Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged from the
nests or broken off by the motions of the old birds, came rustling down.
One or two nests that had been blown out strewed the sward with half a
bushel of dead sticks. After the rookery the path passed a lonely dairy,
where the polished brazen vessels in the skilling glittered like gold in
the sunshine. Farther on came wide open meadows with numerous oak-trees
scattered in the midst--the outposts of the great wood at hand. The elms
were flourishing and vigorous; but these detached oaks were decaying,
and some dead, their hoar antiquity contrasting with the green grass and
flowers of the mead.
The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars.
From the edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted with
all manner of shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in dead
leaves, needles, and fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these to
accumulate, and the yew hedges had almost grown together and covered the
walk they bordered.
The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and
the meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led
into a narrow steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with
firs. On the other was a little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover
the chalk. This side jutted out from the general line of the hills, and
formed a bold bluff, whose white precipitous cliff was a landmark for
many miles.
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