We Soon
Found The Stream, And Following Its Course For A Few Yards, Came To
A Spot Which Was Thought To Be Fit For Our Purpose.
It was a
sharply cold night in February, and when I dismounted I found
myself standing upon some wet rank herbage that promised ill for
the comfort of our resting-place.
I had bad hopes of a fire, for
the pitchy darkness of the night was a great obstacle to any
successful search for fuel, and besides, the boughs of trees or
bushes would be so full of sap in this early spring, that they
would not be easily persuaded to burn. However, we were not likely
to submit to a dark and cold bivouac without an effort, and my
fellows groped forward through the darkness, till after advancing a
few paces they were happily stopped by a complete barrier of dead
prickly bushes. Before our swords could be drawn to reap this
welcome harvest it was found to our surprise that the fuel was
already hewn and strewed along the ground in a thick mass. A spot
for the fire was found with some difficulty, for the earth was
moist and the grass high and rank. At last there was a clicking of
flint and steel, and presently there stood out from darkness one of
the tawny faces of my muleteers, bent down to near the ground, and
suddenly lit up by the glowing of the spark which he courted with
careful breath.
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