AMARYLLIS AT THE FAIR THE READERS' LIBRARY Uniform with this Volume BELLOC, H. AVRIL. Essays on the Poetry of the French Renaissance BIRRELL, AUGUSTINE ORBITER DICTA BOURNE, GEORGE MEMOIRS OF A SURREY LABOURER BROOKS, STOPFORD A. STUDIES IN POETRY. Essays on Blake, Scott, Shelley, Keats, etc. EVERETT, W. ITALIAN POETS SINCE DANTE GALSWORTHY, JOHN A COMMENTARY HUDSON, W. H. GREEN MANSIONS. A Romance of the Tropical Forest THE PURPLE LAND. Descriptive Romance JEFFERIES, RICHARD AMARYLLIS AT THE FAIR BEVIS. The Story of a Boy AFTER LONDON MCCABE, JOSEPH ST. AUGUSTINE AND HIS AGE NEVINSON, H. W. ESSAYS IN FREEDOM STEPHEN, SIR LESLIE ENGLISH LITERATURE AND SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY STUDIES OF A BIOGRAPHER. First Series. Two Volumes STUDIES OF A BIOGRAPHER. Second Series. Two Volumes WITTE, DR. CARL ESSAYS ON DANTE ROOSEVELT, THEODORE THE STRENUOUS LIFE. Essays and Addresses ECKENSTEIN, LINA COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN NURSERY RHYMES: Essays in a Branch of Folklore CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM, R. B. PROGRESS, and other Sketches Additional Volumes will be announced from time to time AMARYLLIS AT THE FAIR BY RICHARD JEFFERIES AUTHOR OF "THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME," "AFTER LONDON," "WOOD MAGIC; A FABLE," "BEVIS," ETC. "Our day is but a finger: bring large cups." ALCÆUS. [Illustration] LONDON DUCKWORTH AND CO. 3, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. Reissued 1904 Reprinted in Readers Library 1911 _All rights reserved_ =Dedicated= TO CHARLES PRESTWICH SCOTT. [Illustration] INTRODUCTION.[1] "THE book is not a novel" is a phrase often in the mouth of critics, who on second thoughts might, perhaps, add with less emphasis, "It does not conform to the common type of novel." Fortified, however, with that sense of rectitude that dictates conformity to our neighbours and a safe acquiescence in the mysterious movements of public taste, the critics have exclaimed with touching unanimity--"What a pity Jefferies tried to write novels! Why didn't he stick to essays in natural history!"