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In the long roll and vast swell of his verse there is something of the ocean a moving profundity of power. His sonorous music, with its absolute sureness of purpose, and its contrapuntal art, recalls the vision in Paradise Lost of him who with volant touch Fled and pursued transverse the resonant fugue.

From the crater of one of these cones, called La Coupe d'Ayzac, a stream of lava has descended and occupied the bottom of a narrow valley, except at those points where the river Volant, or the torrents which join it, have cut away portions of the solid lava.

I scaled the park wall again, and reached the Dragon Volant before its doors were closed. I lay awake in my bed, in a fever of elation. I saw, till the dawn broke, and chased the vision, the beautiful Countess de St. Alyre, always in the dark, before me. The Marquis called on me next day. My late breakfast was still upon the table. He had come, he said, to ask a favor.

You might as well talk of Christian Mathematics as of Christian Art, or bind the sweet influences of Pleiades as the volant sallies of a poet's wit. Once we get it into our heads that the Tuscans were fanciful children, always, and the discrepancy of critics, of Ruskin and Mr. George Moore, of Rio and Mr. Addington Symonds, may vanish.

It is only a mile away, and an old comfortable inn, called the Le Dragon Volant. It was fortunate for you that my tiresome business called me to this place so early."

Lancelot groaned. It was not only that his improved Mary Ann was again sinking to earth, unable to soar in the romantic æther where he would fain have seen her volant; it was not only that the coarseness of her nature had power to drag her down, it was the coarseness of her red, chapped hands that was thrust once again and violently upon his reluctant consciousness.

It is clear that the lava once filled the whole valley up to the dotted line d-a; but the river has gradually swept away all below that line, while the tributary torrent has laid open a transverse section; by which we perceive, in the first place, that the lava is composed, as usual in this country, of three parts: the uppermost, at a, being scoriaceous, the second b, presenting irregular prisms; and the third, c, with regular columns, which are vertical on the banks of the Volant, where they rest on a horizontal base of gneiss, but which are inclined at an angle of 45 degrees, at g, and are nearly horizontal at f, their position having been everywhere determined, according to the law before mentioned, by the form of the original valley.

When I reached the Dragon Volant, I found, in my sitting-room, a good deal to my chagrin, my two guests, whom I had quite forgotten. I inwardly cursed my own stupidity for having embarrassed myself with their agreeable society. It could not be helped now, however, and a word to the waiters put all things in train for dinner.

I have not dwelt upon the days of travel during which we passed down the length of these lakes. From the camp of Chicag I had driven my own train of dogs; with Bear the sole companion of the journey. Nor were these days on the great lakes by any means the dullest of the journey, Cerf Volant, Tigre, Cariboo, and Muskeymote gave ample occupation to their driver.

And so found my way at last to my carriage; and was soon rolling slowly toward the Dragon Volant, on the loneliest of roads, under old trees, and the soft moonlight. What a number of things had happened within the last two hours! what a variety of strange and vivid pictures were crowded together in that brief space! What an adventure was before me!