The Saint Paul globe., 1903-07-26
Another Thoreau Is Discovered i'm Names
North Woods and Is Induced to Visit Boston

'T began by laying my face very
gently on the water and holding my
breath; then, as l got used to II. let
ting my head sink and on opening
my eyes under water, was surprised 10
find how plainly 1 could see. and that II
was not an unpleasant sensation. AS
my head went down my feet wanted 70
come up, and it came to me that II
would be the easiest way to try to
learn to swim. to try it under water
first. Accordingly, l Strengthened out.
gave little plunge in the water, put
ting my head below the surface and
tried to swim; and. although my hands
and feet were going, one at time,
after the fashion of the Irishman's
rowing. Pull, Patsy. 1 pulled last. l
found that I kept near the surface, and
in a very short time got them edu-
Gated ITO pull together, and tried it with
my head out of water. and was Surpr1S-
ed to find that swimming was as easy
as rolling off log and that the secret
of learning to swim was in overcon-
ing the fear of ones head going under
water.
81 often saw partridges and ducks
on my trips after the COWS. but as L
was thought to be too young TO De
trusted with a gun, / would feaSt my
eyes and long for the time when L
would be allowed one. and try and sat
isfy myself by pointing a stick at them
and crying bang. l soon had a DOW
and arrow almost always on hand. the
arrow pointed by board nail filed to
a point, and many squirrel and oe-
casiOnally a partridge came to grief
through my William Tell ability.
MY left knee has three good scars,
souvenirs of my early efforts in shay
ing out bows from hemloek limbs. in
terest getting away with caution IN
handling the draW-shave.
Kept His Feet Warm.
''When the fall rains came it was
easier work to find the cows. and they
were usually in their yard near the
house in good season In the frosty
fall mornings, before the sun had fair
fy shown his face. would trudge out
to the yard, milkpail on each arm,
my hands stuck well down into my
pockets, and pat the cows very gently
to make them get up without moving
from the bed, giving me warm place
for my bare feet while milking them
CAS- the fall advanced I used to set
a few steel traps that borrowed
along the banks of the brook for musk
rat, now and then being rewarded by
getting one in my trap. and made
wooden deadfalls for mink. In one
Of these I once caught large. nice
mink for whose skin received 81. My
first deadfall was wonder in trap
construction, and would have driven
the ordinary mink out of the country
at first sight; but a foolish one came
along and managed to choke himself
to death in it.
Possibly he had suicidal intent for
some time and availed himself of the
first opportunity; but he could not have
made away with himself when his
pretty, glossy skin would have looked
better Or been more appreciated than
it was by the small boy who found him
in his trap. I do not remember that
1 keeled over, but l do remember that
I rolled over several times, smoothing
his slick fur from his nose to the tip
of his tail; and a better feeling boy
than I was on the way home could not
have been found in that part of the
world
"Although during the days Of the
school term I was in the schoolroom in
body. it was hard to keep my mind
there for it found more pleasure in
wandering among the birds and animals
than among the sums and spelling les
sons. and 1 took more interest in fig
uring out how to make trap to
catch a mink than in doing the ex-
as pies in arithmetic. would try hard
to keep my mind on my lessons. but
would hardly get settled down before
an imaginary squirrel would run across
the book or a woodchuck whistle from
some distant rock pile or stone wall on
the farm.
'And many of these piles of rocks
and pieces of wall have suffered in my
desperate attempts to get the withes,
which I would twist and then double in
loop, where the woodchuck would
bite at it, when I ould unceremonious-
I ly yank him from his stronghold by
hooking the loop on his upper front
teeth and finish him with a few raps
over the head with a stick or mEzdog
would shake his life out by the nape of
the neck. Cruel as this may seem to
some of my readers. it was in me.