NATURE NEAR LONDON 



a farmer when they see him, the stream of folk 

 tender thither so plainly. It rains, as the shepherd 

 said it would; the houses keep off the drift some- 

 what in the town, but when this shelter is left 

 behind, the sward of the hilltop seems among the 

 clouds. 



The descending vapours close in the view on 

 every side. The actual field underfoot, the actual 

 site of the fair, is visible, but the surrounding valleys 

 and the Downs beyond them are hidden with vast 

 masses of grey mist. For a moment, perhaps, a 

 portion may lift as the breeze drives it along, and 

 the bold, sweeping curves of a distant hill appear, 

 but immediately the rain falls again and the outline 

 vanishes. The glance can only penetrate a few 

 hundred yards ; all beyond that becomes indistinct, 

 and some cattle standing higher up the hill are 

 vague and shadowy. 



Like a dew, the thin rain deposits a layer of tiny 

 globules on the coat ; the grass is white with them ; 

 hurdles, flakes, everything is as it were the eighth of 

 an inch deep in water. Thus on the hillside, sur- 

 rounded by the clouds, the fair seems isolated and 

 afar off. A great cart-horse is being trotted out 

 before the little street of booths to make him show 

 his paces ; they flourish the first thing at hand 

 a pole with a red flag at the end and the huge 

 frightened animal plunges hither and thither in 

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