HAUNT OF THE EVEJAR 3 5 



hummock of mould thrown up by a rabbit 

 her nest was somewhere near, hidden in 

 a tangle of burnet-rose. The bee left the 

 trefoil, and droned away down the hill. 

 A blackbird sang in the valley below, where 

 gorse, blackthorn, bramble, and stunted 

 holly choked an ancient waterbourne 

 between the steep hills. It was evening, 

 and he chanted to the departing splendour. 

 Alone sang the sable artist, serene on a 

 twig of blackthorn, having no illusions 

 about life, fretted by no unnecessary labour 

 or research, for ever happy in the sunshine 

 or sleeping restfully as the stars burned 

 above the lonely valley. 



Over the sea a golden beam of light 

 trailed from a cloud and lit the gray waters. 

 The massed vapours opened and other 

 beams cast their gilt on the waves. A full 

 rigged sailing ship, vague in the distance, 

 entered the sacred gleam and became a 

 barque of glory passing into the unknown. 

 Nearer the shore, where the white lines of 



