I fired off my revolver twice; the Wallack in the meantime
had lighted a bundle of resinous fir branches as a torch. He had
carefully arranged it before he slept; it is a capital thing, as it
gives a good light on an emergency.
After making an examination of the place all round, and finding nothing,
we made up a bright fire, and again laid ourselves down to rest. I had
my saddle for a pillow, and it was not half bad. Before giving myself
over to sleep I listened and listened again, but I heard nothing except
the hooting of the owls answering each other in the distance. The night
had grown very cold, and a heavy dew was falling, but notwithstanding
these discomforts I had another good nap.
Next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we were off early. Instead of
going uphill again to recover our former route, we followed the stream,
which gradually increased in size, and we came at last to a place where
a dam had been thrown across the valley with the object of floating the
wood cut in the forest. This small lake was very pretty; the water was
as clear as crystal. Farther on we came upon another dam of larger
dimensions; but though it had evidently been quite recently constructed,
there was no one about, and no signs of wood-cutting. Here we began to
ascend again, and about mid-day got to a place called La Durs, a
customhouse for cattle coming from Roumania; it is not absolutely on the
frontier, but very near it.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158