THE LONG TRAIL 



was the one exception he granted. It was, 

 therefore, a still greater proof of distress 

 when he borrowed the Oxford book of 

 French verse. He always loved to tell 

 afterward that when he first borrowed it 

 he started criticizing, and I had threat- 

 ened to take it away if he continued to 

 assail my favorites. In spite of all this 

 he found it infinitely preferable to Epic- 

 tetus and Marcus Aurelius, and, indeed, 

 became very fond of some of the selections. 

 Villon and Ronsard particularly inter- 

 ested him. 



When riding along through the wilder- 

 ness father would often repeat poetry to 

 himself. To learn a poem he had only to 

 read it through a few times, and he seemed 

 never to forget it. Sometimes we would 

 repeat the poem together. It might be 

 parts of the "Saga of King Olaf," or Kip- 

 ling's "Rhyme of the Three Sealers," or 

 53 



