oh , there &apos;s plenty of time , the forester said , and yawned and stretched himself . why do you wear those wellingtons when it &apos;s so hot ? she asked . I do n&apos;t know , I always wear them when I &apos;m out working . they &apos;re useful , I suppose . then they were silent for a time . Mary shaded the sun from her eyes and looked out over the valley . Julian watched the sawing . the grass was very warm . there was not a breath of wind and the branches of the tree were quite motionless . he saw that the forester had closed his eyes and was breathing deeply . for a moment , as the sawing stopped for the next pair to take over , he heard curlews far above them on the hillside . he felt drowsy and lay back again . some minutes later they shouted over for the forester to come and take his turn once more . hi , Johnnie ! wake him up , will you ! Julian sat up . the forester seemed to be fast asleep . Mary was smiling and obviously waiting to see what would happen . Julian realised that it was up to him to do the waking . he crawled over and shook the foot of one of the wellingtons , but to no effect . hit him ! one of the men shouted . Julian tapped him on the arm , and then pulled at his wrist , but still there was no sign of life apart from the heavy breathing of his chest . a large stick , coming from the direction of the workmen , just missed Julian and embedded itself in the turf . he looked round angrily and then glanced at Mary who was watching him with an odd , rather anxious smile . another stick flew over his head . he stood up , and then knelt down again and shook the forester by both shoulders , and then let go quickly as he opened his eyes and sat up . they &apos;re calling for you , Julian said , moving back and sitting down again beside Mary . are they ? well , well ! he waved towards the tree and then stood up . you stay here , you &apos;ll be quite safe here , it will n&apos;t be very long now . you watch and see exactly where it falls ! I &apos;ll go and tell your friends to come up here with you . he strode off down the slope . he &apos;s funny , Mary said , rather doubtfully . he can make the trees do just what he likes , but he &apos;s no idea how he does it ! he &apos;s almost like an animal . and he does n&apos;t care at all what happens to the trees , or why it &apos;s happening ! Julian said , feeling a need to criticise the forester . you &apos;d think he &apos;d be more concerned about that sort of thing , considering he &apos;s obviously such a good craftsman ! he just does what he &apos;s told to do . but he seems to do it very well , of course . and do you remember how the driver said the woodcutters had gone , how it was more like a factory , the way the people worked in the forest now ? well , he was wrong ! this man here must be as good a craftsman as any , to know all about the felling like that ! he must be one of the old kind ! I imagine he &apos;s lived out here all his life . do n&apos;t you think it would be wonderful to live like that ? you remember when I said I &apos;d come away from home to have a complete change , to break the chain ? and you asked me what it was I came away to find ? well , this is the sort of thing I wanted to find ! somewhere where I could live the sort of life this forester &apos;s living . his way of life is really what I wanted to find . that sort of way of life . you know what I mean ? he looked round at her . I do n&apos;t really . no , she said . but you just could n&apos;t live that sort of life ! you &apos;re not that sort of person , are you ? you might just as well try to change the colour of your hair . why ever should you want that sort of life ? Julian wished he had not said so much , he felt foolish . he had said it partly because he really did feel it , and partly because he thought it would make her think more highly of him . this second reason seemed quite absurd to him even before she had replied . you do like that kind of person , though ? he asked her . how can I say ? she said abruptly . he &apos;s a better sort than Hanson , more honest and straightforward . I do n&apos;t exactly find him irresistible though . I do n&apos;t think you quite see what I mean , he replied , as Hanson and Elizabeth came up to them and sat down near them on the grass . no , it seems I do n&apos;t , she said , ignoring them . so it &apos;s coming down soon , Hanson said . what was he talking about ? nothing much , Julian replied . only that it &apos;s going to fall just where you were . he &apos;s got it all worked out , or judged rather , to the inch . we &apos;re quite safe here . it &apos;s lucky there &apos;s no wind , Elizabeth said . the blond forester was busy at one end of the saw again . it was difficult to see how much farther they had to go , but the other men were no longer resting . they were standing back and watching intently , some down at the cut , others up at the top of the tree . did you tell him we disapproved ? Hanson asked . I said I thought it was a pity , Julian replied . and what did he say to that ? he did n&apos;t seem to know anything about it , beyond how to fell it . anyway , it &apos;s too late now to do anything about it . and what do you think you could have done about it before ? Mary asked him , quietly . I do n&apos;t know . tried to persuade them to leave it , I suppose . they might n&apos;t have known anyone cared about it . and why do you care about it ? she asked , still completely ignoring the other two . I suppose because it &apos;s taken ages to grow as perfect and beautiful and tall as that , and because it only takes a few moments to destroy it . and because it &apos;s impossible to create it again ! it &apos;s a fine sight , I &apos;m sorry to see it go . it &apos;ll be a fine sight to see it coming down though , will n&apos;t it ? maybe , Julian said . do n&apos;t you think it &apos;s rather fine to see a man who does n&apos;t even know why he &apos;s wearing wellingtons bring down something as wonderful as that tree ? and for no reason at all , so far as he knows ! but he does it ! I rather like that . he &apos;s really doing something big . do you see what I mean , I wonder ? I do n&apos;t think I do , Julian replied . I think it &apos;s very exciting though to watch someone like that doing physically strenuous work . I &apos;d much rather he was n&apos;t destroying something at the same time though ! I agree . it would be exciting , if it was n&apos;t so destructive , Elizabeth put in . she seemed to have very strong unspoken feelings on the matter , judging from the way she was leaning on one arm and staring down and nervously crumbling the dry earth of a molehill beside her . destructive ! destructive ! Mary said sarcastically , turning to her for the first time . what you &apos;d call destructive , maybe ! oh how unimaginative you all are ! Mary , there &apos;s no need to indulge in this deliberate spitefulness just because you &apos;re angry with yourself , she said without looking up . other people will only help you if you give them a fair chance . and why did you speak to me the way you did , down there ? I can n&apos;t understand , how can I tell what you &apos;re talking about ? what is it you &apos;re blaming me for now ? blaming you ? Mary jumped up and stood bending towards her sister . do n&apos;t you really know ? well , well ! you need n&apos;t try to pretend that I &apos;m the only person who keeps things secret ! she stepped back and turned on Julian : my own sister scheming to get me out in the country alone with a boy like you who &apos;s run away from his mother and wants to become a blond-haired woodcutter ! oh , you understand people so well ! you &apos;re a fine man ! a real man ! you &apos;ve got real feeling ! these last words she directed at Julian in such a withering tone that she seemed completely unable to say anything more . she turned and walked away from them , across and down the slope . Julian stared after her , dazed . he felt profoundly injured , and unjustly but absolutely rejected . but this feeling of weakness quickly merged into impotent anger . Mary had begun to run , but then she suddenly stopped and stood looking back at them . she was too far away for him to see any expression on her face . hi , Miss , one of the foresters shouted to her , you &apos;d better move a bit or you &apos;ll get your pretty self squashed flat ! she gave no sign that she had even heard him . they stopped sawing . she &apos;s gone back to her old methods , Julian said to himself , she &apos;s trying to bully me again , and I thought she &apos;d stopped that sort of thing ! she &apos;s standing there expecting me to go and rescue her . she &apos;s trying to force me to show some concern for her . she wants me to give in and run to drag her away . she wants me to commit myself . because if I did go to rescue her she &apos;d consider it absolute proof that I was fond of her . but I &apos;m just not going to be forced like that ! anyway , what a fool I &apos;d seem to all these onlookers ! they just think she &apos;s playing ! and she may be playing with them , but with me she &apos;s not ! and she &apos;s not hysterical now either . she &apos;s stone cold and determined . she thinks she &apos;s got me on the end of a string . she thinks she &apos;s got me helplessly in her power , but she &apos;s wrong ! he looked round . Elizabeth had one hand on Hanson &apos;s shoulder , they were both staring intently at Mary . all the men were standing watching her too , in exaggerated attitudes of impatience and annoyance . Mary was standing in the patch of thistles . if only she would n&apos;t make such an exhibition of herself , Hanson said , and Elizabeth tugged at his shoulder . then the blond forester looked over at the three of them . Julian pretended not to notice , he knew he was expecting him to do something about it . he felt suddenly afraid that the forester was beginning to think it serious . he determined to remain completely aloof . deliberately he looked away , down over the manor . he saw a dark circular mark spreading towards them across the meadow . it reached the manor and a pillar of dust swirled high into the air . then the huge eddy swept up the slope , catching wisps of grass and catching Mary &apos;s dress and snatching at her hair . then the lowest branches of the great fir tree quivered and swayed , and the surging of the heavy masses of dark foliage spread upwards and shook the whole tree as for a moment it became the violent centre of the whirlwind . a shout sounded through the strange roaring of the wind and the blond forester ran forward . then the tree , suddenly calm again , towered over . it hung a moment against the sky , and then crashed to the ground , lashing into the turf of the slope . it rocked and shuddered , and lay still . Julian , who had watched in such helpless , petrified amazement that he had been unable to move , ran forward with Elizabeth and Hanson . the men clambered over the branches . Julian tried to force his way through the foliage where he imagined Mary would be , but he became entangled in the broken branches and could not get very far . he felt his legs trembling . then he climbed up on to a large branch . Hanson was a little way beyond him , crawling underneath . Elizabeth had run round to the other side of the tree . he climbed along the branch to the main trunk , his hands getting sticky with resin and his ankles getting scraped as he slipped on the bark . 