sisters and wives.

There was a straight stretch of road a mile long, and, as I sat on the
roadside watching for her, I could tell a mile off whether she had any
dinner or not. When there was anything in the bowl, she carried it
steadily; when empty, she would swing it like a censer.

When I told my sister about these strange happenings of the heart, she
looked very anxiously into my eyes, and said:

"'Deed, I just think ye're goin' mad."

Before leaving the farm, I experienced an incident which, although of
a different character, equalled in its intensity and beauty my
awakening to what, for lack of a better term, I called a religious
life.

A young lady from the city was visiting at the home of the land
steward, and, as I knew more about the woods and the inhabitants
thereof than anybody else on the farm, I was often ordered to take
visitors around. The land steward's daughter accompanied the young
lady on her first visit to the roads; but afterward she came alone,
and we traversed the ravine from one end to the other. We collected
flowers and specimens, and watched the wild animals.

I had never seen such a beautiful human being. Her voice was soft and
musical. She wore her hair loosely down her back, and was a perfect
picture of health and beauty.

One day I lay at full length on my back, asleep by the edge of the