REGRETTING TO LEAVE. 327 



ment belongs to me, you know. Don't say a word about it 

 when you get home till you see me. I haven't fully made up 

 my mind as to the manner of capturing him, and there must 

 be no contradictions on the subject." 



" Go ahead," replied Spalding, " we'll be careful of your 

 honor. Drop us a line at Cape Vincent, when you've 

 digested the matter, and we'll stand by you. Good-bye I" 



" Good-bye 1" And our friends disappeared from our 

 sight on their voyage* home. 



" And so," said Spalding, " we are to leave this beautiful 

 lake, and these old forests so soon. I could linger here a 

 month still, enjoying these shady and primitive solitudes. 

 To you and I, the quiet which one finds here is vastly 

 more inviting than it is to the friends who have just left us. 

 The Doctor, of necessity, leads a life of activity, feeling phy- 

 sical weariness as the result of his labors, but little of that 

 strong yearning for intellectual repose which those in your 

 profession or mine so often feel. Smith's life demands ex- 

 citement. The absence of the cares and toil of business 

 occasions a restlessness and desire of change,, which makes 

 him discontented here. With them the great charm of this 

 wild regbn is its novelty. They enjoy its beauties for a 

 season wit\ peculiar relish, but as these became familiar, the 

 spell is broken, and they turn towards home without a 

 regret. ToWou and I, there is something beyond this. 

 We, too, feeiand appreciate the beauty of these lakes and 

 mountains, me hill-sides and placid waters, the forest 

 songs, and wit scenery are pleasant to us ; but we enjoy 



