106 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
them, and beyond that more forests and scrub 
land, and then a precipitous, wild drop into New 
York State. This wall runs up for some distance 
timbered heavily with birches and chestnuts and 
other hard woods, and then enters a belt of fallen, 
fern-covered boulders, with hemlocks wedged be- 
tween, and, finally, the almost sheer precipices 
which lead, in a series of steps, to the top of the 
shoulder, where there is a forest of storm-dwarfed 
pitch pines. In this forest herds of deer winter, 
going up and down the mountain for water at the 
springs below, and for feed when the snow is 
lighter. On top of the ridge the snow is always 
blown thin, and some food is available there in the 
worst weather. Just under this ridge, at the 
base of the precipices and among the fallen 
boulders below them, are numerous little caves 
or dens. Into these dens the fallen leaves drift. 
They are more or less protected in winter, and 
cool in summer. You might suppose it would be 
a likely spot for wildcats. 
It is. 
For one thing, almost no people ever get there. 
There is no trail except the dim paths used by 
