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feet faith in his memory. Soon we were far from 

 any human trail, battling through impenetrable 

 brush, going knee-deep in the trunks of fallen trees 

 which looked intact until stepped upon, rolling on 

 hidden loose stones, down mountain sides jagged 

 with ice snapped limbs. On we plodded for hoary 

 hours and not one of the party threw that brook 

 up to our friend — no, we were too busy just keep- 

 ing alive. About the time I wanly thought, " Per- 

 haps the sun is setting on civilization," then won- 

 dered if perchance we had really walked through the 

 night and maybe it was to-morrow, I caught the one 

 good leg I had left in a vine and rolled several miles, 

 mostly head down ; suddenly I came to and felt some- 

 thing damp — lo and behold ! I had Ponce de Leon-ed. 

 the long lost trout brook of our friend's guilty 

 youth ! 



The rest of the party arrived by various acrobatic 

 feats, and then we really began to work; the hours 

 before were mere teething rings compared to the 

 hours which followed. It ceased to be walking — it 

 was hopping and leaping when we weren't being 

 hauled out of the stream. 



But to tell the truth that trout brook was all our 

 friend had said, and more. It is worth your start- 



120 



