of me; and it's not well to be chained to your best friend for a solid week. Not that I am afraid of Hartman; he is not a lunatic, only a monomaniac; but I can cheer h

but Hartman always had the ascendancy at college, and last night I fell into the old way of playing chorus to his high tragedy. This will not do, and I must assert myself. He was much the better student of course, but I have knocked about and seen more of the world than he has, shut up in these woods like a toad

"I've been thin

be expected from such unusual ex

are lazy, and selfis

nquiring tone. "That is

. What have you got? Three dogs and an old cow. A man should be in connection and sympathy with the great tide

drous West-you hit me where I live. But none of these things move me. I am lost in admiration of your or

lfish motives. Still you are a man, a member of the community: you have duties to your fellows. Let the nobler motives come in. Do something to make the world happier, wiser, better. You have the power, if you had the will. Are not private talents a public trust? You us

"Robert," he said, "I should believe that somebody had been coaching you, but there's no one in range who could do it except

can look round. I'll introduce you to some men who are not shams-and women, if you like. I know a few who have souls and consciences, t

consideration-no, I won't chaff. You're not half a bad lot. But, my dear boy, you see the thin

you. Anything, so you

hat De Senancour s

own English, please: no

ttle: ten stores where one is needed. How do all these poor creatures live? Do you see anything noble in this petty st

taffy, Jim. You could deal in a higher l

, but enough to see. There is no market for my wares: and I'm not sure they are worth

iced, and sees all things yellow. Get well, and you can find a ma

his eyes and brains, and then rule himself by what he sees. I have looked at matters more carefully and dispassionately than some do, and seen a little deeper into them: the prospect is not edifying, Bob. I am prejudiced, you say? No, I have cast aside prejudice. Most of you are misled by the lo

a little conceit of

re all poor creatures. 'I do not speak as one that is

of us? There's a better as well as a worse side. T

away from things as much as possible. To

I tell you, it's all mental, and your mind's diseased. You think you're injured by the scheme of things. We

I did, my opinion of myself would be yet worse than it is. I have a brain-such as it is-and a conscience: I can keep them clean and awake, even

ds, as I have, you'd see things differentl

sibility at least can't be forced on a man. He

d your looks, and there's more of them now. You could outshine all the gilded youth I know, and hold your own with the best. I remember a girl that thought so, a dozen

oo much. Who misses me-or what if some few did for a while? They've

se their charm; you'll get bored as you've never been yet. The emptiness and dreariness that you theorize about will become stern reali

principles in search of so poor a shadow as happiness? Shall I, in base hope of easing my own burden, throw it on somebody else who but for me might go through existence lightly? Should I call sentient beings out of the blessed gulf

ear boy," I said, "they wouldn't look at it in tha

as you think them: a pleasant lot for my wife, wouldn't it, to be in constant contact with them? And my children would have my blood in them-the tain

go back to the tavern." I wa

e, and the brooks are full of trout. I kill nothing bigger than fish, but if you want a change I'll show you where you can have a chance for deer. And for the evenings, there are other