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Show DAYS OFF his brief, dry patter about the famous pictures that the room contained. He stood in the centre of the room holding his watch in his hand while they dispersed themselves aro·c: :d the walls, looking for the paintings which they ' >ught to see, like chickens searching for scattered ;;rains of corn. At the expiration of five minutes he clapped his hands sharply; his flock scurried back to him; and they moved on to 'do' the next room. "I suppose that was one way of seeing Venice: but I would much rather sit at a little table on the Riva degli Schiavoni, with a plate of bread and cheese and a mezzo of Chianti before me, watching the motley crowd in the street and the many-coloured sails in the harbour; or spend a lazy afternoon in a gondola, floating through watery alley-ways that lead nowhere, and under the fayades of beautiful palaces whose names I did not even care to know. Of course I should like to see a fine picture or a noble church, now and then; but only one at a time, if you please; and that one I should wish to look at as long as it said anything to me, and to revisit as often as it called me." 14 DAYS OFF "That is because you have no idea of the educational uses of a vacation, Uncle :::'eter," said I. "You are an unsystematic person, .~n incorrigible idler." "I am," he answered, without a sign of penitence, "that is precisely what I am,-in my days off. Otherwise I should not get the good of them. Even a hobby, on such days, is to be used chiefly for its lateral advantages,-thc open doors of the sideshows to which it brings you, the unexpected opportunities of dismounting and tying your hobby to a tree, while you follow the trail of something strange and attractive, as Moses did when he turned aside from his shepherding on Mount Horeb and climbed up among the rock:; to see the burning bush. "The value of a favourite pursui~ lies not only in its calculated results but al~o :n its by-products. You may become a collector of almost anything in the world,-orchids, postage-s~amps, flint arrowheads, cook-books, varieties of the game of eat's cradle,and if you chase your trifle in the right spirit it will lead you into pleasant surprises and bring you acquainted with delightful or amusing people. You remember when you went with Professor Rinas- 15 |