THE TWIN ISLANDS. 157 



and ornamented with rows of what had been shining, 

 brass-headed tacks. I attempted to raise the lid, but the 

 hinges were gone, and it slid back in an accommodating 

 manner. The trunk was full of books ! A slender 

 thread of light kindly illumined the spot as I slowly 

 deciphered the title-pages. Nine in every ten were 

 Bibles or fragments of Bibles ; but nearly at the bottom 

 of the trunk was an uninjured copy of La Hontan's 

 " Travels in America." 



Had I been in the woods, I should have danced ; had 

 I been in a solitude, have shouted ; but in a beseeming 

 manner, I demurely walked down-stairs with my coat, 

 umbrella, bed-curtains, and books. I offered payment, 

 which was declined, and taking my neighbor's ridicule 

 in good part, passed on with my antiquated burden. 



How apt we are, when once a locality is associated 

 with some unusual incident, to continue to half expect 

 a repetition of it whenever we draw near. As I ap- 

 proached a pond-like expansion of a meadow brook, I 

 found myself taking shorter and more cautious steps, as 

 though it were probable that another Florida gallinule 

 would be seen when I reached the bank of the weedy 

 stream. I saw one here more than twenty years ago. 



This bird is one of a considerable list that has almost 

 wholly forsaken the Crosswicks meadows. The bird 

 was new to me then, and with what unbounded delight 

 I gazed upon it. I could have sat all day and watched 

 it. Luckily, I was not seen, and crouching in the tall 

 grass, where I could command a good view, I sat as 

 nearly motionless as possible. The gallinule was wading 



