frequently seen traces, old and new, of deer, moose, bears and
smaller animals, but had seen none of the animals themselves save one
fine deer, and our sleep had been wholly undisturbed by prowlers; so we
sank to rest on Grand Island with no fears of invasion. At midnight the
occupant of the Kleiner Fritz was aroused by a scratching upon the side
of the canoe and low, whining howls. He partially arose, confused and
half asleep, in doubt as to the character of his disturber, which went
forward, climbed upon the deck and confronted him through the narrow
gable of his rubber roof with a pair of fiery eyes, which to his
startled imagination seemed like the blazing of a comet in duplicate.
The owner of the eyes was at arm's length, with nothing but a
mosquito-bar intervening. Then the eyes suddenly disappeared, and the
scratching and howling were renewed in a determined and partially
successful effort to get between the overlapping rubber blankets to the
captain of the Fritz. This movement was defeated by a quick grasp of
the edges of the blankets, and while the animal was snarling and pawing
at the shielded fist of his intended victim lusty shouts went out for
the camp to arouse and see what the enemy might be, as the Fritz was
unwilling to uncover to his unknown assailant. The Hattie's skipper,
hard by, saw that something unusual was on hand, peered out, and so
increased the uproar as to draw the adversary's attack. Then the Betsy
bore down upon us all just as the hungry and persistent beast was
crouching for a leap at the Hattie's jugular, the loud bang of a Parker
rifle rang out upon the stillness, and a fine, muscular lynx lay dead
at the Cincinnati Nimrod's feet. The animal's trail showed that he had
prowled around our bacon and hard tack in contempt, had inspected the
Betsy's commander as he lay on the sand in his blanket and under a huge
yellow mosquito-bar, but had evidently concluded that any man who could
snore as that man usually did was not a good subject for attack, and so
came on down the beach in search of blood less formidably defended. We
renewed our fire, examined our dead disturber, and turned in again to
sound sleep under the assuring suggestion of the Cincinnati man that,
whatever else the jungle might hide, two cannon-balls rarely enter the
same hole.

Our heavy and late slumber was broken by the laugh and chatter of two
Indian women and a child, who in a bark canoe a little way from shore
were regardi