Rewards and Fairies - Penn State University

Rewards and Fairies
How far from St Helena to the Gate of Heaven’s Grace?
‘A Priest in Spite of Himself’
That no one knows—that no one knows—and no one ever
will.
THE DAY AFTER they came home from the sea-side they set out
But fold your hands across your heart and cover up your face, on a tour of inspection to make sure everything was as they
And after all your trapesings, child, lie still!
had left it. Soon they discovered that old Hobden had blocked
their best hedge-gaps with stakes and thorn-bundles, and had
trimmed up the hedges where the blackberries were setting.
‘it can’t be time for the gipsies to come along,’ said Una.
‘Why, it was summer only the other day!’
‘There’s smoke in Low Shaw!’ said Dan, sniffing. ‘Let’s make
sure!’
They crossed the fields towards the thin line of blue smoke
that leaned above the hollow of Low Shaw which lies beside
the King’s Hill road. It used to be an old quarry till somebody
planted it, and you can look straight down into it from
the edge of Banky Meadow.
‘I thought so,’ Dan whispered, as they came up to the fence
at the edge of the larches. A gipsy-van—not the show-man’s
sort, but the old black kind, with little windows high up and
a baby-gate across the door—was getting ready to leave. A
man was harnessing the horses; an old woman crouched over
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