Page:Condor20(2).djvu/6

 52 THE CONDOR Vol. XX gun and rod or whether it was of independent growth, simply another mani- festation of those boyhood traits which made the autumn woods an irresistible allurement and the quest of partridge eggs a treasured adventure. I am much inclined to the latter view. Of the deeper nature of the man, certainly a prom- inent characteristic was independence, and a love of the freedom which is associated with life in the open. At bottom I believe it was largely the aes- thetic sense---an esteem for the beautiful--which drew him afield. Something there was of the artist in him, much,of the musician, certainly a touch of the poet. He confided to me once that it would have given him intense pleasure to be able to write the poems he felt. He enjoyed music and pictures. With it all he owned a vein of quiet, somewhat whimsical humor.  Here was a man of finer fibre, simple in tastes, appreciative, and gentle. He was keenly sensitive, almost "temperamental TM, and strongly reacted upon by environment, yet seemingly unaware of the fact: no wonder that he soug.ht the hills, and a refuge in his gun and rod. Such a man would find unlimited zest in matching his wits against a wary trout, or in waiting. and watching in the brooding quiet Of a dark fir forest. Amid such scenes his happiest days were spent, and in such pursuits the real Belding found expression. At odd moments during the' last few years of his life, Mr. Belding jotted down reminiscent notes of his earlier days. Originally written for relatives, and for the friends who suggested the work as a pastime, this autobiography contains much that is of general interest. In the following pages I have let Mr. Belding tell his own story as fully as the limitations of space would permit, but it has been possible to reproduce only a relatively small part of the manuscript. "I was born June 12th, 1829, at a locality known as West Farms [Massa- chusetts], on the west side of the Connecticut River, opposite Amherst College. My memory does not go back quite so far, but I have seen it recorded in the old family Bible. * * * When I was four years old I was sent to school which was aear our home. Not long afterward I got my ears boxed for whispering to another small boy. "Amherst College, Mount Tom, blount Holyoke, and other interesting points were in plain view of our home. I often admired Amherst College when the sun shone on its windows. There was an extensive forest on the west bor- der of our farm, in which I often wandered when I was five or six years old. An uncle and his family lived on the other side of it, a mile or two from our home. One day I went alone, unknown to my parents, following a narrow path to my uncle 's, often wandering away from the path in search of partridge eggs. I was not allowed to stop long at.my uncle's, but was hustled into a buggy and takenhome, much to the relief of my parents. I was born with a sense of direc- tion and have never been lost. "I was naturally honest, but could not resist temptation. My first act of dishonesty was when I was five or six years of age and found a handful of chestnuts in the drawer of one of my father's' workmen, ate two or three of [hem, and went out of the room they were in, not intending to eat any more. But I soon went back and ate a few more and continued these visits until I had eaten all of them, although I struggled hard to keep away. In sending me, in 1903, the l)hotogral)h which is here rel)roduced, he remarked with amusement on the excellent likeness of the tl, which obtruded itself into the l)or- trait. It was a certain relish for the unusual which led him to have this negative fin- ished for his nearer friends.