

CHAPTER XX 



HIGH WINDS 



THE Doctor had remarked to me that man, 

 relieved of woman s influence, always rushes 

 off to some place where he can eat with 

 his knife, and immediately sends out pickets to 

 see if there is not a place a little farther on where 

 he can eat with his fingers. I meant to prove, if 

 possible, that this, like some other of the Doctor s 

 generalizations, would not hold water, as we say. 

 I had been for five months just a hundred miles 

 from the refined restrictions, and none of the baser 

 habits of the carnivora had made themselves ap 

 parent, so far as I could see. Charlie and I were 

 as scrupulous about the small amenities as two 

 dormice could well be. It is true enough, we 

 had to play the part of scullery maid for our 

 selves, and come flat-footed down to washing our 

 own dishes and shaking out our own tablecloth ; 

 for it is not to be supposed that Griselle could 

 walk over in winter weather just to relieve us of 



236 



