IN THE BEGINNING 



tions of man ; I would have none of his blunders 

 to correct. It was all fresh, new, inspiring. 



At the outset there is a word to be said as to 

 the locality we had chosen. Insley Lake is the 

 head of a chain of lakes in the State of Maine, at 

 a distance of about twenty miles from the town 

 of Firmins, where a railroad connects the town 

 with the outer world. The stage road, though 

 hilly, is a good solid highway, and in clear 

 weather the drive is an agreeable one, but gener- 

 ally it showers when you drive in or out. Insley 

 Lake is about ten miles long, running nearly east 

 and west. On the eastern shore is the village 

 of Insley ; then a small collection of houses with 

 a hotel, a general store, a blacksmith shop, two 

 sawmills, a school, and a church. The island 

 contains about twenty acres, densely covered with 

 forest, and is about two miles from the eastern 

 end of the lake. Near the western end is an- 

 other island known as Megwamantic, quite as 

 wild as its sister isle. On the north shore is 

 Neseghigo Cove, and on the western point of 

 the cove there was at the time I bought the 

 island a small cottage occupied in the summer 

 months by a Dr. Bringhurst from Connecticut. 

 The eastern end of the lake, a portion of the 



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