22 A SPORTSMAN'S EDEN. 



placard of 'a valuable building lot, with a lake 

 view.' The hotel was chiefly peopled by ladies ; 

 the male element appeared to have migrated, 

 and the women seemed so wearied that they had 

 taken (some of them) to cultivating the dramatic 

 talents of the. negro waiters, a troupe of whom 

 had recently delighted the guests with recitations 

 and scenes from Shakespeare. 



These negroes display, I believe, considerable 

 talent, and a great desire to push themselves in 

 life, some even (here again I speak from hearsay) 

 having been educated at Harvard University. 

 A nigger Othello might pass muster, but Lena ! 

 imagine Hamlet done in black ! 



About the second day our men had tried the 

 fishing, discovered that the trout in the streams 

 were neither as numerous nor as large as the gay 

 little fellows in our Welsh brooks, that a pickerel 

 is only a diminutive ' Jack,' and in spite of a 

 bucket of cockroaches, to be impaled alive, had 

 failed to obtain a specimen of the famous black 

 bass. So my husband threatened Rocky Moun- 

 tains ; and even Mr. L., always amiable and 

 contented, hinted at a visit to the Adirondacks. 



Ireland came gallantly to the rescue. Lena, 

 if you ever travel, make a note of this. Forget 

 your Baedeker if you like ; your purse if your 

 husband is with you; your music if yon. really 



