76 A TRAMP IN THE CATSKILLS 



breath, which made our progress slow. Finally a halt 

 was called, beside an immense flat rock which had 

 paused in its slide down the mountain, and we prepared 

 to encamp for the night. A fire was built, the rock 

 cleared off, a small ration of bread served out, our 

 accoutrements hung up out of the way of the hedge- 

 hogs that were supposed to infest the locality and then 

 we disposed ourselves for sleep. If the owls or porcu- 

 pines (and I think I heard one of the latter in the mid- 

 dle of the night) reconnoitred our camp, they saw a 

 buffalo robe spread upon a rock, with three old felt 

 hats arranged on one side, and three pairs of sorry- 

 looking cowhide boots protruding from the other. 



When we lay down, there was apparently not a 

 mosquito in the woods; but the "no-see-ems," as 

 Thoreau's Indian aptly named the midges, soon found 

 us out, and after the fire had gone down annoyed us 

 much. My hands and wrists suddenly began to smart 

 and itch in a most unaccountable manner. My first 

 thought was that they had been poisoned in some way. 

 Then the smarting extended to my neck and face, even 

 to my scalp, when I began to suspect what was the 

 matter. So, wrapping myself up more thoroughly, 

 and stowing my hands away as best I could, I tried to 

 sleep, being some time behind my companions, who 

 appeared not to mind the " no-see-ems." I was further 

 annoyed by some little irregularity on my side of the 

 couch. The chambermaid had not beaten it up well. 

 One huge lump refused to be mollified, and each 

 attempt to adapt it to some natural hollow in my own 

 body brought only a moment's relief. But at last I 

 got the better of this also and slept. Late in the night 

 I woke up, just in time to hear a golden-crowned thrush 



