The Road to Dumbiedykes 



passing rush and roar. There are 

 some who have certain resources within 

 themselves. There are people who 

 could spend a blustery week by an 

 open fire with only a good book or a 

 friend — I use the word in its highest 

 interpretation — and not be miserable. 

 I have known folk who, if need be, 

 would find no hardship whatsoever in 

 passing a winter alone in Terra del 

 Fuego — that is, if before being thus 

 marooned they might be provided, 

 say with Shakespeare and Marcus 

 Aurelius. If I were to be thus iso- 

 lated, however, for any reason from 

 so-called civilization, I should wish 

 to extend the list to take in first of all 

 the Scriptures, I must say I do not 

 know which fascinates me most, the 

 flowery imagery of the Prophets or the 

 moral beauty of the Sermon on the 

 Mount. Then, again — queer con- 

 ceit, isn't it? — I think I should ask 

 also for my old Montaigne, and if there 

 were room in the boat that was to set 

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