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HOLIDAY.
Jasper's favourite walk led him to a spot distant perhaps a mile and a half from home.

From a tract of common he turned into a short lane which crossed the Great Western railway, and thence by a stile into certain meadows forming a compact little valley.

One recommendation of this retreat was that it lay sheltered from all winds; to Jasper a wind was objectionable.

Along the bottom ran a clear, shallow stream, overhung with elder and hawthorn bushes; and close by the wooden bridge which spanned it was a great ash tree, making shadow for cows and sheep when the sun lay hot upon the open field.