34 THE ADIRONDACK. 



deck of our staggering ship — I had slept amid the 

 *' Alps and Appenines," nay, worse, in the cabriolet of 

 a French diligence, beside the yelling conducteur. I 

 had slept on the hard floor, and beside living and dead 

 men, but I could not sleep here. There was some- 

 thing so awfully solemn and mysterious in that mighty 

 forest — in the rustle of the night breeze through the 

 tops of the hemlocks, and the flutter now and then of 

 a bird disturbed on its perch, that my heart beat audibly 

 in my bosom. Just as my nervousness began to be 

 particularly annoying, there came a flash of lightning, 

 followed by the low growl of distant thunder. This 

 was something I had not calculated upon, and I said 

 to myself, " Well, there is a prospect of my trying 

 Preissnitz's system now, for there will be cold bathing 

 in plenty before morning, and my diet is spare enough, 

 heaven knows, for I haven't even a red-squirrel to roast 

 for my supper. I shall be thankful if one of these 

 rotten hemlocks does not have the rubbing of me 

 down after my bath." Just then the blast swept 

 through the forest like the roar of the sea, and all was 

 still again. Another flash, and as I live, there stood a 

 man amid the trees ; I waited in breathless suspense 

 for a second flash, but the tread of feet prevented the 



