The Frenzy of Unrest 299 



despite the menace of ultra-civilization, and I recall a 

 long thirty-mile drive through a burnt area, through thou- 

 sands of skeleton trees, up hill and down dale, the gradual 

 rise, the entrance into the untouched, unspoiled forest. 

 A black bear ambled across the road with two inquisitive 

 cubs; the air was clear as a bell, and from far away came 

 the deep boom of a giant frog, the cry of some strange bird. 

 Tens of thousands of acres reached away on every side, 

 covered with the virgin forest never perhaps profaned by 

 the step of man ; deep undergrowth, the dying trees of ages, 

 moss-covered, their last estate hidden by groves of waving 

 ferns and brakes, trunks colored yellow, blue and red, great 

 lichens clinging to trees, like shelves tacked on for use. 



A bend in the road, a road by courtesy, and the gem-like 

 lake, reflecting the blue of the heavens, opens up, and we 

 pitch down to the shore, see Jim Donnelley's smudge rising 

 over on the south side, and are soon shaking hands with Jim 

 himself, not a bit older than last year, the same old Jim 

 who has been a delight-maker for scores of men and women. 



Jim's windbrake, as that is what it was, was fresh as the 

 balsam of the gods and faced a fire upon which fried trout, 

 biscuits, bacon, coffee and venison were all cooking at the 

 same time, a magic brew ; it was then that we threw off the 

 last vestige of civilization and entered into the full joy of 

 the woods, filling our lungs with real air, " straight." To 

 have sat in that smoke for ten minutes down on Manhattan 

 Island would have been a dire penance, but now it was all 

 right, the old crop of black flies was here to greet us, and 

 smoke was a comfort, it was the old story ; this same smoke 

 that in the city would have been an abomination, now took 

 on the dignity of an accessory to sport, and had to be en- 

 joyed, and was. 



What a night that was, out in the open, looking up at the 

 stars as they came up over Blue Mountain, the air filled with 

 incense, strange noises in the forest, strange splashes out on 

 the lake, weird calls along shore, plunging bats, the deep 



