Hector trusted to his axe, and Louis to his
_couteau-de-chasse_ and pocket-knife; the latter was a present from an old
forest friend of his father's, who had visited them the previous winter,
and which, by good luck, Louis had in his pocket--a capacious pouch, in
which were stored many precious things, such as coils of twine and string,
strips of leather, with odds and ends of various kinds; nails, bits of
iron, leather, and such miscellaneous articles as find their way most
mysteriously into boys' pockets in general, and Louis Perron's in
particular, who was a wonderful collector of such small matters.
The children were not easily daunted by the prospect of passing a few days
abroad on so charming a spot, and at such a lovely season, where fruits
were so abundant; and when they had finished their morning meal, so
providentially placed within their reach, they gratefully acknowledged the
mercy of God in this thing.
Having refreshed themselves by bathing their hands and faces in the lake,
they cheerfully renewed their wanderings, though something both to leave
the cool shade and the spring for an untrodden path among the hills and
deep ravines that furrow the shores of the Rice Lake in so remarkable a
manner; and often did our weary wanderers pause to look upon the wild glens
and precipitous hills, where the fawn and the shy deer found safe retreats,
unharmed by the rifle of the hunter,--where the osprey and white-headed
eagle built their nests, unheeding and unharmed.
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