W.VKVViC'K WUDDL.VNKS. 77 



from the little cabin, under the roof of which I had slept 

 30 dreamlessly and deep, after the fierce excitement of our 

 deer hunt, that while I was yet slumbering, all save my- 

 self had risen, donned their accoutrements, and sallied 

 forth, I knew not whither, leaving me certainly alone, 

 although as certainly not so much to my glory. 



From the other cottage, as I stood upon the threshold, 

 I might hear the voices of the females, busy at their culi- 

 nary labors, the speedily approaching term of which was 

 obviously denoted by the rich savory steams which tainted 

 — not, I confess, unpleasantly — the fragrant morning air. 



As I looked out upon this lovely morning, I did not, I 

 acknowledge it, regret the absence of my excellent though 

 boisterous companions; for there was something which I 

 cannot define in the deep stillness, in the sweet harmoni- 

 ous quiet of the whole scene before me, that disposed my 

 spirit to meditation far more than to mirth; the very 

 smoke which rose from the low chimneys of the Teach- 

 mans' colony — not surging to and fro, obedient to the 

 fickle winds — but soaring straight, tall, unbroken, upward, 

 like Corinthian columns, each with its curled capital — 

 seemed to invite the soul of the spectator to mount with 

 it toward the sunny heavens. 



By-and-bye I strayed downward to the beach, a narrow 

 strip of silvery sand and variegated pebbles, and stood 

 there long, silently watching the unknown sports, the 

 seemingly — to us at least — unmeaning movements, and 

 strange groupings of the small fry, which darted to and 

 fro in the clear shallows within two yards of my feet; or 

 marking the brief circling ripples, wrought by the morn- 

 ing swallow's wing, and momently subsiding into the 

 wonted rest of the calm lake. 



How long I stood there musing I know not, for I had 

 fallen into a train of thought so deep that I was utterly 

 unconscious of everything around me, when I was sud- 

 denly aroused from my reverie by the quick dash of oars, 

 and by a volley of some seven barrels discharged in quick 

 succession. As I looked up with an air, I presume some- 

 what bewildered, I heard the loud and bellowing laugh 

 of Tom, and saw the whole of our stout company gliding 

 up in two boats, the skifF and the canoe, toward the land- 

 ing plflce, perhaps a hundred yards from the spot where 

 I stood. 



