THE WITCH OF SMOKY HOLLOW 155. 
moorlands, driving the snow up in wreaths and deep 
drifts, then would the shepherd make his way to 
Smoky Hollow, sure of finding his flock of South 
Downs there, safe from harm. The spot answered 
the purpose of a barometer for miles round, for in 
winter if a change of milder weather was coming you 
would see the hollow filled with clouds of rising 
vapour as if the place were on fire. After rain and 
before rain it rose. That was why the rustics named it 
Smoky Hollow. In fine settled weather it was per- 
fectly clear and bright there. 
"Twud be as well if folks kep' away from that 
'ere place,' the people told me : but often I loitered 
round about it ; the hollow had a great attraction for 
me. It was, and is still, a birds' paradise, and their 
song just before spring made way for summer was 
worth going miles to hear. After a warm shower I 
liked to watch the various tones of colour the vapour 
took as the sun flashed through it, while cuckoo ! 
cuckoo ! cuckoo ! was shouted everywhere, and the 
scent of hawthorn, primrose, and violet, together with 
the notes of the other birds in full song, made you 
feel it was a good thing to live. In "all the country 
round no spot could be found where the nightingale 
was heard to such perfection as in and around Smoky 
Hollow. 
