{"product_id":"2940013446687","title":"The Quadroon","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FATHER OF WATERS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFather of Waters!  I worship thy mighty stream!  As the Hindoo by the\u003cbr\u003eshores of his sacred river, I kneel upon thy banks, and pour forth my\u003cbr\u003esoul in wild adoration!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFar different are the springs of our devotion.  To him, the waters of\u003cbr\u003ehis yellow Ganges are the symbols of a superstitious awe, commingled\u003cbr\u003ewith dark fears for the mystic future; to me, thy golden wares are the\u003cbr\u003esouvenirs of joy, binding the present to the known and happy past.  Yes,\u003cbr\u003emighty river!  I worship thee in the past.  My heart fills with joy at\u003cbr\u003ethe very mention of thy name!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFather of Waters!  I know thee well.  In the land of a thousand lakes,\u003cbr\u003eon the summit of the \"_Hauteur de terre_,\" I have leaped thy tiny\u003cbr\u003estream.  Upon the bosom of the blue lakelet, the fountain of thy life, I\u003cbr\u003ehave launched my birchen boat; and yielding to thy current, have floated\u003cbr\u003esoftly southward.  I have passed the meadows where the wild rice ripens\u003cbr\u003eon thy banks, where the white birch mirrors its silvery stem, and tall\u003cbr\u003e_coniferae_ fling their pyramid shapes, on thy surface.  I have seen the\u003cbr\u003ered Chippewa cleave thy crystal waters in his bark canoe--the giant\u003cbr\u003emoose lave his flanks in thy cooling flood--and the stately wapiti bound\u003cbr\u003egracefully along thy banks.  I have listened to the music of thy\u003cbr\u003eshores--the call of the cacawee, the laugh of the wa-wa goose, and the\u003cbr\u003etrumpet-note of the great northern swan.  Yes, mighty river!  Even in\u003cbr\u003ethat far northern land, thy wilderness home, have I worshipped thee!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnward through many parallels of latitude--through many degrees of the\u003cbr\u003ethermal line!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI stand upon thy banks where thou leapest the rocks of Saint Antoine,\u003cbr\u003eand with bold frothing current cleavest thy way to the south.  Already I\u003cbr\u003enote a change in the aspect of thy shores.  The _coniferae_ have\u003cbr\u003edisappeared, and thou art draped with a deciduous foliage of livelier\u003cbr\u003ehue.  Oaks, elms, and maples, mingle their frondage, and stretch their\u003cbr\u003ebroad arms over thee.  Though I still look upon woods that seem\u003cbr\u003eillimitable, I feel that the wilderness is past.  My eyes are greeted by\u003cbr\u003ethe signs of civilisation--its sounds fall upon my ear.  The hewn\u003cbr\u003ecabin--picturesque in its rudeness--stands among prostrate trunks; and\u003cbr\u003ethe ring of the lumberer's axe is heard in the far depths of the forest.\u003cbr\u003eThe silken blades of the maize wave in triumph over fallen trees, its\u003cbr\u003egolden tassels giving promise of a rich return.  The spire of the church\u003cbr\u003epeers above the green spray of the woods, and the prayer of the\u003cbr\u003eChristian ascends to heaven sublimely mingling with the roar of thy\u003cbr\u003ewaters!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI launch my boat once more on thy buoyant wave; and, with heart as\u003cbr\u003ebuoyant, glide onward and southward.  I pass between bold bluffs that\u003cbr\u003ehem thy surging waves, and trace with pleasant wonder their singular and\u003cbr\u003evaried outlines--now soaring abruptly upward, now carried in gentle\u003cbr\u003eundulations along the blue horizon.  I behold the towering form of that\u003cbr\u003enoted landmark \"_La montaigne qui trempe a l'eau_,\" and the swelling\u003cbr\u003econe on whose summit the soldier-traveller pitched his tent.  I glide\u003cbr\u003eover the mirrored bosom of Pepin's lake, regarding with admiration its\u003cbr\u003eturreted shores.  I gaze with deeper interest upon that precipitous\u003cbr\u003eescarpment, the \"Lover's Leap,\" whose rocky wall has oft echoed back the\u003cbr\u003ejoyous chaunt of the light-hearted voyageur, and once a sadder strain--\u003cbr\u003ethe death-song of Wanona--beautiful Wanona, who sacrificed life to love!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnward I glide, where the boundless prairies of the West impinge upon\u003cbr\u003ethy stream; and my eye wanders with delight over their fadeless green.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI linger a moment to gaze upon the painted warrior spurring his wild\u003cbr\u003esteed along thy banks--to gaze upon the Dacotah girls bathing their\u003cbr\u003elithe limbs in thy crystal wave--then on again past the \"Cornice\u003cbr\u003eRocks\"--the metalliferous shores of Galena and Dubuque--the aerial tomb\u003cbr\u003eof the adventurous miner.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI reach the point where the turbid Missouri rushes rudely upon thee, as\u003cbr\u003ethough he would force thee from thy onward course.  Poised in my light\u003cbr\u003ecanoe, I watch the struggle.  Fierce but short it is, for thou\u003cbr\u003etriumphest, and thy conquered rival is compelled to pay his golden\u003cbr\u003etribute to thy flood that rolls majestically onward!","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079497793776,"sku":"2940013446687","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013446687_p0.jpg?v=1763581372","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013446687","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}