One Way Out 



Horace, Columella and Cato, Burns 

 and Burroughs, and various other es- 

 teemed brethren of the Oxygen Club, 

 had often urged this man with the hoe 

 to hang it up in the tool-house once in 

 a while, and take to the woods, and he 

 finally did; but so firmly fixed had the 

 hoeing habit become that no sooner 

 had he builded his little shack among 

 the oaks than he began looking around 

 for something he could cultivate. When 

 the fever for work was upon him he had 

 only to adapt Aladdin's little trick to 

 his own particular needs; just rub the 

 handle of the hoe with a forefinger 

 and thumb bearing the calloused scars 

 of service, and a field for its use would 

 instantly reveal itself. Then down in 

 a corner he would go, and you would 

 likely see or hear little of him for the 

 rest of that day or week. 



Mrs. Burns has recorded the fact 

 that Robert was not fit to live with dur- 

 ing periods when he was actively en- 

 gaged in composition. At such times 

 [187] 



