Englishtown 
optimistic trust in the goodness of misplaced 
straps, we went on through another stretch of 
fir woods smothered in brittle sage-green moss. 
Then a clearing appeared, and we passed some- 
body's potato patch where large crows were 
pompously stealing potatoes. They cawed in 
loud tones as we drew nearer, and went on 
coolly digging up their neighbour's tubers. 
They poked their stout beaks into a hill and 
hauled forth a potato with an unerring aim 
that suggested previous practice. 
Besides the crows the woods were full of 
robins. Such wild robins ! They were in 
flocks and screamed at us and showed none of 
the amiable characteristics of the red-breasts of 
civilisation. 
There were squirrels along the lovely high- 
way, — tiny fellows with rusty red coats and 
bushy tails, that scolded us roundly, though we 
were not conscious of deserving it. 
We climbed a long, circuitous, fir-covered, 
brook-bordered hill, at the top of which a 
noble view of St. Anne's Bay burst upon us. 
From a calm sheet of blue water, mountains 
rose in brooding beauty, stretching away and 
away along the sea-coast to the distant blue 
183 
