DOWN A GREEN LANE! <)i 



by a slow descent, sweeps away to the town, which, 

 partly hid by the trees which embower it, and 

 partly screened by the rise of the uplands, lies 

 picturesquely along the river banks. Beyond the 

 town, the wood and meadow-covered slopes rise 

 upwards towards the sky. The peep is exquisite, 

 and affords for the moment a delightful contrast 

 to the peculiar charms of the ferny lane. 



In another moment, however, the open coun- 

 try disappears from view, as you pursue your 

 way downwards. The path now descends so 

 swiftly, that you need some care to secure a 

 foot-hold. As it descends, it narrows to the width 

 of a foot, and from its rugged stony character 

 it is easy to see that it has been cut out of the 

 rocky hill-side, in the days of packhorses, and 

 before the age of carts. Higher and higher grow 

 the moss-covered banks, sloping outwards and 

 upwards. Here, on your left, at the top of the 

 high cutting for it is no longer a hedge is a 

 spreading oak tree, thickly matted with gnarled 

 roots of ivy. From out of the forks of this beau- 

 tiful tree, just over your head, drop the pretty 



