A BED OF BOUGHS. 187 



any timid and vacillating course with them is sure to 

 get you into trouble. One must strike out boldly 

 and not be disturbed by the curveting and shying ; 

 the valley you want lies squarely behind them, but 

 farther off than you think, and if you do not go for 

 it resolutely you will get bewildered and the mount- 

 ain will play you a trick. 



I may say that Aaron and I kept a tight rein and 

 a good pace till we struck a watercourse on the other 

 side, and that we clattered down it with no want -of 

 decision till it emptied into a larger stream which we 

 knew must be the East Branch. An abandoned fish- 

 pole lay on the stones, marking the farthest point 

 reached by some fisherman. According to our reck- 

 oning, we were five or six miles above the settlement, 

 with a good depth of primitive woods all about us. 



We kept on down the stream, now and then paus- 

 ing at a likely place to take some trout for dinner, 

 and with an eye out for a good camping-ground. 

 Many of the trout were full of ripe spawn and a 

 few had spawned, the season with them being a little 

 later than on the stream we had left, perhaps, be- 

 cause the water was less cold. Neither had the 

 creek here any such eventful and startling care'er. 

 It led, indeed, quite a humdrum sort of life under 

 the roots and fallen tree-tops and among the loose 

 stones. At rare intervals it beamed upon us from 

 some still reach or dark cover, and won from us our 

 best attention in return. 



The day was quite spent before we had pitched 



