ON THE WYE 87 



pike road with the poor fellow still dragging 

 behind him. After a further gallop for some 

 distance along the turnpike road, he was stopped 

 by two men. The farmer was insensible, his 

 clothes were completely torn from his back, and 

 the flesh from his bones the whole length of his 

 back, as pitiable a sight as ever was seen. He 

 was conveyed to a hospital, and there the last 

 reports are that he is doing well for this oc- 

 curred only a few months ago. I ventured to 

 express some doubt as to the strict accuracy of 

 the dash through the hedges. " Pooh ! " said 

 he, "it is clear you never saw a great, mad, 

 young cart-horse. What is a fence to him ? 

 This story is not romance, but an incident as 

 true as it seems incredible." 



It is time that I betake myself to the water. 

 I find the distance across the meadows much 

 longer than I thought when I walked the same 

 way last Easter, for now the heat is intense. 

 When I last saw the river it was brimful, a 

 grand sweeping stream, strong, irresistible ; now 

 I find it like other and smaller rivers, at some 

 places easily fordable. Unhappily, in the stretch 

 of a mile or two to which I have access there 

 are no trout. Here and there in the shadow of 



