THE SHEPHERD OF THE DOWNS 109 



group of them going my way in a lane a little distance 

 from the village. Not being quite sure of the way I 

 asked them to direct me ; but they were too eager to 

 help, and the short cuts they recommended across fields 

 and commons, and through woods, with turnings this 

 way and that way, and numerous other details, only 

 served to confuse me, and saying that it was no good 

 I walked on. Then the small rosy, round-faced, blue- 

 eyed boy said he was going a couple of miles my way 

 and would show me how to get to my place. 



Before we had gone many yards a grey mist came 

 over and obscured the scene. It was getting dark too, 

 and I remarked to the little fellow that the days would 

 be shorter still by-and-by, and that it would be very 

 dark and lonely for him after school hours. He replied 

 that he knew the way well across the fields and 

 common, and by the lanes, and he was not afraid of 

 the dark. Not when it is quite black, I asked, and 

 raining or snowing ? No, he said, however dark it was 

 he could not lose his way, and he didn't mind the rain 

 in the least. He had a good coat for winter, and good 

 boots. Here he asked me to stop and look at his boots. 

 He had another nicer pair for Sunday wear. Then he 

 gave me a description of all his possessions in the way 

 of garments ; but the winter coat which his mother had 

 made for him was the possession he valued most. I 

 asked him if his father worked on a farm. No, he 

 said, his father had left home a long time ago and 

 would never return. Perhaps he had gone to some 



