Datasets:

nschantz21

/

booksum-randomized

like 0

[ "\nA GREEN valley with a brook running through it, full almost to\noverflowing with the late rains, overhung by low stooping willows.", "Across this brook a plank is thrown, and over this plank Adam Bede is\npassing with his undoubting step, followed close by Gyp with the basket;\nevidently making his way to the thatched house, with a stack of timber\nby the side of it, about twenty yards up the opposite slope.", "The door of the house is open, and an elderly woman is looking out; but\nshe is not placidly contemplating the evening sunshine; she has been\nwatching with dim eyes the gradually enlarging speck which for the last\nfew minutes she has been quite sure is her darling son Adam.", "Lisbeth\nBede loves her son with the love of a woman to whom her first-born has\ncome late in life.", "She is an anxious, spare, yet vigorous old woman,\nclean as a snowdrop.", "Her grey hair is turned neatly back under a pure\nlinen cap with a black band round it; her broad chest is covered with a\nbuff neckerchief, and below this you see a sort of short bedgown made of\nblue-checkered linen, tied round the waist and descending to the hips,\nfrom whence there is a considerable length of linsey-woolsey petticoat.", "For Lisbeth is tall, and in other points too there is a strong\nlikeness between her and her son Adam.", "Her dark eyes are somewhat dim\nnow--perhaps from too much crying--but her broadly marked eyebrows are\nstill black, her teeth are sound, and as she stands knitting rapidly and\nunconsciously with her work-hardened hands, she has as firmly upright\nan attitude as when she is carrying a pail of water on her head from the\nspring.", "There is the same type of frame and the same keen activity of\ntemperament in mother and son, but it was not from her that Adam got his\nwell-filled brow and his expression of large-hearted intelligence.", "Family likeness has often a deep sadness in it.", "Nature, that great\ntragic dramatist, knits us together by bone and muscle, and divides us\nby the subtler web of our brains; blends yearning and repulsion;\nand ties us by our heart-strings to the beings that jar us at every\nmovement.", "We hear a voice with the very cadence of our own uttering the\nthoughts we despise; we see eyes--ah, so like our mother's!--averted\nfrom us in cold alienation; and our last darling child startles us with\nthe air and gestures of the sister we parted from in bitterness long\nyears ago.", "The father to whom we owe our best heritage--the mechanical\ninstinct, the keen sensibility to harmony, the unconscious skill of the\nmodelling hand--galls us and puts us to shame by his daily errors; the\nlong-lost mother, whose face we begin to see in the glass as our own\nwrinkles come, once fretted our young souls with her anxious humours and\nirrational persistence.", "It is such a fond anxious mother's voice that you hear, as Lisbeth says,\n\"Well, my lad, it's gone seven by th' clock.", "Thee't allays stay till the\nlast child's born.", "Thee wants thy supper, I'll warrand.", "Where's Seth?", "Gone arter some o's chapellin', I reckon?\"", "\"Aye, aye, Seth's at no harm, mother, thee mayst be sure.", "But where's\nfather?\"", "said Adam quickly, as he entered the house and glanced into the\nroom on the left hand, which was used as a workshop.", "\"Hasn't he done the\ncoffin for Tholer?", "There's the stuff standing just as I left it this\nmorning.\"", "\"Done the coffin?\"", "said Lisbeth, following him, and knitting\nuninterruptedly, though she looked at her son very anxiously.", "\"Eh, my\nlad, he went aff to Treddles'on this forenoon, an's niver come back.", "I\ndoubt he's got to th' 'Waggin Overthrow' again.\"", "A deep flush of anger passed rapidly over Adam's face.", "He said nothing,\nbut threw off his jacket and began to roll up his shirt-sleeves again.", "\"What art goin' to do, Adam?\"", "said the mother, with a tone and look\nof alarm.", "\"Thee wouldstna go to work again, wi'out ha'in thy bit o'\nsupper?\"", "Adam, too angry to speak, walked into the workshop.", "But his mother threw\ndown her knitting, and, hurrying after him, took hold of his arm, and\nsaid, in a tone of plaintive remonstrance, \"Nay, my lad, my lad, thee\nmunna go wi'out thy supper; there's the taters wi' the gravy in 'em,\njust as thee lik'st 'em.", "I saved 'em o' purpose for thee.", "Come an' ha'\nthy supper, come.\"", "\"Let be!\"", "said Adam impetuously, shaking her off and seizing one of\nthe planks that stood against the wall.", "\"It's fine talking about having\nsupper when here's a coffin promised to be ready at Brox'on by seven\no'clock to-morrow morning, and ought to ha' been there now, and not a\nnail struck yet.", "My throat's too full to swallow victuals.\"", "\"Why, thee canstna get the coffin ready,\" said Lisbeth.", "\"Thee't work\nthyself to death.", "It 'ud take thee all night to do't.\"", "\"What signifies how long it takes me?", "Isn't the coffin promised?", "Can\nthey bury the man without a coffin?", "I'd work my right hand off sooner\nthan deceive people with lies i' that way.", "It makes me mad to think\non't.", "I shall overrun these doings before long.", "I've stood enough of\n'em.\"", "Poor Lisbeth did not hear this threat for the first time, and if she had\nbeen wise she would have gone away quietly and said nothing for the next\nhour.", "But one of the lessons a woman most rarely learns is never to talk\nto an angry or a drunken man.", "Lisbeth sat down on the chopping bench\nand began to cry, and by the time she had cried enough to make her voice\nvery piteous, she burst out into words.", "\"Nay, my lad, my lad, thee wouldstna go away an' break thy mother's\nheart, an' leave thy feyther to ruin.", "Thee wouldstna ha' 'em carry me to\nth' churchyard, an' thee not to follow me.", "I shanna rest i' my grave\nif I donna see thee at th' last; an' how's they to let thee know as I'm\na-dyin', if thee't gone a-workin' i' distant parts, an' Seth belike gone\narter thee, and thy feyther not able to hold a pen for's hand shakin',\nbesides not knowin' where thee art?", "Thee mun forgie thy feyther--thee\nmunna be so bitter again' him.", "He war a good feyther to thee afore he\ntook to th' drink.", "He's a clever workman, an' taught thee thy trade,\nremember, an's niver gen me a blow nor so much as an ill word--no,\nnot even in 's drink.", "Thee wouldstna ha' 'm go to the workhus--thy own\nfeyther--an' him as was a fine-growed man an' handy at everythin' amost\nas thee art thysen, five-an'-twenty 'ear ago, when thee wast a baby at\nthe breast.\"", "Lisbeth's voice became louder, and choked with sobs--a sort of wail,\nthe most irritating of all sounds where real sorrows are to be borne and\nreal work to be done.", "Adam broke in impatiently.", "\"Now, Mother, don't cry and talk so.", "Haven't I got enough to vex me\nwithout that?", "What's th' use o' telling me things as I only think too\nmuch on every day?", "If I didna think on 'em, why should I do as I do, for\nthe sake o' keeping things together here?", "But I hate to be talking where\nit's no use: I like to keep my breath for doing i'stead o' talking.\"", "\"I know thee dost things as nobody else 'ud do, my lad.", "But thee't\nallays so hard upo' thy feyther, Adam.", "Thee think'st nothing too much\nto do for Seth: thee snapp'st me up if iver I find faut wi' th' lad.", "But\nthee't so angered wi' thy feyther, more nor wi' anybody else.\"", "\"That's better than speaking soft and letting things go the wrong way,\nI reckon, isn't it?", "If I wasn't sharp with him he'd sell every bit o'\nstuff i' th' yard and spend it on drink.", "I know there's a duty to be\ndone by my father, but it isn't my duty to encourage him in running\nheadlong to ruin.", "And what has Seth got to do with it?", "The lad does no\nharm as I know of.", "But leave me alone, Mother, and let me get on with\nthe work.\"", "Lisbeth dared not say any more; but she got up and called Gyp, thinking\nto console herself somewhat for Adam's refusal of the supper she had\nspread out in the loving expectation of looking at him while he ate it,\nby feeding Adam's dog with extra liberality.", "But Gyp was watching his\nmaster with wrinkled brow and ears erect, puzzled at this unusual course\nof things; and though he glanced at Lisbeth when she called him, and\nmoved his fore-paws uneasily, well knowing that she was inviting him to\nsupper, he was in a divided state of mind, and remained seated on his\nhaunches, again fixing his eyes anxiously on his master.", "Adam noticed\nGyp's mental conflict, and though his anger had made him less tender\nthan usual to his mother, it did not prevent him from caring as much as\nusual for his dog.", "We are apt to be kinder to the brutes that love us\nthan to the women that love us.", "Is it because the brutes are dumb?", "\"Go, Gyp; go, lad!\"", "Adam said, in a tone of encouraging command; and\nGyp, apparently satisfied that duty and pleasure were one, followed\nLisbeth into the house-place.", "But no sooner had he licked up his supper than he went back to his\nmaster, while Lisbeth sat down alone to cry over her knitting.", "Women\nwho are never bitter and resentful are often the most querulous; and\nif Solomon was as wise as he is reputed to be, I feel sure that when\nhe compared a contentious woman to a continual dropping on a very rainy\nday, he had not a vixen in his eye--a fury with long nails, acrid and\nselfish.", "Depend upon it, he meant a good creature, who had no joy but\nin the happiness of the loved ones whom she contributed to make\nuncomfortable, putting by all the tid-bits for them and spending nothing\non herself.", "Such a woman as Lisbeth, for example--at once patient and\ncomplaining, self-renouncing and exacting, brooding the livelong day\nover what happened yesterday and what is likely to happen to-morrow,\nand crying very readily both at the good and the evil.", "But a certain\nawe mingled itself with her idolatrous love of Adam, and when he said,\n\"Leave me alone,\" she was always silenced.", "So the hours passed, to the loud ticking of the old day-clock and the\nsound of Adam's tools.", "At last he called for a light and a draught\nof water (beer was a thing only to be drunk on holidays), and Lisbeth\nventured to say as she took it in, \"Thy supper stan's ready for thee,\nwhen thee lik'st.\"", "\"Donna thee sit up, mother,\" said Adam, in a gentle tone.", "He had worked\noff his anger now, and whenever he wished to be especially kind to his\nmother, he fell into his strongest native accent and dialect, with which\nat other times his speech was less deeply tinged.", "\"I'll see to Father\nwhen he comes home; maybe he wonna come at all to-night.", "I shall be\neasier if thee't i' bed.\"", "\"Nay, I'll bide till Seth comes.", "He wonna be long now, I reckon.\"", "It was then past nine by the clock, which was always in advance of\nthe days, and before it had struck ten the latch was lifted and Seth\nentered.", "He had heard the sound of the tools as he was approaching.", "\"Why, Mother,\" he said, \"how is it as Father's working so late?\"", "\"It's none o' thy feyther as is a-workin'--thee might know that well\nanoof if thy head warna full o' chapellin'--it's thy brother as does\niverything, for there's niver nobody else i' th' way to do nothin'.\"", "Lisbeth was going on, for she was not at all afraid of Seth, and usually\npoured into his ears all the querulousness which was repressed by her\nawe of Adam.", "Seth had never in his life spoken a harsh word to his\nmother, and timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.", "But Seth, with an anxious look, had passed into the workshop and said,\n\"Addy, how's this?", "What!", "Father's forgot the coffin?\"", "\"Aye, lad, th' old tale; but I shall get it done,\" said Adam, looking up\nand casting one of his bright keen glances at his brother.", "\"Why, what's\nthe matter with thee?", "Thee't in trouble.\"", "Seth's eyes were red, and there was a look of deep depression on his\nmild face.", "\"Yes, Addy, but it's what must be borne, and can't be helped.", "Why,\nthee'st never been to the school, then?\"", "\"School?", "No, that screw can wait,\" said Adam, hammering away again.", "\"Let me take my turn now, and do thee go to bed,\" said Seth.", "\"No, lad, I'd rather go on, now I'm in harness.", "Thee't help me to carry\nit to Brox'on when it's done.", "I'll call thee up at sunrise.", "Go and eat\nthy supper, and shut the door so as I mayn't hear Mother's talk.\"", "Seth knew that Adam always meant what he said, and was not to be\npersuaded into meaning anything else.", "So he turned, with rather a heavy\nheart, into the house-place.", "\"Adam's niver touched a bit o' victual sin' home he's come,\" said\nLisbeth.", "\"I reckon thee'st hed thy supper at some o' thy Methody folks.\"", "\"Nay, Mother,\" said Seth, \"I've had no supper yet.\"", "\"Come, then,\" said Lisbeth, \"but donna thee ate the taters, for Adam\n'ull happen ate 'em if I leave 'em stannin'.", "He loves a bit o' taters\nan' gravy.", "But he's been so sore an' angered, he wouldn't ate 'em, for\nall I'd putten 'em by o' purpose for him.", "An' he's been a-threatenin'\nto go away again,\" she went on, whimpering, \"an' I'm fast sure he'll go\nsome dawnin' afore I'm up, an' niver let me know aforehand, an' he'll\nniver come back again when once he's gone.", "An' I'd better niver ha'\nhad a son, as is like no other body's son for the deftness an' th'\nhandiness, an' so looked on by th' grit folks, an' tall an' upright like\na poplar-tree, an' me to be parted from him an' niver see 'm no more.\"", "\"Come, Mother, donna grieve thyself in vain,\" said Seth, in a soothing\nvoice.", "\"Thee'st not half so good reason to think as Adam 'ull go away\nas to think he'll stay with thee.", "He may say such a thing when he's in\nwrath--and he's got excuse for being wrathful sometimes--but his heart\n'ud never let him go.", "Think how he's stood by us all when it's been none\nso easy--paying his savings to free me from going for a soldier, an'\nturnin' his earnin's into wood for father, when he's got plenty o' uses\nfor his money, and many a young man like him 'ud ha' been married and\nsettled before now.", "He'll never turn round and knock down his own work,\nand forsake them as it's been the labour of his life to stand by.\"", "\"Donna talk to me about's marr'in',\" said Lisbeth, crying afresh.", "\"He's\nset's heart on that Hetty Sorrel, as 'ull niver save a penny, an' 'ull\ntoss up her head at's old mother.", "An' to think as he might ha' Mary\nBurge, an' be took partners, an' be a big man wi' workmen under him,\nlike Mester Burge--Dolly's told me so o'er and o'er again--if it warna\nas he's set's heart on that bit of a wench, as is o' no more use nor the\ngillyflower on the wall.", "An' he so wise at bookin' an' figurin', an' not\nto know no better nor that!\"", "\"But, Mother, thee know'st we canna love just where other folks 'ud have\nus.", "There's nobody but God can control the heart of man.", "I could ha'\nwished myself as Adam could ha' made another choice, but I wouldn't\nreproach him for what he can't help.", "And I'm not sure but what he tries\nto o'ercome it.", "But it's a matter as he doesn't like to be spoke to\nabout, and I can only pray to the Lord to bless and direct him.\"", "\"Aye, thee't allays ready enough at prayin', but I donna see as thee\ngets much wi' thy prayin'.", "Thee wotna get double earnin's o' this side\nYule.", "Th' Methodies 'll niver make thee half the man thy brother is, for\nall they're a-makin' a preacher on thee.\"", "\"It's partly truth thee speak'st there, Mother,\" said Seth, mildly;\n\"Adam's far before me, an's done more for me than I can ever do for him.", "God distributes talents to every man according as He sees good.", "But thee\nmustna undervally prayer.", "Prayer mayna bring money, but it brings us\nwhat no money can buy--a power to keep from sin and be content with\nGod's will, whatever He may please to send.", "If thee wouldst pray to God\nto help thee, and trust in His goodness, thee wouldstna be so uneasy\nabout things.\"", "\"Unaisy?", "I'm i' th' right on't to be unaisy.", "It's well seen on THEE what\nit is niver to be unaisy.", "Thee't gi' away all thy earnin's, an' niver be\nunaisy as thee'st nothin' laid up again' a rainy day.", "If Adam had been\nas aisy as thee, he'd niver ha' had no money to pay for thee.", "Take\nno thought for the morrow--take no thought--that's what thee't allays\nsayin'; an' what comes on't?", "Why, as Adam has to take thought for thee.\"", "\"Those are the words o' the Bible, Mother,\" said Seth.", "\"They don't\nmean as we should be idle.", "They mean we shouldn't be overanxious and\nworreting ourselves about what'll happen to-morrow, but do our duty and\nleave the rest to God's will.\"", "\"Aye, aye, that's the way wi' thee: thee allays makes a peck o' thy own\nwords out o' a pint o' the Bible's.", "I donna see how thee't to know as\n'take no thought for the morrow' means all that.", "An' when the Bible's\nsuch a big book, an' thee canst read all thro't, an' ha' the pick o' the\ntexes, I canna think why thee dostna pick better words as donna mean so\nmuch more nor they say.", "Adam doesna pick a that'n; I can understan' the\ntex as he's allays a-sayin', 'God helps them as helps theirsens.'\"", "\"Nay, Mother,\" said Seth, \"that's no text o' the Bible.", "It comes out of\na book as Adam picked up at the stall at Treddles'on.", "It was wrote by\na knowing man, but overworldly, I doubt.", "However, that saying's partly\ntrue; for the Bible tells us we must be workers together with God.\"", "\"Well, how'm I to know?", "It sounds like a tex.", "But what's th' matter wi'\nth' lad?", "Thee't hardly atin' a bit o' supper.", "Dostna mean to ha' no more\nnor that bit o' oat-cake?", "An' thee lookst as white as a flick o' new\nbacon.", "What's th' matter wi' thee?\"", "\"Nothing to mind about, Mother; I'm not hungry.", "I'll just look in at\nAdam again, and see if he'll let me go on with the coffin.\"", "\"Ha' a drop o' warm broth?\"", "said Lisbeth, whose motherly feeling now got\nthe better of her \"nattering\" habit.", "\"I'll set two-three sticks a-light\nin a minute.\"", "\"Nay, Mother, thank thee; thee't very good,\" said Seth, gratefully; and\nencouraged by this touch of tenderness, he went on: \"Let me pray a\nbit with thee for Father, and Adam, and all of us--it'll comfort thee,\nhappen, more than thee thinkst.\"", "\"Well, I've nothin' to say again' it.\"", "Lisbeth, though disposed always to take the negative side in her\nconversations with Seth, had a vague sense that there was some comfort\nand safety in the fact of his piety, and that it somehow relieved her\nfrom the trouble of any spiritual transactions on her own behalf.", "So the mother and son knelt down together, and Seth prayed for the poor\nwandering father and for those who were sorrowing for him at home.", "And\nwhen he came to the petition that Adam might never be called to set\nup his tent in a far country, but that his mother might be cheered and\ncomforted by his presence all the days of her pilgrimage, Lisbeth's\nready tears flowed again, and she wept aloud.", "When they rose from their knees, Seth went to Adam again and said, \"Wilt\nonly lie down for an hour or two, and let me go on the while?\"", "\"No, Seth, no.", "Make Mother go to bed, and go thyself.\"", "Meantime Lisbeth had dried her eyes, and now followed Seth, holding\nsomething in her hands.", "It was the brown-and-yellow platter containing\nthe baked potatoes with the gravy in them and bits of meat which she had\ncut and mixed among them.", "Those were dear times, when wheaten bread\nand fresh meat were delicacies to working people.", "She set the dish down\nrather timidly on the bench by Adam's side and said, \"Thee canst pick a\nbit while thee't workin'.", "I'll bring thee another drop o' water.\"", "\"Aye, Mother, do,\" said Adam, kindly; \"I'm getting very thirsty.\"", "In half an hour all was quiet; no sound was to be heard in the house but\nthe loud ticking of the old day-clock and the ringing of Adam's tools.", "The night was very still: when Adam opened the door to look out at\ntwelve o'clock, the only motion seemed to be in the glowing, twinkling\nstars; every blade of grass was asleep.", "Bodily haste and exertion usually leave our thoughts very much at the\nmercy of our feelings and imagination; and it was so to-night with Adam.", "While his muscles were working lustily, his mind seemed as passive as a\nspectator at a diorama: scenes of the sad past, and probably sad\nfuture, floating before him and giving place one to the other in swift\nsuccession.", "He saw how it would be to-morrow morning, when he had carried the coffin\nto Broxton and was at home again, having his breakfast: his father\nperhaps would come in ashamed to meet his son's glance--would sit down,\nlooking older and more tottering than he had done the morning before,\nand hang down his head, examining the floor-quarries; while Lisbeth\nwould ask him how he supposed the coffin had been got ready, that he had\nslinked off and left undone--for Lisbeth was always the first to utter\nthe word of reproach, although she cried at Adam's severity towards his\nfather.", "\"So it will go on, worsening and worsening,\" thought Adam; \"there's no\nslipping uphill again, and no standing still when once you 've begun\nto slip down.\"", "And then the day came back to him when he was a little\nfellow and used to run by his father's side, proud to be taken out\nto work, and prouder still to hear his father boasting to his\nfellow-workmen how \"the little chap had an uncommon notion o'\ncarpentering.\"", "What a fine active fellow his father was then!", "When\npeople asked Adam whose little lad he was, he had a sense of distinction\nas he answered, \"I'm Thias Bede's lad.\"", "He was quite sure everybody\nknew Thias Bede--didn't he make the wonderful pigeon-house at Broxton\nparsonage?", "Those were happy days, especially when Seth, who was three\nyears the younger, began to go out working too, and Adam began to be a\nteacher as well as a learner.", "But then came the days of sadness, when\nAdam was someway on in his teens, and Thias began to loiter at the\npublic-houses, and Lisbeth began to cry at home, and to pour forth her\nplaints in the hearing of her sons.", "Adam remembered well the night of\nshame and anguish when he first saw his father quite wild and foolish,\nshouting a song out fitfully among his drunken companions at the \"Waggon\nOverthrown.\"", "He had run away once when he was only eighteen, making\nhis escape in the morning twilight with a little blue bundle over\nhis shoulder, and his \"mensuration book\" in his pocket, and saying\nto himself very decidedly that he could bear the vexations of home no\nlonger--he would go and seek his fortune, setting up his stick at the\ncrossways and bending his steps the way it fell.", "But by the time he got\nto Stoniton, the thought of his mother and Seth, left behind to endure\neverything without him, became too importunate, and his resolution\nfailed him.", "He came back the next day, but the misery and terror his\nmother had gone through in those two days had haunted her ever since.", "\"No!\"", "Adam said to himself to-night, \"that must never happen again.", "It\n'ud make a poor balance when my doings are cast up at the last, if my\npoor old mother stood o' the wrong side.", "My back's broad enough and\nstrong enough; I should be no better than a coward to go away and leave\nthe troubles to be borne by them as aren't half so able.", "'They that are\nstrong ought to bear the infirmities of those that are weak, and not to\nplease themselves.'", "There's a text wants no candle to show't; it shines\nby its own light.", "It's plain enough you get into the wrong road i' this\nlife if you run after this and that only for the sake o' making things\neasy and pleasant to yourself.", "A pig may poke his nose into the trough\nand think o' nothing outside it; but if you've got a man's heart and\nsoul in you, you can't be easy a-making your own bed an' leaving the\nrest to lie on the stones.", "Nay, nay, I'll never slip my neck out o' the\nyoke, and leave the load to be drawn by the weak uns.", "Father's a sore\ncross to me, an's likely to be for many a long year to come.", "What then?", "I've got th' health, and the limbs, and the sperrit to bear it.\"", "At this moment a smart rap, as if with a willow wand, was given at the\nhouse door, and Gyp, instead of barking, as might have been expected,\ngave a loud howl.", "Adam, very much startled, went at once to the door\nand opened it.", "Nothing was there; all was still, as when he opened it\nan hour before; the leaves were motionless, and the light of the stars\nshowed the placid fields on both sides of the brook quite empty of\nvisible life.", "Adam walked round the house, and still saw nothing except\na rat which darted into the woodshed as he passed.", "He went in again,\nwondering; the sound was so peculiar that the moment he heard it it\ncalled up the image of the willow wand striking the door.", "He could not\nhelp a little shudder, as he remembered how often his mother had told\nhim of just such a sound coming as a sign when some one was dying.", "Adam\nwas not a man to be gratuitously superstitious, but he had the blood of\nthe peasant in him as well as of the artisan, and a peasant can no\nmore help believing in a traditional superstition than a horse can help\ntrembling when he sees a camel.", "Besides, he had that mental combination\nwhich is at once humble in the region of mystery and keen in the region\nof knowledge: it was the depth of his reverence quite as much as\nhis hard common sense which gave him his disinclination to doctrinal\nreligion, and he often checked Seth's argumentative spiritualism by\nsaying, \"Eh, it's a big mystery; thee know'st but little about it.\"", "And\nso it happened that Adam was at once penetrating and credulous.", "If a\nnew building had fallen down and he had been told that this was a divine\njudgment, he would have said, \"May be; but the bearing o' the roof and\nwalls wasn't right, else it wouldn't ha' come down\"; yet he believed\nin dreams and prognostics, and to his dying day he bated his breath a\nlittle when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand.", "I\ntell it as he told it, not attempting to reduce it to its natural\nelements--in our eagerness to explain impressions, we often lose our\nhold of the sympathy that comprehends them.", "But he had the best antidote against imaginative dread in the necessity\nfor getting on with the coffin, and for the next ten minutes his hammer\nwas ringing so uninterruptedly, that other sounds, if there were any,\nmight well be overpowered.", "A pause came, however, when he had to take\nup his ruler, and now again came the strange rap, and again Gyp howled.", "Adam was at the door without the loss of a moment; but again all was\nstill, and the starlight showed there was nothing but the dew-laden\ngrass in front of the cottage.", "Adam for a moment thought uncomfortably about his father; but of late\nyears he had never come home at dark hours from Treddleston, and\nthere was every reason for believing that he was then sleeping off his\ndrunkenness at the \"Waggon Overthrown.\"", "Besides, to Adam, the conception\nof the future was so inseparable from the painful image of his father\nthat the fear of any fatal accident to him was excluded by the deeply\ninfixed fear of his continual degradation.", "The next thought that\noccurred to him was one that made him slip off his shoes and tread\nlightly upstairs, to listen at the bedroom doors.", "But both Seth and his\nmother were breathing regularly.", "Adam came down and set to work again, saying to himself, \"I won't open\nthe door again.", "It's no use staring about to catch sight of a sound.", "Maybe there's a world about us as we can't see, but th' ear's quicker\nthan the eye and catches a sound from't now and then.", "Some people think\nthey get a sight on't too, but they're mostly folks whose eyes are not\nmuch use to 'em at anything else.", "For my part, I think it's better to\nsee when your perpendicular's true than to see a ghost.\"", "Such thoughts as these are apt to grow stronger and stronger as daylight\nquenches the candles and the birds begin to sing.", "By the time the red\nsunlight shone on the brass nails that formed the initials on the lid of\nthe coffin, any lingering foreboding from the sound of the willow\nwand was merged in satisfaction that the work was done and the promise\nredeemed.", "There was no need to call Seth, for he was already moving\noverhead, and presently came downstairs.", "\"Now, lad,\" said Adam, as Seth made his appearance, \"the coffin's done,\nand we can take it over to Brox'on, and be back again before half after\nsix.", "I'll take a mouthful o' oat-cake, and then we'll be off.\"", "The coffin was soon propped on the tall shoulders of the two brothers,\nand they were making their way, followed close by Gyp, out of the little\nwoodyard into the lane at the back of the house.", "It was but about a mile\nand a half to Broxton over the opposite slope, and their road wound very\npleasantly along lanes and across fields, where the pale woodbines and\nthe dog-roses were scenting the hedgerows, and the birds were twittering\nand trilling in the tall leafy boughs of oak and elm.", "It was a strangely\nmingled picture--the fresh youth of the summer morning, with its\nEdenlike peace and loveliness, the stalwart strength of the two brothers\nin their rusty working clothes, and the long coffin on their shoulders.", "They paused for the last time before a small farmhouse outside the\nvillage of Broxton.", "By six o'clock the task was done, the coffin nailed\ndown, and Adam and Seth were on their way home.", "They chose a shorter\nway homewards, which would take them across the fields and the brook in\nfront of the house.", "Adam had not mentioned to Seth what had happened in\nthe night, but he still retained sufficient impression from it himself\nto say, \"Seth, lad, if Father isn't come home by the time we've had our\nbreakfast, I think it'll be as well for thee to go over to Treddles'on\nand look after him, and thee canst get me the brass wire I want.", "Never\nmind about losing an hour at thy work; we can make that up.", "What dost\nsay?\"", "\"I'm willing,\" said Seth.", "\"But see what clouds have gathered since we\nset out.", "I'm thinking we shall have more rain.", "It'll be a sore time for\nth' haymaking if the meadows are flooded again.", "The brook's fine and\nfull now: another day's rain 'ud cover the plank, and we should have to\ngo round by the road.\"", "They were coming across the valley now, and had entered the pasture\nthrough which the brook ran.", "\"Why, what's that sticking against the willow?\"", "continued Seth,\nbeginning to walk faster.", "Adam's heart rose to his mouth: the vague\nanxiety about his father was changed into a great dread.", "He made no\nanswer to Seth, but ran forward preceded by Gyp, who began to bark\nuneasily; and in two moments he was at the bridge.", "This was what the omen meant, then!", "And the grey-haired father, of whom\nhe had thought with a sort of hardness a few hours ago, as certain to\nlive to be a thorn in his side was perhaps even then struggling with\nthat watery death!", "This was the first thought that flashed through\nAdam's conscience, before he had time to seize the coat and drag out\nthe tall heavy body.", "Seth was already by his side, helping him, and\nwhen they had it on the bank, the two sons in the first moment knelt and\nlooked with mute awe at the glazed eyes, forgetting that there was need\nfor action--forgetting everything but that their father lay dead before\nthem.", "Adam was the first to speak.", "\"I'll run to Mother,\" he said, in a loud whisper.", "\"I'll be back to thee\nin a minute.\"", "Poor Lisbeth was busy preparing her sons' breakfast, and their porridge\nwas already steaming on the fire.", "Her kitchen always looked the pink of\ncleanliness, but this morning she was more than usually bent on making\nher hearth and breakfast-table look comfortable and inviting.", "\"The lads 'ull be fine an' hungry,\" she said, half-aloud, as she stirred\nthe porridge.", "\"It's a good step to Brox'on, an' it's hungry air o'er\nthe hill--wi' that heavy coffin too.", "Eh!", "It's heavier now, wi' poor Bob\nTholer in't.", "Howiver, I've made a drap more porridge nor common this\nmornin'.", "The feyther 'ull happen come in arter a bit.", "Not as he'll ate\nmuch porridge.", "He swallers sixpenn'orth o' ale, an' saves a hap'orth o'\npor-ridge--that's his way o' layin' by money, as I've told him many a\ntime, an' am likely to tell him again afore the day's out.", "Eh, poor mon,\nhe takes it quiet enough; there's no denyin' that.\"", "But now Lisbeth heard the heavy \"thud\" of a running footstep on the\nturf, and, turning quickly towards the door, she saw Adam enter, looking\nso pale and overwhelmed that she screamed aloud and rushed towards him\nbefore he had time to speak.", "\"Hush, Mother,\" Adam said, rather hoarsely, \"don't be frightened.", "Father's tumbled into the water.", "Belike we may bring him round again.", "Seth and me are going to carry him in.", "Get a blanket and make it hot as\nthe fire.\"", "In reality Adam was convinced that his father was dead but he knew there\nwas no other way of repressing his mother's impetuous wailing grief than\nby occupying her with some active task which had hope in it.", "He ran back to Seth, and the two sons lifted the sad burden in\nheart-stricken silence.", "The wide-open glazed eyes were grey, like\nSeth's, and had once looked with mild pride on the boys before whom\nThias had lived to hang his head in shame.", "Seth's chief feeling was awe\nand distress at this sudden snatching away of his father's soul; but\nAdam's mind rushed back over the past in a flood of relenting and pity.", "When death, the great Reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness\nthat we repent of, but our severity." ]

[ "\nA GREEN valley with a brook running through it, full almost to\noverflowing with the late rains, overhung by low stooping willows.", "Come an' ha'\nthy supper, come.\"", "Adam noticed\nGyp's mental conflict, and though his anger had made him less tender\nthan usual to his mother, it did not prevent him from caring as much as\nusual for his dog.", "\"Donna talk to me about's marr'in',\" said Lisbeth, crying afresh.", "\"Unaisy?", "\"No, Seth, no.", "Besides, he had that mental combination\nwhich is at once humble in the region of mystery and keen in the region\nof knowledge: it was the depth of his reverence quite as much as\nhis hard common sense which gave him his disinclination to doctrinal\nreligion, and he often checked Seth's argumentative spiritualism by\nsaying, \"Eh, it's a big mystery; thee know'st but little about it.\"", "If a\nnew building had fallen down and he had been told that this was a divine\njudgment, he would have said, \"May be; but the bearing o' the roof and\nwalls wasn't right, else it wouldn't ha' come down\"; yet he believed\nin dreams and prognostics, and to his dying day he bated his breath a\nlittle when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand.", "And the grey-haired father, of whom\nhe had thought with a sort of hardness a few hours ago, as certain to\nlive to be a thorn in his side was perhaps even then struggling with\nthat watery death!", "Poor Lisbeth was busy preparing her sons' breakfast, and their porridge\nwas already steaming on the fire." ]

[ "It comes out of\na book as Adam picked up at the stall at Treddles'on.", "When they rose from their knees, Seth went to Adam again and said, \"Wilt\nonly lie down for an hour or two, and let me go on the while?\"", "\"Aye, aye, Seth's at no harm, mother, thee mayst be sure.", "A deep flush of anger passed rapidly over Adam's face.", "Adam doesna pick a that'n; I can understan' the\ntex as he's allays a-sayin', 'God helps them as helps theirsens.'\"", "Seth had never in his life spoken a harsh word to his\nmother, and timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.", "The coffin was soon propped on the tall shoulders of the two brothers,\nand they were making their way, followed close by Gyp, out of the little\nwoodyard into the lane at the back of the house.", "There's a text wants no candle to show't; it shines\nby its own light.", "Poor Lisbeth did not hear this threat for the first time, and if she had\nbeen wise she would have gone away quietly and said nothing for the next\nhour.", "Thee't help me to carry\nit to Brox'on when it's done." ]

[ "Thee wotna get double earnin's o' this side\nYule.", "Th' Methodies 'll niver make thee half the man thy brother is, for\nall they're a-makin' a preacher on thee.\"", "\"It's partly truth thee speak'st there, Mother,\" said Seth, mildly;\n\"Adam's far before me, an's done more for me than I can ever do for him.", "God distributes talents to every man according as He sees good.", "But thee\nmustna undervally prayer.", "Prayer mayna bring money, but it brings us\nwhat no money can buy--a power to keep from sin and be content with\nGod's will, whatever He may please to send.", "If thee wouldst pray to God\nto help thee, and trust in His goodness, thee wouldstna be so uneasy\nabout things.\"", "\"Unaisy?", "I'm i' th' right on't to be unaisy.", "It's well seen on THEE what\nit is niver to be unaisy.", "Thee't gi' away all thy earnin's, an' niver be\nunaisy as thee'st nothin' laid up again' a rainy day." ]

[ "\nA GREEN valley with a brook running through it, full almost to\noverflowing with the late rains, overhung by low stooping willows.", "Across this brook a plank is thrown, and over this plank Adam Bede is\npassing with his undoubting step, followed close by Gyp with the basket;\nevidently making his way to the thatched house, with a stack of timber\nby the side of it, about twenty yards up the opposite slope.", "The door of the house is open, and an elderly woman is looking out; but\nshe is not placidly contemplating the evening sunshine; she has been\nwatching with dim eyes the gradually enlarging speck which for the last\nfew minutes she has been quite sure is her darling son Adam.", "Lisbeth\nBede loves her son with the love of a woman to whom her first-born has\ncome late in life.", "She is an anxious, spare, yet vigorous old woman,\nclean as a snowdrop.", "Her grey hair is turned neatly back under a pure\nlinen cap with a black band round it; her broad chest is covered with a\nbuff neckerchief, and below this you see a sort of short bedgown made of\nblue-checkered linen, tied round the waist and descending to the hips,\nfrom whence there is a considerable length of linsey-woolsey petticoat.", "For Lisbeth is tall, and in other points too there is a strong\nlikeness between her and her son Adam.", "Her dark eyes are somewhat dim\nnow--perhaps from too much crying--but her broadly marked eyebrows are\nstill black, her teeth are sound, and as she stands knitting rapidly and\nunconsciously with her work-hardened hands, she has as firmly upright\nan attitude as when she is carrying a pail of water on her head from the\nspring.", "There is the same type of frame and the same keen activity of\ntemperament in mother and son, but it was not from her that Adam got his\nwell-filled brow and his expression of large-hearted intelligence.", "Family likeness has often a deep sadness in it.", "\"Hush, Mother,\" Adam said, rather hoarsely, \"don't be frightened.", "Father's tumbled into the water.", "Belike we may bring him round again.", "Seth and me are going to carry him in.", "Get a blanket and make it hot as\nthe fire.\"", "In reality Adam was convinced that his father was dead but he knew there\nwas no other way of repressing his mother's impetuous wailing grief than\nby occupying her with some active task which had hope in it.", "He ran back to Seth, and the two sons lifted the sad burden in\nheart-stricken silence.", "The wide-open glazed eyes were grey, like\nSeth's, and had once looked with mild pride on the boys before whom\nThias had lived to hang his head in shame.", "Seth's chief feeling was awe\nand distress at this sudden snatching away of his father's soul; but\nAdam's mind rushed back over the past in a flood of relenting and pity.", "When death, the great Reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness\nthat we repent of, but our severity." ]

