X PROLOGUE 



hoard on the hedge with its scrawled " peche 

 reservie^' that was " no hon " too. In fact 

 it did not count — or only ^^ pour les Boches — 

 compre f 



The miller left me to contented solitude. 

 This pool " no bon " indeed! Why, already 

 I had taken and returned two fish, both 

 bright if undersized ; and there was still a 

 big one who cruised and sucked continually 

 beneath the spreading thorn ! 



The fairy seed of the thistledown tiptoed 

 from pool to pool. Among the weeds the 

 dabchicks clucked contentedly. I sat in the 

 long grass expectant, and fastened on an 

 olive- dun. I pulled the wings apart and 

 started oiling . . . while on the air there 

 came a droning sound, faint but growing — 

 surely no voice of river midge could thu^ 

 break crystal silence / . . . even a humble- 

 bee .. . Then up on the hill above the 

 anti-aircrafts opened out — the shriek of shells 

 resounded down the valley. They could not 

 touch the faint grey speck that floated in the 



