o took in two or three small boys （at that time I must have been nine or ten years of age） at Garsington Rectory near Oxford。
The Rectory； long ago pulled down； was a low grey house that once had served as a place of refuge in time of plague for the Fellows of one of the Oxford colleges。 Twice； if not three times； in the course of my after life I have revisited this spot； the last occasion being about two years ago。 Except that the Rectory has been rebuilt the place remains just the same。 There is the old seventeenth…century dovecote and the shell of the ancient pollard elm； in the hollow trunk of which I used to play with a child of my own age； Mrs。 Graham’s little sister Blanche； who was as fair in colouring as one of her name should be。 I believe that she has now been dead many years。
Quite near to the Rectory and not far from the pretty church； through the chancel door of which once I saw a donkey thrust its head and burst into violent brays in the midst of Mr。 Graham’s sermon； stood a farm…house。 The farmer； a long； lank man who wore a smart frock； was very kind to me — I found his grave in the churchyard when last I was there。 He e that I used in “King Solomon’s Mines” and other books in after years。 After looking at this farm and the tree nearby which bore walnuts bigger and finer than any that grow nowadays； I went to the new Rectory and there saw working in the garden a tall； thin old man； who reminded me strangely of one whom I remembered over thirty years before。
“Is your name Quatermain？” I asked。
He answered that it was。 Further inquiry revealed the fact that he was a younger brother of my old friend； whom I was able to describe to him so accurately that he exclaimed in delight：
“That’s him！ Why； you do bring him back from