CHAPTER SEVENTH 



UP THE CREEK 



is greater merit in the little word 

 " up" than in " down." If, when in 

 a place new to me, I am asked to go " up the 

 creek," my heart leaps, but there is less en- 

 thusiasm when it is suggested to go down the 

 stream. One seems to mean going into the 

 country, the other into the town. All this 

 is illogical, of course, but what of that? 

 The fafts of a case like this have not the 

 value of my idle fancies. After all, there is 

 a peculiar merit in going up-stream. It is 

 something to be going deeper and deeper into 

 the heart of the country. It is akin to get- 

 ting at the foundations of things. 



In the case of small inland streams, gen- 

 erally, the mouth is a commonplace affair. 

 The features that charm shrink from the 

 fateful spot, and we are put in a condition 

 of anticipation at the start which, happily, 

 10 109 



