THE SECOND NIGHT. 33 



I had almost forgotten that there was such 

 an animal in existence. I made certain of 

 its being- either a leopard or a bear, and 

 dreamt not of danger. The only gun I 

 happened to have at home, was an old 

 double one, the right barrel of which had 

 burst and was totally useless. This, how- 

 ever, on a dark night, when no aim could be 

 taken, was just as good as a rifle ; to make 

 more certain, I put two bullets in the 

 serviceable barrel, and just before dusk, with 

 a young lad I was teaching to stuff birds, 

 crept into the nest. 



" It soon began to grow dark, and being 

 again cloudy, it became so pitch dark, when 

 night fairly set in, that I could neither see 

 the skeleton of the old buffalo, nor even the 

 trunk of the nearest tree. This was a 

 dUemma, but fancying that when the animal 

 came, being so near, I might be guided by 

 the glare of its eyes, or perceive it by its 

 moving sufficiently, to chance a shot, I 

 determined to wait. For nearly an hour I 

 waited patiently, but no sound announced 



