RATTLERS 131 
The flies, too, and the yellow jackets, were insuffer- 
able. Altogether it was not long before we were in 
a condition of nervous and physical exhaustion bor- 
dering on hysteria. 
We had but one idea, to finish this desolate coun- 
try as soon as it was humanly possible to do so. 
Each morning we woke from uneasy sleep tired and 
listless. Our legs seemed lead, our feet fastened to 
the ground. As the day wore on we felt better and 
in consequence almost invariably overtaxed our 
strength before night so that we reached camp thor- 
oughly fatigued, too far gone sometimes to care 
even for food. 
We lost weight rapidly. Every face had a drawn, 
gaunt look, and our nerves were in shreds. Quar- 
rels were only avoided by limiting communication 
to an exchange of mere necessary civilities—them- 
selves none too civil. Night after night we dragged 
in, ate in sullen silence and went immediately to our 
tents, where we lay as quietly as might be until dark- 
ness drove the flies to their unholy rest and afforded 
us a chance to sleep. ; 
Horace, which surprised us not a little, seemed to 
be affected by the temperature and the work least 
of any one. Whether this was due to his naturally 
splendid constitution, given a chance to assert itself 
by Wallace’s regimen, or grew out of his recent 
determination to make good in his work, or whether 
it sprang from a fundamentally amiable disposition 
or was simple perversity no one could decide. The 
