Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/98

 little settlement which bore the euphonious name of "Stumptown." Why this name had been given to it no one seemed to know. It certainly was not appropriate, for there was not a stump to be seen in any of its well-cultivated gardens, from which the Mount Airy and Lambert Houses drew their supplies of vegetables and small fruits.

The male members of this little community were licensed guides and boatmen—the only ones, in fact, who had the right to serve the guests of the hotels in that capacity. They lived on Mr. Wayring's land, and in neat little cottages which the liberal owner had erected for their especial benefit. When the season was over and the guests returned to their homes in the city, these men hunted and trapped in the mountains, and entertained the village boys, with whom they were great favorites, and who often invaded their humble abodes during the long winter evenings, with thrilling and amusing tales of life in the wilderness. They taught the boys woodcraft, and made themselves so useful in other ways, that the young Nimrods of the village had never been able to decide