FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



proof and sun-proof ; at the worst of times nei- 

 ther muddy nor dusty. For myself I have had 

 numberless good hours there, and not a few that 

 might truthfully be called exciting. 



If I had a bank full of money, I once in a 

 while find myself thinking (and perhaps wiser 

 men than I might own to the same sort of fool- 

 ishness), I could do this or that. But, after all, 

 what could I do so very much better, school 

 being dismissed, than to go idling up and down 

 this sightly beach, looking or dreaming — and 

 enjoying myself — as the mood befalls ? 



Happy is the man (I may have said it before, 

 but no matter), happy is the man who has ac- 

 quired an interest in the world out of doors. It is 

 an investment good for both body and soul. 



" Give a man a horse he can ride ; 

 Give a man a boat he can sail ; 

 And his rank and wealth, his strength and health, 

 On sea nor shore shall fail." 



For " horse " write " hobby," and the rhythm 

 may suffer, but the sense will not be damaged, 

 but rather improved. 



And here in this favored region, where sea and 

 land meet, with a mockingbird singing his soul 

 out on one side of you and pelicans plunging into 

 the water with a mighty splash on the other side, 

 with the fairest and friendliest of sierras com- 

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