hrilled by the stars
at night; to be elated over a bird's nest, or over a wild flower in
spring--these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

(Illustration of The Living-Room. From a photograph by M. H. Fanning)

The two men were soon talking companionably. When persons of wide
reading and reflection, and of philosophic bent, who have lived long
and been mellowed by life, come together, the interchange of thought is
bound to be valuable; things are so well said, so inevitably said, that
the listener thinks he cannot forget the manner of saying; but thoughts
crowd thick and fast, comments on men and measures, on books and events,
are numerous and varied, but hard to recapture. The logs ignite, sending
out their cheering heat, the coals glow, the sparks fly upward, warmth
and radiance envelop us; but an attempt to warm the reader by the
glow of that fireside talk is almost as futile as an effort to dispel
to-day's cold by the fire of yesterday.

A few deserted cottages perched on the rocks near by show us where the
summer neighbors of our host live, but at all seasons his wild neighbors
are the ones he hobnobs with the most; while his indoor companions are
Montaigne, Sainte-Beuve, Carlyle, Arnold, Wordsworth, Darwin, Huxley,
Emerson, Whitman, Bergson, and many others, ancient and modern.

"I've been rereading Emerson's essay on 'Immortality' lately, evenings
in my study down there by the river," said Mr. Burroughs. "I had
forgotten it was so noble and fine--he makes much of the idea of
permanence."

In this connection he spoke of John Fiske and his contributions to
literature, telling of the surprise he felt on first meeting Fiske
at Harvard, to see the look of the _bon vivant_ in one in whom the
intellectual and the spiritual were so prominent. Laughing, he recalled
the amusement of the college boys at Fiske's comical efforts to discover
a piece of chalk dropped during his lecture on "Immortality." Standing
on the hearth, a merry twinkle in his eyes, he recited some humorous
lines which he had written concerning the episode.

Reverting to the question of immortality in a serious vein, he summed up
the debated question much as he has done in one of his essays,--that it
has been good to be here, and will be good to go hence; that we know not
whence we come, nor whither we go; were not consulted as to our coming,
and shall not be as to our going; but that it is all good; all for "the
glory of God;" though we mus