134 SPECKLED TROUT. 



fraught in an eminent degree with the charm of se- 

 clusion and remoteness. The solitude was perfect ; 

 and I felt that strangeness and insignificance which 

 the civilized man must always feel when opposing 

 himself to such a vast scene of silence and wildness. 

 The trout were quite black, like all wood trout, and 

 took the bait eagerly. I followed the stream till the 

 deepening shadows warned me to turn back. As I 

 neared camp, the fire shone far through the trees, 

 dispelling the gathering gloom, but blinding my eyes 

 to all obstacles at my feet. I was seriously disturbed 

 on arriving to find that one of my companions had 

 cut an ugly gash in his shin with the axe, while fell- 

 ing a tree. As we did not carry a fifth wheel, it 

 was not just the time or place to have any of our 

 members crippled, and I had bodings of evil. But, 

 thanks to the healing virtues of the balsam, which 

 must have adhered to the blade of the axe, and 

 double thanks to the court-plaster with which Orville 

 had supplied himself before leaving home, the wounded 

 leg, by being favored that night and the next day, 

 gave us little trouble. 



That night we had our first fair and square camp- 

 ing out, that is, sleeping on the ground with no 

 shelter over us but the trees, and it was in many 

 respects the pleasantest night we spent in the woods. 

 The weather was perfect and the place was perfect, 

 and for the first time we were exempt from the 

 midges and smoke ; and then we appreciated the 

 clean new page we had to work on. Nothing is so 



