LADIES IN CAMP. 419 



ed point ahead, scarlet dresses and a mixed group that 

 looked like a pic-nio party. As we came opposite, they 

 stepped into their boats and swept out into the lake. 

 They had seen a shower rising over the forest, and were 

 hastening to their camp. As they joined us, we dis- 

 covered that they were our two acquaintances that we 



had left at Martin's, with Judge of Vermont and 



his family, who had come out to spend a few weeks in 

 the woods. They invited us down to their camp to 

 spend the night. We gladly accepted the invitation, 

 and moved off together, six boats abreast, down the 

 lake. Soon the rain began to come down in torrents, 

 but the ladies were safely encased in oiled-silk capes and 

 India rubber blankets, and laughed at the storm. I 

 intended to stop and see my friend Mitchell, but the 

 rain prevented me, and we passed on to the foot of the 

 lake, which was fourteen miles from the head where we 



had entered it. 



The camp was pitched in a beautiful grove in a 

 sheltered nook, and consisted of three tents— one for 

 the guides, one for the gentlemen, and one for the 

 ladies— the two latter strewed with hemlock boughs and 

 spread with buffalo robes. A table made of poles, 

 resting on crotched sticks and covered with bark, stood 



