often longed to do in childhood, and creep in. I _had_ so much
regard for propriety as to see that there was no one to witness the
escapade. Then I tucked my skirts round me, put my spectacles into my
pocket for fear they should get broken, and in I went.

"I must say one thing. A wood is charming enough (no one appreciates it
more than myself), but, if you have never been there, you have no idea
how much nicer it is inside than on the surface. Oh, the mosses--the
gorgeous mosses! The fretted lichens! The fungi like flowers for
beauty, and the flowers like nothing you have ever seen!

"Where the beetle went to I don't know. I could stand up now quite
well, and I wandered on till dusk in unwearied admiration. I was among
some large beeches as it grew dark, and was beginning to wonder how I
should find my way (not that I had lost it, having none to lose), when
suddenly lights burst from every tree, and the whole place was
illuminated. The nearest approach to this scene that I ever witnessed
above ground was in a wood near the Hague in Holland. There, what look
like tiny glass tumblers holding floating wicks, are fastened to the
trunks of the fine old trees, at intervals of sufficient distance to
make the light and shade mysterious, and to give effect to the full
blaze when you reach the spot where hanging chains of lamps illuminate
the 'Pavilion' and the open space where the band plays, and where the
townsfolk assemble by hundreds to drink coffee and enjoy the music. I
was the more reminded of the Dutch 'bosch' because, after wandering
some time among the lighted trees, I heard distant sounds of music, and
came at last upon a glade lit up in a similar manner, except that the
whole effect was incomparably more brilliant.

"As I stood for a moment doubting whether I should proceed, and a good