154 Wilderness Ways. 



with a sense of unspeakable relief that only one can 

 appreciate who has been lost and now hears the 

 ripples, sing under him, knowing that the cheerless 

 woods lie behind, and that the camp-fire beckons 

 beyond yonder point. The loons were hallooing far 

 away, and I went over this time in pure gratitude 

 to see them again. But my guide was modest and 

 vanished post-haste into the mist the moment my 

 canoe appeared. 



Since then, whenever I hear Hukweem in the 

 night, or hear others speak of his unearthly laughter, 

 I think of that cry over the tree-tops, and the thrilling 

 answer far away. And the sound has a ring to it, in 

 my ears, that it never had before. Hukweem the 

 Night Voice found me astray in the woods, and 

 brought me safe to a snug camp. That is a ser- 

 vice which one does not forget in the wilderness. 



