Clearing 23 5 



of white greyhounds in silver couple, " for the 

 king's majesty's hunting, when the king's 

 majesty shall require it." 



" Crop " he knew was the brush, which, 

 bound into fagots, made so large a part of the 

 fuel in that old time. Sometimes he specu- 

 lated as to how many loads of fagots the 

 brush burned upon this one new ground 

 would make. There were big piles of it 

 everywhere except around the plant beds. 

 There it had been already burned. Making 

 brush piles indeed was the first step toward 

 clearing, as making log piles was nearly the 

 very last. Before a tree fell, the undergrowth 

 was all cut and flung in heaps. Thus there 

 was better room to throw the trees, and the 

 wood-wagons got about easier, not to name 

 better space for working in the laps when the 

 trees came down. Brush from the laps of 

 course went upon the piles first formed. Burn- 

 ing them was very great fun. It was done 

 always before log-rolling began, generally to- 

 ward sunset of a windy early March day. 

 The leaves were raked back a little way around 

 each heap — then a blazing chunk tossed in to 

 windward did the rest. The blaze sputtered 

 and smouldered, sending up a smother of thick 

 smoke, yellow-white at first, but swiftly dark- 

 ening, and bursting a little later into licking 

 blue flame. The little dry twigs fed it — 



