THE DUSKY GEOUSE. 145 



home, and show them what grouse shooting in Idaho 

 really was. The cook took the birds I had bagged, 

 dipped them in a pail of water, and placed them, feathers 

 and all, in the middle of a hot fire of coals and covered 

 them with ashes. The doctor and Jones, who had been 

 out after trout in the lake, returned with two splendid 

 strings of fish soon after I did, and throwing them on 

 the ground, they indulged in the most glowing descrip- 

 tions about the abundance of fin in the lake, and the 

 wonderful transparency of the water, which enabled them 

 to see the sligbtest movements of the fish thirty feet be- 

 low. While they were pouring out superlative adjec- 

 tives, the cook was busily engaged in preparing some of 

 their catch for dinner, and as his method was novel, I 

 may as well describe it. He first split thick boughs into 

 two or three parts, according to their thickness, and 

 fastened a trout — after it was cleaned — to each part, by 

 means of a vine which was passed around the head and 

 tied behind the stick. The sticks, or boughs, were then 

 placed before a hot fire, on a bed of leaves, and when 

 the fish were cooked on one side the other was turned 

 until they were done to a turn. This is a simple and ef- 

 fective mode of cooking fish in the open air, and is very 

 popular with those who pride themselves on their knowl- 

 edge of the culinary art. 



When dinner was ready we attacked it without waiting 

 for Smith, as we did not know what time he would re- 

 turn, and as soon as it was over we fell to recounting the 

 adventures and incidents of the day. This is one of the 

 great delights of camp life, and an excellent means of 

 enlivening the dinner and making it cheerful and social, 

 instead of a mere mechanical habit, which, however 

 necessary it may be, is not always the most interesting part 

 of a holiday in the forest. We were so absorbed in our tales 

 that we forgot all about our absent comrade, and it was 

 only when the shadows of night began to approach that 



