NEARING FAIRY HAUNTS 65 



one. Does this kind of feeling always pervade 

 certain places ? or is it induced by the atmosphere 

 that surrounds certain people and converts their 

 dwellings and immediate neighbourhood into some- 

 thing different from the ordinary world ? 



A fat, rosy-cheeked baby-boy, arrayed in fur 

 cap and coat, drives towards me in a small cart 

 drawn by a white goat. He is attended by a boy 

 who guides the animal, restraining it from nibbling 

 grass as it goes on its way, and upon the other side 

 walks a grey-clad figure whose white gloves and 

 uniform proclaim her to be the guardian of this 

 Baby Prince's person. Why is he not coming my 

 way ? I ask. Surely he would love to meet the 

 Little Jack Homers, clowns and sailor-boys that 

 I am going to play with ? He little knows that 

 the cloaked figures who pass by on bicycles are in 

 reality some of these, hastening to the party, so as 

 to have ample time in which to don their costumes 

 and play the right part. One shrouded figure in 

 a long black Italian cloak with a great high-peaked 

 hood apparently has her costume beneath it, for 

 she hurriedly huddles the heavy garment more 

 closely round her lest a boisterous gust of wind 

 should blow it aside and show the finery as she 

 passes. Several other students, carrying mysteri- 

 ous parcels, overtake me, and I notice that each 

 walks alone, as if eschewing her companions. 

 Pleased but absorbed, they seem to avoid all con- 

 versation, pursued doubtless by the feminine fear 

 of betraying a secret. 



News of the party has already been noised 

 abroad, and as I near my destination two ladies 



