. "Come on! We'll cross this little
foot-bridge, and go along the opposite bank."

The view of Holy Trinity Church from across the river is very
charming. The luxuriant foliage almost hides it except for the old
gray spire, which rises most gracefully above the tree-tops. They
strolled happily along over the rough field, Betty stopping sometimes
to gather a few attractive blossoms to add to her bunch of
wildflowers. The light was wonderfully soft and lovely, and the sun
had gone down only to leave behind it a sky glorious in its tints of
pink and lavender, with the deep blue still remaining above.

"Now, we're coming to the Weir Brake!" announced Mrs. Pitt
triumphantly. "Take care, Barbara! Don't trip over that stump!"

They followed their guide over a stile, across a field where the smell
of new-mown hay was sweet, through some bars, and finally along a
narrow, rough path on a steep bank close to the Avon. This was the
beginning of the Weir Brake, where Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway may
perhaps have done their courting, as Mrs. Pitt suggested.

The Avon is narrow at this point, and flows rather swiftly. The sunset
sky was reflected in its waters, which were overshadowed by willow
trees, rushes, and ferns. On the bank was a tangle of underbrush and
wild flowers, and above, the great trees,--the elms, of which
Shakespeare so often speaks. As they rambled on and on, the trees
seemed to grow larger, and more and more gnarled and picturesque.

"Oh! Can't you just see Titania and Oberon and all the other fairies
dancing here and playing games about these trees! It looks exactly
like a stage-setting for 'As You Like It' or 'Midsummer Night's
Dream,'" exclaimed Betty, who was fascinated with what she saw. The
evening was just dark enough to produce a weird but beautiful effect
of shadows under the elm trees.

"I'm rejoiced that it appeals to you so, Betty!" cried Mrs. Pitt.
"That's just as I always feel! It seems as though you could actually
touch spots of which Shakespeare must have been thinking when he wrote
certain passages. And it is a fact that he did often have this or
similar places in mind; for, although the scene of 'A Midsummer
Night's Dream' was supposed to be in Greece, Shakespeare allowed his
characters and his entire background to be as absolutely English as he
was himself. You know that in olden times, the Forest of Arden covered
much of Warwickshire; even these old trees with which we are now
surrounded