The start of chapter three of Wake-Robin by naturalist, John Burroughs. Burroughs and a group of fishing companions depart for the Boreas Reach near Lake Placid, New York. Burroughs demonstrates his skill as a trout fisherman, earning the respect of their guide.
Hunting at night on an open lake, the starlight reflected in the center gave the dark timberline at the water’s edge a belt of utter blackness, a portal between the real and the imaginary, the land of shadows and specters.