[ "\n\nBEFORE twelve o'clock there had been some heavy storms of rain, and the\nwater lay in deep gutters on the sides of the gravel walks in the garden\nof Broxton Parsonage; the great Provence roses had been cruelly tossed\nby the wind and beaten by the rain, and all the delicate-stemmed border\nflowers had been dashed down and stained with the wet soil.", "A melancholy\nmorning--because it was nearly time hay-harvest should begin, and\ninstead of that the meadows were likely to be flooded.", "But people who have pleasant homes get indoor enjoyments that they would\nnever think of but for the rain.", "If it had not been a wet morning, Mr.\nIrwine would not have been in the dining-room playing at chess with his\nmother, and he loves both his mother and chess quite well enough to pass\nsome cloudy hours very easily by their help.", "Let me take you into that\ndining-room and show you the Rev.", "Adolphus Irwine, Rector of Broxton,\nVicar of Hayslope, and Vicar of Blythe, a pluralist at whom the severest\nChurch reformer would have found it difficult to look sour.", "We will\nenter very softly and stand still in the open doorway, without awaking\nthe glossy-brown setter who is stretched across the hearth, with her\ntwo puppies beside her; or the pug, who is dozing, with his black muzzle\naloft, like a sleepy president.", "The room is a large and lofty one, with an ample mullioned oriel window\nat one end; the walls, you see, are new, and not yet painted; but the\nfurniture, though originally of an expensive sort, is old and scanty,\nand there is no drapery about the window.", "The crimson cloth over the\nlarge dining-table is very threadbare, though it contrasts pleasantly\nenough with the dead hue of the plaster on the walls; but on this cloth\nthere is a massive silver waiter with a decanter of water on it, of the\nsame pattern as two larger ones that are propped up on the sideboard\nwith a coat of arms conspicuous in their centre.", "You suspect at once\nthat the inhabitants of this room have inherited more blood than wealth,\nand would not be surprised to find that Mr. Irwine had a finely cut\nnostril and upper lip; but at present we can only see that he has a\nbroad flat back and an abundance of powdered hair, all thrown backward\nand tied behind with a black ribbon--a bit of conservatism in costume\nwhich tells you that he is not a young man.", "He will perhaps turn round\nby and by, and in the meantime we can look at that stately old lady, his\nmother, a beautiful aged brunette, whose rich-toned complexion is well\nset off by the complex wrappings of pure white cambric and lace about\nher head and neck.", "She is as erect in her comely embonpoint as a statue\nof Ceres; and her dark face, with its delicate aquiline nose, firm proud\nmouth, and small, intense, black eye, is so keen and sarcastic in its\nexpression that you instinctively substitute a pack of cards for the\nchess-men and imagine her telling your fortune.", "The small brown hand\nwith which she is lifting her queen is laden with pearls, diamonds, and\nturquoises; and a large black veil is very carefully adjusted over the\ncrown of her cap, and falls in sharp contrast on the white folds\nabout her neck.", "It must take a long time to dress that old lady in the\nmorning!", "But it seems a law of nature that she should be dressed so: she\nis clearly one of those children of royalty who have never doubted their\nright divine and never met with any one so absurd as to question it.", "\"There, Dauphin, tell me what that is!\"", "says this magnificent old lady,\nas she deposits her queen very quietly and folds her arms.", "\"I should be\nsorry to utter a word disagreeable to your feelings.\"", "\"Ah, you witch-mother, you sorceress!", "How is a Christian man to win a\ngame off you?", "I should have sprinkled the board with holy water before\nwe began.", "You've not won that game by fair means, now, so don't pretend\nit.\"", "\"Yes, yes, that's what the beaten have always said of great conquerors.", "But see, there's the sunshine falling on the board, to show you more\nclearly what a foolish move you made with that pawn.", "Come, shall I give\nyou another chance?\"", "\"No, Mother, I shall leave you to your own conscience, now it's clearing\nup.", "We must go and plash up the mud a little, mus'n't we, Juno?\"", "This\nwas addressed to the brown setter, who had jumped up at the sound of the\nvoices and laid her nose in an insinuating way on her master's leg.", "\"But\nI must go upstairs first and see Anne.", "I was called away to Tholer's\nfuneral just when I was going before.\"", "\"It's of no use, child; she can't speak to you.", "Kate says she has one of\nher worst headaches this morning.\"", "\"Oh, she likes me to go and see her just the same; she's never too ill\nto care about that.\"", "If you know how much of human speech is mere purposeless impulse or\nhabit, you will not wonder when I tell you that this identical objection\nhad been made, and had received the same kind of answer, many hundred\ntimes in the course of the fifteen years that Mr. Irwine's sister Anne\nhad been an invalid.", "Splendid old ladies, who take a long time to dress\nin the morning, have often slight sympathy with sickly daughters.", "But while Mr. Irwine was still seated, leaning back in his chair and\nstroking Juno's head, the servant came to the door and said, \"If\nyou please, sir, Joshua Rann wishes to speak with you, if you are at\nliberty.\"", "\"Let him be shown in here,\" said Mrs. Irwine, taking up her knitting.", "\"I always like to hear what Mr. Rann has got to say.", "His shoes will be\ndirty, but see that he wipes them Carroll.\"", "In two minutes Mr. Rann appeared at the door with very deferential bows,\nwhich, however, were far from conciliating Pug, who gave a sharp bark\nand ran across the room to reconnoitre the stranger's legs; while the\ntwo puppies, regarding Mr. Rann's prominent calf and ribbed worsted\nstockings from a more sensuous point of view, plunged and growled over\nthem in great enjoyment.", "Meantime, Mr. Irwine turned round his chair and\nsaid, \"Well, Joshua, anything the matter at Hayslope, that you've come\nover this damp morning?", "Sit down, sit down.", "Never mind the dogs; give\nthem a friendly kick.", "Here, Pug, you rascal!\"", "It is very pleasant to see some men turn round; pleasant as a sudden\nrush of warm air in winter, or the flash of firelight in the chill dusk.", "Mr. Irwine was one of those men.", "He bore the same sort of resemblance to\nhis mother that our loving memory of a friend's face often bears to the\nface itself: the lines were all more generous, the smile brighter, the\nexpression heartier.", "If the outline had been less finely cut, his face\nmight have been called jolly; but that was not the right word for its\nmixture of bonhomie and distinction.", "\"Thank Your Reverence,\" answered Mr. Rann, endeavouring to look\nunconcerned about his legs, but shaking them alternately to keep off the\npuppies; \"I'll stand, if you please, as more becoming.", "I hope I see you\nan' Mrs. Irwine well, an' Miss Irwine--an' Miss Anne, I hope's as well\nas usual.\"", "\"Yes, Joshua, thank you.", "You see how blooming my mother looks.", "She beats\nus younger people hollow.", "But what's the matter?\"", "\"Why, sir, I had to come to Brox'on to deliver some work, and I thought\nit but right to call and let you know the goins-on as there's been i'\nthe village, such as I hanna seen i' my time, and I've lived in it man\nand boy sixty year come St. Thomas, and collected th' Easter dues for\nMr. Blick before Your Reverence come into the parish, and been at the\nringin' o' every bell, and the diggin' o' every grave, and sung i' the\nchoir long afore Bartle Massey come from nobody knows where, wi' his\ncounter-singin' and fine anthems, as puts everybody out but himself--one\ntakin' it up after another like sheep a-bleatin' i' th' fold.", "I know\nwhat belongs to bein' a parish clerk, and I know as I should be wantin'\ni' respect to Your Reverence, an' church, an' king, if I was t' allow\nsuch goins-on wi'out speakin'.", "I was took by surprise, an' knowed\nnothin' on it beforehand, an' I was so flustered, I was clean as if I'd\nlost my tools.", "I hanna slep' more nor four hour this night as is past\nan' gone; an' then it was nothin' but nightmare, as tired me worse nor\nwakin'.\"", "\"Why, what in the world is the matter, Joshua?", "Have the thieves been at\nthe church lead again?\"", "\"Thieves!", "No, sir--an' yet, as I may say, it is thieves, an' a-thievin'\nthe church, too.", "It's the Methodisses as is like to get th' upper hand\ni' th' parish, if Your Reverence an' His Honour, Squire Donnithorne,\ndoesna think well to say the word an' forbid it.", "Not as I'm a-dictatin'\nto you, sir; I'm not forgettin' myself so far as to be wise above my\nbetters.", "Howiver, whether I'm wise or no, that's neither here nor there,\nbut what I've got to say I say--as the young Methodis woman as is at\nMester Poyser's was a-preachin' an' a-prayin' on the Green last night,\nas sure as I'm a-stannin' afore Your Reverence now.\"", "\"Preaching on the Green!\"", "said Mr. Irwine, looking surprised but quite\nserene.", "\"What, that pale pretty young woman I've seen at Poyser's?", "I saw\nshe was a Methodist, or Quaker, or something of that sort, by her dress,\nbut I didn't know she was a preacher.\"", "\"It's a true word as I say, sir,\" rejoined Mr. Rann, compressing his\nmouth into a semicircular form and pausing long enough to indicate three\nnotes of exclamation.", "\"She preached on the Green last night; an' she's\nlaid hold of Chad's Bess, as the girl's been i' fits welly iver sin'.\"", "\"Well, Bessy Cranage is a hearty-looking lass; I daresay she'll come\nround again, Joshua.", "Did anybody else go into fits?\"", "\"No, sir, I canna say as they did.", "But there's no knowin' what'll come,\nif we're t' have such preachin's as that a-goin' on ivery week--there'll\nbe no livin' i' th' village.", "For them Methodisses make folks believe\nas if they take a mug o' drink extry, an' make theirselves a bit\ncomfortable, they'll have to go to hell for't as sure as they're born.", "I'm not a tipplin' man nor a drunkard--nobody can say it on me--but I\nlike a extry quart at Easter or Christmas time, as is nat'ral when we're\ngoin' the rounds a-singin', an' folks offer't you for nothin'; or\nwhen I'm a-collectin' the dues; an' I like a pint wi' my pipe, an' a\nneighbourly chat at Mester Casson's now an' then, for I was brought\nup i' the Church, thank God, an' ha' been a parish clerk this\ntwo-an'-thirty year: I should know what the church religion is.\"", "\"Well, what's your advice, Joshua?", "What do you think should be done?\"", "\"Well, Your Reverence, I'm not for takin' any measures again' the young\nwoman.", "She's well enough if she'd let alone preachin'; an' I hear as\nshe's a-goin' away back to her own country soon.", "She's Mr. Poyser's\nown niece, an' I donna wish to say what's anyways disrespectful o' th'\nfamily at th' Hall Farm, as I've measured for shoes, little an' big,\nwelly iver sin' I've been a shoemaker.", "But there's that Will Maskery,\nsir as is the rampageousest Methodis as can be, an' I make no doubt it\nwas him as stirred up th' young woman to preach last night, an' he'll be\na-bringin' other folks to preach from Treddles'on, if his comb isn't\ncut a bit; an' I think as he should be let know as he isna t' have the\nmakin' an' mendin' o' church carts an' implemen's, let alone stayin' i'\nthat house an' yard as is Squire Donnithorne's.\"", "\"Well, but you say yourself, Joshua, that you never knew any one come to\npreach on the Green before; why should you think they'll come again?", "The\nMethodists don't come to preach in little villages like Hayslope, where\nthere's only a handful of labourers, too tired to listen to them.", "They\nmight almost as well go and preach on the Binton Hills.", "Will Maskery is\nno preacher himself, I think.\"", "\"Nay, sir, he's no gift at stringin' the words together wi'out book;\nhe'd be stuck fast like a cow i' wet clay.", "But he's got tongue enough\nto speak disrespectful about's neebors, for he said as I was a blind\nPharisee--a-usin' the Bible i' that way to find nick-names for folks as\nare his elders an' betters!--and what's worse, he's been heard to say\nvery unbecomin' words about Your Reverence; for I could bring them as\n'ud swear as he called you a 'dumb dog,' an' a 'idle shepherd.'", "You'll\nforgi'e me for sayin' such things over again.\"", "\"Better not, better not, Joshua.", "Let evil words die as soon as they're\nspoken.", "Will Maskery might be a great deal worse fellow than he is.", "He\nused to be a wild drunken rascal, neglecting his work and beating his\nwife, they told me; now he's thrifty and decent, and he and his wife\nlook comfortable together.", "If you can bring me any proof that he\ninterferes with his neighbours and creates any disturbance, I shall\nthink it my duty as a clergyman and a magistrate to interfere.", "But it\nwouldn't become wise people like you and me to be making a fuss about\ntrifles, as if we thought the Church was in danger because Will Maskery\nlets his tongue wag rather foolishly, or a young woman talks in a\nserious way to a handful of people on the Green.", "We must 'live and let\nlive,' Joshua, in religion as well as in other things.", "You go on doing\nyour duty, as parish clerk and sexton, as well as you've always done\nit, and making those capital thick boots for your neighbours, and things\nwon't go far wrong in Hayslope, depend upon it.\"", "\"Your Reverence is very good to say so; an' I'm sensable as, you not\nlivin' i' the parish, there's more upo' my shoulders.\"", "\"To be sure; and you must mind and not lower the Church in people's eyes\nby seeming to be frightened about it for a little thing, Joshua.", "I shall\ntrust to your good sense, now to take no notice at all of what Will\nMaskery says, either about you or me.", "You and your neighbours can go on\ntaking your pot of beer soberly, when you've done your day's work, like\ngood churchmen; and if Will Maskery doesn't like to join you, but to go\nto a prayer-meeting at Treddleston instead, let him; that's no business\nof yours, so long as he doesn't hinder you from doing what you like.", "And\nas to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that,\nany more than the old church-steeple minds the rooks cawing about\nit.", "Will Maskery comes to church every Sunday afternoon, and does his\nwheelwright's business steadily in the weekdays, and as long as he does\nthat he must be let alone.\"", "\"Ah, sir, but when he comes to church, he sits an' shakes his head, an'\nlooks as sour an' as coxy when we're a-singin' as I should like to fetch\nhim a rap across the jowl--God forgi'e me--an' Mrs. Irwine, an' Your\nReverence too, for speakin' so afore you.", "An' he said as our Christmas\nsingin' was no better nor the cracklin' o' thorns under a pot.\"", "\"Well, he's got a bad ear for music, Joshua.", "When people have wooden\nheads, you know, it can't be helped.", "He won't bring the other people in\nHayslope round to his opinion, while you go on singing as well as you\ndo.\"", "\"Yes, sir, but it turns a man's stomach t' hear the Scripture misused i'\nthat way.", "I know as much o' the words o' the Bible as he does, an' could\nsay the Psalms right through i' my sleep if you was to pinch me; but I\nknow better nor to take 'em to say my own say wi'.", "I might as well take\nthe Sacriment-cup home and use it at meals.\"", "\"That's a very sensible remark of yours, Joshua; but, as I said\nbefore----\"\n\nWhile Mr. Irwine was speaking, the sound of a booted step and the clink\nof a spur were heard on the stone floor of the entrance-hall, and Joshua\nRann moved hastily aside from the doorway to make room for some one who\npaused there, and said, in a ringing tenor voice,\n\n\"Godson Arthur--may he come in?\"", "\"Come in, come in, godson!\"", "Mrs. Irwine answered, in the deep\nhalf-masculine tone which belongs to the vigorous old woman, and there\nentered a young gentleman in a riding-dress, with his right arm in\na sling; whereupon followed that pleasant confusion of laughing\ninterjections, and hand-shakings, and \"How are you's?\"", "mingled with\njoyous short barks and wagging of tails on the part of the canine\nmembers of the family, which tells that the visitor is on the best terms\nwith the visited.", "The young gentleman was Arthur Donnithorne, known\nin Hayslope, variously, as \"the young squire,\" \"the heir,\" and \"the\ncaptain.\"", "He was only a captain in the Loamshire Militia, but to the\nHayslope tenants he was more intensely a captain than all the young\ngentlemen of the same rank in his Majesty's regulars--he outshone them\nas the planet Jupiter outshines the Milky Way.", "If you want to know\nmore particularly how he looked, call to your remembrance some\ntawny-whiskered, brown-locked, clear-complexioned young Englishman\nwhom you have met with in a foreign town, and been proud of as a\nfellow-countryman--well-washed, high-bred, white-handed, yet looking as\nif he could deliver well from 'the left shoulder and floor his man: I\nwill not be so much of a tailor as to trouble your imagination with the\ndifference of costume, and insist on the striped waistcoat, long-tailed\ncoat, and low top-boots.", "Turning round to take a chair, Captain Donnithorne said, \"But don't let\nme interrupt Joshua's business--he has something to say.\"", "\"Humbly begging Your Honour's pardon,\" said Joshua, bowing low, \"there\nwas one thing I had to say to His Reverence as other things had drove\nout o' my head.\"", "\"Out with it, Joshua, quickly!\"", "said Mr. Irwine.", "\"Belike, sir, you havena heared as Thias Bede's dead--drownded this\nmorning, or more like overnight, i' the Willow Brook, again' the bridge\nright i' front o' the house.\"", "\"Ah!\"", "exclaimed both the gentlemen at once, as if they were a good deal\ninterested in the information.", "\"An' Seth Bede's been to me this morning to say he wished me to tell\nYour Reverence as his brother Adam begged of you particular t' allow his\nfather's grave to be dug by the White Thorn, because his mother's set\nher heart on it, on account of a dream as she had; an' they'd ha'\ncome theirselves to ask you, but they've so much to see after with the\ncrowner, an' that; an' their mother's took on so, an' wants 'em to make\nsure o' the spot for fear somebody else should take it.", "An' if Your\nReverence sees well and good, I'll send my boy to tell 'em as soon as I\nget home; an' that's why I make bold to trouble you wi' it, His Honour\nbeing present.\"", "\"To be sure, Joshua, to be sure, they shall have it.", "I'll ride round to\nAdam myself, and see him.", "Send your boy, however, to say they shall\nhave the grave, lest anything should happen to detain me.", "And now, good\nmorning, Joshua; go into the kitchen and have some ale.\"", "\"Poor old Thias!\"", "said Mr. Irwine, when Joshua was gone.", "\"I'm afraid\nthe drink helped the brook to drown him.", "I should have been glad for the\nload to have been taken off my friend Adam's shoulders in a less painful\nway.", "That fine fellow has been propping up his father from ruin for the\nlast five or six years.\"", "\"He's a regular trump, is Adam,\" said Captain Donnithorne.", "\"When I was\na little fellow, and Adam was a strapping lad of fifteen, and taught me\ncarpentering, I used to think if ever I was a rich sultan, I would make\nAdam my grand-vizier.", "And I believe now he would bear the exaltation as\nwell as any poor wise man in an Eastern story.", "If ever I live to be a\nlarge-acred man instead of a poor devil with a mortgaged allowance of\npocket-money, I'll have Adam for my right hand.", "He shall manage my woods\nfor me, for he seems to have a better notion of those things than any\nman I ever met with; and I know he would make twice the money of them\nthat my grandfather does, with that miserable old Satchell to manage,\nwho understands no more about timber than an old carp.", "I've mentioned\nthe subject to my grandfather once or twice, but for some reason or\nother he has a dislike to Adam, and I can do nothing.", "But come, Your\nReverence, are you for a ride with me?", "It's splendid out of doors now.", "We can go to Adam's together, if you like; but I want to call at the\nHall Farm on my way, to look at the whelps Poyser is keeping for me.\"", "\"You must stay and have lunch first, Arthur,\" said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"It's\nnearly two.", "Carroll will bring it in directly.\"", "\"I want to go to the Hall Farm too,\" said Mr. Irwine, \"to have another\nlook at the little Methodist who is staying there.", "Joshua tells me she\nwas preaching on the Green last night.\"", "\"Oh, by Jove!\"", "said Captain Donnithorne, laughing.", "\"Why, she looks as\nquiet as a mouse.", "There's something rather striking about her, though.", "I\npositively felt quite bashful the first time I saw her--she was sitting\nstooping over her sewing in the sunshine outside the house, when I rode\nup and called out, without noticing that she was a stranger, 'Is Martin\nPoyser at home?'", "I declare, when she got up and looked at me and just\nsaid, 'He's in the house, I believe: I'll go and call him,' I felt\nquite ashamed of having spoken so abruptly to her.", "She looked like St.\nCatherine in a Quaker dress.", "It's a type of face one rarely sees among\nour common people.\"", "\"I should like to see the young woman, Dauphin,\" said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"Make\nher come here on some pretext or other.\"", "\"I don't know how I can manage that, Mother; it will hardly do for me\nto patronize a Methodist preacher, even if she would consent to be\npatronized by an idle shepherd, as Will Maskery calls me.", "You should\nhave come in a little sooner, Arthur, to hear Joshua's denunciation of\nhis neighbour Will Maskery.", "The old fellow wants me to excommunicate the\nwheelwright, and then deliver him over to the civil arm--that is to say,\nto your grandfather--to be turned out of house and yard.", "If I chose to\ninterfere in this business, now, I might get up as pretty a story of\nhatred and persecution as the Methodists need desire to publish in\nthe next number of their magazine.", "It wouldn't take me much trouble to\npersuade Chad Cranage and half a dozen other bull-headed fellows that\nthey would be doing an acceptable service to the Church by hunting Will\nMaskery out of the village with rope-ends and pitchforks; and then, when\nI had furnished them with half a sovereign to get gloriously drunk after\ntheir exertions, I should have put the climax to as pretty a farce as\nany of my brother clergy have set going in their parishes for the last\nthirty years.\"", "\"It is really insolent of the man, though, to call you an 'idle\nshepherd' and a 'dumb dog,'\" said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"I should be inclined to\ncheck him a little there.", "You are too easy-tempered, Dauphin.\"", "\"Why, Mother, you don't think it would be a good way of sustaining my\ndignity to set about vindicating myself from the aspersions of Will\nMaskery?", "Besides, I'm not so sure that they ARE aspersions.", "I AM a lazy\nfellow, and get terribly heavy in my saddle; not to mention that I'm\nalways spending more than I can afford in bricks and mortar, so that\nI get savage at a lame beggar when he asks me for sixpence.", "Those poor\nlean cobblers, who think they can help to regenerate mankind by setting\nout to preach in the morning twilight before they begin their day's\nwork, may well have a poor opinion of me.", "But come, let us have our\nluncheon.", "Isn't Kate coming to lunch?\"", "\"Miss Irwine told Bridget to take her lunch upstairs,\" said Carroll;\n\"she can't leave Miss Anne.\"", "\"Oh, very well.", "Tell Bridget to say I'll go up and see Miss Anne\npresently.", "You can use your right arm quite well now, Arthur,\" Mr.\nIrwine continued, observing that Captain Donnithorne had taken his arm\nout of the sling.", "\"Yes, pretty well; but Godwin insists on my keeping it up constantly for\nsome time to come.", "I hope I shall be able to get away to the regiment,\nthough, in the beginning of August.", "It's a desperately dull business\nbeing shut up at the Chase in the summer months, when one can neither\nhunt nor shoot, so as to make one's self pleasantly sleepy in the\nevening.", "However, we are to astonish the echoes on the 30th of July.", "My\ngrandfather has given me carte blanche for once, and I promise you the\nentertainment shall be worthy of the occasion.", "The world will not see\nthe grand epoch of my majority twice.", "I think I shall have a lofty\nthrone for you, Godmamma, or rather two, one on the lawn and another in\nthe ballroom, that you may sit and look down upon us like an Olympian\ngoddess.\"", "\"I mean to bring out my best brocade, that I wore at your christening\ntwenty years ago,\" said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"Ah, I think I shall see your poor\nmother flitting about in her white dress, which looked to me almost like\na shroud that very day; and it WAS her shroud only three months after;\nand your little cap and christening dress were buried with her too.", "She\nhad set her heart on that, sweet soul!", "Thank God you take after your\nmother's family, Arthur.", "If you had been a puny, wiry, yellow baby, I\nwouldn't have stood godmother to you.", "I should have been sure you would\nturn out a Donnithorne.", "But you were such a broad-faced, broad-chested,\nloud-screaming rascal, I knew you were every inch of you a Tradgett.\"", "\"But you might have been a little too hasty there, Mother,\" said Mr.\nIrwine, smiling.", "\"Don't you remember how it was with Juno's last pups?", "One of them was the very image of its mother, but it had two or three\nof its father's tricks notwithstanding.", "Nature is clever enough to cheat\neven you, Mother.\"", "\"Nonsense, child!", "Nature never makes a ferret in the shape of a mastiff.", "You'll never persuade me that I can't tell what men are by their\noutsides.", "If I don't like a man's looks, depend upon it I shall never\nlike HIM.", "I don't want to know people that look ugly and disagreeable,\nany more than I want to taste dishes that look disagreeable.", "If they\nmake me shudder at the first glance, I say, take them away.", "An ugly,\npiggish, or fishy eye, now, makes me feel quite ill; it's like a bad\nsmell.\"", "\"Talking of eyes,\" said Captain Donnithorne, \"that reminds me that I've\ngot a book I meant to bring you, Godmamma.", "It came down in a parcel from\nLondon the other day.", "I know you are fond of queer, wizardlike stories.", "It's a volume of poems, 'Lyrical Ballads.'", "Most of them seem to be\ntwaddling stuff, but the first is in a different style--'The Ancient\nMariner' is the title.", "I can hardly make head or tail of it as a story,\nbut it's a strange, striking thing.", "I'll send it over to you; and there\nare some other books that you may like to see, Irwine--pamphlets about\nAntinomianism and Evangelicalism, whatever they may be.", "I can't think\nwhat the fellow means by sending such things to me.", "I've written to him\nto desire that from henceforth he will send me no book or pamphlet on\nanything that ends in ISM.\"", "\"Well, I don't know that I'm very fond of isms myself; but I may as well\nlook at the pamphlets; they let one see what is going on.", "I've a little\nmatter to attend to, Arthur,\" continued Mr. Irwine, rising to leave the\nroom, \"and then I shall be ready to set out with you.\"", "The little matter that Mr. Irwine had to attend to took him up the old\nstone staircase (part of the house was very old) and made him pause\nbefore a door at which he knocked gently.", "\"Come in,\" said a woman's\nvoice, and he entered a room so darkened by blinds and curtains that\nMiss Kate, the thin middle-aged lady standing by the bedside, would not\nhave had light enough for any other sort of work than the knitting which\nlay on the little table near her.", "But at present she was doing what\nrequired only the dimmest light--sponging the aching head that lay on\nthe pillow with fresh vinegar.", "It was a small face, that of the poor\nsufferer; perhaps it had once been pretty, but now it was worn and\nsallow.", "Miss Kate came towards her brother and whispered, \"Don't speak\nto her; she can't bear to be spoken to to-day.\"", "Anne's eyes were closed,\nand her brow contracted as if from intense pain.", "Mr. Irwine went to the\nbedside and took up one of the delicate hands and kissed it, a slight\npressure from the small fingers told him that it was worth-while to have\ncome upstairs for the sake of doing that.", "He lingered a moment, looking\nat her, and then turned away and left the room, treading very gently--he\nhad taken off his boots and put on slippers before he came upstairs.", "Whoever remembers how many things he has declined to do even for\nhimself, rather than have the trouble of putting on or taking off his\nboots, will not think this last detail insignificant.", "And Mr. Irwine's sisters, as any person of family within ten miles of\nBroxton could have testified, were such stupid, uninteresting women!", "It was quite a pity handsome, clever Mrs. Irwine should have had such\ncommonplace daughters.", "That fine old lady herself was worth driving ten\nmiles to see, any day; her beauty, her well-preserved faculties, and her\nold-fashioned dignity made her a graceful subject for conversation in\nturn with the King's health, the sweet new patterns in cotton dresses,\nthe news from Egypt, and Lord Dacey's lawsuit, which was fretting poor\nLady Dacey to death.", "But no one ever thought of mentioning the Miss\nIrwines, except the poor people in Broxton village, who regarded them\nas deep in the science of medicine, and spoke of them vaguely as \"the\ngentlefolks.\"", "If any one had asked old Job Dummilow who gave him his\nflannel jacket, he would have answered, \"the gentlefolks, last\nwinter\"; and widow Steene dwelt much on the virtues of the \"stuff\" the\ngentlefolks gave her for her cough.", "Under this name too, they were used\nwith great effect as a means of taming refractory children, so that at\nthe sight of poor Miss Anne's sallow face, several small urchins had a\nterrified sense that she was cognizant of all their worst misdemeanours,\nand knew the precise number of stones with which they had intended to\nhit Farmer Britton's ducks.", "But for all who saw them through a\nless mythical medium, the Miss Irwines were quite superfluous\nexistences--inartistic figures crowding the canvas of life without\nadequate effect.", "Miss Anne, indeed, if her chronic headaches could have\nbeen accounted for by a pathetic story of disappointed love, might have\nhad some romantic interest attached to her: but no such story had either\nbeen known or invented concerning her, and the general impression was\nquite in accordance with the fact, that both the sisters were old maids\nfor the prosaic reason that they had never received an eligible offer.", "Nevertheless, to speak paradoxically, the existence of insignificant\npeople has very important consequences in the world.", "It can be shown to\naffect the price of bread and the rate of wages, to call forth many evil\ntempers from the selfish and many heroisms from the sympathetic, and,\nin other ways, to play no small part in the tragedy of life.", "And if that\nhandsome, generous-blooded clergyman, the Rev.", "Adolphus Irwine, had not\nhad these two hopelessly maiden sisters, his lot would have been shaped\nquite differently: he would very likely have taken a comely wife in his\nyouth, and now, when his hair was getting grey under the powder, would\nhave had tall sons and blooming daughters--such possessions, in short,\nas men commonly think will repay them for all the labour they take under\nthe sun.", "As it was--having with all his three livings no more than seven\nhundred a-year, and seeing no way of keeping his splendid mother and his\nsickly sister, not to reckon a second sister, who was usually spoken of\nwithout any adjective, in such ladylike ease as became their birth\nand habits, and at the same time providing for a family of his own--he\nremained, you see, at the age of eight-and-forty, a bachelor, not\nmaking any merit of that renunciation, but saying laughingly, if any one\nalluded to it, that he made it an excuse for many indulgences which a\nwife would never have allowed him.", "And perhaps he was the only person in\nthe world who did not think his sisters uninteresting and superfluous;\nfor his was one of those large-hearted, sweet-blooded natures that never\nknow a narrow or a grudging thought; Epicurean, if you will, with no\nenthusiasm, no self-scourging sense of duty; but yet, as you have seen,\nof a sufficiently subtle moral fibre to have an unwearying tenderness\nfor obscure and monotonous suffering.", "It was his large-hearted\nindulgence that made him ignore his mother's hardness towards her\ndaughters, which was the more striking from its contrast with her doting\nfondness towards himself; he held it no virtue to frown at irremediable\nfaults.", "See the difference between the impression a man makes on you when you\nwalk by his side in familiar talk, or look at him in his home, and the\nfigure he makes when seen from a lofty historical level, or even in the\neyes of a critical neighbour who thinks of him as an embodied system\nor opinion rather than as a man.", "Mr. Roe, the \"travelling preacher\"\nstationed at Treddleston, had included Mr. Irwine in a general statement\nconcerning the Church clergy in the surrounding district, whom he\ndescribed as men given up to the lusts of the flesh and the pride of\nlife; hunting and shooting, and adorning their own houses; asking what\nshall we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be\nclothed?--careless of dispensing the bread of life to their flocks,\npreaching at best but a carnal and soul-benumbing morality, and\ntrafficking in the souls of men by receiving money for discharging the\npastoral office in parishes where they did not so much as look on the\nfaces of the people more than once a-year.", "The ecclesiastical historian,\ntoo, looking into parliamentary reports of that period, finds honourable\nmembers zealous for the Church, and untainted with any sympathy for\nthe \"tribe of canting Methodists,\" making statements scarcely less\nmelancholy than that of Mr. Roe.", "And it is impossible for me to say that\nMr. Irwine was altogether belied by the generic classification assigned\nhim.", "He really had no very lofty aims, no theological enthusiasm: if I\nwere closely questioned, I should be obliged to confess that he felt\nno serious alarms about the souls of his parishioners, and would have\nthought it a mere loss of time to talk in a doctrinal and awakening\nmanner to old \"Feyther Taft,\" or even to Chad Cranage the blacksmith.", "If he had been in the habit of speaking theoretically, he would perhaps\nhave said that the only healthy form religion could take in such minds\nwas that of certain dim but strong emotions, suffusing themselves as a\nhallowing influence over the family affections and neighbourly duties.", "He thought the custom of baptism more important than its doctrine, and\nthat the religious benefits the peasant drew from the church where his\nfathers worshipped and the sacred piece of turf where they lay buried\nwere but slightly dependent on a clear understanding of the Liturgy or\nthe sermon.", "Clearly the rector was not what is called in these days an\n\"earnest\" man: he was fonder of church history than of divinity, and had\nmuch more insight into men's characters than interest in their opinions;\nhe was neither laborious, nor obviously self-denying, nor very copious\nin alms-giving, and his theology, you perceive, was lax.", "His mental\npalate, indeed, was rather pagan, and found a savouriness in a quotation\nfrom Sophocles or Theocritus that was quite absent from any text in\nIsaiah or Amos.", "But if you feed your young setter on raw flesh, how\ncan you wonder at its retaining a relish for uncooked partridge in\nafter-life?", "And Mr. Irwine's recollections of young enthusiasm and\nambition were all associated with poetry and ethics that lay aloof from\nthe Bible.", "On the other hand, I must plead, for I have an affectionate partiality\ntowards the rector's memory, that he was not vindictive--and some\nphilanthropists have been so; that he was not intolerant--and there is a\nrumour that some zealous theologians have not been altogether free from\nthat blemish; that although he would probably have declined to give his\nbody to be burned in any public cause, and was far from bestowing all\nhis goods to feed the poor, he had that charity which has sometimes\nbeen lacking to very illustrious virtue--he was tender to other men's\nfailings, and unwilling to impute evil.", "He was one of those men,\nand they are not the commonest, of whom we can know the best only by\nfollowing them away from the marketplace, the platform, and the pulpit,\nentering with them into their own homes, hearing the voice with which\nthey speak to the young and aged about their own hearthstone, and\nwitnessing their thoughtful care for the everyday wants of everyday\ncompanions, who take all their kindness as a matter of course, and not\nas a subject for panegyric.", "Such men, happily, have lived in times when great abuses flourished, and\nhave sometimes even been the living representatives of the abuses.", "That is a thought which might comfort us a little under the opposite\nfact--that it is better sometimes NOT to follow great reformers of\nabuses beyond the threshold of their homes.", "But whatever you may think of Mr. Irwine now, if you had met him that\nJune afternoon riding on his grey cob, with his dogs running beside\nhim--portly, upright, manly, with a good-natured smile on his finely\nturned lips as he talked to his dashing young companion on the bay mare,\nyou must have felt that, however ill he harmonized with sound theories\nof the clerical office, he somehow harmonized extremely well with that\npeaceful landscape.", "See them in the bright sunlight, interrupted every now and then by\nrolling masses of cloud, ascending the slope from the Broxton side,\nwhere the tall gables and elms of the rectory predominate over the tiny\nwhitewashed church.", "They will soon be in the parish of Hayslope; the\ngrey church-tower and village roofs lie before them to the left, and\nfarther on, to the right, they can just see the chimneys of the Hall\nFarm." ]

[ "You suspect at once\nthat the inhabitants of this room have inherited more blood than wealth,\nand would not be surprised to find that Mr. Irwine had a finely cut\nnostril and upper lip; but at present we can only see that he has a\nbroad flat back and an abundance of powdered hair, all thrown backward\nand tied behind with a black ribbon--a bit of conservatism in costume\nwhich tells you that he is not a young man.", "\"Oh, she likes me to go and see her just the same; she's never too ill\nto care about that.\"", "If you can bring me any proof that he\ninterferes with his neighbours and creates any disturbance, I shall\nthink it my duty as a clergyman and a magistrate to interfere.", "You go on doing\nyour duty, as parish clerk and sexton, as well as you've always done\nit, and making those capital thick boots for your neighbours, and things\nwon't go far wrong in Hayslope, depend upon it.\"", "said Mr. Irwine.", "If I chose to\ninterfere in this business, now, I might get up as pretty a story of\nhatred and persecution as the Methodists need desire to publish in\nthe next number of their magazine.", "\"I mean to bring out my best brocade, that I wore at your christening\ntwenty years ago,\" said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"Don't you remember how it was with Juno's last pups?", "Nature never makes a ferret in the shape of a mastiff.", "But whatever you may think of Mr. Irwine now, if you had met him that\nJune afternoon riding on his grey cob, with his dogs running beside\nhim--portly, upright, manly, with a good-natured smile on his finely\nturned lips as he talked to his dashing young companion on the bay mare,\nyou must have felt that, however ill he harmonized with sound theories\nof the clerical office, he somehow harmonized extremely well with that\npeaceful landscape." ]

[ "says this magnificent old lady,\nas she deposits her queen very quietly and folds her arms.", "But what's the matter?\"", "Whoever remembers how many things he has declined to do even for\nhimself, rather than have the trouble of putting on or taking off his\nboots, will not think this last detail insignificant.", "And Mr. Irwine's sisters, as any person of family within ten miles of\nBroxton could have testified, were such stupid, uninteresting women!", "On the other hand, I must plead, for I have an affectionate partiality\ntowards the rector's memory, that he was not vindictive--and some\nphilanthropists have been so; that he was not intolerant--and there is a\nrumour that some zealous theologians have not been altogether free from\nthat blemish; that although he would probably have declined to give his\nbody to be burned in any public cause, and was far from bestowing all\nhis goods to feed the poor, he had that charity which has sometimes\nbeen lacking to very illustrious virtue--he was tender to other men's\nfailings, and unwilling to impute evil.", "\"Preaching on the Green!\"", "The small brown hand\nwith which she is lifting her queen is laden with pearls, diamonds, and\nturquoises; and a large black veil is very carefully adjusted over the\ncrown of her cap, and falls in sharp contrast on the white folds\nabout her neck.", "But people who have pleasant homes get indoor enjoyments that they would\nnever think of but for the rain.", "Nature never makes a ferret in the shape of a mastiff.", "\"When I was\na little fellow, and Adam was a strapping lad of fifteen, and taught me\ncarpentering, I used to think if ever I was a rich sultan, I would make\nAdam my grand-vizier." ]

[ "\"Belike, sir, you havena heared as Thias Bede's dead--drownded this\nmorning, or more like overnight, i' the Willow Brook, again' the bridge\nright i' front o' the house.\"", "\"Ah!\"", "exclaimed both the gentlemen at once, as if they were a good deal\ninterested in the information.", "\"An' Seth Bede's been to me this morning to say he wished me to tell\nYour Reverence as his brother Adam begged of you particular t' allow his\nfather's grave to be dug by the White Thorn, because his mother's set\nher heart on it, on account of a dream as she had; an' they'd ha'\ncome theirselves to ask you, but they've so much to see after with the\ncrowner, an' that; an' their mother's took on so, an' wants 'em to make\nsure o' the spot for fear somebody else should take it.", "An' if Your\nReverence sees well and good, I'll send my boy to tell 'em as soon as I\nget home; an' that's why I make bold to trouble you wi' it, His Honour\nbeing present.\"", "\"To be sure, Joshua, to be sure, they shall have it.", "I'll ride round to\nAdam myself, and see him.", "Send your boy, however, to say they shall\nhave the grave, lest anything should happen to detain me.", "And now, good\nmorning, Joshua; go into the kitchen and have some ale.\"", "\"Poor old Thias!\"", "said Mr. Irwine, when Joshua was gone." ]

[ "\n\nBEFORE twelve o'clock there had been some heavy storms of rain, and the\nwater lay in deep gutters on the sides of the gravel walks in the garden\nof Broxton Parsonage; the great Provence roses had been cruelly tossed\nby the wind and beaten by the rain, and all the delicate-stemmed border\nflowers had been dashed down and stained with the wet soil.", "A melancholy\nmorning--because it was nearly time hay-harvest should begin, and\ninstead of that the meadows were likely to be flooded.", "But people who have pleasant homes get indoor enjoyments that they would\nnever think of but for the rain.", "If it had not been a wet morning, Mr.\nIrwine would not have been in the dining-room playing at chess with his\nmother, and he loves both his mother and chess quite well enough to pass\nsome cloudy hours very easily by their help.", "Let me take you into that\ndining-room and show you the Rev.", "Adolphus Irwine, Rector of Broxton,\nVicar of Hayslope, and Vicar of Blythe, a pluralist at whom the severest\nChurch reformer would have found it difficult to look sour.", "We will\nenter very softly and stand still in the open doorway, without awaking\nthe glossy-brown setter who is stretched across the hearth, with her\ntwo puppies beside her; or the pug, who is dozing, with his black muzzle\naloft, like a sleepy president.", "The room is a large and lofty one, with an ample mullioned oriel window\nat one end; the walls, you see, are new, and not yet painted; but the\nfurniture, though originally of an expensive sort, is old and scanty,\nand there is no drapery about the window.", "The crimson cloth over the\nlarge dining-table is very threadbare, though it contrasts pleasantly\nenough with the dead hue of the plaster on the walls; but on this cloth\nthere is a massive silver waiter with a decanter of water on it, of the\nsame pattern as two larger ones that are propped up on the sideboard\nwith a coat of arms conspicuous in their centre.", "You suspect at once\nthat the inhabitants of this room have inherited more blood than wealth,\nand would not be surprised to find that Mr. Irwine had a finely cut\nnostril and upper lip; but at present we can only see that he has a\nbroad flat back and an abundance of powdered hair, all thrown backward\nand tied behind with a black ribbon--a bit of conservatism in costume\nwhich tells you that he is not a young man.", "His mental\npalate, indeed, was rather pagan, and found a savouriness in a quotation\nfrom Sophocles or Theocritus that was quite absent from any text in\nIsaiah or Amos.", "But if you feed your young setter on raw flesh, how\ncan you wonder at its retaining a relish for uncooked partridge in\nafter-life?", "And Mr. Irwine's recollections of young enthusiasm and\nambition were all associated with poetry and ethics that lay aloof from\nthe Bible.", "On the other hand, I must plead, for I have an affectionate partiality\ntowards the rector's memory, that he was not vindictive--and some\nphilanthropists have been so; that he was not intolerant--and there is a\nrumour that some zealous theologians have not been altogether free from\nthat blemish; that although he would probably have declined to give his\nbody to be burned in any public cause, and was far from bestowing all\nhis goods to feed the poor, he had that charity which has sometimes\nbeen lacking to very illustrious virtue--he was tender to other men's\nfailings, and unwilling to impute evil.", "He was one of those men,\nand they are not the commonest, of whom we can know the best only by\nfollowing them away from the marketplace, the platform, and the pulpit,\nentering with them into their own homes, hearing the voice with which\nthey speak to the young and aged about their own hearthstone, and\nwitnessing their thoughtful care for the everyday wants of everyday\ncompanions, who take all their kindness as a matter of course, and not\nas a subject for panegyric.", "Such men, happily, have lived in times when great abuses flourished, and\nhave sometimes even been the living representatives of the abuses.", "That is a thought which might comfort us a little under the opposite\nfact--that it is better sometimes NOT to follow great reformers of\nabuses beyond the threshold of their homes.", "But whatever you may think of Mr. Irwine now, if you had met him that\nJune afternoon riding on his grey cob, with his dogs running beside\nhim--portly, upright, manly, with a good-natured smile on his finely\nturned lips as he talked to his dashing young companion on the bay mare,\nyou must have felt that, however ill he harmonized with sound theories\nof the clerical office, he somehow harmonized extremely well with that\npeaceful landscape.", "See them in the bright sunlight, interrupted every now and then by\nrolling masses of cloud, ascending the slope from the Broxton side,\nwhere the tall gables and elms of the rectory predominate over the tiny\nwhitewashed church.", "They will soon be in the parish of Hayslope; the\ngrey church-tower and village roofs lie before them to the left, and\nfarther on, to the right, they can just see the chimneys of the Hall\nFarm." ]

