124 By Stream and Sea. 



fleeting spirit was now tranquil, but the patient was too 

 weak to speak. She signified acquiescence in my desire to 

 pray with and for her, and listened with closed eyes to my 

 reading. Before I had finished my sacred duty, the lady, 

 with a quiet sigh, and a smile beautiful to look upon, passed 

 away to the other world." 



*•&£« Jilt .U* J£» -V" 



* fl? * * * 



In the spring-time a party of children set out from Kings- 

 ford to pick violets in Druids' Wood. As they walked 

 down the road they halted to clamber upon the low stone 

 walls to see the convicts working at the reclamation of the 

 bog. The prisoners heard their merry voices, and turned 

 away with downcast eyes as if they would shut out the 

 sound. 



Druids' Wood is celebrated far and wide as one of the 

 most remarkable places in Quickmoor. Tourists, artists, 

 and anglers who visit the neighbourhood during the summer 

 months, always make a pilgrimage to it. Many of the 

 country people, regarding it with superstition, avoid it, and 

 its distance from any hamlet deters others from visiting the 

 place. It is a grove of dwarf oaks of unknown antiquity. 

 Though the largest tree is not more than seven feet high, 

 the oaks present all the shapes and grotesque characteristics 

 in miniature of perfectly-formed and extremely-aged trees. 

 In the wood there is a thick tangle of undergrowth, and 

 amongst the masses of granite strewed around, and gnarled 

 roots, rare ferns and flowers are to be found. Primroses 

 and violets in their season, and foxgloves in theirs, flourish 

 profusely, and a day's flower-gathering is a treat often looked 

 forward to by the little ones living near. 



The flowers sprang up beautifully after the severe winter 

 and our party of children had heard of their appearance. 

 Bright as the sunshine that bathed the moorland in soft 



