The parson went on to comment on a pleasing and fanciful appellation
which the Jews of old gave to the echo, which they called Bath-kool,
that is to say, "the daughter of the voice;" they considered it an
oracle, supplying in the second temple the want of the Urim and Thummim,
with which the first was honoured.[A] The little man was just entering
very largely and learnedly upon the subject, when we were startled by a
prodigious bawling, shouting, and yelping. A flight of crows, alarmed by
the approach of our forces, had suddenly risen from a meadow; a cry was
put up by the rabble rout on foot--"Now, Christy! now is your time,
Christy!" The squire and Master Simon, who were beating up the river
banks in quest of a heron, called out eagerly to Christy to keep quiet;
the old man, vexed and bewildered by the confusion of voices, completely
lost his head: in his flurry he slipped off the hood, cast off the
falcon, and away flew the crows, and away soared the hawk.

[Footnote A: Bekker's _Monde Enchanté_.]

I had paused on a rising ground, close to Lady Lillycraft and her
escort, from whence I had a good view of the sport. I was pleased with
the appearance of the party in the meadow, riding along in the direction
that the bird flew; their bright beaming faces turned up to the bright
skies as they watched the game; the attendants on foot scampering along,
looking up, and calling out, and the dogs bounding and yelping with
clamorous sympathy.

[Illustration: The Quarry in Sight]

The hawk had singled out a quarry from among the carrion crew. It was
curious to see the efforts of the two birds to get above each other; one
to make the fatal swoop, the other to avoid it. Now they crossed athwart