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&* 
A CHILD OF NATURE 
The farm was looked after, but it was 
a secondary interest; the silent man 
loved his bit of the landscape more 
than he loved the crops it bore. 
Idealist as he was to the very heart, 
he was saved from material disaster 
by habits of industry and thrift, 
which, as in many another case, 
kept the flower of the spirit well 
shielded from keen winds and bit- 
ter frosts. 
The splendour slowly softened, as 
youth vanished, into a tender beauty 
which touched the heart of the 
man as the earlier glory had touched 
his imagination. Thoughts too 
deep either for laughter or for tears 
kept company with him at work 
in his fields or at rest in the woods. 