[ "\n\nEVIDENTLY that gate is never opened, for the long grass and the great\nhemlocks grow close against it, and if it were opened, it is so rusty\nthat the force necessary to turn it on its hinges would be likely to\npull down the square stone-built pillars, to the detriment of the two\nstone lionesses which grin with a doubtful carnivorous affability above\na coat of arms surmounting each of the pillars.", "It would be easy enough,\nby the aid of the nicks in the stone pillars, to climb over the brick\nwall with its smooth stone coping; but by putting our eyes close to the\nrusty bars of the gate, we can see the house well enough, and all but\nthe very corners of the grassy enclosure.", "It is a very fine old place, of red brick, softened by a pale powdery\nlichen, which has dispersed itself with happy irregularity, so as\nto bring the red brick into terms of friendly companionship with the\nlimestone ornaments surrounding the three gables, the windows, and the\ndoor-place.", "But the windows are patched with wooden panes, and the door,\nI think, is like the gate--it is never opened.", "How it would groan and\ngrate against the stone floor if it were!", "For it is a solid, heavy,\nhandsome door, and must once have been in the habit of shutting with a\nsonorous bang behind a liveried lackey, who had just seen his master and\nmistress off the grounds in a carriage and pair.", "But at present one might fancy the house in the early stage of a\nchancery suit, and that the fruit from that grand double row of\nwalnut-trees on the right hand of the enclosure would fall and rot among\nthe grass, if it were not that we heard the booming bark of dogs echoing\nfrom great buildings at the back.", "And now the half-weaned calves that\nhave been sheltering themselves in a gorse-built hovel against the\nleft-hand wall come out and set up a silly answer to that terrible bark,\ndoubtless supposing that it has reference to buckets of milk.", "Yes, the house must be inhabited, and we will see by whom; for\nimagination is a licensed trespasser: it has no fear of dogs, but may\nclimb over walls and peep in at windows with impunity.", "Put your face\nto one of the glass panes in the right-hand window: what do you see?", "A\nlarge open fireplace, with rusty dogs in it, and a bare boarded floor;\nat the far end, fleeces of wool stacked up; in the middle of the floor,\nsome empty corn-bags.", "That is the furniture of the dining-room.", "And\nwhat through the left-hand window?", "Several clothes-horses, a pillion,\na spinning-wheel, and an old box wide open and stuffed full of coloured\nrags.", "At the edge of this box there lies a great wooden doll, which, so\nfar as mutilation is concerned, bears a strong resemblance to the finest\nGreek sculpture, and especially in the total loss of its nose.", "Near it\nthere is a little chair, and the butt end of a boy's leather long-lashed\nwhip.", "The history of the house is plain now.", "It was once the residence of\na country squire, whose family, probably dwindling down to mere\nspinsterhood, got merged in the more territorial name of Donnithorne.", "It\nwas once the Hall; it is now the Hall Farm.", "Like the life in some\ncoast town that was once a watering-place, and is now a port, where the\ngenteel streets are silent and grass-grown, and the docks and warehouses\nbusy and resonant, the life at the Hall has changed its focus, and no\nlonger radiates from the parlour, but from the kitchen and the farmyard.", "Plenty of life there, though this is the drowsiest time of the year,\njust before hay-harvest; and it is the drowsiest time of the day too,\nfor it is close upon three by the sun, and it is half-past three by Mrs.\nPoyser's handsome eight-day clock.", "But there is always a stronger sense\nof life when the sun is brilliant after rain; and now he is pouring\ndown his beams, and making sparkles among the wet straw, and lighting\nup every patch of vivid green moss on the red tiles of the cow-shed, and\nturning even the muddy water that is hurrying along the channel to the\ndrain into a mirror for the yellow-billed ducks, who are seizing the\nopportunity of getting a drink with as much body in it as possible.", "There is quite a concert of noises; the great bull-dog, chained against\nthe stables, is thrown into furious exasperation by the unwary approach\nof a cock too near the mouth of his kennel, and sends forth a thundering\nbark, which is answered by two fox-hounds shut up in the opposite\ncow-house; the old top-knotted hens, scratching with their chicks among\nthe straw, set up a sympathetic croaking as the discomfited cock joins\nthem; a sow with her brood, all very muddy as to the legs, and curled as\nto the tail, throws in some deep staccato notes; our friends the calves\nare bleating from the home croft; and, under all, a fine ear discerns\nthe continuous hum of human voices.", "For the great barn-doors are thrown wide open, and men are busy\nthere mending the harness, under the superintendence of Mr. Goby,\nthe \"whittaw,\" otherwise saddler, who entertains them with the latest\nTreddleston gossip.", "It is certainly rather an unfortunate day that\nAlick, the shepherd, has chosen for having the whittaws, since the\nmorning turned out so wet; and Mrs. Poyser has spoken her mind pretty\nstrongly as to the dirt which the extra number of men's shoes brought\ninto the house at dinnertime.", "Indeed, she has not yet recovered her\nequanimity on the subject, though it is now nearly three hours since\ndinner, and the house-floor is perfectly clean again; as clean as\neverything else in that wonderful house-place, where the only chance of\ncollecting a few grains of dust would be to climb on the salt-coffer,\nand put your finger on the high mantel-shelf on which the glittering\nbrass candlesticks are enjoying their summer sinecure; for at this time\nof year, of course, every one goes to bed while it is yet light, or\nat least light enough to discern the outline of objects after you\nhave bruised your shins against them.", "Surely nowhere else could an\noak clock-case and an oak table have got to such a polish by the hand:\ngenuine \"elbow polish,\" as Mrs. Poyser called it, for she thanked God\nshe never had any of your varnished rubbish in her house.", "Hetty Sorrel\noften took the opportunity, when her aunt's back was turned, of looking\nat the pleasing reflection of herself in those polished surfaces, for\nthe oak table was usually turned up like a screen, and was more for\nornament than for use; and she could see herself sometimes in the great\nround pewter dishes that were ranged on the shelves above the long\ndeal dinner-table, or in the hobs of the grate, which always shone like\njasper.", "Everything was looking at its brightest at this moment, for the sun\nshone right on the pewter dishes, and from their reflecting surfaces\npleasant jets of light were thrown on mellow oak and bright brass--and\non a still pleasanter object than these, for some of the rays fell on\nDinah's finely moulded cheek, and lit up her pale red hair to auburn,\nas she bent over the heavy household linen which she was mending for her\naunt.", "No scene could have been more peaceful, if Mrs. Poyser, who was\nironing a few things that still remained from the Monday's wash, had\nnot been making a frequent clinking with her iron and moving to and\nfro whenever she wanted it to cool; carrying the keen glance of her\nblue-grey eye from the kitchen to the dairy, where Hetty was making\nup the butter, and from the dairy to the back kitchen, where Nancy was\ntaking the pies out of the oven.", "Do not suppose, however, that Mrs.\nPoyser was elderly or shrewish in her appearance; she was a good-looking\nwoman, not more than eight-and-thirty, of fair complexion and sandy\nhair, well-shapen, light-footed.", "The most conspicuous article in her\nattire was an ample checkered linen apron, which almost covered her\nskirt; and nothing could be plainer or less noticeable than her cap\nand gown, for there was no weakness of which she was less tolerant than\nfeminine vanity, and the preference of ornament to utility.", "The family\nlikeness between her and her niece Dinah Morris, with the contrast\nbetween her keenness and Dinah's seraphic gentleness of expression,\nmight have served a painter as an excellent suggestion for a Martha and\nMary.", "Their eyes were just of the same colour, but a striking test of\nthe difference in their operation was seen in the demeanour of Trip, the\nblack-and-tan terrier, whenever that much-suspected dog unwarily exposed\nhimself to the freezing arctic ray of Mrs. Poyser's glance.", "Her tongue\nwas not less keen than her eye, and, whenever a damsel came within\nearshot, seemed to take up an unfinished lecture, as a barrel-organ\ntakes up a tune, precisely at the point where it had left off.", "The fact that it was churning day was another reason why it was\ninconvenient to have the whittaws, and why, consequently, Mrs.\nPoyser should scold Molly the housemaid with unusual severity.", "To all\nappearance Molly had got through her after-dinner work in an exemplary\nmanner, had \"cleaned herself\" with great dispatch, and now came to ask,\nsubmissively, if she should sit down to her spinning till milking time.", "But this blameless conduct, according to Mrs. Poyser, shrouded a secret\nindulgence of unbecoming wishes, which she now dragged forth and held up\nto Molly's view with cutting eloquence.", "\"Spinning, indeed!", "It isn't spinning as you'd be at, I'll be bound, and\nlet you have your own way.", "I never knew your equals for gallowsness.", "To\nthink of a gell o' your age wanting to go and sit with half-a-dozen men!", "I'd ha' been ashamed to let the words pass over my lips if I'd been you.", "And you, as have been here ever since last Michaelmas, and I hired you\nat Treddles'on stattits, without a bit o' character--as I say, you might\nbe grateful to be hired in that way to a respectable place; and you knew\nno more o' what belongs to work when you come here than the mawkin i'\nthe field.", "As poor a two-fisted thing as ever I saw, you know you was.", "Who taught you to scrub a floor, I should like to know?", "Why, you'd leave\nthe dirt in heaps i' the corners--anybody 'ud think you'd never been\nbrought up among Christians.", "And as for spinning, why, you've wasted\nas much as your wage i' the flax you've spoiled learning to spin.", "And you've a right to feel that, and not to go about as gaping and as\nthoughtless as if you was beholding to nobody.", "Comb the wool for the\nwhittaws, indeed!", "That's what you'd like to be doing, is it?", "That's the\nway with you--that's the road you'd all like to go, headlongs to ruin.", "You're never easy till you've got some sweetheart as is as big a fool as\nyourself: you think you'll be finely off when you're married, I daresay,\nand have got a three-legged stool to sit on, and never a blanket to\ncover you, and a bit o' oat-cake for your dinner, as three children are\na-snatching at.\"", "\"I'm sure I donna want t' go wi' the whittaws,\" said Molly, whimpering,\nand quite overcome by this Dantean picture of her future, \"on'y we\nallays used to comb the wool for 'n at Mester Ottley's; an' so I just\naxed ye.", "I donna want to set eyes on the whittaws again; I wish I may\nnever stir if I do.\"", "\"Mr. Ottley's, indeed!", "It's fine talking o' what you did at Mr.\nOttley's.", "Your missis there might like her floors dirted wi' whittaws\nfor what I know.", "There's no knowing what people WONNA like--such ways as\nI've heard of!", "I never had a gell come into my house as seemed to know\nwhat cleaning was; I think people live like pigs, for my part.", "And as to\nthat Betty as was dairymaid at Trent's before she come to me, she'd ha'\nleft the cheeses without turning from week's end to week's end, and the\ndairy thralls, I might ha' wrote my name on 'em, when I come downstairs\nafter my illness, as the doctor said it was inflammation--it was a mercy\nI got well of it.", "And to think o' your knowing no better, Molly, and\nbeen here a-going i' nine months, and not for want o' talking to,\nneither--and what are you stanning there for, like a jack as is run\ndown, instead o' getting your wheel out?", "You're a rare un for sitting\ndown to your work a little while after it's time to put by.\"", "\"Munny, my iron's twite told; pease put it down to warm.\"", "The small chirruping voice that uttered this request came from a little\nsunny-haired girl between three and four, who, seated on a high chair\nat the end of the ironing table, was arduously clutching the handle of\na miniature iron with her tiny fat fist, and ironing rags with an\nassiduity that required her to put her little red tongue out as far as\nanatomy would allow.", "\"Cold, is it, my darling?", "Bless your sweet face!\"", "said Mrs. Poyser, who\nwas remarkable for the facility with which she could relapse from her\nofficial objurgatory to one of fondness or of friendly converse.", "\"Never\nmind!", "Mother's done her ironing now.", "She's going to put the ironing\nthings away.\"", "\"Munny, I tould 'ike to do into de barn to Tommy, to see de whittawd.\"", "\"No, no, no; Totty 'ud get her feet wet,\" said Mrs. Poyser, carrying\naway her iron.", "\"Run into the dairy and see cousin Hetty make the\nbutter.\"", "\"I tould 'ike a bit o' pum-take,\" rejoined Totty, who seemed to be\nprovided with several relays of requests; at the same time, taking the\nopportunity of her momentary leisure to put her fingers into a bowl\nof starch, and drag it down so as to empty the contents with tolerable\ncompleteness on to the ironing sheet.", "\"Did ever anybody see the like?\"", "screamed Mrs. Poyser, running towards\nthe table when her eye had fallen on the blue stream.", "\"The child's\nallays i' mischief if your back's turned a minute.", "What shall I do to\nyou, you naughty, naughty gell?\"", "Totty, however, had descended from her chair with great swiftness, and\nwas already in retreat towards the dairy with a sort of waddling run,\nand an amount of fat on the nape of her neck which made her look like\nthe metamorphosis of a white suckling pig.", "The starch having been wiped up by Molly's help, and the ironing\napparatus put by, Mrs. Poyser took up her knitting which always lay\nready at hand, and was the work she liked best, because she could carry\nit on automatically as she walked to and fro.", "But now she came and sat\ndown opposite Dinah, whom she looked at in a meditative way, as she\nknitted her grey worsted stocking.", "\"You look th' image o' your Aunt Judith, Dinah, when you sit a-sewing.", "I\ncould almost fancy it was thirty years back, and I was a little gell\nat home, looking at Judith as she sat at her work, after she'd done\nthe house up; only it was a little cottage, Father's was, and not a big\nrambling house as gets dirty i' one corner as fast as you clean it in\nanother--but for all that, I could fancy you was your Aunt Judith, only\nher hair was a deal darker than yours, and she was stouter and broader\ni' the shoulders.", "Judith and me allays hung together, though she had\nsuch queer ways, but your mother and her never could agree.", "Ah, your\nmother little thought as she'd have a daughter just cut out after the\nvery pattern o' Judith, and leave her an orphan, too, for Judith to\ntake care on, and bring up with a spoon when SHE was in the graveyard at\nStoniton.", "I allays said that o' Judith, as she'd bear a pound weight\nany day to save anybody else carrying a ounce.", "And she was just the same\nfrom the first o' my remembering her; it made no difference in her, as\nI could see, when she took to the Methodists, only she talked a bit\ndifferent and wore a different sort o' cap; but she'd never in her life\nspent a penny on herself more than keeping herself decent.\"", "\"She was a blessed woman,\" said Dinah; \"God had given her a loving,\nself-forgetting nature, and He perfected it by grace.", "And she was very\nfond of you too, Aunt Rachel.", "I often heard her talk of you in the same\nsort of way.", "When she had that bad illness, and I was only eleven\nyears old, she used to say, 'You'll have a friend on earth in your Aunt\nRachel, if I'm taken from you, for she has a kind heart,' and I'm sure\nI've found it so.\"", "\"I don't know how, child; anybody 'ud be cunning to do anything for you,\nI think; you're like the birds o' th' air, and live nobody knows how.", "I'd ha' been glad to behave to you like a mother's sister, if you'd come\nand live i' this country where there's some shelter and victual for\nman and beast, and folks don't live on the naked hills, like poultry\na-scratching on a gravel bank.", "And then you might get married to some\ndecent man, and there'd be plenty ready to have you, if you'd only leave\noff that preaching, as is ten times worse than anything your Aunt Judith\never did.", "And even if you'd marry Seth Bede, as is a poor wool-gathering\nMethodist and's never like to have a penny beforehand, I know your\nuncle 'ud help you with a pig, and very like a cow, for he's allays been\ngood-natur'd to my kin, for all they're poor, and made 'em welcome to\nthe house; and 'ud do for you, I'll be bound, as much as ever he'd do\nfor Hetty, though she's his own niece.", "And there's linen in the house\nas I could well spare you, for I've got lots o' sheeting and\ntable-clothing, and towelling, as isn't made up.", "There's a piece o'\nsheeting I could give you as that squinting Kitty spun--she was a rare\ngirl to spin, for all she squinted, and the children couldn't abide her;\nand, you know, the spinning's going on constant, and there's new linen\nwove twice as fast as the old wears out.", "But where's the use o' talking,\nif ye wonna be persuaded, and settle down like any other woman in her\nsenses, i'stead o' wearing yourself out with walking and preaching,\nand giving away every penny you get, so as you've nothing saved against\nsickness; and all the things you've got i' the world, I verily believe,\n'ud go into a bundle no bigger nor a double cheese.", "And all because\nyou've got notions i' your head about religion more nor what's i' the\nCatechism and the Prayer-book.\"", "\"But not more than what's in the Bible, Aunt,\" said Dinah.", "\"Yes, and the Bible too, for that matter,\" Mrs. Poyser rejoined, rather\nsharply; \"else why shouldn't them as know best what's in the Bible--the\nparsons and people as have got nothing to do but learn it--do the same\nas you do?", "But, for the matter o' that, if everybody was to do like\nyou, the world must come to a standstill; for if everybody tried to\ndo without house and home, and with poor eating and drinking, and was\nallays talking as we must despise the things o' the world as you say, I\nshould like to know where the pick o' the stock, and the corn, and the\nbest new-milk cheeses 'ud have to go.", "Everybody 'ud be wanting bread\nmade o' tail ends and everybody 'ud be running after everybody else\nto preach to 'em, istead o' bringing up their families, and laying by\nagainst a bad harvest.", "It stands to sense as that can't be the right\nreligion.\"", "\"Nay, dear aunt, you never heard me say that all people are called to\nforsake their work and their families.", "It's quite right the land should\nbe ploughed and sowed, and the precious corn stored, and the things\nof this life cared for, and right that people should rejoice in their\nfamilies, and provide for them, so that this is done in the fear of the\nLord, and that they are not unmindful of the soul's wants while they are\ncaring for the body.", "We can all be servants of God wherever our lot is\ncast, but He gives us different sorts of work, according as He fits us\nfor it and calls us to it.", "I can no more help spending my life in trying\nto do what I can for the souls of others, than you could help running if\nyou heard little Totty crying at the other end of the house; the voice\nwould go to your heart, you would think the dear child was in trouble or\nin danger, and you couldn't rest without running to help her and comfort\nher.\"", "\"Ah,\" said Mrs. Poyser, rising and walking towards the door, \"I know it\n'ud be just the same if I was to talk to you for hours.", "You'd make me\nthe same answer, at th' end.", "I might as well talk to the running brook\nand tell it to stan' still.\"", "The causeway outside the kitchen door was dry enough now for Mrs. Poyser\nto stand there quite pleasantly and see what was going on in the yard,\nthe grey worsted stocking making a steady progress in her hands all the\nwhile.", "But she had not been standing there more than five minutes before\nshe came in again, and said to Dinah, in rather a flurried, awe-stricken\ntone, \"If there isn't Captain Donnithorne and Mr. Irwine a-coming into\nthe yard!", "I'll lay my life they're come to speak about your preaching\non the Green, Dinah; it's you must answer 'em, for I'm dumb.", "I've said\nenough a'ready about your bringing such disgrace upo' your uncle's\nfamily.", "I wouldn't ha' minded if you'd been Mr. Poyser's own\nniece--folks must put up wi' their own kin, as they put up wi' their own\nnoses--it's their own flesh and blood.", "But to think of a niece o' mine\nbeing cause o' my husband's being turned out of his farm, and me brought\nhim no fortin but my savin's----\"\n\n\"Nay, dear Aunt Rachel,\" said Dinah gently, \"you've no cause for such\nfears.", "I've strong assurance that no evil will happen to you and my\nuncle and the children from anything I've done.", "I didn't preach without\ndirection.\"", "\"Direction!", "I know very well what you mean by direction,\" said Mrs.\nPoyser, knitting in a rapid and agitated manner.", "\"When there's a bigger\nmaggot than usual in your head you call it 'direction'; and then nothing\ncan stir you--you look like the statty o' the outside o' Treddles'on\nchurch, a-starin' and a-smilin' whether it's fair weather or foul.", "I\nhanna common patience with you.\"", "By this time the two gentlemen had reached the palings and had got\ndown from their horses: it was plain they meant to come in.", "Mrs. Poyser\nadvanced to the door to meet them, curtsying low and trembling between\nanger with Dinah and anxiety to conduct herself with perfect propriety\non the occasion.", "For in those days the keenest of bucolic minds felt a\nwhispering awe at the sight of the gentry, such as of old men felt when\nthey stood on tiptoe to watch the gods passing by in tall human shape.", "\"Well, Mrs. Poyser, how are you after this stormy morning?\"", "said Mr.\nIrwine, with his stately cordiality.", "\"Our feet are quite dry; we shall\nnot soil your beautiful floor.\"", "\"Oh, sir, don't mention it,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Will you and the captain\nplease to walk into the parlour?\"", "\"No, indeed, thank you, Mrs. Poyser,\" said the captain, looking eagerly\nround the kitchen, as if his eye were seeking something it could not\nfind.", "\"I delight in your kitchen.", "I think it is the most charming room\nI know.", "I should like every farmer's wife to come and look at it for a\npattern.\"", "\"Oh, you're pleased to say so, sir.", "Pray take a seat,\" said Mrs.\nPoyser, relieved a little by this compliment and the captain's evident\ngood-humour, but still glancing anxiously at Mr. Irwine, who, she saw,\nwas looking at Dinah and advancing towards her.", "\"Poyser is not at home, is he?\"", "said Captain Donnithorne, seating\nhimself where he could see along the short passage to the open\ndairy-door.", "\"No, sir, he isn't; he's gone to Rosseter to see Mr. West, the factor,\nabout the wool.", "But there's Father i' the barn, sir, if he'd be of any\nuse.\"", "\"No, thank you; I'll just look at the whelps and leave a message about\nthem with your shepherd.", "I must come another day and see your husband; I\nwant to have a consultation with him about horses.", "Do you know when he's\nlikely to be at liberty?\"", "\"Why, sir, you can hardly miss him, except it's o' Treddles'on\nmarket-day--that's of a Friday, you know.", "For if he's anywhere on the\nfarm we can send for him in a minute.", "If we'd got rid o' the Scantlands,\nwe should have no outlying fields; and I should be glad of it, for if\never anything happens, he's sure to be gone to the Scantlands.", "Things\nallays happen so contrairy, if they've a chance; and it's an unnat'ral\nthing to have one bit o' your farm in one county and all the rest in\nanother.\"", "\"Ah, the Scantlands would go much better with Choyce's farm, especially\nas he wants dairyland and you've got plenty.", "I think yours is the\nprettiest farm on the estate, though; and do you know, Mrs. Poyser, if I\nwere going to marry and settle, I should be tempted to turn you out, and\ndo up this fine old house, and turn farmer myself.\"", "\"Oh, sir,\" said Mrs. Poyser, rather alarmed, \"you wouldn't like it at\nall.", "As for farming, it's putting money into your pocket wi' your\nright hand and fetching it out wi' your left.", "As fur as I can see, it's\nraising victual for other folks and just getting a mouthful for yourself\nand your children as you go along.", "Not as you'd be like a poor man as\nwants to get his bread--you could afford to lose as much money as you\nliked i' farming--but it's poor fun losing money, I should think, though\nI understan' it's what the great folks i' London play at more than\nanything.", "For my husband heard at market as Lord Dacey's eldest son had\nlost thousands upo' thousands to the Prince o' Wales, and they said\nmy lady was going to pawn her jewels to pay for him.", "But you know more\nabout that than I do, sir.", "But, as for farming, sir, I canna think as\nyou'd like it; and this house--the draughts in it are enough to cut you\nthrough, and it's my opinion the floors upstairs are very rotten, and\nthe rats i' the cellar are beyond anything.\"", "\"Why, that's a terrible picture, Mrs. Poyser.", "I think I should be doing\nyou a service to turn you out of such a place.", "But there's no chance\nof that.", "I'm not likely to settle for the next twenty years, till I'm a\nstout gentleman of forty; and my grandfather would never consent to part\nwith such good tenants as you.\"", "\"Well, sir, if he thinks so well o' Mr. Poyser for a tenant I wish you\ncould put in a word for him to allow us some new gates for the Five\ncloses, for my husband's been asking and asking till he's tired, and to\nthink o' what he's done for the farm, and's never had a penny allowed\nhim, be the times bad or good.", "And as I've said to my husband often and\noften, I'm sure if the captain had anything to do with it, it wouldn't\nbe so.", "Not as I wish to speak disrespectful o' them as have got the\npower i' their hands, but it's more than flesh and blood 'ull bear\nsometimes, to be toiling and striving, and up early and down late, and\nhardly sleeping a wink when you lie down for thinking as the cheese\nmay swell, or the cows may slip their calf, or the wheat may grow green\nagain i' the sheaf--and after all, at th' end o' the year, it's like\nas if you'd been cooking a feast and had got the smell of it for your\npains.\"", "Mrs. Poyser, once launched into conversation, always sailed along\nwithout any check from her preliminary awe of the gentry.", "The confidence\nshe felt in her own powers of exposition was a motive force that\novercame all resistance.", "\"I'm afraid I should only do harm instead of good, if I were to speak\nabout the gates, Mrs. Poyser,\" said the captain, \"though I assure you\nthere's no man on the estate I would sooner say a word for than your\nhusband.", "I know his farm is in better order than any other within\nten miles of us; and as for the kitchen,\" he added, smiling, \"I don't\nbelieve there's one in the kingdom to beat it.", "By the by, I've never\nseen your dairy: I must see your dairy, Mrs.", "Poyser.\"", "\"Indeed, sir, it's not fit for you to go in, for Hetty's in the middle\no' making the butter, for the churning was thrown late, and I'm quite\nashamed.\"", "This Mrs. Poyser said blushing, and believing that the captain\nwas really interested in her milk-pans, and would adjust his opinion of\nher to the appearance of her dairy.", "\"Oh, I've no doubt it's in capital order.", "Take me in,\" said the captain,\nhimself leading the way, while Mrs. Poyser followed." ]

[ "It is certainly rather an unfortunate day that\nAlick, the shepherd, has chosen for having the whittaws, since the\nmorning turned out so wet; and Mrs. Poyser has spoken her mind pretty\nstrongly as to the dirt which the extra number of men's shoes brought\ninto the house at dinnertime.", "Everything was looking at its brightest at this moment, for the sun\nshone right on the pewter dishes, and from their reflecting surfaces\npleasant jets of light were thrown on mellow oak and bright brass--and\non a still pleasanter object than these, for some of the rays fell on\nDinah's finely moulded cheek, and lit up her pale red hair to auburn,\nas she bent over the heavy household linen which she was mending for her\naunt.", "It isn't spinning as you'd be at, I'll be bound, and\nlet you have your own way.", "\"No, no, no; Totty 'ud get her feet wet,\" said Mrs. Poyser, carrying\naway her iron.", "\"You look th' image o' your Aunt Judith, Dinah, when you sit a-sewing.", "It stands to sense as that can't be the right\nreligion.\"", "\"I delight in your kitchen.", "But there's Father i' the barn, sir, if he'd be of any\nuse.\"", "But you know more\nabout that than I do, sir.", "Not as I wish to speak disrespectful o' them as have got the\npower i' their hands, but it's more than flesh and blood 'ull bear\nsometimes, to be toiling and striving, and up early and down late, and\nhardly sleeping a wink when you lie down for thinking as the cheese\nmay swell, or the cows may slip their calf, or the wheat may grow green\nagain i' the sheaf--and after all, at th' end o' the year, it's like\nas if you'd been cooking a feast and had got the smell of it for your\npains.\"" ]

[ "If we'd got rid o' the Scantlands,\nwe should have no outlying fields; and I should be glad of it, for if\never anything happens, he's sure to be gone to the Scantlands.", "To\nthink of a gell o' your age wanting to go and sit with half-a-dozen men!", "I\nhanna common patience with you.\"", "It is certainly rather an unfortunate day that\nAlick, the shepherd, has chosen for having the whittaws, since the\nmorning turned out so wet; and Mrs. Poyser has spoken her mind pretty\nstrongly as to the dirt which the extra number of men's shoes brought\ninto the house at dinnertime.", "There's a piece o'\nsheeting I could give you as that squinting Kitty spun--she was a rare\ngirl to spin, for all she squinted, and the children couldn't abide her;\nand, you know, the spinning's going on constant, and there's new linen\nwove twice as fast as the old wears out.", "I've strong assurance that no evil will happen to you and my\nuncle and the children from anything I've done.", "It isn't spinning as you'd be at, I'll be bound, and\nlet you have your own way.", "For my husband heard at market as Lord Dacey's eldest son had\nlost thousands upo' thousands to the Prince o' Wales, and they said\nmy lady was going to pawn her jewels to pay for him.", "We can all be servants of God wherever our lot is\ncast, but He gives us different sorts of work, according as He fits us\nfor it and calls us to it.", "Do not suppose, however, that Mrs.\nPoyser was elderly or shrewish in her appearance; she was a good-looking\nwoman, not more than eight-and-thirty, of fair complexion and sandy\nhair, well-shapen, light-footed." ]

[ "\"You look th' image o' your Aunt Judith, Dinah, when you sit a-sewing.", "I\ncould almost fancy it was thirty years back, and I was a little gell\nat home, looking at Judith as she sat at her work, after she'd done\nthe house up; only it was a little cottage, Father's was, and not a big\nrambling house as gets dirty i' one corner as fast as you clean it in\nanother--but for all that, I could fancy you was your Aunt Judith, only\nher hair was a deal darker than yours, and she was stouter and broader\ni' the shoulders.", "Judith and me allays hung together, though she had\nsuch queer ways, but your mother and her never could agree.", "Ah, your\nmother little thought as she'd have a daughter just cut out after the\nvery pattern o' Judith, and leave her an orphan, too, for Judith to\ntake care on, and bring up with a spoon when SHE was in the graveyard at\nStoniton.", "I allays said that o' Judith, as she'd bear a pound weight\nany day to save anybody else carrying a ounce.", "And she was just the same\nfrom the first o' my remembering her; it made no difference in her, as\nI could see, when she took to the Methodists, only she talked a bit\ndifferent and wore a different sort o' cap; but she'd never in her life\nspent a penny on herself more than keeping herself decent.\"", "\"She was a blessed woman,\" said Dinah; \"God had given her a loving,\nself-forgetting nature, and He perfected it by grace.", "And she was very\nfond of you too, Aunt Rachel.", "I often heard her talk of you in the same\nsort of way.", "When she had that bad illness, and I was only eleven\nyears old, she used to say, 'You'll have a friend on earth in your Aunt\nRachel, if I'm taken from you, for she has a kind heart,' and I'm sure\nI've found it so.\"", "\"I don't know how, child; anybody 'ud be cunning to do anything for you,\nI think; you're like the birds o' th' air, and live nobody knows how." ]

[ "\n\nEVIDENTLY that gate is never opened, for the long grass and the great\nhemlocks grow close against it, and if it were opened, it is so rusty\nthat the force necessary to turn it on its hinges would be likely to\npull down the square stone-built pillars, to the detriment of the two\nstone lionesses which grin with a doubtful carnivorous affability above\na coat of arms surmounting each of the pillars.", "It would be easy enough,\nby the aid of the nicks in the stone pillars, to climb over the brick\nwall with its smooth stone coping; but by putting our eyes close to the\nrusty bars of the gate, we can see the house well enough, and all but\nthe very corners of the grassy enclosure.", "It is a very fine old place, of red brick, softened by a pale powdery\nlichen, which has dispersed itself with happy irregularity, so as\nto bring the red brick into terms of friendly companionship with the\nlimestone ornaments surrounding the three gables, the windows, and the\ndoor-place.", "But the windows are patched with wooden panes, and the door,\nI think, is like the gate--it is never opened.", "How it would groan and\ngrate against the stone floor if it were!", "For it is a solid, heavy,\nhandsome door, and must once have been in the habit of shutting with a\nsonorous bang behind a liveried lackey, who had just seen his master and\nmistress off the grounds in a carriage and pair.", "But at present one might fancy the house in the early stage of a\nchancery suit, and that the fruit from that grand double row of\nwalnut-trees on the right hand of the enclosure would fall and rot among\nthe grass, if it were not that we heard the booming bark of dogs echoing\nfrom great buildings at the back.", "And now the half-weaned calves that\nhave been sheltering themselves in a gorse-built hovel against the\nleft-hand wall come out and set up a silly answer to that terrible bark,\ndoubtless supposing that it has reference to buckets of milk.", "Yes, the house must be inhabited, and we will see by whom; for\nimagination is a licensed trespasser: it has no fear of dogs, but may\nclimb over walls and peep in at windows with impunity.", "Put your face\nto one of the glass panes in the right-hand window: what do you see?", "Mrs. Poyser, once launched into conversation, always sailed along\nwithout any check from her preliminary awe of the gentry.", "The confidence\nshe felt in her own powers of exposition was a motive force that\novercame all resistance.", "\"I'm afraid I should only do harm instead of good, if I were to speak\nabout the gates, Mrs. Poyser,\" said the captain, \"though I assure you\nthere's no man on the estate I would sooner say a word for than your\nhusband.", "I know his farm is in better order than any other within\nten miles of us; and as for the kitchen,\" he added, smiling, \"I don't\nbelieve there's one in the kingdom to beat it.", "By the by, I've never\nseen your dairy: I must see your dairy, Mrs.", "Poyser.\"", "\"Indeed, sir, it's not fit for you to go in, for Hetty's in the middle\no' making the butter, for the churning was thrown late, and I'm quite\nashamed.\"", "This Mrs. Poyser said blushing, and believing that the captain\nwas really interested in her milk-pans, and would adjust his opinion of\nher to the appearance of her dairy.", "\"Oh, I've no doubt it's in capital order.", "Take me in,\" said the captain,\nhimself leading the way, while Mrs. Poyser followed." ]

[ "\n\nTHE dairy was certainly worth looking at: it was a scene to sicken for\nwith a sort of calenture in hot and dusty streets--such coolness, such\npurity, such fresh fragrance of new-pressed cheese, of firm butter, of\nwooden vessels perpetually bathed in pure water; such soft colouring of\nred earthenware and creamy surfaces, brown wood and polished tin, grey\nlimestone and rich orange-red rust on the iron weights and hooks and\nhinges.", "But one gets only a confused notion of these details when they\nsurround a distractingly pretty girl of seventeen, standing on little\npattens and rounding her dimpled arm to lift a pound of butter out of\nthe scale.", "Hetty blushed a deep rose-colour when Captain Donnithorne entered the\ndairy and spoke to her; but it was not at all a distressed blush, for\nit was inwreathed with smiles and dimples, and with sparkles from under\nlong, curled, dark eyelashes; and while her aunt was discoursing to him\nabout the limited amount of milk that was to be spared for butter and\ncheese so long as the calves were not all weaned, and a large quantity\nbut inferior quality of milk yielded by the shorthorn, which had\nbeen bought on experiment, together with other matters which must be\ninteresting to a young gentleman who would one day be a landlord, Hetty\ntossed and patted her pound of butter with quite a self-possessed,\ncoquettish air, slyly conscious that no turn of her head was lost.", "There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of\nthemselves in various styles, from the desperate to the sheepish; but\nthere is one order of beauty which seems made to turn the heads not only\nof men, but of all intelligent mammals, even of women.", "It is a beauty\nlike that of kittens, or very small downy ducks making gentle rippling\nnoises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle and\nto engage in conscious mischief--a beauty with which you can never be\nangry, but that you feel ready to crush for inability to comprehend the\nstate of mind into which it throws you.", "Hetty Sorrel's was that sort\nof beauty.", "Her aunt, Mrs. Poyser, who professed to despise all personal\nattractions and intended to be the severest of mentors, continually\ngazed at Hetty's charms by the sly, fascinated in spite of herself; and\nafter administering such a scolding as naturally flowed from her anxiety\nto do well by her husband's niece--who had no mother of her own to scold\nher, poor thing!--she would often confess to her husband, when they were\nsafe out of hearing, that she firmly believed, \"the naughtier the little\nhuzzy behaved, the prettier she looked.\"", "It is of little use for me to tell you that Hetty's cheek was like a\nrose-petal, that dimples played about her pouting lips, that her large\ndark eyes hid a soft roguishness under their long lashes, and that her\ncurly hair, though all pushed back under her round cap while she was at\nwork, stole back in dark delicate rings on her forehead, and about her\nwhite shell-like ears; it is of little use for me to say how lovely\nwas the contour of her pink-and-white neckerchief, tucked into her low\nplum-coloured stuff bodice, or how the linen butter-making apron, with\nits bib, seemed a thing to be imitated in silk by duchesses, since it\nfell in such charming lines, or how her brown stockings and thick-soled\nbuckled shoes lost all that clumsiness which they must certainly have\nhad when empty of her foot and ankle--of little use, unless you have\nseen a woman who affected you as Hetty affected her beholders, for\notherwise, though you might conjure up the image of a lovely woman, she\nwould not in the least resemble that distracting kittenlike maiden.", "I\nmight mention all the divine charms of a bright spring day, but if you\nhad never in your life utterly forgotten yourself in straining your eyes\nafter the mounting lark, or in wandering through the still lanes when\nthe fresh-opened blossoms fill them with a sacred silent beauty like\nthat of fretted aisles, where would be the use of my descriptive\ncatalogue?", "I could never make you know what I meant by a bright spring\nday.", "Hetty's was a spring-tide beauty; it was the beauty of young\nfrisking things, round-limbed, gambolling, circumventing you by a\nfalse air of innocence--the innocence of a young star-browed calf, for\nexample, that, being inclined for a promenade out of bounds, leads you\na severe steeplechase over hedge and ditch, and only comes to a stand in\nthe middle of a bog.", "And they are the prettiest attitudes and movements into which a pretty\ngirl is thrown in making up butter--tossing movements that give a\ncharming curve to the arm, and a sideward inclination of the round white\nneck; little patting and rolling movements with the palm of the hand,\nand nice adaptations and finishings which cannot at all be effected\nwithout a great play of the pouting mouth and the dark eyes.", "And then\nthe butter itself seems to communicate a fresh charm--it is so pure,\nso sweet-scented; it is turned off the mould with such a beautiful\nfirm surface, like marble in a pale yellow light!", "Moreover, Hetty was\nparticularly clever at making up the butter; it was the one performance\nof hers that her aunt allowed to pass without severe criticism; so she\nhandled it with all the grace that belongs to mastery.", "\"I hope you will be ready for a great holiday on the thirtieth of July,\nMrs. Poyser,\" said Captain Donnithorne, when he had sufficiently admired\nthe dairy and given several improvised opinions on Swede turnips and\nshorthorns.", "\"You know what is to happen then, and I shall expect you\nto be one of the guests who come earliest and leave latest.", "Will you\npromise me your hand for two dances, Miss Hetty?", "If I don't get your\npromise now, I know I shall hardly have a chance, for all the smart\nyoung farmers will take care to secure you.\"", "Hetty smiled and blushed, but before she could answer, Mrs. Poyser\ninterposed, scandalized at the mere suggestion that the young squire\ncould be excluded by any meaner partners.", "\"Indeed, sir, you are very kind to take that notice of her.", "And I'm\nsure, whenever you're pleased to dance with her, she'll be proud and\nthankful, if she stood still all the rest o' th' evening.\"", "\"Oh no, no, that would be too cruel to all the other young fellows who\ncan dance.", "But you will promise me two dances, won't you?\"", "the captain\ncontinued, determined to make Hetty look at him and speak to him.", "Hetty dropped the prettiest little curtsy, and stole a half-shy,\nhalf-coquettish glance at him as she said, \"Yes, thank you, sir.\"", "\"And you must bring all your children, you know, Mrs. Poyser; your\nlittle Totty, as well as the boys.", "I want all the youngest children on\nthe estate to be there--all those who will be fine young men and women\nwhen I'm a bald old fellow.\"", "\"Oh dear, sir, that 'ull be a long time first,\" said Mrs. Poyser, quite\novercome at the young squire's speaking so lightly of himself, and\nthinking how her husband would be interested in hearing her recount this\nremarkable specimen of high-born humour.", "The captain was thought to\nbe \"very full of his jokes,\" and was a great favourite throughout the\nestate on account of his free manners.", "Every tenant was quite sure\nthings would be different when the reins got into his hands--there\nwas to be a millennial abundance of new gates, allowances of lime, and\nreturns of ten per cent.", "\"But where is Totty to-day?\"", "he said.", "\"I want to see her.\"", "\"Where IS the little un, Hetty?\"", "said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"She came in here not\nlong ago.\"", "\"I don't know.", "She went into the brewhouse to Nancy, I think.\"", "The proud mother, unable to resist the temptation to show her Totty,\npassed at once into the back kitchen, in search of her, not, however,\nwithout misgivings lest something should have happened to render her\nperson and attire unfit for presentation.", "\"And do you carry the butter to market when you've made it?\"", "said the\nCaptain to Hetty, meanwhile.", "\"Oh no, sir; not when it's so heavy.", "I'm not strong enough to carry it.", "Alick takes it on horseback.\"", "\"No, I'm sure your pretty arms were never meant for such heavy weights.", "But you go out a walk sometimes these pleasant evenings, don't you?", "Why don't you have a walk in the Chase sometimes, now it's so green and\npleasant?", "I hardly ever see you anywhere except at home and at church.\"", "\"Aunt doesn't like me to go a-walking only when I'm going somewhere,\"\nsaid Hetty.", "\"But I go through the Chase sometimes.\"", "\"And don't you ever go to see Mrs. Best, the housekeeper?", "I think I saw\nyou once in the housekeeper's room.\"", "\"It isn't Mrs. Best, it's Mrs. Pomfret, the lady's maid, as I go to see.", "She's teaching me tent-stitch and the lace-mending.", "I'm going to tea\nwith her to-morrow afternoon.\"", "The reason why there had been space for this tete-a-tete can only be\nknown by looking into the back kitchen, where Totty had been discovered\nrubbing a stray blue-bag against her nose, and in the same moment\nallowing some liberal indigo drops to fall on her afternoon pinafore.", "But now she appeared holding her mother's hand--the end of her round\nnose rather shiny from a recent and hurried application of soap and\nwater.", "\"Here she is!\"", "said the captain, lifting her up and setting her on the\nlow stone shelf.", "\"Here's Totty!", "By the by, what's her other name?", "She\nwasn't christened Totty.\"", "\"Oh, sir, we call her sadly out of her name.", "Charlotte's her christened\nname.", "It's a name i' Mr. Poyser's family: his grandmother was named\nCharlotte.", "But we began with calling her Lotty, and now it's got to\nTotty.", "To be sure it's more like a name for a dog than a Christian\nchild.\"", "\"Totty's a capital name.", "Why, she looks like a Totty.", "Has she got a\npocket on?\"", "said the captain, feeling in his own waistcoat pockets.", "Totty immediately with great gravity lifted up her frock, and showed a\ntiny pink pocket at present in a state of collapse.", "\"It dot notin' in it,\" she said, as she looked down at it very\nearnestly.", "\"No!", "What a pity!", "Such a pretty pocket.", "Well, I think I've got some\nthings in mine that will make a pretty jingle in it.", "Yes!", "I declare I've\ngot five little round silver things, and hear what a pretty noise they\nmake in Totty's pink pocket.\"", "Here he shook the pocket with the five\nsixpences in it, and Totty showed her teeth and wrinkled her nose in\ngreat glee; but, divining that there was nothing more to be got by\nstaying, she jumped off the shelf and ran away to jingle her pocket in\nthe hearing of Nancy, while her mother called after her, \"Oh for shame,\nyou naughty gell!", "Not to thank the captain for what he's given you I'm\nsure, sir, it's very kind of you; but she's spoiled shameful; her father\nwon't have her said nay in anything, and there's no managing her.", "It's\nbeing the youngest, and th' only gell.\"", "\"Oh, she's a funny little fatty; I wouldn't have her different.", "But I\nmust be going now, for I suppose the rector is waiting for me.\"", "With a \"good-bye,\" a bright glance, and a bow to Hetty Arthur left the\ndairy.", "But he was mistaken in imagining himself waited for.", "The rector\nhad been so much interested in his conversation with Dinah that he would\nnot have chosen to close it earlier; and you shall hear now what they\nhad been saying to each other." ]

[ "It is a beauty\nlike that of kittens, or very small downy ducks making gentle rippling\nnoises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle and\nto engage in conscious mischief--a beauty with which you can never be\nangry, but that you feel ready to crush for inability to comprehend the\nstate of mind into which it throws you.", "Hetty Sorrel's was that sort\nof beauty.", "I\nmight mention all the divine charms of a bright spring day, but if you\nhad never in your life utterly forgotten yourself in straining your eyes\nafter the mounting lark, or in wandering through the still lanes when\nthe fresh-opened blossoms fill them with a sacred silent beauty like\nthat of fretted aisles, where would be the use of my descriptive\ncatalogue?", "Moreover, Hetty was\nparticularly clever at making up the butter; it was the one performance\nof hers that her aunt allowed to pass without severe criticism; so she\nhandled it with all the grace that belongs to mastery.", "Will you\npromise me your hand for two dances, Miss Hetty?", "But you will promise me two dances, won't you?\"", "Hetty dropped the prettiest little curtsy, and stole a half-shy,\nhalf-coquettish glance at him as she said, \"Yes, thank you, sir.\"", "\"And you must bring all your children, you know, Mrs. Poyser; your\nlittle Totty, as well as the boys.", "\"Oh, sir, we call her sadly out of her name.", "With a \"good-bye,\" a bright glance, and a bow to Hetty Arthur left the\ndairy." ]

[ "The captain was thought to\nbe \"very full of his jokes,\" and was a great favourite throughout the\nestate on account of his free manners.", "\"But I go through the Chase sometimes.\"", "Her aunt, Mrs. Poyser, who professed to despise all personal\nattractions and intended to be the severest of mentors, continually\ngazed at Hetty's charms by the sly, fascinated in spite of herself; and\nafter administering such a scolding as naturally flowed from her anxiety\nto do well by her husband's niece--who had no mother of her own to scold\nher, poor thing!--she would often confess to her husband, when they were\nsafe out of hearing, that she firmly believed, \"the naughtier the little\nhuzzy behaved, the prettier she looked.\"", "\"It dot notin' in it,\" she said, as she looked down at it very\nearnestly.", "said the\nCaptain to Hetty, meanwhile.", "Not to thank the captain for what he's given you I'm\nsure, sir, it's very kind of you; but she's spoiled shameful; her father\nwon't have her said nay in anything, and there's no managing her.", "I want all the youngest children on\nthe estate to be there--all those who will be fine young men and women\nwhen I'm a bald old fellow.\"", "I declare I've\ngot five little round silver things, and hear what a pretty noise they\nmake in Totty's pink pocket.\"", "said Mrs. Poyser.", "Yes!" ]

[ "The proud mother, unable to resist the temptation to show her Totty,\npassed at once into the back kitchen, in search of her, not, however,\nwithout misgivings lest something should have happened to render her\nperson and attire unfit for presentation.", "\"And do you carry the butter to market when you've made it?\"", "said the\nCaptain to Hetty, meanwhile.", "\"Oh no, sir; not when it's so heavy.", "I'm not strong enough to carry it.", "Alick takes it on horseback.\"", "\"No, I'm sure your pretty arms were never meant for such heavy weights.", "But you go out a walk sometimes these pleasant evenings, don't you?", "Why don't you have a walk in the Chase sometimes, now it's so green and\npleasant?", "I hardly ever see you anywhere except at home and at church.\"", "\"Aunt doesn't like me to go a-walking only when I'm going somewhere,\"\nsaid Hetty." ]

[ "\n\nTHE dairy was certainly worth looking at: it was a scene to sicken for\nwith a sort of calenture in hot and dusty streets--such coolness, such\npurity, such fresh fragrance of new-pressed cheese, of firm butter, of\nwooden vessels perpetually bathed in pure water; such soft colouring of\nred earthenware and creamy surfaces, brown wood and polished tin, grey\nlimestone and rich orange-red rust on the iron weights and hooks and\nhinges.", "But one gets only a confused notion of these details when they\nsurround a distractingly pretty girl of seventeen, standing on little\npattens and rounding her dimpled arm to lift a pound of butter out of\nthe scale.", "Hetty blushed a deep rose-colour when Captain Donnithorne entered the\ndairy and spoke to her; but it was not at all a distressed blush, for\nit was inwreathed with smiles and dimples, and with sparkles from under\nlong, curled, dark eyelashes; and while her aunt was discoursing to him\nabout the limited amount of milk that was to be spared for butter and\ncheese so long as the calves were not all weaned, and a large quantity\nbut inferior quality of milk yielded by the shorthorn, which had\nbeen bought on experiment, together with other matters which must be\ninteresting to a young gentleman who would one day be a landlord, Hetty\ntossed and patted her pound of butter with quite a self-possessed,\ncoquettish air, slyly conscious that no turn of her head was lost.", "There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of\nthemselves in various styles, from the desperate to the sheepish; but\nthere is one order of beauty which seems made to turn the heads not only\nof men, but of all intelligent mammals, even of women.", "It is a beauty\nlike that of kittens, or very small downy ducks making gentle rippling\nnoises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle and\nto engage in conscious mischief--a beauty with which you can never be\nangry, but that you feel ready to crush for inability to comprehend the\nstate of mind into which it throws you.", "Hetty Sorrel's was that sort\nof beauty.", "Her aunt, Mrs. Poyser, who professed to despise all personal\nattractions and intended to be the severest of mentors, continually\ngazed at Hetty's charms by the sly, fascinated in spite of herself; and\nafter administering such a scolding as naturally flowed from her anxiety\nto do well by her husband's niece--who had no mother of her own to scold\nher, poor thing!--she would often confess to her husband, when they were\nsafe out of hearing, that she firmly believed, \"the naughtier the little\nhuzzy behaved, the prettier she looked.\"", "It is of little use for me to tell you that Hetty's cheek was like a\nrose-petal, that dimples played about her pouting lips, that her large\ndark eyes hid a soft roguishness under their long lashes, and that her\ncurly hair, though all pushed back under her round cap while she was at\nwork, stole back in dark delicate rings on her forehead, and about her\nwhite shell-like ears; it is of little use for me to say how lovely\nwas the contour of her pink-and-white neckerchief, tucked into her low\nplum-coloured stuff bodice, or how the linen butter-making apron, with\nits bib, seemed a thing to be imitated in silk by duchesses, since it\nfell in such charming lines, or how her brown stockings and thick-soled\nbuckled shoes lost all that clumsiness which they must certainly have\nhad when empty of her foot and ankle--of little use, unless you have\nseen a woman who affected you as Hetty affected her beholders, for\notherwise, though you might conjure up the image of a lovely woman, she\nwould not in the least resemble that distracting kittenlike maiden.", "I\nmight mention all the divine charms of a bright spring day, but if you\nhad never in your life utterly forgotten yourself in straining your eyes\nafter the mounting lark, or in wandering through the still lanes when\nthe fresh-opened blossoms fill them with a sacred silent beauty like\nthat of fretted aisles, where would be the use of my descriptive\ncatalogue?", "I could never make you know what I meant by a bright spring\nday.", "Yes!", "I declare I've\ngot five little round silver things, and hear what a pretty noise they\nmake in Totty's pink pocket.\"", "Here he shook the pocket with the five\nsixpences in it, and Totty showed her teeth and wrinkled her nose in\ngreat glee; but, divining that there was nothing more to be got by\nstaying, she jumped off the shelf and ran away to jingle her pocket in\nthe hearing of Nancy, while her mother called after her, \"Oh for shame,\nyou naughty gell!", "Not to thank the captain for what he's given you I'm\nsure, sir, it's very kind of you; but she's spoiled shameful; her father\nwon't have her said nay in anything, and there's no managing her.", "It's\nbeing the youngest, and th' only gell.\"", "\"Oh, she's a funny little fatty; I wouldn't have her different.", "But I\nmust be going now, for I suppose the rector is waiting for me.\"", "With a \"good-bye,\" a bright glance, and a bow to Hetty Arthur left the\ndairy.", "But he was mistaken in imagining himself waited for.", "The rector\nhad been so much interested in his conversation with Dinah that he would\nnot have chosen to close it earlier; and you shall hear now what they\nhad been saying to each other." ]

