BEECH-TREE, 121 



to the idle mind might seem as idleness, but which the 

 philosopher and moralist well know how to appreciate. 

 Suddenly, a sound resembling that of warlike music, mel- 

 lowed somewhat by distance, came upon the ear. We 

 started from our recumbent posture, so far as to lean 

 upon one arm, and strained to listen, with some degree 

 of awe. Tales of childhood were remembered at the moment, 

 and we almost expected to see some fairy pageant ad- 

 vancing through the glades ; forgetful that such pageants 

 belong to the witching hour of deep midnight. The sound 

 meanwhile increased, and grew louder as it advanced ; and 

 as it drew yet nearer and nearer, the tramp of what might 

 have passed for fairy cavalry mingled with that strange, 

 unearthly sound. Even then we were totally ignorant of 

 what spectacle awaited us, until the leading boar of a large 

 herd of forest swine, whose ancestors were brought by 

 Charles I. from the forest of Germany, came grunting 

 forward in the sunshine, followed by the musical members 

 of his harmonious detachment. Perchance, the cheering 



