I 64 THE SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE; 



near and hatcfiii. They are no longer musical to his ear, 

 but truly demoniacal to-night. He had been seated by the 

 fire about two hours, but in his horrible dream he had 

 suffered the pangs of a thousand deaths. There was no 

 more slumber for him that niMit. He would not even seat 

 himself before the fire, but walked again "to and fro," 

 endeavoring to recall the meanderings of the previous day, 

 and to determine upon some plan by which he could return 

 to the camp. The dawn of day finally appeared. His 

 plan was now matured. He would endeavor to retrace 

 his steps ; if he could do this, then he could finally reach 

 us once more. The idea that it would become necessary 

 for him to retrace his steps had not occurred to him during 

 his wanderings of the previous day. He had moved off 

 boldly then, trusting to good luck rather than any knowl- 

 edore of woodcraft to brinor him back to us. This man, in 

 fact, had been absolutely reckless in his wanderings since 

 he entered the forest. He did not, apparently, realize 

 that there was danger in straying about the wilderness 

 without the aid of a guide who was familiar with every 

 lake, mountain, and hill. 



He had never yet attempted the practice of that pre- 

 caution which even the best guides frequently take in this 

 grand forest, and which they learned from the Indians. I 

 have frequently observed that my guide, the moment he 

 started from camp, commenced to break the twigs or small 

 branches of the bushes with which he came in contact, care- 

 fully turning the broken twig backwards towards the camp, 

 and continued this practice until he was nearly ready to 

 start homeward, when he would face about and return on 



