132 IDLEHURST: 



from Firle to Crowborough, indifferently watered 

 through the darkness, whilst 



"fo S'apa 

 avrap air) Ze<vpos //-eyas, atev e</>vSpo?." 



I2t/i. To-day the morning broke, if the word may 

 be used of the pale light which so slowly grew behind 

 the tossing fir-boughs, in ceaseless rain. The world 

 was roofed in by grey cloud whose flying wreaths 

 now and again curled through the trees ; beyond the 

 garden-walls the elms faded into a background of 

 streaming vapour. The vegetable world rejoiced 

 visibly ; and after the late dull heat, one's own fibres 

 were the better for the downpour. And on the side 

 of utility, such a " fall " goes to replenish the springs : 

 another day or two such as this, and the " flit " or 

 surface wells, now perilously low, will fill up. Round 

 about Arnington a dry summer always brings us 

 to the edge of a water-famine ; and two or three 

 inches of rain more or less at the critical time 

 mean very much to us in the matter of health and 

 comfort. 



There was no stay to the sweeping flood all the 

 forenoon ; and I recognised the day as one of my 

 especial holidays. The garden is looking after itself 

 as no army of gardeners could tend it; there is small 



