better
than that,--he had been washed and rinsed in at least half a dozen
waters, and the trout that he bore dangling at the end of a string
hardly knew that they had been out of their proper element.
But he brought welcome news. He had been two or three miles down the
creek, and had seen a log building,--whether house or stable he did
not know, but it had the appearance of having a good roof, which was
inducement enough for us instantly to leave our present quarters.
Our course lay along an old wood-road, and much of the time we were
to our knees in water. The woods were literally flooded everywhere.
Every little rill and springlet ran like a mill-tail, while the main
stream rushed and roared, foaming, leaping, lashing, its volume
increased fifty-fold. The water was not roily, but of a rich
coffee-color, from the leachings of the woods. No more trout for the
next three days! we thought, as we looked upon the rampant stream.
After we had labored and floundered along for about an hour, the
road turned to the left, and in a little stumpy clearing near the
creek a gable uprose on our view. It did not prove to be just such a
place as poets love to contemplate. It required a greater effort of
the imagination than any of us were then capable of to believe it
had ever been a favorite resort of wood-nymphs or sylvan deities.
It savored rather of the equine and the bovine. The bark-men had
kept their teams there, horses on the one side and oxen on the
other, and no Hercules had ever done duty in cleansing the stables.
But there was a dry loft overhead with some straw, where we might
get some sleep, in spite of the rain and the midges; a double layer
of boards, standing at a very acute angle, would keep off the
former, while the mingled refuse hay and muck beneath would nurse a
smoke that would prove a thorough protection against the latter. And
then, when Jim, the two-handed, mounting the trunk of a prostrate
maple near by, had severed it thrice with easy and familiar stroke,
and, rolling the logs in front of the shanty, had kindled a fire,
which, getting the better of the dampness, soon cast a bright glow
over all, shedding warmth and light even into the dingy stable, I
consented to unsling my knapsack and accept the situation. The rain
had ceased, and the sun shone out behind the woods. We had trout
sufficient for present needs; and after my first meal in an
ox-stall, I strolled out on the rude log bridge to watch the ang
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