354 SPOJtTIXG ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



such spirit that he made some of the more impulsive jump 

 from their outstretched position before the fire, and go 

 tripping the light fantastic toe for dear life, amidst the 

 numerous branchlets and leaves that strewed the ground. 

 They went bounding about like rubber-balls or Terpsicho- 

 reans at a country fair, and yelled and swung each other 

 about, in their joyous excitement and enthusiasm. It was 

 certainly a scene of good-natured jollity, and one could 

 readily understand from it how Robin Hood's merry men 

 could make life tolerable amidst the depths of Sherwood 

 Forest. The music was followed by singing, and this was 

 kept up so long that it was past midnight before we re- 

 tired to rest. 



We were awake before daylight the next morning, and 

 had breakfast finished by five o'clock, when we resumed 

 our day's sport as fresh as if we had not been out of camp 

 for a week. We found the deer as numerous as they were 

 the previous day, by going two miles farther on, and scored 

 many a kill; but the number bagged was only a fraction of 

 what escaped to the hills or sought safety in the river. 



We had magnificent weather some splendid runs; and 

 mingled with the soul-stirring music of the hounds w r ere 

 the songs of birds, the screams of the wild-cat and puma, 

 the growl of the bear, the lively chatter of squirrels, the 

 startled whistling of the deer, and the gentle monotone of 

 the soughing trees, as their tops and leaves swung to and 

 fro in response to the cooling zephyrs. The forest was full 

 of life and animation, and its varied sounds made one for- 

 get that there was such a thing in existence as trouble and 

 tribulation. 



The whole day long was one scene of good-luck in hunt- 

 ing ; hence, when the party returned to camp at night, 

 nearly everybody was in the best of humor. Two incidents 

 occurred during the day, however, to prove that there is no 

 bliss without alloy, no success without its consequence ; no 

 rose without a thorn ; nothing, in fact, whether for good or 

 evil, that does not seem to have its correspondence on the 

 opposite side, to either check or alleviate its full signifi- 



