RATTLERS 131 



The flies, too, and the yellow jackets, were insuffer- 

 able. Altogether it was not long before we were in 

 a condition of nervous and physical exhaustion bor- 

 dering on hysteria. 



We had but one idea, to finish this desolate coun- 

 try as soon as it was humanly possible to do so. 

 Each morning we woke from uneasy sleep tired and! 

 listless. Our legs seemed lead, our feet fastened to 

 the ground. As the day wore on we felt better and 

 in consequence almost invariably overtaxed our 

 strength before night so that we reached camp thor- 

 oughly fatigued, too far gone sometimes to care 

 even for food. 



We lost weight rapidly. Every face had a drawn, 

 gaunt look, and our nerves were in shreds. Quar- 

 rels were only avoided by limiting communication 

 to an exchange of mere necessary civilities them- 

 selves none too civil. Night after night we dragged 

 in, ate in sullen silence and went immediately to our 

 tents, where we lay as quietly as might be until dark- 

 ness drove the flies to their unholy rest and afforded 

 us a chance to sleep. 



Horace, which surprised us not a little, seemed to 

 be affected by the temperature and the work least 

 of any one. Whether this was due to his naturally 

 splendid constitution, given a chance to assert itself 

 by Wallace's regimen, or grew out of his recent 

 determination to make good in his work, or whether 

 it sprang from a fundamentally amiable disposition 

 or was simple perversity no one could decide. The 



