CIIAPTEK XXII. 



The last niglit l)f*forf our departure from Raquette Lake, 

 we experieneed one of the fierf;est of Adirondack storms. 

 The rain, wind, tliunder and lightning and dashing of 

 waves were really frightful, in the pitchj' darkness of mid- 

 night ; and I trembled l)j the hour for the staunchness of 

 cotton cloth and tent-ropes and the firmness of tent-jx-gs. 

 Tlie force of the stf)rm of both rain and wind was at its 

 i.ighest at about '4 oflock A. ^I. I had been awake for a 

 long time, startled almost momentarilj' by the crash and 

 roll of thunder and the vivid lightning, and the tierce 

 beating of the rain and wind. I more than half expected 

 that at anv moment our frail tent would Ije swept bodily 

 away, leaving us prostrate under our lilankets, exposed to 

 the full force of the storm. It seemed as if it would never 

 cease. It raged more and more tiercely. Suddenly, when 

 the rain was dashing in heaviest toiTcnts and at the height 

 of the gale, I heard a snap and a flapping as if a sail had 

 torn loose from the yards, and felt a heavj' gust of wind on 

 my face. Throwing off the blankets, I jumped up as if I 

 had heard the yeU of a panther at my ear, and rushed to 

 the front end of the tent. A loosely fixed tent-peg at the 

 opening had been drawn, the strings holding the curtains 

 had snapped like threads, and the curtains themselves 



