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CHAPTER XVII. 



MEETING WITH POACHEKS. 



ALL-SOULS' Day being a great holiday we remained 

 at home, and I strolled out across the meadows to 

 enjoy the morning. I went into the churchyard to 

 look at the graves, each one adorned, as well as might 

 be, according to the means or taste of those who 

 brought their offerings. Some were bordered with 

 rows of red berries, gathered in the hedgerows, with 

 a cross of the same in the centre of the mound ; while 

 others had wreaths of evergreens, and a device made 

 out of the cones of the fir. They were indeed very 

 simple ; but they were the offerings of affection, and 

 showed that those who had now another home were 

 not forgotten, and in my eyes therefore they looked 

 beautiful. How touching is the gift of a little child, 

 even on account of its poor worth so incommensu- 

 rate with the great amount of love it is meant to be 

 a token of ! 



The forester had marked out a plan for us for the 



