68 BOULDER REVERIES. 



I started alone, and alone I wished to be, alone 

 with my thoughts and the denizens of the woods. 



Alas, however, I had a follower, and I could 

 not well forbid his company. I knew that when 

 the delegates to the appointed meeting saw him 

 they would fail to appear, for heretofore they 

 have met me alone. Two, unto them, is a crowd 

 of which they are suspicious. It is over-awing 

 in numbers. With one alone will they enter 

 into communion. For that reason my account 

 of their sayings and doings this day is brief. 

 From the far distance only did any of them 

 make known its presence. At long intervals one 

 would signal to me that it was ready to meet me 

 alone, but that it would not come closer while I 

 had a companion. 



After a time of useless waiting I rested my 

 head on the boulder, let the breezes fan freely 

 my brow, and slept. Occasionally I heard in 

 my dreams a crow or a jay bewailing in harsh 

 tones the fact that the appointed service could 

 not be held. Occasionally I felt, or dreamed 

 that I felt, a large black ant run over my face or 

 down my neck. Finally I awakened with a 



