d.

CHAPTER FOUR.

WHO WILL BE QUEEN?

"When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight."--_Shakespeare_.

On the top of the ridge of hills which rose behind Mrs White's cottage
there was a great beech wood, which could be reached in two ways. One
was by following a rough stony road which got gradually steeper and was
terribly hard for both man and beast, and the other was to take a chalky
track which led straight across the rounded shoulder of the downs.

This last was considerably shorter, and by active people was always
preferred to the road, although in summer it was glaring and unshaded.
But the scramble was soon over, and in the deep quiet shelter of the
woods it was cool on the hottest day, for the trees held their leaves so
thickly over your head that it was better than any roof. The sun could
not get through to scorch or dazzle, but it lit up the flickering sprays
on the low boughs, so that looking through them you saw a silvery
shimmering dance always going on. In the valley there had not perhaps
been a breath of air, but up here a little ruffling breeze had its home,
and was ready to fan you gently and hospitably directly you arrived.

Under your feet a red-and-brown carpet of last year's leaves was spread,
stirred now and then with sudden mysterious rustlings as the small wild
creatures darted away at the sound of your step. These and the birds
shared the woods in almost complete solitude, disturbed now and again by
the woodcutters, or boys from the village. But there was one day in the
year when this quiet kingdom was strangely invaded, when its inhabitants
fled to their most retired corners and peeped out with terrified eyes
upon a very altered scene--and this was the first of May. Then
everything was changed for a little while. Instead of the notes of the
birds there were human voices calling to each other, laughing, singing,
shouting, and the music of a band; instead of great silent spaces, there
were many brightly-coloured figures which ran and danced. In the midst,
where a clearing had been made and the oldest trees stood solemnly
round, there appeared the slim form of a maypole decked with gay
ribbons; near it a throne covered with hawthorn boughs, on which,
dressed in white with garland and sceptre, was seated the Queen of the
May. There with great ceremony she was crowned by her court, and