II 



A LITTLE NOMAD 



NE warm August morning I followed a 

 certain restful, woodsy path which soon 

 led me to a partially wooded hillside. 

 I found a shady resting-place under a 

 pair of twin maple trees, where I 

 settled contentedly in the grass with some downy yoimg 

 sumacs for neighbors. The blue waters of the lake twin- 

 kled up at me through the tree-boles, and a blue sky 

 beamed down on me through the tree-tops. The breeze, 

 playing softly with the leaves above me, and the soft 

 swish of the water on the rocks below united in a sooth- 

 ing song, to which a cicada from his high perch was doing 

 his best to perform a worthy obligato. I was tired of a 

 world of work and care ; and as I turned my footsteps 

 toward this cosy nook I said to myself, " I will go where 

 I can be alone." Vain decision and absurd desire ! I 

 had just arranged for myself a tree-trunk chair-back 

 and was enjoying the nice bark upholstery when a 

 grandfather graybeard came teetering along on his 

 stilts, letting his body down at rhythmic intervals to 



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