shanty, and cooking our fish over an old stove which had been left
there. The most noteworthy incident of our stay at this point was the
taking by myself of half a dozen splendid trout out of the Stillwater,
after the guide had exhausted his art and his patience with very
insignificant results. The place had a very trouty look; but as the
season was late and the river warm, I knew the fish lay in deep water
from which they could not be attracted. In deep water accordingly, and
near the head of the hole, I determined to look for them. Securing a
chub, I cut it into pieces about an inch long, and with these for bait
sank my hook into the head of the Stillwater, and just to one side of
the main current. In less than twenty minutes I had landed six noble
fellows, three of them over one foot long each. The guide and my
incredulous companions, who were watching me from the opposite shore,
seeing my luck, whipped out their tackle in great haste and began
casting first at a respectable distance from me, then all about me,
but without a single catch. My own efforts suddenly became fruitless
also, but I had conquered the guide, and thenceforth he treated me
with the tone and freedom of a comrade and equal.

One afternoon, we visited a cave some two miles down the stream, which
had recently been discovered. We squeezed and wriggled through a big
crack or cleft in the side of the mountain for about one hundred feet,
when we emerged into a large dome-shaped passage, the abode during
certain seasons of the year of innumerable bats, and at all times of
primeval darkness. There were various other crannies and pit-holes
opening into it, some of which we explored. The voice of running water
was everywhere heard, betraying the proximity of the little stream by
whose ceaseless corroding the cave and its entrance had been worn.
This streamlet flowed out of the mouth of the cave, and came from a
lake on the top of the mountain; this accounted for its warmth to the
hand, which surprised us all.

Birds of any kind were rare in these woods. A pigeon hawk came
prowling by our camp, and the faint piping call of the nuthatches,
leading their young through the high trees, was often heard.

On the third day our guide proposed to conduct us to a lake in the
mountains where we could float for deer.

Our journey commenced in a steep and rugged ascent, which brought us,
after an hour's heavy climbing, to an elevated region of pine forest,
years b