Bell was extricated, and looked sufficiently ashamed.

'We are much obliged for the lesson,' said Margery, 'but the method
is open to criticism; so I think we'll manage in our ordinary savage
way. We may not be graceful or scientific, but we get in, which is
the main point.'

The hammocks did not prove the easiest of nests, as the girls had
imagined. In fact, to be perfectly candid about the matter, the
wicked flea of California, which man pursueth but seldom catcheth, is
apt, on many a summer night, to interfere shamelessly with slumber.
On this particular night he was fairly rampant, perhaps because sweet
humanity on which to feed was very scarce in that canyon.

'Good-night, girls!' called Jack, when matters seemed to be finally
settled for sleep. 'Bell, you must keep one eye open, for the
coyotes will be stealing down the mountain in a jiffy, and yours is
the first hammock in the path.'

'Of course,' moaned Bell,--'that's why the girls gave me this one;
they knew very well that one victim always slakes the animals' thirst
for blood. Well, let them come on. I shiver with terror, but my
only hope is that I may be eaten in my sleep, if at all.'


'There was a young party named Bell,
Who slept out of doors for a spell;
When asked how she fared,
She said she was scared,