276 SPOUTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



good keeper took pity on me, and seemed to entreat me by 

 the most pathetic gestures to return. He pointed out the 

 threatening appearance of the sky, the road to the house, 

 and even made a rude representation of my pillow on which 

 I was so comfortably sleeping. His mute eloquence was, 

 however, unsuccessful. I had not come 400 leagues for 

 nothing, and seeing I had made up my mind to remain, 

 Piotr was not long* in making his own arrangements ; and 

 buttoning up his long grey coat, with green facings, close to 

 the chin, he squeezed his huge person into a thicket, struck 

 a light for his pipe, and soon a thick volume of smoke, 

 issuing from his nest, gave it the appearance of a charcoal 

 furnace. I remained, however, firm in my position, as a 

 sentinel on duty, the wind whistling around me, and the rain 

 falling in gutters from the corners of my shooting-cap. At 

 the first gleam of twilight I perceived, or thought I could 

 make out, for I could not well judge of the distance, a brown 

 mass, which certainly was no shadow. I attempted to point 

 my rifle, but could not distinguish the sight. To shoot at 

 random was to risk all the chances of frightening any deer 

 in the vicinity, for an uncertainty ; besides, I had only a con- 

 fused vision of the beast, and it might be one of those 

 diminutive and half- wild horses which are suffered to range 

 about the country. I abstained, therefore, from trying the 

 dangerous experiment, and was rewarded for my pains. The 

 daylight soon began to appear, and at the same time the rain 

 ceased. Piotr issued from his lair, and leaving me stand- 

 ing as a sentry, went to make a reconnaissance of the 

 surrounding country. He returned with a quickened pace 

 in a few minutes, and by his animated gestures I saw he was 

 the bearer of good news. Indeed, after having led me about 

 fifty paces from the post I had quitted, he stretched his arm 

 towards the opposite slopes, and directing my sight by the 

 barrel of his carbine, pointed out the cause of his cheerful- 



