Bosom Friends

side is the st

kept 'twixt th

tones, where

a moth, and s

to the pol

retch of sea. A narrow path led steeply by a series of steps through the wood, a delightful, cool, shady place, with soft moss spreading like a green carpet underfoot, and closely-interlacing boughs shutting out the sunlight overhead. Trails of late honeysuckle still hung in sweet-scented festoons from the undergrowth, and an occasional squirrel might be seen whisking his bushy tail round the bole of an oak tree in a quest for early a

the foot of the incline, in a narrow valley between the Scar and the cliffs which bounded the sea, rose the gray-brown stone roof of a quaint old Elizabethan house. The richly-carved timbers, the wide mullioned windows, and the ornamental gables were singularly fine, and told of the time when those who built put an artistic pride into their work, and thought

es of the shrubbery. "Just look at the beautiful conservatories and greenhouses, and such stables! There's a tennis lawn on the other side of the flagstaff, an

g I saw an old buffer going in with a gun, and Arthur Wright said he was sure it was Colonel Smith, who has all the shooting on the common. Lucky cha

d I'd gallop all over the moors and the shore with my hair streaming out b

ally, "seeing you can't even stick on to a donkey on the

you-I know it does-because it rolls if you don't tumble off. It did the same with Charlie Chester the other day, and shot him straight over its head; then it got up and flew back

duchesses, you know, and members of Parliament, and admirals, and generals, and perhaps even the Prince a

lovely fruit from those gardens and greenhouses, and when we were tired of cricket we could get up sports, and

know you'll never have the chance. I say, suppose we go down the wood on this side and try

point the water, dashing between two steep crags, descended in a sheer fall of about thirty feet, emptying itself at the bottom into a wide and deep pool overhung by several fine mountain ashes, the scarlet berries of which made a bright spot of colour against the silvery green of the f

h his stick as he spoke. "I've got a perfect armful. Hullo! what's that all down the side of this overhanging rock? It's

nservatory, its delicate fronds showing in large clumps wherever it could obtain a hold on the rocky surface. I grieve to say that the Rokeby

ferns. They looked so lovely growing there by the waterfa

any yet," protested Bell

the most of it, you bet.-Here, Belle, you may have this piece. Catch! If I climb a lit

ntleman who had stolen upon the scene unawares. He spoke quite calmly, but there was a twitch about his mouth and a gleam in his gray eye which suggested the quiet before a thunderstorm, an

my trees and uprooting my ferns? I was under the impression that this was my private property, but you evidently consider you are entitled not only to

ildren; they did not possess either the moral courage or the good manners which Charlie Chester, madcap though he might be, would undoubtedly have displayed in the same situation, and instead of meeting the matter b

e had cultivated on the beach with such unsatisfactory results, she decided that discretion was t

en branches of mountain ash and the damaged ferns which the Rokebys had dropped in the panic of their flight, and which surrounded

oughtn't to have come. But, indeed, we didn't know it was your ground; we thought it was only just part of the Scar. And I don't believe the others would

ed me if I could have replaced it from the conservatory. This happens to be one of the few spots

ternation. "I know how very, very rare it is, because moth

ly genuine specimen and not naturalized?"

it was in a very out-of-th

ou didn't

made me promise never to tell any one where it g

plant in their miserable town gardens, I can't imagine. It's downright murder. The poor things die directly in the smoke. Look at these splendid roots that have been gr

en't used to the country, so they don't seem to think about spoiling things. I believe I could manage to plant these r

little ledges on the side of the rock, moistening the roots first in the stream, and scra

e hasn't even been touched, and it may spread. I wish I could put back

lonel

h-and-ready description. I should have thought better of them if they had stayed to apologize. Your friend with the light curls, whom, by

ou came so-so very suddenly. There! I've put all the ferns back. They're rather broken, I'm afraid; but there are

s I imagined?" said the colon

y. "I know we've done a great deal of harm. Ple

best to repair the damage, so

Belle will be wondering what has become of me, and the coach

I expect you will find the others waiting for you on the top of the Scar. Good-bye. Give my compliments to your friends, and tell them to learn to enjoy the countr