A SMOKY ATMOSPHERE 125 



which instantly brought me to my feet. It was fol- 

 lowed by another in quick succession. With rifle 

 raised I looked for the cause of the disturbance. My 

 first thought was that a pair of bull moose were fight- 

 ing, but later on the truth dawned on me that it was 

 the noise of removing the felt from the roof of the 

 camp which I had heard. This was hard to believe, 

 and yet it was really the case. 



On an afternoon when I was alone at the camp, the 

 guide and cook having been sent some miles away on 

 an errand, I heard a couple of men talking as it 

 seemed to me in a small cove, about a hundred 

 yards from the camp. Taking rifle and field-glass to 

 see who they were for we very seldom have visitors 

 up our way, and hence to hear strange voices was sur- 

 prising I went to the cove. 



A large flock of hooded merganser ducks took wing 

 at my approach, and flew away, but no men were to 

 be seen, and yet the voices could be plainly heard, 

 sounding as if the men were far back in the woods and 

 coming down to the water. With the field-glasses the 

 shores of the lake were scanned, but no sign of any 

 human being could be seen, and the voices seemed to 

 be getting nearer and yet nearer, and finally to be on 

 the opposite side of the water. 



At last I noticed a canoe rounding out of the 

 thoroughfare at the foot of the lake and following 

 the farther shore. It contained the two men who had 



