Foot Beagles 221 



ceiling support and from one which spanned the centre, hung 

 a dingy, battered, bronze lamp. Beneath was a table warped 

 like a potato chip and around the table sat three of the natives 

 imbibing. Chief of this clan was the sporting cripple 

 above referred to, whom I overheard remark to his pal, " 'Ave 

 been 'ere summers above fifty j^ears and 'Ave niver afore 'card 

 tell as 'ow an 'are jump the Weir Water." 



Said a loquacious sot in rejoinder: " 'Ave 'card my faather 

 tell as 'ow 'e did." 



Whether it was the hare or the old fellow's sire, who per- 

 formed this daring feat, I did not stop to inquire or whether 

 indeed a hare had ever been known to jump the Weir Water 

 before. By this time the affair has very likely possessed the 

 whole village. No doubt all the wonderful feats of fifty years 

 past ^\ill be aired in the discussion and the Squire, himself, 

 will do well to settle the point before the villagers take sides. 



The journey back to Oxford was scarcely less interesting 

 than our excursion out. There is the same stead}^ rumble of 

 wheels, the same jingle of harness and clatter of hoofs. On 

 cresting the liill beyond Cumnor Place we were, nevertheless, 

 glad to see the lights of Oxford near at hand. From any 

 vantage ground Oxford appears well by day, bristhng with 

 spires and towers. At night, however, when only lights are 

 seen, the mind runs back along English history to the earliest 

 times, even before barefoot monks trudged this road, or before 

 the days of King Alfred, who is said to have sown the seed 

 that later brought forth the colleges. 



Englishmen have always been proud of Oxford and well 

 they may be. Ever since those early days the flower of the 

 Kingdom has journeyed hither like pilgrims to ISIecca. 



Think how for centuries the schoolboy on the incoming 

 coach has first seen the object of his dreams. How his heart 

 beats high at the sight which to him must have seemed the 

 promise of a "new heaven and a new earth." 



