Depressing, in contrast with my rosy dreams! But now the little lake is a charming reality, and the boat is built and launched.

Turtles, pout, lily roots as big as small trees, and two hundred loads of "alluvial deposit" are no longer "in it," while carp are promised me by my friend Commissioner Blackford.
The "Tomtoolan"[2] is not a large body of water--one hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide--but it is a delight to me and has been grossly traduced by ignorant or envious outsiders.

The day after the "Katy-Did" was christened (a flat-bottomed boat, painted prettily with blue and gold) I invited a lady to try it with me.

Flags were fluttering from stem and stern.

We took a gayly colored horn to toot as we went, and two dippers to bail, if necessary.