A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



been washed away, leaving great masses of 

 bed rock (granite) towering above the cot- 

 tages that clung to the base of the cliff. On 

 the extreme brow of the hill I found a spot 

 where the soil had gathered and maintained 

 a grass-plot. Here I pitched my little tent. 

 Here I lived from August to December. I 

 called the spot the Eyrie, because it reminded 

 me of the regions inhabited by eagles. A 

 visit to the spot will disclose the fitness of 

 the name. 



On this spot my eighteen years of hermit 

 life begun. At first I made it a practice to 

 go to the city every day for one meal, bring- 

 ing back food enough to last until another 

 day. I found the huckleberries good whole- 

 some food that did not aggravate my chronic 

 dyspepsia. 



Two weeks of outdoor life had brought a 

 little color to my cheeks and had made me 

 feel like a new man. About this time I awoke 

 in the morning to remember that I had not 

 coughed during the night. The cough that 



14 



