in the faces of their male companions.

As I approached this spot in the evening about half an hour before
sunset, I was surprised to hear the hum of voices, and occasionally
a shout of merriment from the meadow beyond the churchyard; which I
found, when I reached the stile, to be occasioned by a very
animated game of cricket, in which the boys and young men of the
place were engaged, while the females and old people were scattered
about: some seated on the grass watching the progress of the game,
and others sauntering about in groups of two or three, gathering
little nosegays of wild roses and hedge flowers. I could not but
take notice of one old man in particular, with a bright-eyed grand-
daughter by his side, who was giving a sunburnt young fellow some
instructions in the game, which he received with an air of profound
deference, but with an occasional glance at the girl, which induced
me to think that his attention was rather distracted from the old
gentleman's narration of the fruits of his experience. When it was
his turn at the wicket, too, there was a glance towards the pair
every now and then, which the old grandfather very complacently
considered as an appeal to his judgment of a particular hit, but
which a certain blush in the girl's face, and a downcast look of
the bright eye, led me to believe was intended for somebody else
than the old man,--and understood by somebody else, too, or I am
much mistaken.

I was in the very height of the pleasure which the contemplation of
this scene afforded me, when I saw the old clergyman making his way
towards us. I trembled for an angry interruption to the sport, and
was almost on the point of crying out, to warn the cricketers of
his approach; he was so close upon me, however, that I could do