MISCELLANEOUS. 291 



accordingly halted, built a fire of dry pine logs, and, without 

 a mouthful of food of any kind, lay down on the bare ground 

 for a night's sleep. We had walked during the day thirty- 

 five miles and were tired enough to sleep without the luxury 

 of a tent and good, warm bedding. Several times during the 

 night we awoke to find our fire burned down low and ourselves 

 numb with cold, but we piled on more fuel, toasted ourselves 

 before the bright blaze and returned to our slumbers. Just 

 before daylight a pack of wolves came within a quarter of a 

 mile of our fire and gave us a matinee of their wild, weird 

 music. The performance was opened by a male voice, of a 

 tenor quality, which was soon joined by a female in a rich 

 contralto, then by an alto, then by a soprano, and so on until 

 at least a dozen had chimed in and sung their parts. The 

 chorus probably occupied fifteen minutes and then gradually 

 died away. 



As soon as it became light enough for us to see readily, 

 we shouldered our rifles, and, leaving the trail which we then 

 ascertained did not lead in the direction of the lumber-camp 

 at all, we took a due easterly course, and had not walked 

 more than three miles before our ears were gladdened by the 

 sound of human voices, which we found came from a point 

 about a mile to our right. Turning and walking briskly in 

 that direction, we soon reached the camp. The cook, a 

 large good-hearted Irishman, sat us down to a sumptuous 

 breakfast of baked beans, boiled corned-beef, bacon, pota- 

 tpes, biscuit and tea, and ordered us to help ourselves. 

 Never did the most dutiful soldier obey an order with more 

 alacrity than we obeyed that, and never did a vanquished foe 

 disappear more rapidly before the onslaught of an advancing 

 column than did that provender under the ceaseless fire of 

 our voracious appetites. It was the first regular meal we had 

 eaten in twenty-eight hours, and in that time we had walked 



