All in a garden fair; the simple story of three boys ... - University Library

ALL IX A GARDEN FAIR. 59
the right distance from tliem yoii may catch
the sweetness of the hymns which they sing
but you must not be too near tliem or you will
hear the Cockney twang. Why, even the
guidebooks do not know Hainault Forest.
To have such a place all to themselves, witli
such a country-side to walk in, surely com-
pensated for poverty. Why, witli a turn of
the wheel they might have lived at I>ancaster
Gate and then they would liave had nothing
but Kensington Gardens. On the other hand,
with another turn of the wheel they might have
lived in the Mile End Road and so have liad
nothing at all but Stepney Green.
In long summer holidays the children could
take their dinners with them and make excur-
sions around and outside the forest. For in-
stance, they would walk over to the school at
Chigwell and thence take a path across fields to
Loughton ;
the river Roding runs through these
fields ; they could fish in the Roding, which
after rain is an impetuous, headlong stream,
out is sluggish in fair weather. There are
;