WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 155 



have. In past times this was not without good 

 reason ; indeed there were spots about their mills, 

 which, if any little venturesome snipes of boys were 

 found prospecting near, perhaps laying their heads 

 together to go under one of the grim arches in 

 search of "crow -fish" as they call the stickle- 

 backs, they had good cause to remember it. I write 

 now of things that we dared not have hinted at in 

 the days of my boyhood. I can do it now, for 

 the owners of the mill, and those who were wont 

 to bring burdens that had travelled further than 

 from the adjoining farms, have long since passed 

 away. 



A scene of the olden time comes back to my 

 mind's eye. 



"Ain't you a goin' tu hev that 'ere alder-copse 

 o' yourn cut, neighbour ? 'Tis gittin ? most oncom- 

 mon high and thick like." 



" Well, I dunno 'bout that 'ere ; fur ye see that 

 'ere thick alder-copse runs up to the mill-door, and 

 it keeps my garden loo " sheltered from the wind. 

 " If it waun't fur that 'ere copse bein' where 'tis, 

 I reckins as I shouldn't git the craps of reddishes 

 as I do. No, I shan't hev it cut, not in my time, 



