82 ST MARTINIS SUMMER 



attention ; soon he was occupied in watching a 

 red admiral which had settled on a bramble leaf 

 and kept opening and shutting its gorgeous 

 wings, as if for his distraction. 



So hour after hour passed in the warm light 

 that bathed the hill and touched with a velvety 

 softness even the old chantry and the granite 

 boulders, till at length the sun sank behind the 

 sea, leaving plain and upland to the mystery of 

 night and the glories of the full moon. 



That day was the harbinger of a lovely St 

 Martin's summer, during which the hare greatly 

 enjoyed sitting on the hill and wandering over 

 the lowland. It would have been a perfect time 

 but for the abundance of the gossamers ; they 

 floated from every blade and spray and clung 

 to his legs and chest, even to his face, causing 

 him much annoyance. He was very nice as to 

 his person ; he could not rest unless his coat was 

 free of everything that adhered to it, and it was 

 a tedious business getting rid of the gossamer 

 threads ; indeed, it took him so long that he 

 had to return earlier than usual so as to finish 

 the grooming before daybreak, lest the move- 

 ment of his pads and tongue, which served as 

 brushes and sponge, should betray him to his 

 enemies. 



The welcome after-summer lasted a full fort- 



