122 RIVERSIDE LETTERS xv 



they were none the worse for it. The lawn 

 looked sodden and dirty ; the daisies on it 

 seemed to have been much perturbed by 

 their immersion ; all their little smooth green 

 leaves, which generally lie so flat and tight 

 on the ground, were raised straight up to the 

 sky ; it looked as though, feeling the water 

 over them, they had raised their arms up as 

 a drowning person does. I do not know 

 how to account for this action on the part of 

 the daisies ; no other plants on the lawn had 

 done the same, not even the plantains, but 

 every single daisy leaf was standing straight 

 up, looking very curious. 



Very little damage was done by the flood 

 in this place. The bridge had to be reached 

 by boats from either end, as the roads to 

 it were under water. There were some 

 cottages near the river badly flooded ; one 

 man caught a large perch in his sitting-room. 

 I am happy to say that he was such a true 

 sportsman that he gave the fish its liberty. 

 But, with the exception of these cottages 



