A UTUMN LIGHTS AND SHADES. 201 



the vipers went to ground some weeks ago. I used 

 to wonder at the way the woodmen would shake 

 and poke about at their coats before putting them 

 on again, after they had been lying in the heather, 

 until I saw one of the reptiles found, coiled up 

 asleep, in a velveteen jacket that had been folded 

 up and laid on the ground. 



We take the up and down track, over the inter- 

 vening hills, in order to reach the moor. No cot- 

 tages are here, with blue - grey smoke from the 

 wood-fires on the open hearths curling up through 

 the trees ; nothing but hills, high banks, and knolls, 

 with ragged firs on them, or birches perched on 

 the sides gleaming out from their dark surround- 

 ings. If your foot catches in the heather you 

 might as well be caught by a wire. Hollows 

 abound, with their splashy bits of coarse rush-cov- 

 ered flats; so thick is the undergrowth that it is 

 always cool and moist here in the hottest weather. 

 It is a dreary part to travel over, for you will not 

 see wild creatures about this district ; many places 

 on and about these hills are, for good reasons, 

 avoided by them. Some birds may fly over at 

 times, but they do not rest here. Up and down 



