A JOURNEY TO NATURE 



&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied, &quot;or some other more igno 

 ble animal. Perhaps Wall Street has inoculated 

 you with the notion that you belong to the min 

 eral or vegetable kingdom. It s a great shame. 

 You are indubitably and necessarily half animal. 

 Take my advice, stay in your kennel and wag 

 your tail.&quot; 



Once again I wrote him to say : &quot; I think you 

 have overestimated Charlie s abilities as a guide. 

 He hasn t quite understood my case from the 

 first.&quot; 



Then I got this short and sharp rejoinder : &quot; But 

 I understand your case, believe me. There are 

 some mountains in our early vistas, and the chil 

 dren get nearer their summits in their play than 

 we ever get with our pack-mules.&quot; 



If I had not had a profound respect for this 

 gifted old curmudgeon s knowledge, and a sneak 

 ing fear that he and sudden death had an under 

 standing, I think I should have slipped away in 

 the most pusillanimous manner at the end of the 

 first week. As it was, I girded my loins and stood 

 up to the extraordinary job of lifting myself by 

 my own waistband. But to be utterly frank, now 

 that it is all over, the only thing I did was to 

 hang on like grim death, and let Charlie do the 

 rest. 



I must have looked very idiotic sitting there 

 trying to coax myself into the belief that I was 

 enjoying an Arcadian existence and had got back 

 to the primitive and joyous simplicity of life, 

 which was a most preposterous conclusion ; for if 



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