little softer, so it had cut quite a deep little passage for itself.  Easily our chauffeur dropped the front wheels into the cut, and to his surprise he found they stuck there.  It did not take us long to jack up the wheels and put rocks underneath them, and we were about ready to get out when the road gang came along with a wagon and a pair of sturdy mules.  As quickly as it takes me to tell it the mules were attached to our back axle and we were pulled out.  A few more rocks and a couple of planks placed over the cut and we were honking on our way with triumph.

Half a mile farther we came upon the ridge that separates Emerald Bay from Cascade Lake.  Both are in clear View at the same time, while to the west we can hear the joyous song of Cascade Falls in its grand leap down from the foot of the snow-banks of Mt.  Tallac into the tree-clad stream-course below.

Now the road brings us almost directly above the Lake, with a rapid slope down, covered with dainty trees and shrubs of recent growth.  From here we gain a fine view of the south end of the lakeshore.  Tallac, the Grove, Bijou, Al Tahoe and clear across to Lakeside, with the deep green of the meadows above, and the snowy crowns of Freel’s, Job’s, and Job’s sister, with Monument Peak combine to give the proper setting to the Lake.

Soon we are racing across the level to the Fish Hatchery, between avenues of quaking aspens and young tamaracks and pines.  Suddenly we come upon a mired car, the driver of which had just crossed the Sierras from Placerville, with little or no difficulty, but coming to a soft piece of road here when going a trifle faster than he should, and the side of the road having caught a lot of snow-water, he had bogged and was working like a beaver to extricate himself.  We had a stout rope along and it was the work of two or three minutes to get him out and we again pushed forward, gratified and smiling at the warmly expressed thanks of himself and his three happy women-folks who were enjoying their first trip into the Tahoe country, and already confessing their complete subjection to its thrall.

Passing the Hatchery we were only a few more minutes in reaching Tallac House, the first to complete the auto-trip this season.  Except for a few short stretches of scarcely completed road it is in excellent condition, and the road gang now at work will have all the rough portions smoothed down in a few days.

It should here be noted that side trips may be made in automobiles to Glen Alpine Springs and Fallen Leaf Lodge.  Both resorts use their own automobile stages daily during the season, hence keep the roads in good condition.

We made the return trip from Tallac House to the Tavern in two hours exactly.  The distance is 26 miles.  The road gang had already put a bridge over the place that had delayed us on coming out, and the road throughout was easy and safe.  Naturally it is not as easy to negotiate as a San Francisco boulevard, but with the wheel in the hands of a careful chauffeur there is perfect safety and a trip that need give not a moment’s fear to the most timorous.