EYE-BEAMS 119 



beneath dry leaves, and was surrounded by 

 little passages and flourishes between the leaves 

 and the ground. If any of my readers find a 

 weasel's den, I hope they will be wiser than I 

 was, and observe his goings and comings with- 

 out disturbing his habitation. 



II. KEEN PERCEPTIOXS 



Success in observing nature, as in so many 

 other things, depends upon alertness of mind 

 and quickness to take a hint. One's percep- 

 tive faculties must be like a trap lightly and 

 delicately set; a touch must suffice to spring it. 

 But how many people have I walked with, 

 whose perceptions were rusty and unpracticed 

 — nothing less than a bear would spring their 

 trap. All the finer play of nature, all the 

 small deer they miss. The little dramas and 

 tragedies that are being enacted by the wild 

 creatures in the fields and woods are more or 

 less veiled and withdrawn; and the actors all 

 stop when a spectator appears upon the scene. 

 One must be able to interpret the signs, to pene- 

 trate the scenes, to put this and that together. 



Then nature speaks a different language from 

 our own ; the successful observer translates this 

 language into human speech. He knows the 

 meaning of every sound, movement, gesture, 

 and gives the human equivalent. Careless or 

 hasty observers, on the other hand, make the 

 mistake of reading their own thoughts or men- 

 tal and emotional processes into nature; plans 



