THE NATURE-WRITER 129 



of the Bee," but only one of them, so far as I 

 know, had ever kept bees, and she had just a 

 single swarm in between the wall of her living- 

 room and the weather-boards outside. But she 

 had listened to them through the wall, and she 

 sent me her copy of " The Life," begging me to 

 mark on the margins wherever the Bee of the 

 book was unlike her bee in the wall. She had 

 detected a difference in the buzz of the two 

 bees. 



Now the two bees ought to buzz alike one 

 buzz, distinct and always distinguishable from 

 the buzz of the author. In the best nature-writ- 

 ing the author is more than his matter, but he is 

 never identical with it ; and not until we know 

 which is which, and that the matter is true, have 

 we faith in the author. 



I knew a big boy once who had almost reached 

 the footprint in " Robinson Crusoe " (the tragedy 

 of almost reaching it !) when some one blunder- 

 ingly told him that the book was all a story, 

 made up, not true at all ; no such island ; no such 

 Crusoe ! The boy shut up the book and put it 

 forever from him. He wanted it true. He had 

 thought it true, because it had been so real. 



