HOW I GOT EVEN WITH MY GUIDE. 



237 



around him all night, and inasmuch as 

 neither of us had had a shot he thought 

 it his duty to stay, in the hope of getting 

 a deer he could give us, and that would re- 

 pay us for staying out. I believed his story, 

 at the time; but when I afterward no- 

 ticed he had come to us without his over- 

 coat, a foul suspicion crept into my mind. 



I shook myself, pulled myself together 

 and finally got control of my muscles to 

 such an extent as to climb down the tree. 

 Then I walked fast to get up my circula- 

 tion while the guide went and got my 

 brother. When they came I asked the 

 guide where his overcoat was, and he said: 



"By Jove, I left it at the other lake, 

 where I was watching. Well, never mind, 

 I'll go and get it after breakfast. We will 

 go to the house now and get something to 

 eat." 



One of the hot springs was within a few 

 rods of the hotel, and as we went by it 

 occurred to me that a good hot bath would 

 be an excellent remedy for the rheumatism 

 the fog had left in me. The guide said I 

 could just as well have it as not. There 

 was a bathhouse, but it was as dark as 

 pitch inside of it. 



My brother preferred to go to the house 

 and to bed, so the guide and I went into 

 the bathhouse and, after groping around 

 a long time, we found a piece of candle. 

 We lighted this and I went into one of 

 the apartments, undressed and plunged 

 into the hot water. This was really a 

 great luxury, and I cooked myself until I 

 began to feel alive again. Then I asked 

 the guide if there was any cold water that 

 1 could get into. He said, 



"Yes, there must be a cold plunge in 

 another part of the building. I will go 

 and find it." 



He went groping through the hallway, 

 and in about 5 minutes I heard a most un- 

 earthly shriek and a splash that sounded as 

 if a log had fallen off a precipice into a 

 lake. Then there was a series of howls, 

 groans and screams that made my hair 

 stand. I took the candle and went to see 

 what the trouble was. I followed the noise 

 until I reached the scene of the disaster. 



Here was a big well, some 20 feet across 

 and probably 20 feet deep. It was 10 or 12 

 feet down to the water. There was a nar- 

 row platform around 2 sides of this room, 

 and the guide had simply walked off this 

 into the well. By the dim light of the 

 candle I soon found a rope ladder that ex- 

 tended down to the water. I caught this 

 and pulled it up. 



When the guide saw me do this he 

 yelled: 



"What on earth are you doing that for?" 



I said: "My boy, you played me for a 

 sucker, didn't you?" 



"No, I didn't," he said. 



"You kept me up a tree all night, didn't 

 you?" 



"No, no," he said; "throw down the 

 rope and let me out." 



"You had a mighty good joke on me, 

 Dave, and no d ubt you and your friends 

 down at the hotel had a lot of fun when 

 you were discussing it over your beer. 

 Probably you will have a lot more fun this 

 morning, when you get with them again; 

 but now I am going to have some fun with 

 you." 



He howled, begged, shivered, and his 

 teeth chattered even worse than mine did 

 when I was in the tree. He offered me 

 everything on the earth if I would only 

 throw down the rope ladder and let him 

 climb out. I said: 



"My boy, don't hurry. You are not 

 nearly so cold as I was up there in the fog. 

 Besides, you are having plenty of exer- 

 cise to keep up your circulation. I had 

 nothing to do but sit on that platform and 

 wish you were in hades." 



Still he begged, and groaned, and 

 howled. 



"Calm yourself, Dave. Don't be in a 

 hurry. I think of keeping you in this well 

 about as long as you kept me in the tree. 

 Let me see, that was about 8 hours." 



"For God's sake, let me out, or I shall 

 die with this cold. This water is like ice." 



"That fog was like ice, too; like shaved 

 ice. I'm sure you are not so cold as I was 

 in the tree. You have probably heard the 

 saying that 'the man laughs best who 

 laughs last.' This is where I laugh." 



Thus I tantalized him, played with him 

 and gloated over him for a quarter of an 

 hour. I realized all the time that the 

 water was close down to the temperature 

 of ice; but enjoyed the situation more than 

 I would have enjoyed killing a deer early 

 in the evening and bringing it into camp. 



After I had wreaked all the vengeance 

 on the reprobate that I felt was due him, 

 I finally let down the rope and he climbed 

 out. I had concluded, meantime, that I 

 didn't care for a cold plunge, so took the 

 candle,' went back into my bathroom, 

 dressed and went over to the hotel. The 

 guide had meantime been taking off his 

 clothes and wringing the water out of 

 them, and so had not reached the house 

 yet. The first thing I saw, when I walked 

 into the office was his overcoat, hanging 

 on a corner of an old cupboard. Then my 

 suspicions were all confirmed. 



He had planted my brother and me in 

 trees, had gone back to the hotel and had 

 a lot of fun at our expense. Then he had 

 gone to bed. At 4 o'clock he had got 

 up and gone to our relief. But I was even 

 with him, and am willing to bet 10 to 1 

 that he never played another trick on a 

 tenderfoot. 



