Wotes of tbe 



brilliancy and steadiness, and the day seemed to 

 have returned. I could distinguish the different 

 forms of leaves in the trees about me, and peered 

 among the branches for the owls that belong to 

 night. It was all in vain, and I took it as a warn- 

 ing when a huge bull frog at my feet muttered 

 GO-O HO-OME. I started while I could plainly see 

 my path, but in a moment it was dark as Egypt, 

 and in the silence of night I groped my way to the 

 garden gate, while my neighbors were yet resting. 

 There is little to be said of absolute darkness. 

 It is one of the rarest conditions of night, and I 

 have only known it as one of short duration. 

 A densely clouded sky and the absence of the 

 moon are the requirements of this condition. 

 When abroad at such a time, I have usually no- 

 ticed a faint wave of light, as if from reflected 

 lightning. It comes and goes with marked un- 

 certainty, but never is stationary. I have fancied 

 that it might be the ghost of that ghostly phenom- 

 enon, a will-o'-the-wisp, an ignis fatuus dissolved 

 in the damp air of night. This wave of light rarely 

 does more than faintly outline the tree-tops, and 

 so does not reach to the ground. It is a time 

 when our path must be felt ; but the sense of 

 touch becomes very acute, and as the outstretched 

 hands come in contact with familiar objects, it is 

 remarkable what pictures are before the mind. 

 We touch a fence-rail, and immediately the fence 

 and all its surroundings are distinctly before us. 

 25 



