122 THE JONATHAN PAPERS 



peculiar rattle of its board bottom as it 

 crosses the bridge by the mill? Is he not of 

 more value than many grosbeaks? But how 

 can we love our neighbor if we do not pay 

 some attention to him him and his horse 

 and his cart and all that is his? And how shall 

 we pay attention to him if we neglect the 

 opportunities of the Road, since for the rest 

 he is busy and we are busy, and we belong 

 each to our own farm? 



I stopped at a friendly door one day to ask, 

 &quot;Have Phil and Jimmy gone by? I wanted 

 to see them.&quot; 



&quot;No, I haven t seen them.&quot; The bright- 

 faced little lady stood in the doorway glanc 

 ing over my shoulder out toward the sunny 

 road. &quot; Have you seem them to-day, Nellie? &quot; 

 she called into the dusky sitting-room. &quot; No,&quot; 

 she turned back to me, &quot;we haven t seen 

 them. And,&quot; she added, with gay directness, 

 &quot;nobody could get by the house without our 

 seeing them; I m sure of that!&quot; 



Her remark pleased me immensely. I like 

 this frank interest in the Road very much. 

 When I am at home, I have it myself, and I 

 have stopped being ashamed of it. When I 



