HOMES NEAR TO NATURE 



95 



THE RUSTIC STAIRWAY IN THE CABIN. 



Only now and then one, but if you get 

 only one, yon are doing great good. 

 It is delightful. You cannot explain 

 it. You've got to feel it, as the Meth- 

 odists say." 



And then I interrupted ; the worst 

 of it is you are sometimes, perhaps 

 many times, misunderstood by the 

 professional naturalist. Did you un- 

 derstand this when you w-ere in busi- 

 ness ? 



"No it all came to me later, when I 

 forgot the store and let myself loose 

 in the woods." 



Now do not mention this, will you, 

 Mr. Hoyt? Some of our "best" natur- 

 alists and scientists are still in the 

 store — classifying, arranging, collect- 

 ing, dusting, packing canning, talking, 

 haggling over details, selling, walking 

 around and around their own coun- 

 ters, keeping their own books and — 



Mr. Hoyt interrupted. He slapped 

 me on the knee. 



"Say, are you talking to me abotT 

 my store or — ( )h, I understand ! Ye; . 



perhaps there are others. I did not 

 get to nature through the 'store' inter- 

 ests. And perhaps some of your cus- 

 tomers do not understand you when 

 you are in the store and they are in the 

 woods, or when they are in the store 

 and you are in the woods. But it isn't 

 only the city man wdio misunder- 

 stands? The city man can get to 

 nature as easily as the countryman." 



How often do you get out to the 

 woods? 



"Every day. All weathers are good ; 

 it is just the same in winter as in sum- 

 mer; always good and beautiful. 

 What you do not see at one time, you 

 will at another. Nothing more beau- 

 tiful than icicles, snow and frost. All 

 outdoors is a continuous panorama at 

 all times." 



Do you keep a record of your obser- 

 vations and make collections r 



"Not a bit. I couldn't take time to 

 read the records or examine the collec- 

 tions. Every day has enough of new 

 things. The book is too large and too 



