near and dear, left the Bay in
the "Mariner;" all others considered their present home the safest; and
so it proved, for the dreadful scourge did not visit Green Bay that
season.

The weather was intensely hot, and the mosquitoes so thick that we did
not pretend to walk on the parade after sunset, unless armed with two
fans, or green branches to keep constantly in motion, in order to
disperse them. This, by the way, was the surest method of attracting
them. We had somehow forgotten the apathetic indifference which had
often excited our wonder in Old Smoker, as we had observed him calmly
sitting and allowing his naked arms and person to become literally
_gray_ with the tormenting insects. Then he would quietly wipe off a
handful, the blood following the movement of the hand over his skin, and
stoically wait for an occasion to repeat the movement. It is said that
the mosquito, if undisturbed until he has taken his fill, leaves a much
less inflamed bite than if brushed away in the midst of his feast.

By day, the air was at this season filled with what is called the Green
Bay fly, a species of dragon-fly, with which the outer walls of the
houses are at times so covered that their color is hardly
distinguishable. Their existence is very ephemeral, scarcely lasting
more than a day. Their dead bodies are seen adhering to the walls and
windows within, and they fall without in such numbers that after a high
wind has gathered them into rows along the sides of the quarters, one
may walk through them and toss them up with their feet like the dry
leaves in autumn.

As we walked across the parade, our attention was sometimes called to a
tapping upon the bars of the dungeon in which a criminal was
confined--it was the murderer of Lieutenant Foster.

It may be remembered that this amiable young officer had been our
travelling companion in our journey from Chicago the preceding year.
Some months after his arrival at Port Howard, he had occasion to order a
soldier of his company, named Doyle, into confinement for intoxication.
The man, a few days afterwards, prevailed on the sergeant of the guard
to escort him to Lieutenant Foster's quarters on the plea that he wished
to speak to him. He ascended the stairs to the young officer's room,
while the sergeant and another soldier remained at the foot, near the
door.

Doyle entered, and, addressing Lieutenant Foster, said, "Will you please
tell me, lieutenant, what I am confined for?"