OF CREAMAN 
THE WOODCOCK 
I 
THE February moon, with clouds thick over 
her face, was near her setting, when a traveller 
came over the hills, flying high with a steady 
wind blowing upon his right flank. Whether 
he knew his way is not known, but from the 
loneliness and darkness of the place it is im- 
probable. Nevertheless, when he found himself 
above Garrybrack wood, he dipped and slanted 
down steeply to the trees. (Thus had his 
ancestors travelled in the wake of the full 
moon.) He cleared the branches by good 
chance, and dropped on to the dead leaves. 
A safe haven his heart pumped hard. After 
many miles of open bog and moor, crossed 
with flagging wing, the peace and shelter of 
the trees were an unexpected boon. There are 
no other woods near Garrybrack. It stands by 
itself among the hills, like a gem in an ample 
setting ; so that after all I am inclined to 
believe that this traveller may have set his 
79 
