I watched and waited , but no vision came again . I departed , but with a spell upon me , which drew me back , that same afternoon , to the haunted spring . There was the water gushing , the sand sparkling , and the sunbeam glimmering . There the vision was not , but only a great frog , the hermit of that solitude , who immediately withdrew his speckled snout and made himself invisible , all except a pair of long legs , beneath a stone . Methought he had a devilish look ! I could have slain him ! Thus did the Vision leave me ; and many a doleful day succeeded to the parting moment . By the spring , and in the wood , and on the hill , and through the village ; at dewy sunrise , burning noon , and at that magic hour of sunset , when she had vanished from my sight , I sought her , but in vain . Weeks came and went , months rolled away , and she appeared not in them . I imparted my mystery to none , but wandered to and fro , or sat in solitude , like one that had caught a glimpse of heaven , and could take no more joy on earth . I withdrew into an inner world , where my thoughts lived and breathed , and the Vision in the midst of them . Without intending it , I became at once the author and hero of a romance , conjuring up rivals , imagining events , the actions of others and my own , and experiencing every change of passion , till jealousy and despair had their end in bliss . O , had I the burning fancy of my early youth , with manhood 's colder gift , the power of expression , your hearts , sweet ladies , should flutter at my tale ! In the middle of January , I was summoned home . The day before my departure , visiting the spots which had been hallowed by the Vision , I found that the spring had a frozen bosom , and nothing but the snow and a glare of winter sunshine , on the hill of the rainbow . `` Let me hope , '' thought I , `` or my heart will be as icy as the fountain , and the whole world as desolate as this snowy hill . '' Most of the day was spent in preparing for the journey , which was to commence at four o'clock the next morning . About an hour after supper , when all was in readiness , I descended from my chamber to the sitting-room , to take leave of the old clergyman and his family , with whom I had been an inmate . A gust of wind blew out my lamp as I passed through the entry . According to their invariable custom , so pleasant a one when the fire blazes cheerfully , the family were sitting in the parlor , with no other light than what came from the hearth .
As the good clergyman 's scanty stipend compelled him to use all sorts of economy , the foundation of his fires was always a large heap of tan , or ground bark , which would smoulder away , from morning till night , XXXXX a dull warmth and no flame .
In as at beneath from into like on through with