I put some fresh wood on the fire, which was nearly out, and hung the kettle over it.  I then issued forth from the dingle, and strolled round the wood that surrounded it; for a long time I was busied in meditation, looking at the ground, striking with my foot, half unconsciously, the tufts of grass and thistles that I met in my way.  After some time, I lifted up my eyes to the sky, at first vacantly, and then with more attention, turning my head in all directions for a minute or two; after which I returned to the dingle.  Isopel was seated near the fire, over which the kettle was now hung; she had changed her dress—­no signs of the dust and fatigue of her late excursion remained; she had just added to the fire a small billet of wood, two or three of which I had left beside it; the fire cracked, and a sweet odour filled the dingle.

‘I am fond of sitting by a wood fire,’ said Belle, ’when abroad, whether it be hot or cold; I love to see the flames dart out of the wood; but what kind is this, and where did you get it?’

‘It is ash,’ said I, ’green ash.  Somewhat less than a week ago, whilst I was wandering along the road by the side of a wood, I came to a place where some peasants were engaged in cutting up and clearing away a confused mass of fallen timber:  a mighty-aged oak had given way the night before, and in its fall had shivered some smaller trees; the upper part of the oak, and the fragments of the rest, lay across the road.  I purchased, for a trifle, a bundle or two, and the wood on the fire is part of it—­ash, green ash.’

‘That makes good the old rhyme,’ said Belle, ’which I have heard sung by the old woman in the great house:—­

   ’"Ash, when green,
   Is fire for a queen."’

‘And on fairer form of queen, ash fire never shone,’ said I, ’than on thine, O beauteous queen of the dingle.’

‘I am half disposed to be angry with you, young man,’ said Belle.

* * * * *

After ordering dinner I said that as I was thirsty I should like to have some ale forthwith.

‘Ale you shall have, your honour,’ said Tom, ’and some of the best ale that can be drunk.  This house is famous for ale.’

‘I suppose you get your ale from Llangollen,’ said I, ’which is celebrated for its ale over Wales.’

‘Get our ale from Llangollen?’ said Tom, with a sneer of contempt, ’no, nor anything else.  As for the ale it was brewed in this house by your honour’s humble servant.’

‘Oh,’ said I, ’if you brewed it, it must of course be good.  Pray bring me some immediately, for I am anxious to drink ale of your brewing.’

‘Your honour shall be obeyed,’ said Tom, and disappearing returned in a twinkling with a tray on which stood a jug filled with liquor and a glass.  He forthwith filled the glass, and pointing to its contents said: 

’There, your honour, did you ever see such ale?  Observe its colour!  Does it not look for all the world as pale and delicate as cowslip wine?’