198 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 
stood Piscator, with a wild look of endurance, earnestly 
fighting away at his invisible torturers with a leafy bough 
which he had plucked; his warm face glowed again with 
the malignant ardor of their stings, and he stopped at 
intervals in the fierce battle to rub his goaded limbs, and 
fairly danced in the restless shifting of his feet. Suffering 
as I was, or rather, had been, I could not help laughing at 
the comical sight. But he did not regard me, and coolly 
proceeded to stuff the legs of his pants down his boot-tops, 
‘to protect himself from their assaults in that quarter; and 
then turning up his coat collar, tied his handkerchief about 
his ears, and soon, with recovered equinimaty, came smiling 
to his seat in the boat, while the bough played yet faster 
about his face. I could but wonder at the man. I watched 
him in utter amaze; puzzled whether most to admire the 
thickness of his skin or the immovability of his temper. 
As soon as the boat was in motion they left us, for they 
were drifted behind on air-currents in our wake. 
We were soon at the wider mash meadows, which indicated 
our approach to the outlet of Elm Lake, and here was the 
ground where the night hunt was to commence. Darkness 
had not not yet settled down, and until it came our lights 
would be of no avail; so the oars were hid, and the boat 
run through the mash to shore, and there we were to stand 
until it became dark enough to light the candles! 
We stood underneath the bordering pines, and as soon 
as we became stationary—heavens and earth! the dusky air 
thickened with the black and venomoys swarms of mosquitos, 
flies and gnats, and the hungry diapason of their blistering 
music was fairly roared into our ears! No herd of famished 
wolves was ever so desperately ravenous as this fierce multi- 
tude seemed to be—for as I was fully protected by my veil, 
T could afford to be philosophical in my observations on the 
suffering of the two outside unfortunates. 
George was very loquacious, and having provided himself 
