62 A Hunt for the Pyxie 



the wilderness was overfull. Bewildering 

 multitudes are more to be feared than possi- 

 ble dangers. There is no escape from the 

 former. Not a tree or bush, not a bird or 

 blossom, but to-day offered excellent reason 

 why with them we should spend our time ; 

 and how often they all spoke at once ! 



Except the ceaseless rattle of small frogs, 

 there was no sound, for that sad sighing of the 

 tall pines seems but the rhythmic breathing 

 of silence ; or, passing from the wet grounds 

 to the higher, drier, and more barren trafts, 

 we heard only the crisp crackling of the 

 reindeer-moss we crushed at every step. 

 Although 



" It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, 

 And that craves wary walking," 



we gave no thought to possible danger, — for 

 rattlesnakes are still to be found. Not even 

 when we stooped to pick the bright berries 

 of winter-green did we think of a coiled ser- 

 pent buried in dead leaves ; and what oppor- 

 tunity for murder the serpent had as we 

 buried our faces in pillows of pink and pearly 

 arbutus ! 



At last we reached South River (in South- 



