I’m glad to have learned about the Abernathy Boys’ cross-country adventures a century ago, but I do wonder.  Sure, the 10- and 6-year-olds’ adventures do echo across the decades as something lost.  And yet… their story was unique even then, and life has become less dangerous for children, which is a good thing.

On the other hand, we’re definitely overprotective these days, largely (I think) because we overemphasize the rare stories on the other side of the spectrum, where things go tragically wrong.