BULGER’S REP UTATION. 81

had congregated. But the stove was only
an excuse for our listless, gregarious gather-
ing; warmth and idleness went well together,
and it was currently accepted that we had
caught from the particular reptile which
gave its name t0 our camp much of its pa-
thetic, life-long search for Warmth, and its
habit of indolently basking in it.

A few of us still went through the affec-
tation of attempting to dry our damp clothes
by the stove, and sizzling our wet boots
against it; but as the same individuals calmly
permitted the rain to drive in upon them
through the open window without moving,
and seemed to take infinite delight in the
amount of steam they generated, even that
pretense dropped. Crotalus himself, with
his tail in a muddy ditch, and the su11 strik-
ing cold fire from his slit eyes as he basked
his head on a warm stone beside it, could
not have typified us better.

Percy Briggs took his pipe from his
mouth at last and said, with reflective sever-
ity:——

“Well, gentlemen, if we can’t get the
wagon road over here, and if we ’re going
to be left out by the stage-coach company,
we can at least straighten up the camp, and