134 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



scene of civil murder was still with 

 him. Its song kept his thoughts single 

 and led him toward green fields, that 

 their breath might leaven lifeless 

 things, strengthening the heart that 

 felt a world-weariness, as all must feel 

 at times when facing human limita- 

 tions. 



Love came, and home; then, follow- 

 ing hand in hand, honour and dis- 

 appointment; and again, with double 

 purpose, he turned Natureward. Not 

 to the goatish Pan, but to Nature's 

 motherhood, to find a shrine upon her 

 breast where he might keep his holiest 

 thoughts, and watch them grow. A 

 place apart, where the complete man 

 might be at rest, and walking in the 

 cool of day feel the peace of God. 



At first the garden was a formless 

 bit of waste, but Nature tangles things 



