ON THE UPPER ST. JOHN'S. 127 



we will pick his bones." They perched 

 near by, and, not to lose time, employed the 

 interval in drying their wings, for the night 

 had been showery. Once in a while one of 

 them shifted his perch with an ominous 

 rustle. They were waiting for me, and 

 were becoming impatient. " He is long 

 about it," one said to another; and I did 

 not wonder. The place seemed one from 

 which none who entered it could ever go 

 out; and there was no going farther in 

 without plunging into that horrible mire. 

 I stood still, and looked and listened. Some 

 strange noise, " bird or devil," came from 

 the depths of the wood. A flock of grackles 

 settled in a tall cypress, and for a time 

 made the place loud. How still it was after 

 they were gone ! I could hardly withdraw 

 my gaze from the green water full of slimy 

 black roots and branches, any one of which 

 might suddenly lift its head and open its 

 deadly white mouth ! Once a fish-hawk fell 

 to screaming farther down the lake. I had 

 seen him the day before, standing on the 

 rim of his huge nest in the top of a tree, 

 and uttering the same cries. All about 

 me gigantic cypresses, every one swollen 



