e it. One of the lads produced from his pocket a
small knife; but, suspecting from the appearance of the blade the
presence of lurking bacteria, I used the axe. This gave the slices a
somewhat uneven and ragged appearance.

Affixing a suitable fragment of the meat on a forked stick, I fell to
broiling it. The smoke from the fire proved most annoying. No matter in
what position one placed oneself, or where one stood, this smoke invaded
one's nostrils and eyes, causing choking and smarting sensations. Then,
too, in the early stages of my cooking operations a caterpillar fell
from a bough overhead down the back of my neck.

I was taken quite unaware, I do assure you. I have ever entertained a
distaste, amounting to aversion, for caterpillars, both in an active
living state and when they have been crushed beneath the careless foot.
With me this attained to a deep-rooted antipathy. Even at the sight of
one progressing on a limb or leaf, by wrinkling up its back, I can with
difficulty repress a visible shudder. How much greater the shock, then,
to feel it descending one's spinal column?

I uttered a short, involuntary outcry and, stepping backward, I
encountered some slippery object and was instantly precipitated with
jarring force to the earth. It appeared that I had set my foot on the
strip of bacon, which inadvertently I had left lying on the ground
directly in my rear. An unsightly smear of grease on the reverse breadth
of my blue knickerbockers was the consequence. I endeavoured, though, to
pass off the incident with a pleasant smile, saying merely:

"Accidents will happen in the best-regulated families, will they not?
Oh, yes, indeed!"

The first strip of bacon having fallen in the fire and been utterly
destroyed, I prepared another; and, as Master Pope volunteered to stand
vigilantly on guard behind me and prevent other caterpillars from
descending on me, I resumed my task. Nevertheless, Master Pope's
ministrations proved of small avail. During the course of the next few
minutes no less than six separate and distinct caterpillars, besides a
small black beetle or cockchafer of a most repellent aspect, fell down
my back.

Once, turning my head suddenly, I found Master Pope holding a
caterpillar extended between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand
almost directly above the nape of my neck. He explained that he had
plucked it out of midair as it was in the act of dropping from the
leafage above. I admired his