94 



TIIK CI' IDE TO NATURE 



h" he had known it. like thousands oi 

 others who have carried a bit oi the 

 city into the country and have thought 

 they were really within touching dis- 

 tance of nature, Mr. Hoyt had more 

 cause for alarm than Thoreau, because 

 he had not as yel come to understand 

 and appreciate the inner life and the 

 inspiration that come from nature, and 

 for which a few of us plead, and for 

 which we arc so unkindly misunder- 

 stood by thousands who wag the head 

 at us and pass by on the other side. 



More than ten years ago I photo- 

 graphed his cabin, merely as an act of 

 friendly courtesy, and never made 

 mention of it in any form because he, 

 like so many others, had not gone to 

 nature only because he had built a 

 cabin in the woods. 



But within the past few years, nature 

 "understanding and intimacy" have 

 come and are coming in joyous, inspir- 

 ing, enthusiastic measure. 



The reader is aware that the writer 

 has known many great naturalists, and 

 for that reason my remark should have 

 some weight when 1 say that not one 

 of them had a more genuine love for 

 nature than has Mr. Hoyt. He will 

 object to my saying this, and 1 do not 

 say it to exploit him, hut to hold out 

 hope to you, ( ), business man, in activ- 

 ity or retirement, that you mav yet to 



nature — YOURSELF, not merely your 

 bungalow, your cabin, your money or 

 yi »ur acres. 



Mow do yOU get there. Mr. Iloyt? 



I inquired. 



"Break away; but if you do that, 

 you've got to try and to try hard. 

 There is so much to see, so much that 

 is good, that life isn't long enough to 

 look around and see it all. There are 

 no two days alike. The woods and 

 fields and flowers are different every 

 day. There is more inspiration there 

 than the man who seeks only wealth 

 can ever find. Cet a big lot of wealth, 

 get many things to care for, and then 

 there is trouble. I do not want to go 

 to the big gatherings. I go away from 

 them to the woods. Only one thing I 

 regret — it seems so selfish ; I get so 

 much of nature's wealth, and so many 

 other people get so little. I try to tell 

 them, hut they are deaf, and I give it 

 up. It takes a long time to know much 

 of nature. It is difficult to tell people 

 how to do it. Do you know how, with 

 all your experience? Xo, don't an- 

 swer; I know you don't. Nobody 

 told me how, and if he had I could not 

 have done it on his plan. I sought it 

 alone and nature revealed herself to 

 me. It is painful to see the indiffer- 

 ence of others. But 1 shall continue 

 to observe whether thev do or do not. 



CROSSING THE RIVER BY A WIRE BRIDGE. 

 The river is in the ravine back of the country home — between that and the cabin. 



