CHAPTEE XXIV 

 ON DIAMOND CREEK 



FOB several days the weather had been cloudy and 

 unsettled. But on the morning when we woke in 

 our first Diamond Creek camp a complete overnight 

 change had occurred. 



It was crisp, cool and clear a true fall day one 

 of those heartening, out-of-doors, woodsey mornings 

 when the dew on the grass sparkles mischievously, 

 when the sun strikes the earth with a warm caress 

 that quickens the electric air, when the sharp, sweet 

 song of birds keeps time to the mounting song in 

 the blood of the just-awakened camper. 



As the first soft spring evening of the year some- 

 times will linger in the mind, noteworthy by con- 

 trast with its forgotten fellows, so this September 

 day though no different, perhaps, from those that 

 followed, still stands unique for me, still has its own 

 niche in the galleries of recollection. 



From this time on to the end the weather was 

 perfect. They were halcyon days these, cloudless, 

 and with the crystal clearness of atmosphere and 

 the tonic snap and sparkle of frost that autumn in 

 the mountains means. The damp, sweet balsam 

 odour of the firs, the cheery, crackling fires of pitch- 



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