The road which ran about the base of the hill was the scene of many a wild foray and the echoing hillsides resounded with the shouts of marauding cattle thieves and the lowing of frightened herds, urged towards the lines by their reckless drivers. Now the mouth of the creek is shut by a drawbridge and the northern shore is a place of division between the passenger and freight trains of the New York Central Railroad, the former swinging inland to take the course by way of Kingsbridge, along the Harlem, and the latter still following the original line of the road, by the river shore. At the distance of two or three miles above Spuyten Duyvil appears the extensive front of the Mount St. Yincent Academy. There is a slight incongruity in the view, that at once attracts the attention of a stranger; for the foreground is occupied by a stone "castle" that is so dwarfed by the red brick edifice behind it as to appear almost like a toy house. But the castle has a history of its own and presents the first if not the chief claim to notice.

196 The Hudson River

Edwin Forrest, for years the foremost figure upon the stage in America, built that castle for his home and brought his bride, who had been the beautiful Miss Sinclair, there in 1838. There he enjoyed six years of something as nearly approaching calm and happiness as one born under his turbulent star could ever hope to attain. Within those blue granite walls he entertained bountifully and indulged his vehement passion for historic study. Then, in 1844, he went abroad, taking his wife with him. Out of the quiet eddy where he had found rest for six years he pushed into the turmoil of life, never to return.