[ "\n\nDINAH, who had risen when the gentlemen came in, but still kept hold of\nthe sheet she was mending, curtsied respectfully when she saw Mr. Irwine\nlooking at her and advancing towards her.", "He had never yet spoken to\nher, or stood face to face with her, and her first thought, as her eyes\nmet his, was, \"What a well-favoured countenance!", "Oh that the good seed\nmight fall on that soil, for it would surely flourish.\"", "The agreeable\nimpression must have been mutual, for Mr. Irwine bowed to her with a\nbenignant deference, which would have been equally in place if she had\nbeen the most dignified lady of his acquaintance.", "\"You are only a visitor in this neighbourhood, I think?\"", "were his first\nwords, as he seated himself opposite to her.", "\"No, sir, I come from Snowfield, in Stonyshire.", "But my aunt was very\nkind, wanting me to have rest from my work there, because I'd been ill,\nand she invited me to come and stay with her for a while.\"", "\"Ah, I remember Snowfield very well; I once had occasion to go there.", "It's a dreary bleak place.", "They were building a cotton-mill there; but\nthat's many years ago now.", "I suppose the place is a good deal changed by\nthe employment that mill must have brought.\"", "\"It IS changed so far as the mill has brought people there, who get a\nlivelihood for themselves by working in it, and make it better for the\ntradesfolks.", "I work in it myself, and have reason to be grateful, for\nthereby I have enough and to spare.", "But it's still a bleak place, as you\nsay, sir--very different from this country.\"", "\"You have relations living there, probably, so that you are attached to\nthe place as your home?\"", "\"I had an aunt there once; she brought me up, for I was an orphan.", "But\nshe was taken away seven years ago, and I have no other kindred that I\nknow of, besides my Aunt Poyser, who is very good to me, and would\nhave me come and live in this country, which to be sure is a good land,\nwherein they eat bread without scarceness.", "But I'm not free to leave\nSnowfield, where I was first planted, and have grown deep into it, like\nthe small grass on the hill-top.\"", "\"Ah, I daresay you have many religious friends and companions there; you\nare a Methodist--a Wesleyan, I think?\"", "\"Yes, my aunt at Snowfield belonged to the Society, and I have cause\nto be thankful for the privileges I have had thereby from my earliest\nchildhood.\"", "\"And have you been long in the habit of preaching?", "For I understand you\npreached at Hayslope last night.\"", "\"I first took to the work four years since, when I was twenty-one.\"", "\"Your Society sanctions women's preaching, then?\"", "\"It doesn't forbid them, sir, when they've a clear call to the work,\nand when their ministry is owned by the conversion of sinners and the\nstrengthening of God's people.", "Mrs. Fletcher, as you may have heard\nabout, was the first woman to preach in the Society, I believe, before\nshe was married, when she was Miss Bosanquet; and Mr. Wesley approved\nof her undertaking the work.", "She had a great gift, and there are many\nothers now living who are precious fellow-helpers in the work of the\nministry.", "I understand there's been voices raised against it in the\nSociety of late, but I cannot but think their counsel will come to\nnought.", "It isn't for men to make channels for God's Spirit, as they\nmake channels for the watercourses, and say, 'Flow here, but flow not\nthere.'\"", "\"But don't you find some danger among your people--I don't mean to say\nthat it is so with you, far from it--but don't you find sometimes that\nboth men and women fancy themselves channels for God's Spirit, and are\nquite mistaken, so that they set about a work for which they are unfit\nand bring holy things into contempt?\"", "\"Doubtless it is so sometimes; for there have been evil-doers among us\nwho have sought to deceive the brethren, and some there are who deceive\ntheir own selves.", "But we are not without discipline and correction to\nput a check upon these things.", "There's a very strict order kept among\nus, and the brethren and sisters watch for each other's souls as they\nthat must give account.", "They don't go every one his own way and say, 'Am\nI my brother's keeper?'\"", "\"But tell me--if I may ask, and I am really interested in knowing\nit--how you first came to think of preaching?\"", "\"Indeed, sir, I didn't think of it at all--I'd been used from the time\nI was sixteen to talk to the little children, and teach them, and\nsometimes I had had my heart enlarged to speak in class, and was much\ndrawn out in prayer with the sick.", "But I had felt no call to preach, for\nwhen I'm not greatly wrought upon, I'm too much given to sit still and\nkeep by myself.", "It seems as if I could sit silent all day long with the\nthought of God overflowing my soul--as the pebbles lie bathed in the\nWillow Brook.", "For thoughts are so great--aren't they, sir?", "They seem to\nlie upon us like a deep flood; and it's my besetment to forget where\nI am and everything about me, and lose myself in thoughts that I could\ngive no account of, for I could neither make a beginning nor ending of\nthem in words.", "That was my way as long as I can remember; but sometimes\nit seemed as if speech came to me without any will of my own, and words\nwere given to me that came out as the tears come, because our hearts\nare full and we can't help it.", "And those were always times of great\nblessing, though I had never thought it could be so with me before\na congregation of people.", "But, sir, we are led on, like the little\nchildren, by a way that we know not.", "I was called to preach quite\nsuddenly, and since then I have never been left in doubt about the work\nthat was laid upon me.\"", "\"But tell me the circumstances--just how it was, the very day you began\nto preach.\"", "\"It was one Sunday I walked with brother Marlowe, who was an aged\nman, one of the local preachers, all the way to Hetton-Deeps--that's a\nvillage where the people get their living by working in the lead-mines,\nand where there's no church nor preacher, but they live like sheep\nwithout a shepherd.", "It's better than twelve miles from Snowfield, so\nwe set out early in the morning, for it was summertime; and I had a\nwonderful sense of the Divine love as we walked over the hills, where\nthere's no trees, you know, sir, as there is here, to make the sky look\nsmaller, but you see the heavens stretched out like a tent, and you feel\nthe everlasting arms around you.", "But before we got to Hetton, brother\nMarlowe was seized with a dizziness that made him afraid of falling, for\nhe overworked himself sadly, at his years, in watching and praying,\nand walking so many miles to speak the Word, as well as carrying on his\ntrade of linen-weaving.", "And when we got to the village, the people were\nexpecting him, for he'd appointed the time and the place when he was\nthere before, and such of them as cared to hear the Word of Life were\nassembled on a spot where the cottages was thickest, so as others might\nbe drawn to come.", "But he felt as he couldn't stand up to preach, and\nhe was forced to lie down in the first of the cottages we came to.", "So I\nwent to tell the people, thinking we'd go into one of the houses, and I\nwould read and pray with them.", "But as I passed along by the cottages and\nsaw the aged and trembling women at the doors, and the hard looks of the\nmen, who seemed to have their eyes no more filled with the sight of the\nSabbath morning than if they had been dumb oxen that never looked up to\nthe sky, I felt a great movement in my soul, and I trembled as if I\nwas shaken by a strong spirit entering into my weak body.", "And I went to\nwhere the little flock of people was gathered together, and stepped on\nthe low wall that was built against the green hillside, and I spoke the\nwords that were given to me abundantly.", "And they all came round me out\nof all the cottages, and many wept over their sins, and have since been\njoined to the Lord.", "That was the beginning of my preaching, sir, and\nI've preached ever since.\"", "Dinah had let her work fall during this narrative, which she uttered in\nher usual simple way, but with that sincere articulate, thrilling treble\nby which she always mastered her audience.", "She stooped now to gather up\nher sewing, and then went on with it as before.", "Mr. Irwine was deeply\ninterested.", "He said to himself, \"He must be a miserable prig who would\nact the pedagogue here: one might as well go and lecture the trees for\ngrowing in their own shape.\"", "\"And you never feel any embarrassment from the sense of your youth--that\nyou are a lovely young woman on whom men's eyes are fixed?\"", "he said\naloud.", "\"No, I've no room for such feelings, and I don't believe the people ever\ntake notice about that.", "I think, sir, when God makes His presence felt\nthrough us, we are like the burning bush: Moses never took any heed\nwhat sort of bush it was--he only saw the brightness of the Lord.", "I've\npreached to as rough ignorant people as can be in the villages about\nSnowfield--men that looked very hard and wild--but they never said an\nuncivil word to me, and often thanked me kindly as they made way for me\nto pass through the midst of them.\"", "\"THAT I can believe--that I can well believe,\" said Mr. Irwine,\nemphatically.", "\"And what did you think of your hearers last night, now?", "Did you find them quiet and attentive?\"", "\"Very quiet, sir, but I saw no signs of any great work upon them, except\nin a young girl named Bessy Cranage, towards whom my heart yearned\ngreatly, when my eyes first fell on her blooming youth, given up\nto folly and vanity.", "I had some private talk and prayer with her\nafterwards, and I trust her heart is touched.", "But I've noticed that\nin these villages where the people lead a quiet life among the green\npastures and the still waters, tilling the ground and tending the\ncattle, there's a strange deadness to the Word, as different as can\nbe from the great towns, like Leeds, where I once went to visit a holy\nwoman who preaches there.", "It's wonderful how rich is the harvest of\nsouls up those high-walled streets, where you seemed to walk as in a\nprison-yard, and the ear is deafened with the sounds of worldly toil.", "I think maybe it is because the promise is sweeter when this life is so\ndark and weary, and the soul gets more hungry when the body is ill at\nease.\"", "\"Why, yes, our farm-labourers are not easily roused.", "They take life\nalmost as slowly as the sheep and cows.", "But we have some intelligent\nworkmen about here.", "I daresay you know the Bedes; Seth Bede, by the by,\nis a Methodist.\"", "\"Yes, I know Seth well, and his brother Adam a little.", "Seth is a\ngracious young man--sincere and without offence; and Adam is like the\npatriarch Joseph, for his great skill and knowledge and the kindness he\nshows to his brother and his parents.\"", "\"Perhaps you don't know the trouble that has just happened to them?", "Their father, Matthias Bede, was drowned in the Willow Brook last night,\nnot far from his own door.", "I'm going now to see Adam.\"", "\"Ah, their poor aged mother!\"", "said Dinah, dropping her hands and looking\nbefore her with pitying eyes, as if she saw the object of her sympathy.", "\"She will mourn heavily, for Seth has told me she's of an anxious,\ntroubled heart.", "I must go and see if I can give her any help.\"", "As she rose and was beginning to fold up her work, Captain Donnithorne,\nhaving exhausted all plausible pretexts for remaining among the\nmilk-pans, came out of the dairy, followed by Mrs. Poyser.", "Mr. Irwine\nnow rose also, and, advancing towards Dinah, held out his hand, and\nsaid, \"Good-bye.", "I hear you are going away soon; but this will not be\nthe last visit you will pay your aunt--so we shall meet again, I hope.\"", "His cordiality towards Dinah set all Mrs. Poyser's anxieties at rest,\nand her face was brighter than usual, as she said, \"I've never asked\nafter Mrs. Irwine and the Miss Irwines, sir; I hope they're as well as\nusual.\"", "\"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Poyser, except that Miss Anne has one of her bad\nheadaches to-day.", "By the by, we all liked that nice cream-cheese you\nsent us--my mother especially.\"", "\"I'm very glad, indeed, sir.", "It is but seldom I make one, but I\nremembered Mrs. Irwine was fond of 'em.", "Please to give my duty to her,\nand to Miss Kate and Miss Anne.", "They've never been to look at my poultry\nthis long while, and I've got some beautiful speckled chickens, black\nand white, as Miss Kate might like to have some of amongst hers.\"", "\"Well, I'll tell her; she must come and see them.", "Good-bye,\" said the\nrector, mounting his horse.", "\"Just ride slowly on, Irwine,\" said Captain Donnithorne, mounting also.", "\"I'll overtake you in three minutes.", "I'm only going to speak to the\nshepherd about the whelps.", "Good-bye, Mrs. Poyser; tell your husband I\nshall come and have a long talk with him soon.\"", "Mrs. Poyser curtsied duly, and watched the two horses until they had\ndisappeared from the yard, amidst great excitement on the part of the\npigs and the poultry, and under the furious indignation of the bull-dog,\nwho performed a Pyrrhic dance, that every moment seemed to threaten the\nbreaking of his chain.", "Mrs. Poyser delighted in this noisy exit; it was\na fresh assurance to her that the farm-yard was well guarded, and that\nno loiterers could enter unobserved; and it was not until the gate had\nclosed behind the captain that she turned into the kitchen again, where\nDinah stood with her bonnet in her hand, waiting to speak to her aunt,\nbefore she set out for Lisbeth Bede's cottage.", "Mrs. Poyser, however, though she noticed the bonnet, deferred remarking\non it until she had disburdened herself of her surprise at Mr. Irwine's\nbehaviour.", "\"Why, Mr. Irwine wasn't angry, then?", "What did he say to you, Dinah?", "Didn't he scold you for preaching?\"", "\"No, he was not at all angry; he was very friendly to me.", "I was quite\ndrawn out to speak to him; I hardly know how, for I had always thought\nof him as a worldly Sadducee.", "But his countenance is as pleasant as the\nmorning sunshine.\"", "\"Pleasant!", "And what else did y' expect to find him but pleasant?\"", "said\nMrs. Poyser impatiently, resuming her knitting.", "\"I should think his\ncountenance is pleasant indeed!", "And him a gentleman born, and's got a\nmother like a picter.", "You may go the country round and not find such\nanother woman turned sixty-six.", "It's summat-like to see such a man as\nthat i' the desk of a Sunday!", "As I say to Poyser, it's like looking at\na full crop o' wheat, or a pasture with a fine dairy o' cows in it; it\nmakes you think the world's comfortable-like.", "But as for such creaturs\nas you Methodisses run after, I'd as soon go to look at a lot o'\nbare-ribbed runts on a common.", "Fine folks they are to tell you what's\nright, as look as if they'd never tasted nothing better than bacon-sword\nand sour-cake i' their lives.", "But what did Mr. Irwine say to you about\nthat fool's trick o' preaching on the Green?\"", "\"He only said he'd heard of it; he didn't seem to feel any displeasure\nabout it.", "But, dear aunt, don't think any more about that.", "He told me\nsomething that I'm sure will cause you sorrow, as it does me.", "Thias Bede\nwas drowned last night in the Willow Brook, and I'm thinking that the\naged mother will be greatly in need of comfort.", "Perhaps I can be of use\nto her, so I have fetched my bonnet and am going to set out.\"", "\"Dear heart, dear heart!", "But you must have a cup o' tea first, child,\"\nsaid Mrs. Poyser, falling at once from the key of B with five sharps to\nthe frank and genial C. \"The kettle's boiling--we'll have it ready in\na minute; and the young uns 'ull be in and wanting theirs directly.", "I'm\nquite willing you should go and see th' old woman, for you're one as\nis allays welcome in trouble, Methodist or no Methodist; but, for the\nmatter o' that, it's the flesh and blood folks are made on as makes the\ndifference.", "Some cheeses are made o' skimmed milk and some o' new milk,\nand it's no matter what you call 'em, you may tell which is which by the\nlook and the smell.", "But as to Thias Bede, he's better out o' the way nor\nin--God forgi' me for saying so--for he's done little this ten year but\nmake trouble for them as belonged to him; and I think it 'ud be well\nfor you to take a little bottle o' rum for th' old woman, for I daresay\nshe's got never a drop o' nothing to comfort her inside.", "Sit down,\nchild, and be easy, for you shan't stir out till you've had a cup o'\ntea, and so I tell you.\"", "During the latter part of this speech, Mrs. Poyser had been reaching\ndown the tea-things from the shelves, and was on her way towards\nthe pantry for the loaf (followed close by Totty, who had made her\nappearance on the rattling of the tea-cups), when Hetty came out of\nthe dairy relieving her tired arms by lifting them up, and clasping her\nhands at the back of her head.", "\"Molly,\" she said, rather languidly, \"just run out and get me a bunch of\ndock-leaves: the butter's ready to pack up now.\"", "\"D' you hear what's happened, Hetty?\"", "said her aunt.", "\"No; how should I hear anything?\"", "was the answer, in a pettish tone.", "\"Not as you'd care much, I daresay, if you did hear; for you're too\nfeather-headed to mind if everybody was dead, so as you could stay\nupstairs a-dressing yourself for two hours by the clock.", "But anybody\nbesides yourself 'ud mind about such things happening to them as think\na deal more of you than you deserve.", "But Adam Bede and all his kin might\nbe drownded for what you'd care--you'd be perking at the glass the next\nminute.\"", "\"Adam Bede--drowned?\"", "said Hetty, letting her arms fall and looking\nrather bewildered, but suspecting that her aunt was as usual\nexaggerating with a didactic purpose.", "\"No, my dear, no,\" said Dinah kindly, for Mrs. Poyser had passed on to\nthe pantry without deigning more precise information.", "\"Not Adam.", "Adam's\nfather, the old man, is drowned.", "He was drowned last night in the Willow\nBrook.", "Mr. Irwine has just told me about it.\"", "\"Oh, how dreadful!\"", "said Hetty, looking serious, but not deeply\naffected; and as Molly now entered with the dock-leaves, she took them\nsilently and returned to the dairy without asking further questions." ]

[ "\"Ah, I remember Snowfield very well; I once had occasion to go there.", "\"It IS changed so far as the mill has brought people there, who get a\nlivelihood for themselves by working in it, and make it better for the\ntradesfolks.", "\"It doesn't forbid them, sir, when they've a clear call to the work,\nand when their ministry is owned by the conversion of sinners and the\nstrengthening of God's people.", "Dinah had let her work fall during this narrative, which she uttered in\nher usual simple way, but with that sincere articulate, thrilling treble\nby which she always mastered her audience.", "\"THAT I can believe--that I can well believe,\" said Mr. Irwine,\nemphatically.", "It is but seldom I make one, but I\nremembered Mrs. Irwine was fond of 'em.", "\"I'll overtake you in three minutes.", "Thias Bede\nwas drowned last night in the Willow Brook, and I'm thinking that the\naged mother will be greatly in need of comfort.", "\"Molly,\" she said, rather languidly, \"just run out and get me a bunch of\ndock-leaves: the butter's ready to pack up now.\"", "Adam's\nfather, the old man, is drowned." ]

[ "It's better than twelve miles from Snowfield, so\nwe set out early in the morning, for it was summertime; and I had a\nwonderful sense of the Divine love as we walked over the hills, where\nthere's no trees, you know, sir, as there is here, to make the sky look\nsmaller, but you see the heavens stretched out like a tent, and you feel\nthe everlasting arms around you.", "And they all came round me out\nof all the cottages, and many wept over their sins, and have since been\njoined to the Lord.", "He had never yet spoken to\nher, or stood face to face with her, and her first thought, as her eyes\nmet his, was, \"What a well-favoured countenance!", "I'm only going to speak to the\nshepherd about the whelps.", "Fine folks they are to tell you what's\nright, as look as if they'd never tasted nothing better than bacon-sword\nand sour-cake i' their lives.", "They take life\nalmost as slowly as the sheep and cows.", "What did he say to you, Dinah?", "And him a gentleman born, and's got a\nmother like a picter.", "So I\nwent to tell the people, thinking we'd go into one of the houses, and I\nwould read and pray with them.", "\"I had an aunt there once; she brought me up, for I was an orphan." ]

[ "But I've noticed that\nin these villages where the people lead a quiet life among the green\npastures and the still waters, tilling the ground and tending the\ncattle, there's a strange deadness to the Word, as different as can\nbe from the great towns, like Leeds, where I once went to visit a holy\nwoman who preaches there.", "It's wonderful how rich is the harvest of\nsouls up those high-walled streets, where you seemed to walk as in a\nprison-yard, and the ear is deafened with the sounds of worldly toil.", "I think maybe it is because the promise is sweeter when this life is so\ndark and weary, and the soul gets more hungry when the body is ill at\nease.\"", "\"Why, yes, our farm-labourers are not easily roused.", "They take life\nalmost as slowly as the sheep and cows.", "But we have some intelligent\nworkmen about here.", "I daresay you know the Bedes; Seth Bede, by the by,\nis a Methodist.\"", "\"Yes, I know Seth well, and his brother Adam a little.", "Seth is a\ngracious young man--sincere and without offence; and Adam is like the\npatriarch Joseph, for his great skill and knowledge and the kindness he\nshows to his brother and his parents.\"", "\"Perhaps you don't know the trouble that has just happened to them?", "Their father, Matthias Bede, was drowned in the Willow Brook last night,\nnot far from his own door." ]

[ "\n\nDINAH, who had risen when the gentlemen came in, but still kept hold of\nthe sheet she was mending, curtsied respectfully when she saw Mr. Irwine\nlooking at her and advancing towards her.", "He had never yet spoken to\nher, or stood face to face with her, and her first thought, as her eyes\nmet his, was, \"What a well-favoured countenance!", "Oh that the good seed\nmight fall on that soil, for it would surely flourish.\"", "The agreeable\nimpression must have been mutual, for Mr. Irwine bowed to her with a\nbenignant deference, which would have been equally in place if she had\nbeen the most dignified lady of his acquaintance.", "\"You are only a visitor in this neighbourhood, I think?\"", "were his first\nwords, as he seated himself opposite to her.", "\"No, sir, I come from Snowfield, in Stonyshire.", "But my aunt was very\nkind, wanting me to have rest from my work there, because I'd been ill,\nand she invited me to come and stay with her for a while.\"", "\"Ah, I remember Snowfield very well; I once had occasion to go there.", "It's a dreary bleak place.", "But Adam Bede and all his kin might\nbe drownded for what you'd care--you'd be perking at the glass the next\nminute.\"", "\"Adam Bede--drowned?\"", "said Hetty, letting her arms fall and looking\nrather bewildered, but suspecting that her aunt was as usual\nexaggerating with a didactic purpose.", "\"No, my dear, no,\" said Dinah kindly, for Mrs. Poyser had passed on to\nthe pantry without deigning more precise information.", "\"Not Adam.", "Adam's\nfather, the old man, is drowned.", "He was drowned last night in the Willow\nBrook.", "Mr. Irwine has just told me about it.\"", "\"Oh, how dreadful!\"", "said Hetty, looking serious, but not deeply\naffected; and as Molly now entered with the dock-leaves, she took them\nsilently and returned to the dairy without asking further questions." ]

[ "\n\nWHILE she adjusted the broad leaves that set off the pale fragrant\nbutter as the primrose is set off by its nest of green I am afraid Hetty\nwas thinking a great deal more of the looks Captain Donnithorne had cast\nat her than of Adam and his troubles.", "Bright, admiring glances from\na handsome young gentleman with white hands, a gold chain, occasional\nregimentals, and wealth and grandeur immeasurable--those were the\nwarm rays that set poor Hetty's heart vibrating and playing its little\nfoolish tunes over and over again.", "We do not hear that Memnon's statue\ngave forth its melody at all under the rushing of the mightiest wind,\nor in response to any other influence divine or human than certain\nshort-lived sunbeams of morning; and we must learn to accommodate\nourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly fashioned\ninstruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music,\nand will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with\ntremulous rapture or quivering agony.", "Hetty was quite used to the thought that people liked to look at her.", "She was not blind to the fact that young Luke Britton of Broxton came to\nHayslope Church on a Sunday afternoon on purpose that he might see her;\nand that he would have made much more decided advances if her uncle\nPoyser, thinking but lightly of a young man whose father's land was so\nfoul as old Luke Britton's, had not forbidden her aunt to encourage him\nby any civilities.", "She was aware, too, that Mr. Craig, the gardener at\nthe Chase, was over head and ears in love with her, and had lately made\nunmistakable avowals in luscious strawberries and hyperbolical peas.", "She knew still better, that Adam Bede--tall, upright, clever, brave Adam\nBede--who carried such authority with all the people round about, and\nwhom her uncle was always delighted to see of an evening, saying that\n\"Adam knew a fine sight more o' the natur o' things than those as\nthought themselves his betters\"--she knew that this Adam, who was often\nrather stern to other people and not much given to run after the lasses,\ncould be made to turn pale or red any day by a word or a look from\nher.", "Hetty's sphere of comparison was not large, but she couldn't help\nperceiving that Adam was \"something like\" a man; always knew what to say\nabout things, could tell her uncle how to prop the hovel, and had mended\nthe churn in no time; knew, with only looking at it, the value of the\nchestnut-tree that was blown down, and why the damp came in the walls,\nand what they must do to stop the rats; and wrote a beautiful hand\nthat you could read off, and could do figures in his head--a degree\nof accomplishment totally unknown among the richest farmers of that\ncountryside.", "Not at all like that slouching Luke Britton, who, when\nshe once walked with him all the way from Broxton to Hayslope, had only\nbroken silence to remark that the grey goose had begun to lay.", "And as\nfor Mr. Craig, the gardener, he was a sensible man enough, to be sure,\nbut he was knock-kneed, and had a queer sort of sing-song in his talk;\nmoreover, on the most charitable supposition, he must be far on the way\nto forty.", "Hetty was quite certain her uncle wanted her to encourage Adam, and\nwould be pleased for her to marry him.", "For those were times when there\nwas no rigid demarcation of rank between the farmer and the respectable\nartisan, and on the home hearth, as well as in the public house, they\nmight be seen taking their jug of ale together; the farmer having\na latent sense of capital, and of weight in parish affairs, which\nsustained him under his conspicuous inferiority in conversation.", "Martin\nPoyser was not a frequenter of public houses, but he liked a friendly\nchat over his own home-brewed; and though it was pleasant to lay down\nthe law to a stupid neighbour who had no notion how to make the best\nof his farm, it was also an agreeable variety to learn something from\na clever fellow like Adam Bede.", "Accordingly, for the last three\nyears--ever since he had superintended the building of the new\nbarn--Adam had always been made welcome at the Hall Farm, especially of\na winter evening, when the whole family, in patriarchal fashion, master\nand mistress, children and servants, were assembled in that glorious\nkitchen, at well-graduated distances from the blazing fire.", "And for the\nlast two years, at least, Hetty had been in the habit of hearing her\nuncle say, \"Adam Bede may be working for wage now, but he'll be a\nmaster-man some day, as sure as I sit in this chair.", "Mester Burge is\nin the right on't to want him to go partners and marry his daughter, if\nit's true what they say; the woman as marries him 'ull have a good take,\nbe't Lady day or Michaelmas,\" a remark which Mrs. Poyser always followed\nup with her cordial assent.", "\"Ah,\" she would say, \"it's all very fine\nhaving a ready-made rich man, but mayhappen he'll be a ready-made fool;\nand it's no use filling your pocket full o' money if you've got a hole\nin the corner.", "It'll do you no good to sit in a spring-cart o' your own,\nif you've got a soft to drive you: he'll soon turn you over into the\nditch.", "I allays said I'd never marry a man as had got no brains; for\nwhere's the use of a woman having brains of her own if she's tackled\nto a geck as everybody's a-laughing at?", "She might as well dress herself\nfine to sit back'ards on a donkey.\"", "These expressions, though figurative, sufficiently indicated the bent of\nMrs. Poyser's mind with regard to Adam; and though she and her husband\nmight have viewed the subject differently if Hetty had been a daughter\nof their own, it was clear that they would have welcomed the match with\nAdam for a penniless niece.", "For what could Hetty have been but a servant\nelsewhere, if her uncle had not taken her in and brought her up as a\ndomestic help to her aunt, whose health since the birth of Totty had not\nbeen equal to more positive labour than the superintendence of servants\nand children?", "But Hetty had never given Adam any steady encouragement.", "Even in the moments when she was most thoroughly conscious of his\nsuperiority to her other admirers, she had never brought herself to\nthink of accepting him.", "She liked to feel that this strong, skilful,\nkeen-eyed man was in her power, and would have been indignant if he had\nshown the least sign of slipping from under the yoke of her coquettish\ntyranny and attaching himself to the gentle Mary Burge, who would have\nbeen grateful enough for the most trifling notice from him.", "\"Mary Burge,\nindeed!", "Such a sallow-faced girl: if she put on a bit of pink ribbon,\nshe looked as yellow as a crow-flower and her hair was as straight as a\nhank of cotton.\"", "And always when Adam stayed away for several weeks from\nthe Hall Farm, and otherwise made some show of resistance to his passion\nas a foolish one, Hetty took care to entice him back into the net by\nlittle airs of meekness and timidity, as if she were in trouble at his\nneglect.", "But as to marrying Adam, that was a very different affair!", "There was nothing in the world to tempt her to do that.", "Her cheeks never\ngrew a shade deeper when his name was mentioned; she felt no thrill\nwhen she saw him passing along the causeway by the window, or advancing\ntowards her unexpectedly in the footpath across the meadow; she felt\nnothing, when his eyes rested on her, but the cold triumph of knowing\nthat he loved her and would not care to look at Mary Burge.", "He could no\nmore stir in her the emotions that make the sweet intoxication of young\nlove than the mere picture of a sun can stir the spring sap in the\nsubtle fibres of the plant.", "She saw him as he was--a poor man with old\nparents to keep, who would not be able, for a long while to come, to\ngive her even such luxuries as she shared in her uncle's house.", "And\nHetty's dreams were all of luxuries: to sit in a carpeted parlour, and\nalways wear white stockings; to have some large beautiful ear-rings,\nsuch as were all the fashion; to have Nottingham lace round the top of\nher gown, and something to make her handkerchief smell nice, like\nMiss Lydia Donnithorne's when she drew it out at church; and not to be\nobliged to get up early or be scolded by anybody.", "She thought, if Adam\nhad been rich and could have given her these things, she loved him well\nenough to marry him.", "But for the last few weeks a new influence had come over Hetty--vague,\natmospheric, shaping itself into no self-confessed hopes or prospects,\nbut producing a pleasant narcotic effect, making her tread the ground\nand go about her work in a sort of dream, unconscious of weight or\neffort, and showing her all things through a soft, liquid veil, as if\nshe were living not in this solid world of brick and stone, but in a\nbeatified world, such as the sun lights up for us in the waters.", "Hetty\nhad become aware that Mr. Arthur Donnithorne would take a good deal of\ntrouble for the chance of seeing her; that he always placed himself at\nchurch so as to have the fullest view of her both sitting and standing;\nthat he was constantly finding reason for calling at the Hall Farm, and\nalways would contrive to say something for the sake of making her speak\nto him and look at him.", "The poor child no more conceived at present the\nidea that the young squire could ever be her lover than a baker's pretty\ndaughter in the crowd, whom a young emperor distinguishes by an imperial\nbut admiring smile, conceives that she shall be made empress.", "But the\nbaker's daughter goes home and dreams of the handsome young emperor, and\nperhaps weighs the flour amiss while she is thinking what a heavenly lot\nit must be to have him for a husband.", "And so, poor Hetty had got a face\nand a presence haunting her waking and sleeping dreams; bright, soft\nglances had penetrated her, and suffused her life with a strange, happy\nlanguor.", "The eyes that shed those glances were really not half so\nfine as Adam's, which sometimes looked at her with a sad, beseeching\ntenderness, but they had found a ready medium in Hetty's little\nsilly imagination, whereas Adam's could get no entrance through that\natmosphere.", "For three weeks, at least, her inward life had consisted of\nlittle else than living through in memory the looks and words Arthur had\ndirected towards her--of little else than recalling the sensations with\nwhich she heard his voice outside the house, and saw him enter, and\nbecame conscious that his eyes were fixed on her, and then became\nconscious that a tall figure, looking down on her with eyes that seemed\nto touch her, was coming nearer in clothes of beautiful texture with an\nodour like that of a flower-garden borne on the evening breeze.", "Foolish\nthoughts!", "But all this happened, you must remember, nearly sixty years\nago, and Hetty was quite uneducated--a simple farmer's girl, to whom\na gentleman with a white hand was dazzling as an Olympian god.", "Until\nto-day, she had never looked farther into the future than to the next\ntime Captain Donnithorne would come to the Farm, or the next Sunday when\nshe should see him at church; but now she thought, perhaps he would try\nto meet her when she went to the Chase to-morrow--and if he should\nspeak to her, and walk a little way, when nobody was by!", "That had never\nhappened yet; and now her imagination, instead of retracing the past,\nwas busy fashioning what would happen to-morrow--whereabout in the\nChase she should see him coming towards her, how she should put her new\nrose-coloured ribbon on, which he had never seen, and what he would say\nto her to make her return his glance--a glance which she would be living\nthrough in her memory, over and over again, all the rest of the day.", "In this state of mind, how could Hetty give any feeling to Adam's\ntroubles, or think much about poor old Thias being drowned?", "Young souls,\nin such pleasant delirium as hers are as unsympathetic as butterflies\nsipping nectar; they are isolated from all appeals by a barrier of\ndreams--by invisible looks and impalpable arms.", "While Hetty's hands were busy packing up the butter, and her head filled\nwith these pictures of the morrow, Arthur Donnithorne, riding by Mr.\nIrwine's side towards the valley of the Willow Brook, had also certain\nindistinct anticipations, running as an undercurrent in his mind while\nhe was listening to Mr. Irwine's account of Dinah--indistinct, yet\nstrong enough to make him feel rather conscious when Mr. Irwine suddenly\nsaid, \"What fascinated you so in Mrs. Poyser's dairy, Arthur?", "Have you\nbecome an amateur of damp quarries and skimming dishes?\"", "Arthur knew the rector too well to suppose that a clever invention would\nbe of any use, so he said, with his accustomed frankness, \"No, I went to\nlook at the pretty butter-maker Hetty Sorrel.", "She's a perfect Hebe; and\nif I were an artist, I would paint her.", "It's amazing what pretty girls\none sees among the farmers' daughters, when the men are such clowns.", "That common, round, red face one sees sometimes in the men--all cheek\nand no features, like Martin Poyser's--comes out in the women of the\nfamily as the most charming phiz imaginable.\"", "\"Well, I have no objection to your contemplating Hetty in an artistic\nlight, but I must not have you feeding her vanity and filling her little\nnoddle with the notion that she's a great beauty, attractive to fine\ngentlemen, or you will spoil her for a poor man's wife--honest Craig's,\nfor example, whom I have seen bestowing soft glances on her.", "The little\npuss seems already to have airs enough to make a husband as miserable\nas it's a law of nature for a quiet man to be when he marries a beauty.", "Apropos of marrying, I hope our friend Adam will get settled, now the\npoor old man's gone.", "He will only have his mother to keep in future, and\nI've a notion that there's a kindness between him and that nice modest\ngirl, Mary Burge, from something that fell from old Jonathan one day\nwhen I was talking to him.", "But when I mentioned the subject to Adam he\nlooked uneasy and turned the conversation.", "I suppose the love-making\ndoesn't run smooth, or perhaps Adam hangs back till he's in a better\nposition.", "He has independence of spirit enough for two men--rather an\nexcess of pride, if anything.\"", "\"That would be a capital match for Adam.", "He would slip into old Burge's\nshoes and make a fine thing of that building business, I'll answer for\nhim.", "I should like to see him well settled in this parish; he would be\nready then to act as my grand-vizier when I wanted one.", "We could plan\nno end of repairs and improvements together.", "I've never seen the girl,\nthough, I think--at least I've never looked at her.\"", "\"Look at her next Sunday at church--she sits with her father on the\nleft of the reading-desk.", "You needn't look quite so much at Hetty Sorrel\nthen.", "When I've made up my mind that I can't afford to buy a tempting\ndog, I take no notice of him, because if he took a strong fancy to\nme and looked lovingly at me, the struggle between arithmetic and\ninclination might become unpleasantly severe.", "I pique myself on my\nwisdom there, Arthur, and as an old fellow to whom wisdom had become\ncheap, I bestow it upon you.\"", "\"Thank you.", "It may stand me in good stead some day though I don't\nknow that I have any present use for it.", "Bless me!", "How the brook has\noverflowed.", "Suppose we have a canter, now we're at the bottom of the\nhill.\"", "That is the great advantage of dialogue on horseback; it can be merged\nany minute into a trot or a canter, and one might have escaped from\nSocrates himself in the saddle.", "The two friends were free from the\nnecessity of further conversation till they pulled up in the lane behind\nAdam's cottage." ]

[ "Bright, admiring glances from\na handsome young gentleman with white hands, a gold chain, occasional\nregimentals, and wealth and grandeur immeasurable--those were the\nwarm rays that set poor Hetty's heart vibrating and playing its little\nfoolish tunes over and over again.", "Hetty's sphere of comparison was not large, but she couldn't help\nperceiving that Adam was \"something like\" a man; always knew what to say\nabout things, could tell her uncle how to prop the hovel, and had mended\nthe churn in no time; knew, with only looking at it, the value of the\nchestnut-tree that was blown down, and why the damp came in the walls,\nand what they must do to stop the rats; and wrote a beautiful hand\nthat you could read off, and could do figures in his head--a degree\nof accomplishment totally unknown among the richest farmers of that\ncountryside.", "And as\nfor Mr. Craig, the gardener, he was a sensible man enough, to be sure,\nbut he was knock-kneed, and had a queer sort of sing-song in his talk;\nmoreover, on the most charitable supposition, he must be far on the way\nto forty.", "Hetty was quite certain her uncle wanted her to encourage Adam, and\nwould be pleased for her to marry him.", "Such a sallow-faced girl: if she put on a bit of pink ribbon,\nshe looked as yellow as a crow-flower and her hair was as straight as a\nhank of cotton.\"", "In this state of mind, how could Hetty give any feeling to Adam's\ntroubles, or think much about poor old Thias being drowned?", "Young souls,\nin such pleasant delirium as hers are as unsympathetic as butterflies\nsipping nectar; they are isolated from all appeals by a barrier of\ndreams--by invisible looks and impalpable arms.", "That common, round, red face one sees sometimes in the men--all cheek\nand no features, like Martin Poyser's--comes out in the women of the\nfamily as the most charming phiz imaginable.\"", "I suppose the love-making\ndoesn't run smooth, or perhaps Adam hangs back till he's in a better\nposition.", "He would slip into old Burge's\nshoes and make a fine thing of that building business, I'll answer for\nhim." ]

[ "Have you\nbecome an amateur of damp quarries and skimming dishes?\"", "\"That would be a capital match for Adam.", "And as\nfor Mr. Craig, the gardener, he was a sensible man enough, to be sure,\nbut he was knock-kneed, and had a queer sort of sing-song in his talk;\nmoreover, on the most charitable supposition, he must be far on the way\nto forty.", "How the brook has\noverflowed.", "When I've made up my mind that I can't afford to buy a tempting\ndog, I take no notice of him, because if he took a strong fancy to\nme and looked lovingly at me, the struggle between arithmetic and\ninclination might become unpleasantly severe.", "I pique myself on my\nwisdom there, Arthur, and as an old fellow to whom wisdom had become\ncheap, I bestow it upon you.\"", "And so, poor Hetty had got a face\nand a presence haunting her waking and sleeping dreams; bright, soft\nglances had penetrated her, and suffused her life with a strange, happy\nlanguor.", "Arthur knew the rector too well to suppose that a clever invention would\nbe of any use, so he said, with his accustomed frankness, \"No, I went to\nlook at the pretty butter-maker Hetty Sorrel.", "That common, round, red face one sees sometimes in the men--all cheek\nand no features, like Martin Poyser's--comes out in the women of the\nfamily as the most charming phiz imaginable.\"", "And for the\nlast two years, at least, Hetty had been in the habit of hearing her\nuncle say, \"Adam Bede may be working for wage now, but he'll be a\nmaster-man some day, as sure as I sit in this chair." ]

[ "And\nHetty's dreams were all of luxuries: to sit in a carpeted parlour, and\nalways wear white stockings; to have some large beautiful ear-rings,\nsuch as were all the fashion; to have Nottingham lace round the top of\nher gown, and something to make her handkerchief smell nice, like\nMiss Lydia Donnithorne's when she drew it out at church; and not to be\nobliged to get up early or be scolded by anybody.", "She thought, if Adam\nhad been rich and could have given her these things, she loved him well\nenough to marry him.", "But for the last few weeks a new influence had come over Hetty--vague,\natmospheric, shaping itself into no self-confessed hopes or prospects,\nbut producing a pleasant narcotic effect, making her tread the ground\nand go about her work in a sort of dream, unconscious of weight or\neffort, and showing her all things through a soft, liquid veil, as if\nshe were living not in this solid world of brick and stone, but in a\nbeatified world, such as the sun lights up for us in the waters.", "Hetty\nhad become aware that Mr. Arthur Donnithorne would take a good deal of\ntrouble for the chance of seeing her; that he always placed himself at\nchurch so as to have the fullest view of her both sitting and standing;\nthat he was constantly finding reason for calling at the Hall Farm, and\nalways would contrive to say something for the sake of making her speak\nto him and look at him.", "The poor child no more conceived at present the\nidea that the young squire could ever be her lover than a baker's pretty\ndaughter in the crowd, whom a young emperor distinguishes by an imperial\nbut admiring smile, conceives that she shall be made empress.", "But the\nbaker's daughter goes home and dreams of the handsome young emperor, and\nperhaps weighs the flour amiss while she is thinking what a heavenly lot\nit must be to have him for a husband.", "And so, poor Hetty had got a face\nand a presence haunting her waking and sleeping dreams; bright, soft\nglances had penetrated her, and suffused her life with a strange, happy\nlanguor.", "The eyes that shed those glances were really not half so\nfine as Adam's, which sometimes looked at her with a sad, beseeching\ntenderness, but they had found a ready medium in Hetty's little\nsilly imagination, whereas Adam's could get no entrance through that\natmosphere.", "For three weeks, at least, her inward life had consisted of\nlittle else than living through in memory the looks and words Arthur had\ndirected towards her--of little else than recalling the sensations with\nwhich she heard his voice outside the house, and saw him enter, and\nbecame conscious that his eyes were fixed on her, and then became\nconscious that a tall figure, looking down on her with eyes that seemed\nto touch her, was coming nearer in clothes of beautiful texture with an\nodour like that of a flower-garden borne on the evening breeze.", "Foolish\nthoughts!", "But all this happened, you must remember, nearly sixty years\nago, and Hetty was quite uneducated--a simple farmer's girl, to whom\na gentleman with a white hand was dazzling as an Olympian god." ]

[ "\n\nWHILE she adjusted the broad leaves that set off the pale fragrant\nbutter as the primrose is set off by its nest of green I am afraid Hetty\nwas thinking a great deal more of the looks Captain Donnithorne had cast\nat her than of Adam and his troubles.", "Bright, admiring glances from\na handsome young gentleman with white hands, a gold chain, occasional\nregimentals, and wealth and grandeur immeasurable--those were the\nwarm rays that set poor Hetty's heart vibrating and playing its little\nfoolish tunes over and over again.", "We do not hear that Memnon's statue\ngave forth its melody at all under the rushing of the mightiest wind,\nor in response to any other influence divine or human than certain\nshort-lived sunbeams of morning; and we must learn to accommodate\nourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly fashioned\ninstruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music,\nand will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with\ntremulous rapture or quivering agony.", "Hetty was quite used to the thought that people liked to look at her.", "She was not blind to the fact that young Luke Britton of Broxton came to\nHayslope Church on a Sunday afternoon on purpose that he might see her;\nand that he would have made much more decided advances if her uncle\nPoyser, thinking but lightly of a young man whose father's land was so\nfoul as old Luke Britton's, had not forbidden her aunt to encourage him\nby any civilities.", "She was aware, too, that Mr. Craig, the gardener at\nthe Chase, was over head and ears in love with her, and had lately made\nunmistakable avowals in luscious strawberries and hyperbolical peas.", "She knew still better, that Adam Bede--tall, upright, clever, brave Adam\nBede--who carried such authority with all the people round about, and\nwhom her uncle was always delighted to see of an evening, saying that\n\"Adam knew a fine sight more o' the natur o' things than those as\nthought themselves his betters\"--she knew that this Adam, who was often\nrather stern to other people and not much given to run after the lasses,\ncould be made to turn pale or red any day by a word or a look from\nher.", "Hetty's sphere of comparison was not large, but she couldn't help\nperceiving that Adam was \"something like\" a man; always knew what to say\nabout things, could tell her uncle how to prop the hovel, and had mended\nthe churn in no time; knew, with only looking at it, the value of the\nchestnut-tree that was blown down, and why the damp came in the walls,\nand what they must do to stop the rats; and wrote a beautiful hand\nthat you could read off, and could do figures in his head--a degree\nof accomplishment totally unknown among the richest farmers of that\ncountryside.", "Not at all like that slouching Luke Britton, who, when\nshe once walked with him all the way from Broxton to Hayslope, had only\nbroken silence to remark that the grey goose had begun to lay.", "And as\nfor Mr. Craig, the gardener, he was a sensible man enough, to be sure,\nbut he was knock-kneed, and had a queer sort of sing-song in his talk;\nmoreover, on the most charitable supposition, he must be far on the way\nto forty.", "You needn't look quite so much at Hetty Sorrel\nthen.", "When I've made up my mind that I can't afford to buy a tempting\ndog, I take no notice of him, because if he took a strong fancy to\nme and looked lovingly at me, the struggle between arithmetic and\ninclination might become unpleasantly severe.", "I pique myself on my\nwisdom there, Arthur, and as an old fellow to whom wisdom had become\ncheap, I bestow it upon you.\"", "\"Thank you.", "It may stand me in good stead some day though I don't\nknow that I have any present use for it.", "Bless me!", "How the brook has\noverflowed.", "Suppose we have a canter, now we're at the bottom of the\nhill.\"", "That is the great advantage of dialogue on horseback; it can be merged\nany minute into a trot or a canter, and one might have escaped from\nSocrates himself in the saddle.", "The two friends were free from the\nnecessity of further conversation till they pulled up in the lane behind\nAdam's cottage." ]

