134 CARN BREA REPELS HIM 



In the midst of the great croft by Boscawen- 

 Un stone-circle he became a prey to misgiv- 

 ings which caused him to stop and consider. 

 ''Is it safe," he asked himself, "to entrust 

 myself so near to man?" Instantly from that 

 mysterious second self of his came the answer, 

 " Why not ? Man has never injured you, 

 never even sought you, though you have battened 

 on his crops and taken of his best." Reassured 

 by this thought he held on his course across 

 the moors till abreast of Chapel Carn Brea, 

 where he again paused. Dark though it was, 

 thickly as fell the snow, he could discern the 

 form of the great hill that had been to him like 

 a second mother. If it be possible for beast 

 to love a spot on earth, the hare loved the hill 

 where he had been born and suckled, the hill 

 which had sheltered him, the hill to which, in 

 his trouble, he had always turned. He had 

 never passed it by unregarded, he could not 

 even now. But it looked ghastly and cold, it 

 repelled him. Chapel Carn Brea repelled him 

 as a dead thing once loved repels the living ; 

 so he averted his gaze and moved on towards 

 the homestead. He followed the bridle-path 

 all the way, but just before reaching the house 

 he passed under the third bar of the gate of 

 the rickyard, made his way between the turf 



