BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH S 



stumps, fallen trees and murky pools. Now it has been 

 cleared and drained, and the dark forest mould pro- 

 duces wonderful crops of celery, sweet corn, potatoes, 

 and other vegetables. On a shoulder of rock near the 

 swamp borders Burroughs has built a rustic house, 

 sheathed outside with slabs, and smacking in all its 

 arrangements of the woodlands and of the days of 

 pioneering. It has an open fireplace, where the flames 

 crackle cheerfully on chilly evenings, and over the 

 fireplace coals most of the cooking is done ; but in really 

 hot weather an oil stove serves instead. 



On the other side of the hollow a delightfully cold 

 spring bubbles forth, and immediately back of the 

 house is a natural cavern which makes an ideal storage 

 place for perishable foods. The descent to the cavern 

 is made by a rude ladder, and the sight of Burroughs 

 coming and going between it and the house has a most 

 suggestive touch of the wild and romantic. 



He is often at " Slabsides " — sometimes for weeks 

 or months at a time, though he always makes daily 

 visits to the valley to look after the work in his vine- 

 yards and to visit the post-office at the railway station. 

 He is a leisurelv man, to whom haste and the nervous 

 pursuit of wealth or fame are totally foreign. He thor- 

 oughly enjoys country loitering, and when he gets a 

 hint of anything interesting or new going on among 

 the birds and little creatures of the fields, he likes to 

 stop and investigate. His ears are remarkably quick 

 and his eyes and sense of smell phenomenally acute, 

 and much which to most of us would be unperceived 

 or meaningless he reads as if it were an open book. Best 

 of all, he has the power of imparting his enjoyment, 

 and what he writes is full of outdoor fragrance, racy, 



