flotes of tbe 



more than ice and snow instead of water and green 

 leaves." 



" Think it out for yourself, while I go look after 

 my traps, and get ready for bed, too, for I don't 

 sit up all night like an owl," and Bill left me to my 

 meditations, without further ado. 



Perhaps it may be that I was growing sleepy 

 and did not realize it. It was late now, and 

 would be nearly dawn by the time I reached 

 home, and these thoughts doubtless dulled my 

 observing power. The river was not strange to 

 look upon. The sparkle was losing its dulness, 

 and my mind wandered to what had been, an ex- 

 cellent evidence of decaying strength. The in- 

 creasing indistinctness of the waterscape led me to 

 recall the brightness of every object seen in the 

 springtide light ; and a word here concerning this 

 light of the new year. During the closing days 

 of February it may be very cold or an ethereal 

 mildness may prevail, but whether it be the one ex- 

 treme or the other, there is a marked difference in 

 the sunshine. There is greater actinism now, if I 

 understand the physicist, and this means the chem- 

 ical force of the sun's rays is more pronounced. 

 But if this were the sum and substance of the mat- 

 ter, what comfort would the rambler get ? Naked 

 facts are thrust upon the world from the labora- 

 tory, but nature drapes them daintily before pre- 

 sentation. What concerns me is that a little cedar 

 on the other side of the river stands out to-day as 

 47 



