THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD. 47 



compass so many weary miles and not fall down from 

 sheer exhaustion ; ignorant of the fact that the walker is 

 a kind of projectile that drops far or near according to 

 the expansive force of the motive that set it in motion, 

 and that it is easy enough to regulate the charge accord- 

 ing to the distance to be traversed. If I am loaded to 

 carry only one mile and am compelled to walk three, 

 I generally feel more fatigue than if I had walked six 

 under the proper impetus of preadjusted resolution. 

 In other words, the will or corporeal mainspring, what- 

 ever it be, is capable of being wound up to different 

 degrees of tension, so that one may walk all day nearly 

 as easy as half that time if he is prepared beforehand. 

 He knows his task, and he measures and distributes 

 his powers accordingly. It is for this reason that an 

 unknown road is always a long road. We cannot cast 

 the mental eye along it and see the end from the be- 

 ginning. We are fighting in the dark, and cannot take 

 the measure of our foe. Every step must be preor- 

 dained and provided for in the mind. Hence also the 

 fact that to vanquish one mile in the woods seems 

 equal to compassing three in the open country. The 

 furlongs are ambushed, and we magnify them. 



Then, again, how annoying to be told it is only five 

 miles to the next place when it is really eight or ten! 

 We fall short nearly half the distance, and are com- 

 pelled to urge and roll the spent ball the rest of the way. 



In such a case walking degenerates from a fine 

 art to a mechanic art ; we walk merely ; to get over 



