tern New York. (The time of
which I write was somewhere in the 60's--have forgotten exact date.)
There were several men boarding at this hotel and my uncle and myself
were among the number boarding with Mr. Fish, hunting, as were other
boarders. This hotel stood in the center of a field containing
perhaps eighty acres of cleared land, and there was not another
clearing or a building within a distance of seven miles.

One morning after there had been a fall of four or five inches of
snow, which made fine tracking, Mr. Fish thought that he would go out
that morning and try and kill a deer. He left the house going through
the field in nearly a due east course. After going about one mile he
crossed a stream which ran in a north and south direction. Mr. Fish
had fished this stream for trout many a time. After crossing this
stream Mr. Fish crossed a broad ridge and went on to a small stream
known as the Sunken Branch, and a tributary of the stream Mr. Fish
had previously crossed. Now Mr. Fish was fairly well acquainted with
the location which he was in, but in his search for deer he had got a
little mixed in his whereabout and at once lost his head.

My uncle when coming in from hunting that evening crossed Mr. Fish's
track on the ridge near the head of the Sunken Branch, and had heard
him shoot several times but supposed that he was shooting at deer.
When the hunters all got in that night and Mr. Fish failed to appear,
the matter was discussed by the hunters from all points of view. It
was generally thought that Mr. Fish had had good luck killing deer
and had been detained in dressing and hanging them up, or that he had
wounded a deer and had been led a long way from home in getting it.

When it got well along in the evening and Mr. Fish failed to come
then it was feared that he had met with some misfortune. No one would
believe that he was lost, as it was known that he was pretty well
acquainted with the woods in the direction that he had been known to
take. But as the time went on and still Mr. Fish did not come, we all
began to fear for his safety, as the night was very cold, so every
few minutes some one would go out and fire a gun. This was continued
all night, though there was no answer.

My uncle and myself had an early breakfast and started some time
before daybreak for the locality in which uncle had seen Mr. Fish's
tracks and heard gun shots which were thought to have been fired by
him. Shortly after daybreak w