of the hill and eat it there, and that
Kink, with Hester and Gregory, should go round the hill? which rises
all alone from the plain like a great sleeping monster, on the flat
roads, and meet them on the other, or south side, at Beckford, in the
afternoon; and they should then go on for five or six miles farther to
their campingground near Oxenton.

The night was uneventful except for a rather startling visit from a
peacock, which stood just inside the boys' tent and uttered such sounds
as only a peacock can.

Both parties started early the next morning. Gregory and Hester, being
for the first time alone as owners of the Slowcoach, were very proud
and excited, and Gregory insisted upon Janet giving him two shillings
in case of any emergency, although Kink had plenty of money. The nice
old women in the Worcestershire sunbonnets came to see them start, and,
well supplied with stone gingerbeer from the Queen's Head--Queen
Elizabeth's head, as it happens--off they went, Gregory beside Kink,
and Hester inside reading Hans Andersen's story of the nightingale.

The others, after waving good-bye, set their feet bravely towards the
slopes of Bredon Hill--no small undertaking, for it is very steep and
the day was hot. But the pathway is pleasant, first passing by the
gardens of the great house, where, burning blue on the wall, they saw
their visitor of the night; and then through a deep lane to a hillocky
meadow, and so up to the turf of the higher slopes, where the views
begin, and where it is very agreeable to rest.

But Robert urged them on. "It is quite flat at the top," he said, "and
there is a tower at the very edge, and a perfect place for a picnic."

Here we will leave them, climbing pantingly up, and follow the
Slowcoach, as Moses drew it steadily along the lanes at the base of the
hill, between the high hedges. At first, as I said, Kink and Gregory
walked; but after a while they both sat in front, just over the shafts,
and Gregory held the reins (he called it driving), and they discussed
life--which means that Gregory asked a thousand questions and Kink did
his best to answer or ignore them.

"It's not true, is it, that when all the cows in a field stand up it's
going to rain?"

"Don't you think Bredon Hill would be a ripping place to start to fly
from?"

"Shall we stop and cook our dinner, or have cold things?"

"It's not true, is it, that whenever you see a white horse you see a
red-haired girl? I suppose