HARTMAN WHISTLES A POPULAR AIR. 
175 
fields and pasture-grounds. Whenever we evinced a dis- 
position to ascend the bushy sides of the neighbouring 
hills, they became greatly alarmed, caught hold of our 
clothes, threw themselves in our paths, and made signs 
to us that our throats would be certainly cut and we 
roasted for supper by bad men who Avere very strong and 
fierce and who wore large rings in their ears. We did 
not know what to make of all this at first; but Hartman, 
who had Avandered oS by himself in search of snipe, 
rejoined us shortly before dark, and opened our eyes. 
“Having unconsciously wandered over the low land 
and ascended a neighbouring elevation, he had seated 
himself upon a fragment of rock, and was admiring the 
view wdiich opened before him, AA^hen his ear suddenly 
caught a sound as of some animal making its way cau- 
tiously through the bushes. He turned quickly, and saw 
a party of three, whom he had no difficulty in recog- 
nising as ^bad men who A^^ore large rings in their ears.' 
“Here Avas a fix for our innocent sportsman: he must 
either retire with an imaginary tail between his legs, or 
face boldly the unlooked-for danger. Fortunately, he 
was a man of nerve, and was moreover anned Avith a 
shot-gun, bowie-knife, and revolver. Choosing, therefore, 
the latter alternative, he arose with a great air of non- 
she-lan-cy, (as I once heard the word pronounced by an 
American who had been to Paris,) and advanced to the 
nearest, a tall, fine-looking fellow, who rested upon his 
bow and fixed his gaze curiously upon him.* Hartman 
says that he Avhistled with considerable success portions of 
a popular air as he thus went, as it were, into the lion’s 
mouth, but never before felt such a longing to be safely on 
