t they all considered it their duty to assist
me, for I had often assisted them in other ways. For instance, when
they came back one by one and in twos and threes from the lakes, they
were always loth to start begging again in Baltimore, which they
must either do or starve. To make things worse, they would probably
have to wait a week or two before they could get a chance to sail
with cattle, for at this time the office would be full of men. Now,
as I was always back before them, they could rely on me for a little
assistance, for I would beg extra on their account. But for all that,
the money I got from them was more of a curse than a blessing, for
the reason that it often kept me several days in idleness; and, after
living in lazy respectability for three or four days, I always found
it hard to start again to earn my living as a beggar.

It seems a mystery that these inland lakes should be sometimes
visited by such terrific storms. One winter, when I was in Chicago, I
went down to the waterside to see a ship in its last extremity. When
I got there I saw thousands of helpless people, watching a vessel
sinking before their eyes, no one being able to go to its assistance
in small boats. We could expect to see this happen on the wild
sea-coast, but this was an inland lake, and here was a city of more
than a million inhabitants. It is more to be wondered at by men who
have seen that beautiful lake almost without a ripple in summer-time.




X

The Happy Life


It is certainly a mystery how man got into this tangle, having to
conform to the rules of civilization--up in the morning at a certain
hour, and to bed at a certain time at night, with certain limited
intervals for meals; in fact a very slave to these conditions, and
so often without power of being otherwise. If he breaks his fetters
by indulging in more sleep, or prolonging his meals, he will starve,
for nuts are not now free for the picking, and fruits are not now the
free gift of Nature; for she herself is made the servant of landlords
who are tyrannical ove