This seemed to
strike the ass as a repartee, so he brayed at me again by way of
rejoinder; and we went on for a while, braying and laughing, until
I began to grow aweary of it, and, shouting a derisive farewell,
turned to pursue my way. In so doing--it was like going suddenly
into cold water--I found myself face to face with a prim little old
maid. She was all in a flutter, the poor old dear! She had
concluded beyond question that this must be a lunatic who stood
laughing aloud at a white donkey in the placid beech-woods. I was
sure, by her face, that she had already recommended her spirit most
religiously to Heaven, and prepared herself for the worst. And so,
to reassure her, I uncovered and besought her, after a very staid
fashion, to put me on my way to Great Missenden. Her voice
trembled a little, to be sure, but I think her mind was set at
rest; and she told me, very explicitly, to follow the path until I
came to the end of the wood, and then I should see the village
below me in the bottom of the valley. And, with mutual courtesies,
the little old maid and I went on our respective ways.
Nor had she misled me. Great Missenden was close at hand, as she
had said, in the trough of a gentle valley, with many great elms
about it. The smoke from its chimneys went up pleasantly in the
afternoon sunshine. The sleepy hum of a threshing-machine filled
the neighbouring fields and hung about the quaint street corners.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137