118 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



throat cut in the end, and was very much relished, 

 with mint sauce, by the worthy persons who ate it. 



To return to the good people whose simple faith 

 and lovable disposition was a refreshment to my 

 soul. How they worked and how they dreamed, 

 looking forward to the day that would be more than 

 any other day in the year ! By five in the morning 

 the good man was away to his work, and any time 

 from six to seven I could count on getting a cup 

 of tea in the kitchen. At nine we breakfasted: at 

 one dined: at five had tea, and supped when we 

 dropped in, at nine or ten o'clock. The hour of 

 eleven found us often still at table, and our poor 

 host, who had been toiling all day in the blazing 

 sun, would sometimes drop off over his supper, 

 " Poor old Blackie has gone to sleep," his wife would 

 say, and leaning over and shaking his shoulder she 

 would cry in his ear, " Wake up ! " Then he would 

 start and rub his drowsy eyes, and go on with his 

 meal, and by-and-by she who had aroused him would 

 drop her head; and he would lean over and shake 

 her by the arm, and in turn cry, " Wake up ! " It 

 was often a merry time when we were together drink- 

 ing our last cups of tea before tumbling tired to bed. 

 Some would have preferred beer or something stronger, 

 but it was curious to note how those two rare elements 

 of personal charm and the subtle flame of religious 

 feeling united in this woman, exercised a subduing 

 and refining influence on that mixed crew in the 



