It really was a most perfect early morning, and there was a bloom upon the stubble and Mortland Royal wood like the bloom upon a plum.
The air was keen, the sun bright. The pheasants chuckled in the wood, the mare's feet pounded the hard road merrily.
"What a thoroughly delightful morning!" Lothian said to the groom at his side and his eyes were still dreamy with subtle content.
CHAPTER IX
A STARTLING EXPERIENCE FOR "WOG"
"The die rang sideways as it fell,
Rang cracked and thin,
Like a man's laughter heard in hell. . . ."
—Swinburne.