of it. Having for many seasons withstood the surprised gaze of the gaily gowned hotel guests all by myself, I was delighted to have the tables turned and see short skirts and hob-nailed boots look askance at trailing garments. By six o'clock the last stage came in and in spite of the long ride no one was cross and no one seemed tired. All proceeded to the camp and found level spots, even to the number of one hundred and thirty-eight, and later laid them down and slept, so they said, until four o'clock. Breakfast at five A. M.! With a knowing smile the hotel people winked a little and "allowed" that those tired city people would never get up, pack their dunnage bags and be ready for a five o'clock breakfast. But they reckoned without their guests. Long before breakfast was served there was a hungry crowd at the dining-room door, but they were thoroughly happy and did not seem to mind waiting. Just here I may remark that the only criticism I have to make on the members of our party was the fiendish promptness with which every one rose at dawn. We old hands had our suspicions as to the comfort of the first few nights on the hard ground, but none would acknowledge anything but

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dreamless sleep and when the cook's alarm clock went off at half-past three instead of four, they rose just as cheerfully and woke us up to marvel at their fierce energy, while we tried to get another cat-nap before it was really time to crawl out of our warm eider-down bags.

It was my great privilege to lead off with the walkers and to hear the joyous exclamations or feel the eloquent silence with which each new wonder was greeted. First the giant sequoias in the General Grant Park, an hour or two later the distant view up the Tehipite and South Fork canyons with the great dividing wall between, and withal, each meadow stream and flower came in for its share of attention. We had botanists, ornithologists, "photographists" and enthusiasts along, each exclaiming over the opportunities for pursuing his own particular fad. To my mind, those who ride. these rough trails lose many a precious. detail of the way and, at the end of the day, when they dismount with numbed and stiffened muscles, feel more weary than the pedestrians.

Our first camp at Bearskin Meadow was reached by the more impatient trampers at noon, whilst a party of

loiterers sauntered in at supper time. Our genial chief of commissary met each incoming party with a cup of hot tea, and thereby earned the lasting gratitude of the tired ones who soon recovered under its cheering influence. All this was quite new to me, my only cure for weariness having been "to hustle and get a good dinner" as soon as camp was pitched. Within the rude boundaries made by a few cracker boxes, Charley Tuck, our chef, gave brief and decisive orders to his two slaves who sprang to obey. They quickly balanced huge kettles over the fires upon uneven rocks and murmured not because the fire irons had been forgotten. Even when all the butcher knives were found missing a timely joke from our commissary chief dispelled the gathering storm Charley's brow.

on

Promptly at six o'clock the aforesaid. chief and his most talented aides-decamp beat a tattoo on huge tin pans and harangued us thus:

"Walk up, ladies and gentlemen, and partake of this sumptuous feast prepared by Monsieur Tuck.

"Tuck right in, friends.

"Only one helping of corned beef. "Certainly; plenty more rice.

"Yes; wash your soup dish and spoon

yourself if you wish to use them for apple sauce.

"There! that's salt; don't put it in your coffee, man!"

And thus we passed in review before the grand stand. There were grave lawyers, teachers and men of affairs; brighteyed college girls and stately dames. Each brought his tin dish, ate what was given him and was truly thankful. Then such a frolic as we had around that first big camp fire. Plenty of bright speeches and witty retorts with here and there a jolly camp song. Hearty cheers for every one from the outing committee to the belated dunnage bags, whose owners had been having such a good time that they had forgotten all about them, as the fun makers intended they should.

On the second evening our grateful eyes beheld the wide tree-girt expanse of beautiful Horse Corral Meadows. Our one hundred animals with noses down gave the scene the last touch of picturesque content. All searched for sleeping quarters on the sandy flat above the meadow, and, there being no danger of spreading fires, there sprang up many a cheery blaze to dispel the chill that night brings with it at an altitude of eight thousand feet. After a good dinner an outburst of high spirits found expression

in ringing choruses and in a great circling dance about the huge fire. But this soon gave place to an early turning-in, and by nine o'clock the frosty stars and the winking fires saw only rows of blanketed forms wriggling into the configurations of the ground till they found comfortable positions and then became still.

Three days' easy march brought us all to Camp Colby, so named for our popular secretary, and picturesque groups of tents sprang up as if by magic and little trails meandered over the soft pineneedle carpet. The people chose camps in every conceivable nook and corner, even on a flat rock jutting far out into the middle of the river.

The supply tent and the long table then became the scenes of great activity, and when the two great stoves were finally put in place, Charley Tuck's satisfaction was complete. He immediately began to turn out brown loaves by the dozen. On one occasion he divulged the fact that the multitude had eaten one hundred and fifteen loaves in a day. A delicious smell pervaded the air and hinted of rainbow trout frying in the pan. It was well with those who en

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joyed the favor of the fishermen at such times.

The commissary department soon brought order out of chaos and everything from dish washing to dinner serving went on like clock work. The serving was one of the pleasures awarded to various interesting groups of girls who vied with each other in decorating the tables and decking themselves for the occasion. It was hard to resist the demands of the hungry crowd and once I heard a small boy say:

"Gee! You can't work this gang. Last night the girls gave me five helpings of rice pudding!"

After dinner it was not unusual to hear our purveyor-general call out:

"Now, the very nicest girls in camp are wanted to volunteer to help wash the dishes."

Then there was a general scramble to the dish table-as many being turned away as from a popular play. One night this same personage sang out:

"Now, gentlemen, you have been a little backward about coming forward on these occasions, so we want you to volunteer for dish washing."

And thereafter not a day passed with

and set off for a day's sport reckoning on baked trout for breakfast and lunch. And on many a day did these two return with a fine string of rain-bow beauties. Every one else rested in camp that day. But on the second day gay parties put up lunch and explored the recesses of Paradise canyon as far as Mist Falls or visited Roaring River Pool for a delightful view and a good catch of trout. Later, the walks were extended up Copper creek basin or to the copper mines or up Bubbs' creek hill to the big fishing pools. Towering over our camp, three thousand four hundred feet above, was the Grand Sentinel, the ascent of which tested some of the climbers and repaid their endeavors by a splendid view of the snow peaks which far overtop the mere cliffs that form the canyon walls.

The only bad weather we had was on the morning set for the two days' excursion to Goat mountain, twelve thousand five hundred feet in altitude and seven thousand five hundred feet above the

The trip was reluctantly given up, but next day, July 3d, dawned clear as a bell and many tried the experiment of making the ascent in one day. There was a good trail to the foot of the mountain proper and the trip was so arranged

that any one not desiring to make the entire climb could stop anywhere on the trail and return to camp at his own pace. Nevertheless, over thirty climbers gained the summit in the midst of a summer snow storm. All these returned before dark and declared that the glories of the high Sierra were such as they had not dreamed of. In fact, Goat mountain being off the main crest offers one of the most extensive views of the whole range.

The "glorious Fourth" had been reserved for camp festivities, the fifth for recovery therefrom and the sixth for the start up Bubbs' creek. Many a jolly evening had been passed by our camp family about a huge fire, and all sorts of entertainment, grave and gay, had been provided by our persuasive master of ceremonies, Doctor Spencer. Bright speeches, recitations and songs from the young people gave way to fine classical selections from our talented young musicians, or to serious discussions of topics concerning the Sierra; its topography, its animal and plant life, its splendid forests, and its value as an inspiration to poet and artist. When we remember that amongst the speakers were Professor and Mrs. J. G. Lemmon, Dr. C. Hart Merriam of the Biological Survey, Pro