A BOOK OF THE SNIPE 



INTRODUCTORY. 



If the amusements of men are as varied as 

 their trades, they are often as exacting, and 

 seldom so well managed. To replace one 

 frown by another is commonly all that a holi- 

 day does for far too many people nowadays. 

 Something of the bitter competition as well 

 as the hurry of business seems to have in- 

 vaded the sacred hours of idleness ; the last 

 of the Lotophagi will soon have vanished 

 from our midst. Though we have more leisure 

 than we used to have, though we spend more 

 money, and generally cherish ourselves more, 

 nevertheless we seem sadder folk. Anxious 

 brows and weary eyes grow more common in 



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