All in a Month and Other Stories Author:Allen Raine Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: A Life's Chase CHAPTER I In the soft twilight of a June evening, seventy years ago, and far from the haunts of busy life, when the hay was just fit to cut,... more » Mistress Parry of Bryneidon walked out to inspect for herself the state of the crops, whether to-morrow or the next day should be fixed upon for the mowing. With her red flannel scarf drawn tightly over her shoulders, the ends hanging down from the grip of her elbows over her dress of red-and-black homespun, her high muslin cap, very full at the top and fastened at the sides under its broad band of black silk, her gold-headed cane and her high-heeled shoes, she looked what she was—a very determined and capable manager of her own affairs. She looked at the soft clear sky, where the faint glow of the sunset still lingered beyond thebillowy blue hills, and nodded her head ; then she turned to the east, where one brilliant star looked serenely down, and nodded again. " To-morrow it shall be," she said, and, returning briskly through the darkening lane to the farm-yard, she saw before her the grey figure of a man who walked in a curious, uneven fashion—hurrying, then halting, and continually looking over his shoulder as he went. There was no workhouse or asylum in the whole county, and the parish authorities considered thcy had well discharged their duties when they made it compulsory upon every farmer to house and feed any tramps or beggars who might claim their shelter and charity for two nights and a day, after which they were expected to move on to the next parish. As a consequence, the country was infested with tramps or " travellers," as they were called. The lazy, the incapable, and the insane roamed about unwatched and un- cared for, and the farm-servants looked forward with pleasurable curiosity to the almost ni...« less