we could see a rustic-looking shed which we resolved to visit, so, climbing over the fence, we walked cautiously towards it, and found it was an ancient store-shed for hay and straw.  We listened attentively for a few moments and, as there was no wind, we could have heard the breathing of a man or of any large animal that might have been sleeping there; but as all appeared quiet, we sat down on the dry straw thankful to be able to rest our weary limbs if only for a short time.

We had some difficulty in keeping ourselves awake, but we durst not go to sleep as the night was so very cold, and there was a rough floor immediately above us which had caused us some uneasiness.  When we heard the footsteps of some small animal creeping stealthily amongst the straw over our heads, as if preparing to make a spring, we decided to evacuate our rather eerie position.  It might have been a rat or more likely a cat, but as we did not care for the company of either of these animals, we lost no time in regaining the road.

As we approached the top of the hill we came to some quaint-looking houses, which appeared much too large for their occupiers to take in visitors at that early hour of the morning, especially two tramps like ourselves.  We were almost sure that one of the houses was an inn, as it had a sign on the wall, though too high up for us to read in the dark.  Presently we passed what appeared to be an old castle.

We could now only walk very slowly, or at a speed that my musical brother described as about equivalent to the “Dead March in Saul,” and at seven o’clock in the morning reached the entrance to the town of Banbury, exciting considerable curiosity among the men we met on the way to their work in the country.

We called at the first respectable-looking inn that we came to, where the mistress informed us we could not have two beds, “as the other people hadn’t got up yet,” but a gentleman who had to leave early was just getting up now, and we “could have his bed if we liked.”  We were glad to accept the offer lest in going farther we might fare worse.  We could hear the gentleman’s heavy footsteps on the floor above our heads, and as soon as the room was prepared we got into the bed he had vacated, which was still quite warm, extremely thankful to get in anywhere, and in spite of the noises usual in inns on Saturday morning we “slept like bricks” until eleven o’clock, the hour arranged for our “call.”

(Distance walked forty-two and a half miles.)

Saturday, November 4th.

[Illustration:  EDGE HILL.]

We were quite surprised to find that the night before we had been walking along the site of one of the most famous battles—­because it was the first—­in the Great Civil War of the seventeenth century, named after the strange hill we had walked over, and known to history as the “Battle of Edge Hill.”  We learned that had we crossed it on a fine clear day instead of in the dark we should have obtained