[ "\n\nAT five o'clock Lisbeth came downstairs with a large key in her hand:\nit was the key of the chamber where her husband lay dead.", "Throughout the\nday, except in her occasional outbursts of wailing grief, she had been\nin incessant movement, performing the initial duties to her dead with\nthe awe and exactitude that belong to religious rites.", "She had brought\nout her little store of bleached linen, which she had for long years\nkept in reserve for this supreme use.", "It seemed but yesterday--that time\nso many midsummers ago, when she had told Thias where this linen lay,\nthat he might be sure and reach it out for her when SHE died, for she\nwas the elder of the two.", "Then there had been the work of cleansing to\nthe strictest purity every object in the sacred chamber, and of removing\nfrom it every trace of common daily occupation.", "The small window, which\nhad hitherto freely let in the frosty moonlight or the warm summer\nsunrise on the working man's slumber, must now be darkened with a fair\nwhite sheet, for this was the sleep which is as sacred under the bare\nrafters as in ceiled houses.", "Lisbeth had even mended a long-neglected\nand unnoticeable rent in the checkered bit of bed-curtain; for the\nmoments were few and precious now in which she would be able to do the\nsmallest office of respect or love for the still corpse, to which in all\nher thoughts she attributed some consciousness.", "Our dead are never dead\nto us until we have forgotten them: they can be injured by us, they can\nbe wounded; they know all our penitence, all our aching sense that their\nplace is empty, all the kisses we bestow on the smallest relic of their\npresence.", "And the aged peasant woman most of all believes that her dead\nare conscious.", "Decent burial was what Lisbeth had been thinking of for\nherself through years of thrift, with an indistinct expectation that she\nshould know when she was being carried to the churchyard, followed by\nher husband and her sons; and now she felt as if the greatest work of\nher life were to be done in seeing that Thias was buried decently before\nher--under the white thorn, where once, in a dream, she had thought she\nlay in the coffin, yet all the while saw the sunshine above and smelt\nthe white blossoms that were so thick upon the thorn the Sunday she went\nto be churched after Adam was born.", "But now she had done everything that could be done to-day in the chamber\nof death--had done it all herself, with some aid from her sons in\nlifting, for she would let no one be fetched to help her from the\nvillage, not being fond of female neighbours generally; and her\nfavourite Dolly, the old housekeeper at Mr. Burge's, who had come to\ncondole with her in the morning as soon as she heard of Thias's death,\nwas too dim-sighted to be of much use.", "She had locked the door, and now\nheld the key in her hand, as she threw herself wearily into a chair\nthat stood out of its place in the middle of the house floor, where in\nordinary times she would never have consented to sit.", "The kitchen had\nhad none of her attention that day; it was soiled with the tread of\nmuddy shoes and untidy with clothes and other objects out of place.", "But\nwhat at another time would have been intolerable to Lisbeth's habits\nof order and cleanliness seemed to her now just what should be: it was\nright that things should look strange and disordered and wretched, now\nthe old man had come to his end in that sad way; the kitchen ought not\nto look as if nothing had happened.", "Adam, overcome with the agitations\nand exertions of the day after his night of hard work, had fallen asleep\non a bench in the workshop; and Seth was in the back kitchen making a\nfire of sticks that he might get the kettle to boil, and persuade his\nmother to have a cup of tea, an indulgence which she rarely allowed\nherself.", "There was no one in the kitchen when Lisbeth entered and threw herself\ninto the chair.", "She looked round with blank eyes at the dirt and\nconfusion on which the bright afternoon's sun shone dismally; it was\nall of a piece with the sad confusion of her mind--that confusion which\nbelongs to the first hours of a sudden sorrow, when the poor human soul\nis like one who has been deposited sleeping among the ruins of a vast\ncity, and wakes up in dreary amazement, not knowing whether it is\nthe growing or the dying day--not knowing why and whence came this\nillimitable scene of desolation, or why he too finds himself desolate in\nthe midst of it.", "At another time Lisbeth's first thought would have been, \"Where is\nAdam?\"", "but the sudden death of her husband had restored him in\nthese hours to that first place in her affections which he had held\nsix-and-twenty years ago.", "She had forgotten his faults as we forget the\nsorrows of our departed childhood, and thought of nothing but the young\nhusband's kindness and the old man's patience.", "Her eyes continued\nto wander blankly until Seth came in and began to remove some of the\nscattered things, and clear the small round deal table that he might set\nout his mother's tea upon it.", "\"What art goin' to do?\"", "she said, rather peevishly.", "\"I want thee to have a cup of tea, Mother,\" answered Seth, tenderly.", "\"It'll do thee good; and I'll put two or three of these things away, and\nmake the house look more comfortable.\"", "\"Comfortable!", "How canst talk o' ma'in' things comfortable?", "Let a-be, let\na-be.", "There's no comfort for me no more,\" she went on, the tears coming\nwhen she began to speak, \"now thy poor feyther's gone, as I'n washed for\nand mended, an' got's victual for him for thirty 'ear, an' him allays\nso pleased wi' iverything I done for him, an' used to be so handy an' do\nthe jobs for me when I war ill an' cumbered wi' th' babby, an' made me\nthe posset an' brought it upstairs as proud as could be, an' carried the\nlad as war as heavy as two children for five mile an' ne'er grumbled,\nall the way to Warson Wake, 'cause I wanted to go an' see my sister, as\nwar dead an' gone the very next Christmas as e'er come.", "An' him to be\ndrownded in the brook as we passed o'er the day we war married an'\ncome home together, an' he'd made them lots o' shelves for me to put my\nplates an' things on, an' showed 'em me as proud as could be, 'cause he\nknow'd I should be pleased.", "An' he war to die an' me not to know, but to\nbe a-sleepin' i' my bed, as if I caredna nought about it.", "Eh!", "An' me to\nlive to see that!", "An' us as war young folks once, an' thought we should\ndo rarely when we war married.", "Let a-be, lad, let a-be!", "I wonna ha'\nno tay.", "I carena if I ne'er ate nor drink no more.", "When one end o' th'\nbridge tumbles down, where's th' use o' th' other stannin'?", "I may's well\ndie, an' foller my old man.", "There's no knowin' but he'll want me.\"", "Here Lisbeth broke from words into moans, swaying herself backwards and\nforwards on her chair.", "Seth, always timid in his behaviour towards his\nmother, from the sense that he had no influence over her, felt it was\nuseless to attempt to persuade or soothe her till this passion was past;\nso he contented himself with tending the back kitchen fire and folding\nup his father's clothes, which had been hanging out to dry since\nmorning--afraid to move about in the room where his mother was, lest he\nshould irritate her further.", "But after Lisbeth had been rocking herself and moaning for some minutes,\nshe suddenly paused and said aloud to herself, \"I'll go an' see arter\nAdam, for I canna think where he's gotten; an' I want him to go upstairs\nwi' me afore it's dark, for the minutes to look at the corpse is like\nthe meltin' snow.\"", "Seth overheard this, and coming into the kitchen again, as his mother\nrose from her chair, he said, \"Adam's asleep in the workshop, mother.", "Thee'dst better not wake him.", "He was o'erwrought with work and trouble.\"", "\"Wake him?", "Who's a-goin' to wake him?", "I shanna wake him wi' lookin' at\nhim.", "I hanna seen the lad this two hour--I'd welly forgot as he'd e'er\ngrowed up from a babby when's feyther carried him.\"", "Adam was seated on a rough bench, his head supported by his arm, which\nrested from the shoulder to the elbow on the long planing-table in\nthe middle of the workshop.", "It seemed as if he had sat down for a few\nminutes' rest and had fallen asleep without slipping from his first\nattitude of sad, fatigued thought.", "His face, unwashed since yesterday,\nlooked pallid and clammy; his hair was tossed shaggily about his\nforehead, and his closed eyes had the sunken look which follows upon\nwatching and sorrow.", "His brow was knit, and his whole face had an\nexpression of weariness and pain.", "Gyp was evidently uneasy, for he sat\non his haunches, resting his nose on his master's stretched-out leg, and\ndividing the time between licking the hand that hung listlessly down and\nglancing with a listening air towards the door.", "The poor dog was\nhungry and restless, but would not leave his master, and was waiting\nimpatiently for some change in the scene.", "It was owing to this feeling\non Gyp's part that, when Lisbeth came into the workshop and advanced\ntowards Adam as noiselessly as she could, her intention not to awaken\nhim was immediately defeated; for Gyp's excitement was too great to find\nvent in anything short of a sharp bark, and in a moment Adam opened his\neyes and saw his mother standing before him.", "It was not very unlike his\ndream, for his sleep had been little more than living through again, in\na fevered delirious way, all that had happened since daybreak, and his\nmother with her fretful grief was present to him through it all.", "The\nchief difference between the reality and the vision was that in\nhis dream Hetty was continually coming before him in bodily\npresence--strangely mingling herself as an actor in scenes with which\nshe had nothing to do.", "She was even by the Willow Brook; she made his\nmother angry by coming into the house; and he met her with her smart\nclothes quite wet through, as he walked in the rain to Treddleston, to\ntell the coroner.", "But wherever Hetty came, his mother was sure to follow\nsoon; and when he opened his eyes, it was not at all startling to see\nher standing near him.", "\"Eh, my lad, my lad!\"", "Lisbeth burst out immediately, her wailing impulse\nreturning, for grief in its freshness feels the need of associating its\nloss and its lament with every change of scene and incident, \"thee'st\ngot nobody now but thy old mother to torment thee and be a burden to\nthee.", "Thy poor feyther 'ull ne'er anger thee no more; an' thy mother\nmay's well go arter him--the sooner the better--for I'm no good to\nnobody now.", "One old coat 'ull do to patch another, but it's good for\nnought else.", "Thee'dst like to ha' a wife to mend thy clothes an' get thy\nvictual, better nor thy old mother.", "An' I shall be nought but cumber,\na-sittin' i' th' chimney-corner.", "(Adam winced and moved uneasily; he\ndreaded, of all things, to hear his mother speak of Hetty.)", "But if\nthy feyther had lived, he'd ne'er ha' wanted me to go to make room for\nanother, for he could no more ha' done wi'out me nor one side o' the\nscissars can do wi'out th' other.", "Eh, we should ha' been both flung away\ntogether, an' then I shouldna ha' seen this day, an' one buryin' 'ud ha'\ndone for us both.\"", "Here Lisbeth paused, but Adam sat in pained silence--he could not speak\notherwise than tenderly to his mother to-day, but he could not help\nbeing irritated by this plaint.", "It was not possible for poor Lisbeth to\nknow how it affected Adam any more than it is possible for a wounded\ndog to know how his moans affect the nerves of his master.", "Like all\ncomplaining women, she complained in the expectation of being soothed,\nand when Adam said nothing, she was only prompted to complain more\nbitterly.", "\"I know thee couldst do better wi'out me, for thee couldst go where thee\nlikedst an' marry them as thee likedst.", "But I donna want to say thee\nnay, let thee bring home who thee wut; I'd ne'er open my lips to find\nfaut, for when folks is old an' o' no use, they may think theirsens well\noff to get the bit an' the sup, though they'n to swallow ill words wi't.", "An' if thee'st set thy heart on a lass as'll bring thee nought and waste\nall, when thee mightst ha' them as 'ud make a man on thee, I'll say\nnought, now thy feyther's dead an' drownded, for I'm no better nor an\nold haft when the blade's gone.\"", "Adam, unable to bear this any longer, rose silently from the bench and\nwalked out of the workshop into the kitchen.", "But Lisbeth followed him.", "\"Thee wutna go upstairs an' see thy feyther then?", "I'n done everythin'\nnow, an' he'd like thee to go an' look at him, for he war allays so\npleased when thee wast mild to him.\"", "Adam turned round at once and said, \"Yes, mother; let us go upstairs.", "Come, Seth, let us go together.\"", "They went upstairs, and for five minutes all was silence.", "Then the key\nwas turned again, and there was a sound of footsteps on the stairs.", "But\nAdam did not come down again; he was too weary and worn-out to encounter\nmore of his mother's querulous grief, and he went to rest on his bed.", "Lisbeth no sooner entered the kitchen and sat down than she threw her\napron over her head, and began to cry and moan and rock herself as\nbefore.", "Seth thought, \"She will be quieter by and by, now we have been\nupstairs\"; and he went into the back kitchen again, to tend his little\nfire, hoping that he should presently induce her to have some tea.", "Lisbeth had been rocking herself in this way for more than five minutes,\ngiving a low moan with every forward movement of her body, when she\nsuddenly felt a hand placed gently on hers, and a sweet treble voice\nsaid to her, \"Dear sister, the Lord has sent me to see if I can be a\ncomfort to you.\"", "Lisbeth paused, in a listening attitude, without removing her apron from\nher face.", "The voice was strange to her.", "Could it be her sister's spirit\ncome back to her from the dead after all those years?", "She trembled and\ndared not look.", "Dinah, believing that this pause of wonder was in itself a relief for\nthe sorrowing woman, said no more just yet, but quietly took off her\nbonnet, and then, motioning silence to Seth, who, on hearing her voice,\nhad come in with a beating heart, laid one hand on the back of Lisbeth's\nchair and leaned over her, that she might be aware of a friendly\npresence.", "Slowly Lisbeth drew down her apron, and timidly she opened her dim\ndark eyes.", "She saw nothing at first but a face--a pure, pale face, with\nloving grey eyes, and it was quite unknown to her.", "Her wonder increased;\nperhaps it WAS an angel.", "But in the same instant Dinah had laid her hand\non Lisbeth's again, and the old woman looked down at it.", "It was a much\nsmaller hand than her own, but it was not white and delicate, for Dinah\nhad never worn a glove in her life, and her hand bore the traces of\nlabour from her childhood upwards.", "Lisbeth looked earnestly at the hand\nfor a moment, and then, fixing her eyes again on Dinah's face, said,\nwith something of restored courage, but in a tone of surprise, \"Why,\nye're a workin' woman!\"", "\"Yes, I am Dinah Morris, and I work in the cotton-mill when I am at\nhome.\"", "\"Ah!\"", "said Lisbeth slowly, still wondering; \"ye comed in so light, like\nthe shadow on the wall, an' spoke i' my ear, as I thought ye might be a\nsperrit.", "Ye've got a'most the face o' one as is a-sittin' on the grave\ni' Adam's new Bible.\"", "\"I come from the Hall Farm now.", "You know Mrs. Poyser--she's my aunt, and\nshe has heard of your great affliction, and is very sorry; and I'm come\nto see if I can be any help to you in your trouble; for I know your sons\nAdam and Seth, and I know you have no daughter; and when the clergyman\ntold me how the hand of God was heavy upon you, my heart went out\ntowards you, and I felt a command to come and be to you in the place of\na daughter in this grief, if you will let me.\"", "\"Ah!", "I know who y' are now; y' are a Methody, like Seth; he's tould\nme on you,\" said Lisbeth fretfully, her overpowering sense of pain\nreturning, now her wonder was gone.", "\"Ye'll make it out as trouble's a\ngood thing, like HE allays does.", "But where's the use o' talkin' to me\na-that'n?", "Ye canna make the smart less wi' talkin'.", "Ye'll ne'er make me\nbelieve as it's better for me not to ha' my old man die in's bed, if he\nmust die, an' ha' the parson to pray by him, an' me to sit by him, an'\ntell him ne'er to mind th' ill words I've gi'en him sometimes when I war\nangered, an' to gi' him a bit an' a sup, as long as a bit an' a sup\nhe'd swallow.", "But eh!", "To die i' the cold water, an' us close to him, an'\nne'er to know; an' me a-sleepin', as if I ne'er belonged to him no more\nnor if he'd been a journeyman tramp from nobody knows where!\"", "Here Lisbeth began to cry and rock herself again; and Dinah said, \"Yes,\ndear friend, your affliction is great.", "It would be hardness of heart to\nsay that your trouble was not heavy to bear.", "God didn't send me to you\nto make light of your sorrow, but to mourn with you, if you will let me.", "If you had a table spread for a feast, and was making merry with your\nfriends, you would think it was kind to let me come and sit down and\nrejoice with you, because you'd think I should like to share those\ngood things; but I should like better to share in your trouble and your\nlabour, and it would seem harder to me if you denied me that.", "You won't\nsend me away?", "You're not angry with me for coming?\"", "\"Nay, nay; angered!", "who said I war angered?", "It war good on you to come.", "An' Seth, why donna ye get her some tay?", "Ye war in a hurry to get some\nfor me, as had no need, but ye donna think o' gettin' 't for them as\nwants it.", "Sit ye down; sit ye down.", "I thank you kindly for comin', for\nit's little wage ye get by walkin' through the wet fields to see an old\nwoman like me....Nay, I'n got no daughter o' my own--ne'er had one--an'\nI warna sorry, for they're poor queechy things, gells is; I allays\nwanted to ha' lads, as could fend for theirsens.", "An' the lads 'ull be\nmarryin'--I shall ha' daughters eno', an' too many.", "But now, do ye make\nthe tay as ye like it, for I'n got no taste i' my mouth this day--it's\nall one what I swaller--it's all got the taste o' sorrow wi't.\"", "Dinah took care not to betray that she had had her tea, and accepted\nLisbeth's invitation very readily, for the sake of persuading the old\nwoman herself to take the food and drink she so much needed after a day\nof hard work and fasting.", "Seth was so happy now Dinah was in the house that he could not help\nthinking her presence was worth purchasing with a life in which grief\nincessantly followed upon grief; but the next moment he reproached\nhimself--it was almost as if he were rejoicing in his father's sad\ndeath.", "Nevertheless the joy of being with Dinah WOULD triumph--it was\nlike the influence of climate, which no resistance can overcome.", "And the\nfeeling even suffused itself over his face so as to attract his mother's\nnotice, while she was drinking her tea.", "\"Thee may'st well talk o' trouble bein' a good thing, Seth, for thee\nthriv'st on't.", "Thee look'st as if thee know'dst no more o' care an'\ncumber nor when thee wast a babby a-lyin' awake i' th' cradle.", "For\nthee'dst allays lie still wi' thy eyes open, an' Adam ne'er 'ud lie\nstill a minute when he wakened.", "Thee wast allays like a bag o' meal as\ncan ne'er be bruised--though, for the matter o' that, thy poor feyther\nwar just such another.", "But ye've got the same look too\" (here Lisbeth\nturned to Dinah).", "\"I reckon it's wi' bein' a Methody.", "Not as I'm\na-findin' faut wi' ye for't, for ye've no call to be frettin', an'\nsomehow ye looken sorry too.", "Eh!", "Well, if the Methodies are fond o'\ntrouble, they're like to thrive: it's a pity they canna ha't all, an'\ntake it away from them as donna like it.", "I could ha' gi'en 'em plenty;\nfor when I'd gotten my old man I war worreted from morn till night; and\nnow he's gone, I'd be glad for the worst o'er again.\"", "\"Yes,\" said Dinah, careful not to oppose any feeling of Lisbeth's, for\nher reliance, in her smallest words and deeds, on a divine guidance,\nalways issued in that finest woman's tact which proceeds from acute and\nready sympathy; \"yes, I remember too, when my dear aunt died, I longed\nfor the sound of her bad cough in the nights, instead of the silence\nthat came when she was gone.", "But now, dear friend, drink this other cup\nof tea and eat a little more.\"", "\"What!\"", "said Lisbeth, taking the cup and speaking in a less querulous\ntone, \"had ye got no feyther and mother, then, as ye war so sorry about\nyour aunt?\"", "\"No, I never knew a father or mother; my aunt brought me up from a baby.", "She had no children, for she was never married and she brought me up as\ntenderly as if I'd been her own child.\"", "\"Eh, she'd fine work wi' ye, I'll warrant, bringin' ye up from a babby,\nan' her a lone woman--it's ill bringin' up a cade lamb.", "But I daresay\nye warna franzy, for ye look as if ye'd ne'er been angered i' your life.", "But what did ye do when your aunt died, an' why didna ye come to live in\nthis country, bein' as Mrs. Poyser's your aunt too?\"", "Dinah, seeing that Lisbeth's attention was attracted, told her the story\nof her early life--how she had been brought up to work hard, and\nwhat sort of place Snowfield was, and how many people had a hard life\nthere--all the details that she thought likely to interest Lisbeth.", "The\nold woman listened, and forgot to be fretful, unconsciously subject to\nthe soothing influence of Dinah's face and voice.", "After a while she was\npersuaded to let the kitchen be made tidy; for Dinah was bent on this,\nbelieving that the sense of order and quietude around her would help in\ndisposing Lisbeth to join in the prayer she longed to pour forth at her\nside.", "Seth, meanwhile, went out to chop wood, for he surmised that Dinah\nwould like to be left alone with his mother.", "Lisbeth sat watching her as she moved about in her still quick way, and\nsaid at last, \"Ye've got a notion o' cleanin' up.", "I wouldna mind ha'in\nye for a daughter, for ye wouldna spend the lad's wage i' fine clothes\nan' waste.", "Ye're not like the lasses o' this countryside.", "I reckon folks\nis different at Snowfield from what they are here.\"", "\"They have a different sort of life, many of 'em,\" said Dinah; \"they\nwork at different things--some in the mill, and many in the mines, in\nthe villages round about.", "But the heart of man is the same everywhere,\nand there are the children of this world and the children of light there\nas well as elsewhere.", "But we've many more Methodists there than in this\ncountry.\"", "\"Well, I didna know as the Methody women war like ye, for there's Will\nMaskery's wife, as they say's a big Methody, isna pleasant to look at,\nat all.", "I'd as lief look at a tooad.", "An' I'm thinkin' I wouldna mind if\nye'd stay an' sleep here, for I should like to see ye i' th' house i'\nth' mornin'.", "But mayhappen they'll be lookin for ye at Mester Poyser's.\"", "\"No,\" said Dinah, \"they don't expect me, and I should like to stay, if\nyou'll let me.\"", "\"Well, there's room; I'n got my bed laid i' th' little room o'er the\nback kitchen, an' ye can lie beside me.", "I'd be glad to ha' ye wi' me to\nspeak to i' th' night, for ye've got a nice way o' talkin'.", "It puts me\ni' mind o' the swallows as was under the thack last 'ear when they fust\nbegun to sing low an' soft-like i' th' mornin'.", "Eh, but my old man war\nfond o' them birds!", "An' so war Adam, but they'n ne'er comed again this\n'ear.", "Happen THEY'RE dead too.\"", "\"There,\" said Dinah, \"now the kitchen looks tidy, and now, dear\nMother--for I'm your daughter to-night, you know--I should like you to\nwash your face and have a clean cap on.", "Do you remember what David did,\nwhen God took away his child from him?", "While the child was yet alive\nhe fasted and prayed to God to spare it, and he would neither eat nor\ndrink, but lay on the ground all night, beseeching God for the child.", "But when he knew it was dead, he rose up from the ground and washed and\nanointed himself, and changed his clothes, and ate and drank; and when\nthey asked him how it was that he seemed to have left off grieving now\nthe child was dead, he said, 'While the child was yet alive, I fasted\nand wept; for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me,\nthat the child may live?", "But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?", "Can I bring him back again?", "I shall go to him, but he shall not return\nto me.'\"", "\"Eh, that's a true word,\" said Lisbeth.", "\"Yea, my old man wonna come back\nto me, but I shall go to him--the sooner the better.", "Well, ye may do as\nye like wi' me: there's a clean cap i' that drawer, an' I'll go i' the\nback kitchen an' wash my face.", "An' Seth, thee may'st reach down Adam's\nnew Bible wi' th' picters in, an' she shall read us a chapter.", "Eh, I\nlike them words--'I shall go to him, but he wonna come back to me.'\"", "Dinah and Seth were both inwardly offering thanks for the greater\nquietness of spirit that had come over Lisbeth.", "This was what Dinah had\nbeen trying to bring about, through all her still sympathy and absence\nfrom exhortation.", "From her girlhood upwards she had had experience among\nthe sick and the mourning, among minds hardened and shrivelled through\npoverty and ignorance, and had gained the subtlest perception of the\nmode in which they could best be touched and softened into willingness\nto receive words of spiritual consolation or warning.", "As Dinah expressed\nit, \"she was never left to herself; but it was always given her when to\nkeep silence and when to speak.\"", "And do we not all agree to call rapid\nthought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration?", "After our subtlest\nanalysis of the mental process, we must still say, as Dinah did, that\nour highest thoughts and our best deeds are all given to us.", "And so there was earnest prayer--there was faith, love, and hope pouring\nforth that evening in the little kitchen.", "And poor, aged, fretful\nLisbeth, without grasping any distinct idea, without going through any\ncourse of religious emotions, felt a vague sense of goodness and love,\nand of something right lying underneath and beyond all this sorrowing\nlife.", "She couldn't understand the sorrow; but, for these moments, under\nthe subduing influence of Dinah's spirit, she felt that she must be\npatient and still." ]

[ "But now she had done everything that could be done to-day in the chamber\nof death--had done it all herself, with some aid from her sons in\nlifting, for she would let no one be fetched to help her from the\nvillage, not being fond of female neighbours generally; and her\nfavourite Dolly, the old housekeeper at Mr. Burge's, who had come to\ncondole with her in the morning as soon as she heard of Thias's death,\nwas too dim-sighted to be of much use.", "Adam, overcome with the agitations\nand exertions of the day after his night of hard work, had fallen asleep\non a bench in the workshop; and Seth was in the back kitchen making a\nfire of sticks that he might get the kettle to boil, and persuade his\nmother to have a cup of tea, an indulgence which she rarely allowed\nherself.", "but the sudden death of her husband had restored him in\nthese hours to that first place in her affections which he had held\nsix-and-twenty years ago.", "She had forgotten his faults as we forget the\nsorrows of our departed childhood, and thought of nothing but the young\nhusband's kindness and the old man's patience.", "But if\nthy feyther had lived, he'd ne'er ha' wanted me to go to make room for\nanother, for he could no more ha' done wi'out me nor one side o' the\nscissars can do wi'out th' other.", "But Lisbeth followed him.", "Thee wast allays like a bag o' meal as\ncan ne'er be bruised--though, for the matter o' that, thy poor feyther\nwar just such another.", "Ye're not like the lasses o' this countryside.", "\"Yea, my old man wonna come back\nto me, but I shall go to him--the sooner the better.", "From her girlhood upwards she had had experience among\nthe sick and the mourning, among minds hardened and shrivelled through\npoverty and ignorance, and had gained the subtlest perception of the\nmode in which they could best be touched and softened into willingness\nto receive words of spiritual consolation or warning." ]

[ "She was even by the Willow Brook; she made his\nmother angry by coming into the house; and he met her with her smart\nclothes quite wet through, as he walked in the rain to Treddleston, to\ntell the coroner.", "\"Eh, my lad, my lad!\"", "As Dinah expressed\nit, \"she was never left to herself; but it was always given her when to\nkeep silence and when to speak.\"", "She had no children, for she was never married and she brought me up as\ntenderly as if I'd been her own child.\"", "Let a-be, lad, let a-be!", "\"Ye'll make it out as trouble's a\ngood thing, like HE allays does.", "I may's well\ndie, an' foller my old man.", "Thee look'st as if thee know'dst no more o' care an'\ncumber nor when thee wast a babby a-lyin' awake i' th' cradle.", "After a while she was\npersuaded to let the kitchen be made tidy; for Dinah was bent on this,\nbelieving that the sense of order and quietude around her would help in\ndisposing Lisbeth to join in the prayer she longed to pour forth at her\nside.", "Eh!" ]

[ "Dinah, believing that this pause of wonder was in itself a relief for\nthe sorrowing woman, said no more just yet, but quietly took off her\nbonnet, and then, motioning silence to Seth, who, on hearing her voice,\nhad come in with a beating heart, laid one hand on the back of Lisbeth's\nchair and leaned over her, that she might be aware of a friendly\npresence.", "Slowly Lisbeth drew down her apron, and timidly she opened her dim\ndark eyes.", "She saw nothing at first but a face--a pure, pale face, with\nloving grey eyes, and it was quite unknown to her.", "Her wonder increased;\nperhaps it WAS an angel.", "But in the same instant Dinah had laid her hand\non Lisbeth's again, and the old woman looked down at it.", "It was a much\nsmaller hand than her own, but it was not white and delicate, for Dinah\nhad never worn a glove in her life, and her hand bore the traces of\nlabour from her childhood upwards.", "Lisbeth looked earnestly at the hand\nfor a moment, and then, fixing her eyes again on Dinah's face, said,\nwith something of restored courage, but in a tone of surprise, \"Why,\nye're a workin' woman!\"", "\"Yes, I am Dinah Morris, and I work in the cotton-mill when I am at\nhome.\"", "\"Ah!\"", "said Lisbeth slowly, still wondering; \"ye comed in so light, like\nthe shadow on the wall, an' spoke i' my ear, as I thought ye might be a\nsperrit.", "Ye've got a'most the face o' one as is a-sittin' on the grave\ni' Adam's new Bible.\"" ]

[ "\n\nAT five o'clock Lisbeth came downstairs with a large key in her hand:\nit was the key of the chamber where her husband lay dead.", "Throughout the\nday, except in her occasional outbursts of wailing grief, she had been\nin incessant movement, performing the initial duties to her dead with\nthe awe and exactitude that belong to religious rites.", "She had brought\nout her little store of bleached linen, which she had for long years\nkept in reserve for this supreme use.", "It seemed but yesterday--that time\nso many midsummers ago, when she had told Thias where this linen lay,\nthat he might be sure and reach it out for her when SHE died, for she\nwas the elder of the two.", "Then there had been the work of cleansing to\nthe strictest purity every object in the sacred chamber, and of removing\nfrom it every trace of common daily occupation.", "The small window, which\nhad hitherto freely let in the frosty moonlight or the warm summer\nsunrise on the working man's slumber, must now be darkened with a fair\nwhite sheet, for this was the sleep which is as sacred under the bare\nrafters as in ceiled houses.", "Lisbeth had even mended a long-neglected\nand unnoticeable rent in the checkered bit of bed-curtain; for the\nmoments were few and precious now in which she would be able to do the\nsmallest office of respect or love for the still corpse, to which in all\nher thoughts she attributed some consciousness.", "Our dead are never dead\nto us until we have forgotten them: they can be injured by us, they can\nbe wounded; they know all our penitence, all our aching sense that their\nplace is empty, all the kisses we bestow on the smallest relic of their\npresence.", "And the aged peasant woman most of all believes that her dead\nare conscious.", "Decent burial was what Lisbeth had been thinking of for\nherself through years of thrift, with an indistinct expectation that she\nshould know when she was being carried to the churchyard, followed by\nher husband and her sons; and now she felt as if the greatest work of\nher life were to be done in seeing that Thias was buried decently before\nher--under the white thorn, where once, in a dream, she had thought she\nlay in the coffin, yet all the while saw the sunshine above and smelt\nthe white blossoms that were so thick upon the thorn the Sunday she went\nto be churched after Adam was born.", "Eh, I\nlike them words--'I shall go to him, but he wonna come back to me.'\"", "Dinah and Seth were both inwardly offering thanks for the greater\nquietness of spirit that had come over Lisbeth.", "This was what Dinah had\nbeen trying to bring about, through all her still sympathy and absence\nfrom exhortation.", "From her girlhood upwards she had had experience among\nthe sick and the mourning, among minds hardened and shrivelled through\npoverty and ignorance, and had gained the subtlest perception of the\nmode in which they could best be touched and softened into willingness\nto receive words of spiritual consolation or warning.", "As Dinah expressed\nit, \"she was never left to herself; but it was always given her when to\nkeep silence and when to speak.\"", "And do we not all agree to call rapid\nthought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration?", "After our subtlest\nanalysis of the mental process, we must still say, as Dinah did, that\nour highest thoughts and our best deeds are all given to us.", "And so there was earnest prayer--there was faith, love, and hope pouring\nforth that evening in the little kitchen.", "And poor, aged, fretful\nLisbeth, without grasping any distinct idea, without going through any\ncourse of religious emotions, felt a vague sense of goodness and love,\nand of something right lying underneath and beyond all this sorrowing\nlife.", "She couldn't understand the sorrow; but, for these moments, under\nthe subduing influence of Dinah's spirit, she felt that she must be\npatient and still." ]

[ "\n\nIT was but half-past four the next morning when Dinah, tired of lying\nawake listening to the birds and watching the growing light through the\nlittle window in the garret roof, rose and began to dress herself very\nquietly, lest she should disturb Lisbeth.", "But already some one else was\nastir in the house, and had gone downstairs, preceded by Gyp.", "The dog's\npattering step was a sure sign that it was Adam who went down; but Dinah\nwas not aware of this, and she thought it was more likely to be Seth,\nfor he had told her how Adam had stayed up working the night before.", "Seth, however, had only just awakened at the sound of the opening\ndoor.", "The exciting influence of the previous day, heightened at last\nby Dinah's unexpected presence, had not been counteracted by any bodily\nweariness, for he had not done his ordinary amount of hard work; and so\nwhen he went to bed; it was not till he had tired himself with hours of\ntossing wakefulness that drowsiness came, and led on a heavier morning\nsleep than was usual with him.", "But Adam had been refreshed by his long rest, and with his habitual\nimpatience of mere passivity, he was eager to begin the new day and\nsubdue sadness by his strong will and strong arm.", "The white mist lay in\nthe valley; it was going to be a bright warm day, and he would start to\nwork again when he had had his breakfast.", "\"There's nothing but what's bearable as long as a man can work,\" he said\nto himself; \"the natur o' things doesn't change, though it seems as if\none's own life was nothing but change.", "The square o' four is sixteen,\nand you must lengthen your lever in proportion to your weight, is as\ntrue when a man's miserable as when he's happy; and the best o' working\nis, it gives you a grip hold o' things outside your own lot.\"", "As he dashed the cold water over his head and face, he felt completely\nhimself again, and with his black eyes as keen as ever and his thick\nblack hair all glistening with the fresh moisture, he went into the\nworkshop to look out the wood for his father's coffin, intending that\nhe and Seth should carry it with them to Jonathan Burge's and have the\ncoffin made by one of the workmen there, so that his mother might not\nsee and hear the sad task going forward at home.", "He had just gone into the workshop when his quick ear detected a light\nrapid foot on the stairs--certainly not his mother's.", "He had been in bed\nand asleep when Dinah had come in, in the evening, and now he wondered\nwhose step this could be.", "A foolish thought came, and moved him\nstrangely.", "As if it could be Hetty!", "She was the last person likely to\nbe in the house.", "And yet he felt reluctant to go and look and have the\nclear proof that it was some one else.", "He stood leaning on a plank he\nhad taken hold of, listening to sounds which his imagination interpreted\nfor him so pleasantly that the keen strong face became suffused with a\ntimid tenderness.", "The light footstep moved about the kitchen, followed\nby the sound of the sweeping brush, hardly making so much noise as the\nlightest breeze that chases the autumn leaves along the dusty path; and\nAdam's imagination saw a dimpled face, with dark bright eyes and roguish\nsmiles looking backward at this brush, and a rounded figure just leaning\na little to clasp the handle.", "A very foolish thought--it could not be\nHetty; but the only way of dismissing such nonsense from his head was\nto go and see WHO it was, for his fancy only got nearer and nearer to\nbelief while he stood there listening.", "He loosed the plank and went to\nthe kitchen door.", "\"How do you do, Adam Bede?\"", "said Dinah, in her calm treble, pausing from\nher sweeping and fixing her mild grave eyes upon him.", "\"I trust you feel\nrested and strengthened again to bear the burden and heat of the day.\"", "It was like dreaming of the sunshine and awaking in the moonlight.", "Adam\nhad seen Dinah several times, but always at the Hall Farm, where he was\nnot very vividly conscious of any woman's presence except Hetty's, and\nhe had only in the last day or two begun to suspect that Seth was in\nlove with her, so that his attention had not hitherto been drawn towards\nher for his brother's sake.", "But now her slim figure, her plain black\ngown, and her pale serene face impressed him with all the force that\nbelongs to a reality contrasted with a preoccupying fancy.", "For the\nfirst moment or two he made no answer, but looked at her with the\nconcentrated, examining glance which a man gives to an object in which\nhe has suddenly begun to be interested.", "Dinah, for the first time in her\nlife, felt a painful self-consciousness; there was something in the dark\npenetrating glance of this strong man so different from the mildness and\ntimidity of his brother Seth.", "A faint blush came, which deepened as she\nwondered at it.", "This blush recalled Adam from his forgetfulness.", "\"I was quite taken by surprise; it was very good of you to come and see\nmy mother in her trouble,\" he said, in a gentle grateful tone, for his\nquick mind told him at once how she came to be there.", "\"I hope my mother\nwas thankful to have you,\" he added, wondering rather anxiously what had\nbeen Dinah's reception.", "\"Yes,\" said Dinah, resuming her work, \"she seemed greatly comforted\nafter a while, and she's had a good deal of rest in the night, by times.", "She was fast asleep when I left her.\"", "\"Who was it took the news to the Hall Farm?\"", "said Adam, his thoughts\nreverting to some one there; he wondered whether SHE had felt anything\nabout it.", "\"It was Mr. Irwine, the clergyman, told me, and my aunt was grieved\nfor your mother when she heard it, and wanted me to come; and so is my\nuncle, I'm sure, now he's heard it, but he was gone out to Rosseter all\nyesterday.", "They'll look for you there as soon as you've got time to go,\nfor there's nobody round that hearth but what's glad to see you.\"", "Dinah, with her sympathetic divination, knew quite well that Adam was\nlonging to hear if Hetty had said anything about their trouble; she was\ntoo rigorously truthful for benevolent invention, but she had contrived\nto say something in which Hetty was tacitly included.", "Love has a way\nof cheating itself consciously, like a child who plays at solitary\nhide-and-seek; it is pleased with assurances that it all the while\ndisbelieves.", "Adam liked what Dinah had said so much that his mind was\ndirectly full of the next visit he should pay to the Hall Farm, when\nHetty would perhaps behave more kindly to him than she had ever done\nbefore.", "\"But you won't be there yourself any longer?\"", "he said to Dinah.", "\"No, I go back to Snowfield on Saturday, and I shall have to set out to\nTreddleston early, to be in time for the Oakbourne carrier.", "So I must go\nback to the farm to-night, that I may have the last day with my aunt and\nher children.", "But I can stay here all to-day, if your mother would like\nme; and her heart seemed inclined towards me last night.\"", "\"Ah, then, she's sure to want you to-day.", "If mother takes to people at\nthe beginning, she's sure to get fond of 'em; but she's a strange way of\nnot liking young women.", "Though, to be sure,\" Adam went on, smiling, \"her\nnot liking other young women is no reason why she shouldn't like you.\"", "Hitherto Gyp had been assisting at this conversation in motionless\nsilence, seated on his haunches, and alternately looking up in his\nmaster's face to watch its expression and observing Dinah's movements\nabout the kitchen.", "The kind smile with which Adam uttered the last words\nwas apparently decisive with Gyp of the light in which the stranger\nwas to be regarded, and as she turned round after putting aside her\nsweeping-brush, he trotted towards her and put up his muzzle against her\nhand in a friendly way.", "\"You see Gyp bids you welcome,\" said Adam, \"and he's very slow to\nwelcome strangers.\"", "\"Poor dog!\"", "said Dinah, patting the rough grey coat, \"I've a strange\nfeeling about the dumb things as if they wanted to speak, and it was a\ntrouble to 'em because they couldn't.", "I can't help being sorry for the\ndogs always, though perhaps there's no need.", "But they may well have more\nin them than they know how to make us understand, for we can't say half\nwhat we feel, with all our words.\"", "Seth came down now, and was pleased to find Adam talking with Dinah; he\nwanted Adam to know how much better she was than all other women.", "But after a few words of greeting, Adam drew him into the workshop to\nconsult about the coffin, and Dinah went on with her cleaning.", "By six o'clock they were all at breakfast with Lisbeth in a kitchen as\nclean as she could have made it herself.", "The window and door were open,\nand the morning air brought with it a mingled scent of southernwood,\nthyme, and sweet-briar from the patch of garden by the side of the\ncottage.", "Dinah did not sit down at first, but moved about, serving the\nothers with the warm porridge and the toasted oat-cake, which she had\ngot ready in the usual way, for she had asked Seth to tell her just what\nhis mother gave them for breakfast.", "Lisbeth had been unusually silent\nsince she came downstairs, apparently requiring some time to adjust her\nideas to a state of things in which she came down like a lady to find\nall the work done, and sat still to be waited on.", "Her new sensations\nseemed to exclude the remembrance of her grief.", "At last, after tasting\nthe porridge, she broke silence:\n\n\"Ye might ha' made the parridge worse,\" she said to Dinah; \"I can ate it\nwi'out its turnin' my stomach.", "It might ha' been a trifle thicker an' no\nharm, an' I allays putten a sprig o' mint in mysen; but how's ye t' know\nthat?", "The lads arena like to get folks as 'll make their parridge as I'n\nmade it for 'em; it's well if they get onybody as 'll make parridge at\nall.", "But ye might do, wi' a bit o' showin'; for ye're a stirrin' body\nin a mornin', an' ye've a light heel, an' ye've cleaned th' house well\nenough for a ma'shift.\"", "\"Makeshift, mother?\"", "said Adam.", "\"Why, I think the house looks beautiful.", "I don't know how it could look better.\"", "\"Thee dostna know?", "Nay; how's thee to know?", "Th' men ne'er know whether\nthe floor's cleaned or cat-licked.", "But thee'lt know when thee gets thy\nparridge burnt, as it's like enough to be when I'n gi'en o'er makin' it.", "Thee'lt think thy mother war good for summat then.\"", "\"Dinah,\" said Seth, \"do come and sit down now and have your breakfast.", "We're all served now.\"", "\"Aye, come an' sit ye down--do,\" said Lisbeth, \"an' ate a morsel; ye'd\nneed, arter bein' upo' your legs this hour an' half a'ready.", "Come,\nthen,\" she added, in a tone of complaining affection, as Dinah sat down\nby her side, \"I'll be loath for ye t' go, but ye canna stay much longer,\nI doubt.", "I could put up wi' ye i' th' house better nor wi' most folks.\"", "\"I'll stay till to-night if you're willing,\" said Dinah.", "\"I'd stay\nlonger, only I'm going back to Snowfield on Saturday, and I must be with\nmy aunt to-morrow.\"", "\"Eh, I'd ne'er go back to that country.", "My old man come from that\nStonyshire side, but he left it when he war a young un, an' i' the right\non't too; for he said as there war no wood there, an' it 'ud ha' been a\nbad country for a carpenter.\"", "\"Ah,\" said Adam, \"I remember father telling me when I was a little lad\nthat he made up his mind if ever he moved it should be south'ard.", "But\nI'm not so sure about it.", "Bartle Massey says--and he knows the South--as\nthe northern men are a finer breed than the southern, harder-headed and\nstronger-bodied, and a deal taller.", "And then he says in some o' those\ncounties it's as flat as the back o' your hand, and you can see nothing\nof a distance without climbing up the highest trees.", "I couldn't abide\nthat.", "I like to go to work by a road that'll take me up a bit of a hill,\nand see the fields for miles round me, and a bridge, or a town, or a bit\nof a steeple here and there.", "It makes you feel the world's a big place,\nand there's other men working in it with their heads and hands besides\nyourself.\"", "\"I like th' hills best,\" said Seth, \"when the clouds are over your head\nand you see the sun shining ever so far off, over the Loamford way, as\nI've often done o' late, on the stormy days.", "It seems to me as if that\nwas heaven where there's always joy and sunshine, though this life's\ndark and cloudy.\"", "\"Oh, I love the Stonyshire side,\" said Dinah; \"I shouldn't like to set\nmy face towards the countries where they're rich in corn and cattle, and\nthe ground so level and easy to tread; and to turn my back on the hills\nwhere the poor people have to live such a hard life and the men spend\ntheir days in the mines away from the sunlight.", "It's very blessed on a\nbleak cold day, when the sky is hanging dark over the hill, to feel\nthe love of God in one's soul, and carry it to the lonely, bare, stone\nhouses, where there's nothing else to give comfort.\"", "\"Eh!\"", "said Lisbeth, \"that's very well for ye to talk, as looks welly\nlike the snowdrop-flowers as ha' lived for days an' days when I'n\ngethered 'em, wi' nothin' but a drop o' water an' a peep o' daylight;\nbut th' hungry foulks had better leave th' hungry country.", "It makes less\nmouths for the scant cake.", "But,\" she went on, looking at Adam, \"donna\nthee talk o' goin' south'ard or north'ard, an' leavin' thy feyther and\nmother i' the churchyard, an' goin' to a country as they know nothin'\non.", "I'll ne'er rest i' my grave if I donna see thee i' the churchyard of\na Sunday.\"", "\"Donna fear, mother,\" said Adam.", "\"If I hadna made up my mind not to go,\nI should ha' been gone before now.\"", "He had finished his breakfast now, and rose as he was speaking.", "\"What art goin' to do?\"", "asked Lisbeth.", "\"Set about thy feyther's coffin?\"", "\"No, mother,\" said Adam; \"we're going to take the wood to the village\nand have it made there.\"", "\"Nay, my lad, nay,\" Lisbeth burst out in an eager, wailing tone; \"thee\nwotna let nobody make thy feyther's coffin but thysen?", "Who'd make it\nso well?", "An' him as know'd what good work war, an's got a son as is the\nhead o' the village an' all Treddles'on too, for cleverness.\"", "\"Very well, mother, if that's thy wish, I'll make the coffin at home;\nbut I thought thee wouldstna like to hear the work going on.\"", "\"An' why shouldna I like 't?", "It's the right thing to be done.", "An' what's\nliking got to do wi't?", "It's choice o' mislikings is all I'n got i' this\nworld.", "One morsel's as good as another when your mouth's out o' taste.", "Thee mun set about it now this mornin' fust thing.", "I wonna ha' nobody to\ntouch the coffin but thee.\"", "Adam's eyes met Seth's, which looked from Dinah to him rather wistfully.", "\"No, Mother,\" he said, \"I'll not consent but Seth shall have a hand\nin it too, if it's to be done at home.", "I'll go to the village this\nforenoon, because Mr. Burge 'ull want to see me, and Seth shall stay at\nhome and begin the coffin.", "I can come back at noon, and then he can go.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" persisted Lisbeth, beginning to cry, \"I'n set my heart on't\nas thee shalt ma' thy feyther's coffin.", "Thee't so stiff an' masterful,\nthee't ne'er do as thy mother wants thee.", "Thee wast often angered wi'\nthy feyther when he war alive; thee must be the better to him now he's\ngone.", "He'd ha' thought nothin' on't for Seth to ma's coffin.\"", "\"Say no more, Adam, say no more,\" said Seth, gently, though his voice\ntold that he spoke with some effort; \"Mother's in the right.", "I'll go to\nwork, and do thee stay at home.\"", "He passed into the workshop immediately, followed by Adam; while\nLisbeth, automatically obeying her old habits, began to put away the\nbreakfast things, as if she did not mean Dinah to take her place any\nlonger.", "Dinah said nothing, but presently used the opportunity of\nquietly joining the brothers in the workshop.", "They had already got on their aprons and paper caps, and Adam was\nstanding with his left hand on Seth's shoulder, while he pointed with\nthe hammer in his right to some boards which they were looking at.", "Their\nbacks were turned towards the door by which Dinah entered, and she came\nin so gently that they were not aware of her presence till they heard\nher voice saying, \"Seth Bede!\"", "Seth started, and they both turned round.", "Dinah looked as if she did not see Adam, and fixed her eyes on Seth's\nface, saying with calm kindness, \"I won't say farewell.", "I shall see you\nagain when you come from work.", "So as I'm at the farm before dark, it\nwill be quite soon enough.\"", "\"Thank you, Dinah; I should like to walk home with you once more.", "It'll\nperhaps be the last time.\"", "There was a little tremor in Seth's voice.", "Dinah put out her hand and\nsaid, \"You'll have sweet peace in your mind to-day, Seth, for your\ntenderness and long-suffering towards your aged mother.\"", "She turned round and left the workshop as quickly and quietly as she had\nentered it.", "Adam had been observing her closely all the while, but she\nhad not looked at him.", "As soon as she was gone, he said, \"I don't wonder\nat thee for loving her, Seth.", "She's got a face like a lily.\"", "Seth's soul rushed to his eyes and lips: he had never yet confessed his\nsecret to Adam, but now he felt a delicious sense of disburdenment,\nas he answered, \"Aye, Addy, I do love her--too much, I doubt.", "But she\ndoesna love me, lad, only as one child o' God loves another.", "She'll\nnever love any man as a husband--that's my belief.\"", "\"Nay, lad, there's no telling; thee mustna lose heart.", "She's made out\no' stuff with a finer grain than most o' the women; I can see that clear\nenough.", "But if she's better than they are in other things, I canna think\nshe'll fall short of 'em in loving.\"", "No more was said.", "Seth set out to the village, and Adam began his work\non the coffin.", "\"God help the lad, and me too,\" he thought, as he lifted the board.", "\"We're like enough to find life a tough job--hard work inside and out.", "It's a strange thing to think of a man as can lift a chair with his\nteeth and walk fifty mile on end, trembling and turning hot and cold\nat only a look from one woman out of all the rest i' the world.", "It's a\nmystery we can give no account of; but no more we can of the sprouting\no' the seed, for that matter.\"" ]

[ "Adam\nhad seen Dinah several times, but always at the Hall Farm, where he was\nnot very vividly conscious of any woman's presence except Hetty's, and\nhe had only in the last day or two begun to suspect that Seth was in\nlove with her, so that his attention had not hitherto been drawn towards\nher for his brother's sake.", "But now her slim figure, her plain black\ngown, and her pale serene face impressed him with all the force that\nbelongs to a reality contrasted with a preoccupying fancy.", "Though, to be sure,\" Adam went on, smiling, \"her\nnot liking other young women is no reason why she shouldn't like you.\"", "Hitherto Gyp had been assisting at this conversation in motionless\nsilence, seated on his haunches, and alternately looking up in his\nmaster's face to watch its expression and observing Dinah's movements\nabout the kitchen.", "But they may well have more\nin them than they know how to make us understand, for we can't say half\nwhat we feel, with all our words.\"", "The window and door were open,\nand the morning air brought with it a mingled scent of southernwood,\nthyme, and sweet-briar from the patch of garden by the side of the\ncottage.", "It makes less\nmouths for the scant cake.", "Their\nbacks were turned towards the door by which Dinah entered, and she came\nin so gently that they were not aware of her presence till they heard\nher voice saying, \"Seth Bede!\"", "Dinah looked as if she did not see Adam, and fixed her eyes on Seth's\nface, saying with calm kindness, \"I won't say farewell.", "So as I'm at the farm before dark, it\nwill be quite soon enough.\"" ]

[ "Their\nbacks were turned towards the door by which Dinah entered, and she came\nin so gently that they were not aware of her presence till they heard\nher voice saying, \"Seth Bede!\"", "The kind smile with which Adam uttered the last words\nwas apparently decisive with Gyp of the light in which the stranger\nwas to be regarded, and as she turned round after putting aside her\nsweeping-brush, he trotted towards her and put up his muzzle against her\nhand in a friendly way.", "I can come back at noon, and then he can go.\"", "It'll\nperhaps be the last time.\"", "But\nI'm not so sure about it.", "If mother takes to people at\nthe beginning, she's sure to get fond of 'em; but she's a strange way of\nnot liking young women.", "said Lisbeth, \"that's very well for ye to talk, as looks welly\nlike the snowdrop-flowers as ha' lived for days an' days when I'n\ngethered 'em, wi' nothin' but a drop o' water an' a peep o' daylight;\nbut th' hungry foulks had better leave th' hungry country.", "\"Thee dostna know?", "\"Who was it took the news to the Hall Farm?\"", "\"Oh, I love the Stonyshire side,\" said Dinah; \"I shouldn't like to set\nmy face towards the countries where they're rich in corn and cattle, and\nthe ground so level and easy to tread; and to turn my back on the hills\nwhere the poor people have to live such a hard life and the men spend\ntheir days in the mines away from the sunlight." ]

[ "Th' men ne'er know whether\nthe floor's cleaned or cat-licked.", "But thee'lt know when thee gets thy\nparridge burnt, as it's like enough to be when I'n gi'en o'er makin' it.", "Thee'lt think thy mother war good for summat then.\"", "\"Dinah,\" said Seth, \"do come and sit down now and have your breakfast.", "We're all served now.\"", "\"Aye, come an' sit ye down--do,\" said Lisbeth, \"an' ate a morsel; ye'd\nneed, arter bein' upo' your legs this hour an' half a'ready.", "Come,\nthen,\" she added, in a tone of complaining affection, as Dinah sat down\nby her side, \"I'll be loath for ye t' go, but ye canna stay much longer,\nI doubt.", "I could put up wi' ye i' th' house better nor wi' most folks.\"", "\"I'll stay till to-night if you're willing,\" said Dinah.", "\"I'd stay\nlonger, only I'm going back to Snowfield on Saturday, and I must be with\nmy aunt to-morrow.\"", "\"Eh, I'd ne'er go back to that country." ]

[ "\n\nIT was but half-past four the next morning when Dinah, tired of lying\nawake listening to the birds and watching the growing light through the\nlittle window in the garret roof, rose and began to dress herself very\nquietly, lest she should disturb Lisbeth.", "But already some one else was\nastir in the house, and had gone downstairs, preceded by Gyp.", "The dog's\npattering step was a sure sign that it was Adam who went down; but Dinah\nwas not aware of this, and she thought it was more likely to be Seth,\nfor he had told her how Adam had stayed up working the night before.", "Seth, however, had only just awakened at the sound of the opening\ndoor.", "The exciting influence of the previous day, heightened at last\nby Dinah's unexpected presence, had not been counteracted by any bodily\nweariness, for he had not done his ordinary amount of hard work; and so\nwhen he went to bed; it was not till he had tired himself with hours of\ntossing wakefulness that drowsiness came, and led on a heavier morning\nsleep than was usual with him.", "But Adam had been refreshed by his long rest, and with his habitual\nimpatience of mere passivity, he was eager to begin the new day and\nsubdue sadness by his strong will and strong arm.", "The white mist lay in\nthe valley; it was going to be a bright warm day, and he would start to\nwork again when he had had his breakfast.", "\"There's nothing but what's bearable as long as a man can work,\" he said\nto himself; \"the natur o' things doesn't change, though it seems as if\none's own life was nothing but change.", "The square o' four is sixteen,\nand you must lengthen your lever in proportion to your weight, is as\ntrue when a man's miserable as when he's happy; and the best o' working\nis, it gives you a grip hold o' things outside your own lot.\"", "As he dashed the cold water over his head and face, he felt completely\nhimself again, and with his black eyes as keen as ever and his thick\nblack hair all glistening with the fresh moisture, he went into the\nworkshop to look out the wood for his father's coffin, intending that\nhe and Seth should carry it with them to Jonathan Burge's and have the\ncoffin made by one of the workmen there, so that his mother might not\nsee and hear the sad task going forward at home.", "She'll\nnever love any man as a husband--that's my belief.\"", "\"Nay, lad, there's no telling; thee mustna lose heart.", "She's made out\no' stuff with a finer grain than most o' the women; I can see that clear\nenough.", "But if she's better than they are in other things, I canna think\nshe'll fall short of 'em in loving.\"", "No more was said.", "Seth set out to the village, and Adam began his work\non the coffin.", "\"God help the lad, and me too,\" he thought, as he lifted the board.", "\"We're like enough to find life a tough job--hard work inside and out.", "It's a strange thing to think of a man as can lift a chair with his\nteeth and walk fifty mile on end, trembling and turning hot and cold\nat only a look from one woman out of all the rest i' the world.", "It's a\nmystery we can give no account of; but no more we can of the sprouting\no' the seed, for that matter.\"" ]

