at the Roman soldiers had to cut down the woods to
get at them; and how the trees, falling across the courses of the
streams, dammed them up, so that the surrounding soil was turned into a
swamp; and how mosses and water-plants grew over the fallen trees, and
became matted together, so that more vegetation grew on the top of that,
till the ancient forest was, at length, quite buried in the carr.
Oliver now reminded his sister of all this: and they looked with a kind
of veneration on the form which they supposed was probably that of an
ancient Briton, who, flying from the invaders, into the recesses of the
forest, had perished there alone. There was no appearance of his having
been buried. No earthen vessels, or other remains, such as were usually
found in the graves of the ancients, appeared to be contained in the
bank. If he had died lying along the ground, his body would have
decayed like other bodies, or been devoured by wild beasts. Perhaps he
was drowned in one of the ponds or streams of the forest, and the body,
being immediately washed over with sand or mud, was thus preserved.

"What is the use of guessing and guessing?" exclaimed Roger. "If people
should dig up George's bones, out of this bank, a thousand years hence,
and find them lying in a sort of oven, as they would call it, with a
fine carved stone for one of the six sides, do you think they could ever
guess how all these things came to be here?"

"This way of burying is an accident, such as no one would think of
guessing," said Oliver, sighing. "And this dried body may be here, to
be sure, by some other accident that we know nothing about. I really
wish, Roger, you would cover up the corpse again; at least, till we know
whether we shall all die together here."

This was what Roger could never bear to hear of. He always ran away
from it: and so he did now. Dark as it was growing, he passed over to
the house, and mounted the staircase (which stood as firm as ever, and
looked something like a self-supported ladder). While he was vainly
looking abroad for boats, which the shadows of the evening would have
prevented his seeing if they had been there by hundreds, the brother and
sister speculated on one thing more, in connection with the spectacle
which had powerfully excited their imaginations. Mildred whispered to
Oliver--

"If this old man and George lie together here, I wonder whether their
spirits will know it, and come together in heaven."