HOW I BECAME AN IDLER 23 



idiosyncrasies, one of which was that the slightest 

 touch, or even vibration of the air, would cause it 

 to go off when on the cock he was just telling 

 me this, when off it went with a terrible bang and 

 sent a conical bullet into my left knee, an inch or 

 so beneath the knee-cap. The pain was not much, 

 the sensation resembling that caused by a smart 

 blow on the knee; but on attempting to get up I 

 fell back. I could not stand. Then the blood 

 began to flow in a thin but continuous stream 

 from the round symmetrical bore which seemed to 

 go straight into the bone of the joint, and nothing 

 that we could do would serve to stop it. Here 

 we were in a pretty fix ! Thirty-six miles from the 

 settlement, and with no conveyance that my friend 

 could think of except a cart at a house several 

 miles up the river, but on the wrong side! He, 

 however, in his anxiety to do something, imagined, 

 or hoped, that by some means the cart might be 

 got over the river, and so, after thoughtfully put- 

 ting a can of water by my side, he left me lying 

 on my saddle-rugs, and, after fastening the door 

 on the outside to prevent the intrusion of unwel- 

 come prowlers, he mounted his horse and rode 

 away. He had promised that, with or without 

 some wheeled thing, he would be back not long 

 after dark. But he did not return all night; he 

 had found a boat and boatman to transport him 

 to the other side only to learn that his plan was 

 impracticable, and then returning with the disap- 

 pointing tidings, found no boat to recross, and 



