a buccaneer. The old _Wanderlust_ had got into his blood,
the joy of the unbound life, the joy of seeking, of hoping
without limit. There were mishaps and discomforts --
but at least there was always something new; and only
think what it meant to a man who for years had been
penned up in one place, seeing nothing but one dreary
prospect of shanties and factories, to be suddenly set
loose beneath the open sky, to behold new landscapes,
new places, and new people every hour! To a man
whose whole life had consisted of doing one certain
thing all day, until he was so exhausted that he could
only lie down and sleep until the next day -- and to be
now his own master, working as he pleased and when he
pleased, and facing a new adventure every hour!

Then, too, his health came back to him, all his lost youth~
ful vigor, his joy and power that he had mourned and forgot~
ten! It came with a sudden rush, bewildering him, startling
him; it was as if his dead childhood had come back to
him, laughing and calling! What with plenty to eat and
fresh air and exercise that was taken as it pleased him, he
would waken from his sleep and start off not knowing what
to do with his energy, stretching his arms, laughing, sing~
ing old songs of home that came back to him. Now and
then, of course, he could not help but think of little An~
tanas, whom he should never see again, whose little voice
he should never hear; and then he would have to battle
with himself. Sometimes at night he would waken dream~
ing of Ona, and stretch out his arms to her, and wet the
ground with his tears. But in the morning he would get
up and shake himself, and stride away again to battle with
the world.

He never asked where he was nor where he was going;
the country was big enough, he knew, and there was no
danger of his coming to the end of it. And of course he
could always have company for the asking -- everywhere
he went there were men living just as he lived, and whom
he was welcome to join. He was a stranger at the busi~
ness, but they were not clannish, and they taught him all
their tricks, -- what towns and villages it was best to keep

[[259]]

p258 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p259w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p260

v?