nothing
that sounded strange. There was not a breath of air stirring, so that
the trees were still and silent, as if asleep. Only up among their
leaves and high tops, the tree-frogs (_Hyloidea_) and cicadas kept up
their continuous music. Amid their numerous and varied calls could be
distinguished the "ll-l-luk" of the tree-toad (_Hyla versicolor_); and
from the aquatic plants, that lined the spring close by, came the merry
chirrup of the _Hylodes gryllus_, or "Savanna cricket." Far up among
the leaves of the oaks the little green tree-frog repeated his tinkling
bell-like note that fell with a pleasant sound upon the ear. But all
these were the usual voices of the night--the voices of the southern
forest--and they produced no strange impression upon the listening
hunters. The call of the _Hyla_, indeed--loud and oft-repeated as it
was--warned them that a rain-storm was near; and the darkness of the sky
above confirmed the warning.

But it was not these sounds that had caused Marengo to spring up with
such a savage growl; and the boys continued attentively listening to
discover what it could have been.

The dark aisles of the forest sparkled with moving lights. The
fire-flies were abroad in thousands; and their phosphoric lamps, more
than usually luminous, also betokened the approach of a rain-storm.

As the young hunters gazed, other lights attracted their attention,
causing them to hold their guns in readiness. These lights were very
different from those of the insects. They were low down near the
surface of the ground. They were round, of a fiery green lustre, and
appeared in motion. Now they remained shining steadily for some
moments, then they disappeared, but immediately shone out afresh in some
other place. There were many of them moving about. They were not
fire-flies.

Our hunters knew what they were--they were the eyes of animals--of _wild
beasts_! This they knew, but no more. What sort of animals they might
be was a thing about which they were all three ignorant; and this
uncertainty very naturally filled them with dread. They might be
_bears, wolverines, or panthers_.

The boys talked in whispers, looking to the locks of their pieces, and
preparing themselves for the worst. They were, of course, already seen
by the animals, sitting as they did in the light of the fire. Marengo
stood by, looking into the darkness, and at intervals uttering the growl
with which he was accustomed to hail