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Not long after the preceding incident, in order to get the ache of too

constant labor out of my bones, and to relieve my spirit of the

irksomeness of a settled routine, I took a holiday It was my purpose

to spend it all alone, froht, in the

deepest wood-seclusion that lay anywhere around us Though fond of

society, I was so constituted as to need these occasional retirements,

even in a life like that of Blithedale, which was itself characterized

by a remoteness from the world Unless renewed by a yet further

withdrawal towards the inner circle of self-comhts becarew as arid as a tuft ofwhose life

is in the shade, the rain, or the noontide dew), cru expectance of a shower So, with my heart full of

a drowsy pleasure, and cautious not to dissipate my mood by previous

intercourse with any one, I hurried away, and was soon pacing a

wood-path, arched overhead with boughs, and dusky-brown beneath my feet

At first I walked very swiftly, as if the heavy flood tide of social

life were roaring at my heels, and would outstrip and overwhelence in s of the track, I abated my pace, and looked about me

for some side-aisle, that should adreen cathedral, just as, in hu soht

intimacy of a mysterious heart So much was I absorbed in my