Page:Path of Vision; pocket essays of East and West.djvu/54



HE world of knowledge is honeycombed nowadays with railroads under private control. We no longer have, as in the past, a monopoly of transportation and communication;—not even a Tourist-Agent who will assume the responsibility of a personally conducted tour on all the lines, except it be the Daily Press. And then, you are likely to lose your baggage and find yourself stranded in the wilderness of belief. You begin to doubt, not only the vaunted omniscience of your Guide, but even yourself. The monks of the Middle Ages, though their system of transportation was not based on dividends or profit-sharing schemes, were good conductors, excellent engineers, faithful and experienced guides. The incidents of the journey were not very agreeable, but accidents were scarce. A traveller risked little or nothing by