and
shadows which the burning sun cast upon the yellowish-white cornland;
the purple forest in the distance; the white gossamer threads which were
floating in the air or resting on the soil-all these things I observed
and heard and felt to the core.

Arrived at the Kalinovo wood, we found the carriage awaiting us
there, with, beside it, a one-horse waggonette driven by the butler--a
waggonette in which were a tea-urn, some apparatus for making ices, and
many other attractive boxes and bundles, all packed in straw! There was
no mistaking these signs, for they meant that we were going to have tea,
fruit, and ices in the open air. This afforded us intense delight, since
to drink tea in a wood and on the grass and where none else had ever
drunk tea before seemed to us a treat beyond expressing.

When Turka arrived at the little clearing where the carriage was
halted he took Papa's detailed instructions as to how we were to divide
ourselves and where each of us was to go (though, as a matter of fact,
he never acted according to such instructions, but always followed his
own devices). Then he unleashed the hounds, fastened the leashes to
his saddle, whistled to the pack, and disappeared among the young birch
trees the liberated hounds jumping about him in high delight, wagging
their tails, and sniffing and gambolling with one another as they
dispersed themselves in different directions.

"Has anyone a pocket-handkerchief to spare?" asked Papa. I took mine
from my pocket and offered it to him.

"Very well, Fasten it to this greyhound here."

"Gizana?" I asked, with the air of a connoisseur.

"Yes. Then run him along the road with you. When you come to a little
clearing in the wood stop and look about you, and don't come back to me
without a hare."

Accordingly I tied my handkerchief round Gizana's soft neck, and set off
running at full speed towards the appointed spot, Papa laughing as he
shouted after me, "Hurry up, hurry up or you'll be late!"

Every now and then Gizana kept stopping, pricking up his ears, and
listening to the hallooing of the beaters. Whenever he did this I was
not strong enough to move him, and could do no more than shout, "Come
on, come on!" Presently he set off so fast that I could not restrain
him, and I encountered more than one fall before we reached our
destination. Selecting there a level, shady spot near the roots of a
great oak-tree, I lay down on the turf, made Gizana crouch beside me,