IN THE JEWEL BOX 



almost delight enough; but if carnal man demands 

 trout for the table, why, then it is boots and saddle, 

 and, rod under leg, one rides even deeper into the 

 wilderness. 



Who has not felt, betimes, the spell of the moun- 

 tain river roaring down out of its high sources, 

 white over the rocks, deep and cool green in the 

 pools ? It is in human nature to want to follow any 

 such stream clear to the head. There never were 

 trout so large that one did not think there were 

 trout a little larger farther up. One baskets a trout 

 or so from this pool, almost grudging the time, be- 

 cause it is simply necessary to go on and on. That 

 is ambition, that is human nature. But what a glori- 

 ous experience it is to follow a mountain river back 

 into the high mountains, with no strings to draw 

 one back to camp at any given day, to go back into 

 the mountains beyond the tin-can zone so -difficult 

 a thing from Panama to Nome today! 



I recall a little trip not long ago where we fol- 

 lowed a bold river back and up until it became a 

 thread with lakes strung on it, until we had reached 

 the last lake, almost up to the clouds. Such an 

 experience is more than a mere fishing trip; it is 

 close touch with the rare and beautiful things, the 

 jewels, the condensed wealth of the world. 



Old John the Ranger knew there were trout there, 

 87 



