THE BREAD OE IDLENESS. 



ROBERT P. LOWRY. 



Easily and lightly our canoe glided down 

 the gleaming Susquehanna, as our eyes 

 traversed the banks in search of a camp 

 site. A dancing line of white water ahead 

 abruptly terminated our search. The canoe 

 yielded to the quickening current and 

 awakened to new life. Not to have shot a 

 rapid is almost not to have lived ; and he 

 who has never known the mad, wild joy 

 of it is fortunate only in that the future 

 holds so rare a delight for him.. Through 

 the deep, swift water, down the triangular 

 tongue at the beginning of the riffles and 

 onward between great rocks, whose pres- 

 ence was made evident only by a foamy 

 backwash, our boat, guided by the steady 

 arm of Red and Blue, sped like a flushed 



town, at the head of the river, to that place; 

 and there our river adventures were des- 

 tined to end, for the rocky bottom of the 

 shallow river had completely worn the can- 

 vas off the bottom of our canoe. 



We entered on a quiet, uncolored man- 

 ner of living such as is attained only by 

 great philosophers, tramps and a few camp- 

 ers. The gospel of this state is content- 

 ment. To be at peace with all the world; 

 to banish dreary cares ; to have the wan- 

 derlust silenced by long, hard days of 

 paddling; that is to dwell in Arcadia. 



Sometimes the man that owned the farm 

 on which we were located honored us with 

 a visit. Another welcome guest was his 

 helper, Gus. He was innocent of the 3 



ON THE SUSQUEHANNA. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY LEWIS E. THEISS. 



quail. A sudden bend of the river to the 

 left and we found ourselves in the place 

 we had been seeking. 



A huge chestnut tree rose a few rods 

 from the bank, overshadowing a wide 

 stretch of grassy meadow. Under 

 its branches we pitched our tent. In the 

 farm house, near, the good dame freely 

 gave us permission to camp on her hus- 

 band's land ; but the sight of our bare, 

 sunburned arms stirred the mother in her. 

 She recommended cold cream, and related 

 warningly a story of a little boy who came 

 to his death through sunburn. Our camp 

 lay in a narrow, basin-shaped valley divid- 

 ed by the North branch of tke Susque- 

 hanna. On the opposite side of the river 

 was the town of Windsor. A week of 

 canoe cruising had taken us from Coopers- 



R's and he had had to work hard all his 

 life. His sole diversion had been, so he 

 declared, an occasional fishing trip; but 

 he was good natured and clever. 



Sometimes the boys from the town swam 

 the river and came unashamed up to the 

 tent. To these we let it be known that our 

 canoe was for sale. Not that we really 

 wished to part with our alternate servant 

 and mistress, but to see a horny handed 

 tiller of the soil in that varium et mutabile, 

 canoe of ours was ever our desire. 



To the inhabitants of the hamlet across 

 the river we were a mystery. The brown 

 trousered tramps with the gray flannel 

 shirts who, according to their own state- 

 ment, were not fishing, and who bought 

 food at the store in place of soliciting 

 "hand-outs" at the back doors, were phe- 



15 