[ "\n\nTHAT same Thursday morning, as Arthur Donnithorne was moving about in\nhis dressing-room seeing his well-looking British person reflected in\nthe old-fashioned mirrors, and stared at, from a dingy olive-green piece\nof tapestry, by Pharaoh's daughter and her maidens, who ought to have\nbeen minding the infant Moses, he was holding a discussion with himself,\nwhich, by the time his valet was tying the black silk sling over his\nshoulder, had issued in a distinct practical resolution.", "\"I mean to go to Eagledale and fish for a week or so,\" he said aloud.", "\"I shall take you with me, Pym, and set off this morning; so be ready by\nhalf-past eleven.\"", "The low whistle, which had assisted him in arriving at this resolution,\nhere broke out into his loudest ringing tenor, and the corridor, as he\nhurried along it, echoed to his favourite song from the Beggar's Opera,\n\"When the heart of a man is oppressed with care.\"", "Not an heroic strain;\nnevertheless Arthur felt himself very heroic as he strode towards the\nstables to give his orders about the horses.", "His own approbation was\nnecessary to him, and it was not an approbation to be enjoyed quite\ngratuitously; it must be won by a fair amount of merit.", "He had never yet\nforfeited that approbation, and he had considerable reliance on his own\nvirtues.", "No young man could confess his faults more candidly; candour\nwas one of his favourite virtues; and how can a man's candour be seen\nin all its lustre unless he has a few failings to talk of?", "But he had\nan agreeable confidence that his faults were all of a generous\nkind--impetuous, warm-blooded, leonine; never crawling, crafty,\nreptilian.", "It was not possible for Arthur Donnithorne to do anything\nmean, dastardly, or cruel.", "\"No!", "I'm a devil of a fellow for getting\nmyself into a hobble, but I always take care the load shall fall on\nmy own shoulders.\"", "Unhappily, there is no inherent poetical justice in\nhobbles, and they will sometimes obstinately refuse to inflict their\nworst consequences on the prime offender, in spite of his loudly\nexpressed wish.", "It was entirely owing to this deficiency in the scheme\nof things that Arthur had ever brought any one into trouble besides\nhimself.", "He was nothing if not good-natured; and all his pictures of\nthe future, when he should come into the estate, were made up of a\nprosperous, contented tenantry, adoring their landlord, who would be the\nmodel of an English gentleman--mansion in first-rate order, all elegance\nand high taste--jolly housekeeping, finest stud in Loamshire--purse open\nto all public objects--in short, everything as different as possible\nfrom what was now associated with the name of Donnithorne.", "And one of\nthe first good actions he would perform in that future should be to\nincrease Irwine's income for the vicarage of Hayslope, so that he might\nkeep a carriage for his mother and sisters.", "His hearty affection for the\nrector dated from the age of frocks and trousers.", "It was an affection\npartly filial, partly fraternal--fraternal enough to make him like\nIrwine's company better than that of most younger men, and filial enough\nto make him shrink strongly from incurring Irwine's disapprobation.", "You perceive that Arthur Donnithorne was \"a good fellow\"--all his\ncollege friends thought him such.", "He couldn't bear to see any one\nuncomfortable; he would have been sorry even in his angriest moods for\nany harm to happen to his grandfather; and his Aunt Lydia herself had\nthe benefit of that soft-heartedness which he bore towards the whole\nsex.", "Whether he would have self-mastery enough to be always as harmless\nand purely beneficent as his good-nature led him to desire, was a\nquestion that no one had yet decided against him; he was but twenty-one,\nyou remember, and we don't inquire too closely into character in the\ncase of a handsome generous young fellow, who will have property enough\nto support numerous peccadilloes--who, if he should unfortunately\nbreak a man's legs in his rash driving, will be able to pension him\nhandsomely; or if he should happen to spoil a woman's existence for her,\nwill make it up to her with expensive bon-bons, packed up and directed\nby his own hand.", "It would be ridiculous to be prying and analytic\nin such cases, as if one were inquiring into the character of a\nconfidential clerk.", "We use round, general, gentlemanly epithets about\na young man of birth and fortune; and ladies, with that fine intuition\nwhich is the distinguishing attribute of their sex, see at once that\nhe is \"nice.\"", "The chances are that he will go through life without\nscandalizing any one; a seaworthy vessel that no one would refuse to\ninsure.", "Ships, certainly, are liable to casualties, which sometimes make\nterribly evident some flaw in their construction that would never have\nbeen discoverable in smooth water; and many a \"good fellow,\" through a\ndisastrous combination of circumstances, has undergone a like betrayal.", "But we have no fair ground for entertaining unfavourable auguries\nconcerning Arthur Donnithorne, who this morning proves himself capable\nof a prudent resolution founded on conscience.", "One thing is clear:\nNature has taken care that he shall never go far astray with perfect\ncomfort and satisfaction to himself; he will never get beyond that\nborder-land of sin, where he will be perpetually harassed by assaults\nfrom the other side of the boundary.", "He will never be a courtier of\nVice, and wear her orders in his button-hole.", "It was about ten o'clock, and the sun was shining brilliantly;\neverything was looking lovelier for the yesterday's rain.", "It is a\npleasant thing on such a morning to walk along the well-rolled gravel on\none's way to the stables, meditating an excursion.", "But the scent of\nthe stables, which, in a natural state of things, ought to be among\nthe soothing influences of a man's life, always brought with it some\nirritation to Arthur.", "There was no having his own way in the stables;\neverything was managed in the stingiest fashion.", "His grandfather\npersisted in retaining as head groom an old dolt whom no sort of\nlever could move out of his old habits, and who was allowed to hire a\nsuccession of raw Loamshire lads as his subordinates, one of whom\nhad lately tested a new pair of shears by clipping an oblong patch on\nArthur's bay mare.", "This state of things is naturally embittering; one\ncan put up with annoyances in the house, but to have the stable made\na scene of vexation and disgust is a point beyond what human flesh\nand blood can be expected to endure long together without danger of\nmisanthropy.", "Old John's wooden, deep-wrinkled face was the first object that met\nArthur's eyes as he entered the stable-yard, and it quite poisoned for\nhim the bark of the two bloodhounds that kept watch there.", "He could\nnever speak quite patiently to the old blockhead.", "\"You must have Meg saddled for me and brought to the door at half-past\neleven, and I shall want Rattler saddled for Pym at the same time.", "Do\nyou hear?\"", "\"Yes, I hear, I hear, Cap'n,\" said old John very deliberately, following\nthe young master into the stable.", "John considered a young master as the\nnatural enemy of an old servant, and young people in general as a poor\ncontrivance for carrying on the world.", "Arthur went in for the sake of patting Meg, declining as far as possible\nto see anything in the stables, lest he should lose his temper before\nbreakfast.", "The pretty creature was in one of the inner stables, and\nturned her mild head as her master came beside her.", "Little Trot, a tiny\nspaniel, her inseparable companion in the stable, was comfortably curled\nup on her back.", "\"Well, Meg, my pretty girl,\" said Arthur, patting her neck, \"we'll have\na glorious canter this morning.\"", "\"Nay, your honour, I donna see as that can be,\" said John.", "\"Not be?", "Why not?\"", "\"Why, she's got lamed.\"", "\"Lamed, confound you!", "What do you mean?\"", "\"Why, th' lad took her too close to Dalton's hosses, an' one on 'em\nflung out at her, an' she's got her shank bruised o' the near foreleg.\"", "The judicious historian abstains from narrating precisely what ensued.", "You understand that there was a great deal of strong language, mingled\nwith soothing \"who-ho's\" while the leg was examined; that John stood\nby with quite as much emotion as if he had been a cunningly carved\ncrab-tree walking-stick, and that Arthur Donnithorne presently repassed\nthe iron gates of the pleasure-ground without singing as he went.", "He considered himself thoroughly disappointed and annoyed.", "There was not\nanother mount in the stable for himself and his servant besides Meg and\nRattler.", "It was vexatious; just when he wanted to get out of the way\nfor a week or two.", "It seemed culpable in Providence to allow such a\ncombination of circumstances.", "To be shut up at the Chase with a broken\narm when every other fellow in his regiment was enjoying himself\nat Windsor--shut up with his grandfather, who had the same sort of\naffection for him as for his parchment deeds!", "And to be disgusted at\nevery turn with the management of the house and the estate!", "In such\ncircumstances a man necessarily gets in an ill humour, and works off the\nirritation by some excess or other.", "\"Salkeld would have drunk a bottle\nof port every day,\" he muttered to himself, \"but I'm not well seasoned\nenough for that.", "Well, since I can't go to Eagledale, I'll have a gallop\non Rattler to Norburne this morning, and lunch with Gawaine.\"", "Behind this explicit resolution there lay an implicit one.", "If he lunched\nwith Gawaine and lingered chatting, he should not reach the Chase again\ntill nearly five, when Hetty would be safe out of his sight in the\nhousekeeper's room; and when she set out to go home, it would be his\nlazy time after dinner, so he should keep out of her way altogether.", "There really would have been no harm in being kind to the little thing,\nand it was worth dancing with a dozen ballroom belles only to look at\nHetty for half an hour.", "But perhaps he had better not take any more\nnotice of her; it might put notions into her head, as Irwine had hinted;\nthough Arthur, for his part, thought girls were not by any means so soft\nand easily bruised; indeed, he had generally found them twice as cool\nand cunning as he was himself.", "As for any real harm in Hetty's case, it\nwas out of the question: Arthur Donnithorne accepted his own bond for\nhimself with perfect confidence.", "So the twelve o'clock sun saw him galloping towards Norburne; and by\ngood fortune Halsell Common lay in his road and gave him some fine\nleaps for Rattler.", "Nothing like \"taking\" a few bushes and ditches for\nexorcising a demon; and it is really astonishing that the Centaurs, with\ntheir immense advantages in this way, have left so bad a reputation in\nhistory.", "After this, you will perhaps be surprised to hear that although Gawaine\nwas at home, the hand of the dial in the courtyard had scarcely\ncleared the last stroke of three when Arthur returned through the\nentrance-gates, got down from the panting Rattler, and went into the\nhouse to take a hasty luncheon.", "But I believe there have been men\nsince his day who have ridden a long way to avoid a rencontre, and then\ngalloped hastily back lest they should miss it.", "It is the favourite\nstratagem of our passions to sham a retreat, and to turn sharp round\nupon us at the moment we have made up our minds that the day is our own.", "\"The cap'n's been ridin' the devil's own pace,\" said Dalton the\ncoachman, whose person stood out in high relief as he smoked his pipe\nagainst the stable wall, when John brought up Rattler.", "\"An' I wish he'd get the devil to do's grooming for'n,\" growled John.", "\"Aye; he'd hev a deal haimabler groom nor what he has now,\" observed\nDalton--and the joke appeared to him so good that, being left alone upon\nthe scene, he continued at intervals to take his pipe from his mouth\nin order to wink at an imaginary audience and shake luxuriously with\na silent, ventral laughter, mentally rehearsing the dialogue from the\nbeginning, that he might recite it with effect in the servants' hall.", "When Arthur went up to his dressing-room again after luncheon, it was\ninevitable that the debate he had had with himself there earlier in the\nday should flash across his mind; but it was impossible for him now\nto dwell on the remembrance--impossible to recall the feelings and\nreflections which had been decisive with him then, any more than to\nrecall the peculiar scent of the air that had freshened him when he\nfirst opened his window.", "The desire to see Hetty had rushed back like an\nill-stemmed current; he was amazed himself at the force with which this\ntrivial fancy seemed to grasp him: he was even rather tremulous as he\nbrushed his hair--pooh!", "it was riding in that break-neck way.", "It was\nbecause he had made a serious affair of an idle matter, by thinking of\nit as if it were of any consequence.", "He would amuse himself by seeing\nHetty to-day, and get rid of the whole thing from his mind.", "It was all\nIrwine's fault.", "\"If Irwine had said nothing, I shouldn't have thought\nhalf so much of Hetty as of Meg's lameness.\"", "However, it was just the\nsort of day for lolling in the Hermitage, and he would go and finish\nDr. Moore's Zeluco there before dinner.", "The Hermitage stood in Fir-tree\nGrove--the way Hetty was sure to come in walking from the Hall Farm.", "So nothing could be simpler and more natural: meeting Hetty was a mere\ncircumstance of his walk, not its object.", "Arthur's shadow flitted rather faster among the sturdy oaks of the Chase\nthan might have been expected from the shadow of a tired man on a warm\nafternoon, and it was still scarcely four o'clock when he stood before\nthe tall narrow gate leading into the delicious labyrinthine wood which\nskirted one side of the Chase, and which was called Fir-tree Grove, not\nbecause the firs were many, but because they were few.", "It was a wood\nof beeches and limes, with here and there a light silver-stemmed\nbirch--just the sort of wood most haunted by the nymphs: you see their\nwhite sunlit limbs gleaming athwart the boughs, or peeping from behind\nthe smooth-sweeping outline of a tall lime; you hear their soft liquid\nlaughter--but if you look with a too curious sacrilegious eye, they\nvanish behind the silvery beeches, they make you believe that their\nvoice was only a running brooklet, perhaps they metamorphose themselves\ninto a tawny squirrel that scampers away and mocks you from the topmost\nbough.", "It was not a grove with measured grass or rolled gravel for you\nto tread upon, but with narrow, hollow-shaped, earthy paths, edged with\nfaint dashes of delicate moss--paths which look as if they were made\nby the free will of the trees and underwood, moving reverently aside to\nlook at the tall queen of the white-footed nymphs.", "It was along the broadest of these paths that Arthur Donnithorne passed,\nunder an avenue of limes and beeches.", "It was a still afternoon--the\ngolden light was lingering languidly among the upper boughs, only\nglancing down here and there on the purple pathway and its edge of\nfaintly sprinkled moss: an afternoon in which destiny disguises her cold\nawful face behind a hazy radiant veil, encloses us in warm downy\nwings, and poisons us with violet-scented breath.", "Arthur strolled along\ncarelessly, with a book under his arm, but not looking on the ground\nas meditative men are apt to do; his eyes WOULD fix themselves on the\ndistant bend in the road round which a little figure must surely appear\nbefore long.", "Ah!", "There she comes.", "First a bright patch of colour, like\na tropic bird among the boughs; then a tripping figure, with a round\nhat on, and a small basket under her arm; then a deep-blushing, almost\nfrightened, but bright-smiling girl, making her curtsy with a fluttered\nyet happy glance, as Arthur came up to her.", "If Arthur had had time\nto think at all, he would have thought it strange that he should feel\nfluttered too, be conscious of blushing too--in fact, look and feel as\nfoolish as if he had been taken by surprise instead of meeting just what\nhe expected.", "Poor things!", "It was a pity they were not in that golden age\nof childhood when they would have stood face to face, eyeing each other\nwith timid liking, then given each other a little butterfly kiss,\nand toddled off to play together.", "Arthur would have gone home to his\nsilk-curtained cot, and Hetty to her home-spun pillow, and both would\nhave slept without dreams, and to-morrow would have been a life hardly\nconscious of a yesterday.", "Arthur turned round and walked by Hetty's side without giving a reason.", "They were alone together for the first time.", "What an overpowering\npresence that first privacy is!", "He actually dared not look at this\nlittle butter-maker for the first minute or two.", "As for Hetty, her feet\nrested on a cloud, and she was borne along by warm zephyrs; she had\nforgotten her rose-coloured ribbons; she was no more conscious of her\nlimbs than if her childish soul had passed into a water-lily, resting\non a liquid bed and warmed by the midsummer sun-beams.", "It may seem a\ncontradiction, but Arthur gathered a certain carelessness and confidence\nfrom his timidity: it was an entirely different state of mind from what\nhe had expected in such a meeting with Hetty; and full as he was of\nvague feeling, there was room, in those moments of silence, for the\nthought that his previous debates and scruples were needless.", "\"You are quite right to choose this way of coming to the Chase,\" he\nsaid at last, looking down at Hetty; \"it is so much prettier as well as\nshorter than coming by either of the lodges.\"", "\"Yes, sir,\" Hetty answered, with a tremulous, almost whispering voice.", "She didn't know one bit how to speak to a gentleman like Mr. Arthur, and\nher very vanity made her more coy of speech.", "\"Do you come every week to see Mrs.", "Pomfret?\"", "\"Yes, sir, every Thursday, only when she's got to go out with Miss\nDonnithorne.\"", "\"And she's teaching you something, is she?\"", "\"Yes, sir, the lace-mending as she learnt abroad, and the\nstocking-mending--it looks just like the stocking, you can't tell it's\nbeen mended; and she teaches me cutting-out too.\"", "\"What!", "are YOU going to be a lady's maid?\"", "\"I should like to be one very much indeed.\"", "Hetty spoke more audibly\nnow, but still rather tremulously; she thought, perhaps she seemed as\nstupid to Captain Donnithorne as Luke Britton did to her.", "\"I suppose Mrs. Pomfret always expects you at this time?\"", "\"She expects me at four o'clock.", "I'm rather late to-day, because my aunt\ncouldn't spare me; but the regular time is four, because that gives us\ntime before Miss Donnithorne's bell rings.\"", "\"Ah, then, I must not keep you now, else I should like to show you the\nHermitage.", "Did you ever see it?\"", "\"No, sir.\"", "\"This is the walk where we turn up to it.", "But we must not go now.", "I'll\nshow it you some other time, if you'd like to see it.\"", "\"Yes, please, sir.\"", "\"Do you always come back this way in the evening, or are you afraid to\ncome so lonely a road?\"", "\"Oh no, sir, it's never late; I always set out by eight o'clock, and\nit's so light now in the evening.", "My aunt would be angry with me if I\ndidn't get home before nine.\"", "\"Perhaps Craig, the gardener, comes to take care of you?\"", "A deep blush overspread Hetty's face and neck.", "\"I'm sure he doesn't;\nI'm sure he never did; I wouldn't let him; I don't like him,\" she said\nhastily, and the tears of vexation had come so fast that before she had\ndone speaking a bright drop rolled down her hot cheek.", "Then she felt\nashamed to death that she was crying, and for one long instant her\nhappiness was all gone.", "But in the next she felt an arm steal round her,\nand a gentle voice said, \"Why, Hetty, what makes you cry?", "I didn't mean\nto vex you.", "I wouldn't vex you for the world, you little blossom.", "Come,\ndon't cry; look at me, else I shall think you won't forgive me.\"", "Arthur had laid his hand on the soft arm that was nearest to him, and\nwas stooping towards Hetty with a look of coaxing entreaty.", "Hetty lifted\nher long dewy lashes, and met the eyes that were bent towards her with a\nsweet, timid, beseeching look.", "What a space of time those three moments\nwere while their eyes met and his arms touched her!", "Love is such a\nsimple thing when we have only one-and-twenty summers and a sweet girl\nof seventeen trembles under our glance, as if she were a bud first\nopening her heart with wondering rapture to the morning.", "Such young\nunfurrowed souls roll to meet each other like two velvet peaches that\ntouch softly and are at rest; they mingle as easily as two brooklets\nthat ask for nothing but to entwine themselves and ripple with\never-interlacing curves in the leafiest hiding-places.", "While Arthur\ngazed into Hetty's dark beseeching eyes, it made no difference to him\nwhat sort of English she spoke; and even if hoops and powder had been\nin fashion, he would very likely not have been sensible just then that\nHetty wanted those signs of high breeding.", "But they started asunder with beating hearts: something had fallen on\nthe ground with a rattling noise; it was Hetty's basket; all her little\nworkwoman's matters were scattered on the path, some of them showing\na capability of rolling to great lengths.", "There was much to be done in\npicking up, and not a word was spoken; but when Arthur hung the basket\nover her arm again, the poor child felt a strange difference in his look\nand manner.", "He just pressed her hand, and said, with a look and tone\nthat were almost chilling to her, \"I have been hindering you; I must not\nkeep you any longer now.", "You will be expected at the house.", "Good-bye.\"", "Without waiting for her to speak, he turned away from her and hurried\nback towards the road that led to the Hermitage, leaving Hetty to pursue\nher way in a strange dream that seemed to have begun in bewildering\ndelight and was now passing into contrarieties and sadness.", "Would he\nmeet her again as she came home?", "Why had he spoken almost as if he were\ndispleased with her?", "And then run away so suddenly?", "She cried, hardly\nknowing why.", "Arthur too was very uneasy, but his feelings were lit up for him by a\nmore distinct consciousness.", "He hurried to the Hermitage, which stood in\nthe heart of the wood, unlocked the door with a hasty wrench, slammed\nit after him, pitched Zeluco into the most distant corner, and thrusting\nhis right hand into his pocket, first walked four or five times up and\ndown the scanty length of the little room, and then seated himself on\nthe ottoman in an uncomfortable stiff way, as we often do when we wish\nnot to abandon ourselves to feeling.", "He was getting in love with Hetty--that was quite plain.", "He was ready\nto pitch everything else--no matter where--for the sake of surrendering\nhimself to this delicious feeling which had just disclosed itself.", "It\nwas no use blinking the fact now--they would get too fond of each other,\nif he went on taking notice of her--and what would come of it?", "He should\nhave to go away in a few weeks, and the poor little thing would be\nmiserable.", "He MUST NOT see her alone again; he must keep out of her way.", "What a fool he was for coming back from Gawaine's!", "He got up and threw open the windows, to let in the soft breath of the\nafternoon, and the healthy scent of the firs that made a belt round the\nHermitage.", "The soft air did not help his resolution, as he leaned out\nand looked into the leafy distance.", "But he considered his resolution\nsufficiently fixed: there was no need to debate with himself any longer.", "He had made up his mind not to meet Hetty again; and now he might\ngive himself up to thinking how immensely agreeable it would be if\ncircumstances were different--how pleasant it would have been to meet\nher this evening as she came back, and put his arm round her again and\nlook into her sweet face.", "He wondered if the dear little thing were\nthinking of him too--twenty to one she was.", "How beautiful her eyes were\nwith the tear on their lashes!", "He would like to satisfy his soul for a\nday with looking at them, and he MUST see her again--he must see her,\nsimply to remove any false impression from her mind about his manner\nto her just now.", "He would behave in a quiet, kind way to her--just to\nprevent her from going home with her head full of wrong fancies.", "Yes,\nthat would be the best thing to do after all.", "It was a long while--more than an hour before Arthur had brought his\nmeditations to this point; but once arrived there, he could stay no\nlonger at the Hermitage.", "The time must be filled up with movement until\nhe should see Hetty again.", "And it was already late enough to go and\ndress for dinner, for his grandfather's dinner-hour was six." ]

[ "He will never be a courtier of\nVice, and wear her orders in his button-hole.", "\"Not be?", "If he lunched\nwith Gawaine and lingered chatting, he should not reach the Chase again\ntill nearly five, when Hetty would be safe out of his sight in the\nhousekeeper's room; and when she set out to go home, it would be his\nlazy time after dinner, so he should keep out of her way altogether.", "She didn't know one bit how to speak to a gentleman like Mr. Arthur, and\nher very vanity made her more coy of speech.", "While Arthur\ngazed into Hetty's dark beseeching eyes, it made no difference to him\nwhat sort of English she spoke; and even if hoops and powder had been\nin fashion, he would very likely not have been sensible just then that\nHetty wanted those signs of high breeding.", "He just pressed her hand, and said, with a look and tone\nthat were almost chilling to her, \"I have been hindering you; I must not\nkeep you any longer now.", "Good-bye.\"", "What a fool he was for coming back from Gawaine's!", "But he considered his resolution\nsufficiently fixed: there was no need to debate with himself any longer.", "He would behave in a quiet, kind way to her--just to\nprevent her from going home with her head full of wrong fancies." ]

[ "The time must be filled up with movement until\nhe should see Hetty again.", "There really would have been no harm in being kind to the little thing,\nand it was worth dancing with a dozen ballroom belles only to look at\nHetty for half an hour.", "If Arthur had had time\nto think at all, he would have thought it strange that he should feel\nfluttered too, be conscious of blushing too--in fact, look and feel as\nfoolish as if he had been taken by surprise instead of meeting just what\nhe expected.", "Why not?\"", "Ah!", "Old John's wooden, deep-wrinkled face was the first object that met\nArthur's eyes as he entered the stable-yard, and it quite poisoned for\nhim the bark of the two bloodhounds that kept watch there.", "But perhaps he had better not take any more\nnotice of her; it might put notions into her head, as Irwine had hinted;\nthough Arthur, for his part, thought girls were not by any means so soft\nand easily bruised; indeed, he had generally found them twice as cool\nand cunning as he was himself.", "You perceive that Arthur Donnithorne was \"a good fellow\"--all his\ncollege friends thought him such.", "Arthur would have gone home to his\nsilk-curtained cot, and Hetty to her home-spun pillow, and both would\nhave slept without dreams, and to-morrow would have been a life hardly\nconscious of a yesterday.", "He couldn't bear to see any one\nuncomfortable; he would have been sorry even in his angriest moods for\nany harm to happen to his grandfather; and his Aunt Lydia herself had\nthe benefit of that soft-heartedness which he bore towards the whole\nsex." ]

[ "\"If Irwine had said nothing, I shouldn't have thought\nhalf so much of Hetty as of Meg's lameness.\"", "However, it was just the\nsort of day for lolling in the Hermitage, and he would go and finish\nDr. Moore's Zeluco there before dinner.", "The Hermitage stood in Fir-tree\nGrove--the way Hetty was sure to come in walking from the Hall Farm.", "So nothing could be simpler and more natural: meeting Hetty was a mere\ncircumstance of his walk, not its object.", "Arthur's shadow flitted rather faster among the sturdy oaks of the Chase\nthan might have been expected from the shadow of a tired man on a warm\nafternoon, and it was still scarcely four o'clock when he stood before\nthe tall narrow gate leading into the delicious labyrinthine wood which\nskirted one side of the Chase, and which was called Fir-tree Grove, not\nbecause the firs were many, but because they were few.", "It was a wood\nof beeches and limes, with here and there a light silver-stemmed\nbirch--just the sort of wood most haunted by the nymphs: you see their\nwhite sunlit limbs gleaming athwart the boughs, or peeping from behind\nthe smooth-sweeping outline of a tall lime; you hear their soft liquid\nlaughter--but if you look with a too curious sacrilegious eye, they\nvanish behind the silvery beeches, they make you believe that their\nvoice was only a running brooklet, perhaps they metamorphose themselves\ninto a tawny squirrel that scampers away and mocks you from the topmost\nbough.", "It was not a grove with measured grass or rolled gravel for you\nto tread upon, but with narrow, hollow-shaped, earthy paths, edged with\nfaint dashes of delicate moss--paths which look as if they were made\nby the free will of the trees and underwood, moving reverently aside to\nlook at the tall queen of the white-footed nymphs.", "It was along the broadest of these paths that Arthur Donnithorne passed,\nunder an avenue of limes and beeches.", "It was a still afternoon--the\ngolden light was lingering languidly among the upper boughs, only\nglancing down here and there on the purple pathway and its edge of\nfaintly sprinkled moss: an afternoon in which destiny disguises her cold\nawful face behind a hazy radiant veil, encloses us in warm downy\nwings, and poisons us with violet-scented breath.", "Arthur strolled along\ncarelessly, with a book under his arm, but not looking on the ground\nas meditative men are apt to do; his eyes WOULD fix themselves on the\ndistant bend in the road round which a little figure must surely appear\nbefore long.", "Ah!" ]

[ "\n\nTHAT same Thursday morning, as Arthur Donnithorne was moving about in\nhis dressing-room seeing his well-looking British person reflected in\nthe old-fashioned mirrors, and stared at, from a dingy olive-green piece\nof tapestry, by Pharaoh's daughter and her maidens, who ought to have\nbeen minding the infant Moses, he was holding a discussion with himself,\nwhich, by the time his valet was tying the black silk sling over his\nshoulder, had issued in a distinct practical resolution.", "\"I mean to go to Eagledale and fish for a week or so,\" he said aloud.", "\"I shall take you with me, Pym, and set off this morning; so be ready by\nhalf-past eleven.\"", "The low whistle, which had assisted him in arriving at this resolution,\nhere broke out into his loudest ringing tenor, and the corridor, as he\nhurried along it, echoed to his favourite song from the Beggar's Opera,\n\"When the heart of a man is oppressed with care.\"", "Not an heroic strain;\nnevertheless Arthur felt himself very heroic as he strode towards the\nstables to give his orders about the horses.", "His own approbation was\nnecessary to him, and it was not an approbation to be enjoyed quite\ngratuitously; it must be won by a fair amount of merit.", "He had never yet\nforfeited that approbation, and he had considerable reliance on his own\nvirtues.", "No young man could confess his faults more candidly; candour\nwas one of his favourite virtues; and how can a man's candour be seen\nin all its lustre unless he has a few failings to talk of?", "But he had\nan agreeable confidence that his faults were all of a generous\nkind--impetuous, warm-blooded, leonine; never crawling, crafty,\nreptilian.", "It was not possible for Arthur Donnithorne to do anything\nmean, dastardly, or cruel.", "But he considered his resolution\nsufficiently fixed: there was no need to debate with himself any longer.", "He had made up his mind not to meet Hetty again; and now he might\ngive himself up to thinking how immensely agreeable it would be if\ncircumstances were different--how pleasant it would have been to meet\nher this evening as she came back, and put his arm round her again and\nlook into her sweet face.", "He wondered if the dear little thing were\nthinking of him too--twenty to one she was.", "How beautiful her eyes were\nwith the tear on their lashes!", "He would like to satisfy his soul for a\nday with looking at them, and he MUST see her again--he must see her,\nsimply to remove any false impression from her mind about his manner\nto her just now.", "He would behave in a quiet, kind way to her--just to\nprevent her from going home with her head full of wrong fancies.", "Yes,\nthat would be the best thing to do after all.", "It was a long while--more than an hour before Arthur had brought his\nmeditations to this point; but once arrived there, he could stay no\nlonger at the Hermitage.", "The time must be filled up with movement until\nhe should see Hetty again.", "And it was already late enough to go and\ndress for dinner, for his grandfather's dinner-hour was six." ]

[ "\n\nIT happened that Mrs. Pomfret had had a slight quarrel with Mrs.\nBest, the housekeeper, on this Thursday morning--a fact which had two\nconsequences highly convenient to Hetty.", "It caused Mrs. Pomfret to have\ntea sent up to her own room, and it inspired that exemplary lady's maid\nwith so lively a recollection of former passages in Mrs. Best's conduct,\nand of dialogues in which Mrs. Best had decidedly the inferiority as an\ninterlocutor with Mrs. Pomfret, that Hetty required no more presence\nof mind than was demanded for using her needle, and throwing in an\noccasional \"yes\" or \"no.\"", "She would have wanted to put on her hat\nearlier than usual; only she had told Captain Donnithorne that she\nusually set out about eight o'clock, and if he SHOULD go to the Grove\nagain expecting to see her, and she should be gone!", "Would he come?", "Her\nlittle butterfly soul fluttered incessantly between memory and dubious\nexpectation.", "At last the minute-hand of the old-fashioned brazen-faced\ntimepiece was on the last quarter to eight, and there was every reason\nfor its being time to get ready for departure.", "Even Mrs. Pomfret's\npreoccupied mind did not prevent her from noticing what looked like a\nnew flush of beauty in the little thing as she tied on her hat before\nthe looking-glass.", "\"That child gets prettier and prettier every day, I do believe,\" was her\ninward comment.", "\"The more's the pity.", "She'll get neither a place nor\na husband any the sooner for it.", "Sober well-to-do men don't like such\npretty wives.", "When I was a girl, I was more admired than if I had been\nso very pretty.", "However, she's reason to be grateful to me for teaching\nher something to get her bread with, better than farm-house work.", "They\nalways told me I was good-natured--and that's the truth, and to my hurt\ntoo, else there's them in this house that wouldn't be here now to lord\nit over me in the housekeeper's room.\"", "Hetty walked hastily across the short space of pleasure-ground which she\nhad to traverse, dreading to meet Mr. Craig, to whom she could hardly\nhave spoken civilly.", "How relieved she was when she had got safely under\nthe oaks and among the fern of the Chase!", "Even then she was as ready to\nbe startled as the deer that leaped away at her approach.", "She thought\nnothing of the evening light that lay gently in the grassy alleys\nbetween the fern, and made the beauty of their living green more visible\nthan it had been in the overpowering flood of noon: she thought of\nnothing that was present.", "She only saw something that was possible: Mr.\nArthur Donnithorne coming to meet her again along the Fir-tree Grove.", "That was the foreground of Hetty's picture; behind it lay a bright hazy\nsomething--days that were not to be as the other days of her life had\nbeen.", "It was as if she had been wooed by a river-god, who might any\ntime take her to his wondrous halls below a watery heaven.", "There was no\nknowing what would come, since this strange entrancing delight had come.", "If a chest full of lace and satin and jewels had been sent her from some\nunknown source, how could she but have thought that her whole lot was\ngoing to change, and that to-morrow some still more bewildering joy\nwould befall her?", "Hetty had never read a novel; if she had ever seen\none, I think the words would have been too hard for her; how then could\nshe find a shape for her expectations?", "They were as formless as the\nsweet languid odours of the garden at the Chase, which had floated past\nher as she walked by the gate.", "She is at another gate now--that leading into Fir-tree Grove.", "She enters\nthe wood, where it is already twilight, and at every step she takes, the\nfear at her heart becomes colder.", "If he should not come!", "Oh, how dreary\nit was--the thought of going out at the other end of the wood, into the\nunsheltered road, without having seen him.", "She reaches the first turning\ntowards the Hermitage, walking slowly--he is not there.", "She hates the\nleveret that runs across the path; she hates everything that is not what\nshe longs for.", "She walks on, happy whenever she is coming to a bend in\nthe road, for perhaps he is behind it.", "No.", "She is beginning to cry: her\nheart has swelled so, the tears stand in her eyes; she gives one great\nsob, while the corners of her mouth quiver, and the tears roll down.", "She doesn't know that there is another turning to the Hermitage, that\nshe is close against it, and that Arthur Donnithorne is only a few yards\nfrom her, full of one thought, and a thought of which she only is the\nobject.", "He is going to see Hetty again: that is the longing which has\nbeen growing through the last three hours to a feverish thirst.", "Not,\nof course, to speak in the caressing way into which he had unguardedly\nfallen before dinner, but to set things right with her by a kindness\nwhich would have the air of friendly civility, and prevent her from\nrunning away with wrong notions about their mutual relation.", "If Hetty had known he was there, she would not have cried; and it would\nhave been better, for then Arthur would perhaps have behaved as wisely\nas he had intended.", "As it was, she started when he appeared at the end\nof the side-alley, and looked up at him with two great drops rolling\ndown her cheeks.", "What else could he do but speak to her in a soft,\nsoothing tone, as if she were a bright-eyed spaniel with a thorn in her\nfoot?", "\"Has something frightened you, Hetty?", "Have you seen anything in the\nwood?", "Don't be frightened--I'll take care of you now.\"", "Hetty was blushing so, she didn't know whether she was happy or\nmiserable.", "To be crying again--what did gentlemen think of girls who\ncried in that way?", "She felt unable even to say \"no,\" but could only look\naway from him and wipe the tears from her cheek.", "Not before a great drop\nhad fallen on her rose-coloured strings--she knew that quite well.", "\"Come, be cheerful again.", "Smile at me, and tell me what's the matter.", "Come, tell me.\"", "Hetty turned her head towards him, whispered, \"I thought you wouldn't\ncome,\" and slowly got courage to lift her eyes to him.", "That look was too\nmuch: he must have had eyes of Egyptian granite not to look too lovingly\nin return.", "\"You little frightened bird!", "Little tearful rose!", "Silly pet!", "You won't\ncry again, now I'm with you, will you?\"", "Ah, he doesn't know in the least what he is saying.", "This is not what\nhe meant to say.", "His arm is stealing round the waist again; it is\ntightening its clasp; he is bending his face nearer and nearer to the\nround cheek; his lips are meeting those pouting child-lips, and for a\nlong moment time has vanished.", "He may be a shepherd in Arcadia for aught\nhe knows, he may be the first youth kissing the first maiden, he may be\nEros himself, sipping the lips of Psyche--it is all one.", "There was no speaking for minutes after.", "They walked along with beating\nhearts till they came within sight of the gate at the end of the wood.", "Then they looked at each other, not quite as they had looked before, for\nin their eyes there was the memory of a kiss.", "But already something bitter had begun to mingle itself with the\nfountain of sweets: already Arthur was uncomfortable.", "He took his arm\nfrom Hetty's waist, and said, \"Here we are, almost at the end of the\nGrove.", "I wonder how late it is,\" he added, pulling out his watch.", "\"Twenty minutes past eight--but my watch is too fast.", "However, I'd\nbetter not go any further now.", "Trot along quickly with your little feet,\nand get home safely.", "Good-bye.\"", "He took her hand, and looked at her half-sadly, half with a constrained\nsmile.", "Hetty's eyes seemed to beseech him not to go away yet; but he\npatted her cheek and said \"Good-bye\" again.", "She was obliged to turn away\nfrom him and go on.", "As for Arthur, he rushed back through the wood, as if he wanted to put\na wide space between himself and Hetty.", "He would not go to the Hermitage\nagain; he remembered how he had debated with himself there before\ndinner, and it had all come to nothing--worse than nothing.", "He walked\nright on into the Chase, glad to get out of the Grove, which surely was\nhaunted by his evil genius.", "Those beeches and smooth limes--there was\nsomething enervating in the very sight of them; but the strong knotted\nold oaks had no bending languor in them--the sight of them would give\na man some energy.", "Arthur lost himself among the narrow openings in\nthe fern, winding about without seeking any issue, till the twilight\ndeepened almost to night under the great boughs, and the hare looked\nblack as it darted across his path.", "He was feeling much more strongly than he had done in the morning: it\nwas as if his horse had wheeled round from a leap and dared to dispute\nhis mastery.", "He was dissatisfied with himself, irritated, mortified.", "He\nno sooner fixed his mind on the probable consequences of giving way to\nthe emotions which had stolen over him to-day--of continuing to notice\nHetty, of allowing himself any opportunity for such slight caresses as\nhe had been betrayed into already--than he refused to believe such a\nfuture possible for himself.", "To flirt with Hetty was a very different\naffair from flirting with a pretty girl of his own station: that was\nunderstood to be an amusement on both sides, or, if it became serious,\nthere was no obstacle to marriage.", "But this little thing would be spoken\nill of directly, if she happened to be seen walking with him; and then\nthose excellent people, the Poysers, to whom a good name was as precious\nas if they had the best blood in the land in their veins--he should hate\nhimself if he made a scandal of that sort, on the estate that was to be\nhis own some day, and among tenants by whom he liked, above all, to be\nrespected.", "He could no more believe that he should so fall in his own\nesteem than that he should break both his legs and go on crutches all\nthe rest of his life.", "He couldn't imagine himself in that position; it\nwas too odious, too unlike him.", "And even if no one knew anything about it, they might get too fond of\neach other, and then there could be nothing but the misery of parting,\nafter all.", "No gentleman, out of a ballad, could marry a farmer's niece.", "There must be an end to the whole thing at once.", "It was too foolish.", "And yet he had been so determined this morning, before he went to\nGawaine's; and while he was there something had taken hold of him and\nmade him gallop back.", "It seemed he couldn't quite depend on his own\nresolution, as he had thought he could; he almost wished his arm would\nget painful again, and then he should think of nothing but the comfort\nit would be to get rid of the pain.", "There was no knowing what impulse\nmight seize him to-morrow, in this confounded place, where there was\nnothing to occupy him imperiously through the livelong day.", "What could\nhe do to secure himself from any more of this folly?", "There was but one resource.", "He would go and tell Irwine--tell him\neverything.", "The mere act of telling it would make it seem trivial; the\ntemptation would vanish, as the charm of fond words vanishes when one\nrepeats them to the indifferent.", "In every way it would help him to tell\nIrwine.", "He would ride to Broxton Rectory the first thing after breakfast\nto-morrow.", "Arthur had no sooner come to this determination than he began to think\nwhich of the paths would lead him home, and made as short a walk thither\nas he could.", "He felt sure he should sleep now: he had had enough to tire\nhim, and there was no more need for him to think." ]

[ "They\nalways told me I was good-natured--and that's the truth, and to my hurt\ntoo, else there's them in this house that wouldn't be here now to lord\nit over me in the housekeeper's room.\"", "There was no\nknowing what would come, since this strange entrancing delight had come.", "Hetty had never read a novel; if she had ever seen\none, I think the words would have been too hard for her; how then could\nshe find a shape for her expectations?", "She felt unable even to say \"no,\" but could only look\naway from him and wipe the tears from her cheek.", "Silly pet!", "His arm is stealing round the waist again; it is\ntightening its clasp; he is bending his face nearer and nearer to the\nround cheek; his lips are meeting those pouting child-lips, and for a\nlong moment time has vanished.", "He took her hand, and looked at her half-sadly, half with a constrained\nsmile.", "And even if no one knew anything about it, they might get too fond of\neach other, and then there could be nothing but the misery of parting,\nafter all.", "No gentleman, out of a ballad, could marry a farmer's niece.", "And yet he had been so determined this morning, before he went to\nGawaine's; and while he was there something had taken hold of him and\nmade him gallop back." ]

[ "Come, tell me.\"", "He felt sure he should sleep now: he had had enough to tire\nhim, and there was no more need for him to think.", "He would ride to Broxton Rectory the first thing after breakfast\nto-morrow.", "She walks on, happy whenever she is coming to a bend in\nthe road, for perhaps he is behind it.", "He took his arm\nfrom Hetty's waist, and said, \"Here we are, almost at the end of the\nGrove.", "Then they looked at each other, not quite as they had looked before, for\nin their eyes there was the memory of a kiss.", "Hetty had never read a novel; if she had ever seen\none, I think the words would have been too hard for her; how then could\nshe find a shape for her expectations?", "She hates the\nleveret that runs across the path; she hates everything that is not what\nshe longs for.", "She was obliged to turn away\nfrom him and go on.", "She felt unable even to say \"no,\" but could only look\naway from him and wipe the tears from her cheek." ]

[ "She felt unable even to say \"no,\" but could only look\naway from him and wipe the tears from her cheek.", "Not before a great drop\nhad fallen on her rose-coloured strings--she knew that quite well.", "\"Come, be cheerful again.", "Smile at me, and tell me what's the matter.", "Come, tell me.\"", "Hetty turned her head towards him, whispered, \"I thought you wouldn't\ncome,\" and slowly got courage to lift her eyes to him.", "That look was too\nmuch: he must have had eyes of Egyptian granite not to look too lovingly\nin return.", "\"You little frightened bird!", "Little tearful rose!", "Silly pet!", "You won't\ncry again, now I'm with you, will you?\"" ]

[ "\n\nIT happened that Mrs. Pomfret had had a slight quarrel with Mrs.\nBest, the housekeeper, on this Thursday morning--a fact which had two\nconsequences highly convenient to Hetty.", "It caused Mrs. Pomfret to have\ntea sent up to her own room, and it inspired that exemplary lady's maid\nwith so lively a recollection of former passages in Mrs. Best's conduct,\nand of dialogues in which Mrs. Best had decidedly the inferiority as an\ninterlocutor with Mrs. Pomfret, that Hetty required no more presence\nof mind than was demanded for using her needle, and throwing in an\noccasional \"yes\" or \"no.\"", "She would have wanted to put on her hat\nearlier than usual; only she had told Captain Donnithorne that she\nusually set out about eight o'clock, and if he SHOULD go to the Grove\nagain expecting to see her, and she should be gone!", "Would he come?", "Her\nlittle butterfly soul fluttered incessantly between memory and dubious\nexpectation.", "At last the minute-hand of the old-fashioned brazen-faced\ntimepiece was on the last quarter to eight, and there was every reason\nfor its being time to get ready for departure.", "Even Mrs. Pomfret's\npreoccupied mind did not prevent her from noticing what looked like a\nnew flush of beauty in the little thing as she tied on her hat before\nthe looking-glass.", "\"That child gets prettier and prettier every day, I do believe,\" was her\ninward comment.", "\"The more's the pity.", "She'll get neither a place nor\na husband any the sooner for it.", "It seemed he couldn't quite depend on his own\nresolution, as he had thought he could; he almost wished his arm would\nget painful again, and then he should think of nothing but the comfort\nit would be to get rid of the pain.", "There was no knowing what impulse\nmight seize him to-morrow, in this confounded place, where there was\nnothing to occupy him imperiously through the livelong day.", "What could\nhe do to secure himself from any more of this folly?", "There was but one resource.", "He would go and tell Irwine--tell him\neverything.", "The mere act of telling it would make it seem trivial; the\ntemptation would vanish, as the charm of fond words vanishes when one\nrepeats them to the indifferent.", "In every way it would help him to tell\nIrwine.", "He would ride to Broxton Rectory the first thing after breakfast\nto-morrow.", "Arthur had no sooner come to this determination than he began to think\nwhich of the paths would lead him home, and made as short a walk thither\nas he could.", "He felt sure he should sleep now: he had had enough to tire\nhim, and there was no more need for him to think." ]

