42 jock's lake. ^ 



I accompanied tlie fishermen to the lake shore, towel in 

 hand, to make my morning toilet. After speedily accom- 

 plishing this, I half sat and half reclined on a rock, and 

 watched them as they rowed out to the fishing-grounds, - 

 their voices and the dipping of the oars gradually 

 growing less and less distinct as the boat noiselessly glided 

 away. Behind me, at the camp, busy preparations were 

 being made, as I could see. . The smoke rose from the fire, 

 thin and pale, in the bright sunlight; Horace was moving 

 .hither and thither with spoon and dish and pail, while 

 George was seated on a log humbly peeling potatoes —that 

 being the least skilled labor of the forest kitchen; Thomp- 

 son had a thousand little things to do, but at this moment 

 was suspending a pocket mirror by a nail driven into a log 

 of the cabin, out of doors; Johnson was examining and 

 cleaning his rifle; Wilkinson was feeding and watering his 

 horses and preparing for his return homeward after break- 

 fast;— while the circling forest looked silently on. The 

 whole scene was so new and strange to me that I forgot 

 that I was a member of this body politic and had the 

 duties of a citizen to perform with the rest. However, as 

 I was the youngest, and the Neophyte at that, and was not 

 counted as knowing the things "worth knowing" in the 

 woods, my inactivity attracted no attention. It was my 

 fortune, indeed, to be treated throughout the trip as a guest 

 and admitted to all the good things and spared all but the 

 ine V itable labors. Thanks to the dear old boys ! 



The fishermen soon returned with all the trout required 

 for the morning meal, and shortly after we were seated 



