"THE ASH TREE"


"If you have travelled at all in the East of England, you will no doubt be familiar with
the smaller country-houses with which, the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk are studded."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"I love the library, of course, where you may find anything from
a Psalter of the thirteenth century to a Shakespeare quarto.
(Photo: BBC Homes and Antiques Magazine)



"I want to tell you about a curious series of events which happened
in just such a house as I have tried to describe . . ."
(Photo: BBC Homes and Antiques Magazine)



"The tree is to come down tomorrow,
so I shall not hear much more from it," said Sir Richard . . .
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"They found the anatomy or skeleton of a human being,
the skin dried upon the bones, having some remains of black hair . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



 "OH, WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD"


"Bleak and solemn was the view
on which he took a last look before starting homeward . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT
"Who is this who is coming?"
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"The note he produced had a quality of infinite distance in it.
And, soft as it was, he somehow felt it must be audible for miles round."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"On this bleak stage at first no actor was visible.
Then, in the distance, a bobbing black object appeared . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"A moment more, and it was a man running, jumping, clambering over the groynes,
and every few seconds looking eagerly behind him . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"The nearer he came the more obvious it was that he was not only anxious,
but terribly terribly frightened, though his face was not to be distinguished . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"He was, moreover, almost at the end of his strength . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"Half-climbing, half throwing himself, he got over the groyne . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



". . . and fell in a heap on the other side. There, as if really unable to get up again,
he remained crouching, looking up in an attitude of painful anxiety."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"So far no cause for the runner’s fear had been shown . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)



"It leapt upon him on the instant . . ."
(Photo: Ruth Horry)