126 PIERRE'S REFLECTIONS. 



rock or shoal; mirroring here the sombre woods, and 

 there gleaming with the reflection of golden cloud or sky. 



The hunters lay reclined upon the carpet of fir 

 branchlets, each wrapped in his own thoughts. Pierre 

 gazed abstractedly down the level river which vanished 

 round a pine-clad point: on the left side, deep in 

 mysterious shadows; on the right, giving back the 

 flush of the heavens, which faded slowly to a pale 

 amber. 



His thoughts, however, were not fixed upon the 

 scene before him, although they were tinged with the 

 romantic melancholy with which the sight of desert 

 nature inspires those who are most susceptible of such 

 influences. 



What could be the subject of the young trapper's 

 reflections ? Could it be that he was in love, and that 

 Miss Frazer's was the image which haunted his imagi- 

 nation ? That this was the case was rendered probable 

 by the sigh that escaped his lips as he roused himself 

 from his reverie, and suggested to his comrades the 

 propriety of landing for the night. 



It was indeed high time, as daylight was fast giving 

 place to the shades of night. The interminable forest 

 shrouded both banks, and it was only after a long 

 search that the hunters found a spot sufficiently open 

 to make a site for their camp. 



The raft was tethered to a tree, and the ordinary 

 preparations were made for their evening meal. A 

 huge fire, formed of the whole trunks of several dead 



