loo NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



doing it. Let one man swear that thirteen 

 is an unlucky number, and you will have 

 to disprove it thirteen times to prevent an 

 epidemic of belief. It all comes through 

 fear, and dates back to the time when fear 

 was a proper and self-preservative condi- 

 tion among men. It kept them at a safe 

 distance from each other, and from moso- 

 saurs and mastodons. Most people have 

 to be afraid of something in order to keep 

 their moral balance. Among the roughs 

 this fetish is the police, among the better 

 sort it is law, government, and govern- 

 ors; and when you meet people who 

 think disrespectful things of honorable 

 bar-keepers and the equator, you will find 

 them cringing before an Idea : their own 

 Idea, too. As to 



Ah, I see what 's the matter. The 

 thermometer in my yard marks 98 in the 

 shade, and the humidity is about 80. 

 States of mind are likely to happen in a 

 city summer. I will get out the hose and 

 spray the grass. Its brightening color 

 will bring up visions of the country. 



Since the yard has been watered regu- 



