ANTLER AND FERN. 81 



springs from the elastic sward ; his limbs 

 climb the steep hill as if it were level ; his 

 speed covers the distances, and he goes from 

 place to place as the wind. He not only 

 lives in the wild, wild woods and moors — he 

 grows out of them, as the oak grows from the 

 ground. The noble stag in his pride of 

 antler is lord and monarch of all the crea- 

 tures left to us in English forests and on 

 English hills. 



G 



