ooked cold and dark, and the
wind was blowing a gale as the stage left the little village of Lowton
on its daily trip to the Summit. The weather prophets said it was the
equinoctial, although it was ten days too early if the almanac was
right; and every one predicted a storm, a northeaster that would set all
the streams boiling, and probably carry away all the bridges between
Lowton and the Summit.

But little for northeasters cared Leon and Sam Bearer, as they settled
themselves cosily inside. They each carried a shot-gun, and under the
care of their elder brother, Herbert, they were going on a two weeks'
hunt among the well stocked forests on the mountains back of the
Summit.

At noon they stopped at the Half-Way House, a little hotel built just at
the rise of the mountain, where they were served with fresh venison in a
dining-room hung with great antlers from the deer killed by the
landlord, and his son, who was only fourteen years old--no older than
Sam. The boys became very much excited listening to their hunting
stories; and after dinner nothing but Herbert's decided command
prevented their loading the guns to be ready for any game they might see
on the road. The landlord and the driver said that they never saw any
deer driving along the road; but the boys thought it might be that they
would, and after they started a strict watch was kept, which resulted in
seeing forty-one squirrels but nothing larger.

They had not driven many miles up the mountain before it cleared off,
and the sun came out. The forest road, lined with ferns and banks of
moss, was very picturesque, and Leon and Sam enjoyed the ride as only
happy schoolboys can, in the pleasantest spot that boys can be--a forest
peopled with deer and squirrels. And when they reached the Summit House
they were in as good spirits as jolly boys could be who expected a
glorious chase the next day.

The hotel was a large, pleasant one, and on every side were the trophies
of game that so delight a boy's heart. The office and dining-room were
hung with antlers, and the hat rack in the hall was made from them. Then
there was a couch and some seats covered with bear skins and supported
by great branching antlers with so many prongs that Leon tired of
counting them, although he knew each one represented a year, and that he
could compute the deer's age by them. In the sitting-room there were a
stuffed deer, a fox, a number of similar animals, a partridge, some
pigeons