1 70 A SPORTING PARADISE 



condition after the accident than they were 

 before. 



" I therefore struggled to my feet and ap- 

 proached cautiously a couch half covered by the 

 fallen screen, and, carefully lifting the corners, 

 looked beneath. 



" Oh ! horror of horrors ! A most dreadful 

 sight greeted me ! The face of a young woman 

 half devoured, and in a state of terrible decom- 

 position. The poor creature had doubtless been 

 seized with sudden illness and staggered to her 

 bed, where she had helplessly suffered and died. 

 It would appear from the half-prepared meal 

 that her attack had overtaken her while engaged 

 in an effort to make ready for her husband's 

 home-coming. 



" Leaving this chamber of horrors we hastened 

 to the neighbouring sheds, only to find the doors 

 barred and locked. A few heavy blows from a 

 hastily-procured club revealed to us a dead cow, 

 a hog, and a few fowls. The hog had evidently 

 been the last survivor, a half-eaten chicken, and 

 even rents in the cow's carcase testifying to his 

 last efforts to support life. Our position was 

 extremely painful. The ground was frozen too 

 hard to enable us to dig a grave. The only 



