A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 



him more noticeable than another, it was his fond- 

 ness for nature. He could content himself for 

 hours at a low window, looking into the ravine 

 and at the great trees, noting the smallest stir 

 there; he delighted, above all things, to accom- 

 pany me walking about the garden, hearing the 

 birds, getting the smell of the fresh earth, and 

 rejoicing in the sunshine. He followed me and 

 gambolled like a dog, rolling over on the turf 

 and exhibiting his delight in a hundred ways. 

 If I worked, he sat and watched me, or looked 

 off over the bank, and kept his ear open to the 

 twitter in the cherry-trees. When it stormed, he 

 was sure to sit at the window, keenly watching 

 the rain or the snow, glancing up and down at 

 its falling; and a winter tempest always de- 

 lighted him. I think he was genuinely fond of 

 birds, but, so far as I know, he usually confined 

 himself to one a day; he never killed, as some 

 sportsmen do, for the sake of killing, but only as 



