126 THE JONATHAN PAPERS 



two-year-olds, and wabbly-legged youngsters 

 hardly able to keep pace with the rest, all of 

 them glad enough of the chance to pause in 

 the shade and nibble at the rich, cool grass. 

 One or two of the &quot;critters&quot; are approved of, 

 perhaps, and bought, and the rest move on, 

 the sunny dust haze rises and clears, the 

 shouts of the drovers grow faint, and the 

 Road is still again. 



Men go by looking for work; they will clean 

 your well for you, they will file your horses 

 teeth for you, they will mend your umbrellas 

 and repair your clocks and sharpen your scis 

 sors. In the city, when we hear the scissors- 

 grinder ding-ding-dinging along the street, 

 we wonder in an impersonal way how he 

 makes a living; but in the country we espy 

 him from afar and are out at the gate to meet 

 him, with all the scissors and knives in the 

 house. 



There are tramps, too, of course. Not the 

 kind one finds near cities, or in crowded 

 summer watering-places. Our Road does not 

 lead to Rome, at least not very directly, and 

 the tramp who chooses it is sure to be a mild 

 and unenterprising creature, a desultory 



