HAMMOCK NIGHTS 205 



low naturalist of *nine never lost an opportunity 

 to set innumerable traps for the lesser jungle- 

 folk, such as mice and opossums, all of which 

 he religiously measured and skinned, so that each, 

 in its death, should add its mite to human knowl- 

 edge. As a fisherman runs out set lines, so would 

 he place his traps in a circle under his hammock, 

 using a cord to tie each and every one to the 

 meshes. This done, it was his custom to lie at 

 ease and wait for the click below which would 

 usher in a new specimen, perhaps a new spe- 

 cies, to be lifted up, removed, and safely cached 

 until morning. This strategic method served a 

 double purpose: it conserved natural energy, and 

 it protected the catch. For if the traps were 

 set in the jungle and trustfully confided to its 

 care until the break of day, the ants would leave 

 a beautifully cleaned skeleton, intact, all unnec- 

 essarily entrapped. 



Now it happened that once, when he had set 

 his nocturnal traps, he straightway went to sleep 

 in the midst of all the small jungle people who 

 were calling for mates and new life, so that he 

 did not hear the click which was to warn him 

 that another little beast of fur had come un- 

 awares upon his death. But he heard, suddenly, 



