.7sCay. 1919
THE LANDSWOMAN
.. J-et townfolk a log th,. hiJlhways
By whlcll the cycll.sta rJdP ;
\VP ru tlea ll)v,. thf• bye•ay ...
Alonr th" m~o.doWI' 8ldP.
Through ll'afy uooQ
Bye ways
know tbe ,.hsnn of high~ a) •--lltn·tchtnl{ their
Yl' " wh ~ rt tJ\Jon<;," u th! P~ncl' poet crul! tbtm-lll'btn •e
are tn a car, or ou the faithful ptt! h·l••"> d~ that. tbe war·tllM ha.'!
b t011rllt to ltJ! own a,r;.l.fn. Then they are lnt.ere!t1nl( and d,.·
lu:~httnl, bot t<> the wayf.arP-t on ftl()t tbey cannot compare lu
tuterea' wtth ~ by wa)'lt. The tnl'-u dwelt r who does not tlkt·
·t.Il!ls, and f P&I1l mud, had bett4'r keep to the hhzhwa)', but Hlf'
cow:;try lo~ er wUI ftD(l many a dannlng at~t<:b of tan"' and fl,.ld
on thf- brewayg, anti ftud them often !lbortu aa well All morP
s hady l!.[!d
du ty tba.n t~ "Klng'll Rlgb'Way." :Many 011
okHJ me ria r~gii:J is now ~ft only a: a l.lyeway, mnoe the exip:en·
de;~ m r:oach u.me ct.w..ed U~t> main road to tak'! o more dlrt'l~t
n.UW from one ti>Wil to aOOU)Pr, la&\"loq the '111ages and hamlet"
n mark U~e track of the rolld.~ by
wlalch (JUr f'm f.athtr11 travf!l~d in the !\a )'I' when no roatls wet('
" made " aa ~ understand U~m. and pack·hOI'IC.1 tarrfl'd the
IDI':rcltar.dlse that now we toad 11n motor lorrl f1r 61 nd tn
railway tro,..ks behilld the Iron bor P.. Those 'fl·bo have dudif·d
tt.e toot~tlL'I c.f a T•l&ce. or have earPfuJiv traSrlllh, es})f'clally In on,. made up ohcattt't'f'd hamlcUI anti farm .
Jn our own horn"! countrv byewaya abound. OM 1lt·ldpath,
fo r lmtanee,Is all that remiln.~ w trll of a nt)W vnnl~hrd hamlet.
oft~"n mentioned ln th,. pari"h reghk-rs. Anotl•~'r runs on tht•
1 hte or an almOHt fOrJtOtten Itomnn road, while se'eml mnrk
"h"re nn ol foot ·
path O\'Cr the fir hh. They an- the way to thr• Parish Churd•
fr ,m thn outlyinll hamletJ~, and the old roll, of the :&lanor Court
comtautlv JDI'ntlon thl"m. The landownr~ .. ccm to have bern
II(.OCrlally ·undl'r thr obligation to keep tht>m In ~ood ordl'r a. t<~
~;tllflS and J'atb.. and thr brldg~. calle map polnt.>-
out " Church bridge,'' and you think it I$ 110 C.'lllcd h<'cau~e it
1" near to a mo<'c..'\u~o men er~ it now to churcl1 there, but
1,ccauac In thl' c,.nturlcs before th"t <'hurch was built and thAt
p!\rl b formed, rnrn CJ'tMed on th,Ir way to the old mother church
h\o mlll':ll n\\ay. Another "Church road " rome5 down a
modf'rn road, with wide brnmblr-grown IDAr_gln, and thf' old. old
people wJil trll you of a tlmC' \\hcn th,.ro wa<~ a well·kept toot·
pnth thPre, whero tho bramhlrs ~ tb.-m.~elvcs now, and that
1t \\M kt>pt tidy nn
That any tramp can know.
D~ Nature'& O<>ob
s~d qwet loolo
Their atorlcd lore to show.
· Th~> stile'\ through leafy hedgca,
The tootpaU\S o'er the teas.
fbl' plank·brfdge by the IH dgeil,
The •-ays among the tn-t:~~,
Th~>y all are dear.
And year by yt'ar
, .
Thry ~wIn power to pleA.<~e.
H . M A.
Joey
OB\" w.~ ... a ~ce bat.y and an Ol'}>ban, nnd consequently lu•
wadP. a ,rry '\trong apJX;AI to my &ympath les. When I heard
hl:i &ad ., 00 ry rn)· bf'art yearned toward/; him, and I determined
t o adopt htm. I knew IU.Ue or oothinl{ about babies, but l
rdlt•ctf'd that thl'ro were those netlr who d id, and thry would nv
doubt J.•nd a hl'lplng band lf need a.r
been peNons of low degree, for the child "as pos.'!<'SScd of the
m~t pl'rverted ~t.es. R e actually Jlreferred to take bls siest&,$
In the coal·holr, and I lad taken such a lot of trouble over hit!
J
nuNery, too.
,
It really
a bit trying, c•t>eclnlly on one or two OCCMions
when I wh\hl'd to Rhow him otf to visitors, and when, on m y
calling him, ht.> would emerge from his hiding-place looking mote
likr a nig~~:er baby than a pure-bred English one I
,,.cu
I ba,·e $lnce been told that boy!\ are all alike-they can' t bear
to be clean l-and J oey wns no ex(l('ption. But I s oon gave up
bl'lng unduly worried when I met him with grimy fnce and coat
to match. After all. he was quitc happy and contented, and the
triL'!ting look on his baby face and all his affectlonato ways made
up for evcr)'thlng.
It was only in the rvenlng, when my day's work wa.s done.
tlu~t I could find time to really enjoy Joey. We filled a whole
hour wlth revelry and fun- bldt>·and·seok, leap-frog, a nd such·
LikP gnme.i we tackled with a will; but what pleased J oey most
were race!!. And, my word, he could run 1 I t took mo all my
tl mo to keep up with him, and sometim~ I had perforce t~
acknowledge dt>fcnt. We uouall y Onl.,hed up wllh a jolly tng·o •
war, nnd then I would tAke J oey on my knee, and Jn silence wr
would wnt.ch and enjoy the radiant 6 u~ets. Ah I those were
happy days. AIM I that they are no more I For there came
n day whrn the awful truth wn.s thru.<~t upon me-Joey no longer
cared for me. Wor~e than that, he completely ignort>d my
t>XIAtcnc<', for he:> had. found a new nod all-ab ·orblng lnteJ:1lSt In life
-"'O vital that it blotted out all ol:>e, even the roPmory ot all my
loving care. If I CAlled his name he prek-ndcd not to have
heard, if I tried to go nenr him, he ~,·ould walk away. H urt and
l ndlgnant, I went nnd s at apart. and roedltntcd long a nd sadly
on the fickleness nod lngmtltudo o f nu:mklnd In general, nod
babic$ In particular.
Ab, well, J oeyl You d1d not mean to break my hea1t. You
arc only a little lambkin, and ''hen you dlscover('d t he way tdo
ulbble grass and chew your cud, the wonder of it j u!>