136 THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



in the " orchut " at the rear, feeding his dogs. Where 

 the " orchut " ends in a paddock stands a small shed ; 

 in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in 

 the course of years and revealed the bare rafters. The 

 bottom part of the door has decayed, and the long nose 

 of a greyhound is thrust out, sniffing through a hole. 

 Dickon, the said son, is delighted to undo the padlock 

 for a visitor who is " square." In an instant the long 

 hounds leap up, half a dozen at a time, and I stagger 

 backwards, forced by the sheer vigour of their caresses 

 against the door-post. Dickon cannot quell the up- 

 roarious pack ; he kicks the door open, and away they 

 scamper round and round the paddock at headlong 

 speed. 



' What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs ! 

 I forget the squalor of the kennel in watching their happy 

 gambols. I cannot drink more than one tumbler of 

 brown brandy-and-water ; but Dickon overlooks that 

 weakness, feeling that I admire his greyhounds. It is 

 arranged that I am to see them work in the autumn. 



* The months pass, and in his trap, with the famous 

 trotter in the shafts, we roll up the village street. Apple- 

 bloom and golden fruit, too, are gone, and the houses 

 show more now among the bare trees ; but as the rim of 

 the ruddy November sun comes forth from the edge of 

 a cloud there appears a buff tint everywhere in the back- 

 ground. When elm and ash are bare, the oaks retain 

 their leaves, and these are illumined by the autumn 

 beams. Overtopped by tall elms, and hidden by the 

 orchards, the oaks were hardly seen in the summer ; now 

 they are found to be numerous, and give the prevailing 

 hue to the place. 



' Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops 

 the hill, and away she speeds along the level plateau for 

 the Downs. Two greyhounds are with us ; two more 

 have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the hills a 

 mile or two, we presently leave the road and drive over 

 the turf ; there is no track, but Dickon knows his way. 



