^54 Wilderness Ways. 



with a sense of ' unspeakable relief that only one can 

 appreciate who has been lost and now hears the 

 ripples sing under him, knowing that the cheerless 

 woods lie behind, and that the camp-fire beckons 

 beyond yonder point. The loons were hallooing far 

 away, and I went over — this time in pure gratitude — 

 to see them again. But my guide was modest and 

 vanished post-haste into the mist the moment my 

 canoe appeared. 



Since then, whenever I hear Hukweem in the 

 night, or hear others speak of his unearthly laughter, 

 I think of that cry over the tree-tops, and the thrilling 

 answer far away. And the sound has a ring to it, in 

 my ears, that it never had before. Hukweem the 

 Night Voice found me astray in the woods, and 

 brought me safe to a snug camp. — That is a ser 

 vice which one does not forget in the wilderness. 



