A LIFE'S MYSTERY. 125 



filled with ' tommy ' (short moiintaiii grass), 

 were put on drippmg over a pau' of stockings, 

 which had been carefully dried before the 

 camp fire durmg the niglit. I think it was a 

 kind of superstition with us ; for whatever else 

 we neglected, we rarely if ever failed to keep 

 a pair of dry stockings handy, although we 

 invariably had them soaking wet ten minutes 

 after we put them on, and kept them so all 

 day. 



One of life's mysteries to me is, why 

 should damp feet in England invariably bring 

 upon me colds, rheumatism, and all the ills 

 that flesh is heir to, while in the Caucasus I 

 never went dry shod, waded a dozen times a 

 day nearly waist deep through streams of ice- 

 water fresh from its parent glacier, slept even 

 in wet things, and yet never suffered from 

 any ill effect. Amongst the peasants, too, 

 and hunters, none ever wear any other foot 

 covering than the sandal, are everlastingly 



