THE COUNTRY. 187


and the result was a simple joy of living, -not
intense, perhaps, but also not vague. Indeed,
looking into these vacant faces of the Crackers,
it is a relief to remember that there ever was
any animation, anything eager and interested,
here in the swamps or forest. The braves had
their ambitions whether the ambitions were
lofty or not has nothing to do with it; they
meant thought, and an expression of the wish to