202 FOOT-PATHS. 



school-boys, then a man grown, seemed as if he might 

 have had this very path in mind and thought him- 

 self again returning to his father's house : " I must 

 hurry," he said, " I have a long way to go up a hill 

 and through a dark wood, and it will soon be night." 



We are a famous people to go " cross lots," but we 

 do not make a path, or, if we do, it does not last ; the 

 scene changes, the currents set in other directions, or 

 cease entirely, and the path vanishes. In the South 

 one would find plenty of bridle paths, for there 

 everybody goes horseback, and there are few pass- 

 able roads ; and the hunters and lumbermen of the 

 North have their trails through the forest following % 

 line of blazed trees ; but in all my acquaintance with 

 the country, the rural and agricultural sections, 

 I do not know a pleasant, inviting path leading from 

 house to house, or from settlement to settlement, by 

 which the pedestrian could shorten or enliven a jour- 

 ney or add the charm of the seclusion of the fields 

 to his walk. 



What a contrast England presents in this respect, 

 according to Mr. Jennings's pleasant book, " Field 

 Paths and Green Lanes." The pedestrian may go 

 about quite independent of the highway. Here is a 

 glimpse from his pages : " A path across the field, 

 seen irom the station, leads into a road close by the 

 T odge gate of Mr. Cubett's house. A little beyond 

 .his gate is another and smaller one, from which a 

 narrow path ascends straight to the top of the hill 

 and comes out just opposite the post-office on Ran 



