UNDER GREEN LEA VES 45 
formation had spread round for miles that ' a big man 
in a grey suit o' clothes, as always carried a big ash 
stick, one as looked as if he'd bin a soger, he'd actoo- 
ally gi'n as much as a penny apiece fur mice.' But 
' big uns,' as the boys said, they certainly were ; two 
of them made an ample meal for my brown owl, 
Friar. Often was I met on my way home from 
work by some little country toddler. Not a word 
would be spoken, the child would just hold a mouse 
up by its tail, receive the penny, and then cut away 
as hard as its little legs would carry it. Even when 
my owls were gone the pleasant barter was maintained 
as long as I walked and worked in this district ; and 
I always look back on that period of my life with 
pleasant memories, in which children, birds, and 
flowers all mingle together. 
But to return to my morning's walk. As we enter 
the woods the sun is high. Firs show their tops 
through the mist, which now is clearing rapidly 
away. A magpie appears for one instant, and vanishes ; 
another flits out, but there is no noise ; nor do we 
make any, standing as we are on dead leaves which, 
being wet with the dew, do not rustle ; in certain 
parts the woods are silent, and now the vapours 
have cleared off over the tree-tops, and have rolled 
away. 
