XI 

 LANES AND WOODS 



Y ESTER EVEN, about six o'clock, 

 was a sharp downpour, sharply defined 

 alike in its beginning and end. It came 

 from a cloud that blotted out the sun- 

 shine, and left a tail of sunshine behind. The 

 earlier drops made marks the size of a penny- 

 piece. Thicker and faster they came, darkening 

 the grey surface, and gathering into little runlets 

 down the road ; sweet and pure was the light 

 after the cloud ; infinitely fresh the air. 



The birds sang as birds only sing after such a 

 rain. Like the green of the field and wood the 

 sounds were washed purer. It is so with some 

 birds more than others. It seems as though one 

 heard the blackbird for the first time when the 

 bush is dripping, and the chaffinch when the 

 beech is glistening. The rain gave a fresh scene 

 with other voices, new heavens and a new earth. 

 A few drops had fallen on the thrush's song : 

 it was delightfully clear. In a short avenue, 

 where the trees close over the road, quite a dozen 



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