122 MAY 



more signal example of the merit of late leafing as 

 in that of 1894. There was much heat at Easter- 

 tide. Grass shot up ankle deep in sheltered leas ; 

 hawthorn hedges decked themselves with green lace \ 

 and precious finery of all kinds was flaunted in 

 garden and shrubbery. Yet among all this rush of 

 verdure, the grey ash-trees and the brown heather 

 alone made no sign : schooled to useful patience 

 by immemorial experience of northern springs, their 

 stirring sap gave no outward token of life. 



And now, to-day, this 22nd of May, may be seen 

 the right reason for their backwardness. The 

 strong north wind the very breath, as it were, of 

 a vast ice-field which, for a week past, has been 

 rattling at our casements, fell to rest last night; 

 and the mercury fell also to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 Twenty-two degrees of frost on the twenty-second 

 day of May ! The ruin has been heartrending ; 

 even hardy beech and hawthorn have been seared 

 as by a flame. 



XLII 



There is not much temptation to go out among 



Westland ^is wreck of fair things ; but the Whit- 



Ma y sun short holidays end to-morrow, and 



no precious fragment of them must be squandered 



