1 6 In Touch with Nature. 



the woods and so keep them all the yeare, or until 

 they have fit use for them." 



Seeing all these things, as I stood on that lonely 

 island, my companion was an Indian : so was I. 

 The whole country was, in very truth, a wilderness, 

 and the owner of this unearthed treasure might 

 well have rushed upon us out of the fast-gathering 

 darkness. A shadowy Indian stalked at my elbow 

 as we crossed over to the main shore ; he stood by 

 the flickering camp-fire while supper was prepared ; 

 nor left us in peace until the moon rose above the 

 mountain and flooded the valley with a searching, 

 silvery light. What volumes of history there may 

 be in a fragment of broken stone ! 



No mouldering potsherd from the dusty fields, 

 No battered axe but speaks of ancient glory ; 



No point of arrow that the way-side yields 

 But tells a winsome story. 



All night I dreamed of a dual existence : that 

 of a loafer and of a relic-hunter, the merits of which 

 battled for supremacy. A red-bird aroused me 

 before sunrise with the question still unanswered, 

 but not so torn by conflicting emotions but that I 

 remained still in touch with Nature. 



