136 THE AMATEUR TRAMP IN ENGLAND 



may still fall back upon it as a distraction. Even a 

 single good pedestrian stretch, when nothing better 

 is to be done, may act like enchantment on jaded 

 spirits. What we suppose you to be seeking is 

 temporary relief from the wearing strain of work or 

 society ; and then, if you are out of condition and 

 that, as we presume, may be taken for granted 

 the mere effort of keeping up conversation with a 

 companion may make all the difference between re- 

 freshment and the reverse. We would not insult you 

 by the suggestion that you cannot find entertainment 

 in your own thoughts, although there are people who 

 seem to shrink from their personal company, as if they 

 had a horror of having too much of a most undesirable 

 acquaintance. In reality, the natural thoughts that 

 come unforced ; the dreamy languor of mind that 

 listlessly disengages itself over trifles ; those simple 

 every-day sights and sounds that may strike you spell- 

 bound in sudden admiration ; the associations you 

 cannot take the trouble to trace, reviving the brightness 

 of boyish memories all these things in an interval of 

 sorely-needed repose, are among the most subtle forms 

 of intellectual indulgence. 



And as it happens, of the mighty cities of the 

 world there most assuredly is no better head -quarters 

 for the pedestrian than London. Among the European 

 capitals it stands almost unrivalled in that respect. 

 Near Paris, the charming coteaux on the Seine, with 

 the ornamental villas in their blooming little gardens, 

 strike you as distinctly suburban, when seen from 



