342 RESIGNED TO DIE. 



I recalled the incredible efforts I had made to protract 

 my miserable existence, and, at the thought, a contemp- 

 tuous smile contracted my lips. 



Was I not a madman, said I to myself, to struggle 

 against unchangeable Fate 1 ? Let my destiny be accom- 

 plished ! I was content to die. And what, in truth, 

 was death but a brief sleep, and a termination of all my 

 physical sufferings'? 



Yet I experienced a last caprice ; I now wished to die 

 calmly, stretched upon the soft sward, in the shadow of 

 leafy trees. I must make one last effort to reach them. 

 I attempted it ; but I felt extremely feeble, and several 

 times fell back on the earth, where I lay for some time 

 longer. 



But the longing to die upon a mossy bed so predomi- 

 nated over every other desire or thought, that, on my 

 hands and knees, I contrived to crawl along the bank, 

 and once more to stand erect. On the way I picked up 

 my gun, which, as I have said, I had thrown aside, and 

 then directed my faltering steps towards the clump of 

 trees. I resolved to die in peace, and my rifle was in- 

 dispensable to keep the cayeutes from my death-bed. 



With indescribable difficulty I reached the bottom of 

 the hillock. 



At the foot of one of the largest trees lay a smooth 

 patch of greensward; it was the very spot I sought. 

 Thither I dragged myself, and lay down on the turf, my 

 head reclining against the tree, and my gun at my side. 

 I closed my eyes, and a singular lethargy took possession 

 of me: I felt that I should never rise again; and yet I 

 was happy. 



My pains were subdued; the fever had decreased for 



