CHAPTER XV 



WILD ANIMALS I HAVE "ET" 



NO matter how fastidious a man may be 

 before he becomes a "field natural- 

 ist," after he has kicked about the 

 country a few years, cooking his own meals 

 over a camp-fire and eating those served to 

 him by all classes, creeds, and nationalties, he 

 discovers that his stomach is really not so crit- 

 ical as he had once supposed it to be. Fresh 

 air, hard work, and plenty of outdoor exercise 

 give him an appetite that dulls his epicurean 

 sense and causes him to forget polished china- 

 ware, clean linen, good seasoning, and delicate 

 dishes. He may not relish improperly cooked 

 food, or meat the antiquity of which cannot 

 be questioned, still he finds himself eating it 

 with a relish that a few years before he would 

 have thought impossible. Such common cir- 

 cumstances as a caterpillar, a yellow- jacket, or 

 a horse-fly dropping suddenly into his soup, in- 

 stead of causing him to leave the meal in dis- 



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