This wood is of large extent; but
even to the smaller plantations of the Downs it is wonderful what a
number come in the course of a year. Besides the shed just visited,
there would be certain to be another more or less ornamented near the
keeper's cottage, and probably others scattered about, where the
commoner vermin could be nailed without the trouble of carrying them far
away. Only the owls and hawks, magpies, and such more striking evidences
of slaughter were collected here, and almost daily renewed.
To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the
thick hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry
ditch where it was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow
where was a footpath.
CHAPTER VI
LURCHER-LAND: 'THE PARK'
The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen
village. It is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, although
it is built on the last slope of the Downs, because just where the
ground drops and the eye expects an open space, plantations of fir and
the tops of tall poplars and elms intercept the glance. In ascending
from the level meadows of the vale thick double mounds, heavily timbered
with elm, hide the houses until you are actually in their midst.
Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the
roads, indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through the
heart of the land.
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