44 A NOCTURNAL COMPANION. 



owl had mysteriously vanished; but this is not his- 

 tory ! 



The countryside where we had pitched our evening en- 

 campment was picturesquely diversified by coppices of 

 every kind of wood pines, oaks, firs, cedars, wild cherries, 

 and American hawthorns. Groups of hickory and sumac 

 completed this rich variety. We therefore experienced 

 no difficulty in kindling our bivouac fire. The atmos- 

 phere was fresh ; and my comrades stretched themselves, 

 according to custom, upon beds of dried leaves, the head 

 and body well wrapped up in a woollen coverlet, and the 

 feet turned towards the fire. I had been absent all the 

 evening, in the hope of hunting down a deer ; on my re- 

 turn, I began to prepare a litter for my own accommodation. 



At the foot of an old oak, in a hollow of the rock, the 

 wind had accumulated a great quantity of leaves ; nothing, 

 I thought, could be easier than to lay down my wrapper 

 and pile upon it all this debris. I returned to the fire, 

 where a place had been reserved for me, and, without 

 more ado, got ready my bed. All at once a strange noise 

 arose in the middle of the heaped-up leaves. I examined 

 my litter, and started back in affright before a horrible 

 rattlesnake, which, with uncoiled body and head erect, 

 darted at me its forked tongue. To snatch from the fire 

 a burning brand, and beat the reptile to death, was the 

 work of a moment. 



I turned over my litter, to make sure that it contained 

 no similar occupant. Conceive, if you can, my horror 

 and disgust ! Nearly a dozen young serpents, coiled to- 

 gether, aroused by my pokes and thrusts, emerged from 

 the pile of leaves, and took flight in every direction. My 

 comrades, aroused by my cries, immediately sprung to 



