windows, with the glimpse of the sunny bright rectory lawn to take one’s eye from the text-book, it was harder to fix one’s attention in the class-room than it had been during the dreary days of winter; yet the confinement was in a way less irksome too. There was so much more to look forward to when one did get out of doors! And out of doors Edward was sure he had never had so good a time. Every afternoon to drive with the crew the two miles to the pond, shouting songs, breathing in the fragrance of the pines along the road, yelling at the chipmunks that raced on stone walls and up tree-trunks—that was a fine way of settling one’s comfortable training-table dinner.
Then there was a pleasant scramble down a forest path, with columbines and lady-slippers all along it to snatch for one’s buttonhole—except that usually one was too busy undressing as one ran. In the boat-house it was a race to see who could strip first; always within seven minutes they had the shell in the water and were bending to the stroke.
