{"product_id":"2940013221291","title":"THE LOST TRAIL","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE SHADOW.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Ye who love the haunts of nature,\u003cbr\u003e  Love the sunshine of the meadow,\u003cbr\u003e  Love the shadow of the forest,\u003cbr\u003e  Love the wind among the branches,\u003cbr\u003e  And the rain-shower and the snow-storm,\u003cbr\u003e  And the rushing of great rivers.\u003cbr\u003e  Listen to these wild traditions.--HIAWATHA.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne day in the spring of 1820, a singular occurrence took place on one\u003cbr\u003eof the upper tributaries of the Mississippi.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bank, some fifteen or twenty feet in height, descended quite\u003cbr\u003eabruptly to the stream's edge. Though both shores were lined with\u003cbr\u003edense forest, this particular portion possessed only several sparse\u003cbr\u003eclumps of shrubbery, which seemed like a breathing-space in this sea\u003cbr\u003eof verdure--a gate in the magnificent bulwark with which nature girts\u003cbr\u003eher streams. This green area commanded a view of several miles, both\u003cbr\u003eup and down stream.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHad a person been observing this open spot on the afternoon of the day\u003cbr\u003ein question, he would have seen a large bowlder suddenly roll from the\u003cbr\u003etop of the bank to bound along down the green declivity and fall into\u003cbr\u003ethe water with a loud splash. This in itself was nothing remarkable,\u003cbr\u003eas such things are of frequent occurrence in the great order of\u003cbr\u003ethings, and the tooth of time easily could have gnawed away the few\u003cbr\u003ecrumbs of earth that held the stone in poise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScarcely five minutes had elapsed, however, when a second bowlder\u003cbr\u003erolled downward in a manner precisely similar to its predecessor, and\u003cbr\u003etumbled into the water with a rush that resounded across and across\u003cbr\u003efrom the forest on either bank.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven this might have occurred in the usual course of things. Stranger\u003cbr\u003eevents take place every day. The loosening of the first stone could\u003cbr\u003ehave opened the way for the second, although a suspicious observer\u003cbr\u003emight naturally have asked why its fall did not follow more\u003cbr\u003eimmediately.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47156816969968,"sku":"2940013221291","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013221291_p0.jpg?v=1763589695","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013221291","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}