Tish, The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions

restrain them. It was my suggestion, for instance, that we wear sandals without stockings, instead of going in our b

"Young Woodsman" told exactly how to manage in the woods if one were l

air fish-hook-and with a bootlace or a goo

d meat with no trouble at all. And there will

ries at the time and under bootlac

name is the spade

to dig bait,

d me wit

rs!" she sa

s not prepared for. I should nev

clothing, electric light, idiotic servants-Hannah, get away from that door!-rich foods, furniture and crowds of people. We've developed and cared for our bodies i

rs. We took a small bottle of blackberry cordial for emergencies, a cake of soap, a salt-cellar for seasoning the fish and rabbits, two towels, a package of cour

she guessed we could do it if an Indian squaw could, and that after we'd cut the poles once, we could carry them with us if we wished to move. She said the

somewhere and put up the tent, and set a few snares, and locate the nearest berry-bushes and mushroom-patches, a

who came to call and found us all sitting on the floor trying to get used to it, for of course there would be no chairs, "we

was a disease, for she said, "I h

of movement. We shall bathe in Nature's pools and come out cleansed. On the Sabbath we shall attend divine service under the Gothic arches

m sure I hope so," she said vaguely. "I don't

so large that the average p

lakes, rabbits, game and fish, and-solitude. Besides, Aggie's hay fever is better t

" he said. "That sort of thing ma

elligent as savage

of their own. They can make fire-" "So can I," retorted Tish. "Any fool ca

ss Letitia. And-you must pardon this, but I have your well-being at heart-

oftily, "is a matter of

way almost immediately, looking rather upset, and he preached on the following Sunday from "Cons

t to within ten miles or so of it and then send the driver back. The lake was in an uninhabited neighborhood, with the nearest town twenty-five miles away. We had one suitcase containing our blankets

ime for hunting. We had to walk ten miles, set up the tent, make a fire and gather nuts and berries. It was about that time, I th

ng wagon to drive us out a

way," he said, "but I ain't hear

snapped Tish. "How much to drive u

ll, about five dol

us fifteen miles

and as he had the only wagon

ing sun turned the woods to fairylike glades. Tis

" she whispered; "like some adventurer of old-Balboa discovering

sprites, but with gnats. I wanted a glass of iced tea, and some chicken salad, and talcum powder down my neck. The road was bad, and the driver seemed to have a

id at last, "but don't you think you're playing it a

rinking!" said

ut soon after he turned round

garden truck at market prices. I'm no phylanthropist," he said, glaring at Tish, "but I'd be glad to help the girl, and that's the tr

irl?" I

ound in the seat

e. But I'd like to know one thing: He hasn't got a mother

r so from our destination the horse scared up a rabbit, and Tish could hardly be restr

"Did you see its eyes? Lizzie, do you remember Mr. Wiggins's

e driver drew up his horses an

l there'll take you to the lake. How long do you r

own on her suitcase until he had driven out of sight. He drove slowly, looking back every now and then, and his last view of us m

n the last creak of the wagon had died away there was a silence that made our city-broke ears fai

st wilderness-to think, to breathe, to expand! Lizzie

d made me hungry, and I'd have eaten a rabbit that looked like Mr. Wiggins and called me by na

g out her costume, which was a blue calic

t on?" she asked,

alse modesty and false shame. We're here to get close to the great beat

e were. Aggie, who is very thin, discarded a part of her figure, and each of us parted with so

llow tree, and Tish suggested looking for a spring. She sa

. "What for? We've

Tish and I made a rabbit snare. We made a good many snares and got

und the free part of the thong round a snag and thus held the sapling down. The idea is that a rabbit, bounding along, presumably with his eyes shut, will stick his head through t

rew off to a safe distance to watch the rabbi

d never been able to think so clearly, and that we were

ound a place where a spring had existed before the dry spell, and there was a naked footprint in the mud, quite fr

!" said

s that no bear attacks a human unless he is hungry, an

of it. If no rabbit with acute melancholia comes along to commit suici

Tish said tersely; and we

terward that she had recognized it at once from the rabbit tracks. Anyhow, whether it died of design or curiosity, our supper was k

ears while it kicked and scratched. I was hungry en

," she wailed. "Look at his little

hroat while I make a fire. If it's any help to you, we're not go

ckintosh once killed a white hen that lived twenty minutes without its head; two weeks later she dreamed that that same hen, without a head

terials and stalking off into the woods with th

nto the woods with the rabbit in

she disdained matches. I rubbed with that silly drill and a sort of bow arrangement until my wrists ached, but I did not get even a spark of fire. W

gainst the left shin, and the left foot on the fireblock. I had got my feet mixed and was trying to hold my left wrist against my right shin, which is

onally I am not fond of rabbit, and our enjoyment was rather chastened by the fear that some mushrooms Tish had collected

, but it seemed wisest to

e on our way, and while that bear is likely har

ee, which was heavy. Our suitcases with our city clothes in them we hid

we lost it entirely, and Aggie, falling over a hidden root, stilled the fire. She became exceedingly disagreeable at about that time, said she wa

and the bushe