BOY LIFE IN THE OPEN 235 



of the quiet and calm and beauty of the old home 

 among the hills. 



" And there's another thing that I want to tell 

 you: when I go into the country I can enjoy it. 

 One of my best friends, born in the city, is bored 

 almost to death every time he tries to take a vaca- 

 tion in the country. He doesn't know the differ- 

 ence between a hard maple and a tamarack, and 

 asked me once if a woodchuck was likely to attack 

 a human being if not angered. He's afraid of bees 

 and garter snakes, and even a friendly old " daddy- 

 long-legs " gives him a nervous shock. He can't 

 enjoy the fields and flowers, for he was brought 

 up on people and bricks. I'd like to be back there 

 at the old place this minute. I'll bet I could find 

 some raspberries on the bushes that grow in the 

 fence corners along the west road. We used to 

 string them on timothy stalks as we came home 

 from school, and I've never tasted any such berries 

 since." 



The witness is through with his testimony and 

 we'll submit the case to the jury without argument. 

 What do you say, fathers and mothers of the city ? 

 Shall your children have a chance to learn nature's 

 secrets at first hand? Will you give them some 

 time in the open every year, where the work of man 

 has not elbowed the work of God into a corner and 

 out of sight? More, will you help to send the 

 children of the poor, children whose playground is 

 the city street, and to whom the stories of green 



