“Pshaw!” I said; “It is warm this morning. Don’t you feel the heat of the air? They are fanning themselves.”
“Oh!” he said; “I thought they were giving us a farewell.”
Down on Kineo pebble beach some of the guides, who hang around the hotel while “open for engagements,” were standing in company with a few of the oldest inhabitants, sweeping the air with their broad felt hats in a manner wild and energetic. Pointing these out to me, the Colonel hinted his belief that their actions were intended for us.
“Nonsense,” I said; “more likely they’re doing battle with a horde of offensive insects.”
Not far from this group stood a party of sportsmen, who fired a volley from their rifles that rattled over the lake with a harsh, spasmodic detonation. To me, however, the voice of the report was highly expressive.
“Colonel,” I said, with a sudden flush of pleasure; “there’s a party of the boys giving us a send-off.”
“Fudge,” said the Colonel; “do you see that duck flying across the lake? There’s the worthy object of the honor. They’ve missed it. Some bevy of girl-admirers have been watching them from the hotel, and they save their reputation by looking toward us, as if the volley was intended for a salute.”
“Oh,” I said, collapsing at the Colonel’s retaliatory explanation; “I thought it strange that we should cause so much trouble.”
In a short while we were ploughing the upper waters of Moosehead Lake, and the frowning bluffs of Mount Kineo began to fade into the distance, the rocks, the trees, and other features of its scenery, becoming indistinct in a haze of deepening purple. As the little steamer moved onward, lying on the deck among the baggage, we took our ease, and listened to the predictions of our few companion-passengers, and studied the glowing eloquence of the cloudless sky, both of which bespoke the ominous fact of the dry season, and told us with cruel blandness to rest while we might, as there was in store plenty of exhilarating exercise upon the “carries” beyond.
While we are progressing to our destination, I will take an opportunity for a description of our guides and general outfit. This some people consider necessary, and it is therefore a duty which sooner or later must be fulfilled.