The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-03

| anu SlODplI6 III SiAoeiS hibHst ootiAS
 times so near my head that l distinctly
 heard the flutter of his wings. Remem
 bering school boy trick, l picked III
 a pebble and tossed 1t high into the air
 In an instant the bat was after it, mis-
 taking 1t for an insect no doubt, and as
 1t descended the creature followed 1t al.
 most to the ground, and then, turning
 abruptly, huttered rapidly upward
 again. But the bat mad rivals, for al l intervals I could hear from the direc-
 ton of the pasture across the lake the
 sharp nasal ''peent' of flying night hawk and from the wood behind me
 the emphatic notes of a whip r-will
 Presently, from the gloom above, there
 was another voice, the short, quick cry
 of night heron, on his way to the
 feeding grounds. "Quock-quock,
 he repeated at intervals of several sec
 onds and, looking upward as he passed
 over, l saw fortan instant his hurrying
 form, dimly outlined against the sky. For some time nothing new appeared,
 and the only sounds to be heard were
 those of the whip-poor- will and of an
 occasional beetle which swung, droning, past my head, or, striking my face, fell i buzzing to the ground. Suddenly heard splash from the other side of the lake, and a moment later a speck
 of silvery light could be seen near the
 farther bank. The speck soon became
 a lengthening line, which l knew to be the wake of a muskrat On he came,
 almost directly to the point where was sitting, and soon l could see his head ploughing through the smooth
 surface of the water. He did not see me until he was quite close, and then
 he sank. Tn moment he rose again little to the right, and started to swim
 back past me, watching me closely all the time. As he came nearly opposite, his nerve seemed to fail him, and he sank again, but came to the surface al most immediately, this time little to the left. He seemed to be filled with curiosity, and swam back and forth in front of me, and finally had courage enough to make one complete trip with out going below the surface Having perhaps satisfied himself that I was of no special interest, he went about his business. A little later he was joined by companion and I watched the two chasing each other and diving for half an hour or more. Then I arose and walked away. striking straight into the woods. I began to wonder what time 1t was, but, as I had forgotten to bring matches, my watch was useless. How ever, owing to an unexpected discove- ry, I soon had all the light needed. Just ahead there was pile of logs on Rpr at thnxr ayoYN fn "a on fire until I came near enough to see that there was neither smoke nor flame, and that the logs were decayed and highly phosphorescent. They were chiefly affected In long patches, and at the ends, and seemed to be aglow with fire. I cut off piece of the soft wood with my knife and carried it away, and several times throughout the night I found it useful when l wished to look at my watch or, examine any other small object. Once, for example, when crossing an open space in the wood some small creature moved rapidly be- fore me through the grass. stepped quickly forward, and, by the light of my luminous wood could see that it was Q toad. He hoped away with all his might, but when he found he was closely, began to squeak in a rather pathetic tone. Toads often squeak in this way when being swal- lowed by snakes I picked him up | gently, to look at his beautiful eyes, | black with a ring of powdered gold; | small wonder that 1t was said that eve | ry toad had a jewel in his head.
 Along the edge of the clearing, pale | flowers were blooming-eider blossoms md evening .primroses, and about the atter many night moths were hover ng. The flowers were wet with dew. md their odor filled the air about them. 1 stood still to listen. The only sounds 70 be heard were the chirping of sol tary cricket in the grass, and the pat ering of the dew upon the leaves. I heard the willing cry of an ,wl close to me, but the leaves were so nick that could not get a glimpse of i'm. The call was answered by an- ther far away, and the two birds con- inued to answer each other until 1 be- .an to walk away. As I crossed the fearing, a rabbit started up almost un- Ter my feet He had been so intent on lover that he had not noticed me until
 almost stepped on him. I must have tartled him badly, for I could hear him caring through the undergrowth for everal seconds, as though the dogs ,ere after him. h And so I wandered until daylight, ,atching and listening to such animals S could be found abroad, and though 1 admit that the results were measre { nough, any one interested in nature { ill find a night in the woods an expe- { fence well worth the necessary trouble ( nd the loss of sleep. IT
 ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES. {
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