Page:Traits and Trials.pdf/310

304 led me into contact with the actual. As usual such knowledge began in sorrow.

One morning before the period of leaving the school-room, I heard the report of a gun. In spite of the intricate path of rivers and boundaries I was then tracing, it still occurred to me to wonder what could lead to a gun's being fired at that time of year. Alas, I learnt only too soon. On going to the accacia I was surprised not to find my usual companion waiting. As to reading in any comfort, till I had Clio’s soft brown eyes watching me, was impossible. I sent off in search of the truant, perhaps she had been fastened up. I found my way to the stable, and to the dead body of my favourite. She had been bitten by an adder, and they had been obliged to shoot her. It was one of those shocking spectacles which remain with you for your life. Even now my dreams are haunted with the sight. I believe at first that horror predominated over regret. I could not cry, I stood pale and trembling beside the mangled remains of what I had loved so dearly. I prevailed on