CHAPTER XIV 



Forest Footfalls 



WHAT glorious days those were when Ben 

 and I wandered in the mysterious woods 

 searching out its secrets, becoming each day 

 better acquainted with the birds and squirrels, 

 the rabbits and mice, and all the innumerable 

 family of the wood folks. 



Little by little I learned to see with the 

 eyes of a woodsman. 



To separate the rabbit from the brown 

 brake in which he squatted, the bird from the 

 leaves in which it sought to screen itself, the 

 squirrel from the knot that he tried to imper- 

 sonate. 



" The only way to see things in the woods," 

 said Ben one day as we sat on an old log in the 

 leafy green depths, " is to sit still and let them 

 come to you. We folks with all our cunning 

 are so much more stupid than the wild crea- 



