WAYS OF NATURE 



of his log cabin, ran along one of the logs to a point 

 opposite the bread, and then sprang out sidewise 

 toward the loaf, which each one struck, but upon 

 which only one seemed able to effect a lodgment. 

 Then this one would cling to the loaf and act as a 

 stop to his fellows when they tried a second time, 

 his body affording them the barrier they required. 

 My friend felt sure that this leader deliberately and 

 consciously aided the others in securing a footing 

 on the loaf. But I read the incident differently. 

 This successful jumper aided his fellows without 

 designing it. The exigencies of the situation com- 

 pelled him to the course he pursued. Having ef- 

 fected a lodgment upon the impaled loaf, he would 

 of course cling to it when the others jumped so as 

 not to be dislodged, thereby, willy nilly, helping 

 them to secure a foothold. The cooperation was in- 

 evitable, and not the result of design. 



The power to see straight is the rarest of gifts; 

 to see no more and no less than is actually before 

 you ; to be able to detach yourself and see the thing 

 as it actually is, uncolored or unmodified by your 

 own sentiments or prepossessions. In short, to see 

 with your reason as well as with your perceptions, 

 that is to be an observer and to read the book of 

 nature aright. 



