200 BIRCH BROWSINGS. 



and in less than twenty minutes we were in the woods 

 I had passed through when I found the lake. The 

 error I had made was then plain ; we had come off 

 the mountain a few paces too far to the right, and s ) 

 had passed down on the wrong side of the ridge, into 

 what we afterwards learned was the valley of Alder 

 Creek. 



We now made good time, and before many minutes 

 I again saw the mimic sky glance through the trees. 

 As we approached the lake a solitary woodchuck, the 

 first wild animal we had seen since entering the 

 woods, sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few 

 feet from the water, apparently completely nonplussed 

 by the unexpected appearance of danger on the land 

 side. All retreat was cut off, and he looked his fate 

 in the face without flinching. I slaughtered him just 

 as a savage would have done, and from the same mo- 

 tive, I wanted his carcass to eat. 



The mid-afternoon sun was now shining upon the 

 lake, and a low, steady breeze drove the little waves 

 rocking ,to the shore. A herd of cattle were brows- 

 ing on the other side, and the bell of the leader 

 sounded across the water. In these solitudes its 

 dang was wild and musical. 



To try the trout was the first thing in order. On 

 a rude raft of logs which we found moored at the 

 shore, and which with two aboard shipped about a 

 foot of water, we floated out and wet our first fly in 

 Thomas's Lake ; but the trout refused to jump, and, 

 to be frank, not more than a dozen and a half wer 



