acquire the other things myself."

This seemed to Mr. Carlyon a very conclusive answer--his bent of mind
found it logical.

"Very well," he said. "When shall we begin?"

"Perhaps to-morrow. To-day if you have time I would like to take you for
a walk in the park--and show you some of the trees. The beeches are
coming out very early this year; they have the most exquisite green just
showing, and the chestnuts in some places have quite large leaves. It is
damp under foot, though--do you mind that?"

"Not a bit," said Cheiron.

And so they went, creeping through the hole in the paling like two
brigands on a marauding expedition.

"There used to be deer when I first came five years ago," Halcyone said.
"I remember them quite well, and their sweet little fawns; but the next
winter was that horribly cold one, and there was no hay to be put out to
them--my Aunts La Sarthe are very poor--and some of them died, and in
the summer the Long Man came and talked and talked, and Aunt Roberta had
red eyes all the afternoon, as she always does when he comes, and Aunt
Ginevra pretended hers were a cold in her head--and the week after a lot
of men arrived and drove all the tender, beautiful creatures into
corners, and took them away in carts with nets over them--the does--but
the bucks had pieces of wood because their horns would have torn the
nets."