A NIGHT ALONE ON CHOCORUA . 
69 
zigzag path to the cave, a junco flew past me in 
the gloom and chirped inquiringly. A drop or 
two of rain fell. Thunder roared in the south¬ 
west as well as in the north. The mountains 
had lost the wonderful d&rk violet shade which 
they possessed before the light faded, and were 
now almost black, those nearest being darkest. 
As I reached the mouth of the cave, an uncom¬ 
fortable thought intruded itself upon my mind, 
— was it possible that bears used the cave? I 
peered in. The place was empty now, at all 
events. Pushing in my oilskin coat, jersey, 
knapsack with lunch, lantern, and star-atlas, I 
slid in after them. At the deepest part of the 
depression in the ledge, the space between the 
rock below and the rock above is thirty inches. 
I could not sit up straight, but I could recline 
comfortably at various angles. Lighting my 
lantern, I unpacked my bag and furnished my 
lodgings. A watch, match-box, foot rule, ther¬ 
mometer, pencil, a mirror for signaling, com¬ 
pass, hunting-knife, bird whistles, supper, 
breakfast, and dry underclothing made the cave 
seem quite homelike. The dry clothing at¬ 
tracted me, for I was wet with perspiration, 
and my thermometer reminded me that I felt 
chilly. I listened. Was it raining? No. 
Taking my lantern, supper, and dry clothes, I 
wriggled to the entrance and regained the air. 
