e and enjoy. He followed the courses of the creeks, and
found them teeming with trout and pickerel, as playful as the
scampering fawns, all mottled with gold and silver, and royal as the
peacock's plumes in the running changes of their lustre. He stood on
the margin of the lake that lay placidly sleeping in the embrace of
hills; and the willow waved on its borders, and wild ducks and herons
wantoned on its breast. The waters were so transparent he could count
the white pebbles and shells at the depth of thirty feet; and they were
pure and sweet as the dew that lay all night on the wild honeysuckles
and roses, which graced the upland plains.

There was the hunting-ground of the Indians, and wigwams dotted the
shore; while on its waters, floating and ducking like the wild fowl,
sported the Indian canoes. He visited the rude homes of the settlers,
and was welcomed to each hearth with that rough and liberal
hospitality, which leaps from the soul of forest life. Several of them
had known his father on the Hudson, and all were soon his heartiest
friends. A frolic in the greenwood chase was proposed for every day in
two weeks to come; and gatherings and feasts were had without number.
All were near neighbors, though dwelling five miles apart; all carried
the spirit of the country, with the breath of its free air, and the
image of its woods and lakes in their hearts; and one flowing soul of
brotherhood was shared, while one ardent feeling of honest kindness,
and jocund spirit, bound them in a fellowship fast and warm.

The autumn passed; the winter came, and retired; and spring succeeded,
casting abroad her blooms and blessings; and the woodlands echoed with
music, and nature smiled like a garden gay. And more sensible of
sights and influences of beauty, Fabens enjoyed the genial season with
new satisfaction, and determined that there should be his future home.
He bargained for a farm of a hundred acres, and commenced its
improvement, cutting the first tree with his own hands, and selecting,
on an opening he had made, the site for a log house. On the approach
of summer, by a neighbor who returned to the Hudson, he sent his
parents the following letter:--

"DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER,--

"Mr. Wilson starts to-morrow for Cloverdale, and I take this
opportunity to write to you. Of course, you will hear from him all
about me; but still it may gratify you to hear from me by letter. I am
happy and well as I can be in a ne