[ "\n\nWHILE that parting in the wood was happening, there was a parting in the\ncottage too, and Lisbeth had stood with Adam at the door, straining her\naged eyes to get the last glimpse of Seth and Dinah, as they mounted the\nopposite slope.", "\"Eh, I'm loath to see the last on her,\" she said to Adam, as they turned\ninto the house again.", "\"I'd ha' been willin' t' ha' her about me till\nI died and went to lie by my old man.", "She'd make it easier dyin'--she\nspakes so gentle an' moves about so still.", "I could be fast sure that\npictur' was drawed for her i' thy new Bible--th' angel a-sittin' on the\nbig stone by the grave.", "Eh, I wouldna mind ha'in a daughter like that;\nbut nobody ne'er marries them as is good for aught.\"", "\"Well, Mother, I hope thee WILT have her for a daughter; for Seth's got\na liking for her, and I hope she'll get a liking for Seth in time.\"", "\"Where's th' use o' talkin' a-that'n?", "She caresna for Seth.", "She's goin'\naway twenty mile aff.", "How's she to get a likin' for him, I'd like to\nknow?", "No more nor the cake 'ull come wi'out the leaven.", "Thy figurin'\nbooks might ha' tould thee better nor that, I should think, else thee\nmightst as well read the commin print, as Seth allays does.\"", "\"Nay, Mother,\" said Adam, laughing, \"the figures tell us a fine deal,\nand we couldn't go far without 'em, but they don't tell us about folks's\nfeelings.", "It's a nicer job to calculate THEM.", "But Seth's as good-hearted\na lad as ever handled a tool, and plenty o' sense, and good-looking too;\nand he's got the same way o' thinking as Dinah.", "He deserves to win her,\nthough there's no denying she's a rare bit o' workmanship.", "You don't see\nsuch women turned off the wheel every day.\"", "\"Eh, thee't allays stick up for thy brother.", "Thee'st been just the\nsame, e'er sin' ye war little uns together.", "Thee wart allays for halving\niverything wi' him.", "But what's Seth got to do with marryin', as is on'y\nthree-an'-twenty?", "He'd more need to learn an' lay by sixpence.", "An' as\nfor his desarving her--she's two 'ear older nor Seth: she's pretty\nnear as old as thee.", "But that's the way; folks mun allays choose by\ncontrairies, as if they must be sorted like the pork--a bit o' good meat\nwi' a bit o' offal.\"", "To the feminine mind in some of its moods, all things that might be\nreceive a temporary charm from comparison with what is; and since Adam\ndid not want to marry Dinah himself, Lisbeth felt rather peevish on that\nscore--as peevish as she would have been if he HAD wanted to marry\nher, and so shut himself out from Mary Burge and the partnership as\neffectually as by marrying Hetty.", "It was more than half-past eight when Adam and his mother were talking\nin this way, so that when, about ten minutes later, Hetty reached the\nturning of the lane that led to the farmyard gate, she saw Dinah and\nSeth approaching it from the opposite direction, and waited for them to\ncome up to her.", "They, too, like Hetty, had lingered a little in their\nwalk, for Dinah was trying to speak words of comfort and strength to\nSeth in these parting moments.", "But when they saw Hetty, they paused and\nshook hands; Seth turned homewards, and Dinah came on alone.", "\"Seth Bede would have come and spoken to you, my dear,\" she said, as she\nreached Hetty, \"but he's very full of trouble to-night.\"", "Hetty answered with a dimpled smile, as if she did not quite know what\nhad been said; and it made a strange contrast to see that sparkling\nself-engrossed loveliness looked at by Dinah's calm pitying face, with\nits open glance which told that her heart lived in no cherished secrets\nof its own, but in feelings which it longed to share with all the world.", "Hetty liked Dinah as well as she had ever liked any woman; how was it\npossible to feel otherwise towards one who always put in a kind word for\nher when her aunt was finding fault, and who was always ready to take\nTotty off her hands--little tiresome Totty, that was made such a pet of\nby every one, and that Hetty could see no interest in at all?", "Dinah\nhad never said anything disapproving or reproachful to Hetty during her\nwhole visit to the Hall Farm; she had talked to her a great deal in a\nserious way, but Hetty didn't mind that much, for she never listened:\nwhatever Dinah might say, she almost always stroked Hetty's cheek after\nit, and wanted to do some mending for her.", "Dinah was a riddle to her;\nHetty looked at her much in the same way as one might imagine a little\nperching bird that could only flutter from bough to bough, to look at\nthe swoop of the swallow or the mounting of the lark; but she did not\ncare to solve such riddles, any more than she cared to know what was\nmeant by the pictures in the Pilgrim's Progress, or in the old folio\nBible that Marty and Tommy always plagued her about on a Sunday.", "Dinah took her hand now and drew it under her own arm.", "\"You look very happy to-night, dear child,\" she said.", "\"I shall think of\nyou often when I'm at Snowfield, and see your face before me as it is\nnow.", "It's a strange thing--sometimes when I'm quite alone, sitting in\nmy room with my eyes closed, or walking over the hills, the people I've\nseen and known, if it's only been for a few days, are brought before me,\nand I hear their voices and see them look and move almost plainer than\nI ever did when they were really with me so as I could touch them.", "And\nthen my heart is drawn out towards them, and I feel their lot as if\nit was my own, and I take comfort in spreading it before the Lord and\nresting in His love, on their behalf as well as my own.", "And so I feel\nsure you will come before me.\"", "She paused a moment, but Hetty said nothing.", "\"It has been a very precious time to me,\" Dinah went on, \"last night\nand to-day--seeing two such good sons as Adam and Seth Bede.", "They are so\ntender and thoughtful for their aged mother.", "And she has been telling\nme what Adam has done, for these many years, to help his father and his\nbrother; it's wonderful what a spirit of wisdom and knowledge he has,\nand how he's ready to use it all in behalf of them that are feeble.", "And\nI'm sure he has a loving spirit too.", "I've noticed it often among my\nown people round Snowfield, that the strong, skilful men are often the\ngentlest to the women and children; and it's pretty to see 'em carrying\nthe little babies as if they were no heavier than little birds.", "And the\nbabies always seem to like the strong arm best.", "I feel sure it would be\nso with Adam Bede.", "Don't you think so, Hetty?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty abstractedly, for her mind had been all the while\nin the wood, and she would have found it difficult to say what she was\nassenting to.", "Dinah saw she was not inclined to talk, but there would\nnot have been time to say much more, for they were now at the yard-gate.", "The still twilight, with its dying western red and its few faint\nstruggling stars, rested on the farm-yard, where there was not a sound\nto be heard but the stamping of the cart-horses in the stable.", "It was\nabout twenty minutes after sunset.", "The fowls were all gone to roost,\nand the bull-dog lay stretched on the straw outside his kennel, with\nthe black-and-tan terrier by his side, when the falling-to of the gate\ndisturbed them and set them barking, like good officials, before they\nhad any distinct knowledge of the reason.", "The barking had its effect in the house, for, as Dinah and Hetty\napproached, the doorway was filled by a portly figure, with a ruddy\nblack-eyed face which bore in it the possibility of looking extremely\nacute, and occasionally contemptuous, on market-days, but had now a\npredominant after-supper expression of hearty good-nature.", "It is well\nknown that great scholars who have shown the most pitiless acerbity in\ntheir criticism of other men's scholarship have yet been of a relenting\nand indulgent temper in private life; and I have heard of a learned man\nmeekly rocking the twins in the cradle with his left hand, while with\nhis right he inflicted the most lacerating sarcasms on an opponent who\nhad betrayed a brutal ignorance of Hebrew.", "Weaknesses and errors must\nbe forgiven--alas!", "they are not alien to us--but the man who takes the\nwrong side on the momentous subject of the Hebrew points must be treated\nas the enemy of his race.", "There was the same sort of antithetic mixture\nin Martin Poyser: he was of so excellent a disposition that he had been\nkinder and more respectful than ever to his old father since he had made\na deed of gift of all his property, and no man judged his neighbours\nmore charitably on all personal matters; but for a farmer, like Luke\nBritton, for example, whose fallows were not well cleaned, who didn't\nknow the rudiments of hedging and ditching, and showed but a small share\nof judgment in the purchase of winter stock, Martin Poyser was as hard\nand implacable as the north-east wind.", "Luke Britton could not make a\nremark, even on the weather, but Martin Poyser detected in it a taint\nof that unsoundness and general ignorance which was palpable in all his\nfarming operations.", "He hated to see the fellow lift the pewter pint to\nhis mouth in the bar of the Royal George on market-day, and the mere\nsight of him on the other side of the road brought a severe and critical\nexpression into his black eyes, as different as possible from the\nfatherly glance he bent on his two nieces as they approached the door.", "Mr. Poyser had smoked his evening pipe, and now held his hands in his\npockets, as the only resource of a man who continues to sit up after the\nday's business is done.", "\"Why, lasses, ye're rather late to-night,\" he said, when they reached\nthe little gate leading into the causeway.", "\"The mother's begun to fidget\nabout you, an' she's got the little un ill. An' how did you leave the\nold woman Bede, Dinah?", "Is she much down about the old man?", "He'd been but\na poor bargain to her this five year.\"", "\"She's been greatly distressed for the loss of him,\" said Dinah, \"but\nshe's seemed more comforted to-day.", "Her son Adam's been at home all day,\nworking at his father's coffin, and she loves to have him at home.", "She's\nbeen talking about him to me almost all the day.", "She has a loving heart,\nthough she's sorely given to fret and be fearful.", "I wish she had a surer\ntrust to comfort her in her old age.\"", "\"Adam's sure enough,\" said Mr. Poyser, misunderstanding Dinah's wish.", "\"There's no fear but he'll yield well i' the threshing.", "He's not one\no' them as is all straw and no grain.", "I'll be bond for him any day, as\nhe'll be a good son to the last.", "Did he say he'd be coming to see us\nsoon?", "But come in, come in,\" he added, making way for them; \"I hadn't\nneed keep y' out any longer.\"", "The tall buildings round the yard shut out a good deal of the sky,\nbut the large window let in abundant light to show every corner of the\nhouse-place.", "Mrs. Poyser, seated in the rocking-chair, which had been brought out of\nthe \"right-hand parlour,\" was trying to soothe Totty to sleep.", "But Totty\nwas not disposed to sleep; and when her cousins entered, she raised\nherself up and showed a pair of flushed cheeks, which looked fatter than\never now they were defined by the edge of her linen night-cap.", "In the large wicker-bottomed arm-chair in the left-hand chimney-nook sat\nold Martin Poyser, a hale but shrunken and bleached image of his portly\nblack-haired son--his head hanging forward a little, and his elbows\npushed backwards so as to allow the whole of his forearm to rest on the\narm of the chair.", "His blue handkerchief was spread over his knees, as\nwas usual indoors, when it was not hanging over his head; and he sat\nwatching what went forward with the quiet OUTWARD glance of healthy old\nage, which, disengaged from any interest in an inward drama, spies out\npins upon the floor, follows one's minutest motions with an unexpectant\npurposeless tenacity, watches the flickering of the flame or the\nsun-gleams on the wall, counts the quarries on the floor, watches even\nthe hand of the clock, and pleases itself with detecting a rhythm in the\ntick.", "\"What a time o' night this is to come home, Hetty!\"", "said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Look at the clock, do; why, it's going on for half-past nine, and I've\nsent the gells to bed this half-hour, and late enough too; when they've\ngot to get up at half after four, and the mowers' bottles to fill, and\nthe baking; and here's this blessed child wi' the fever for what I know,\nand as wakeful as if it was dinner-time, and nobody to help me to give\nher the physic but your uncle, and fine work there's been, and half of\nit spilt on her night-gown--it's well if she's swallowed more nor 'ull\nmake her worse i'stead o' better.", "But folks as have no mind to be o' use\nhave allays the luck to be out o' the road when there's anything to be\ndone.\"", "\"I did set out before eight, aunt,\" said Hetty, in a pettish tone, with\na slight toss of her head.", "\"But this clock's so much before the clock at\nthe Chase, there's no telling what time it'll be when I get here.\"", "\"What!", "You'd be wanting the clock set by gentlefolks's time, would you?", "An' sit up burnin' candle, an' lie a-bed wi' the sun a-bakin' you like a\ncowcumber i' the frame?", "The clock hasn't been put forrard for the first\ntime to-day, I reckon.\"", "The fact was, Hetty had really forgotten the difference of the clocks\nwhen she told Captain Donnithorne that she set out at eight, and this,\nwith her lingering pace, had made her nearly half an hour later than\nusual.", "But here her aunt's attention was diverted from this tender\nsubject by Totty, who, perceiving at length that the arrival of\nher cousins was not likely to bring anything satisfactory to her in\nparticular, began to cry, \"Munny, munny,\" in an explosive manner.", "\"Well, then, my pet, Mother's got her, Mother won't leave her; Totty be\na good dilling, and go to sleep now,\" said Mrs. Poyser, leaning back and\nrocking the chair, while she tried to make Totty nestle against her.", "But Totty only cried louder, and said, \"Don't yock!\"", "So the mother, with\nthat wondrous patience which love gives to the quickest temperament, sat\nup again, and pressed her cheek against the linen night-cap and kissed\nit, and forgot to scold Hetty any longer.", "\"Come, Hetty,\" said Martin Poyser, in a conciliatory tone, \"go and get\nyour supper i' the pantry, as the things are all put away; an' then you\ncan come and take the little un while your aunt undresses herself, for\nshe won't lie down in bed without her mother.", "An' I reckon YOU could eat\na bit, Dinah, for they don't keep much of a house down there.\"", "\"No, thank you, Uncle,\" said Dinah; \"I ate a good meal before I came\naway, for Mrs. Bede would make a kettle-cake for me.\"", "\"I don't want any supper,\" said Hetty, taking off her hat.", "\"I can hold\nTotty now, if Aunt wants me.\"", "\"Why, what nonsense that is to talk!\"", "said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Do you think\nyou can live wi'out eatin', an' nourish your inside wi' stickin' red\nribbons on your head?", "Go an' get your supper this minute, child; there's\na nice bit o' cold pudding i' the safe--just what you're fond of.\"", "Hetty complied silently by going towards the pantry, and Mrs. Poyser\nwent on speaking to Dinah.", "\"Sit down, my dear, an' look as if you knowed what it was to make\nyourself a bit comfortable i' the world.", "I warrant the old woman was\nglad to see you, since you stayed so long.\"", "\"She seemed to like having me there at last; but her sons say she\ndoesn't like young women about her commonly; and I thought just at first\nshe was almost angry with me for going.\"", "\"Eh, it's a poor look-out when th' ould folks doesna like the young\nuns,\" said old Martin, bending his head down lower, and seeming to trace\nthe pattern of the quarries with his eye.", "\"Aye, it's ill livin' in a hen-roost for them as doesn't like fleas,\"\nsaid Mrs. Poyser.", "\"We've all had our turn at bein' young, I reckon, be't\ngood luck or ill.\"\n\n\"But she must learn to 'commodate herself to young women,\" said Mr.\nPoyser, \"for it isn't to be counted on as Adam and Seth 'ull keep\nbachelors for the next ten year to please their mother.", "That 'ud be\nunreasonable.", "It isn't right for old nor young nayther to make a bargain\nall o' their own side.", "What's good for one's good all round i' the\nlong run.", "I'm no friend to young fellows a-marrying afore they know the\ndifference atween a crab an' a apple; but they may wait o'er long.\"", "\"To be sure,\" said Mrs. Poyser; \"if you go past your dinner-time,\nthere'll be little relish o' your meat.", "You turn it o'er an' o'er wi'\nyour fork, an' don't eat it after all.", "You find faut wi' your meat, an'\nthe faut's all i' your own stomach.\"", "Hetty now came back from the pantry and said, \"I can take Totty now,\nAunt, if you like.\"", "\"Come, Rachel,\" said Mr. Poyser, as his wife seemed to hesitate, seeing\nthat Totty was at last nestling quietly, \"thee'dst better let Hetty\ncarry her upstairs, while thee tak'st thy things off.", "Thee't tired.", "It's\ntime thee wast in bed.", "Thee't bring on the pain in thy side again.\"", "\"Well, she may hold her if the child 'ull go to her,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "Hetty went close to the rocking-chair, and stood without her usual\nsmile, and without any attempt to entice Totty, simply waiting for her\naunt to give the child into her hands.", "\"Wilt go to Cousin Hetty, my dilling, while mother gets ready to go to\nbed?", "Then Totty shall go into Mother's bed, and sleep there all night.\"", "Before her mother had done speaking, Totty had given her answer in\nan unmistakable manner, by knitting her brow, setting her tiny teeth\nagainst her underlip, and leaning forward to slap Hetty on the arm with\nher utmost force.", "Then, without speaking, she nestled to her mother\nagain.", "\"Hey, hey,\" said Mr. Poyser, while Hetty stood without moving, \"not go\nto Cousin Hetty?", "That's like a babby.", "Totty's a little woman, an' not a\nbabby.\"", "\"It's no use trying to persuade her,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"She allays\ntakes against Hetty when she isn't well.", "Happen she'll go to Dinah.\"", "Dinah, having taken off her bonnet and shawl, had hitherto kept quietly\nseated in the background, not liking to thrust herself between Hetty and\nwhat was considered Hetty's proper work.", "But now she came forward, and,\nputting out her arms, said, \"Come Totty, come and let Dinah carry her\nupstairs along with Mother: poor, poor Mother!", "she's so tired--she wants\nto go to bed.\"", "Totty turned her face towards Dinah, and looked at her an instant, then\nlifted herself up, put out her little arms, and let Dinah lift her from\nher mother's lap.", "Hetty turned away without any sign of ill humour,\nand, taking her hat from the table, stood waiting with an air of\nindifference, to see if she should be told to do anything else.", "\"You may make the door fast now, Poyser; Alick's been come in this long\nwhile,\" said Mrs. Poyser, rising with an appearance of relief from\nher low chair.", "\"Get me the matches down, Hetty, for I must have the\nrushlight burning i' my room.", "Come, Father.\"", "The heavy wooden bolts began to roll in the house doors, and old Martin\nprepared to move, by gathering up his blue handkerchief, and reaching\nhis bright knobbed walnut-tree stick from the corner.", "Mrs. Poyser then\nled the way out of the kitchen, followed by the grandfather, and Dinah\nwith Totty in her arms--all going to bed by twilight, like the birds.", "Mrs. Poyser, on her way, peeped into the room where her two boys lay;\njust to see their ruddy round cheeks on the pillow, and to hear for a\nmoment their light regular breathing.", "\"Come, Hetty, get to bed,\" said Mr. Poyser, in a soothing tone, as\nhe himself turned to go upstairs.", "\"You didna mean to be late, I'll\nbe bound, but your aunt's been worrited to-day.", "Good-night, my wench,\ngood-night.\"" ]

[ "She paused a moment, but Hetty said nothing.", "In the large wicker-bottomed arm-chair in the left-hand chimney-nook sat\nold Martin Poyser, a hale but shrunken and bleached image of his portly\nblack-haired son--his head hanging forward a little, and his elbows\npushed backwards so as to allow the whole of his forearm to rest on the\narm of the chair.", "said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"I did set out before eight, aunt,\" said Hetty, in a pettish tone, with\na slight toss of her head.", "An' sit up burnin' candle, an' lie a-bed wi' the sun a-bakin' you like a\ncowcumber i' the frame?", "\"Why, what nonsense that is to talk!\"", "That 'ud be\nunreasonable.", "Before her mother had done speaking, Totty had given her answer in\nan unmistakable manner, by knitting her brow, setting her tiny teeth\nagainst her underlip, and leaning forward to slap Hetty on the arm with\nher utmost force.", "Happen she'll go to Dinah.\"", "Totty turned her face towards Dinah, and looked at her an instant, then\nlifted herself up, put out her little arms, and let Dinah lift her from\nher mother's lap." ]

[ "But what's Seth got to do with marryin', as is on'y\nthree-an'-twenty?", "It's\ntime thee wast in bed.", "She's\nbeen talking about him to me almost all the day.", "His blue handkerchief was spread over his knees, as\nwas usual indoors, when it was not hanging over his head; and he sat\nwatching what went forward with the quiet OUTWARD glance of healthy old\nage, which, disengaged from any interest in an inward drama, spies out\npins upon the floor, follows one's minutest motions with an unexpectant\npurposeless tenacity, watches the flickering of the flame or the\nsun-gleams on the wall, counts the quarries on the floor, watches even\nthe hand of the clock, and pleases itself with detecting a rhythm in the\ntick.", "You don't see\nsuch women turned off the wheel every day.\"", "Happen she'll go to Dinah.\"", "\"She allays\ntakes against Hetty when she isn't well.", "Thee'st been just the\nsame, e'er sin' ye war little uns together.", "He hated to see the fellow lift the pewter pint to\nhis mouth in the bar of the Royal George on market-day, and the mere\nsight of him on the other side of the road brought a severe and critical\nexpression into his black eyes, as different as possible from the\nfatherly glance he bent on his two nieces as they approached the door.", "It's a strange thing--sometimes when I'm quite alone, sitting in\nmy room with my eyes closed, or walking over the hills, the people I've\nseen and known, if it's only been for a few days, are brought before me,\nand I hear their voices and see them look and move almost plainer than\nI ever did when they were really with me so as I could touch them." ]

[ "I wish she had a surer\ntrust to comfort her in her old age.\"", "\"Adam's sure enough,\" said Mr. Poyser, misunderstanding Dinah's wish.", "\"There's no fear but he'll yield well i' the threshing.", "He's not one\no' them as is all straw and no grain.", "I'll be bond for him any day, as\nhe'll be a good son to the last.", "Did he say he'd be coming to see us\nsoon?", "But come in, come in,\" he added, making way for them; \"I hadn't\nneed keep y' out any longer.\"", "The tall buildings round the yard shut out a good deal of the sky,\nbut the large window let in abundant light to show every corner of the\nhouse-place.", "Mrs. Poyser, seated in the rocking-chair, which had been brought out of\nthe \"right-hand parlour,\" was trying to soothe Totty to sleep.", "But Totty\nwas not disposed to sleep; and when her cousins entered, she raised\nherself up and showed a pair of flushed cheeks, which looked fatter than\never now they were defined by the edge of her linen night-cap.", "In the large wicker-bottomed arm-chair in the left-hand chimney-nook sat\nold Martin Poyser, a hale but shrunken and bleached image of his portly\nblack-haired son--his head hanging forward a little, and his elbows\npushed backwards so as to allow the whole of his forearm to rest on the\narm of the chair." ]

[ "\n\nWHILE that parting in the wood was happening, there was a parting in the\ncottage too, and Lisbeth had stood with Adam at the door, straining her\naged eyes to get the last glimpse of Seth and Dinah, as they mounted the\nopposite slope.", "\"Eh, I'm loath to see the last on her,\" she said to Adam, as they turned\ninto the house again.", "\"I'd ha' been willin' t' ha' her about me till\nI died and went to lie by my old man.", "She'd make it easier dyin'--she\nspakes so gentle an' moves about so still.", "I could be fast sure that\npictur' was drawed for her i' thy new Bible--th' angel a-sittin' on the\nbig stone by the grave.", "Eh, I wouldna mind ha'in a daughter like that;\nbut nobody ne'er marries them as is good for aught.\"", "\"Well, Mother, I hope thee WILT have her for a daughter; for Seth's got\na liking for her, and I hope she'll get a liking for Seth in time.\"", "\"Where's th' use o' talkin' a-that'n?", "She caresna for Seth.", "She's goin'\naway twenty mile aff.", "Hetty turned away without any sign of ill humour,\nand, taking her hat from the table, stood waiting with an air of\nindifference, to see if she should be told to do anything else.", "\"You may make the door fast now, Poyser; Alick's been come in this long\nwhile,\" said Mrs. Poyser, rising with an appearance of relief from\nher low chair.", "\"Get me the matches down, Hetty, for I must have the\nrushlight burning i' my room.", "Come, Father.\"", "The heavy wooden bolts began to roll in the house doors, and old Martin\nprepared to move, by gathering up his blue handkerchief, and reaching\nhis bright knobbed walnut-tree stick from the corner.", "Mrs. Poyser then\nled the way out of the kitchen, followed by the grandfather, and Dinah\nwith Totty in her arms--all going to bed by twilight, like the birds.", "Mrs. Poyser, on her way, peeped into the room where her two boys lay;\njust to see their ruddy round cheeks on the pillow, and to hear for a\nmoment their light regular breathing.", "\"Come, Hetty, get to bed,\" said Mr. Poyser, in a soothing tone, as\nhe himself turned to go upstairs.", "\"You didna mean to be late, I'll\nbe bound, but your aunt's been worrited to-day.", "Good-night, my wench,\ngood-night.\"" ]

[ "\n\nHETTY and Dinah both slept in the second story, in rooms adjoining each\nother, meagrely furnished rooms, with no blinds to shut out the light,\nwhich was now beginning to gather new strength from the rising of\nthe moon--more than enough strength to enable Hetty to move about and\nundress with perfect comfort.", "She could see quite well the pegs in the\nold painted linen-press on which she hung her hat and gown; she could\nsee the head of every pin on her red cloth pin-cushion; she could see\na reflection of herself in the old-fashioned looking-glass, quite as\ndistinct as was needful, considering that she had only to brush her hair\nand put on her night-cap.", "A queer old looking-glass!", "Hetty got into an\nill temper with it almost every time she dressed.", "It had been considered\na handsome glass in its day, and had probably been bought into the\nPoyser family a quarter of a century before, at a sale of genteel\nhousehold furniture.", "Even now an auctioneer could say something for\nit: it had a great deal of tarnished gilding about it; it had a firm\nmahogany base, well supplied with drawers, which opened with a decided\njerk and sent the contents leaping out from the farthest corners,\nwithout giving you the trouble of reaching them; above all, it had a\nbrass candle-socket on each side, which would give it an aristocratic\nair to the very last.", "But Hetty objected to it because it had numerous\ndim blotches sprinkled over the mirror, which no rubbing would remove,\nand because, instead of swinging backwards and forwards, it was fixed\nin an upright position, so that she could only get one good view of\nher head and neck, and that was to be had only by sitting down on a\nlow chair before her dressing-table.", "And the dressing-table was no\ndressing-table at all, but a small old chest of drawers, the most\nawkward thing in the world to sit down before, for the big brass\nhandles quite hurt her knees, and she couldn't get near the glass at\nall comfortably.", "But devout worshippers never allow inconveniences\nto prevent them from performing their religious rites, and Hetty this\nevening was more bent on her peculiar form of worship than usual.", "Having taken off her gown and white kerchief, she drew a key from the\nlarge pocket that hung outside her petticoat, and, unlocking one of\nthe lower drawers in the chest, reached from it two short bits of wax\ncandle--secretly bought at Treddleston--and stuck them in the two\nbrass sockets.", "Then she drew forth a bundle of matches and lighted the\ncandles; and last of all, a small red-framed shilling looking-glass,\nwithout blotches.", "It was into this small glass that she chose to look\nfirst after seating herself.", "She looked into it, smiling and turning her\nhead on one side, for a minute, then laid it down and took out her brush\nand comb from an upper drawer.", "She was going to let down her hair,\nand make herself look like that picture of a lady in Miss Lydia\nDonnithorne's dressing-room.", "It was soon done, and the dark hyacinthine\ncurves fell on her neck.", "It was not heavy, massive, merely rippling\nhair, but soft and silken, running at every opportunity into delicate\nrings.", "But she pushed it all backward to look like the picture, and form\na dark curtain, throwing into relief her round white neck.", "Then she put\ndown her brush and comb and looked at herself, folding her arms before\nher, still like the picture.", "Even the old mottled glass couldn't help\nsending back a lovely image, none the less lovely because Hetty's stays\nwere not of white satin--such as I feel sure heroines must generally\nwear--but of a dark greenish cotton texture.", "Oh yes!", "She was very pretty.", "Captain Donnithorne thought so.", "Prettier\nthan anybody about Hayslope--prettier than any of the ladies she had\never seen visiting at the Chase--indeed it seemed fine ladies were\nrather old and ugly--and prettier than Miss Bacon, the miller's\ndaughter, who was called the beauty of Treddleston.", "And Hetty looked at\nherself to-night with quite a different sensation from what she had ever\nfelt before; there was an invisible spectator whose eye rested on her\nlike morning on the flowers.", "His soft voice was saying over and over\nagain those pretty things she had heard in the wood; his arm was round\nher, and the delicate rose-scent of his hair was with her still.", "The\nvainest woman is never thoroughly conscious of her own beauty till she\nis loved by the man who sets her own passion vibrating in return.", "But Hetty seemed to have made up her mind that something was wanting,\nfor she got up and reached an old black lace scarf out of the\nlinen-press, and a pair of large ear-rings out of the sacred drawer from\nwhich she had taken her candles.", "It was an old old scarf, full of rents,\nbut it would make a becoming border round her shoulders, and set off the\nwhiteness of her upper arm.", "And she would take out the little ear-rings\nshe had in her ears--oh, how her aunt had scolded her for having her\nears bored!--and put in those large ones.", "They were but coloured glass\nand gilding, but if you didn't know what they were made of, they looked\njust as well as what the ladies wore.", "And so she sat down again, with\nthe large ear-rings in her ears, and the black lace scarf adjusted round\nher shoulders.", "She looked down at her arms: no arms could be prettier\ndown to a little way below the elbow--they were white and plump, and\ndimpled to match her cheeks; but towards the wrist, she thought with\nvexation that they were coarsened by butter-making and other work that\nladies never did.", "Captain Donnithorne couldn't like her to go on doing work: he would like\nto see her in nice clothes, and thin shoes, and white stockings, perhaps\nwith silk clocks to them; for he must love her very much--no one else\nhad ever put his arm round her and kissed her in that way.", "He would want\nto marry her and make a lady of her; she could hardly dare to shape\nthe thought--yet how else could it be?", "Marry her quite secretly, as Mr.\nJames, the doctor's assistant, married the doctor's niece, and nobody\never found it out for a long while after, and then it was of no use to\nbe angry.", "The doctor had told her aunt all about it in Hetty's hearing.", "She didn't know how it would be, but it was quite plain the old Squire\ncould never be told anything about it, for Hetty was ready to faint with\nawe and fright if she came across him at the Chase.", "He might have been\nearth-born, for what she knew.", "It had never entered her mind that he\nhad been young like other men; he had always been the old Squire at whom\neverybody was frightened.", "Oh, it was impossible to think how it would\nbe!", "But Captain Donnithorne would know; he was a great gentleman, and\ncould have his way in everything, and could buy everything he liked.", "And\nnothing could be as it had been again: perhaps some day she should be\na grand lady, and ride in her coach, and dress for dinner in a brocaded\nsilk, with feathers in her hair, and her dress sweeping the ground, like\nMiss Lydia and Lady Dacey, when she saw them going into the dining-room\none evening as she peeped through the little round window in the lobby;\nonly she should not be old and ugly like Miss Lydia, or all the same\nthickness like Lady Dacey, but very pretty, with her hair done in a\ngreat many different ways, and sometimes in a pink dress, and sometimes\nin a white one--she didn't know which she liked best; and Mary Burge and\neverybody would perhaps see her going out in her carriage--or rather,\nthey would HEAR of it: it was impossible to imagine these things\nhappening at Hayslope in sight of her aunt.", "At the thought of all this\nsplendour, Hetty got up from her chair, and in doing so caught the\nlittle red-framed glass with the edge of her scarf, so that it fell with\na bang on the floor; but she was too eagerly occupied with her vision\nto care about picking it up; and after a momentary start, began to pace\nwith a pigeon-like stateliness backwards and forwards along her room,\nin her coloured stays and coloured skirt, and the old black lace scarf\nround her shoulders, and the great glass ear-rings in her ears.", "How pretty the little puss looks in that odd dress!", "It would be the\neasiest folly in the world to fall in love with her: there is such a\nsweet babylike roundness about her face and figure; the delicate dark\nrings of hair lie so charmingly about her ears and neck; her great\ndark eyes with their long eye-lashes touch one so strangely, as if an\nimprisoned frisky sprite looked out of them.", "Ah, what a prize the man gets who wins a sweet bride like Hetty!", "How the\nmen envy him who come to the wedding breakfast, and see her hanging on\nhis arm in her white lace and orange blossoms.", "The dear, young, round,\nsoft, flexible thing!", "Her heart must be just as soft, her temper just\nas free from angles, her character just as pliant.", "If anything ever goes\nwrong, it must be the husband's fault there: he can make her what he\nlikes--that is plain.", "And the lover himself thinks so too: the little\ndarling is so fond of him, her little vanities are so bewitching, he\nwouldn't consent to her being a bit wiser; those kittenlike glances and\nmovements are just what one wants to make one's hearth a paradise.", "Every man under such circumstances is conscious of being a great\nphysiognomist.", "Nature, he knows, has a language of her own, which she\nuses with strict veracity, and he considers himself an adept in the\nlanguage.", "Nature has written out his bride's character for him in those\nexquisite lines of cheek and lip and chin, in those eyelids delicate as\npetals, in those long lashes curled like the stamen of a flower, in the\ndark liquid depths of those wonderful eyes.", "How she will dote on her\nchildren!", "She is almost a child herself, and the little pink round\nthings will hang about her like florets round the central flower; and\nthe husband will look on, smiling benignly, able, whenever he chooses,\nto withdraw into the sanctuary of his wisdom, towards which his sweet\nwife will look reverently, and never lift the curtain.", "It is a marriage\nsuch as they made in the golden age, when the men were all wise and\nmajestic and the women all lovely and loving.", "It was very much in this way that our friend Adam Bede thought about\nHetty; only he put his thoughts into different words.", "If ever she\nbehaved with cold vanity towards him, he said to himself it is only\nbecause she doesn't love me well enough; and he was sure that her love,\nwhenever she gave it, would be the most precious thing a man could\npossess on earth.", "Before you despise Adam as deficient in penetration,\npray ask yourself if you were ever predisposed to believe evil of\nany pretty woman--if you ever COULD, without hard head-breaking\ndemonstration, believe evil of the ONE supremely pretty woman who has\nbewitched you.", "No: people who love downy peaches are apt not to think of\nthe stone, and sometimes jar their teeth terribly against it.", "Arthur Donnithorne, too, had the same sort of notion about Hetty, so\nfar as he had thought of her nature of all.", "He felt sure she was a\ndear, affectionate, good little thing.", "The man who awakes the wondering\ntremulous passion of a young girl always thinks her affectionate; and\nif he chances to look forward to future years, probably imagines himself\nbeing virtuously tender to her, because the poor thing is so clingingly\nfond of him.", "God made these dear women so--and it is a convenient\narrangement in case of sickness.", "After all, I believe the wisest of us must be beguiled in this way\nsometimes, and must think both better and worse of people than they\ndeserve.", "Nature has her language, and she is not unveracious; but we\ndon't know all the intricacies of her syntax just yet, and in a hasty\nreading we may happen to extract the very opposite of her real meaning.", "Long dark eyelashes, now--what can be more exquisite?", "I find it\nimpossible not to expect some depth of soul behind a deep grey eye with\na long dark eyelash, in spite of an experience which has shown me that\nthey may go along with deceit, peculation, and stupidity.", "But if, in\nthe reaction of disgust, I have betaken myself to a fishy eye, there has\nbeen a surprising similarity of result.", "One begins to suspect at length\nthat there is no direct correlation between eyelashes and morals; or\nelse, that the eyelashes express the disposition of the fair one's\ngrandmother, which is on the whole less important to us.", "No eyelashes could be more beautiful than Hetty's; and now, while she\nwalks with her pigeon-like stateliness along the room and looks down on\nher shoulders bordered by the old black lace, the dark fringe shows to\nperfection on her pink cheek.", "They are but dim ill-defined pictures that\nher narrow bit of an imagination can make of the future; but of every\npicture she is the central figure in fine clothes; Captain Donnithorne\nis very close to her, putting his arm round her, perhaps kissing her,\nand everybody else is admiring and envying her--especially Mary Burge,\nwhose new print dress looks very contemptible by the side of Hetty's\nresplendent toilette.", "Does any sweet or sad memory mingle with this\ndream of the future--any loving thought of her second parents--of the\nchildren she had helped to tend--of any youthful companion, any pet\nanimal, any relic of her own childhood even?", "Not one.", "There are some\nplants that have hardly any roots: you may tear them from their native\nnook of rock or wall, and just lay them over your ornamental flower-pot,\nand they blossom none the worse.", "Hetty could have cast all her past life\nbehind her and never cared to be reminded of it again.", "I think she had\nno feeling at all towards the old house, and did not like the Jacob's\nLadder and the long row of hollyhocks in the garden better than other\nflowers--perhaps not so well.", "It was wonderful how little she seemed to\ncare about waiting on her uncle, who had been a good father to her--she\nhardly ever remembered to reach him his pipe at the right time without\nbeing told, unless a visitor happened to be there, who would have a\nbetter opportunity of seeing her as she walked across the hearth.", "Hetty\ndid not understand how anybody could be very fond of middle-aged people.", "And as for those tiresome children, Marty and Tommy and Totty, they had\nbeen the very nuisance of her life--as bad as buzzing insects that will\ncome teasing you on a hot day when you want to be quiet.", "Marty, the\neldest, was a baby when she first came to the farm, for the children\nborn before him had died, and so Hetty had had them all three, one after\nthe other, toddling by her side in the meadow, or playing about her on\nwet days in the half-empty rooms of the large old house.", "The boys were\nout of hand now, but Totty was still a day-long plague, worse than\neither of the others had been, because there was more fuss made about\nher.", "And there was no end to the making and mending of clothes.", "Hetty\nwould have been glad to hear that she should never see a child again;\nthey were worse than the nasty little lambs that the shepherd was always\nbringing in to be taken special care of in lambing time; for the lambs\nWERE got rid of sooner or later.", "As for the young chickens and turkeys,\nHetty would have hated the very word \"hatching,\" if her aunt had not\nbribed her to attend to the young poultry by promising her the proceeds\nof one out of every brood.", "The round downy chicks peeping out from under\ntheir mother's wing never touched Hetty with any pleasure; that was\nnot the sort of prettiness she cared about, but she did care about the\nprettiness of the new things she would buy for herself at Treddleston\nFair with the money they fetched.", "And yet she looked so dimpled,\nso charming, as she stooped down to put the soaked bread under the\nhen-coop, that you must have been a very acute personage indeed to\nsuspect her of that hardness.", "Molly, the housemaid, with a turn-up nose\nand a protuberant jaw, was really a tender-hearted girl, and, as Mrs.\nPoyser said, a jewel to look after the poultry; but her stolid\nface showed nothing of this maternal delight, any more than a brown\nearthenware pitcher will show the light of the lamp within it.", "It is generally a feminine eye that first detects the moral deficiencies\nhidden under the \"dear deceit\" of beauty, so it is not surprising that\nMrs. Poyser, with her keenness and abundant opportunity for observation,\nshould have formed a tolerably fair estimate of what might be expected\nfrom Hetty in the way of feeling, and in moments of indignation she had\nsometimes spoken with great openness on the subject to her husband.", "\"She's no better than a peacock, as 'ud strut about on the wall and\nspread its tail when the sun shone if all the folks i' the parish was\ndying: there's nothing seems to give her a turn i' th' inside, not even\nwhen we thought Totty had tumbled into the pit.", "To think o' that dear\ncherub!", "And we found her wi' her little shoes stuck i' the mud an'\ncrying fit to break her heart by the far horse-pit.", "But Hetty never\nminded it, I could see, though she's been at the nussin' o' the child\never since it was a babby.", "It's my belief her heart's as hard as a\npebble.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"thee mustn't judge Hetty too hard.", "Them\nyoung gells are like the unripe grain; they'll make good meal by and by,\nbut they're squashy as yet.", "Thee't see Hetty 'll be all right when she's\ngot a good husband and children of her own.\"", "\"I don't want to be hard upo' the gell.", "She's got cliver fingers of her\nown, and can be useful enough when she likes and I should miss her wi'\nthe butter, for she's got a cool hand.", "An' let be what may, I'd strive\nto do my part by a niece o' yours--an' THAT I've done, for I've taught\nher everything as belongs to a house, an' I've told her her duty often\nenough, though, God knows, I've no breath to spare, an' that catchin'\npain comes on dreadful by times.", "Wi' them three gells in the house I'd\nneed have twice the strength to keep 'em up to their work.", "It's\nlike having roast meat at three fires; as soon as you've basted one,\nanother's burnin'.\"", "Hetty stood sufficiently in awe of her aunt to be anxious to conceal\nfrom her so much of her vanity as could be hidden without too great a\nsacrifice.", "She could not resist spending her money in bits of finery\nwhich Mrs. Poyser disapproved; but she would have been ready to die with\nshame, vexation, and fright if her aunt had this moment opened the door,\nand seen her with her bits of candle lighted, and strutting about decked\nin her scarf and ear-rings.", "To prevent such a surprise, she always\nbolted her door, and she had not forgotten to do so to-night.", "It was\nwell: for there now came a light tap, and Hetty, with a leaping heart,\nrushed to blow out the candles and throw them into the drawer.", "She dared\nnot stay to take out her ear-rings, but she threw off her scarf, and let\nit fall on the floor, before the light tap came again.", "We shall know how\nit was that the light tap came, if we leave Hetty for a short time\nand return to Dinah, at the moment when she had delivered Totty to her\nmother's arms, and was come upstairs to her bedroom, adjoining Hetty's.", "Dinah delighted in her bedroom window.", "Being on the second story of that\ntall house, it gave her a wide view over the fields.", "The thickness of\nthe wall formed a broad step about a yard below the window, where she\ncould place her chair.", "And now the first thing she did on entering her\nroom was to seat herself in this chair and look out on the peaceful\nfields beyond which the large moon was rising, just above the hedgerow\nelms.", "She liked the pasture best where the milch cows were lying,\nand next to that the meadow where the grass was half-mown, and lay in\nsilvered sweeping lines.", "Her heart was very full, for there was to be\nonly one more night on which she would look out on those fields for a\nlong time to come; but she thought little of leaving the mere scene,\nfor, to her, bleak Snowfield had just as many charms.", "She thought of all\nthe dear people whom she had learned to care for among these peaceful\nfields, and who would now have a place in her loving remembrance for\never.", "She thought of the struggles and the weariness that might lie\nbefore them in the rest of their life's journey, when she would be away\nfrom them, and know nothing of what was befalling them; and the pressure\nof this thought soon became too strong for her to enjoy the unresponding\nstillness of the moonlit fields.", "She closed her eyes, that she might\nfeel more intensely the presence of a Love and Sympathy deeper and more\ntender than was breathed from the earth and sky.", "That was often Dinah's\nmode of praying in solitude.", "Simply to close her eyes and to feel\nherself enclosed by the Divine Presence; then gradually her fears, her\nyearning anxieties for others, melted away like ice-crystals in a warm\nocean.", "She had sat in this way perfectly still, with her hands crossed\non her lap and the pale light resting on her calm face, for at least ten\nminutes when she was startled by a loud sound, apparently of something\nfalling in Hetty's room.", "But like all sounds that fall on our ears in a\nstate of abstraction, it had no distinct character, but was simply loud\nand startling, so that she felt uncertain whether she had interpreted\nit rightly.", "She rose and listened, but all was quiet afterwards, and she\nreflected that Hetty might merely have knocked something down in getting\ninto bed.", "She began slowly to undress; but now, owing to the suggestions\nof this sound, her thoughts became concentrated on Hetty--that sweet\nyoung thing, with life and all its trials before her--the solemn daily\nduties of the wife and mother--and her mind so unprepared for them all,\nbent merely on little foolish, selfish pleasures, like a child hugging\nits toys in the beginning of a long toilsome journey in which it will\nhave to bear hunger and cold and unsheltered darkness.", "Dinah felt a\ndouble care for Hetty, because she shared Seth's anxious interest in his\nbrother's lot, and she had not come to the conclusion that Hetty did not\nlove Adam well enough to marry him.", "She saw too clearly the absence of\nany warm, self-devoting love in Hetty's nature to regard the coldness of\nher behaviour towards Adam as any indication that he was not the man\nshe would like to have for a husband.", "And this blank in Hetty's nature,\ninstead of exciting Dinah's dislike, only touched her with a deeper\npity: the lovely face and form affected her as beauty always affects a\npure and tender mind, free from selfish jealousies.", "It was an excellent\ndivine gift, that gave a deeper pathos to the need, the sin, the sorrow\nwith which it was mingled, as the canker in a lily-white bud is more\ngrievous to behold than in a common pot-herb.", "By the time Dinah had undressed and put on her night-gown, this feeling\nabout Hetty had gathered a painful intensity; her imagination had\ncreated a thorny thicket of sin and sorrow, in which she saw the poor\nthing struggling torn and bleeding, looking with tears for rescue and\nfinding none.", "It was in this way that Dinah's imagination and sympathy\nacted and reacted habitually, each heightening the other.", "She felt a\ndeep longing to go now and pour into Hetty's ear all the words of tender\nwarning and appeal that rushed into her mind.", "But perhaps Hetty was\nalready asleep.", "Dinah put her ear to the partition and heard still some\nslight noises, which convinced her that Hetty was not yet in bed.", "Still\nshe hesitated; she was not quite certain of a divine direction; the\nvoice that told her to go to Hetty seemed no stronger than the other\nvoice which said that Hetty was weary, and that going to her now in an\nunseasonable moment would only tend to close her heart more obstinately.", "Dinah was not satisfied without a more unmistakable guidance than those\ninward voices.", "There was light enough for her, if she opened her Bible,\nto discern the text sufficiently to know what it would say to her.", "She\nknew the physiognomy of every page, and could tell on what book she\nopened, sometimes on what chapter, without seeing title or number.", "It\nwas a small thick Bible, worn quite round at the edges.", "Dinah laid it\nsideways on the window ledge, where the light was strongest, and then\nopened it with her forefinger.", "The first words she looked at were those\nat the top of the left-hand page: \"And they all wept sore, and fell on\nPaul's neck and kissed him.\"", "That was enough for Dinah; she had opened\non that memorable parting at Ephesus, when Paul had felt bound to open\nhis heart in a last exhortation and warning.", "She hesitated no longer,\nbut, opening her own door gently, went and tapped on Hetty's.", "We know\nshe had to tap twice, because Hetty had to put out her candles and throw\noff her black lace scarf; but after the second tap the door was opened\nimmediately.", "Dinah said, \"Will you let me come in, Hetty?\"", "and Hetty,\nwithout speaking, for she was confused and vexed, opened the door wider\nand let her in.", "What a strange contrast the two figures made, visible enough in that\nmingled twilight and moonlight!", "Hetty, her cheeks flushed and her eyes\nglistening from her imaginary drama, her beautiful neck and arms bare,\nher hair hanging in a curly tangle down her back, and the baubles in her\nears.", "Dinah, covered with her long white dress, her pale face full of\nsubdued emotion, almost like a lovely corpse into which the soul has\nreturned charged with sublimer secrets and a sublimer love.", "They were\nnearly of the same height; Dinah evidently a little the taller as she\nput her arm round Hetty's waist and kissed her forehead.", "\"I knew you were not in bed, my dear,\" she said, in her sweet clear\nvoice, which was irritating to Hetty, mingling with her own peevish\nvexation like music with jangling chains, \"for I heard you moving; and I\nlonged to speak to you again to-night, for it is the last but one that\nI shall be here, and we don't know what may happen to-morrow to keep us\napart.", "Shall I sit down with you while you do up your hair?\"", "\"Oh yes,\" said Hetty, hastily turning round and reaching the second\nchair in the room, glad that Dinah looked as if she did not notice her\near-rings.", "Dinah sat down, and Hetty began to brush together her hair before\ntwisting it up, doing it with that air of excessive indifference which\nbelongs to confused self-consciousness.", "But the expression of Dinah's\neyes gradually relieved her; they seemed unobservant of all details.", "\"Dear Hetty,\" she said, \"It has been borne in upon my mind to-night that\nyou may some day be in trouble--trouble is appointed for us all here\nbelow, and there comes a time when we need more comfort and help than\nthe things of this life can give.", "I want to tell you that if ever you\nare in trouble, and need a friend that will always feel for you and love\nyou, you have got that friend in Dinah Morris at Snowfield, and if you\ncome to her, or send for her, she'll never forget this night and the\nwords she is speaking to you now.", "Will you remember it, Hetty?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty, rather frightened.", "\"But why should you think I shall\nbe in trouble?", "Do you know of anything?\"", "Hetty had seated herself as she tied on her cap, and now Dinah leaned\nforwards and took her hands as she answered, \"Because, dear, trouble\ncomes to us all in this life: we set our hearts on things which it isn't\nGod's will for us to have, and then we go sorrowing; the people we love\nare taken from us, and we can joy in nothing because they are not with\nus; sickness comes, and we faint under the burden of our feeble bodies;\nwe go astray and do wrong, and bring ourselves into trouble with our\nfellow-men.", "There is no man or woman born into this world to whom some\nof these trials do not fall, and so I feel that some of them must happen\nto you; and I desire for you, that while you are young you should seek\nfor strength from your Heavenly Father, that you may have a support\nwhich will not fail you in the evil day.\"", "Dinah paused and released Hetty's hands that she might not hinder her.", "Hetty sat quite still; she felt no response within herself to Dinah's\nanxious affection; but Dinah's words uttered with solemn pathetic\ndistinctness, affected her with a chill fear.", "Her flush had died away\nalmost to paleness; she had the timidity of a luxurious pleasure-seeking\nnature, which shrinks from the hint of pain.", "Dinah saw the effect, and\nher tender anxious pleading became the more earnest, till Hetty, full of\na vague fear that something evil was some time to befall her, began to\ncry.", "It is our habit to say that while the lower nature can never understand\nthe higher, the higher nature commands a complete view of the lower.", "But\nI think the higher nature has to learn this comprehension, as we learn\nthe art of vision, by a good deal of hard experience, often with bruises\nand gashes incurred in taking things up by the wrong end, and fancying\nour space wider than it is.", "Dinah had never seen Hetty affected in this\nway before, and, with her usual benignant hopefulness, she trusted it\nwas the stirring of a divine impulse.", "She kissed the sobbing thing, and\nbegan to cry with her for grateful joy.", "But Hetty was simply in that\nexcitable state of mind in which there is no calculating what turn the\nfeelings may take from one moment to another, and for the first time she\nbecame irritated under Dinah's caress.", "She pushed her away impatiently,\nand said, with a childish sobbing voice, \"Don't talk to me so, Dinah.", "Why do you come to frighten me?", "I've never done anything to you.", "Why\ncan't you let me be?\"", "Poor Dinah felt a pang.", "She was too wise to persist, and only said\nmildly, \"Yes, my dear, you're tired; I won't hinder you any longer.", "Make\nhaste and get into bed.", "Good-night.\"", "She went out of the room almost as quietly and quickly as if she had\nbeen a ghost; but once by the side of her own bed, she threw herself on\nher knees and poured out in deep silence all the passionate pity that\nfilled her heart.", "As for Hetty, she was soon in the wood again--her waking dreams being\nmerged in a sleeping life scarcely more fragmentary and confused." ]

