WOODLANDS 7 



Leaving the spot at last, and turning again into the 

 lane, the shadows dance upon the white dust under the 

 feet, irregularly circular spots of light surrounded with 

 umbra shift with the shifting branches. By the wayside 

 lie rings of dandelion stalks carelessly cast down by the 

 child who made them, and tufts of delicate grasses 

 gathered for their beauty but now sprinkled with dust. 

 Wisps of hay hang from the lower boughs of the oaks 

 where they brushed against the passing load. 



After a time, when the corn is ripening, the herb betony 

 flowers on the mounds under the oaks. Following the 

 lane down the hill and across the small furze common 

 at the bottom, the marks of traffic fade away, the 

 dust ceases, and is succeeded by sward. The hedge- 

 rows on either side are here higher than ever, and 

 are thickly fringed with bramble bushes, which some- 

 times encroach on the waggon ruts in the middle, and 

 are covered with flowers, and red, and green, and ripe 

 blackberries together. 



Green rushes line the way, and green dragon flies 

 dart above them. Thistledown is pouting forth from 

 the swollen tops of thistles crowded with seed. In a 

 gateway the turf has been worn away by waggon wheels 

 and the hoofs of cart horses, and the dry heat has 

 pulverised the crumbling ruts. Three hen pheasants 

 and a covey of partridges that have been dusting them- 

 selves here move away without much haste at the 

 approach of footsteps the pheasants into the thickets, 

 and the partridges through the gateway. The shallow 

 holes in which they were sitting can be traced on the 

 dust, and there are a few small feathers lying about. 



A barley field is within the gate; the mowers have 

 just begun to cut it on the opposite side. Next to it 

 is a wheat field ; the wheat has been cut and stands 



