d nearly two miles of the path, and returned to Constable's
Camp to sleep. The next day we succeeded in getting the boats and
baggage through to Bottle Pond, two and a half miles, and the whole
party camped on the carry,--the guides anathematizing Sam, whose advice
had led us on this road. The next afternoon found us afloat on Forked
Lake, weary and glad to be in the sunlight on blue water again. Hard
work and the excitement of responsibility in engineering our road-making
operations had kept my visitor from dream-land away, and as we paddled
leisurely down the beautiful lake,--one of the few yet untouched by the
lumbermen,--I felt a healthier tone of mind than I had known since we
had entered the woods. As we ran out of one of the deep bays which
constitute a large portion of the lake, into the principal sheet of
water, one of the most perfectly beautiful mountain-views I have ever
seen burst upon us. We looked down the lake to its outlet, five miles,
between banks covered with tall pines, and far away in the hazy
atmosphere a chain of blue peaks raised themselves sharp-edged against
the sky. One singularly-shaped summit, far to the south, attracted my
attention, and I was about to ask its name, when Steve called out, with
the air of one who communicates something of more than ordinary
significance,--"Blue Mountain!" The name, Steve's manner, and I know not
what of mysterious cause, gave to the place a strange importance. I felt
a new and unaccountable attraction to the mountain. Some enchantment
seemed to be casting its glamour over me from that distance even. There
was thenceforward no goal for my wanderings but the Blue Mountain. It is
a solitary peak, one of the southernmost of the Adirondacks, of a very
quaint form, and lies in a circlet of lakes, three of which in a chain
are named from the mountain. The way by which the mountain is reached is
through these lakes, and their outlet, which empties into Raquette Lake.
I had determined to remain in the woods some weeks, and now concluded to
return, as soon as I had seen the rest of the party on their way home,
and take up quarters on Raquette Lake for the rest of my stay.

That night we camped at the foot of Forked Lake, and not one of the
party will ever forget the thunder-storm that burst on us in our
woods-encampment among the tall pines, two of which, near us, were
struck by the lightning. I tried in vain, when we were quiet for the
night, to get some information