I5 8 UNDER THE TREES. 



tations of our old life, and among all the glad sur 

 prises that awaited us, there was none so joyful as 

 the discovery that our misgivings vanished as soon 

 as we began to know our neighbors. Neither of 

 us will ever forget the perfect joy of those earliest 

 meetings ; a joy so great that we wondered if it 

 could endure. There is nothing so satisfying as 

 quick comprehension of one s hopes, instant sym 

 pathy with them, absolute frankness of speech, and 

 the brilliant and stimulating play of mind upon 

 mind where there is complete unconsciousness of 

 self and complete absorption in the idea and the 

 hour. There was something almost intoxicating 

 in those first wonderful talks in Arden ; we seemed 

 suddenly not only to be perfectly understood by 

 others, but for the first time to understand our 

 selves ; the horizons of our mental world seemed 

 to be swiftly receding and new continents of truth 

 were lifted up into the clear light of consciousness. 

 All that was best in us was set free ; we were con 

 fident where we had been uncertain and doubtful ; 

 we were bold where we had been almost cowardly. 

 We spoke our deepest thought frankly ; we drew 

 from their hiding-places our noblest dreams of the 

 life we hoped to live and the things we hoped to 

 achieve ; we concealed nothing, reserved nothing, 

 evaded nothing ; we were desirous above all things 

 that others should know us as we knew ourselves. 

 It was especially restful and refreshing to speak of 

 our failures and weaknesses, of our struggles and 



