IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN. 131 



upon the lantern-bearer and beats the life out of 

 him, as in &quot; the good old times.&quot; The world has 

 grown more decent and polite, although still at 

 heart no doubt the bad old world which stoned the 

 prophets. It sneers where it once stoned ; it 

 rejects and scorns where it once beat and burned. 

 And so Arden has become a refuge, not so much 

 from persecution and hatred as from ignorance, in 

 difference, and the small wounds of small minds 

 bent upon stinging that which they cannot destroy. 



IV. 



.... Fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden 

 world. 



ROSALIND and I have always been planning to 

 do a great many pleasant things when we had more 

 time. During the busy days when we barely found 

 opportunity to speak to each other we were always 

 thinking of the better days when we should be able 

 to sit hours together with no knock at the door 

 and no imperative summons from the kitchen. 

 Some man of sufficient eminence to give his words 

 currency ought to define life as a series of inter 

 ruptions. There are a good many valuable and 

 inspiring things which can only be done when one 

 is in the mood, and to secure a mood is not always 

 an easy matter , there are moods which are as coy 

 as the most high-spirited woman, and must be wooed 

 with as much patience and tact : and when the 



