WINTER SHIFTS. 215 



CHAPTER XII. 



WINTER SHIFTS. 



THE wind, in long - drawn sighs, has passed over 

 the uplands, and died away in the hollows at 

 the foot of the hills. A long low line of cloud has 

 hung for days in the south-west, lifting slightly 

 from time to time, to settle again as before. This 

 belt of clouds reaches for miles. There is a 

 break in it now and again, caused by wind rushing 

 up fitfully from the sea, far away beyond the hills ; 

 but it is only for a short spell, then the cloud-line 

 is continuous again. The ponies, rough and long- 

 maned, are moving noiselessly with unshod hoofs to 

 certain hollows well known to themselves, where 

 they will stand sheltered and warm as if they were 

 stabled under the thick hollies. Rough - fleeced 



