Dreaming by the Spring. 61 
summit are the cornfields of the level plain which 
here so suddenly sinks without warning. The plough 
has been drawn along all but on the very edge, and 
the tall wheat nods at the verge. From thence a 
strong arm might send a flat round stone skimming 
across to the other side of the narrow hollow, and its 
winding course is apparent. 
Like a deep groove it cuts a channel up towards 
the hills, becoming narrower as it approaches; and 
the sides diminish in height, till at the neck a few 
rails anda gate can close it, being scarcely broader 
than a waggon-track. There, at the foot of the down, 
it ends, overlooked by a barn, the home of innumer- 
able sparrows, whose nests are made under the eaves, 
everywhere their keen eyes can find an aperture 
large enough to squeeze into. 
Looking down the steep side of the coombe, near 
the bottom there runs along a projecting ledge, or 
terrace, like a natural footway. On the opposite side 
is another corresponding ledge, or green turf-covered 
terrace; these follow the windings of the valley, 
decreasing in width as it diminishes, and gradually 
disappearing. In its broadest part one of them is 
used as a waggon-track, for which it is admirably 
adapted, being firm and hard, even smoother than the 
bottom of the coombe itself. If it were possible to 
imagine the waters of a tidal river rising and ebbing 
up and down this hollow these ledges would form its 
banks. Their regular shape is certainly remarkable, 
