The picket upon duty is a prey to many an imaginary danger.  The rustling of a leaf, the crackling of a twig, the flitting shadows of the ever-changing clouds, are made to assume the guise of a foe, endeavoring to steal upon him unawares.  Again and again Teddy was certain he heard the stealthy tread of the strange hunter, or some prowling Indian, and his heart throbbed violently at the expected encounter.  Then, as the sound ceased, a sense of his utter loneliness came over him, and he pined for his old home in the States, which he had so lately left.

A tremulous wail, which came faintly through the silence of the boundless woods, reminded him that there were other inhabitants of the solitude besides human beings.  At such times, he drew nearer to the fire, as a child would draw near to a friend to shun an imaginary danger.

But, finally the drowsy god asserted himself, and the watcher passed off into a deep slumber.  His last recollection was a dim consciousness of hearing the tread of something near the camp-fire.  But his stupor was so great that he had not the inclination to arouse himself, and with his face buried in the leaves of his bushy couch, he quickly lost cognizance of all things, and floated off into the illimitable realms of sleep—­Sleep, the sister of Death.

He came out of his heavy slumber from feeling something snuffing and clawing at his shoulder.  He was wide awake at once, and all his faculties, even to his anger, were aroused.

“Git out, ye owld sarpent!” he shouted, springing to his feet.  “Git out, or I’ll smash yer head the same as I smashed the assassin’s, barring I didn’t do it!”

The affrighted animal leaped back several yards, as lightly as a shadow.  Teddy caught only a glimpse of the beast, but could plainly detect the phosphorescent glitter of his angry eyes, that watched every movement.  The Irishman’s first proceeding was to replenish the fire.  This kept the creature at a safe distance, although he began trotting around and around, as if to seek some unguarded loophole through which to compass the destruction of the man who had thus invaded his dominions.

The tread of the animal resembled the rattling of raindrops upon the leaves, while its silence, its gliding motion, convinced the inexperienced Irishman of the brute’s exceedingly dangerous character.  His rifle was too much injured to be of use and he could therefore only keep his precocious foe at a safe distance by piling on fuel until the camp-fire burned defiantly.

There was no more sleep for Teddy that night.  He had received too great a shock, and the impending danger was too imminent for him to do any thing but watch, so long as darkness and the animal remained.  Several times he thought there was evidence of the presence of another beast, but he failed to discover it, and finally believed he had been mistaken.