HORACE HAS AN ADVENTURE 49 
There was no doubt that Horace, when it came to 
the sort of education derived from books, was, de- 
spite his youth, by far the most learned individual 
in the outfit. Our erudite friend’s vocabulary asked 
no odds of ‘‘Noah Webster, his Dictionary.’’ And 
his familiarity with almost every branch of theoreti- 
cal knowledge was really astonishing. As a result 
of these considerations, our talks around the camp 
fire threatened at first to develop into a series of 
monologues, with Wetherby taking on every occa- 
sion the speaking part. 
Now, this was not at all according to Hoyle. In 
the woods the evening ‘‘pow-wow’’ is an ancient and 
well established institution. Immemorial custom 
prescribes the etiquette for such gatherings. Bert, 
Bob Moak and the packers, for example, never spoke 
except for the purpose of expressing an idea—and 
then briefly. While not conducive to fluent conver- 
sation, this practice usually enables each member of 
a party to have his say, with perhaps some time left. 
to indulge in silent reflection. Then again, when a 
person is speaking, it is considered proper to allow 
him to finish without interruption, and even to pause 
a moment—a delicate tribute to the weight of his 
words—hbefore replying. 
Horace’s methods were different. He talked for 
the sake of talking, for exercise, for effect, for the 
mere luxury of guiding a mellifluous flow of words 
into the night. Now and again, when out of breath, 
he paused, but if any one else attempted to voice an 
