6 HOME AND GARDEN 



I was riding a big and rather nervous horse down 

 the lane, which, though not exactly steep, has a fairly 

 sharp fall. There had been a sudden and heavy 

 storm of summer rain, and I had just ridden out from 

 the shelter of a thickly-leafed oak, when I heard a 

 two-wheeled country cart driving rather fast down the 

 narrow lane behind me. As it came near, I judged 

 by the sound that it was a heavy tax-cart such as a 

 farmer would drive to market with two or three pigs 

 behind him under a strong pig-net. I could hear the 

 chink and rattle of the harness and of the loose ends 

 of the tail-board chains. As the man driving was just 

 about to pass me, he slapped the reins down on the 

 horse's back, as a rough driver does who has no whip, 

 and I noticed the sodden sound of the wet leather ; at 

 the same moment he gave a " dchk " to urge the horse. 

 I was in the act of drawing my horse close to the near 

 side of the lane, when, hearing the man, he made an 

 impatient sort of bucking jump, followed by a moderate 

 kick. The passing cart was so close that I thought 

 his heels must touch the wheel, but they did not, and 

 again I drew him as near as I could to the bank. As 

 the cart did not pass I looked round, and as I turned 

 the sound ceased, and nothing was to be seen but some 

 hundred yards or so of the empty space of the hollow 

 roadway. 



My house is approached by a footpath from a 

 quiet, shady lane, entering by a close-paled hand-gate. 

 There is no driving road to the front door. I like the 



