142 ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS. 



advise you to believe no more of it than yon see 

 fit. Perhaps the reading will serve to entertain a 

 circle of friends some winter evening, when the 

 wind moans dismally without, as the writing will 

 rest him who, in front of a glowing grate, on a 

 December night, for his own amusement even 

 more than for your own, tells you the story of 



PHANTOM FALLS. 



"John," said I, "since eight o'clock we have 

 made good forty miles, and my fingers are so stiff 

 that I can scarcely unclasp them from this paddle- 

 staff. Let us make camp before the sun goes 

 down." 



" Well," replied he, " fifteen years ago I camped 

 one night by that big rock there at the mouth of 

 the rapids, and I would like to see how the old 

 camp looks, for I saw something there that night 

 that I could not account for ; I will tell you about 

 it after suj)per to-night." 



Of course I assented, and bent myself to the 

 paddle with renewed energy. 



We were in the heart of the wilderness, where 

 even trappers seldom penetrated. For fifty miles 

 on either side not even the smoke of a hunter's 

 cabin colored the air. For weeks I had not seen a 

 human face or heard a human voice other than our 



