deed, we felt quite sure we had passed it, 

 either on the right or on the left. Also, 

 it was possible that we had been, for the 

 last hour, going northwest instead of 

 southwest. It was raining and we had 

 not consulted the compass very often. It 

 had been raining for the past three hours, 

 and now the water was falling in a flood, 

 and we were soaked to the skin. Our 

 shoes were rilled with water and as we 

 plodded on it sloshed, sloshed, with every 

 step. We were bewildered, but it would 

 do no good to stop, or turn back, so we 

 continued to push on. 



Presently, as we passed over a ridge 

 and climbed down the steep hillside, we 

 saw a cleared place in the bottom of the 

 valley. Bige exclaimed, "Gosh!! Well 

 I'll be doggoned ! If that ain't Muskrat 

 City." The map makers had not discov- 

 ered the place, and Bige had never heard 

 of it, yet the instant he saw it he knew 

 its name was Muskrat City, and it shall 

 so remain unless an act of legislature 

 changes it. 



4 



