of a sudden rise; a dry, shady, level spot for
the tent; plenty of wood, and, if possible, a spring; and not too
close proximity to a house. Occasionally we meet with what we want,
when we want it; but quite as often, ideal camping places, while
abundant half the day, are not to be found at five o'clock, our usual
hour for homeseeking. The Doctor is our agent for this task, for,
being bow oar, he can clamber out most easily. This evening, he ranged
both shores for a considerable distance, with ill success, so that
we are settled on a narrow Ohio sand-beach, in the midst of a sparse
willow copse, only two feet above the river. Dinner was had at the
very water's edge. After a time, a wind-storm arose and flapped the
tent right vigorously, causing us to pin down tightly and weight the
sod-cloth; while, amid distant thundering, every preparation was made
for a speedy embarkation in the event of flood. The bellow of the
frogs all about us, the scream of toads, and the heavy swash of
passing steamers dangerously near our door, will be a sufficient
lullaby to-night.

CHAPTER X.

Cliff-dwellers on Long Bottom--Pomeroy Bend--Letart's Island
and Rapids--Game in the early day--Rainy weather--In a
"cracker" home.

Letart's Island, Tuesday, May 15th.--After we had gone to bed last
night,--we in the tent, the Doctor and Pilgrim under the fly, which
serves as a porch roof,--the heavenly floodgates lifted; the rain,
coming in sheets, beat a fierce tattoo on the tightly-stretched
canvas, and visions of a sudden rise in the fickle river were
uppermost in our dreams. Everything about us was sopping at daybreak;
but the sun rose clear and warm from a bed of eastern clouds, and the
midnight gale had softened to a gentle breeze.

Palisades were frequent to-day. We stopped just below camp, at an
especially picturesque Ohio hamlet,--Long Bottom (207 miles),--where
the dozen or so cottages are built close against the bald rock.
Clambering over great water-worn boulders, at the river's brink, the
Doctor and I made our way up through a dense tangle of willows and
poison ivy and grape-vines, emerging upon the country road which
passes at the foot of this row of modern cliff-dwellings. For the most
part, little gardens, with neat palings, run down from the cottages
to the road. One sprawling log house, fairly embowered in vines, and
overtopped by the palisade rising sheer for thirty feet above its back
door, looked in this