u or do for you if he can. He
loves to talk politics, and can tell you about every Presidential
election back as far as the war. He was a Confederate soldier in his day,
and if there is one thing above another that he loves to talk about,
it's the 'Gov'ment,' as he calls it. 'Uncle Sammy an' me ain't jest
zackly the best o' pards yit, by crackey,' he says, with a twinkle in his
eye."

"That certainly is a great view," explained Ham. "I'm going to unload my
cargo and rest here a bit, for I like this spot. Right up yonder in that
heavy belt of timber is where we used to come so often to stay all night.
There is a great granite boulder up there in the 'Graveyard,' as we used
to call it, that's just as good as a house any day. It leans away out on
one side, and we built a big bed of balsam boughs under it. Right behind
the great rock, to the west, we found a tiny spring, hardly big enough to
be called a spring; but we dug it out and stoned up a small reservoir to
catch the water. We used to come up in the evening, cook our supper, get
our beds ready for the night, then climb on the big rock and watch the
lights of the city come on. When they were all lighted it looked like a
big, illuminated checker board out there on the plain. We'd get up early
in the morning, then, and climb to the Devil's Horn to see the sunrise.
My! but it's a gorgeous sight on a cloudy morning. The last time we were
there we sure did have a mighty queer experience--"

"Come on, fellows, let's travel along, or we'll not get anywhere
to-night. Ham, you can tell us your story while we are walking. We've got
to reach Dad's by four o'clock, or we'll never get to the Park by night,"
said Phil, as he arose and adjusted his blanket roll preparatory to
starting.

"Go on, Ham," urged Fat, who was always ready for a story, especially a
mountain story. "Let's have that tale of yours. I expect we'll need a
little salt with it won't we?"

"There isn't much to it, after all, when you tell it, for it was the
night and the surroundings that made it so impressive. We had just
finished supper and were all sitting up on the big rock looking out
over the lighted city. As we sat there, every now and then we would hear
the strangest sound. It came from the timber away up behind the camp. At
first it sounded like a human voice--a kind of a long, sad sob. The night
was as dark as pitch, and as we sat listening the cold shivers began to
run up and down our backs. Sometimes