Outside London 



some soldiers lost their lives. The brow is defended 

 by thick bramble-bushes, which bore a fine crop of 

 blackberries that autumn, to the delight of the boys ; 

 and these bushes partly conceal the sharpness of the 

 short descent. But once your attention is drawn to 

 it, you see that it has all the appearance of having 

 been artificially sloped, like a rampart, or rather a 

 glacis. The grass is green and the sward soft, being 

 moistened by the spring, except in one spot, where 

 the grass is burnt up under the heat of the summer 

 sun, indicating the existence of foundations beneath. 



There is a beautiful view from this spot; but 

 leaving that now, and wandering on among the fields, 

 presently you may find a meadow of peculiar shape, 

 extremely long and narrow, half a mile long, perhaps ; 

 and this the folk will tell you was the King's Drive, 

 or ride. Stories there are, too, of subterranean 

 passages there are always such stories in the neigh- 

 bourhood of ancient buildings I remember one, 

 said to be three miles long; it led to an abbey. The 

 lane leads on, bordered with high hawthorn hedges, 

 and occasionally a stout hawthorn tree, hardy and 

 twisted by the strong hands of the passing years; 

 thick now with red haws, and the haunt of the red- 

 wings, whose " chuck-chuck " is heard every minute; 

 but the birds themselves always perch on the outer 

 side of the hedge. They are not far ahead, but they 

 always keep on the safe side, flying on twenty yards 

 or so, but never coming to my side. 



The little pond, which in summer was green with 

 weed, is now yellow with the fallen hawthorn-leaves ; 

 the pond is choked with them. The lane has been 

 slowly descending; and now, on looking through a 

 gateway, an ancient building stands up on the hill, 

 sharply defined against the sky. It is the banqueting 



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