92 SADDLE AND CAMP 



John cantered after him, and the little rascal 

 made no effort to elude, but stopped and looked 

 at John in the most innocent manner, as though 

 he did not realize that he had been doing any- 

 thing undignified or out of the ordinary. He 

 exhibited no symptom of fright or fear and 

 when John returned with him rubbed his nose 

 against me in his most affectionate manner. I 

 remounted him and we proceeded as though 

 nothing extraordinary had occurred to disturb 

 our progress. 



We traveled at a jog trot, and before one 

 o'clock a beautiful lake of clear water appeared 

 in the distance, apparently not more than two 

 miles ahead and to the southeast of some 

 broken ledges of rock. The lake was sur- 

 rounded by green fields that offered splendid 

 forage for the horses, and beautiful groves of 

 trees reached down to the lake's edge, which 

 the placid waters reflected like a mirror. The 

 appearance of a lake here came as a pleasant 

 surprise, for I had never heard before of its 

 existence. I suggested to John that it might be 

 well to make our midday halt in the shade of 

 one of the groves and let the horses graze for 

 an hour in the good green pastures. 



"There's no lake ahead," said he. "I see 

 what you mean, and I've seen many, many 



