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 subtle glue
leaped between them, and they would no more come separate. The wind
among the trees was my lullaby. Sometimes it sounded for minutes
together with a steady, even rush, not rising nor abating; and again it
would swell and burst like a great crashing breaker, and the trees would
patter me all over with big drops from the rain of the afternoon.
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