IRotes ot tbe 1Fli0bt 



But the blacker the night, the more favorable to 

 witness that strangest of all nocturnal phenomena, 

 the will-o'-the-wisp. I have seen it but seldom, 

 and possibly some records thereof in my note- 

 books may be erroneous, the glimpse of flickering 

 light being attributable to other causes. But in 

 one instance there was no mistake. The day had 

 been extremely warm and sultry, the hygrometer 

 registering 88. As the night promised to be fa- 

 vorable, I started for a swampy thicket that I might 

 " sugar " moths. Provided with a lantern, to be 

 hung on a tree, and the various engines of destruc- 

 tion required to capture the huge night-flying 

 moths, I was equipped for business rather than 

 pleasure, and gave attention only to the foot-path, 

 seeing nothing beyond its boundaries and hearing 

 nothing but the din of frogs. The over-arching 

 trees shut out the sky, and I knew nothing of the 

 storm that was rapidly approaching. Mere dark- 

 ness has no influence on batrachian life, but the 

 rising wind and electrical conditions that I did not 

 notice were evident to them, and soon every one 

 was silent. Then I found myself enveloped in 

 absolute darkness, except where the few feeble rays 

 from the lantern fell at my feet. I hesitated whether 

 to proceed, and stood for a moment by a giant 

 tulip tree to consider the matter. As I did so, a 

 great gust of wind and misty rain passed over me, 

 and a toad at my feet gave a loud despairing cry, as 

 if it were the last living creature on earth, and cre- 

 27 



