Sometimes at night, when the loons were calling on the lake and my packers were asleep, I'd lie by the fire and speculate what civilization was worth and if a man might not do better to cut loose and live by his gun and traps.

Well, of course, it was a crank notion, and I wasn't all a fool.
I stopped longer than I meant, but I pulled out and got to work again." Scott paused and smoked meditatively before he resumed: "It was of no use; the city palled.

Don't know that I'm a cynic or much of a philosopher, but the folks I knew seemed to have a wrong idea of values.
Spent their best efforts grubbing for money and trying to take the lead in smart society.

They made me tired with their hustling about things that didn't matter; I wanted the woods and the quiet the river hardly breaks." "You went back ?" "I did," said Scott.

"Felt I had to go.