5°6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 28, 1908. 
the station, we soon had our canoes and bag¬ 
gage deposited in a heap at the rivei s edge. 
To load the canoes required considerable in¬ 
genuity. First the blankets and tents were 
stretched along the bottoms of the canoes, and 
then the suit cases, pots and pans and camp 
necessities were piled up in the vacant com¬ 
partments, of which there was one in each 
canoe. dhis done, we embarked, put our flags 
in place at the rear of the canoes, and with 
waving of hands to the curious idlers who had 
gathered on the bank to watch us, we were off. 
The day was ideal. Overhead the sun was 
bright and the sky was clear. Beneath us the 
river reflected, with many a broken ripple, now 
the bright blue of the sky. now the dark green 
of the mountains that lined the banks. The tide 
quickly snatched the frail canoes in its strong 
embrace, and we were soon being whirled 
along rapidly on the homeward journey. New 
York the next stop!” cried the enthusiastic 
About one o’clock we stopped for luncheon, 
our first meal in the open air. A fine, glassy 
spot was selected, on top of a high bank over¬ 
looking the river. Here beneath the branches 
of a big tree we spread our blankets and rested 
through the heat of mid-day, kindling a fire with 
which to make our coffee and cook our bacon 
by toasting it over the embers. About three 
o’clock we started on again, paddling leisurely 
enough, and yet making good time, owing to 
the rapidity of the current. The scenery along 
the way was as beautiful as a fairy garden. 
“Oh, look at that!” “Isn’t it beautiful!” With 
such expressions of delight our attention was 
directed now to the Vermont and now to the 
New Hampshire shore of the winding river. 
At one minute we were peering ahead, and at 
the next turning to take a last look at the beauti¬ 
ful landscape and scenery so rapidly disappear¬ 
ing behind us. . 
On we p-addled until the waning sun, begin¬ 
ning to disappear behind the hills, warned us 
that it was time to seek shelter for the night. 
• We selected for our first camp-site a flat hay- 
field on an island in the middle of the river. 
Up a steep bank some thirty feet high, we 
scrambled, and soon had our tents erected. 
There wa’s plenty of driftwood lying around 
which showed us that the river must rise that 
high when the spring freshets occur. Soon we 
had a fire going, and the girls began to prepare 
supper. Our ten f s were three in number. One 
was an 8x10 wall tent, in which we placed the 
girls’ cots. Bert and I had a large sheet of 
canvas with a rope in the center which was 
thrown over the limb of a tree, and four side- 
flaps that pegged down to the ground. Billy had 
two small sticks which he fastened in the ends 
of his canoe. Between these he stretched a rope 
running lengthwise down the boat, and over it 
stretched a. canvas cover. In the bottom of the 
canoe lie spread his blankets, and there made 
his shelter for the night. Supper over, we 
gathered a lot of the drift wood, piled on some 
big logs and soon had a roaring camp-fire. 
Around this we gathered, and with the aid of 
an old harmonica, were soon singing “Annie 
\ Laurie,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and a host 
of other familiar airs dear to campers, until nine 
o’clock, when we were too sleepy to sing an¬ 
other note. 
Six o’clock the next morning I awoke with a 
start, and thrust my head out of the tent. It 
was raining-—a slow, sure drizzle. Over a 
sputtering, smoky fire stood Billy, trying to 
coax the unwilling blaze to do its duty and heat 
the water in the coffee pot. It was an unequal 
contest, but finally Billy won out. Soon he 
came running over with a cup of hot. steaming 
coffee, and every one as they _ awoke was 
treated to the same. We stayed in our tents, 
alternately dozing and wondering whether it 
was going to stop raining, until eleven o’clock, 
when we put on our bathing suits and roamed 
about the little island—that is, all of us except 
Bert who woke up with a throbbing toothache. 
When he did apnear, it was with his head 
swathed in a Turkish towel, and looking the 
picture of woe. But finally the sun came out 
hot and soon dried up our dampened spirits 
and the blankets which we had placed on the 
grass. Afterward we found out that Billy, in 
hastily writing a card home, had said “All O.K. 
except Bert, who has a tooth,” which caused 
much speculation as to Bert’s backwardness in 
acquiring wisdom. 
Billy and I paddled off in one of the canoes 
to- get a chicken and some provisions which had 
been ordered the night before at a farmhouse, 
a short distance up the stream. Then we re¬ 
membered that there was very little bread in 
camp. So the farmer’s wife was asked if she 
could spare a little, as we would gladly pay for 
it. At first she said, “No,” she reckoned she 
only had enough for her own needs. Finally, 
she asked if we needed it very much. We 
naturally said “Yes,” thinking her hard heart 
was relenting and softening a bit at our sorry 
plight. “Well,” she said, “if you want it bad 
enough to pay a quarter for it, you may have 
one loaf. Is it worth a quarter to you?” We 
reckoned it was, and paid, although the bargain 
did not strike us as a very good sample of the 
New England hospitality, of which we had 
heard so much. We returned, and Mrs. 
Matthews fried the chicken so perfectly that 
we were pitying the people at home that they 
could not even watch us eat. The green peas 
were just out of the garden, and with baked po¬ 
tatoes, fresh lettuce and maple syrup for dessert, 
we had a spread fit for a king, and one to which 
a king could not have done greater justice. 
Although there were clouds in the sky, we 
decided to paddle for an hour or so and cover 
a few more miles to our next camping place. 
We found a tiny grove of spruce trees in the 
middle of which we hurriedly pitched the tents 
(for it had started to rain) and the boys 
arranged a canopy of waterproof canvas under 
which we ate our supper and afterward held 
evening prayer, for we felt that as we could 
not go to the little church we had planned to 
attend in the morning, we would have our own 
little service out in the woods. So by the light 
of our tiny lantern held on high by Bert. I read 
the short evening prayer, and we sang three or 
four hymns—at ieast such verses of them as we 
could remember. It was very noticeable that 
the first verse of some familiar hymn would 
ring out strong and clear, every voice joining 
in, but the second verse would grow visibly 
weaker, first one voice and then another falling 
out, until by the time we had reached, the third 
we were humming and “tum-tumming.” Surely 
we were a credit to our choir! 
The next day, Monday, we reached Bellows 
Falls, putting in at a dock under the large arch¬ 
bridge that spans the river above the falls. 
Here we had our first “carry,” being obliged 
to load our things upon wagons and cart them 
down the river a distance of about two miles. 
After attending to our necessary shopping for 
supplies, we went to one of the restaurants to 
get a good square meal. When seated at the 
table in our rough camping clothes, and sur¬ 
rounded on all sides by well dressed guests, we 
realized for the first time what a contrast we 
must present—our clothes awry and muddled, 
old felt hats or white canvas hats that had fallen 
overboard or been sat upon several times a day, 
and under them such red faces and swollen 
hands. No wonder every one smiled as they 
looked at us, and although we at first tried to 
look blissfully ignorant, there was nothing left 
to do but join in the laugh at our own expense. 
That night we selected a bank under a high 
hill on the river’s edge a mile or two below the 
town, just as the sun was setting. We were 
sitting around our camp-fire as usual after 
supper, when our attention was attracted by 
something moving not far from our “fire line.” 
and there, if you please, stood some six or eight 
cows in a semi-circle, gazing at us and quietly 
chewing their cuds, and probably wondering 
what we were doing in their pasture. If we had 
only been adept at night-photography, what 
pretty pictures we might have obtained to illus¬ 
trate our story! 
[to be continued.] 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any neivsdcaler on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
