Cuckoos and Swallows. 9 



lane. The Cuckoo flew low and 

 straight, his long tail steadying his 

 flight, and balancing him upon the 

 bough of beech where he lit, and 

 cried again and again his "cuckoo 

 cuckoo " call. 



Hannah laughed as she heard, 

 and as she noted the fact of her 

 face being turned north-eastwards 

 as she stood. 



" London ! 'Tis to London I'm 

 going ! " she said, under her breath, 

 with a sense of shy and secret 

 delight " London lies out there. 

 And one travels the path one is 

 facing for, when the first spring 

 Cuckoo is heard." 



That is an old south-country 

 superstition, you must know. Per- 

 haps, as Hannah's sweetheart had 

 work in London, and had written, 

 bidding her be ready when he came 

 to fetch his wife to his flourishing 

 home, that journey Londonwards 

 might come true, and the Cuckoo- 



