The Fortunes of Philippa: A School StoryBrazil, Angela
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The Fortunes of Philippa: A School Story
Brazil, Angela
Girls -- Juvenile fiction; Schools -- England -- Juvenile fiction
Perhaps of all our expeditions I enjoyed our walks the most. To ramble
about the lanes and fields in search of nests or wild flowers was to me
always an endless pleasure. Finding that I had never picked wild
daffodils before, Cathy suggested one morning that we should walk to
Wyngates, where they grew so lavishly that the marshy meadows were
literally yellow with them. So with our baskets on our arms, and the new
Skye terrier for company, we started off in high spirits. Our way led up
a steep lane, the sloping banks of which were spangled with primroses
and celandine, while the rough-built walls at the top gave a hold to
trailing honeysuckle, ivy, and hazel bushes. It was a grand place for
birds' nests, and we made very slow progress as we poked about, peering
into every likely-looking spot. Cathy, through long experience, was much
more clever at discovering them than I, and while she found three
thrushes', a wren's, and two chaffinches', my efforts were only rewarded
by a solitary hedge-sparrow's. I had had a kodak for my last birthday
present, and I was very anxious to take some snap-shots of the young
birds in their nests, fired thereto by the beautiful nature photographs
I had seen in the illustrated papers. With a good deal of climbing and
difficulty I managed to secure various views of Mrs. Thrush at home,
Mrs. Chaffinch's nursery, and the five Miss Hedge-sparrows clamouring
for a meal. I used a whole spool of films over them, only to find, when
with Dick's assistance I developed them afterwards, that my little
camera was not intended for such near distances, and my pictures were so
hopelessly out of focus that they were utterly spoilt.
"It's an awful sell, and you've wasted a dozen films," said Dick. "I
believe you ought to have a special lens for these nature dodges. Your
kodak won't take nearer than seven feet off. Never mind, the ones of the
Mater and the house and the village are stunning, and you'll get some
good snap-shots when we go over Carnton Fell to the sheep-counting."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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