He had
a wife and one daughter, who were as ignorant as barbarians. After a
warm and almost bitter debate between Hoyt and Bird, a separation was
resolved upon. Hoyt and Alvord went northward and we resolved to
return by the way of Indian and Louis Lakes to Lake Pleasant. Bird
had incurred some expenses for our outfit, and Hoyt in his excitement
resolved to pay his share at once. He had no money nor was there any
money of consequence in the party. In this condition of affairs Hoyt
exclaimed, "Who will give me the money for a check on the Greenfield
Bank?"
Bird, Pierce, and myself, with three guides, turned our faces toward
the Eckford Lakes and Mt. Emmons. From Eckford we made our way to
Indian Lake. The day was warm and rainy in showers. The guides were
ignorant of the route, having never passed over it, and the distance
was estimated at twenty miles. We started in the morning in good
spirits and confident of getting through to Forbes' Clearing on
Indian Lake. We followed a road made by the lumbermen and about noon
we crossed an upper branch of the Hudson and came upon a small dwelling
where an Irishman and a boy were grinding an ax.
They were protected from flies and mosquitoes by a dull fire of chips
and leaves called a smudge. We asked for dinner and the way to Indian
Lake. They could not give us a dinner nor say definitely how we were
to get to Indian Lake.
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