Wild fowl skimmed over its glassy surface, or dipped
in search of its finny prey, and here and there a heron might be
detected standing in some shallow nook, and feasting on the smaller
fry. A flight of cawing rooks were settling upon the tall trees on the
right bank, and the voices of the thrush, the blackbird, and other
feathered songsters burst in redundant melody from the nearer groves.
A verdant path, partly beneath the trees, and partly on the side of the
lake, led Wolsey to the forester's hut. Constructed of wood and clay,
with a thatched roof, green with moss, and half overgrown with ivy, the
little building was in admirable keeping with the surrounding scenery.
Opposite the door, and opening upon the lake, stood a little boathouse,
and beside it a few wooden steps, defended by a handrail, ran into the
water. A few yards beyond the boathouse the brook before mentioned
emptied its waters into the lake.
Gazing with much internal satisfaction at the hut, Wolsey bade Patch
dismount, and ascertain whether Mabel was within. The buffoon
obeyed, tried the door, and finding it fastened, knocked, but to no
purpose.
After a pause of a few minutes, the cardinal was turning away in
extreme disappointment, when a small skiff, rowed by a female hand,
shot round an angle of the lake and swiftly approached them.
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