ery twenty-four hours, either dry-shod,
or at the most by wading. Even I, who had the tide going out and in
before me in the bay, and even watched for the ebbs, the better to get
my shell-fish--even I (I say), if I had sat down to think, instead of
raging at my fate, must have soon guessed the secret and got free. It
was no wonder the fishers had not understood me. The wonder was rather
that they had ever guessed my pitiful illusion, and taken the trouble to
come back. I had starved with cold and hunger on that island for close
upon one hundred hours. But for the fishers, I might have left my bones
there, in pure folly.

And even as it was, I had paid for it pretty dear, not only in past
sufferings, but in my present case; being clothed like a beggar-man,
scarce able to walk, and in great pain of my sore throat.

I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both; and I believe
they both get paid in the end; but the fools first.

FOOTNOTES:

[371-1] This selection is from _Kidnapped_, the story of a young man,
David Balfour by name, who, by the treachery of an uncle who has usurped
David's right to the family estate and fortune, is taken by force on
board a brig bound for the Carolinas in North America. In the Carolinas,
according to the compact made between David's uncle and the captain of
the brig, David is to be sold. He is saved from this fate by the sinking
of the brig. The selection as here given begins at the point where David
is washed from the deck into the sea. The Island of Earraid is a small,
unimportant island off the coast of Scotland.

[381-2] A coble is a small boat used in fishing.

ELEPHANT HUNTING

_By_ ROUALEYN GORDON CUMMING

NOTE.--Mr. Cumming, a native of Scotland, was always passionately
fond of hunting. Even in boyhood he devoted most of his time to
sports of the field, and showed a great fondness for all forms of
natural history.

For a time he served in the English army in India, and hunted the
big game of those regions. However, he was not satisfied with this,
and after a visit to Newfoundland, which was more disappointing to
him, he went to Africa and there spent five adventurous years
hunting and exploring.

Throughout this time he kept a journal of his exploits and
adventures, and it is from this journal that he wrote his _A
Hunter's Life Among Lions, Elephants and Other Wild Animals of
South Africa