Litchfield enquirer., 1875-11-04

k-CATKY qua keep us 8u 8t bue mOUel ate charges of S1.50 per. diem! It wa tasking Co time and skill to stow away in to two fragile boats ourselves and our i'm pediments, consisting of bales of robes blankets, and wraps, and an immense bal rel-a tierce is more technically correct, believe-of bright vermillion hue, wherein were bags of four, corn mael, coffee, sugar
 crackers and pork enough for the com missariat of battalion. Do not scowl fair ignoramus-to every woodsman ana even woodswoman there comes Q tim
 when venison and trout pail; and pork more especially ''frizzled" pork, is tn sweetest cate imaginable. I regret to sa.. that the blazing fierce, which was ou prideand hope, was not appreciated il
 those parts, and was only admitted to tn
 boat after demonstration of it's stoutnes
 and remarkable powers of revolution, to gether with papa's promise to exercise hi feet upon it in all carries" and ever then continued to excite mirth and milo profanity from the guides.
 As have said, l cannot suffer myself t' discourse on the glories of the scener1 and our ecstatic delight as we, passed down the flower" through the Round, and into the Upper" Saranac. liner. were dozen different islands and main land hooks which seemed each in it's dis tracing turn the ne plus ultrG of camping grounds, until, in despair of choice, VI resigned ourselves to our guides, who knew every least shrub and rock of bott shores, and every ''carry," and every lily pad and reed of the watery highway.
 They, with wise consideration of black flies and misquitoes, chose an island, and with an eye to certain table luxuries whict neither our tierce nor their still more com. prehensive little tin kettles Gas magical ir their way as Signor Blitz, his hat) could supply, selected that particular island which lay only mile away from the hut of woodsman, whose wife beguiled hel solitude by the management of minia. ture dairy--thanks to the one COW within a range of ten miles and more.
 After we had disembarked, scarcely ar hour elapsed before our guides(wit ignO rant and ftful essays by ourselves, some thing between Intolerance and help, as Wadsworth has it) had felled two ol three trees, cleared away the nndergrowth pitched the tw0tents, unpacked our stores, made beds of soft odorous boughs, kin. dled brave fire, boiled the kettle, ,brewed coffee, ''stirred up" and baked hefere the fire pan of biscuits, and stewed some ierked venison which came ont of one oi their little enchanted kettles, all of which sayory dishes they proceeded to serve or a table of their own clever handiwork. !. and we to eat and drink therefrom what we ali pronounced the best supper of oul lyess '..,-... r....--.,. .,.s.. ..5 -
 That our blessed Island must have 6 name we had all declared the moment we took possession, but the ''Edsn," and sIssola Bella," and .'Clear- Comfort" and ssTreasure- Trove,' and whaD, not, which each suggested, seemed to the whole in adequate. But. when papa finally looked sammy contrivances for our comfort, which the guides had so rapidly created out .oi this "sportive wood run wild, he christ ened it .sCamp Gumption," '" to our horror but Camp Gumption in remained, against
 Several days and nights of indescribabIe rest and delight tfollowed--long beat-rides, explorations on the main-shore, up the Racket River, Long Lake, and along the Indian Trail, with essays in deer driving by torchlight, fre-light chats, and games, and songs, and lnyigOrating sleep on oul
 
 Fanny said interpreted to her the other wise meaningless phraseOlogy of the hymn -"carried to the skies on fOwery beds oi ease"
 One morning, as we damsels had formi dable arrears of letter writing, we decided to stay ''by the stuff while our braves went to the hunting g-grounds, to which they the more readily assented because the larder needed supplies, and we were too tender-hearted or cowardly to be helpful in the real business of the chase. So pa. pa, with the two guides, took the larger boat; as soon as Camp Gumption was tidied for the morning, and left us to oul fate until sunset. ..t
 We had long been accustomed to un- locked doors, and, indeed, no doors at all and had no more apprehension of any conceivable danger in our unnamed con. dition, than has an infant in its mother arms. Indeed, have never in all my life, since that blessed summer, been SC hapless as to lose that which then and there gained-a vivid consciousness that the Heavenly Father is not God afar of, but the ''Loyer of Souls," breeding over us with tender delight, infinitely sur passing all human loves. And to Leslie 1t brought transformation too sacred fol detail in such chronicle as this.
 Our day passed very swiftly. Late n afternoon, Lesis. whose spirits had reviv. ed the moment VIC had left civilization behind us, and who was now equal to the longest "carries," and widest tralnps, suddenly announced the purpose to go and seek her fortune. .s.-.
 There was a little gem of an island about one third of Q mile above us, which she ayerred had been her secret aim for days. Her fancy was to row herself out to this island. and remain long enough in solitary possession to enable her to ap. preciate in some degree Robinson Cru soe's tragic fate. In vain we protested. offering ourselves to retlre to the outer rim of our own island or, even to betake ourselves, leaving her monarch of all she surveyed from Camp Gumption. Go she would and So she did. We watched hel anxiously as she put ont from the shore, for, although we all had daily practice with the, oars, yet no one of us ,ventured alone beyond the watch and reach of our natural protectors. But her progress was safe though slow, and We at last saw her, after circling the island in apparent search of the best landing, come around again to the southern side, and cautiously paddle up into little cove, and pull herself in by the over-hanging shrubbery, and final. ly disappear behind 1t.
 Two hours passed, and had often turned the field glass toward the mysterious is- land in hope that the child had wearied of her ~him, but no token of her return appeared. F F -.
 At last Fanny, whose watch it chanced to be, dropped the glass, with little shriek of surprise. caught it up to dis cover for myself what she seemed incapa. ble of explaining, and, to my mingled amazement and distress. saw Leslie seated in the boat. and the figure of a man standing in the bow, ,aDd pushing of from
 We had agreed upon . signal of distress to be displayed on either side in case of necessity (what we boatless ones could have done in Leslie's behalf, however sore her need, does not appear), but no glimpse appeared of the white handker. chief, which surely ought to Autter Taloft under such appalling circumstances as the apparitionF of a man Not single human figure had intruded upon our privacy dur.