The last book of wonder . then. Wehave been thirteen at table for thirty yearsand I never dared to insult them becauseI had wronged them all, and now you havedone it and I know they will never dine hereagain. And for a long time he still heldmy hand, and then he gave it a grip and akind of a shake which I took to mean Good-bye and I drew my hand away then andleft the house. And I found James in thestables with the hounds and asked himhow he had fared, and James, who is a manof very few words, said he could not rightlyremember, and I got my spurs from thebutler and climbed on to my horse andslo
The last book of wonder . then. Wehave been thirteen at table for thirty yearsand I never dared to insult them becauseI had wronged them all, and now you havedone it and I know they will never dine hereagain. And for a long time he still heldmy hand, and then he gave it a grip and akind of a shake which I took to mean Good-bye and I drew my hand away then andleft the house. And I found James in thestables with the hounds and asked himhow he had fared, and James, who is a manof very few words, said he could not rightlyremember, and I got my spurs from thebutler and climbed on to my horse andslowly we rode away from that queer oldhouse, and slowly we wended home, for thehounds were footsore but happy and thehorses were tired still. And when We re- 25 The Last Book of Wonder called that the hunting season was endedwe turned our faces to Spring and thoughtof the new things that try to replace the that very year I heard, and have oftenheard since, of dances and happier dinnersat Sir Richard Arlens house. 26. The City onMallington Moor esides the old shepherd atLingwold whose habits ren-der him unreliable I am prob-ably the only person thathas ever seen the city onMallington had decided one year to do no Londonseason; partly because of the ugliness of thethings in the shops, partly because of theunresisted invasions of German bands,partly perhaps because some pet parrotsin the oblong where I lived had learned toimitate cab-whistles; but chiefly because oflate there had seized me in London a quiteunreasonable longing for large woods andwaste spaces, while the very thought oflittle valleys underneath copses full ofbracken and foxgloves was a torment to meand every summer in London the longing 27 The Last Book of Wonder grew worse till the thing was becomingintolerable. So I took a stick and a knap-sack and began walking northwards, start-ing at Tetherington and sleeping at inns,where one could get real salt, and the waiterspoke English and where one had a nam
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