1 68 The Wilderness Hunter 



save every now and then for a feast on the luscious 

 mountain blueberries. This rather meagre diet, 

 coupled with incessant fatigue and exertion, made 

 us fairly long for meat food ; and we fell off in flesh, 

 though of course in so short a time we did not suffer 

 in either health or strength. Fortunately the nights 

 were too cool for mosquitoes; but once or twice in 

 the afternoons, while descending the lower slopes of 

 the mountains, we were much bothered by swarms of 

 gnats ; they worried us greatly, usually attacking us 

 at a time when we had to go fast in order to reach 

 camp before dark, while the roughness of the ground 

 forced us to use both hands in climbing, and thus 

 forbade us to shield our faces from our tiny tor- 

 mentors. Our chief luxury was, at the end of the 

 day, when footsore and weary, to cast aside our 

 sweat-drenched clothes and plunge into the icy 

 mountain torrent for a moment's bath that fresh- 

 ened us as if by magic. The nights were generally 

 pleasant, and we slept soundly on our beds of balsam 

 boughs, but once or twice there were sharp frosts, 

 and it was so cold that the hunter and I huddled 

 together for warmth and kept the fires going till 

 morning. One day, when we were on the march, 

 it rained heavily, and we were soaked through, and 

 stiff and chilly when we pitched camp; but we speed- 

 ily built a great brush lean-to, made a roaring fire in 

 front, and grew once more to warmth and comfort 

 as we sat under our steaming shelter. The only 



