54. DAYS IN THE OPEN 



of fare and a cook who can at least boil potatoes. 

 This, we say, is possible, and these desirable fea- 

 tures are sometimes actualities. When they are, 

 life is " one grand, sweet song." But there are 

 worse experiences than returning after a day's 

 tramp, tired and hungry, to find awaiting you an 

 easy chair, a well-cooked meal and a comfortable 

 bed under the shelter of a roof. 



This outing was in the days before " jacking for 

 deer " had become not only illegal but entirely un- 

 ethical. The Preacher and Frank, with the guide, 

 tramped one afternoon to a little lake some four 

 miles away for the purpose of floating for deer that 

 night. As it is useless to go on such a quest when 

 the moon is in the sky, and that luminary had fixed 

 upon ten o'clock as the hour for retiring that night, 

 a fire was kindled on the hill-side, well back from 

 the water, and the hunters waited upon the slow 

 setting of the moon. Many questions of more or 

 less importance were discussed and, at last, Frank 

 said to the Preacher, 



" Have you ever read ' Robert Elsmere ' ? " 



" Yes," answered the Preacher. " Why do you 

 ask?" 



" Well, Pastor advised me not to read it. 



He said he had preached on the book twice, and 

 he had never read it." 



The Preacher chuckled and then roared, until the 

 guide growled, " You'll scare all the deer out of the 

 lake and over the mountain if you make so much 



