ment. Suffice it to say, either the clay used by me had
not been of the proper consistency or this species of woodcock was not
adapted by nature for being cooked after this fashion. None of us--not
even Master E. Smith, in whom I had previously remarked an unfailing
appetite--cared to indulge in the dish. Indeed, it was not until I had
removed the unsightly and gruesome object--these are the only adjectives
that properly describe it--to a point considerably remote from our
camping place that I deemed myself to be sufficiently revived to join
the others in a frugal supper consisting of the remaining sandwiches and
a slice apiece of lemon-jelly cake.

The meal, simple though it was, progressed slowly by reason of the
frequent presence of ants in the viands--principally small black ants of
a lively disposition, though some large black ants were also observed.
Again, at the conclusion of the supper, my thoughts turned with intense
longing to tea.

It had been contemplated that the evening should be spent in a ring
about our camp fire, singing songs and glees and old familiar melodies;
but the oncoming of darkness dispelled in me all desire to uplift the
voice in melodious outpourings. The thickening of the shadows along the
turf, the spectral gleaming of the lake between the trunks of the
intervening trees, the multiplying of mysterious and disquieting night
noises, the realisation that we were isolated in the depths of the
forest--all these things had a dispiriting influence on my thoughts.

In addition, the mosquitoes proved exceedingly pernicious in their
activities and in their numbers as well. The cool of the evening
appeared but to give zest and alacrity to their onslaughts. Under their
attacks my companions bore up blithely--in sooth, I have naught but
admiration for the commendable fortitude displayed by those gallant
youths throughout--but I suffered greatly in various parts of my
anatomy, notably my face, neck, hands and knees.

In the absence of authoritative information on the subject I hesitate to
commit myself firmly to the definite assertion, but I feel warranted in
the assumption that there can be no mosquitoes in the Tyrol, else the
Tyrolese, albeit a hardy race, would assuredly have modified their
tribal dress in such a way so as to extend the stockings up higher or
the trousers down lower.

Even at the risk of destroying the historical verities, I now regretted
exceedingly that I had not of my own in