186 A BED OF BOUGHS. 



ain from bowlder to bowlder. Up and up we went, 

 with frequent pauses, and copious quaffing of the 

 cold water. My soldier declared a "haunted val- 

 ley " would be a god-send ; anything but endless 

 dragging of one's self up such an Alpine stair-way. 

 The winter-wren, common all through the woods, 

 peeped and scolded at us as we sat blowing near the 

 summit, and the oven-bird, not quite sure as to what 

 manner of creatures we were, hopped down a limb 

 to within a few feet of us and had a good look, then 

 darted off into the woods to tell the news. I also 

 noted the Canada warbler, the chestnut-sided warbler, 

 and the black-throated blue-back, the latter most 

 abundant of all. Up these mountain brooks, too, 

 goes the belted kingfisher, swooping around through 

 the woods when he spies the fisherman, then wheel- 

 ing into the open space of the stream and literally 

 making a "blue streak" down under the branches. 



At last the stream which had been our guide was 

 lost under the rocks, and before long the top was 

 gained. These mountains are horse-shaped. There 

 is always a broad, smooth back more or less depressed, 

 which the hunter aims to bestride ; rising rapidly 

 from this is pretty sure to be a rough, curving ridge 

 that carries the forest up to some highest peak. We 

 were lucky in hitting the saddle, but we could see a 

 little to the south the sharp, steep neck of the steed 

 sweeping up toward the sky with an erect mane of 

 balsam fir. 



These mountains are steed-like in other respects ; 



