JACK-O'-LANTERN 



particular adjustment, for the lake scarcely 

 knows the fly, but rare conditions do arise 

 where the same happy end may be attained 

 by artificial means. 



The horses, each one under his dusky 

 nimbus of flies, were waiting impatiently. 

 The tying on of our traps in ship-shape 

 fashion seemed an unkind further delay, 

 as the careful lashings would have to be all 

 undone at the awkward river-crossing a 

 mile away. The men overruled a mild 

 suggestion that we were losing time. 

 Well, it was their job, why interfere? 

 Moreover, is it not always a mistake to 

 hurry anyone? The quick man needs no 

 admonishment — may be thrown out of his 

 stride by it; the slow one is always fussed 

 and made slower; the residual advantage 

 can only be such personal satisfaction as 

 you derive from speech. 



In this case words would have been 

 doubly a mistake, for, arrived at the 

 Riviere de la Cruche, a sound bridge 

 spanned it! We were the victims of a 

 finished and exquisite practical joke which 

 all hands had been in a conspiracy to keep 

 dark. What conceivably more amusing 

 than to borrow an hour from the morning, 

 and spend it waist-deep in cold water 

 177 

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