256 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



I went, as I thought, straight back to the place I had 

 left ; I must cross my own path in a few minutes 

 only a few steps farther ! I am certainly close now ! 

 and thus arguing and consoling, I proceeded. By 

 degrees it hegan to dawn upon me, though much 

 against my inclination, that I was " certain sure out 

 of my reckoning." The more convinced I became of 

 the uncertainty of my position, the more I became 

 excited ; at first I walked faster, talked to myself, 

 and tried, though I fear very indifferently, to treat 

 the whole affair as an admirable joke. But soon my 

 countenance became elongated, and a very gloomy 

 expression usurped the place of my previous smile. 

 For change, I shouted, with the hope some one 

 might hear me a very improbable thing except, 

 perchance, some solitary Indian should be out in 

 attendance on his bear or other traps. At last I 

 became fairly desperate, and broke into a headlong 

 run ; the pace was too fast to keep up, fairly blown, 

 wearied, and exhausted, I sat down on the trunk of 

 a fallen tree. The depression I felt will never be 

 forgotten. The terrible loneliness, the perfect solitude 

 and monotony, with the certainty of having to pass 

 the night al fresco, made my frame of mind anything 

 but enviable. The mosquitoes, which previously I 

 had scarcely noticed, now put in a claim for attention, 

 my wretched plight seeming to give them confidence, 

 for they attacked me front, rear, and flanks, in 

 columns. It was useless to attempt to drive them off; 

 their confidence would have been most commendable, 

 if engaged in a better cause. Night was rapidly, ap- 

 proaching, and the giant shadows had become indis- 

 tinct in their outline, mingling together in one dark 



