BITS OF OAK BABK. 31 



opened into a lane. Strangers coming down the lane 

 in the dusk often hesitated before they approached 

 this beech. The white mark looked like a ghostly 

 figure emerging from the dark hedge and the shadow 

 of the tree. The trunk itself was of the same hue at 

 that hour as the bushes, so that the whiteness seemed 

 to stand out unsupported. So perfect was the illusion 

 that even those who knew the spot well, walking or 

 riding past and not thinking about it, started as it 

 suddenly came into sight. Ploughboys used to throw 

 flints at it, as if the sound of the stone striking the 

 tree assured them that it was really material. Some 

 lichen was apparently the cause of this whiteness: 

 the great beech indeed was known to be decaying and 

 was dotted with knot-holes high above. The gate 

 was rather low, so that any one could lean with arms 

 over the top bar. 



At one time a lady used to be very frequently seen 

 just inside the gate, generally without a hat, for the 

 homestead was close by. Sometimes a horse, saddled 

 and bridled, but without his rider, was observed to be 

 fastened to the gate, and country people, being singu- 

 larly curious and inquisitive, if they chanced to go 

 by always peered through every opening in the hedge 

 till they had discerned where the pair were walking 

 among the cowslips. More often a spaniel betrayed 

 them, especially in the evening, for while the courting 

 was proceeding he amused himself digging with his 

 paws at the rabbit-holes in the mound. The folk 

 returning to their cottages at even smiled and looked 

 meaningly at each other if they heard a peculiarly 

 long and shrill whistle, which was known to every 



