unnecessary: and any unpleasant odour, such as that of fruit sprays in
spring, or fertilizer newly spread on the land, can be borne and even
welcomed if it is appropriate to the time and place. Some smells, evil
at first, become through usage not unpleasant. I once stopped with a
wolf-trapper in the north country, who set his bottle of bait outside
when I came in. He said it was "good and strong" and sniffed it with
appreciation. I agreed with him that it was strong. To him it was not
unpleasant, though made of the rancid fat of the muscallonge. All nature
seems to strive against evil odours, for when she warns us of decay she
is speeding decay: and a manured field produces later the best of all
odours. Almost all shut-in places sooner or later acquire an evil odour:
and it seems a requisite for good smells that there be plenty of
sunshine and air; and so it is with the hearts and souls of men. If they
are long shut in upon themselves they grow rancid.



CHAPTER III


FOLLOW YOUR NOSE!

"Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn--
Look to this day! For it is Life,
The very Life of Life!"

On a spring morning one has only to step out into the open country, lift
his head to the sky--and follow his nose....

It was a big and golden morning, and Sunday to boot, and I walked down