who one day, while wandering in the Forest of Arden ("In which
the scene of 'As You Like It' is laid, Hester, and which used to cover
all the ground where Evesham now stands"), was visited in a vision by
three radiant damsels. He returned at once and told the Bishop, who, on
being led to the same spot, after a preparation of fasting and prayer,
had the same vision, and at once recognized the damsels as the Virgin
Mary and two Angels.

At that time the meaning of such heavenly visitations was plain, and
the Bishop at once set about building an abbey on the spot. He
appointed himself the first abbot and named it after his swineherd
Eoves--Eoves'ham.

The abbey was large and prosperous, but the Danes destroyed it in one
of their raids, and it had to be rebuilt on a more splendid scale. Then
came Henry VIII. and his quarrel with the Church of Rome, and the abbey
was confiscated and given as a grant to Sir Philip Hoby, one of his
friends, who at once (being a man of the type of the Rev. Francis
Gastrell) raised what money he could on it by turning it into a quarry
for stones. And that is why so many old houses in this neighbourhood
have carved stones in their walls.

The party then returned to the marketplace and walked down to the
bridge, where they joined Kink and set out for their goal.

Elmley Castle is one street, with a ruined cross at one end and the
church at the other, and the great hill over all. The cottages are as
white as snowdrops, and they have heavy thatch roofs. The women wear
large blue Worcestershire sunbonnets. The only shop is a post-office
too, so that Robert was able to send his telegrams very easily.

After supper some of them walked through the churchyard (which has a
very curious sun-dial in it) to the meadows beyond, in search of the
castle, the site of which is mentioned on the map, but is quite
undiscoverable now; while Robert made friends with an old labourer
smoking his pipe outside the great tithe barn, and asked him about the
road up Bredon' as it was his project to sleep on the very top of the
hill the next night.

But the old man changed their plans completely; for he convinced Robert
that the Slowcoach would never get to the top without at least two more
horses to help, and even then it would be an unwise course to take,
because there was no proper road, and it might be badly shaken.

It was therefore arranged that the older and stronger children should
take their lunch to the top