the mews next to
the road.

The footpath mentioned passed between walls of large gardens, and the
between fields, until it joined a road on the other side of which was
the village church-yard, through which the footway passage continued
till again a high-road intervened. This continuous footway formed
a short cut to a distant part of the parish. It was not much used
excepting on Sundays, and by lovers who walked there on summer nights. I
had found out years before that the mews at the back of our house was an
occasional pissing-place, it being round the corner, and out of sight.
I used to peep over the wall in hopes of seeing a female at that
operation, mounting to do so by the gardener's ladder. When I saw a
woman piddle it was great delight to me, but I more frequently saw men
whose cocks had no attraction for me. On Sunday nights after church, the
splash and rustle of petticoats could be heard, but not seen; the sight
was however rare at any time, for few people had the boldness to push
open the gate, and enter the mews.

I never saw copulation, the greatest fun I had was once seeing a female
bogging, who turned round and gathered two or three of the largest
leaves from the lime-trees in our gardens which overhung the wall, wiped
her arse with them, and left them sticking on the top of her turds; but
she never noticed a youth peeping just over her head. One reason why I
was never detected watching was that women always turned their bums to
our wall, and so I was at the back of them. Charlotte and I have both
looked over the wall.

The wall was mostly covered with our ivy, which fell down in thick
masses on the mews side; lime-trees at intervals completed the screen.
Any one peeping down from above could be sufficiently hidden if he
put his head carefully above the wall at places, and pushed aside the
boughs. On the day I speak of, I walked round the garden thinking of old
times, of how Charlotte and I used to see if the cook was talking to
the gardener before we began our amourous play, of the pranks Fred and
others played there, and all the occurrences of my youth, which had
taken place in the house and garden.

The gardener was away. I thought I would look over the wall; so placing
the ladder got up, and looking down saw two girls sitting on the handles
of a barrow on which were baskets filled with linen. One looked about
sixteen, the other a little older. It was a dreadfully hot day, the
barrow was at the an