we saw that stiff couple with the sedate black dogs we lately encountered horridly on the island coming north as we came south and felt furtive even though we already intended ducking into the chain linked no-man's land to picture the cold-slowed insects waiting for warmth and the stiff couple stiffly conferred and went around the foot of spider bridge to give us a wide circumspect and continue north with the their same funereal pace resumed and i climbed up this limestone block to watch their backs get smaller.