IN A GREEN COUNTRY 155 



above." At which the crowd laughed, for they were 

 a frivolous people in that town, and they asked him 

 where else it could come from. 



That little town of ancient memories and a cloud- 

 burst, with the villages round it, is a good place to be 

 in, but it could not keep me since I could not find there 

 what I had gone out to seek; so very soon I turned 

 eastward again, going by way of Poole, which I had 

 not seen for some years. There I met with a sur- 

 prising experience. There is a fine public park at 

 Poole, with extensive green spaces and a lake for 

 boating — the largest lake in any public park in 

 England. At six o'clock in the evening it was thronged 

 with the townspeople who had gathered at that place 

 to recreate themselves after their day's work, and 

 never have I seen a people enjoy themselves more 

 heartily, or one that seemed more like a naturally 

 joyous people. The greatest crowd was round the 

 bandstand, where hundreds of people were resting 

 on chairs or sitting and lying on the grass, whilst 

 others danced on the green or on the large open-air 

 dancing floors made for the purpose. Further away 

 youths and boys were running races and playing ball 

 on the lawns, whilst numbers of prettily dressed 

 girls flitted up and down the paths on bicycles. So 

 much liberty in a public park was very unusual. Now 

 just when I came on the scene at about six o'clock 

 a big cloud rose up from the south-east and grew 

 and grew until it covered half the entire heavens with 

 its blackness; and as it spread higher and nearer 

 the thunder heard at intervals increased in power 



