94 ADJRONDAC. 



then the lake gleamed through the trees, or we crossed 

 on a shaky bridge some of its arms or inlets, After a 

 while we began to pass dilapidated houses by the road- 

 side. One little frame house I remember particularly ; 

 the door was off the hinges and leaned against the 

 jambs, the windows had but a few panes left which 

 glared vacantly. The yard and little garden spot were 

 overrun with a heavy growth of timothy, and the fences 

 had all long since gone to decay. At the head of the 

 lake a large stone building projected from the steep 

 bank and extended over the road. A little beyond the 

 valley opened to the east, and looking ahead about one 

 mile we saw smoke going up from a single chimney. 

 Pressing on, just as the sun was setting we entered the 

 deserted village. The barling of the dog brought the 

 whole family into the street, and they stood till we came 

 up. Strangers in that country were a novelty, and we 

 were greeted like familiar acquaintances. 



Hunter, the head, proved to be a first-rate type of 

 an Americanized Irishman. His wife was a Scotch 

 woman. They had a family of five or six children, two 

 of them grown-up daughters — modest, comely young 

 women as you would find anywhere. The elder of the 

 two had spent a winter in New York with her aunt, 

 which perhaps made her a little more self-conscious 

 when in the presence of the strange young men. Hun- 

 ter was hired by the company at a dollar a day to live 

 here and see that things were not wantonly destroyed 

 but allowed to go to decay properly and decently. He 



