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CHAPTER XVII. 



MEETING WITH POACHERS. 



All-Souls Day being a great holiday we remained at 

 home, and I strolled out across the meadow to enjoy 

 the morning. I went into the churchyard to look at the 

 graves, each one adorned, as well as might be, according 

 to the means or taste of those who brought their offer- 

 ings. Some were bordered with rows of red berries, ga- 

 thered in the hedgerows, with a cross of the same in the 

 centre of the mound ; while others had wreaths of ever- 

 greens, and a device made out of the cones of the fir. They 

 were indeed very simple ; but they were the offerings of 

 affection, and showed that those who had now another 

 home were not forgotten, and in my eyes therefore they 

 looked beautiful. How touching is the gift of a little 

 child, even on account of its poor worth — so incommen- 

 surate with the great amount of love it is meant to be a 

 token of! 



The forester had marked out a plan for us for the 

 following day, and accordingly we started early, having 

 rather a long way to go. We soon left the road, and 

 took a short cut across the meadows. We had not gone 

 many steps before we came upon the traces of men's foot- 

 steps, which were discernible on the dewy grass. We 

 looked, and looked again : there was no mistaking them. 



