this agility. It seems to me not frivolous nor undignified, but a
beautiful thing, to keep one's body lithe and graceful even as are the
free-natured animals. Then practice, John; and some day even this
skill may not come amiss."

So the boy practiced daily in front of the cabin. He danced and
tumbled; he turned somersaults and stood on his head; he leaped with a
pole and swung nimbly as a monkey from the limbs of the overhanging
trees. And the circle of animals watched him gravely, marveling no
doubt at the strange antics of their brother; but, being now used to
his voice and manner, neither annoyed nor shocked by anything which he
might do.

[Illustration: The circle of animals watched him.]

When the day was over, John would throw himself on a soft bed of moss
under a tree, beside the Hermit seated on a log. Then they would read
or talk, and tell stories of what they had seen in the world of men.
Brutus would be curled down between them. Blanche and her kittens, big
and little, would play with John's hair as he lay there. The squirrel,
perched on the boy's doubled-up knees, would chatter and crack nuts.
The brown hares would run to and fro over his feet, while the doe and
her little fawn nibbled the grass close by, listening to the sound of
the human voices as though they liked it.

What a happy home it was! John wondered if ever any boy was so lucky
as he.