THE BUTTERFLY HUNTERS. 1 35 



and mosses, rose many hundred feet on each side, and at 

 the bottom of the gorge, not far below, the stream rushed 

 rapidly between its rocky banks. 



One of the gentlemen who had gone in advance of the 

 others shouted back that the root ladder was covered with 

 water, and that a new path would have to be made. Make 

 a new path, indeed, when there was nothing but bare 

 precipice to work with ! The ladies who had been cour- 

 ageous enough to attempt the passage of the gorge sat 

 down and waited while the gentlemen hunted for a path. 

 They finally gave it up, but said there was a long tree- 

 stump leaning against the rock, which possibly they might 

 all slide down on. Anyway it was thought best to try it, 

 and amidst a great deal of merriment the passage was 

 actually accompHshed. The poor old tree-stump which, 

 previous to the slide bore a luxuriant coating of rich green 

 moss, was stripped bare, and the clothes of all the party 

 bore open testimony of the manner in which they had 

 embraced the stump in their passage. Frank was so 

 covered that Joe Dane said he could think of nothing in 

 the world but a green turtle every time he looked at him. 

 The party passed through the remainder of the gorge and 

 reached the hotel without any further adventures. 



After supper that night Mr. Benedict proposed to the 

 boys that, as the scenery was so beautiful here, they should 

 remain at the Falls House during the rest of their week, 



