He was of
Dogberry's opinion; and if a man would not stand in the Prince's
name, he took no note of him, but let him go, and thanked God he was
rid of a knave. And surely the crime and the law were in admirable
keeping; rustic constable was well met with rustic offender. The
officer sitting at home over a bit of fire until the criminal came to
visit him, and the criminal coming - it was a fair match. One felt
as if this must have been the order in that delightful seaboard
Bohemia where Florizel and Perdita courted in such sweet accents, and
the Puritan sang Psalms to hornpipes, and the four-and-twenty
shearers danced with nosegays in their bosoms, and chanted their
three songs apiece at the old shepherd's festival; and one could not
help picturing to oneself what havoc among good peoples purses, and
tribulation for benignant constables, might be worked here by the
arrival, over stile and footpath, of a new Autolycus.
Bidding good-morning to my fellow-traveller, I left the road and
struck across country. It was rather a revelation to pass from
between the hedgerows and find quite a bustle on the other side, a
great coming and going of school-children upon by-paths, and, in
every second field, lusty horses and stout country-folk a-ploughing.
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