CHAPTER VIII. 



Tin- morninu- came, bright and fivsli. and presented us in 

 excellent condition and spiriK We round that \vc had 

 descended upon a delight t'ul wilderness home, upon the 

 northern shore of Meachain Lake. a body of water stretch- 

 ing one and a half miles southward, and one and a half 

 miles in width, surrounded on every side by prime- 

 val t'oresK and on nearly every side by mountains. The 

 little lo-;- hotel in which \\ e had slept and eaten faced 

 toward the water, and acro^ iK front ran a rude, ample 

 vcramlah; while behind it wa> a small Hearinir where the 

 household vegetable* slniirii'led. under inhospitable condi- 

 tions, to meet the modest ex peel at ions of 1 heir cult ivator. 

 and when-, under the yearning pi/.e of Fuller's e\ces>ivel\ 

 steady span of horses and a very mild cow. a small Meld of 

 diminutive oats was ripening and the thin li'host of a hay 

 crop was maturing. 



On the east, a few feet distant, was the older lo^ house, 

 which once served as the only dwelling, and where under 

 former auspices and administrations there had been wild 

 times of sport and carousal. It was now simply the " miide 

 house. " and also contained Fuller's little shop where a rod 

 or a ^un could be repaired as neatly as skill and a fine set 

 of implements could do it. It was also the ireneral meeting 

 place of the sportsmen and male tourists. On the 



