FREE FOR THE DAY. 



69 



scientists ! this is my holiday ! The water is 

 very blue to-day, very ripply, and flaked here and 

 there with a dainty bit of foam. This is running 

 water at its best. It smells sweetest now. And 

 what an odor that is which rises from a broad 

 river! The essence of the mountains many a 

 mile away, the ooze of the black-soiled meadows 

 over which I have just passed, the dead leaves 

 and brushwood, and, too, the grand old trees 

 that line the river's shore, all give up some 

 subtle perfume, which, mingling over the river, is 

 wafted to the shore. It intoxicates. Every 

 breath indrawn thrills the nerves and cleanses 

 the city-soiled fibers of our being. But let no 

 more be said. As I stood, straight as a signal- 

 light upon the shore, my eye caught a strange 

 mound of bleached driftwood in the distance, and 

 curiosity at once drew me toward it a recently 

 drowned cow that dogs had torn. Such possi- 

 ble drawbacks warn one against enthusiasm as 

 to country odors. As for myself, I walked down 

 stream, thinking new thoughts. 



Having an odd fish in sight when by the 

 river's side, I am never lonely. Odd fish are too 

 plentiful in town; never a glut of them the 

 proper sort in the water. The average min- 

 now is an endless source of amusement. Its 

 rough and tumble existence is encouraging to 

 striving mortals. The minnow's ingenuity is 



