232 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



camp-fires. We expected to see them making prepara- 

 tions for breakfast, but early as it was, we found them 

 missing. Like others of their tribe, " they had fokled 

 their tents and quietly stolen away." The place was 

 so inviting that the nomad spirit took possession of us, 

 and we determined also for a time to be Gypsies. We 

 were not at all satisfied that the " active member of the 

 firm " had fared better than the others. As usual, we 

 were prepared for such emergencies, ha^dng with us a 

 feed of oats and a comfortable lunch of bread and butter, 

 canned tongue, sardines and a bottle of ' Tokay.' A little 

 farther along was an open space, with a clear brook run- 

 ning through it. This place was selected, and the prep- 

 arations for breakfast soon completed. Taking off the 

 bridle and pouring a generous feed of oats on the clean 

 grass, we invited Bess to enjoy herself. A mossy knoll 

 near by answered for table and chairs, and we were 

 soon busy and as much at home as though to the 

 " manor born." The dining room was neat and spacious, 

 with no smoke or smell of pent-up cooking. A flood of 

 warm sunshine lay on the grass and trees about us, mak- 

 ing them a still richer green in the light. A soft breeze 

 shook the sweet elder blossoms down from their feath- 

 ery sprayed corymbs, powdering us with pearl and 

 perfume. In a hemlock near us a red squirrel laughed at 

 and scolded us by turns, for invading his premises. A 

 woodpecker drummed away on the dry limb of a tree, 

 contrasting pleasantly with the soft chirp of some hand- 

 some cedar birds that sat nearly motionless in a small 

 maple. Just as we were in readiness to start, the squir- 



