Well, then, as I say, what is a reluctant bachelor who loves his liberty to do with him self? I cannot abide the life of towns, though I live in a town half the year. I like friends, and I do not care for acquaintances. There is no conceivable reason why, in the pursuit of pleasure, I should frequent social enter tainments that do not amuse me. What have I then done? I have done what I liked best. I have taken a big roomy house in the quietest country I could find. I have furnished it comfortably, and I have hitherto found no difficulty in inducing my friends, one or two at a time, to come and share my life. I shall have something to say about solitude presently, but meanwhile I will describe my hermitage.

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