298 FEBRUARY 



stimulants and comforted him with strong- broth, 

 and after a few hours' rest on the ancestral couch, 

 which is the glory of his kitchen, he felt sufficiently 

 restored to tell his tale. He has just been sitting 

 on the edge of one of Jim's study chairs recounting 

 the terrible experience of the night. 



It appears that he left his sister's house about 

 twilight yesterday for the long walk home, which 

 lay first across a corner of the downs, and after- 

 wards by more familiar roads along the valley. 

 The snow, which had threatened for days, was 

 falling thickly, and he had some difficulty in finding 

 his way. When he had been walking for about 

 two hours, and had not yet left the high ground, he 

 knew that he had lost himself, so he pulled up 

 suddenly, and then continued to walk onward be- 

 cause no other course was open to him. It would 

 have been folly to go back, ignorant as he was of 

 his whereabouts. But he began to feel nervous, 

 for he is no braver in the dark than other Wessex 

 men, and he goes in sore fear of the unknown. 



He felt the ground before him with his stick at 

 every step, for he knew there were treacherous 

 hollows on these uplands into which he might fall 

 and lie without discovery until the returning spring. 

 His relief was great when he was brought up after 

 a time by a fence, of which his blackthorn gave 

 him warning". He followed the fence until its 



o 



circumference was broken by a small wicket gate, 

 through which he entered, and found himself walk- 

 ing up the narrow path of a cottage garden. 



He knocked at the door of the cottage, but no 

 one answered. Then he made snowballs, and 



