26 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



hours of the night ; and then, the day following, a flood 

 of brilliant sunshine. 



" Firm-braced I sought my ancient woods, 

 Struggling through the drifted roads ; 

 The whited desert knew me not ; 

 Snow-ridges masked each darling spot ; 

 The summer dells, by genius haunted, 

 One arctic moon had disenchanted." 



The deathlike stillness of the mantled woods, with 

 their trackless paths leading from hushed to silent soli- 

 tudes, repelled at first, but the ever-present feeling that one 

 is never absolutely alone led me on, and I crept beneath 

 the bent branches that arched above me; at every step 

 hoping some companion, however humble, would, after its 

 fashion, greet me "good morning." But at times my 

 faith wavered till I could have kissed a snake. Nature 

 was under a powerful anaesthetic, and I should soon have 

 felt the same influence had the silence continued. This 

 was not to be. Pausing at the partly bared roots of an 

 enormous oak, I thrust my cane into the little cave beyond 

 them, and disturbed a lazy opossum that had sought its 

 shelter. I was not surprised, for the creature had been 

 reported to me. As usual, it made no resistance, nor effort 

 to escape. Prodding it until it started to move away, I 

 followed slowly, watching the curious gait it assumed, as 

 though endeavoring to avoid sinking into the soft snow 

 and so become helpless. All the while, the whip-like tail 

 of the animal trailed upon the snow, and left a slightly 

 tortuous line, as distinctly marked as the creature's foot- 

 prints. 



I was delighted to have the company even of an opos- 

 sum, although I have always insisted that the animal is 

 very foolish, if not a downright fool. Nor do I expect to 

 recant. Naturally, I recalled the musk-rat with which I 

 had rambled in the meadows, and every comparison was 



