302 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



condition, and as soon as the punch was finished, the en- 

 thusiast of the company took a large accordion out of a 

 box and began to play all the jigs and reels he knew with 

 such spirit that he made some of the more impulsive jump 

 from their outstretched position before the fire, and go tripping 

 the light fantastic toe for dear life, amid the numerous 

 branchlets and leaves that strewed the ground. They went 

 bounding about like rubber-balls or terpsichoreans at a country 

 fair, and yelled and swung each other about in their joyous 

 excitement and enthusiasm. It was certainly a scene of good- 

 natured jollity, and one could readily understand from it how 

 Robin Hood's merry men could make life tolerable amid the 

 depths of Sherwood Forest. The music was followed by sing- 

 ing, and this was kept up so long that it was past midnight 

 before we retired to rest. 



We were awake before daylight the next morning, and had 

 breakfast finished by five o'clock, when we resumed our day's 

 sport, as fresh as if we had not been out of camp for a week. 

 We found the deer as numerous as they were the previous day 

 by going two miles further on, and scored many a kill, but the 

 number bagged was only a fraction of what escaped to the hills 

 or sought safety in the river. 



We had magnificent weather, some splendid runs, and 

 mingled with the soul-stirring music of the hounds were the 

 song of birds, the screams of the wild cat and puma, the 

 growl of the bear, the lively chatter of squirrels, the startled 

 whistling of the deer, and the gentle monotone of the sough- 

 ing trees, as their tops and leaves swung to and fro in response 

 to the cooling zephyrs. The forest was full of life and anima- 

 tion, and its varied sounds made one forget that there was 

 such a thing in existence as trouble and tribulation. 



The whole day long was one scene of good luck in hunting ; 

 hence, when the party returned to camp at night, nearly every- 

 body was in the best of humour. Two incidents occurred during 

 the day, however, to prove that there is no bliss without alloy ; 

 no success without its consequence ; no rose without a thorn ; 

 nothing in fact, whether for good or evil, that does not seem to 

 have its correspondence on the opposite side, to either check or 



