"  Look  out  for  some  stunning  toilets  ! "  Kit  whispered
to  me.  "  But,  Raed,  I  must  rely  on  you  to  help  me  a
little  on  the  arrangements.  Two  such  old  bachelors  as
you  and  I  are  not  to  be  making  fools  of  ourselves,  you
know."

The  responsibilities  of  oversight  clearly  devolved  on
us.  Assisted  by  the  hired  man,  we  carried  down  to
the  shore  of  the  lake  a  couple  of  pine-boards  about  a
foot  in  width,  and  twelve  feet  long ;  also  a  couple  of
benches.  These  were  to  serve  as  a  table  for  the  col-
lation.
61


52  FOX-HUNTING.
The  pi iice  chosen  for  our  festive  headquarters  was  a
point  directly  under  a  high  knoll  crowned  with  dark  firs,
about  a  hundred  rods  up  the  shore  of  the  pond  from  the
boat-landing.  There  was  a  moon ;  but  the  snow-bank
had  risen  steadily,  and  well-nigh  darkened  it.  The  sky
had  a  dull-gray  tint.  It  was  not  dark  exactly,  but
wonderfully  dim  and  indistinct,  — one  of  those  evenings
when  it  is  impossible  to  trust  the  eye  in  proportion  to
the  seeming  light.
The  table  was  set  on  the  ice,  a  few  yards  from  the
shore.  On  the  knoll,  ten  or  fifteen  feet  above  the  table,
were  two  or  three  great  pitch-pine  stumps.  One  of
these  Kit  had  the  man  set  on  fire.  It  burned  with  a
steady,  ruddy  glare,  lighting  up  the  whole  place  like
some  huge  lamp.
Half  a  mile  farther  up  the  lake,  and  off  a  hundred  rods
from  the  shore,  was  a  little  islet,  or  rather  a  large  rock,
with  a  few  bushes  on  it,  rising  abruptly  from  the  water.
