Page:Hugh Pendexter--The young timber-cruisers.djvu/241

 were a number of books, while many volumes were stacked against one wall. He also detected various evidences of a woman’s presence, such as a work box and a sewing table. On the walls of the room the masculine note predominated in several trophies of hunting and fishing trips. Guns, canoe paddles, butterfly nets, lake trout mounted, were intermingled with a few pictures. On the whole the place seemed a paradise after his rough fare in the woods.

But the absence of his host and friends led him to walk painfully to the door. A glorious view was spread out below him. From the top of Hood mountain he could count many lakes dotting the carpet of black growth far below. All inequalities of surface, such as ledges and minor hills, were smoothed out and he could hardly believe that the even, unbroken expanse contained the tangled and blocked path of yesterday. Before he had gazed his fill the sound of voices at the other end of the cabin caught his ear and he hastened to find his friends.

“Sleep well?” smiled Professor Carlton, shaking his hand.

“Never better,” replied Stanley. “What time is it?”