er to the fiercest denizens of the
forest. The wolves, taking the hint conveyed by the dogs, stopped in
their mad career, and, after a moment's consideration, turned and fled.
I watched them until their dusky forms disappeared over a neighboring
hill; then, taking off my skates, I wended my way to the house, with
feelings which may be better imagined than described. But, even yet, I
never see a broad sheet of ice in the moonshine, without thinking of the
sniffling breath, and those fearful things that followed me closely down
the frozen Kennebec."

OUR FLAG ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

We find the following incident of placing the American flag on the
highest point of the Rocky Mountains, in "Col. Fremont's Narrative:"

We managed to get our mules up to a little bench about a hundred feet
above the lakes, where there was a patch of good grass, and turned them
loose to graze. During our rough ride to this place, they had exhibited
a wonderful surefootedness. Parts of the defile were filled with
angular, sharp fragments of rock, three or four and eight or ten feet
cube; and among these they had worked their way leaping from one narrow
point to another, rarely making a false step, and giving us no occasion
to dismount. Having divested ourselves of every unnecessary encumbrance,
we commenced the ascent. This time, like experienced travelers, we did
not press ourselves, but climbed leisurely, sitting down so soon as we
found breath beginning to fail. At intervals, we readied places where a
number of springs gushed from the rocks, and, about 1800 feet above the
lakes, came to the snow line. From this point, our progress was
uninterrupted climbing. Hitherto, I had worn a pair of thick moccasins,
with soles of _parfleche_, but here I put on a light, thin pair, which I
had brought for the purpose, as now the use of our toes became necessary
to a further advance. I availed myself of a sort of comb of the
mountain, which stood against the wall like a buttress, and which the
wind and the solar radiation, joined to the steepness of the smooth
rock, had kept almost entirely free from snow. Up this, I made my way
rapidly. Our cautious method of advancing, at the outset, had spared my
strength; and, with the exception of a slight disposition to headache,
I felt no remains of yesterday's illness, In a few minutes we reached a
point where the buttress was overhanging, and there was no other way of
surmounting the difficulty than by pass