ON THE COAST OF AEEAN 99 



brilliant sunset and how perfect was the har- 

 mony of sea and shore and village. 



This morning the weather was fine again. 

 In the garden behind the house a pair of black- 

 birds were feeding fearlessly on the currants, 

 which had been left hanging too long on the 

 bushes. They seemed to say, 'What you are 

 foolish enough to neglect, surely we may gather 

 without molestation.' It is pleasant to take a 

 few paces in this garden after breakfast. At the 

 upper end, where a tall hedge separates it from 

 the brae-side, the creamy flowers are thick on 

 the privet ; in one corner a fuchsia hangs heavy 

 with bloom, and above it the honeysuckle climbs 

 up and clings to the branches of a birch. 



In the afternoon I am out in the boat. 

 There is no wind ; and yet there is a great 

 heaving on the sea which I much enjoy a 

 grand roll, l mighty mouthed,' like the move- 

 ment of an epic line. The motive of it is 

 somewhere far away, out of our ken, where 



H 2 



