as boisterous. How, in this well-wooded district, I should
have been so long in finding one, is another of the insoluble mysteries
of this day's adventures; but I will take my oath that I put near an
hour to the discovery.

At last black trees began to show upon my left, and, suddenly crossing
the road, made a cave of unmitigated blackness right in front. I call it
a cave without exaggeration; to pass below that arch of leaves was like
entering a dungeon. I felt about until my hand encountered a stout
branch, and to this I tied Modestine, a haggard, drenched, desponding
donkey. Then I lowered my pack, laid it along the wall on the margin of
the road, and unbuckled the straps. I knew well enough where the lantern
was, but where were the candles? I groped and groped among the tumbled
articles, and, while I was thus groping, suddenly I touched the
spirit-lamp. Salvation! This would serve my turn as well. The wind
roared unwearyingly among the trees; I could hear the boughs tossing and
the leaves churning through half a mile of forest; yet the scene of my
encampment was not only as black as the pit, but admirably sheltered. At
the second match the wick caught flame. The light was both livid and
shifting; but it cut me off from the universe, and doubled the darkness
of the surrounding night.

I tied Modestine more conveniently for herself, and broke up half the
black bread for her supper, reserving the other half against the
morning. Then I gathered what I should want within reach, took off my
wet boots and gaiters, which I wrapped in my waterproof, arranged my
knapsack for a pillow under the flap of my sleeping-bag, insinuated my
limbs into the interior, and buckled myself in like a _bambino_. I
opened a tin of Bologna sausage, and broke a cake of chocolate, and that
was all I had to eat. It may sound offensive, but I ate them together,
bite by bite, by way of bread and meat. All I had to wash down this
revolting mixture was neat brandy: a revolting beverage in itself. But
I was rare and hungry; ate well, and smoked one of the best cigarettes
in my experience. Then I put a stone in my straw hat, pulled the flap of
my fur cap over my neck and eyes, put my revolver ready to my hand, and
snuggled well down among the sheepskins.

I questioned at first if I were sleepy, for I felt my heart beating
faster than usual, as if with an agreeable excitement to which my mind
remained a stranger. But as soon as my eyelids touched, that