THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
339 
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main and take care of us. Furguson proposed that I 
return with the guide if I felt that camp life would be 
a hardship to me, but with the remembrance of his 
midnight prophecy in my thoughts, I coolly told him 
that I delighted in camp life and should be the last one 
to think of giving it up. The air was delicious, and 
Aristarchus hung a hammock for me, and lying in that 
I spent much of the day in idle enjoyment and reveries. 
Aristarchus took me out on the lake for a boat ride, and 
into the woods for a walk. 
My chief amusement was furnished by Furguson, 
who was ambitious to be considered a good sportsman, 
and insisted on shooting at every live creature we dis¬ 
covered. There were plenty of wild ducks around the 
point, and on these he exercised his skill the greater 
part of the day, until they became so accustomed to his 
harmless shots that they did not even take the trouble 
fly away, but stood fire with exasperating indifference ! 
When we were in the woods he shot at a squirrel, but, 
although hardly more than rifle's length from the little 
creature, when the smoke cleared away, the squirrel was 
seen slowly walkingoff with his tail over his head, looking 
back at Furguson with evident contempt. I endeavored 
to keep his courage by telling him he could make as 
much smoke and as loud a bang as the best marksman 
in the mountains, and I was sure it was magnanimous 
of him to spare the lives of the innocent creatures. But 
Furguson insisted that when he found game worthy of 
him he should not be so magnanimous—we had better 
wait and see him bring in a deer—which he actually 
did before we broke came, and, backed by the testimony 
of the guide, asserted that he killed it himself. But Aris¬ 
tarchus afterwards learned that the two had first driven 
the deer into the lake, and then Dickson had held it by 
the tail while Furguson shot it! The second night of 
our stay I did not refuse to anoint with tar and oil to 
protect myself from the onslaught of the mosquitoes 
and flattered myself that I should be able to sleep. Every¬ 
thing around us had seemed so peaceful and delightful 
by day, that I felt heartily ashamed of the terrors I 
had suffered the previous night, and was sure I should 
never be so silly again. But no sooner had we retired 
for the night than all the real or fancied dangers of the 
wilderness again oppressed me; the forest, which had 
been so silent by day, became vocal with mysterious 
noises, and sleep refused to come to my relief. But I 
determined that'at least I would not disturb the slum¬ 
ber of others, and the long, lonely hours wore slowly 
away. An hour or two before dawn our tent was sud¬ 
denly illuminated, and my ears, ever on the alert, heard 
suspicious rustling and crackling sounds, while a strong 
smell, as of something burning, greeted my nostrils. 
Our tent was farthest from the fire, and I lay calmly 
awaiting further developments; not on any account 
would I disturb the slumbers of Furguson, and I actually 
smiled under cover of my blanket as I thought how 
good I was behaving! At last I heard Furguson’s 
voice calling out, “ See here, Dickson, we’re all on fire 
here! ” then followed a rush and a scramble, and Aris¬ 
tarchus was routed to help fight the fire, and I followed 
to view the ruins—I felt sure there must be some by this 
time! Furguson had not waked until the fire had caught 
his tent, and now he and Aristarchus were trying to 
tear it down, while Dickson was bringing water to 
quench the thirsty flames. I believe they managed to 
save a small piece of the canvas. It was not until day¬ 
light that we discovered the extent of our losses. It 
seems a breeze had arisen which fanned the fire into a 
blaze, soon spreading it among the dry leaves and pine 
needles covering the ground, until it reached an old log, 
which soon ignited. Against this log lay a bag of pota¬ 
toes, which roasted before any one was up to eat them; 
a bag of flour beside them shared the same fate, and an 
odor of roast onions still lingered around the spot. I 
felt a little queerly as it occurred:to me that we might 
at least have secured a bountiful breakfast if I had 
aroused the campers instead of adhering to my resolu¬ 
tion to let them sleep. Near the log was a large stump 
which was still burning; on and around it had been 
piled the tin plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons. 
The plates were blistered and blackened, and in one of 
them lay a small nugget of pewter, which was all we 
ever found of the spoons. The handles of the knives 
and forks were burned off. A tin pail of butter had 
the cover soldered on so that it had to be chopped open 
with an ax. Above the burning stump, hanging from 
the limb of a tree, was another tin pail, which had held 
the batter for the slap-jacks; the bottom of this pail had 
melted off and the remains of the batter were still drip¬ 
ping from the ragged edges of the pail into the fire 
below. 
“ Bather a dry prospect for breakfast,” said the guide, 
as he went for the fishing tackle with a view to replen¬ 
ishing our larder. 
Fortunately the fire had not reached the coffee, sugar 
and condensed milk, and by the time the guide returned 
we were too hungry to complain of a breakfast of 
crackers, fried fish and coffee. Nevertheless it was not 
particularly agreeable to have to return to the primitive 
mode of eating in the absence of knives and forks, and 
it was decided that Dickson should go back to Bartlett’s 
for a fresh supply of utensils and provisions. But as he 
could not get back before the next day, and, as Furgu¬ 
son’s rifle was considered harmless, he decided to go out 
hunting first in order that we might not starve during 
his absence. Furguson accompanied him, while Aris¬ 
tarchus and I took the boat and went out fis hin g. Aris¬ 
tarchus caught one little fish about three inches long, 
and I caught an empty tin can and two great snags or 
roots, and we thought that was as much of the kind as 
we should relish for dinner, and returned to camp just 
in time to see Furguson and the guide bring in the 
afore-mentioned deer. As the venison would give us 
plenty of food, the guide now prepared to start for 
Bartlett’s. 
The loss of two nights’ sleep and the fright and terror 
I had experienced had given me a terrible headache, 
and I looked so worn and haggard that Furguson again 
suggested that here was an opportunity for me to re¬ 
turn to Bartlett’s if I was tired of the camp. Of course 
I could not see the slightest reason why I should go! 
That night Furguson wrapped himself in a blanket 
and disposed himself in the hammock which he hung 
near the fire, although I warned him that he might be 
served up as a roast before morning! I was so worn 
out that I fell asleep early that night, but was awakened 
not long after midnight by a loud clap of thunder; then 
the rain began to fall heavily on the canvas, and then 
there came a terrible gust of wind that wrenched the 
tent from its fastenings, and it disappeared in the di¬ 
rection of the lake just as Furguson’s voice was heard 
above the roar of wind and thunder calling out> 
