174 B()ONKVILT;E TO SARATOGA. 



grown pcoi)l('. Indeed, I doubt whether any body can 

 handle a piu-liook with such remarkable success as a boy 

 does. I suppose this intuitive knowledge of "how to take 

 fish " implies that our remote ancestors went a-fishing for a 

 living for many generations, and that their then acquired 

 skill and habits come out naturally in a l)oy before his 

 nature is overlaid by the discipline and results of modern 

 education. 



The following day was Sunday. John announced that 

 we had eaten uj) everything in the way of our fish-supply 

 and suggested, that there must be a pair of salmon trout at 

 the buoy waiting for us. We went to our preserve. Making 

 a virtuous necessity of it, in a few moments we took three sal- 

 mon trout wcighingtwo and a quarter, one and three-quar- 

 ters, and one and a half pounds respectively, andaspeckled 

 trout weighing a half-pound. They made a breakfast befit- 

 ting the day, — and it required something remarkable to 

 l)efit such a day as that was, for it was perfection itself. 



The weather has much to do with the enjoyment of peo- 

 ple of in-door life, to be sure ; but in the woods, when you 

 are camping or tramping, it is the all-important thing. It 

 makes or mars your out-door life. A fortnight of rain in 

 the midst of your sojourn in the forest is a calamity with- 

 out mitigation or com[)ensation. But perfect weather 

 among the trees and on the lakes and streams — that is 

 blessedness itself. 



Tu the afternoon we went to church on the summit of 

 Bald jVIountain, and worshipped Nature. AVe made the ;is- 

 cent from the north shore of Third Lak(;, by a good trail, 



