picking her way daiiitih^ behind the alders and cedar trees 

 until she was abreast of us. A few minutes of silence 

 and we could almost imagine her letting loose her curi- 

 osit}^ : "Who can these mortals be? Are they living 

 creatures ? And what heavenh' music that was ! Poor 

 things, how can they sit so long on the water and keep so 

 still ! And what are they after anyway ? ' ' She no doubt 

 thought all this if she didn't say it. Then she stepped 

 out in the open and came so close to the canoe we 

 could almost have hit her with a paddle. Did we shoot ! 

 No, sir ! No thought had we of killing that trusting, 

 unsuspecting creature, whose beauty and grace of form 

 and pose had for an hour entranced our sense with a 

 vision of loveliness we can never forget. Venison? Why 

 we would have gone without the dainty dish for many a 

 day rather than have gotten it by the foul murder of that 

 gentle, soft-eyed, gazelle-like doe of Chesuncook Lake. 



'\^::^,sMJ^ 



28 



