A HUNT FOR THE NIGHTINGALE 91 



clew to the spot. I renewed the search late that 

 night, and again the next morning; I inquired of 

 every man and boy I saw. 



" I met many travelers, 



Who the road had surely kept; 

 They saw not my fine revelers, — 



These had crossed them while they slept; 

 Some had heard their fair report, 

 In the country or the court." 



I soon learned to distrust young fellows and their 

 girls who had heard nightingales in the gloaming. 

 I knew one's ears could not always be depended 

 upon on such occasions, nor his eyes either. Larks 

 are seen in buntings, and a wren's song entrances 

 like Philomel's. A young couple of whom I in- 

 quired in the train, on my way to Godalming, said 

 Yes, they had heard nightingales just a few mo- 

 ments before on their way to the station, and 

 described the spot, so I could find it if I returned 

 that way. They left the train at the same point I 

 did, and walked up the street in advance of me. I 

 had lost sight of them till they beckoned to me 

 from the corner of the street, near the church, 

 where the prospect opens with a view of a near 

 meadow and a stream shaded by pollard willows. 

 "We heard one now, just there," they said, as I 

 came up. They passed on, and I bent my ear 

 eagerly in the direction. Then I walked farther 

 on, following one of those inevitable footpaths to 

 where it cuts diagonally through the cemetery 

 behind the old church, but I heard nothing save a 

 few notes of the thrush. My ear was too critical 



