IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN. 117 



tion how much and what apparel we should take 

 with us, and that point was still unsettled when 

 the apple trees came to their blossoming. It is a 

 theory of mine that the chief delight of a vacation 

 from one s usual occupations is freedom from the 

 tyranny of plans and dates, and thus much Rosalind 

 had conceded to me. 



There had been an irresistible charm in the very 

 secrecy which protected our adventure from the 

 curious and unsympathetic comment of the world. 

 We found endless pleasure in imagining what this 

 and that good neighbor of ours would say about 

 the folly of leaving a comfortable house, good 

 beds, and a well-stocked larder for the hard fare and 

 uncertain shelter of a strange forest. &quot; For my 

 part,&quot; we gleefully heard Mrs. Grundy declare, 

 &quot; for my part, I cannot understand why two people 

 old enough to know better should make tramps of 

 themselves and go rambling about a piece of woods 

 that nobody ever heard of in the heat of the mid 

 summer.&quot; Poor Mrs. Grundy ! We could well 

 afford to laugh merrily at her scornful expostula 

 tions ; for while she was repeating platitudes to 

 overdressed and uninteresting people at Oldport, 

 we should be making sunny play of life with men 

 and women whose thoughts were free as the wind, 

 and whose hearts were fresh as the dew and the 

 stars. And often when our talk had died into 

 silence, and the wind without whistled to the fire 

 within, we had fallen to dreaming of those shadowy 



