70 
NATURE'S BENEFICENCE 
Fellowship with nature is not denied to dwellers 
in the city. Though it may seem far away and lost 
in impossible distance, it is really crowding in on 
every hand. Some animals may have long since 
departed, the wisest being first to go. The Beaver 
leaves with the earliest indications of permanent 
human settlement, as a prudent man foreseeth the 
evil and hideth himself. One by one his forest friends 
depart, as wisdom gives them understanding, until a 
few degenerates like the Muskrat and the Skunk fall 
into habits of domestication. Birds may avoid the 
city, with its fumes and exhalations, as a place 
unclean. Still the inviting fellowship is at our doors. 
In every neglected field, in every swampy indentation, 
under every clump of Witch-hazel or Dogwood, 
among the seedling Oaks, Maples, and Elms, by 
every muddy stream not yet diverted to a culvert, 
and even along the open roadways, the varied colours 
and fantastic shapes of the wild flora show that 
nature's lamp still holds out to burn. It is not neces- 
sary to make a long pilgrimage to the primeval forest, 
nor to envy those blessed with the privilege of a 
private audience with the spirit of solitude in her 
