2i 8 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



shoulder. He has never exhibited the picture. 

 Possibly it was of an ostrich hiding its lamps un- 

 gracefully in a bushel of sand. Anyway, they 

 looked and were agitated, but, instead of hiding 

 their heads, chased Dan ingloriously down street; 

 they routed him; helmet and all equipment were 

 thrown away to aid flight for safety first. Ever 

 since this experience Dan Beard has done pioneer 

 work in natural history and has called the nature 

 censor everything but a gentleman. 



Going into the wild places is too often considered 

 akin to joining the suicide club because wild ani- 

 mals are thought to be ferocious, altitude almost 

 as dangerous, while storms and lightning make the 

 outdoors a continuous battlefield. Yet the wilder- 

 ness is the safety zone of the world. It postpones 

 the death of practically all its visitors. 



One of the most encouraging and significant ten- 

 dencies of the times is the growing distrust of the 

 censor of natural history news. He is becoming 

 unpopular and may have to take to the woods and 

 learn something. People are responding to the call 

 of the wild. In increasing numbers they are going 

 far in wild places, returning one hundred per cent 

 fit from top to toe; with enthusiastic morale they 

 condemn the molly-coddle doctrine and the evil 

 propaganda of the natural history censors. 



The Boy Scouts and the Campfire Girls are 

 endangering the natural history censor. These 

 healthy youngsters will give intelligent deter- 



