HAMMOCK NIGHTS 203 
affairs as well as those of their neighbors. To 
say nothing of their environment and other 
matters. 
That my rope slipped was the direct result 
of my own inefficiency. The hammock protects 
one from the dangers of the outside world, but 
like any man-made structure, it shows evidences 
of those imperfections which are part and parcel 
of human nature, and serve, no doubt, to make 
it interesting. But one may at least strive for 
perfection by being careful. Therefore tie the 
ropes of your hammock yourself, or examine and 
test the job done for you. The master of ham- 
mocks makes a knot the name of which I do not 
know—I cannot so much as describe it. But 
I would like to twist it again—two quick turns, 
& push and a pull; then, the greater the strain 
put upon it, the greater its resistance. 
This trustworthiness commands respect and 
admiration, but it is in the morning that one 
feels the glow of real gratitude; for, in striking 
camp at dawn, one has but to give a single jerk 
and the rope is straightened out, without so much 
as a second’s delay. It is the tying, however, 
which must be well done—this I learned from 
bitter experience. 
