A 



A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



cross or retrace their course. In the obscure 

 fish-worm he sees an agent that has kneaded 

 and leavened the soil like giant hands. 



One secret of success in observing nature 

 is capacity to take a hint ; a hair may show 

 where a lion is hid. One must put this and 

 that together, and value bits and shreds. 

 Much alloy exists with the truth. The gold 

 of nature does not look like gold at the first 

 glance. It must be smelted and refined in 

 the mind of the observer. And one must 

 crush mountains of quartz and wash hills of 

 sand to get it. To know the indications is 

 the main matter. People who do not know 

 the secret are eager to take a walk with the 

 observer to find where the mine is that con- 

 tains such nuggets, little knowing that his 

 ore-bed is but a gravel-heap to them. How 

 insignificant appear most of the facts which 

 one sees in his walks, in the life of the birds, 

 the flowers, the animals, or in the phases of 

 the landscape, or the look of the sky ! — in- 

 significant until they are put through some 

 mental or emotional process and their true 

 value appears. The diamond looks like a 

 pebble until it is cut. One goes to Nature 

 only for hints and half truths. Her facts 

 are crude until you have absorbed them or 



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