A NIG1JT ALONE ON CEO CORN A. 77 
to 52°, and the moisture hurled against the 
mountain by the wind was condensed and sent 
boiling and seething up the sides of the peak. 
Tongues of fog lapped around me with the same 
spasmodic motion which flames display in rising 
from a plate of burning alcohol. At first they 
scarcely reached the peak; then they came to 
my feet, and swept past me around both sides 
of my platform; finally they flung themselves 
higher and higher, hiding not only the blapk 
valley from which they came, but Paugus and 
more distant peaks, the sky, the moon, and the 
glimmering stars. Suddenly from the fog-filled 
air came once more the gruesome sound which 
I had heard earlier in the night. Its cause was 
nearer to me now, and I felt sure that it was 
some creature of the air, and consequently no¬ 
thing which could cause me inconvenience. I 
strained my eyes to see the creature as it passed, 
but in vain, until in its flight it chanced to cross 
the face of the moon. Then the mystery was 
solved. I saw that it was either a night-hawk 
or a bird of similar size. The speed at which 
it was flying was wonderful. When it tacked 
or veered, it produced the extraordinary sounds 
which, with their echoes from the rocks, had so 
puzzled me at first. Once or twice during the 
night I had heard night-hawks squawking, and 
from this time on their harsh voices were heard 
