THOUGHTS FROM WRITINGS 



at all till he was eighteen or twenty, 

 and even then very slowly, but at last 

 became a tall big man. That slouching 

 walk, with knees always bent, diminished 

 his height to appearance ; he really was 

 the full size, and every inch of his frame 

 had been slowly welded together by this 

 ceaseless work, continual life in the 

 open air, and coarse hard food. This is 

 what makes a man hardy. This is what 

 makes a man able to stand almost any- 

 thing, and gives a power of endurance 

 that can never be obtained by any 

 amount of gymnastic training. — 'Field 

 and Hedgerow': My Old Village. 



THE blackbird's whistle is very 

 human, like a human being 

 playing the flute ; an uncertain 

 player, now drawing forth a bar of a 

 beautiful melody— then losing it again. 

 He does not know what quiver or what 

 turn his note will take before it ends; 



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