20 WAYFARING NOTIONS 



sailor who had lived his life. You will not find 

 anything terrifying in the Cocking waterfall, only 

 a few feet deep, but charmingly pretty all the 

 same ; though the poor dear dabchick nesting a 

 few yards away used to endure many tremors 

 through the British boy and his stone-throwing, 

 causing the good lady to dive and hold on to her 

 nest's reed-stem supports under water till the 

 bombardment ceased. With pleasure I would 

 have looked her up — her daughter, granddaughter, 

 or whatever matron carries on the succession now 

 — as also the swallows who build on a beam not 

 a foot above the sawyer's head in the wheel- 

 wright's yards. 



Lower are little pools, icy cold, under the 

 overhanging bushes — drinking-fountains for 

 wood-pigeons, doves, and all manner of thirsty 

 birds ; and farther away a shelving rabbity hill- 

 side, beloved of kingfishers, whose name I left off 

 mentioning years and years ago. 'Cos why ? I 

 reported to a local worthy my seeing a pair of the 

 rufous-chested beauties. " Danged If I don't go 

 and shoot 'un ! " says he, straightway taking down 

 from an unlocked rack a double-barrelled gun kept 

 loaded and cocked in case one of the family 

 happened to want to manslaughter another, I 

 suppose. Had I fared to Cocking, on I must go 

 to at least Cobden's house and memorial monolith 

 half-way to MIdhurst, and, being so far, wander 

 to Midhurst's lovely common — a blaze of purple 

 bloom — where I used to be pretty sure of finding 

 white heather, genuine white heather, not ling, 

 finishing up the trip in that direction by crossing 

 the bridge at MIdhurst and twisting round under 

 a long, hanging wood for a swim in the Rother. 

 Would you care to do that last, my reader, 



