DOWN A GREEN LANE ! 
9i 
by a slow descent, sweeps away to the town, which, 
partly hid by the trees which embower it, and 
partly screened by the rise of the uplands, lies 
picturesquely along the river banks. Beyond the 
town the wood and meadow-covered slopes rise 
upwards towards the sky. The peep is exquisite, 
and affords for a moment a delightful contrast 
to the peculiar charms of the ferny lane. 
In another moment, however, the open coun- 
try disappears from view, as you pursue your 
way downwards. The path now descends so 
swiftly, that you need some care to secure a 
foot-hold. As it descends, it narrows to the width 
of a foot, and from its rugged stony character 
it is easy to see that it has been cut out of the 
rocky hillside, in the days of packhorses, and 
before the age of carts. Higher and higher grow 
the moss-covered banks, sloping outwards and 
upwards. Here, on your left, at the top of the 
high cutting — for it is no longer a hedge — is a 
spreading oak tree, thickly matted with gnarled 
roots of ivy. From out of the forks of this beau- 
tiful tree, just over your head, drop the pretty 
