MORNING IN THE WOODS 69 



the stillness of everything save the thud of my 

 horse's hoofs on the grass was marked. 



After a while came the " solemnity of the dawn," 

 and in the dawn came a damp fog, heavy, search- 

 ing, yet bringing no coolness with it. Cows were 

 now beginning to rise and stretch themselves, and 

 as I crossed the corner of a pasture a couple of 

 young colts galloped up, as if in wonder as to what 

 apparition it was that they saw through the fog. 

 Sheep lay still as I passed them, sure sign of a fine 

 and hot day. But of that, indeed, no sign was 

 required, for the increasing light showed my horse 

 to be steaming with perspiration, though he was in 

 good condition, and I had not ridden him fast. 



The scene of the morning's operations was a 

 large woodland, consisting of several hundred acres. 

 It is perfectly level, and somewhat swampy in 

 places. There is plenty of thick covert in it, but 

 it is not all thick undergrowth, and the rides are 

 numerous and wide. 



I was first at the trysting place, and I was 

 alone — alone, that is, but for the abundant animal 

 life which was all around me. For the wood was 

 just awakening ; within a few yards of me a jay 

 was merrily chattering ; rabbits, careless and un- 

 concerned about my presence, hopped about almost 

 within reach of my whip-thong ; the small birds 

 were singing cheerfully to welcome the day ; an 

 old hare came cantering and blundering along 

 towards me with a fatuity which would have been 

 fatal under other circumstances ; a hind trotted 

 quietly through the wood, stopping occasionally to 

 crop the leaves on her way, and finally crossing the 

 ride in which I stood with that easy swinging canter 

 which looks so slow till you come to ride beside it. 



