for the wilderness is vanished ; you are simply 

 glad that so much wildness still remains to 

 speak eloquently of the good old days. 



It is this element of unconquerable wild- ^^ Of 'Beech 

 ness in the grouse, coupled with a host of T'afn'd^e 

 early, half-fearful impressions, that always 

 sets my heart to beating, as to an old tune, 

 whenever a partridge bursts away at my feet. 

 I remember well a little child that used to 

 steal away into the still woods, which drew 

 him by an irresistible attraction while as yet 

 their dim arches and quiet paths were full of 

 mysteries and haunting terrors. Step by 

 step the child would advance into the 

 shadows, cautious as a wood mouse, timid 

 as a rabbit. Suddenly a swift rustle, a thun- 

 derous rush of something from the ground 

 that first set the child's heart to beating 

 wildly, and then reached his heels in a fear- 

 ful impulse which sent him rushing out of 

 the woods, tumbling headlong over the old 

 gray wall, and scampering halfway across 

 the pasture before he dared halt from the 

 terror behind. And then, at last, another 

 impulse, which always sent the child stealing 



