30 A FARMER'S YEAR 



certain tutor named Colonel A., who for various reasons became 

 very distasteful to the lads in question. In his habits Colonel A. 

 was free and easy, and as the dark stain upon the white marble 

 still shows, or showed not long ago, it was his graceful habit while 

 instructing the mind of youth to rest his head against the mantel- 

 piece and prop his legs upon a chair. In due course Colonel A., 

 the tutor, died, and, much against the will of her sons, Mrs. Sutton, 

 who, as I have said, was of a determined character, insisted upon 

 burying him in the Sutton vault in Ditchingham churchyard. 

 Time went on and Mrs. Sutton died also, whereon the sons, 

 taking the opportunity of the vault being opened, dragged out the 

 body of their unfortunate mentor by night, and thrust it into a 

 hole which they had dug somewhere in the graveyard. That 

 this tale is substantially correct I have satisfied myself by inquiry. 



The rest of the Bath Hills to the south of the Lodge dwelling- 

 house are clothed with Scotch firs and other trees, below which lies 

 a stretch of grass land running down to the river. This grass, 

 most of which I let, is not of first-rate quality, though good 

 enough in dry seasons, because of the floods which spread over it 

 in times of heavy rain. In 1879, the first of our really bad years, 

 the floods were so high that many of the trees were killed, though 

 some of them took a dozen years to die. Last year also we had 

 a heavy flood in February, but it was of brief duration. Indeed 

 the floods are neither so frequent nor so prolonged as they used 

 to be, either because the millers below are more merciful in the 

 matter of holding up the water with their sluice-gates, or because 

 the bridge at Beccles has been widened, allowing the stream to 

 escape quicker to the sea. Round Beccles itself, however, I 

 believe that the water has been out more than usual, owing to 

 the high tides, which dam up the mouth of the river. Never has 

 such a time for high tides been known, and the gale of December 

 last will long be remembered on the east coast for its terrible 

 amount of damage. The sight close to a house which I 

 possess at Kessingland, a place near Lowestoft, was something 

 to remember, for here and at Pakefield the high cliff has been 



