I followed along the black sandy road which 

 goes to the Light until close to the old Zane's 

 Place, — the last farm-house of the uplands, ^ when 

 I turned off into the marsh toward the river. 

 The mosquitos rose from the damp grass at 

 every step, swarming up around me in a cloud, 

 and streaming off behind like a comet's tail, 

 which hummed instead of glowed. I was the 

 only male among them. It was a cloud of fe- 

 males, the nymphs of the salt-marsh ; and all 

 through that day the singing, stinging, smother- 

 ing swarm danced about me, rested upon me, 

 covered me whenever I paused, so that my 

 black leggings turned instantly to a mosquito 

 brown, and all my dress seemed dyed alike. 



Only I did not pause — not often, nor long. 

 The sun came up blisteringly hot, yet on I 

 walked, and wore my coat, my hands deep down 

 in the pockets and my head in a handkerchief. 

 At noon I was still walking, and kept on walk- 

 ing till I reached the bay shore, when a breeze 

 came up, and drove the singing, stinging fairies 

 back into the grass, and saved me. 



I left the road at a point where a low bank 

 started across the marsh like a long protecting 

 [48] 



