. On our
left they rose close to us like a wall, but on the right a winding brook
with a narrow strip of marshy soil intervened. The stream was clogged
with old beaver dams, and spread frequently into wide pools. There were
thick bushes and many dead and blasted trees along its course, though
frequently nothing remained but stumps cut close to the ground by
the beaver, and marked with the sharp chisel-like teeth of those
indefatigable laborers. Sometimes we were driving among trees, and then
emerging upon open spots, over which, Indian-like, all galloped at
full speed. As Pauline bounded over the rocks I felt her saddle-girth
slipping, and alighted to draw it tighter; when the whole array swept
past me in a moment, the women with their gaudy ornaments tinkling as
they rode, the men whooping, and laughing, and lashing forward their
horses. Two black-tailed deer bounded away among the rocks; Raymond shot
at them from horseback; the sharp report of his rifle was answered by
another equally sharp from the opposing cliffs, and then the echoes,
leaping in rapid succession from side to side, died away rattling far
amid the mountains.

After having ridden in this manner for six or eight miles, the
appearance of the scene began to change, and all the declivities around
us were covered with forests of tall, slender pine trees. The Indians
began to fall off to the right and left, and dispersed with their
hatchets and knives among these woods, to cut the poles which they had
come to seek. Soon I was left almost alone; but in the deep stillness of
those lonely mountains, the stroke of hatchets and the sound of voices
might be heard from far and near.

Reynal, who imitated the Indians in their habits as well as the worst
features of their character, had killed buffalo enough to make a
lodge for himself and his squaw, and now he was eager to get the poles
necessary to complete it. He asked me to let Raymond go with him and
assist in the work. I assented, and the two men immediately entered the
thickest part of the wood. Having left my horse in Raymond's keeping,
I began to climb the mountain. I was weak and weary and made slow
progress, often pausing to rest, but after an hour had elapsed, I gained
a height, whence the little valley out of which I had climbed seemed
like a deep, dark gulf, though the inaccessible peak of the mountain was
still towering to a much greater distance above. Objects familiar from
childhood surrounded me;