180 CALVIN: A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 



than he shut the door after himself. He 

 could do almost everything but speak ; and 

 you would declare sometimes that you could 

 see a pathetic longing to do that in his intel- 

 ligent face. I have no desire to overdraw 

 his qualities, but if there was one thing in 

 him more noticeable than another, it was his 

 fondness for nature. He could content him- 

 self for hours at a low window, looking into 

 the ravine and at the great trees, noting the 

 smallest stir there ; he delighted, above all 

 things, to accompany me walking about the 

 garden, hearing the birds, getting the smell 

 of the fresh earth, and rejoicing in the sun- 

 shine. He followed me and gambolled like 

 a dog, rolling over on the turf and exhibit- 

 ing his delight in a hundred ways. If I 

 worked, he sat and watched me, or looked 

 off over the bank, and kept his ear open 

 to the twitter in the cherry-trees. When it 

 stormed, he was sure to sit at the window, 

 keenly watching the rain or the snow, glan- 

 cing up and down at its falling ; and a winter 

 tempest always delighted him. I think he 



