176 WAKE-ROBIN 
denly a loud crack at the root. With a celerity 
that would at least have done credit to a bear, I 
regained the ground, having caught but a momen- 
tary glimpse of the country, but enough to convince 
me no lake was near. Leaving all incumbrances 
here but my gun, I still pressed on, loath to be 
thus baffled. After floundering through another 
alder swamp for nearly half a mile, I flattered my- 
self that I was close on to the lake. I caught sight 
of a low spur of the mountain sweeping around like 
a half-extended arm, and I fondly imagined that 
within its clasp was the object of my search. But 
I found only more alder swamp. After this region 
was cleared, the creek began to descend the moun- 
tain very rapidly. Its banks became high and nar- 
row, and it went whirling away with a sound that 
seemed to my ears like a burst of ironical laughter. 
I turned back with a feeling of mingled disgust, 
shame, and vexation. In fact I was almost sick, 
and when I reached my companions, after an ab- 
sence of nearly two hours, hungry, fatigued, and 
disheartened, I would have sold my interest in 
Thomas’s Lake at a very low figure. For the first 
time, I heartily wished myself well out of the 
woods. Thomas might keep his lake, and the en- 
chanters guard his possession! I doubted if he had 
ever found it the second time, or if any one else 
ever had. 
My companions, who were quite fresh, and who 
had not felt the strain of baffled purpose as I had, 
assumed a more encouraging tone. After I had 
