360 THE ADIRONDACK. 



and in a few minutes had the satisfaction of seeing the 

 water bubble up. It soon cleared itself, and we had 

 fresh cool water to drink. A roaring fire and a good 

 supper made us more cheerful, but the musquitoes were 

 thick as the locusts of Egypt, rendering it impossible 

 to live except we kept enveloped in smoke. In the 

 evening John and I rigged up a jack, and went out 

 in search of deer. We skirted the whole shore of the 

 lake without seeing one, and finally steered for the 

 mouth of Bog Eiver, two or three miles away, and pro- 

 ceeding down it, soon heard the careful step of one in 

 the water. Paddling carefully towards the spot whence 

 the sound came, I just caught a glimpse of the red 

 sides of the cautious fellow, as he sneaked softly out of 

 the tall reeds and disappeared in the bushes. It was 

 not strange that we saw no deer where there were such 

 abundant signs of them, for the sounds of the axe in 

 preparing wood for the night echoed far and wide, to 

 say nothing of the bright blaze of our fire, which from 

 the hill-side gleamed in every direction over the water. 

 Besides, the noise and laughter of those left behind 

 echoed in the still night at a great distance — enough of 

 itself to frighten a less timid animal than the deer. 

 Between the great black shadows of the mountains 



