104 THE LOG OF A TIMBER CEUISEK 



us, but Bert had to spend most of the day as well 

 fighting the intruders. He became thin and worn 

 looking. The strain made him nervous. 



Finally he lost patience. He procured a demi- 

 john of whiskey from O'Brien and, announcing that 

 he had "quit," started to drink it up and forget 

 his troubles. He unquestionably succeeded in the 

 former endeavour and probably in the latter as well, 

 for when we came in at night he was dead to the 

 world. "We put him to bed and Brown cooked sup- 

 per. 



We were somewhat worried over Bert's reported 

 declaration of desertion but Frazer did not seem 

 agitated. 



"He's just tired out," the chief said, "and felt 

 like giving his nerves a good time. He'll be all right 

 in the morning. Just let him alone to-night." 



We were perfectly willing to accede to this re- 

 quest, but the stars in their courses determined 

 events otherwise. That night there was a bright 

 moon that lighted objects for some little distance. 

 It brought out the forms of our enemies, the hogs, 

 so clearly that we were able to bombard them ef- 

 fectively enough to keep them out of camp most of 

 the time. In this way we managed to get consid- 

 erable sleep. 



We were brought out of one of the longest of 

 our slumber spells by an unearthly scream from the 

 cook tent. 



"Take 'em away! Take 'em away for God's 



