Hunting the Hare, 301 



Then, as I drive merrily to cover, passing en route 

 the quiet village of St. Lawrence, where I ought, had 

 time permitted, to have paid my respects to the vicar, 

 who for the last forty years has presided over the 

 destinies of this parish, winning the good will of all 

 by combining the pursuits and pleasures of a country 

 gentleman with the cure of souls ; the right way, in 

 my opinion, for clergymen in rural districts to render 

 themselves popular with all classes. But as I have 

 some seven miles to cover ere I reach " Sarre Wind- 

 mill,^^ which is the fixture of the day, I trot smartly 

 along, whilst a gentle south-west wind blows pleasantly 

 over the open fields, which are teeming with industry ; 

 some of the sturdy Kentish husbandmen speed the 

 plough with a will, whilst others scatter the seed with 

 a liberal hand. 



Flocks of clamorous rooks revel on the freshly 

 turned-up lands, apparently having a good time of 

 it ; the larks are on the wing, carolling gaily as they 

 mount on high, rejoicing in the lovely spring morning ; 

 and it is evident, from the forward state of the crops 

 of peas and beans, that the days of hunting in this 

 part are numbered, for this season at least. Then as 

 I approach the quiet little village of Sarre, I notice an 

 old-fashioned residence, which, to use a slang expres- 

 sion of the day, savouring somewhat of the music hall, 

 "would suit me down to the ground.''^ Snugly 

 ensconced amidst evergreen oaks and other hardy 

 shrubs is this pleasant abode, the garden gay with the 

 brightest of golden crocuses peeping forth from amidst 

 the groups of snowdrops which blow in profusion, 

 forming, to use an expression much in vogue with 

 fashionable novelists of the day, " a wealth " of spring 



