A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



ever, I sold my gun, and did my hunting with 

 note-book and pencil. 



The pupils from the High School botanical 

 class flocked to the woods about my cabin 

 in search for flowers to identify and mount. 



I was employed by the parents of some 

 of these pupils to gather specimens and tag 

 them with their Latin names. This method 

 saved the pupil a lot of trouble, but it did 

 not tend to advance the knowledge of botany. 

 It occupied some of my time in the spring 

 months, and gave me the pleasure of searching 

 the woods without thinking that I was wasting 

 my time. 



It must be remembered that during my 

 eighteen years of hermit life, I have been 

 obliged to earn my living expenses, and to 

 feed the wild things that come to my cabin 

 dooryard as well. Referring to my note-book, 

 I find that the last item foots up nearly four 

 hundred dollars, but there are some rebates. 

 I mounted one raccoon, many birds and 

 squirrels, the receipts for which lessened the 

 debtor side of the ledger. 

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