346 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
man of cultivation and taste, and a lover of Natural 
Science,” gave him refreshment and a horse. In his 
eagerness to cover the fifteen miles to the Percy house 
as rapidly as possible, he tried to strike a straight course 
through the dark forest, but missed his way, and dawn 
found him on unfamiliar ground; he then learned from 
a negro that he was two miles beyond the place. When 
he arrived at last “with rent and wasted clothes, and 
uncut hair, and altogether looking like the wandering 
Jew,” his wife was busily engaged in teaching her pupils. 
During his absence of nearly fourteen months she had 
prospered greatly, and she was not only ready but eager 
to place her earnings at her husband’s disposal. 
When he had finally decided to take his drawings to 
Europe for publication, Audubon set to work to increase 
his capital, and soon had pupils in French, music, and 
drawing, while a dancing class of sixty was organized 
in a neighboring town. His country lads and lassies 
proved rather awkward material, and he broke his bow 
and nearly ruined his violin in his impatience to evoke a 
single graceful step or motion; when, however, he con- 
sented to dance to his own music, he never failed to bring 
down thunders of applause. These efforts were con- 
tinued for over a year, until he had realized a consider- 
able sum. With this money in hand, supplemented by 
what his wife could spare, he determined to seek his for- 
tunes in the Old World. 
