264 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



long, and a great part of the next day, the distressful 

 lowings of the poor beasts sounded through the house ; 

 and so great was the effect on her, that up to the 

 present time, after so many years, she cannot hear 

 a calf calling without experiencing a sudden sense of 

 misery and desolation, which is torture to her mind. 

 So vivid are the impressions received, and so lasting 

 the associations formed, pleasant and painful, in a 

 child's miad ! These seemingly trivial associations 

 have a subtle influence, and are part of the character, 

 a harmony or a discord according to their nature; 

 and altogether they count for much in the little 

 obscure history and tragedy of each individual life. 



But we are now under the Market Cross. 



If a stranger in the town, coming out of the empty 

 desolate cathedral at the end of the afternoon service, 

 should take refuge from the rain under its arches, he 

 will presently see there a small wizened, grey, thread- 

 bare ghost of a man, and probably take no notice of 

 him. But if he, the stranger, with the confused sound 

 of prayer and praise in that sacred empty building still 

 in his ears, and a vague feeling of wonder and curiosity 

 in his mind, should by chance fix his eyes on that 

 small, faded, expressionless face, its colourless orbs wiU 

 meet his, and he will read in them a vague response, 

 an unshaped answer to his unshaped questions ; and, 

 by-and-by, the mysterious man, with a slight nod of 

 invitation, will pass out, and the stranger, anxious to 

 get to the bottom of the mystery, will follow. He 



