THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD. 47 



from sheer exhaustion ; ignorant of the fact that the 

 walker is a kind of projectile that drops far or near 

 according to the expansive force of the motive that 

 set it in motion, and that it is easy enough to regulate 

 the charge according to the distance to be traversed. 

 If I am loaded to carry only one mile and am com- 

 pelled to walk three, I generally feel more fatigue 

 than if I had walked six under the proper impetus of 

 preadjusted resolution. In other words, the will or 

 corporeal mainspring, whatever it be, is capable of be- 

 ing wound up to different degrees of tension, so that 

 one may walk all day nearly as easy as half that time 

 if he is prepared beforehand. He knows his task, 

 and he measures and distributes his powers accord- 

 ingly. It is for this reason that an unknown road is 

 always a long road. We cannot cast the mental eye 

 along it and see the end from the beginning. We 

 are fighting in the dark, and cannot take the measure 

 of our foe. Every step must be preordained and 

 provided for in the mind. Hence also the fact that 

 to vanquish one mile in the woods seems equal to 

 compassing three in the open country. The furlongs 

 are ambushed, and we magnify them. 



Then, again, how annoying to be told it is only 

 five miles to the next place when it is really eight or 

 ten ! We fall short nearly half the distance, and are 

 compelled to urge and roll the spent ball the rest of 

 the way. 



In such a case walking degenerates from a fine art 

 to a mechanic art ; we walk merely ; to get over 



