MANFORD AND SERTON'S COSY NEST 31 



joyous and alert. They and their belongings were 

 bundled into the " trap " (how many misfits are covered 

 by the word !) and driven through a tree-arched lane. 

 M. could extract something even from the autumnal 

 seediness of the hedgerows, affirming that they were 

 for all the world like a theatre when the holland cover- 

 ings are on. S. exclaimed with surprise as a squirrel 

 ran across the track, telling M. that this proved how 

 really they were in the country, squirrels being seldom 

 seen, as weasels are, crossing a road. The driver, who 

 was in fact the keeper, found his opportunity in the 

 uprising from a field of two magpies chattering a wel- 

 come. " I think you'll have luck, genl'men," he said. 

 " 'Tis allus a good sign to see two mags at once. See 

 one 'tis bad luck ; see two it be fun or good luck ; see 

 three 'tis a wedding ; see four and cuss me if it bain't 

 death." 



A rustic cottage, approached between solid hedges 

 of yew, was the bespoken lodging, and M. and S. were 

 quickly out of the cart, and roaming the garden among 

 fruit trees, autumn flowers, and beehives. Thence 

 they were summoned to the little front room, the oaken 

 window-sill bright with fuchsias and geraniums, the 

 walls adorned with an old eight-day clock, a copper 

 warming-pan and antique trays, while over the mantel- 

 piece was a small fowling piece, years ago reduced 

 from flint to percussion. Upon the rafters there were 

 half a side of bacon, bunches of dried sweet herbs, and 

 the traditional strings of onions. The pictures con- 

 sisted of four highly coloured prints of celebrated race- 

 horses, long ago buried and forgotten. It was in this 

 cottage that the young men remained, and very com- 

 fortable they were, for the bedrooms were fitted up 

 with the queerest of four-posters, made in the last 

 century, while the walls were covered with prints from 



