motes of tbe IFUgbt 



action to argument. Bill, of course, had been, or 

 fancied he had been, badly used, but what good 

 could come of expressing sympathy ? I kept my 

 face turned away, for the moonlight was growing 

 brighter and the river more sparkling, hoping he 

 would soon be talked out. No one heeds the whim- 

 pering of the under-dog, and I hinted at this, but he 

 was not to be diverted from his chance to growl. 



Not seeing, or pretending not to see, what I 

 wished, he continued: " You 're right, it 's my own 

 business, but I can't always keep quiet. Let us 

 take a look at what 's about us and maybe you 

 can learn something, just as I 've done by bein' 

 alone here. Talkin' to your own self is only bein' 

 in bad company, when you 've got yourself to 

 blame. If you 're square with yourself, sometimes 

 it 's talkin' worth hearin'. The river and these 

 trees and bushes don't hint at things, as you done 

 just now, and leave you wonderin'. They speak 

 out, and it 's your own fault if you don't under- 

 stand 'em." 



"What have you learned," I asked incredu- 

 lously, " by being here alone, that 's worth know- 

 ing?" 



" I 've learned nothin' but what 's worth know- 

 in'. There 's more out o' books than in 'em, as 

 there 's more in the ground than out of it. If 

 what you get by keepin' eyes and ears open is n't 

 trimmed down and spruced up to suit your town 

 folks, you know it 's the genuine article, and you Ve 

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