large surface
of mossy rock uncovered by the shrunken stream,--a clean, free space
left for us in the wilderness that was faultless as a kitchen and
dining-room, and a marvel of beauty as a lounging-room, or an open
court, or what you will. An obsolete wood or bark road conducted us
to it, and disappeared up the hill in the woods beyond. A loose
boulder lay in the middle, and on the edge next the stream were
three or four large natural wash-basins scooped out of the rock, and
ever filled ready for use. Our lair we carved out of the thick brush
under a large birch on the bank. Here we planted our flag of smoke
and feathered our nest with balsam and hemlock boughs and ferns, and
laughed at your four walls and pillows of down.

Wherever one encamps in the woods, there is home, and every object
and feature about the place take on a new interest and assume a near
and friendly relation to one.

We were at the head of the best fishing. There was an old
bark-clearing not far off which afforded us a daily dessert of most
delicious blackberries,--an important item in the woods,--and then
all the features of the place--a sort of cave above ground--were of
the right kind.

There was not a mosquito, or gnat, or other pest in the woods, the
cool nights having already cut them off. The trout were sufficiently
abundant, and afforded us a few hours' sport daily to supply our
wants. The only drawback was, that they were out of season, and
only palatable to a woodman's keen appetite. What is this about
trout spawning in October and November, and in some cases not till
March? These trout had all spawned in August, every one of them. The
coldness and purity of the water evidently made them that much
earlier. The game laws of the State protect the fish after September
1, proceeding upon the theory that its spawning season is later than
that,--as it is in many cases, but not in all, as we found out.

The fish are small in these streams, seldom weighing over a few
ounces. Occasionally a large one is seen of a pound or pound and a
half weight. I remember one such, as black as night, that ran under
a black rock. But I remember much more distinctly a still larger one
that I caught and lost one eventful day.

I had him on my hook ten minutes, and actually got my thumb in his
mouth, and yet he escaped.

It was only the over-eagerness of the sportsman. I imagined I could
hold him by the teeth.

The place where I struck him was a deep well