le to
the influence of this poison, so we put him in the middle of our canoe,
and I, being a veteran and immune, took the bow-paddle. It was no easy
task to guide the boat down the swift current, for it was bewilderingly
crooked, twisting and turning upon itself in a way that would have made
the far-famed Maeander look like a straight line. Many a time it ran us
deep into the alders, or through a snarl of thorn-set vines, or crowded
us under the trunk of an overhanging tree. We glimpsed the sun through
the young leaves, now on our right hand, now on our left, now in front
of us, and now over our shoulders. After several miles of this
curliewurlie course, the incoming of the Penny Pot Stream on the left
broadened the flowing trail a little. Not far below that, the
Hospitality Branch poured in its abundant waters on the right, and we
went floating easily down a fair, open river.

There were banks now, and they were fringed with green borders of
aquatic plants, rushes, and broad spatter-docks, and flags, and
arrow-heads, and marsh-marigolds, and round-leaved pond-lilies, and
pointed pickerel-weed. The current was still rapid and strong, but it
flowed smoothly through the straight reaches and around the wide
curves. On either hand the trees grew taller and more stately. The
mellow light of afternoon deepened behind them, and the rich cloud
colours of approaching sunset tinged the mirror of the river with
orange and rose. We floated into a strip of forest. The stream
slackened and spread out, broadening into the head of a pond. On the
left, there was a point of higher land, almost like a low bluff, rising
ten or twelve feet above the water and covered with a grove of oaks and
white pines. Here we beached our canoes and made our first camp.

A slender pole was nailed horizontally between two trees, and from this
the shelter tent was stretched with its sloping roof to the breeze and
its front open toward the pond. There were no balsam or hemlock boughs
for the beds, so we gathered armfuls of fallen leaves and pine needles,
and spread our blankets on this rude mattress. Arthur and Walter cut
wood for the fire. Master Thomas and William busied themselves with the
supper. There was a famous dish of scrambled eggs, and creamed
potatoes, and bacon, and I know not what else. We ate till we could eat
no more, and then we sat in the wide-open tent, with the camp-fire
blazing in front of us, and talked of everything under the stars.