THE LOATHELV HERD 



ladies, ma'm, God bless them ! "~ as if we were little pigs 



or calves. 



He had a sinister reputation with us already on 



account of his periodical dealings with sheep, which we, 



tender-hearted and impressionable children, scarcely as 



much as hinted to each other/ and certainly never really 



associated with the roast mutton that appeared twice a 



week. 



No, we did not like Green, the herd / and I, the smallest of 



the " lovely lot/ 7 would cling to my mother's skirts when 



his little twinkling eye turned in my direction. 



For a long time he was associated in my mind with the 

 horror of a conversation which passed between him and 

 my mother. How well I remember that day ! We were 

 walking through one of the upper fields towards a village 

 called Hop Hall, which also belonged to the estate. It was 

 a lovely meadow with a curious little wood in the middle 

 of it, ringed like a moat by a streamlet in which the cattle 

 drank. This wood was full of wild Crab- apples/ the 

 blossom of it hung over the water and was mirrored 

 therein. The field caught the sweep of wind that blew 

 from the top of the hill with the breath of the Pine-trees. It 

 was a carpet of Cowslips in the right season. 

 Well, as we walked, my mother and four little girls and 

 one little boy, the herd stumping along with a stickhe had 

 a lame leg his ragged dog behind him, there came the 

 following interchange of remarks, which set a seal of 

 terror on my young mind. My mother mentioned her 

 intention of visiting Hop Hall, and then inquired how a 



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