METAPHYSICS OP BEAK HUNTING. 373 



their couches of "knot-grass, dew be-sprent," prick their 

 ears, toss their slight heads, whistle and bound away. The 

 awkward cranes would stalk to and fro, gesticulate with 

 their long necks, and croak ; then stop, spread their broad 

 wings, and go with their long shanks dangling behind them. 

 But I could never kill them ; for, though hunger made me 

 reckless at last, and I could fire, I would hear the shot 

 rattle smong their thick feathers: but it availed nothing. 

 They still sailed croaking off. 



These were the only living things, except " horned frogs," 

 that I saw ; and while my strength held out, I would chase 

 the last, nimble, ugly little creatures, with an eagerness 

 inconceivable. Yes, there were wolves, too; but they are 

 minions of the devil, not honest, living things. Some of 

 them were on my trail all the time, determined to be in at 

 the death. Oh, how fiercely I hated them. I tried all 

 manner of devices to lure them within gun-shot, but it was 

 of no avail. They were too subtle. The hairy ghouls ! 

 they have the " second sight." They can see death before 

 he strikes, and they will slink and creep with horrid patience 

 in his wake, for one lap of blood. It would make me shiver 

 to turn and see them, like my shadow, forever trailing me. 

 And then at night they would sit around and howl and moan 

 for hours and hours, as if they were determined I should learn 

 my own requiem by heart ! 



Snails and water were becoming yet more diflicult to obtain, 

 and I weaker and weaker every hour. Still I travelled on, 

 though my gait was staggering. I had drawn my hunger- 

 belt, until I looked like a wasp. My senses became painfully 

 acute. The clang of a crane's wing, or his croak as he rose, 

 would thump and crash against my tympanum like thunder, 

 and roar through my brain in reverberations for minutes 

 after. The earth's smell became rank and oppressive ; and 

 when the breeze swept by, it sounded like the whirring of 



