Cedar Keyi 



worse. I felt anxious for something sour, and 

 walked back to the village to buy lemons. 



Thus and here my long walk was interrupted. 

 I thought that a few days' sail would land me 

 among the famous flower-beds of Texas. But 

 the expected ship came and went while I was 

 helpless with fever. The very day after reach- 

 ing the sea I began to be weighed down by in- 

 exorable leaden numbness, which I resisted and 

 tried to shake off for three days, by bathing in 

 the Gulf, by dragging myself about among the 

 palms, plants, and strange shells of the shore, 

 and by doing a little mill work. I did not fear 

 any serious illness, for I never was sick before, 

 and was unwilling to pay attention to my feel- 

 ings. 



But yet heavier and more remorselessly 

 pressed the growing fever, rapidly gaining on 

 my strength. On the third day after my arrival 

 I could not take any nourishment, but craved 

 acid. Cedar Keys was only a mile or two dis- 

 tant, and I managed to walk there to buy 

 lemons. On returning, about the middle of the 

 [ 127] 



