. Our village. ounds of the GreatHouse, with their magnificent groups of limes, and firs,and poplars grander than ever poplars were ; the greenmeadows opposite, studded with oaks and elms ; theclear winding river ; the mill with its picturesque oldbuildings bounding the scene ; all glowing with the richcolouring of autumn, and harmonised by the soft beautyof the clear blue sky, and the delicious calmness of thehour. The very peasant whose daily path it is, cannotcross that bridge without a pause. But the day is wearing fast, and it grows colder andcolder. I really think it will be a frost. Aft
. Our village. ounds of the GreatHouse, with their magnificent groups of limes, and firs,and poplars grander than ever poplars were ; the greenmeadows opposite, studded with oaks and elms ; theclear winding river ; the mill with its picturesque oldbuildings bounding the scene ; all glowing with the richcolouring of autumn, and harmonised by the soft beautyof the clear blue sky, and the delicious calmness of thehour. The very peasant whose daily path it is, cannotcross that bridge without a pause. But the day is wearing fast, and it grows colder andcolder. I really think it will be a frost. After all,spring is the pleasantest season, beautiful as this sceneryis. We must get on. Down that broad yet shadowy THE FALL OF TJIE LEAF 255 lane, between the park, dark with evergreens and dappledwith deer, and the meadows where sheep, and cows, andhorses are grazing under the tall elms ; that lane, wherethe wild bank, clothed with fern, and tufted with furze,and crowned by rich berried thorn, and thick shining. 3i- Grazing under the tall elms. holly on the one side, seems to vie in beauty \\itli thepicturesque old paling, the bright laurels, and the plum\cedars, on the other ;—down that shady lane, until thesudden turn brings us to an opening where four , where a noble avenue turns (fown to the (ircatHouse ; where the village church rears its motlest spirefrom amidst its venerable yew trees : and where, em-bosomed in orchards and gardens, and backed by bains 256 OUR VILLAGE and ricks, and all the wealth of the farmyard, standsthe spacious and comfortable abode of good FarmerRiley,—the end and object of our walk. And in happy time the message is said and theanswer given, for this beautiful mild day is edging offinto a dense frosty evening ; the leaves of the elm andthe linden in the old avenue are quivering and vibratingand fluttering in the air, and at length falling crisply onthe earth, as if Dash were beating for pheasants in thetree-tops ; the sun gleams dimly
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Keywords: ., bookauthorritchieannethackeray1, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
