Chapter XVI · IN THE WOODS.

CHAPTER XVI. IN THE WOODS.

Forgotten medicine and renewed health—An excursion planned—A gun wanted, but denied—Setting out on a long tramp—Swamps—Upland—Brooks—How Brookdale got its name—Cutting canes—Birch and beech—How to crook the handle of a cane—The philosophy of it explained—The cigars—Fine groves—Stopping to rest—The forest described—Birds and guns—Other game—Jim Oakley's strange animal—Moose—The man who met a bear—A race—Mysterious disappearance of the bear—The probable cause of his visit—The boy who killed two bears—Oscar's courage—Prospect Rock—A fine view—The rabbit—The woodchuck's hole—Crossing a swamp—Mosquitoes—The pond—The hermit's hut—Some account of "Old Staples"—Buried treasures—Making a fire—Baking potatoes and toasting cheese—Drinking pond water—Dinner—Hunting for the hermit's money—What they meant to do with it—A bath proposed—Smoothing over the matter—Going Into water—Drying their hair—Going home—Lost In the woods—Arrival home—One kind of punishment for wrong-doing.