Page:John James Audubon (Burroughs).djvu/24

xii lasted till the time of his marriage at the age of twenty-eight; his business career which followed, lasting ten or more years, and consisting mainly in getting rid of the fortune his father had left him; and his career as an ornithologist which, though attended with great hardships and privations, brought him much happiness and, long before the end, substantial pecuniary rewards. ''His ornithological tastes and studies really formed the main current of his life from his teens onward. During his business ventures in Kentucky and elsewhere this current comes to the surface more and more, absorbed more and more of his time and energies, and carried him further and further from the conditions of a successful business career.'' J. B.

January, 1902.