IN THE CATSKILLS 



to get you into trouble. One must strike out boldly, 

 and not be disturbed by the curveting and shying; 

 the valley you want lies squarely behind them, but 

 farther off than you think, and if you do not go 

 for it resolutely, you will get bewildered and the 

 mountain will play you a trick. 



I may say that Aaron and I kept a tight rein 

 and a good pace till we struck a water-course on 

 the other side, and that we clattered down it with 

 no want of decision till it emptied into a larger 

 stream which we knew must be the East Branch. 

 An abandoned fishpole lay on the stones, marking 

 the farthest point reached by some fisherman. 

 According to our reckoning, we were five or six 

 miles above the settlement, with a good depth of 

 primitive woods all about us. 



We kept on down the stream, now and then paus- 

 ing at a likely place to take some trout for dinner, 

 and with an eye out for a good camping-ground. 

 Many of the trout were full of ripe spawn, and a 

 few had spawned, the season with them being a 

 little later than on the stream we had left, perhaps 

 because the water was less cold. Neither had the 

 creek here any such eventful and startling career. 

 It led, indeed, quite a humdrum sort of life under 

 the roots and fallen treetops and among the loose 

 stones. At rare intervals it beamed upon us from 

 some still reach or dark cover, and won from us our 

 best attention in return. 



242 



