Mr. Water to u at Home. 309 



at the herons by the lake side in all their fishing atti- 

 tudes, he would be donning his tattered sailor's jacket 

 and his large leather gloves, and then invite you to 

 stroll round his park. Every incident of that walk 

 lingers with us still. First there was a long disserta- 

 tion on the rumpless fowl, which seemed to take bed 

 and board with the jackdaws. Then we paused to 

 hear the history of the half-paralyzed vine near the 

 stables, and to handle " the paragon bull," of whose 

 august presence he had forewarned us, and of whose 

 qualities, when sorely pressed, we hardly spoke so 

 reverentially as he wished. We wound our way on- 

 ward to the grove facing the rock, in one of whose 

 recesses he sat like a prophet of the cave, the live-long 

 summer day, " musing upon many things" in his green 

 chair, and listening to the birds. It was with them 

 far more than insects that he loved to hold communion. 

 A hen-pheasant flew across the drive, and as we heard 

 her mate crow to her in the wood, he recounted to us 

 how that bird is the direct antithesis of the cock, and 

 crows before it claps its wings. " Hark ! there s a jay" 

 he would suddenly observe, grasping our arm ; 

 "Listen! there's a jenny wren; did yon ever J tear 

 her singf Had he spoken of Kettledrum and 

 Duchess 77th we might have said something, but this 

 was a poser — only to be made a note of. Then a 

 magpie struck in, and he was quite eloquent again. 

 But there our colloquy was interrupted for a time. He 

 suddenly discovered that some rude visitor on the 

 open days had cut his initials on the bark of a tree, 

 near the swings. Hence we had to seek out the car- 

 penter together, and get a neat little piece of wood ; 

 and ere long he had written, in his fine Roman hand, 

 and nailed up against that tree, his love, in most 

 pungent terms, for all such stupid clowns. 



Once more we were on our way, past the spot where 

 the watercress grew, perhaps looking at his peculiar 

 wickets, and hearing of his charm for cattle. Not a 



