The glory of that achievement belongs to me, you know. Don't say a
word about it when you get home till you see me. I haven't fully made
up my mind as to the manner of capturing him, and there must be no
contradictions on the subject."
"Go ahead," replied Spalding, "we'll be careful of your honor. Drop us
a line at Cape Vincent, when you've digested the matter, and we'll
stand by you. Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" And our friends disappeared from our sight on their voyage
home.
"And so," said Spalding, "we are to leave this beautiful lake, and
these old forests so soon. I could linger here a month still, enjoying
these shady and primitive solitudes. To you and I, the quiet which one
finds here is vastly more inviting than it is to the friends who have
just left us. The Doctor, of necessity, leads a life of activity,
feeling physical weariness as the result of his labors, but little of
that strong yearning for intellectual repose which those in your
profession or mine so often feel. Smith's life demands excitement. The
absence of the cares and toil of business occasions a restlessness and
desire of change, which makes him discontented here. With them the
great charm of this wild region is its novelty. They enjoy its
beauties for a season with peculiar relish, but as these become
familiar, the spell is broken, and they turn towards home without a
regret To you and I, there is something beyond this.
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