178 WAKE-ROBIN 



woods, sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few 

 feet from the water, apparently completely non- 

 plussed by the imexpected appearance of danger on 

 the land side. All retreat was cut ofif, and he 

 looked his fate in the face without flinching. I 

 slaughtered him just as a savage would have done, 

 and from the same motive, — I wanted his carcass 

 to eat. 



The mid-afternoon sun was now shining upon 

 the lake, and a low, steady breeze drove the little 

 waves rocking to the shore. A herd of cattle were 

 browsing on the other side, and the bell of the 

 leader sounded across the water. In these solitudes 

 its clang was wild and musical. 



To try the trout was the first thing in order. 

 On a rude raft of logs which we found moored at 

 the shore, and which with two aboard shipped about 

 a foot of water, we floated out and wet our first fly 

 in Thomas's Lake; but the trout refused to jump, 

 and, to be frank, not more than a dozen and a half 

 were caught during our stay. Only a week pre- 

 vious, a party of three had taken in a few hours all 

 the fish they could carry out of the woods, and had 

 nearly surfeited their neighbors with trout. But 

 from some cause they now refused to rise, or to 

 touch any kind of bait: so we fell to catching the 

 sunfish, which were small but very abundant. Their 

 nests were all along shore. A space about the size 

 of a breakfast- plate was cleared of sediment and 

 decayed vegetable matter, revealing the pebbly bot- 

 tom, fresh and bright, with one or two fish suspended 



