New Walks in Old Ways 



thing to offer him. Fledglings have 

 but one thought in life — ^food; and 

 then immediately more food; and they 

 never dream but what the whole uni- 

 verse, so far as they have any con- 

 ception of it by what they see around 

 them, was created for their sole benefit 

 and owes them from the beginning a 

 good living. Men, of course, have 

 exactly the same idea, and do not 

 hesitate to act upon that theory in 

 dealing with all created forms of both 

 animal and vegetable existence. 



The more you see of nature in general 

 the more you will be impressed by the 

 essential truth of the old saying about 

 self-preservation. Every created form 

 of life — ^both animal and vegetable — 

 has its own struggle for existence. All 

 alike seek to thrive and fatten at the 

 expense of someone or something else. 



" Big fleas have little fleas 



Upon their backs to bite 'em; 

 And these fleas have lesser fleas, 

 And so on ad infinitum." 



[io8] 



