Chapter 1. The Plum Tree
_ CHAPTER I. THE PLUM TREE
At Wittisham several of the little houses had crept down very close to the river. Mrs. Prettyman‘s cottage was just like a hive made for the habitation of some gigantic bee； its pointed roof covered with deep, close-cut thatch the colour of a donkey‘s hide. There were small windows under the overhanging eaves, a pathway of irregular flat stones ran up to the doorway, and a bit of low wall divided the tiny garden from the river. The Plum Tree grew just beside the wall, so near indeed that it could look at itself on spring days when the water was like a mirror. In autumn the branches on that side of the tree were the first to be shaken, lest any of the fruit should fall down and be lost. Sometimes a village child treading cautiously on bare toes amongst the stones along the narrow margin, would pounce upon a plum with a squeal of joy, for although the village was surrounded with orchards, the fruit of Mrs. Prettyman‘s tree had

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