AND OTHER SKETCHES 281 



camp who wanted his meat served on a hot plate, and 

 would raise Old Harry if his steak was not broiled to a 

 turn. Fellows whose appetites depend on fancy fixings 

 are a nuisance to everybody around them, and the only 

 way to ensure the comfort of a party is to fire such a 

 grumbler out of the camp in summary fashion. I remem- 

 ber once having a chap unloaded on me on a week's fish- 

 ing trip that was the crossest-grained, warped and twist- 

 ed, double-dyed-in-the-wool grumbler that ever burdened 

 the earth with his presence. 



He wanted more waiting on than any full-fledged 

 French dancing master, and they are hard to overcome. 

 He could grumble more and smile less than any sinner I 

 have met in forty years. The first day in camp he was 



d d by the guests, and the second day the party were 



prepared to take desperate chances to be rid of him, and 

 I was voted an embossed leather medal if I could drive 

 him out. I managed it in the following fashion: The 

 bore had casually dropped the remark that he was ter- 

 ribly frightened of snakes. Luckily for our peace of 

 mind, I had that morning killed a big black water snake 

 about four feet long, and I determined to use his mangled 

 remains as the exterminating agent. That evening I hid 

 it under the bed of cedar boughs on which the intruder 

 slept, and soon after the party had retired I started tell- 

 ing the most horrible snake stories it was possible for the 

 human mind to conceive. I soon had the bore in such a 

 state that he insisted on searching the tent to ascertain 

 if any snakes had crept in out of the cold. My friends, 

 whom I had previously posted, pretended to dissuade 

 him, but finally, to ease his mind, consented to humor him. 

 We, of course, began at the part of the tent most distant 

 from the concealed reptile, but gradually turning over the 

 blankets and removing our valises, we worked our way 

 round to the corner occupied by the crank. Slowly and 

 carefully we removed the covering from the cedar boughs 

 and as the waterproof blanket was lifted, there, sure 

 enough, was the protruding head of a big snake. Great 

 Scott! I'll never forget the yell that echoed in that tent. 



