WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 13 



with politics, being only a roadside naturalist. I 

 simply look on at the working of the very com- 

 plicated political machinery. Loyal people the 

 woodlanders have always been, and they are that 

 now ; but they have been, as they call it, " soaped 

 over a bit, and they ain't a-goin' tu hev no more 

 on it." Folks are very conservative, indeed, at 

 heart in the woodland districts. 



It is the same with the people we are describing 

 as it is with townsfolk, in that some families have 

 lived honest hard - working lives from generation 

 to generation, their sons and daughters turning 

 out well, a pleasure and a comfort to the old folks ; 

 others have gone a different way. There is a 

 distinct line drawn under green leaves for those 

 who do not act exactly as they ought to; but 

 there are nature's ladies and gentlemen there, 

 and nothing is said or done to wound the feelings 

 of the erring ones although they are very quietly 

 forced to see that some of their doings are not 

 liked. 



Black doings consulting the Wise Woman, for 

 instance are detested by the puritanical dwellers 

 of the wilds. " Bad comes on it : never a soul 



