180 PBPACTON 



one of these schoolboys, then a man grown, seemed 

 as if he might have had this very path in mind, and 

 thought himself again returning to his father's 

 house: "I must hurry," he said; "I have a long 

 way to go up a hill and through a dark wood, and 

 it will soon be night." 



We are a famous people to go "'cross lots," but 

 we do not make a path, or, if we do, it does not 

 last; the scene changes, the currents set in other 

 directions, or cease entirely, and the path vanishes. 

 In the South one would find plenty of bridle-paths, 

 for there everybody goes horseback, and there are 

 few passable roads ; and the hunters and lumbermen 

 of the North have their trails through the forest 

 following a line of blazed trees; but in all my 

 acquaintance with the country, — the rural and 

 agricultural sections, — I do not know a pleasant, 

 inviting path leading from house to house, or from 

 settlement to settlement, by which the pedestrian 

 could shorten or enliven a journey, or add the charm 

 of the seclusion of the fields to his walk. 



What a contrast England presents in this respect, 

 according to Mr. Jennings's pleasant book, "Field 

 Paths and Green Lanes " ! The pedestrian may go 

 about quite independent of the highway. Here is 

 a glimpse from his pages : " A path across the field, 

 seen from the station, leads into a road close by the 

 lodge gate of Mr. Cubett's house. A little beyond 

 this gate is another and smaller one, from which a 

 narrow path ascends straight to the top of the hill 

 and comes out just opposite the post-office on Ran- 



