"What authority have you? " he asks. "You 

 are not scientific. You are merely a dreaming, 

 fooling hanger-on to the fields and woods ; one 

 of those who are forever hearing more than they 

 hear, and seeing more than they see. "We scien- 

 tists hear with our ears, see with our eyes, feel 

 with our fingers, and understand with our 

 brains—" 



"Just so, just so," I interrupt, "and you are a 

 worthy but often a pretty stupid set. Little 

 Hyla in February, August, and December cries 

 Peep, peep, peep ! to you. But his cry to me in 

 February is Spring, spring, spring ! And in De- 

 cember—it depends ; for I cannot see with my 

 eyes alone, nor hear with my ears, nor feel with 

 my fingers only. You can, and so could Peter 

 Bell. To-day I saw and heard and felt the 

 world all gray and hushed and shrouded ; and 

 little Hyla, speaking out of the silence and 

 death, called Cheer, cheer, cheer ! " 



II 



It is not because the gate is strait and the way 



narrow that so few get into the kingdom of 



[35] 



