84 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



had not been work enough for this, and all had 

 gone to ruin. The mill-house was tenanted from 

 time to time only by woodmen. 



A shrill whistle attracts our attention to the 

 house below us, and we hit the boards to frighten 

 the cat, which still persistently pokes her head out 

 of the hole in the boards ; then, picking our way 

 very carefully down a flight of crumbling steps, 

 we find ourselves in the garden below a real old- 

 fashioned one, full of vegetables and those old-time 

 flowers which are now again, happily, becoming 

 such favourites with people of good taste. 



In the garden we were met by the occupant of 

 this ruined domain for the time being, a fine- 

 looking fellow, and a kindly one, who told me he 

 bided there with his old mother. " You'd better 

 look round the old shant'," said he, "before the 

 light sinks." 



We found what had once been a fine woodland 

 house in its last stage of dilapidation. The bricks 

 were crumbling for several yards up the walls ; 

 the ridge-tiles were heaved up and overlapped each 

 other, at the uninhabited end especially. "These 

 big yews in front of the door keeps our part dry,'' 



