THE PROFESSOR DISCOURSETH. 151 



Both on ye '11 be too much for the hoss ! " For- 

 tunately, perhaps, for our feelings, the remainder of 

 the inhabitants were so civil that further criticisms 

 on our outfit, though they may have been ripe at 

 their tongues' end, were carefully repressed. 



Moving out over the divide above town the Pro- 

 fessor noticed the general depression of the party, 

 and forthwith began philosophising. 



" My friends," said he, " had the feelings which 

 explorers suffer, when fairly launched, been allowed 

 to be present during the days of preparation, science 

 and discovery would be in their infancy. Enthusiasm 

 bridges the first obstacles to an undertaking, but 

 others roll on and block the explorer's path, and the 

 spirit which has got him into the difficult}' momen- 

 tarily deserts him. If properly courted, however, 

 she returns, and meanwhile the traveler is afforded 

 the opportunity of looking, through matter-of-fact 

 spectacles, along his future journey. What he 

 thought pebbles reveal themselves as hills, and what 

 he had marked on his chart as hills develop into 

 mountains. These he must recognize and examine 

 with all the resolution he can summon, and he will 

 be the more able to climb them from expecting to do 

 so. Right here is the critical point in his journey. 

 Numerous cross-roads branch off — some right, 

 others left, but all with a brighter prospect down 

 them. Perhaps on one, a wife and children stand at 

 the door of their home, beckoning him. The garden 

 that his own hand planted blooms in a background 

 of flowers, while the path he has now chosen sparkles 

 with winter snow. He knows, however, that beyond 



