven and earth at that moment beautiful and glorious, beyond the genius of poet or painter to picture to a distant eye. It was the best possible light that could