THE SICK BOY 129 



THE CABIN IN THE FOREST 



He says, to use his own beautiful descriptions, at the 

 beginning of the narrative: 



" On my return from the upper Mississippi I found my- 

 self obliged to cross one of the wide prairies which, in 

 that portion of the United States, vary the appearance 

 of the country. The weather was fine; all around me was 

 as fresh and blooming as if it had just been issued from 

 the bosom of nature. My knapsack, my gun, and my dog 

 were all I had for baggage and company. But, although 

 well moccasined, I moved slowly along, attracted by the 

 brilliancy of the flowers, and the gambols of the fawns 

 around their dams, to all appearance as thoughtless of 

 danger as I felt myself. 



" My march was of long duration. I saw the sun sink- 

 ing beneath the horizon long before I could perceive any 

 appearance of woodlands, and nothing in the shape of man 

 had I met with that day. The track which I followed was 

 only an old Indian trail, and as darkness overshadowed the 

 prairie I felt some desire to reach at least a copse, in which 

 I might lie down to rest. The night-hawks were skimming 

 over and around me, attracted by the buzzing wings of the 

 beetles which form their food, and the distant howling of 

 the wolves gave me hope that I should soon arrive at the 

 skirts of some woodland. 



" I did so, and almost at the same instant a firelight 

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