42 STUDIES OF NATURE 



present him with pictures of the ignoble savage 

 and his young barbarians all at play; but we 

 can afford to disregard his gibes. When the 

 slender integuments are laid aside Nature asserts 

 herself ; it is then seen that simplicity is beauty 

 and that freedom is grace. Seriously, who will 

 show me the genus homo in finer form than that 

 which is to be seen when the lithe and shapely 

 limbs of a young lad are cleaving the trans- 

 parent waves? It seems then as if we were 

 almost as clearly intended to swim as is the bird 

 to fly. 



This early bathing has already afforded us 

 several amusing episodes. Here is one of them. 

 It is the vice of our young swimmers to stand 

 shivering on the brink till the skin has cooled 

 down. To remedy this I offer a reward to the 

 one who is first in the water. They start fair 

 from the door and reach the edge together. 

 Then it becomes apparent that the question is 

 simply who can most quickly slip away from the 



