GLOOMY SCENERY. 231 



carried off ; the foot-tracks of a wolf plainly showing 

 who had been the thief. 



There is a wonderful difference between hunting 

 pour passer le temps and being compelled to hunt 

 that you may obtain the wherewith to satisfy the 

 cravings of appetite. 



To-day I started on an empty stomach, with that 

 sinking feeling I have often experienced when kept 

 waiting longer than usual for breakfast, in fact that 

 very sensation that often induces the dissipated to 

 satisfy their craving by a soda-and-brandy. We are 

 only mortal at best, and I believe myself extremely 

 so, for I have a decided tendency to like this bever- 

 age. The popping of the cork of a soda-water bottle 

 would then have been to my ears the very sweetest 

 strain of music imagination could conceive. 



I can joke now about it, but my position at the 

 time was far from agreeable, for I had slept badly, 

 was wet through, rather stiff from indications of 

 rheumatism, and decidedly down in spirits. As I 

 was determined, however, if possible, not to go any 

 longer without grub, I settled down to my task and 

 trudged on manfully. The scenery was rather gloomy, 

 quite in harmony with the state of my feelings, while 

 the heavy leaden clouds hung close to the surface, 

 completely keeping out the rays of the sun. Snipe 

 (Scolopax Wilsonii) at every step continued flushing 

 before me, while large flocks of plovers (Charadrius 

 apricarius] rushed here and there over the surface of 

 such places as were bare ; or, uttering their little 



