"
At this Mr. P. laughed right out.
"Oh, you may laugh if you please!" cried SCHENCK, of Ohio, "and perhaps
you can tell me why these logs are so heavy--why they lie here at the
bottom instead of floating--why--" but at this instant he slipped from
the log on which he was standing, and with a splash and a bubbling, he
disappeared. The men who were pushing the scow thought this an admirable
opportunity to pass on, and shouting to KELLEY, of Pennsylvania, to bob
his head, the gallant bark floated safely over these enthusiastic
conservators of our iron interests.
Although diverted for a time by this incident, a shadow soon began to
spread itself gradually over the mind of Mr. P. Was there, then, no
place where the subtle influence of man did not spread itself like a
noxious gas?--Where, oh, where! could one commune with his own soul, as
it were?
At length they reached Lake Drummond, that placid pool in the somnolent
shades, and Mr. P. put up at the house of a melancholy man, with a fur
cap, who lived in a cabin on the edge of the lonely water.
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