is heap of grass, but there were no greenfinches
near; they had come out from the hedges, and the starling had come from
the hollow pollard where he had a nest, but all had settled a long way
off from his hiding-place. Bevis was very angry, so he stood up, and
pulled his bow with all his might, and let the arrow fly into the air
almost straight up. When it had risen so far, it turned over and came
down among the flock of birds and stuck in the ground.

They flew away in terror, and though he had not killed any, Bevis was
highly delighted at the fright they were in. He picked up his arrow,
and tried another long shot at a rook on the other side of the field,
but he could not send it so great a distance. As he ran for it, he saw
that the rook's back was towards him, and, thinking that the rook could
not see him, he raced on quietly to try and catch him, but just as he
got close, up rose the rook over the hedge with a "Caw, caw!" Whizz!
went Bevis's arrow after him, and fell on the other side of the hedge,
where he was not to go.

In his anger at the rook's behaviour Bevis forgot all about his promise;
he jumped into the ditch regardless of the stinging-nettles, pushed his
way up through the briars, tearing his sleeve, forced his way across the
mound, and went on his hands and knees through the young green fern on
the other side (just as Pan would have done) under the thick thorn
bushes, and so out into the next field. It was the very field where he
and Pan had wandered before, only another part of it. There was his
arrow ever so far off, sticking upright in the grass among the cowslips.
As he went to pick up his arrow he saw another flower growing a little
farther on, and went to gather that first; it was an orchid, and when he
stood up with it in his hand he heard a mouse rustle in the grass, and
stepped quietly to try and see it, but the mouse hid in a hole.

Then there was an enormous humble-bee, so huge that when it stayed to
suck a cowslip, the cowslip was bent down with its weight. Bevis walked
after the giant humble-bee, and watched it take the honey from several
cowslips; then he saw a stone standing in the field, it was not
upright, but leaned to one side--yet it was almost as tall as he was. He
went to the stone and looked all round it, and got up on it and sat
still a minute, and while he was there a cuckoo came by, so close, that
he jumped off to run after it. But the cuckoo flew fast, and began to
call "Cuc