NATURE WHISPERS SECRETS. 235 



For nearly a fortnight have I been lolling my 

 life away, yet I have lived as did my old fathers, 

 the cave-dwellers, lived as did the noble red 

 man, lived and let nature for the most part 

 feed me. This lolling may add months or even 

 years unto my term of life, for the earth smiles 

 longest upon those who try to get closest to her 

 crust, there to scent its perfumes, to know that 

 they represent the quintessence of myriads of 

 plants long dead, yet yielding up an inkling of 

 their past. Each sprig of moss, each culm of 

 grass, each stem of herb or bole of shrub or tree 

 has had a history of its days or months or years 

 to whisper unto me. For like myself life have 

 they had, the tingling of the sap through vein 

 and cell and the joy of labor. Unto each hath 

 come the pleasure of healthy growth and of 

 work well done. Thus are they and I related. 

 Back through the ages to the days of stone dust 

 and of planet atom can be traced our kinship. 



When I went to my two set-lines this morn I 

 found on one of them a good sized soft-shelled 

 turtle. Hurrah ! I shouted turtle stew for din- 

 ner stew after many fries for squirrel and 

 other stew meat has been wholly absent from 

 this camp. Anchoring him near the old boat, 

 M. and I went down stream for a last fishing 

 jaunt together, but not much the morning yield- 

 ed except the pleasure of the outing. 



Back at noon, we dressed the turtle, then M. 



