8 THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 



very important errand for me out and away — » 

 for what does a man know about sweeping and 

 dusting? When all is done and order comes 

 again so clean and neat, how much easier one 

 can think and gather richer fruitage and write 

 with a happier abandon. 



The books in our library mean more to us 

 than they could to anybody else. There is an 

 underlying purpose in nearly every volume. 

 The great books of reference were fundamen- 

 tally necessary and selected with care. That 

 case yonder is wholly modern fiction, widely 

 and wisely chosen; nature study claims those 

 four shelves, that revolving case is full of art, 

 that small case near the window is devoted to 

 archaeology and kindred topics, thest are the 

 classics of our English literature with a sprin- 

 kling of German and French, poetry fills those 

 four lower shelves, those upper shelves repre- 

 sent in part the books we first bought and from 

 which we cannot part — and so on through all 

 these cases. They are the product of need, of 

 suggestion, or hunger or love. There is ever 

 an extra value in one's own books; they are 

 yours, you have handled them, read them and 

 marked the margins, and because you read and 

 loved them you know them. Dear old books ! 

 how they appetize mind and heart, how handy 



