1 64 UNDER THE TREES. 



they but knew it, and we were soon reconciled to 

 the possession of inexhaustible wealth. We felt 

 the delight of a sudden exchange of poverty for 

 richness, a swift transition from bondage to free 

 dom. Eternity was ours, and we ceased to divide 

 it into fragments, or to set it off into duties and 

 work. We lived in the consciousness of a vast 

 leisure ; a quiet happiness took the place of the old 

 anxiety to always do at the moment the thing 

 that ought to be done ; we accepted the days as 

 gifts of joy rather than as bringers of care. 



It was delightful to fall asleep lulled by the rustle 

 of the leaves, and to awake, without memory of 

 care or pressure of work, to a day that had brought 

 nothing more discordant into the Forest than the 

 singing of birds. We rose exhilarated and buoy 

 ant, and breakfasted merrily under a great oak ; 

 sometimes we lingered far on into the morning, 

 yielding ourselves to the spell of the early day 

 when it no longer proses of work and duty, but 

 sings of freedom and ease and the strength that 

 makes a play of life. Often we strayed without 

 plan or purpose, as the winding paths of the Forest 

 led us ; happy and care-free as children suddenly 

 let loose in fairyland. We discovered moss-grown 

 paths which led into the very heart of the Forest, 

 and we pressed on silently from one green recess to 

 another until all memory of the sunnier world faded 

 out of mind. Sometimes we emerged suddenly 

 into a wide, brilliant glade ; sometimes we came into 



