CHAPTER XXXVIII 



THE FIRST WOODS 



How shall I set forth the feelings it stirred? None but 

 the shipwrecked sailor, long drifting on the open sea, 

 but come at last to land, can fully know the thrill it 

 gave us. We were like starving Indians suddenly sur- 

 rounded by Caribou. Wood — timber — fuel — galore! 

 It was hard to realise — but there it was, all about us, 

 and in the morning we were awakened by the sweet, 

 sweet, home-like song of the Robins in the trees, 

 singing their "Cheerup, cheerily" just as they do it in 

 Ontario and Connecticut. Our cache was all right; 

 so our stock of luxuries was replenished. We now had 

 unlimited food as well as unlimited firewood; what 

 more could any one ask? Yet there was more. The 

 weather was lovely; perfect summer days, and the 

 mosquitoes were gone, yes, now actually nets and fly- 

 bars were discarded for good. On every side was ani- 

 mal life in abundance; the shimmering lake with its 

 Loons and islands would fit exactly the Indian's dream 

 of the heavenly hunting-grounds. These were the 

 happy halcyon days of the trip, and we stayed a week 

 to rest and revel in the joys about us. 



In the morning I took a long walk over the familiar 

 hills ; the various skeletons we had left were picked bare, 

 evidently by Gulls and Ravens, as no bones were broken 

 and even the sinews were left. There were many fresh 



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