better of my
fears. I was awoke by a heavy breathing, a noise something like sawing
under the floor, and a pushing and upheaving, all very loud. My candle
was all burned, and, in truth, I dared not stir. The noise went on for
an hour fully, when, just as I thought the floor had been made
sufficiently thin for all purposes of ingress, the sounds abruptly
ceased, and I fell asleep again. My hair was not, as it ought to have
been, white in the morning!

I was dressed by seven, our breakfast hour, and when I reached the
great cabin and told my story, Evans laughed hilariously, and Edwards
contorted his face dismally. They told me that there was a skunk's
lair under my cabin, and that they dare not make any attempt to
dislodge him for fear of rendering the cabin untenable. They have
tried to trap him since, but without success, and each night the noisy
performance is repeated. I think he is sharpening his claws on the
under side of my floor, as the grizzlies sharpen theirs upon the trees.
The odor with which this creature, truly named Mephitis, can overpower
its assailants is truly AWFUL. We were driven out of the cabin for
some hours merely by the passage of one across the corral. The bravest
man is a coward in its neighborhood. Dogs rub their noses on the
ground till they bleed when they have touched the fluid, and even die
of the vomiting produced by the effluvia. The odor can be smelt a mile
off. If clothes are touched by the fluid they must be destroyed. At
present its fur is very valuable. Several have been killed since I
came. A shot well aimed at the spine secures one safely, and an
experienced dog can kill one by leaping upon it suddenly without being
exposed to danger. It is a beautiful beast, about the size and length
of a fox, with long thick black or dark-brown fur, and two white
streaks from the head to the long bushy tail. The claws of its
fore-feet are long and polished. Yesterday one was seen rushing from
the dairy and was shot. "Plunk," the big dog, touched it and has to be
driven into exile. The body was valiantly removed by a man with a long
fork, and carried to a running stream, but we are nearly choked with
the odor from the spot where it fell. I hope that my skunk will enjoy
a quiet spirit so long as we are near neighbors.

October 3.

This is surely one of the most entrancing spots on earth. Oh, that I
could paint with pen or brush! From my bed I look on Mirror Lake, and
wit