thought of the danger at all.
The chief thing, turn or no turn, was to get to the bottom of the cliff
as quickly as possible. Everything that was bitter and tragic in his
life ended there, in an open glade among towering white pines.

The day that Martha had left for New York, the Poor Boy, standing very
lonely on the top of the cliff and looking out over the valley, had been
struck with a whimsical thought.

"If I had the power," he thought, "I'd settle this region with innocent
people who have been accused of crimes."

At this suggestion the component parts of his nature began a discussion.

_Reason:_ How would you know they were innocent?

_Truthfulness:_ They'd tell me. And I'd know.

_Snobbishness:_ Very few people in your station of life are accused of
crime.

_Cynicism:_ And very few of them are innocent.

_Snobbishness:_ You wouldn't care to associate with people of lower
station than yourself.

_Affection:_ I love Martha better than anybody in the world.

_Reason:_ Think of something more sensible.

_Love of Detail:_ I wonder how we could dispose of sewage without
polluting lakes and streams? I must send for books on the disposal of
sewage.

_Love of the Beautiful:_ I should like to settle the whole valley
without changing the look of it--from here.

_Eyes_ (roving from one group of screening trees to the next): It can be
done. Put your village on the east side of the big lake, back of the
hardwood ridge. Do you remember Placid Brook? That will flow through the
main street. It will be kept clean and well stocked with trout, so that
the old men can fish from the bridges. Above the village there shall be
a path along the brook, all in the shade. Can't you see the girls and
boys walking, two and two?

_Love of Detail:_ All the houses in the village must be white. Who is
going to make the laws?

_Ego:_ I am. Because I own the valley. And put up the money.

_Modesty:_ But there will be lots of men wiser than I am. And they will
help.

_Sudden Impulse:_ The women shall have votes.

_Childishness:_ The men shan't.

_Reason:_ Now I wonder. It's never been tried, and maybe it's what the
world is waiting for and striving for.

_Touch of Genius and Prophecy:_ It shall be tried. It is what the world
needs. No votes for men. No men on juries....

_Memory:_ (Things too recent and poignant for utterance.)

_Vague Idea Gathered at School:_ Am I going to stand for being taxed
without representation?