ii2 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



In the exceptional cases where they did, it only 

 happened once. 



I trust my claim to such ancient lineage may 

 not be put down to snobbery. One always 

 suspects those who dwell unduly on the deeds 

 of their ancestors. But my justification is 

 this : — a germ charged with an epitome of that 

 creature's stormy life has come down to me 

 through the generations. It remained dormant 

 until it met in my brain some solvent which 

 disintegrated its shell and thus set the sleeper 

 free. Garrulous after its long imprisonment 

 the germ has told the story over and over again 

 to all the grey molecules of my cortex. For 

 some time most of these have known it off by 

 heart. 



Accordingly this ancestor — or perhaps for 

 the sake of convenience I might term him my 

 (many times removed) uncle — and I have been 

 for some time shouting to each other across 

 the ages, until we have attained to almost an 

 intimacy. I have, in fact, by this means, ac- 

 quired many prehistoric forms of thought. 

 As may be imagined this has somewhat con- 

 fused my ethical canons. Much of what I have 

 learnt is difficult to translate into terms of 

 modern speech. 



I often long with all my soul to be prehis- 



