THE MOUNT 267 



not a place for very concentrated study, as 

 birds and beetles, squirrels and butterflies, 

 were most engaging and distracting neighbours. 

 At the farther end of the Mount in the 

 'sixties, my father built with his own hands 

 a delightful play-place for my sister and 

 youngest brother the thatched hut where 

 their toys, and books, and tea-things were 

 kept ; and on an outdoor fireplace of four 

 bricks the kettle was boiled every day for 

 their tea. At the same time, when all Eng- 

 land had just succumbed to the game of 

 croquet, he had a charming croquet-ground 

 cleared and levelled for me near by, shaded 

 by fine Oaks and Hollies. And thus the 

 Mount gradually became our open-air drawing- 

 room and second garden, to which all resorted 

 in the hot weather. 



When the Enclosure Act was passed, a 

 large amount of moorland beyond the Mount 

 was allotted to the glebe. My father dis- 

 approved of the measure as deeply as did 

 Shakespeare of " the enclosing of Welcombe," 

 and opposed it by all means in his power. 



