AMONG THE NORTHERN PINES 95 



hastens to say that he did not see the dog nor the 

 pike nor even the bark.) 



By this time some reader may be interested to 

 know where the lake is located about which we 

 are writing. A journey of two hundred miles 

 almost due north from Minneapolis brings the 

 traveller to Park Rapids, a live and growing town 

 on the Great Northern Railroad. One may not 

 travel far in any direction from this town without 

 coming across a lake. Three miles to the east is 

 Long Lake, some nine miles in length with an 

 average width of about three-fourths of a mile. 

 It is a beautiful sheet of water, spring- fed, blue, 

 with sandy beaches and broken, wooded shores. 

 Here among the pines is the cottage where we 

 spent a delightful outing. 



Unless all signs fail, this section is soon to 

 become the favourite playground of the Mississippi 

 Valley. It has almost innumerable attractive lakes, 

 the fragrant pines are everywhere, the air is pure 

 and invigorating, the fishing is varied and first- 

 class. Twenty-four miles from Park Rapids is 

 Lake Itasca, whose fame has gone abroad, for it 

 is here that the mighty Mississippi has its source. 

 It lies within the state park, which includes thirty- 

 six thousand acres of land, and here are found 

 magnificent specimens of the great Norway pine, 

 once so common over all this country. The super- 

 intendent of the park is given the privilege of con- 

 ducting a summer resort on the shores of Lake 



