At Close Range 



animal runs away from me, I find myself thinking 

 that perhaps it is not the smell of humanity but 

 of some evil trait or quality which frightens him. 

 I first laid down this hypothesis after meeting a 

 strange, childlike man, who had a passion for roam- 

 ing by himself in the fields or woods. White men, 

 after a puzzling acquaintance, would tap their 

 heads or call him crazy; an Indian would look 

 once in his eyes and say, very softly, "The Great 

 Spirit has touched him." He was all gentleness, 

 without a thought or possibility of harm in his 

 nature. He was also without fear, and perhaps 

 for this reason he inspired no fear in others. When 

 he appeared in the woods, singing to himself, the 

 animals would watch him for a moment, and then 

 go their ways quietly, as if they understood him. 

 What would happen if a race of such men lived 

 near the wood folk must be left to the imagination. 



