er's morning in a very lonely place.
The wind was laden with sleet, and as I walked on the top of the cliffs
it struck my right cheek viciously, and then screamed away past through
the furze-bushes. The light was coming up slowly over the leaden sea,
and the waves seemed cowed by the steady flogging of the sleet. I heard
the woods complaining from afar off, and the whistling curlew as he
called overhead made me think of messengers of evil. Presently I came to
a great range of rounded hills, which were covered by withered bracken.
Certain gaps led through these hills to the beach, and along the beach I
determined to walk. My terrier concluded that rabbits were vanity. He
drooped his ears and tail, and trotted along as if he were reproaching
me for my rashness. I was glancing out over the grey trouble of the sea,
and watching the forlorn ships cowering along like belated ghosts, when
I heard a click to the right of me. Looking up the bluff, I saw a tall
powerful lad who had just straightened himself up. He had two rabbits
slung over his shoulder, and his big bag seemed to contain many more. I
walked towards him to have a look at what he was doing, and I found him
manoeuvring with a great steel trap. When he had finished, we dropped
into conversation in that easy way proper to wild places where few men
ever come. I noticed his build and his face. His rough bonnet covered
his forehead, but I could see he had plenty of thick brown hair. His eye
was blue like tempered steel, and shone with a steady gleam from under
projecting brows. His mouth was beautifully shaped, and his lips were
full and resolute. For the rest, he was built like an ordinary
dalesman--broad and flat in the shoulders, lean in the flank, and strong
of limb. His clothing was coarse and poor, and his hands were rough and
very red.

I said, "What takes you out at this time of the morning?"

"Oh! I was just lookin' round the traps. My father rents the hills from
here to the Clough, and I work with him."

"You find it chilly work this weather?"

"It's grey and cold; but we haven't to mind those things."

"Are you busy all day?"

"No. I only go to the traps twice, and then drive the rabbits into the
town, and the rest o' the time I'm clear."

"Then where do you live?"

"I stop by myself mostly in the wooden house at the Poachers' Hollow,
and old Betty Winthrop comes and does what's wanted to keep the place
right."

We walked on exchanging small talk un