He had not lain many minutes in
this situation when the tones of a strong voice rang through the forest.
There was a whoop and halloo, and then a catch of a song, and then a
shrill whistle, all strangely mingled together, finally settling down
into a rude strain, which, coming from stentorian lungs, found a ready
echo in every jutting rock and space of wood for a mile round. The
musician went on merrily from verse to verse of his forest minstrelsy as
he continued to approach; describing in his strain, with a ready
ballad-facility, the numberless pleasures to be found in the life of the
woodman. Uncouthly, and in a style partaking rather more of the savage
than the civilized taste and temper, it enumerated the distinct features
of each mode of life with much ingenuity and in stanzas smartly
epigrammatic, did not hesitate to assign the preference to the former.
As the new-comer approached the spot where Ralph Colleton lay, there was
still a partial though dim light over the forest.
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