80 ON THE WYE 



terribly startled, reared straight up, and bolted ; 

 he managed to keep his seat and hold on. The 

 horse was eventually quieted down, and with 

 the help of a passer-by got past the tree, and he 

 reached home safely. That was a most pro- 

 vidential escape from another tragedy. And so 

 we passed the time on our drive, the old man, 

 who is many years my junior, spinning his con- 

 tinuous yarns till we got back in time for 

 luncheon. It was a glorious morning, and the 

 drive had done him good. 



AN EVENING WALK. 



Good Friday down here, on the Welsh border, 

 was as lovely a day as could be desired. It 

 was just perfect for a stroll the wind had toned 

 down to a pleasant breeze, the sun was shining 

 brilliantly, and all Nature seemed to be waking 

 up from its long winter's sleep. I am staying 

 within a mile of the river Wye, but not on fishing 

 bent it is too early for me; besides, there is 

 nothing but pike to be looked for yet. I turned 

 off the turnpike road to the right and trespassed 

 southward across a hundred acre pathless meadow 

 in search of the river, for I wanted to see how 

 it looked at this season. I had long since made 



