HUNTS WITH JOKROCKS 



about the ewes, and indignant ganders flew at 

 the hounds' and horses' heels. 



'Sink them goslin's!' said Pigg, eyeing a 

 whole string of them ; ' ar wish fox had ivery one 

 o' you.' 



Our friends' frequent visits having made them 

 well acquainted with the way to the valuable 

 forest, they popped through gates and gaps, and 

 made short cuts through fields and farms, that 

 greatly reduced the distance they travelled on 

 the first occasion. After a couple of hours' steady 

 butter and eggs bumping, they found themselves 

 on Saddlecombe-hill, overlooking an oak-clad 

 ravine that gradually lost itself in the general 

 sterility of the wide forest. A slight change 

 . was just visible on the oak-buds ; the young 

 birch had got its plum-coloured tinge, while here 

 and there the spiry larch in verdant green, or 

 the dark spruce or darker fir, broke the massive 

 heaviness of the forest. 



Jorrocks pulled up, as well to reconnoitre as 

 to see if he could hit off the smuggler's cave, 



194 



