Grove Karl Gilbert 



67 



When riding along through the forest, we continually had re- 

 course to a game of his proposing. Thus Gilbert would say a 

 piece of poetry, from the classics, nursery rhymes, or from his 

 own imagination. He would stop at any word, whereupon the 

 writer was supposed to say another poem, or fragment of po- 

 em, commencing with the word last mentioned. 



Thus the writer had been eating one meal only a day, and 

 taking a course of pepsin for gastritis upon the commencement 

 of the Sierran trip. The trip soon caused the three-meal plan 

 to be revived. Dr. Gilbert noted the change and said : 



"An antipodal Fletcherite faster, 

 Of appetite proudly the master, 

 Hiked and scrambled for weeks 

 Amid canons and peaks, 

 And now at his meals he's a laster. 

 Yes, he sticks to his seat like a plaster, 

 But . . . " 



■ Here the writer had to continue and said : 



*'But takes pepsin to ward off disaster." 



This, of course, was not what Dr. Gilbert had expected, but it 

 amused him very much. 



One fragment which the writer worked off in turn on the 

 Doctor may not be out of place here: . . . ''like flowers in the 

 scented grove," said the Doctor, stopping abruptly. Then the 

 writer responded : 



"Grove Gilbert was our captain bold 

 Of Henry Mountain fame. 

 He lit his torch with lac-o-lite, 

 And straightway made his name ! 

 His many "Faults" were mighty ones, 

 No common, garden brand. 

 His Wasatch "slip" in Mormon land 

 Is known on every hand." 



In February, 1918, Dr. Gilbert wrote to the writer concern- 

 ing his desire to do "something which might assist the cause of 

 the Allies," but he regretted his inability to do anything "of 

 value." He therefore proposed to keep on with scientific work 

 which might be of value in post-war adjustments. 



This was near the end. In 1908 he had told the writer that he 



