290 FIELD AND HEDGEROW, 



bank pink convolvulus twines round the stalks and the 

 green-flowered buckwheat gathers several together, ji 

 The sunlight cannot reach the stream, which runs in 

 shadow, deep down below the wheat-ears, over which 

 butterflies wander. Forget-me-nots flower under the if 

 banks ; grasses lean on the surface ; willow-herbs, tall 1 j 

 and stiff, stand up ; but out from the tangled and inter- [ 

 laced fibres the water flows as clear as it rose by the hill. ; 

 There is a culvert under the road, and on the opposite j 

 side the wall admits the stream by an arch jealously 

 guarded by bars. In this valley the wall is lower and ' 

 thicker and less covered at the top with ivy, so that ; 

 where the road rises over the culvert you can see into 

 the park. The stream goes rounding away through the ' 

 sward, bending somewhat to th*e right, where the ground 

 gradually descends. On the left side, at some distance, 

 stands a row of full-grown limes, and through these 

 there is a glimpse of the old manor-house. It is called 

 the old house because the requirements of modern days 

 have rendered it unsuitable for an establishment. A 

 much larger mansion has been erected in another part 

 of the park nearer the village, with a fagade visible from 

 the highway. The old manor-house is occupied by the 

 land-steward, or, as he prefers to be called, the deputy- 

 forester, who is also the oldest and largest tenant on the 

 estate. It is he who rules the park. The labourers and 

 keepers call him the ' squire.' 



Now the old squire's favourite resort is the window- 

 seat in the gun-room, because thence he can see a section 

 of the highway, which, where it crosses the streamlet, 

 comes within half a mile of the house. There the hollow 

 and the lower wall permit any one at this window to 

 obtain a view of the road on one of the sides of the 

 valley. At this declivity it almost faces the house, 



