200 AT THE NORTH OF BEARCAMP WATER. 
reached a stone wall, and, springing upon it, I 
hooted after the manner of owls, barked after 
the manner of dogs, and then fled after the 
manner of men. I neither saw nor smelt any¬ 
thing more of the skunk. 
My way took me into the golden beech wood 
on the border of the moor. The moon, now 
free from clouds, shed a soft, dim light into the 
grove. Scarcely a leaf clung to the trees, but 
upon the ground they were heaped up ankle 
deep. As there had been crackling ice in all 
the pools in the road, it was not wonderful that 
the waters of the leaf-hidden brook were very 
cold. 
An hour after leaving Madison I stood before 
an open birch-wood fire in Chocorua Cottage. 
Not only did its warmth appeal to my cheeks 
and fingers, but something in the whirl of its 
flames and the snap of its sparks made my heart 
beat more in tune with all the world. 
The next morning I awoke at six o’clock and 
at once opened my blinds and raised my shades 
so that I could see the mountains both to the 
north and to the west. Not a cloud or a sus¬ 
picion of haze marred the perfect blueness of the 
sky or the distinctness of the outlines of hills, 
trees, and boulders. The moon was still nearly 
three hours from her time of setting, and her 
light, almost as much as that of the unrisen sun, 
