DEER IN SUMMER. 67 



peared above the trees. The height could 

 be estimated by the diminution in the ap- 

 parent size of the oaks. At such a stream 

 Rosalind might have slaked her thirst and 

 found her name carved close by in the soft 

 bark of a mountain-ash ; it is a spot where 

 the influence of Shakespeare is unconsci- 

 ously felt. The interest the scene itself 

 arouses is so much increased by the pre- 

 sence of the deer, for though unseen in 

 the summer noon, they are certainly here 

 as wild as ever they were in fair Rosa- 

 lind's time. This is their favourite stream ; 

 they come down to it to drink at mid- 

 day, and return to the cover to wait till 

 night. 



When the tufters enter the woods that 

 is, the hounds detached from the pack to 

 force the deer to break cover the deer rush 

 to the swift brook, aware that it leaves no 

 scent. To and fro the stream they race, 



