, divest myself of my clothes--except
only my union suit--crawl into the woods, stay there a month and then
crawl out again. To a trained woodsman and crawler like myself the thing
was simplicity itself. For food I knew that I could rely on berries,
roots, shoots, mosses, mushrooms, fungi, bungi--in fact the whole of
Nature's ample storehouse; for my drink, the running brook and the quiet
pool; and for my companions the twittering chipmunk, the chickadee,
the chocktaw, the choo-choo, the chow-chow, and the hundred and one
inhabitants of the forgotten glade and the tangled thicket.

Fortunately for me, my resolve came to me upon the last day in August.
The month of September was my vacation. My time was my own. I was free
to go.

On my rising in the morning my preparations were soon made; or, rather,
there were practically no preparations to make. I had but to supply
myself with a camera, my one necessity in the woods, and to say good-bye
to my friends. Even this last ordeal I wished to make as brief as
possible. I had no wish to arouse their anxiety over the dangerous,
perhaps foolhardy, project that I had in mind. I wished, as far as
possible, to say good-bye in such a way as to allay the very natural
fears which my undertaking would excite in the minds of my friends.

From myself, although trained in the craft of the woods, I could not
conceal the danger that I incurred. Yet the danger was almost forgotten
in the extraordinary and novel interest that attached to the experiment.
Would it prove possible for a man, unaided by our civilized arts and
industries, to maintain himself naked--except for his union suit--in the
heart of the woods? Could he do it, or could he not? And if he couldn't
what then?

But this last thought I put from me. Time alone could answer the
question.

As in duty bound, I went first to the place of business where I am
employed, to shake hands and say good-bye to my employer.

"I am going," I said, "to spend a month naked alone in the woods."

He looked up from his desk with genial kindliness.

"That's right," he said, "get a good rest."

"My plan is," I added, "to live on berries and funguses."

"Fine," he answered. "Well, have a good time, old man--good-bye."

Then I dropped in casually upon one of my friends.

"Well," I said, "I'm off to New England to spend a month naked."

"Nantucket," he said, "or Newport?"

"No," I answered, speaking as lightly as I could. "I'm going into th