148 An Indian Trail 



veritable relic of prehistoric time, — a place 

 where council fires were lit and midnight 

 meetings held. 



Whether tradition is true or not, the place 

 was a fitting one whereat to tarry and fall 

 a-thinking. Happy, indeed, could the old 

 oak have spoken. 



Many a public road of recent date has been 

 built on the line of an old trail, as many 

 a town and even city have replaced Indian 

 villages ; but take the long-settled regions 

 generally, the ancient landmarks are all gone, 

 and a stray potsherd or flint arrow-point in 

 the fields is all that is left to recall the days 

 of the dusky aborigines. 



Only in the rough, rocky, irreclaimable 

 hills are we likely now to be successful, if 

 such traces as a trail are sought for. 



It was so here. Bald-top Hill is of little 

 use to the white man except for the firewood 

 that grows upon its sides and the scattered 

 game that still linger in its thickets. As 

 seen from the nearest road, not far off, there 

 is nothing now to suggest that an Indian ever 

 clambered about it. The undergrowth hides 

 every trace of the surface ; but after the leaves 

 drop and a light snow has fallen, a curious 



