Her
ladyship ambled gently along on her pony, while the general, mounted
on a tall hunter, looked down upon her with an air of the most
protecting gallantry.
For my part, being no sportsman, I kept with this last party, or
rather lagged behind, that I might take in the whole picture; and the
parson occasionally slackened his pace, and jogged on in company with
me.
The sport led us at some distance from the Hall, in a soft meadow,
reeking with the moist verdure of spring. A little river ran through
it, bordered by willows, which had put forth their tender early
foliage. The sportsmen were in quest of herons, which were said to
keep about this stream.
There was some disputing, already, among the leaders of the sport. The
Squire, Master Simon, and old Christy, came every now and then to a
pause, to consult together, like the field officers in an army; and I
saw, by certain motions of the head, that Christy was as positive as
any old wrong-headed German commander.
As we were prancing up this quiet meadow, every sound we made was
answered by a distinct echo, from the sunny wall of an old building,
that lay on the opposite margin of the stream; and I paused to listen
to this "spirit of a sound," which seems to love such quiet and
beautiful places.
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