[ "How she will dote on her\nchildren!", "Arthur Donnithorne, too, had the same sort of notion about Hetty, so\nfar as he had thought of her nature of all.", "The boys were\nout of hand now, but Totty was still a day-long plague, worse than\neither of the others had been, because there was more fuss made about\nher.", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"thee mustn't judge Hetty too hard.", "To prevent such a surprise, she always\nbolted her door, and she had not forgotten to do so to-night.", "Being on the second story of that\ntall house, it gave her a wide view over the fields.", "The first words she looked at were those\nat the top of the left-hand page: \"And they all wept sore, and fell on\nPaul's neck and kissed him.\"", "and Hetty,\nwithout speaking, for she was confused and vexed, opened the door wider\nand let her in.", "I want to tell you that if ever you\nare in trouble, and need a friend that will always feel for you and love\nyou, you have got that friend in Dinah Morris at Snowfield, and if you\ncome to her, or send for her, she'll never forget this night and the\nwords she is speaking to you now.", "Dinah paused and released Hetty's hands that she might not hinder her." ]

[ "Why do you come to frighten me?", "Being on the second story of that\ntall house, it gave her a wide view over the fields.", "That was often Dinah's\nmode of praying in solitude.", "Dinah saw the effect, and\nher tender anxious pleading became the more earnest, till Hetty, full of\na vague fear that something evil was some time to befall her, began to\ncry.", "Every man under such circumstances is conscious of being a great\nphysiognomist.", "Nature has written out his bride's character for him in those\nexquisite lines of cheek and lip and chin, in those eyelids delicate as\npetals, in those long lashes curled like the stamen of a flower, in the\ndark liquid depths of those wonderful eyes.", "God made these dear women so--and it is a convenient\narrangement in case of sickness.", "Does any sweet or sad memory mingle with this\ndream of the future--any loving thought of her second parents--of the\nchildren she had helped to tend--of any youthful companion, any pet\nanimal, any relic of her own childhood even?", "She looked down at her arms: no arms could be prettier\ndown to a little way below the elbow--they were white and plump, and\ndimpled to match her cheeks; but towards the wrist, she thought with\nvexation that they were coarsened by butter-making and other work that\nladies never did.", "She dared\nnot stay to take out her ear-rings, but she threw off her scarf, and let\nit fall on the floor, before the light tap came again." ]

[ "As for the young chickens and turkeys,\nHetty would have hated the very word \"hatching,\" if her aunt had not\nbribed her to attend to the young poultry by promising her the proceeds\nof one out of every brood.", "The round downy chicks peeping out from under\ntheir mother's wing never touched Hetty with any pleasure; that was\nnot the sort of prettiness she cared about, but she did care about the\nprettiness of the new things she would buy for herself at Treddleston\nFair with the money they fetched.", "And yet she looked so dimpled,\nso charming, as she stooped down to put the soaked bread under the\nhen-coop, that you must have been a very acute personage indeed to\nsuspect her of that hardness.", "Molly, the housemaid, with a turn-up nose\nand a protuberant jaw, was really a tender-hearted girl, and, as Mrs.\nPoyser said, a jewel to look after the poultry; but her stolid\nface showed nothing of this maternal delight, any more than a brown\nearthenware pitcher will show the light of the lamp within it.", "It is generally a feminine eye that first detects the moral deficiencies\nhidden under the \"dear deceit\" of beauty, so it is not surprising that\nMrs. Poyser, with her keenness and abundant opportunity for observation,\nshould have formed a tolerably fair estimate of what might be expected\nfrom Hetty in the way of feeling, and in moments of indignation she had\nsometimes spoken with great openness on the subject to her husband.", "\"She's no better than a peacock, as 'ud strut about on the wall and\nspread its tail when the sun shone if all the folks i' the parish was\ndying: there's nothing seems to give her a turn i' th' inside, not even\nwhen we thought Totty had tumbled into the pit.", "To think o' that dear\ncherub!", "And we found her wi' her little shoes stuck i' the mud an'\ncrying fit to break her heart by the far horse-pit.", "But Hetty never\nminded it, I could see, though she's been at the nussin' o' the child\never since it was a babby.", "It's my belief her heart's as hard as a\npebble.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"thee mustn't judge Hetty too hard." ]

[ "\n\nHETTY and Dinah both slept in the second story, in rooms adjoining each\nother, meagrely furnished rooms, with no blinds to shut out the light,\nwhich was now beginning to gather new strength from the rising of\nthe moon--more than enough strength to enable Hetty to move about and\nundress with perfect comfort.", "She could see quite well the pegs in the\nold painted linen-press on which she hung her hat and gown; she could\nsee the head of every pin on her red cloth pin-cushion; she could see\na reflection of herself in the old-fashioned looking-glass, quite as\ndistinct as was needful, considering that she had only to brush her hair\nand put on her night-cap.", "A queer old looking-glass!", "Hetty got into an\nill temper with it almost every time she dressed.", "It had been considered\na handsome glass in its day, and had probably been bought into the\nPoyser family a quarter of a century before, at a sale of genteel\nhousehold furniture.", "Even now an auctioneer could say something for\nit: it had a great deal of tarnished gilding about it; it had a firm\nmahogany base, well supplied with drawers, which opened with a decided\njerk and sent the contents leaping out from the farthest corners,\nwithout giving you the trouble of reaching them; above all, it had a\nbrass candle-socket on each side, which would give it an aristocratic\nair to the very last.", "But Hetty objected to it because it had numerous\ndim blotches sprinkled over the mirror, which no rubbing would remove,\nand because, instead of swinging backwards and forwards, it was fixed\nin an upright position, so that she could only get one good view of\nher head and neck, and that was to be had only by sitting down on a\nlow chair before her dressing-table.", "And the dressing-table was no\ndressing-table at all, but a small old chest of drawers, the most\nawkward thing in the world to sit down before, for the big brass\nhandles quite hurt her knees, and she couldn't get near the glass at\nall comfortably.", "But devout worshippers never allow inconveniences\nto prevent them from performing their religious rites, and Hetty this\nevening was more bent on her peculiar form of worship than usual.", "Having taken off her gown and white kerchief, she drew a key from the\nlarge pocket that hung outside her petticoat, and, unlocking one of\nthe lower drawers in the chest, reached from it two short bits of wax\ncandle--secretly bought at Treddleston--and stuck them in the two\nbrass sockets.", "She pushed her away impatiently,\nand said, with a childish sobbing voice, \"Don't talk to me so, Dinah.", "Why do you come to frighten me?", "I've never done anything to you.", "Why\ncan't you let me be?\"", "Poor Dinah felt a pang.", "She was too wise to persist, and only said\nmildly, \"Yes, my dear, you're tired; I won't hinder you any longer.", "Make\nhaste and get into bed.", "Good-night.\"", "She went out of the room almost as quietly and quickly as if she had\nbeen a ghost; but once by the side of her own bed, she threw herself on\nher knees and poured out in deep silence all the passionate pity that\nfilled her heart.", "As for Hetty, she was soon in the wood again--her waking dreams being\nmerged in a sleeping life scarcely more fragmentary and confused." ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR DONNITHORNE, you remember, is under an engagement with himself to\ngo and see Mr. Irwine this Friday morning, and he is awake and dressing\nso early that he determines to go before breakfast, instead of after.", "The rector, he knows, breakfasts alone at half-past nine, the ladies of\nthe family having a different breakfast-hour; Arthur will have an early\nride over the hill and breakfast with him.", "One can say everything best\nover a meal.", "The progress of civilization has made a breakfast or a dinner an\neasy and cheerful substitute for more troublesome and disagreeable\nceremonies.", "We take a less gloomy view of our errors now our father\nconfessor listens to us over his egg and coffee.", "We are more distinctly\nconscious that rude penances are out of the question for gentlemen in\nan enlightened age, and that mortal sin is not incompatible with an\nappetite for muffins.", "An assault on our pockets, which in more barbarous\ntimes would have been made in the brusque form of a pistol-shot, is\nquite a well-bred and smiling procedure now it has become a request for\na loan thrown in as an easy parenthesis between the second and third\nglasses of claret.", "Still, there was this advantage in the old rigid forms, that they\ncommitted you to the fulfilment of a resolution by some outward deed:\nwhen you have put your mouth to one end of a hole in a stone wall and\nare aware that there is an expectant ear at the other end, you are more\nlikely to say what you came out with the intention of saying than if you\nwere seated with your legs in an easy attitude under the mahogany with\na companion who will have no reason to be surprised if you have nothing\nparticular to say.", "However, Arthur Donnithorne, as he winds among the pleasant lanes on\nhorseback in the morning sunshine, has a sincere determination to open\nhis heart to the rector, and the swirling sound of the scythe as he\npasses by the meadow is all the pleasanter to him because of this honest\npurpose.", "He is glad to see the promise of settled weather now, for\ngetting in the hay, about which the farmers have been fearful; and there\nis something so healthful in the sharing of a joy that is general and\nnot merely personal, that this thought about the hay-harvest reacts on\nhis state of mind and makes his resolution seem an easier matter.", "A man\nabout town might perhaps consider that these influences were not to be\nfelt out of a child's story-book; but when you are among the fields\nand hedgerows, it is impossible to maintain a consistent superiority to\nsimple natural pleasures.", "Arthur had passed the village of Hayslope and was approaching the\nBroxton side of the hill, when, at a turning in the road, he saw a\nfigure about a hundred yards before him which it was impossible to\nmistake for any one else than Adam Bede, even if there had been no grey,\ntailless shepherd-dog at his heels.", "He was striding along at his usual\nrapid pace, and Arthur pushed on his horse to overtake him, for he\nretained too much of his boyish feeling for Adam to miss an opportunity\nof chatting with him.", "I will not say that his love for that good fellow\ndid not owe some of its force to the love of patronage: our friend\nArthur liked to do everything that was handsome, and to have his\nhandsome deeds recognized.", "Adam looked round as he heard the quickening clatter of the horse's\nheels, and waited for the horseman, lifting his paper cap from his head\nwith a bright smile of recognition.", "Next to his own brother Seth, Adam\nwould have done more for Arthur Donnithorne than for any other young man\nin the world.", "There was hardly anything he would not rather have lost\nthan the two-feet ruler which he always carried in his pocket; it was\nArthur's present, bought with his pocket-money when he was a fair-haired\nlad of eleven, and when he had profited so well by Adam's lessons in\ncarpentering and turning as to embarrass every female in the house with\ngifts of superfluous thread-reels and round boxes.", "Adam had quite a\npride in the little squire in those early days, and the feeling had\nonly become slightly modified as the fair-haired lad had grown into\nthe whiskered young man.", "Adam, I confess, was very susceptible to the\ninfluence of rank, and quite ready to give an extra amount of respect to\nevery one who had more advantages than himself, not being a philosopher\nor a proletaire with democratic ideas, but simply a stout-limbed clever\ncarpenter with a large fund of reverence in his nature, which inclined\nhim to admit all established claims unless he saw very clear grounds for\nquestioning them.", "He had no theories about setting the world to rights,\nbut he saw there was a great deal of damage done by building with\nill-seasoned timber--by ignorant men in fine clothes making plans for\nouthouses and workshops and the like without knowing the bearings of\nthings--by slovenly joiners' work, and by hasty contracts that could\nnever be fulfilled without ruining somebody; and he resolved, for his\npart, to set his face against such doings.", "On these points he would\nhave maintained his opinion against the largest landed proprietor in\nLoamshire or Stonyshire either; but he felt that beyond these it would\nbe better for him to defer to people who were more knowing than himself.", "He saw as plainly as possible how ill the woods on the estate were\nmanaged, and the shameful state of the farm-buildings; and if old Squire\nDonnithorne had asked him the effect of this mismanagement, he would\nhave spoken his opinion without flinching, but the impulse to a\nrespectful demeanour towards a \"gentleman\" would have been strong within\nhim all the while.", "The word \"gentleman\" had a spell for Adam, and, as he\noften said, he \"couldn't abide a fellow who thought he made himself fine\nby being coxy to's betters.\"", "I must remind you again that Adam had the\nblood of the peasant in his veins, and that since he was in his prime\nhalf a century ago, you must expect some of his characteristics to be\nobsolete.", "Towards the young squire this instinctive reverence of Adam's was\nassisted by boyish memories and personal regard so you may imagine that\nhe thought far more of Arthur's good qualities, and attached far more\nvalue to very slight actions of his, than if they had been the qualities\nand actions of a common workman like himself.", "He felt sure it would be\na fine day for everybody about Hayslope when the young squire came into\nthe estate--such a generous open-hearted disposition as he had, and an\n\"uncommon\" notion about improvements and repairs, considering he was\nonly just coming of age.", "Thus there was both respect and affection in\nthe smile with which he raised his paper cap as Arthur Donnithorne rode\nup.", "\"Well, Adam, how are you?\"", "said Arthur, holding out his hand.", "He never\nshook hands with any of the farmers, and Adam felt the honour keenly.", "\"I\ncould swear to your back a long way off.", "It's just the same back, only\nbroader, as when you used to carry me on it.", "Do you remember?\"", "\"Aye, sir, I remember.", "It 'ud be a poor look-out if folks didn't\nremember what they did and said when they were lads.", "We should think no\nmore about old friends than we do about new uns, then.\"", "\"You're going to Broxton, I suppose?\"", "said Arthur, putting his horse\non at a slow pace while Adam walked by his side.", "\"Are you going to the\nrectory?\"", "\"No, sir, I'm going to see about Bradwell's barn.", "They're afraid of the\nroof pushing the walls out, and I'm going to see what can be done with\nit before we send the stuff and the workmen.\"", "\"Why, Burge trusts almost everything to you now, Adam, doesn't he?", "I\nshould think he will make you his partner soon.", "He will, if he's wise.\"", "\"Nay, sir, I don't see as he'd be much the better off for that.", "A\nforeman, if he's got a conscience and delights in his work, will do his\nbusiness as well as if he was a partner.", "I wouldn't give a penny for\na man as 'ud drive a nail in slack because he didn't get extra pay for\nit.\"", "\"I know that, Adam; I know you work for him as well as if you were\nworking for yourself.", "But you would have more power than you have now,\nand could turn the business to better account perhaps.", "The old man must\ngive up his business sometime, and he has no son; I suppose he'll want a\nson-in-law who can take to it.", "But he has rather grasping fingers of his\nown, I fancy.", "I daresay he wants a man who can put some money into the\nbusiness.", "If I were not as poor as a rat, I would gladly invest some\nmoney in that way, for the sake of having you settled on the estate.", "I'm\nsure I should profit by it in the end.", "And perhaps I shall be better off\nin a year or two.", "I shall have a larger allowance now I'm of age; and\nwhen I've paid off a debt or two, I shall be able to look about me.\"", "\"You're very good to say so, sir, and I'm not unthankful.", "But\"--Adam\ncontinued, in a decided tone--\"I shouldn't like to make any offers\nto Mr. Burge, or t' have any made for me.", "I see no clear road to a\npartnership.", "If he should ever want to dispose of the business, that 'ud\nbe a different matter.", "I should be glad of some money at a fair interest\nthen, for I feel sure I could pay it off in time.\"", "\"Very well, Adam,\" said Arthur, remembering what Mr. Irwine had said\nabout a probable hitch in the love-making between Adam and Mary Burge,\n\"we'll say no more about it at present.", "When is your father to be\nburied?\"", "\"On Sunday, sir; Mr. Irwine's coming earlier on purpose.", "I shall be glad\nwhen it's over, for I think my mother 'ull perhaps get easier then.", "It\ncuts one sadly to see the grief of old people; they've no way o' working\nit off, and the new spring brings no new shoots out on the withered\ntree.\"", "\"Ah, you've had a good deal of trouble and vexation in your life, Adam.", "I don't think you've ever been hare-brained and light-hearted, like\nother youngsters.", "You've always had some care on your mind.\"", "\"Why, yes, sir; but that's nothing to make a fuss about.", "If we're men\nand have men's feelings, I reckon we must have men's troubles.", "We can't\nbe like the birds, as fly from their nest as soon as they've got their\nwings, and never know their kin when they see 'em, and get a fresh lot\nevery year.", "I've had enough to be thankful for: I've allays had health\nand strength and brains to give me a delight in my work; and I count it\na great thing as I've had Bartle Massey's night-school to go to.", "He's\nhelped me to knowledge I could never ha' got by myself.\"", "\"What a rare fellow you are, Adam!\"", "said Arthur, after a pause, in which\nhe had looked musingly at the big fellow walking by his side.", "\"I could\nhit out better than most men at Oxford, and yet I believe you would\nknock me into next week if I were to have a battle with you.\"", "\"God forbid I should ever do that, sir,\" said Adam, looking round at\nArthur and smiling.", "\"I used to fight for fun, but I've never done that\nsince I was the cause o' poor Gil Tranter being laid up for a fortnight.", "I'll never fight any man again, only when he behaves like a scoundrel.", "If you get hold of a chap that's got no shame nor conscience to stop\nhim, you must try what you can do by bunging his eyes up.\"", "Arthur did not laugh, for he was preoccupied with some thought that\nmade him say presently, \"I should think now, Adam, you never have any\nstruggles within yourself.", "I fancy you would master a wish that you had\nmade up your mind it was not quite right to indulge, as easily as you\nwould knock down a drunken fellow who was quarrelsome with you.", "I mean,\nyou are never shilly-shally, first making up your mind that you won't do\na thing, and then doing it after all?\"", "\"Well,\" said Adam, slowly, after a moment's hesitation, \"no.", "I don't\nremember ever being see-saw in that way, when I'd made my mind up, as\nyou say, that a thing was wrong.", "It takes the taste out o' my mouth for\nthings, when I know I should have a heavy conscience after 'em.", "I've\nseen pretty clear, ever since I could cast up a sum, as you can never\ndo what's wrong without breeding sin and trouble more than you can ever\nsee.", "It's like a bit o' bad workmanship--you never see th' end o' the\nmischief it'll do.", "And it's a poor look-out to come into the world to\nmake your fellow-creatures worse off instead o' better.", "But there's a\ndifference between the things folks call wrong.", "I'm not for making a\nsin of every little fool's trick, or bit o' nonsense anybody may be let\ninto, like some o' them dissenters.", "And a man may have two minds whether\nit isn't worthwhile to get a bruise or two for the sake of a bit o' fun.", "But it isn't my way to be see-saw about anything: I think my fault lies\nth' other way.", "When I've said a thing, if it's only to myself, it's hard\nfor me to go back.\"", "\"Yes, that's just what I expected of you,\" said Arthur.", "\"You've got an\niron will, as well as an iron arm.", "But however strong a man's resolution\nmay be, it costs him something to carry it out, now and then.", "We may\ndetermine not to gather any cherries and keep our hands sturdily in our\npockets, but we can't prevent our mouths from watering.\"", "\"That's true, sir, but there's nothing like settling with ourselves as\nthere's a deal we must do without i' this life.", "It's no use looking on\nlife as if it was Treddles'on Fair, where folks only go to see shows and\nget fairings.", "If we do, we shall find it different.", "But where's the use\no' me talking to you, sir?", "You know better than I do.\"", "\"I'm not so sure of that, Adam.", "You've had four or five years of\nexperience more than I've had, and I think your life has been a better\nschool to you than college has been to me.\"", "\"Why, sir, you seem to think o' college something like what Bartle\nMassey does.", "He says college mostly makes people like bladders--just\ngood for nothing but t' hold the stuff as is poured into 'em.", "But he's\ngot a tongue like a sharp blade, Bartle has--it never touches anything\nbut it cuts.", "Here's the turning, sir.", "I must bid you good-morning, as\nyou're going to the rectory.\"", "\"Good-bye, Adam, good-bye.\"", "Arthur gave his horse to the groom at the rectory gate, and walked along\nthe gravel towards the door which opened on the garden.", "He knew that the\nrector always breakfasted in his study, and the study lay on the left\nhand of this door, opposite the dining-room.", "It was a small low room,\nbelonging to the old part of the house--dark with the sombre covers of\nthe books that lined the walls; yet it looked very cheery this morning\nas Arthur reached the open window.", "For the morning sun fell aslant on\nthe great glass globe with gold fish in it, which stood on a scagliola\npillar in front of the ready-spread bachelor breakfast-table, and by the\nside of this breakfast-table was a group which would have made any room\nenticing.", "In the crimson damask easy-chair sat Mr. Irwine, with that\nradiant freshness which he always had when he came from his morning\ntoilet; his finely formed plump white hand was playing along Juno's\nbrown curly back; and close to Juno's tail, which was wagging with calm\nmatronly pleasure, the two brown pups were rolling over each other in an\necstatic duet of worrying noises.", "On a cushion a little removed sat\nPug, with the air of a maiden lady, who looked on these familiarities\nas animal weaknesses, which she made as little show as possible of\nobserving.", "On the table, at Mr. Irwine's elbow, lay the first volume of\nthe Foulis AEschylus, which Arthur knew well by sight; and the silver\ncoffee-pot, which Carroll was bringing in, sent forth a fragrant steam\nwhich completed the delights of a bachelor breakfast.", "\"Hallo, Arthur, that's a good fellow!", "You're just in time,\" said Mr.\nIrwine, as Arthur paused and stepped in over the low window-sill.", "\"Carroll, we shall want more coffee and eggs, and haven't you got some\ncold fowl for us to eat with that ham?", "Why, this is like old days,\nArthur; you haven't been to breakfast with me these five years.\"", "\"It was a tempting morning for a ride before breakfast,\" said Arthur;\n\"and I used to like breakfasting with you so when I was reading with\nyou.", "My grandfather is always a few degrees colder at breakfast than at\nany other hour in the day.", "I think his morning bath doesn't agree with\nhim.\"", "Arthur was anxious not to imply that he came with any special purpose.", "He had no sooner found himself in Mr. Irwine's presence than the\nconfidence which he had thought quite easy before, suddenly appeared\nthe most difficult thing in the world to him, and at the very moment of\nshaking hands he saw his purpose in quite a new light.", "How could he make\nIrwine understand his position unless he told him those little scenes\nin the wood; and how could he tell them without looking like a fool?", "And then his weakness in coming back from Gawaine's, and doing the very\nopposite of what he intended!", "Irwine would think him a shilly-shally\nfellow ever after.", "However, it must come out in an unpremeditated way;\nthe conversation might lead up to it.", "\"I like breakfast-time better than any other moment in the day,\" said\nMr. Irwine.", "\"No dust has settled on one's mind then, and it presents a\nclear mirror to the rays of things.", "I always have a favourite book by\nme at breakfast, and I enjoy the bits I pick up then so much, that\nregularly every morning it seems to me as if I should certainly become\nstudious again.", "But presently Dent brings up a poor fellow who has\nkilled a hare, and when I've got through my 'justicing,' as Carroll\ncalls it, I'm inclined for a ride round the glebe, and on my way back\nI meet with the master of the workhouse, who has got a long story of a\nmutinous pauper to tell me; and so the day goes on, and I'm always the\nsame lazy fellow before evening sets in.", "Besides, one wants the\nstimulus of sympathy, and I have never had that since poor D'Oyley left\nTreddleston.", "If you had stuck to your books well, you rascal, I should\nhave had a pleasanter prospect before me.", "But scholarship doesn't run in\nyour family blood.\"", "\"No indeed.", "It's well if I can remember a little inapplicable Latin to\nadorn my maiden speech in Parliament six or seven years hence.", "'Cras\ningens iterabimus aequor,' and a few shreds of that sort, will perhaps\nstick to me, and I shall arrange my opinions so as to introduce them.", "But I don't think a knowledge of the classics is a pressing want to\na country gentleman; as far as I can see, he'd much better have a\nknowledge of manures.", "I've been reading your friend Arthur Young's books\nlately, and there's nothing I should like better than to carry out some\nof his ideas in putting the farmers on a better management of their\nland; and, as he says, making what was a wild country, all of the same\ndark hue, bright and variegated with corn and cattle.", "My grandfather\nwill never let me have any power while he lives, but there's nothing\nI should like better than to undertake the Stonyshire side of the\nestate--it's in a dismal condition--and set improvements on foot, and\ngallop about from one place to another and overlook them.", "I should like\nto know all the labourers, and see them touching their hats to me with a\nlook of goodwill.\"", "\"Bravo, Arthur!", "A man who has no feeling for the classics couldn't\nmake a better apology for coming into the world than by increasing\nthe quantity of food to maintain scholars--and rectors who appreciate\nscholars.", "And whenever you enter on your career of model landlord may\nI be there to see.", "You'll want a portly rector to complete the picture,\nand take his tithe of all the respect and honour you get by your hard\nwork.", "Only don't set your heart too strongly on the goodwill you are to\nget in consequence.", "I'm not sure that men are the fondest of those who\ntry to be useful to them.", "You know Gawaine has got the curses of the\nwhole neighbourhood upon him about that enclosure.", "You must make\nit quite clear to your mind which you are most bent upon, old\nboy--popularity or usefulness--else you may happen to miss both.\"", "\"Oh!", "Gawaine is harsh in his manners; he doesn't make himself personally\nagreeable to his tenants.", "I don't believe there's anything you can't\nprevail on people to do with kindness.", "For my part, I couldn't live in\na neighbourhood where I was not respected and beloved.", "And it's very\npleasant to go among the tenants here--they seem all so well inclined\nto me I suppose it seems only the other day to them since I was a little\nlad, riding on a pony about as big as a sheep.", "And if fair allowances\nwere made to them, and their buildings attended to, one could persuade\nthem to farm on a better plan, stupid as they are.\"", "\"Then mind you fall in love in the right place, and don't get a wife who\nwill drain your purse and make you niggardly in spite of yourself.", "My\nmother and I have a little discussion about you sometimes: she says, 'I'll\nnever risk a single prophecy on Arthur until I see the woman he falls\nin love with.'", "She thinks your lady-love will rule you as the moon rules\nthe tides.", "But I feel bound to stand up for you, as my pupil you know,\nand I maintain that you're not of that watery quality.", "So mind you don't\ndisgrace my judgment.\"", "Arthur winced under this speech, for keen old Mrs. Irwine's opinion\nabout him had the disagreeable effect of a sinister omen.", "This, to be\nsure, was only another reason for persevering in his intention, and\ngetting an additional security against himself.", "Nevertheless, at this\npoint in the conversation, he was conscious of increased disinclination\nto tell his story about Hetty.", "He was of an impressible nature, and\nlived a great deal in other people's opinions and feelings concerning\nhimself; and the mere fact that he was in the presence of an intimate\nfriend, who had not the slightest notion that he had had any such\nserious internal struggle as he came to confide, rather shook his own\nbelief in the seriousness of the struggle.", "It was not, after all, a\nthing to make a fuss about; and what could Irwine do for him that he\ncould not do for himself?", "He would go to Eagledale in spite of Meg's\nlameness--go on Rattler, and let Pym follow as well as he could on the\nold hack.", "That was his thought as he sugared his coffee; but the\nnext minute, as he was lifting the cup to his lips, he remembered how\nthoroughly he had made up his mind last night to tell Irwine.", "No!", "He\nwould not be vacillating again--he WOULD do what he had meant to do,\nthis time.", "So it would be well not to let the personal tone of the\nconversation altogether drop.", "If they went to quite indifferent topics,\nhis difficulty would be heightened.", "It had required no noticeable pause\nfor this rush and rebound of feeling, before he answered, \"But I think\nit is hardly an argument against a man's general strength of character\nthat he should be apt to be mastered by love.", "A fine constitution\ndoesn't insure one against smallpox or any other of those inevitable\ndiseases.", "A man may be very firm in other matters and yet be under a\nsort of witchery from a woman.\"", "\"Yes; but there's this difference between love and smallpox, or\nbewitchment either--that if you detect the disease at an early stage and\ntry change of air, there is every chance of complete escape without any\nfurther development of symptoms.", "And there are certain alternative doses\nwhich a man may administer to himself by keeping unpleasant consequences\nbefore his mind: this gives you a sort of smoked glass through which\nyou may look at the resplendent fair one and discern her true outline;\nthough I'm afraid, by the by, the smoked glass is apt to be missing just\nat the moment it is most wanted.", "I daresay, now, even a man fortified\nwith a knowledge of the classics might be lured into an imprudent\nmarriage, in spite of the warning given him by the chorus in the\nPrometheus.\"", "The smile that flitted across Arthur's face was a faint one, and instead\nof following Mr. Irwine's playful lead, he said, quite seriously--\"Yes,\nthat's the worst of it.", "It's a desperately vexatious thing, that after\nall one's reflections and quiet determinations, we should be ruled by\nmoods that one can't calculate on beforehand.", "I don't think a man ought\nto be blamed so much if he is betrayed into doing things in that way, in\nspite of his resolutions.\"", "\"Ah, but the moods lie in his nature, my boy, just as much as his\nreflections did, and more.", "A man can never do anything at variance with\nhis own nature.", "He carries within him the germ of his most exceptional\naction; and if we wise people make eminent fools of ourselves on any\nparticular occasion, we must endure the legitimate conclusion that we\ncarry a few grains of folly to our ounce of wisdom.\"", "\"Well, but one may be betrayed into doing things by a combination of\ncircumstances, which one might never have done otherwise.\"", "\"Why, yes, a man can't very well steal a bank-note unless the bank-note\nlies within convenient reach; but he won't make us think him an honest\nman because he begins to howl at the bank-note for falling in his way.\"", "\"But surely you don't think a man who struggles against a temptation\ninto which he falls at last as bad as the man who never struggles at\nall?\"", "\"No, certainly; I pity him in proportion to his struggles, for they\nforeshadow the inward suffering which is the worst form of Nemesis.", "Consequences are unpitying.", "Our deeds carry their terrible consequences,\nquite apart from any fluctuations that went before--consequences that\nare hardly ever confined to ourselves.", "And it is best to fix our minds\non that certainty, instead of considering what may be the elements of\nexcuse for us.", "But I never knew you so inclined for moral discussion,\nArthur?", "Is it some danger of your own that you are considering in this\nphilosophical, general way?\"", "In asking this question, Mr. Irwine pushed his plate away, threw himself\nback in his chair, and looked straight at Arthur.", "He really suspected\nthat Arthur wanted to tell him something, and thought of smoothing\nthe way for him by this direct question.", "But he was mistaken.", "Brought\nsuddenly and involuntarily to the brink of confession, Arthur shrank\nback and felt less disposed towards it than ever.", "The conversation had\ntaken a more serious tone than he had intended--it would quite mislead\nIrwine--he would imagine there was a deep passion for Hetty, while there\nwas no such thing.", "He was conscious of colouring, and was annoyed at his\nboyishness.", "\"Oh no, no danger,\" he said as indifferently as he could.", "\"I don't know\nthat I am more liable to irresolution than other people; only there are\nlittle incidents now and then that set one speculating on what might\nhappen in the future.\"", "Was there a motive at work under this strange reluctance of Arthur's\nwhich had a sort of backstairs influence, not admitted to himself?", "Our\nmental business is carried on much in the same way as the business\nof the State: a great deal of hard work is done by agents who are not\nacknowledged.", "In a piece of machinery, too, I believe there is often a\nsmall unnoticeable wheel which has a great deal to do with the motion of\nthe large obvious ones.", "Possibly there was some such unrecognized agent\nsecretly busy in Arthur's mind at this moment--possibly it was the fear\nlest he might hereafter find the fact of having made a confession to the\nrector a serious annoyance, in case he should NOT be able quite to carry\nout his good resolutions?", "I dare not assert that it was not so.", "The\nhuman soul is a very complex thing.", "The idea of Hetty had just crossed Mr. Irwine's mind as he looked\ninquiringly at Arthur, but his disclaiming indifferent answer confirmed\nthe thought which had quickly followed--that there could be nothing\nserious in that direction.", "There was no probability that Arthur ever saw\nher except at church, and at her own home under the eye of Mrs. Poyser;\nand the hint he had given Arthur about her the other day had no more\nserious meaning than to prevent him from noticing her so as to rouse the\nlittle chit's vanity, and in this way perturb the rustic drama of her\nlife.", "Arthur would soon join his regiment, and be far away: no, there\ncould be no danger in that quarter, even if Arthur's character had not\nbeen a strong security against it.", "His honest, patronizing pride in\nthe good-will and respect of everybody about him was a safeguard even\nagainst foolish romance, still more against a lower kind of folly.", "If there had been anything special on Arthur's mind in the previous\nconversation, it was clear he was not inclined to enter into details,\nand Mr. Irwine was too delicate to imply even a friendly curiosity.", "He\nperceived a change of subject would be welcome, and said, \"By the way,\nArthur, at your colonel's birthday fete there were some transparencies\nthat made a great effect in honour of Britannia, and Pitt, and the\nLoamshire Militia, and, above all, the 'generous youth,' the hero of\nthe day.", "Don't you think you should get up something of the same sort to\nastonish our weak minds?\"", "The opportunity was gone.", "While Arthur was hesitating, the rope to\nwhich he might have clung had drifted away--he must trust now to his own\nswimming.", "In ten minutes from that time, Mr. Irwine was called for on business,\nand Arthur, bidding him good-bye, mounted his horse again with a sense\nof dissatisfaction, which he tried to quell by determining to set off\nfor Eagledale without an hour's delay.", "Book Two" ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR DONNITHORNE, you remember, is under an engagement with himself to\ngo and see Mr. Irwine this Friday morning, and he is awake and dressing\nso early that he determines to go before breakfast, instead of after.", "It\ncuts one sadly to see the grief of old people; they've no way o' working\nit off, and the new spring brings no new shoots out on the withered\ntree.\"", "And a man may have two minds whether\nit isn't worthwhile to get a bruise or two for the sake of a bit o' fun.", "\"You've got an\niron will, as well as an iron arm.", "If we do, we shall find it different.", "It was a small low room,\nbelonging to the old part of the house--dark with the sombre covers of\nthe books that lined the walls; yet it looked very cheery this morning\nas Arthur reached the open window.", "For the morning sun fell aslant on\nthe great glass globe with gold fish in it, which stood on a scagliola\npillar in front of the ready-spread bachelor breakfast-table, and by the\nside of this breakfast-table was a group which would have made any room\nenticing.", "It's well if I can remember a little inapplicable Latin to\nadorn my maiden speech in Parliament six or seven years hence.", "\"But surely you don't think a man who struggles against a temptation\ninto which he falls at last as bad as the man who never struggles at\nall?\"", "Is it some danger of your own that you are considering in this\nphilosophical, general way?\"" ]

[ "But scholarship doesn't run in\nyour family blood.\"", "I'm\nsure I should profit by it in the end.", "He knew that the\nrector always breakfasted in his study, and the study lay on the left\nhand of this door, opposite the dining-room.", "I've been reading your friend Arthur Young's books\nlately, and there's nothing I should like better than to carry out some\nof his ideas in putting the farmers on a better management of their\nland; and, as he says, making what was a wild country, all of the same\ndark hue, bright and variegated with corn and cattle.", "His honest, patronizing pride in\nthe good-will and respect of everybody about him was a safeguard even\nagainst foolish romance, still more against a lower kind of folly.", "The opportunity was gone.", "But I feel bound to stand up for you, as my pupil you know,\nand I maintain that you're not of that watery quality.", "I'm not sure that men are the fondest of those who\ntry to be useful to them.", "Our\nmental business is carried on much in the same way as the business\nof the State: a great deal of hard work is done by agents who are not\nacknowledged.", "said Arthur, putting his horse\non at a slow pace while Adam walked by his side." ]

[ "\"Why, sir, you seem to think o' college something like what Bartle\nMassey does.", "He says college mostly makes people like bladders--just\ngood for nothing but t' hold the stuff as is poured into 'em.", "But he's\ngot a tongue like a sharp blade, Bartle has--it never touches anything\nbut it cuts.", "Here's the turning, sir.", "I must bid you good-morning, as\nyou're going to the rectory.\"", "\"Good-bye, Adam, good-bye.\"", "Arthur gave his horse to the groom at the rectory gate, and walked along\nthe gravel towards the door which opened on the garden.", "He knew that the\nrector always breakfasted in his study, and the study lay on the left\nhand of this door, opposite the dining-room.", "It was a small low room,\nbelonging to the old part of the house--dark with the sombre covers of\nthe books that lined the walls; yet it looked very cheery this morning\nas Arthur reached the open window.", "For the morning sun fell aslant on\nthe great glass globe with gold fish in it, which stood on a scagliola\npillar in front of the ready-spread bachelor breakfast-table, and by the\nside of this breakfast-table was a group which would have made any room\nenticing.", "In the crimson damask easy-chair sat Mr. Irwine, with that\nradiant freshness which he always had when he came from his morning\ntoilet; his finely formed plump white hand was playing along Juno's\nbrown curly back; and close to Juno's tail, which was wagging with calm\nmatronly pleasure, the two brown pups were rolling over each other in an\necstatic duet of worrying noises." ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR DONNITHORNE, you remember, is under an engagement with himself to\ngo and see Mr. Irwine this Friday morning, and he is awake and dressing\nso early that he determines to go before breakfast, instead of after.", "The rector, he knows, breakfasts alone at half-past nine, the ladies of\nthe family having a different breakfast-hour; Arthur will have an early\nride over the hill and breakfast with him.", "One can say everything best\nover a meal.", "The progress of civilization has made a breakfast or a dinner an\neasy and cheerful substitute for more troublesome and disagreeable\nceremonies.", "We take a less gloomy view of our errors now our father\nconfessor listens to us over his egg and coffee.", "We are more distinctly\nconscious that rude penances are out of the question for gentlemen in\nan enlightened age, and that mortal sin is not incompatible with an\nappetite for muffins.", "An assault on our pockets, which in more barbarous\ntimes would have been made in the brusque form of a pistol-shot, is\nquite a well-bred and smiling procedure now it has become a request for\na loan thrown in as an easy parenthesis between the second and third\nglasses of claret.", "Still, there was this advantage in the old rigid forms, that they\ncommitted you to the fulfilment of a resolution by some outward deed:\nwhen you have put your mouth to one end of a hole in a stone wall and\nare aware that there is an expectant ear at the other end, you are more\nlikely to say what you came out with the intention of saying than if you\nwere seated with your legs in an easy attitude under the mahogany with\na companion who will have no reason to be surprised if you have nothing\nparticular to say.", "However, Arthur Donnithorne, as he winds among the pleasant lanes on\nhorseback in the morning sunshine, has a sincere determination to open\nhis heart to the rector, and the swirling sound of the scythe as he\npasses by the meadow is all the pleasanter to him because of this honest\npurpose.", "He is glad to see the promise of settled weather now, for\ngetting in the hay, about which the farmers have been fearful; and there\nis something so healthful in the sharing of a joy that is general and\nnot merely personal, that this thought about the hay-harvest reacts on\nhis state of mind and makes his resolution seem an easier matter.", "There was no probability that Arthur ever saw\nher except at church, and at her own home under the eye of Mrs. Poyser;\nand the hint he had given Arthur about her the other day had no more\nserious meaning than to prevent him from noticing her so as to rouse the\nlittle chit's vanity, and in this way perturb the rustic drama of her\nlife.", "Arthur would soon join his regiment, and be far away: no, there\ncould be no danger in that quarter, even if Arthur's character had not\nbeen a strong security against it.", "His honest, patronizing pride in\nthe good-will and respect of everybody about him was a safeguard even\nagainst foolish romance, still more against a lower kind of folly.", "If there had been anything special on Arthur's mind in the previous\nconversation, it was clear he was not inclined to enter into details,\nand Mr. Irwine was too delicate to imply even a friendly curiosity.", "He\nperceived a change of subject would be welcome, and said, \"By the way,\nArthur, at your colonel's birthday fete there were some transparencies\nthat made a great effect in honour of Britannia, and Pitt, and the\nLoamshire Militia, and, above all, the 'generous youth,' the hero of\nthe day.", "Don't you think you should get up something of the same sort to\nastonish our weak minds?\"", "The opportunity was gone.", "While Arthur was hesitating, the rope to\nwhich he might have clung had drifted away--he must trust now to his own\nswimming.", "In ten minutes from that time, Mr. Irwine was called for on business,\nand Arthur, bidding him good-bye, mounted his horse again with a sense\nof dissatisfaction, which he tried to quell by determining to set off\nfor Eagledale without an hour's delay.", "Book Two" ]

[ "\n\n\"THIS Rector of Broxton is little better than a pagan!\"", "I hear one of my\nreaders exclaim.", "\"How much more edifying it would have been if you had\nmade him give Arthur some truly spiritual advice!", "You might have put\ninto his mouth the most beautiful things--quite as good as reading a\nsermon.\"", "Certainly I could, if I held it the highest vocation of the novelist\nto represent things as they never have been and never will be.", "Then,\nof course, I might refashion life and character entirely after my own\nliking; I might select the most unexceptionable type of clergyman and\nput my own admirable opinions into his mouth on all occasions.", "But it\nhappens, on the contrary, that my strongest effort is to avoid any such\narbitrary picture, and to give a faithful account of men and things\nas they have mirrored themselves in my mind.", "The mirror is doubtless\ndefective, the outlines will sometimes be disturbed, the reflection\nfaint or confused; but I feel as much bound to tell you as precisely\nas I can what that reflection is, as if I were in the witness-box,\nnarrating my experience on oath.", "Sixty years ago--it is a long time, so no wonder things have\nchanged--all clergymen were not zealous; indeed, there is reason to\nbelieve that the number of zealous clergymen was small, and it is\nprobable that if one among the small minority had owned the livings\nof Broxton and Hayslope in the year 1799, you would have liked him no\nbetter than you like Mr. Irwine.", "Ten to one, you would have thought him\na tasteless, indiscreet, methodistical man.", "It is so very rarely that\nfacts hit that nice medium required by our own enlightened opinions and\nrefined taste!", "Perhaps you will say, \"Do improve the facts a little,\nthen; make them more accordant with those correct views which it is our\nprivilege to possess.", "The world is not just what we like; do touch it\nup with a tasteful pencil, and make believe it is not quite such a mixed\nentangled affair.", "Let all people who hold unexceptionable opinions act\nunexceptionably.", "Let your most faulty characters always be on the wrong\nside, and your virtuous ones on the right.", "Then we shall see at a glance\nwhom we are to condemn and whom we are to approve.", "Then we shall be able\nto admire, without the slightest disturbance of our prepossessions: we\nshall hate and despise with that true ruminant relish which belongs to\nundoubting confidence.\"", "But, my good friend, what will you do then with your fellow-parishioner\nwho opposes your husband in the vestry?", "With your newly appointed vicar,\nwhose style of preaching you find painfully below that of his regretted\npredecessor?", "With the honest servant who worries your soul with her one\nfailing?", "With your neighbour, Mrs. Green, who was really kind to you\nin your last illness, but has said several ill-natured things about you\nsince your convalescence?", "Nay, with your excellent husband himself, who\nhas other irritating habits besides that of not wiping his shoes?", "These\nfellow-mortals, every one, must be accepted as they are: you can neither\nstraighten their noses, nor brighten their wit, nor rectify their\ndispositions; and it is these people--amongst whom your life is\npassed--that it is needful you should tolerate, pity, and love: it is\nthese more or less ugly, stupid, inconsistent people whose movements of\ngoodness you should be able to admire--for whom you should cherish all\npossible hopes, all possible patience.", "And I would not, even if I had\nthe choice, be the clever novelist who could create a world so much\nbetter than this, in which we get up in the morning to do our daily\nwork, that you would be likely to turn a harder, colder eye on the\ndusty streets and the common green fields--on the real breathing men\nand women, who can be chilled by your indifference or injured by your\nprejudice; who can be cheered and helped onward by your fellow-feeling,\nyour forbearance, your outspoken, brave justice.", "So I am content to tell my simple story, without trying to make things\nseem better than they were; dreading nothing, indeed, but falsity,\nwhich, in spite of one's best efforts, there is reason to dread.", "Falsehood is so easy, truth so difficult.", "The pencil is conscious of a\ndelightful facility in drawing a griffin--the longer the claws, and\nthe larger the wings, the better; but that marvellous facility which\nwe mistook for genius is apt to forsake us when we want to draw a real\nunexaggerated lion.", "Examine your words well, and you will find that even\nwhen you have no motive to be false, it is a very hard thing to say the\nexact truth, even about your own immediate feelings--much harder than to\nsay something fine about them which is NOT the exact truth.", "It is for this rare, precious quality of truthfulness that I delight in\nmany Dutch paintings, which lofty-minded people despise.", "I find a source\nof delicious sympathy in these faithful pictures of a monotonous\nhomely existence, which has been the fate of so many more among my\nfellow-mortals than a life of pomp or of absolute indigence, of tragic\nsuffering or of world-stirring actions.", "I turn, without shrinking, from\ncloud-borne angels, from prophets, sibyls, and heroic warriors, to an\nold woman bending over her flower-pot, or eating her solitary dinner,\nwhile the noonday light, softened perhaps by a screen of leaves, falls\non her mob-cap, and just touches the rim of her spinning-wheel, and\nher stone jug, and all those cheap common things which are the precious\nnecessaries of life to her--or I turn to that village wedding, kept\nbetween four brown walls, where an awkward bridegroom opens the dance\nwith a high-shouldered, broad-faced bride, while elderly and middle-aged\nfriends look on, with very irregular noses and lips, and probably\nwith quart-pots in their hands, but with an expression of unmistakable\ncontentment and goodwill.", "\"Foh!\"", "says my idealistic friend, \"what vulgar\ndetails!", "What good is there in taking all these pains to give an exact\nlikeness of old women and clowns?", "What a low phase of life!", "What clumsy,\nugly people!\"", "But bless us, things may be lovable that are not altogether handsome, I\nhope?", "I am not at all sure that the majority of the human race have\nnot been ugly, and even among those \"lords of their kind,\" the British,\nsquat figures, ill-shapen nostrils, and dingy complexions are not\nstartling exceptions.", "Yet there is a great deal of family love amongst\nus.", "I have a friend or two whose class of features is such that the\nApollo curl on the summit of their brows would be decidedly trying; yet\nto my certain knowledge tender hearts have beaten for them, and their\nminiatures--flattering, but still not lovely--are kissed in secret by\nmotherly lips.", "I have seen many an excellent matron, who could have\nnever in her best days have been handsome, and yet she had a packet of\nyellow love-letters in a private drawer, and sweet children showered\nkisses on her sallow cheeks.", "And I believe there have been plenty of\nyoung heroes, of middle stature and feeble beards, who have felt quite\nsure they could never love anything more insignificant than a Diana, and\nyet have found themselves in middle life happily settled with a wife who\nwaddles.", "Yes!", "Thank God; human feeling is like the mighty rivers that\nbless the earth: it does not wait for beauty--it flows with resistless\nforce and brings beauty with it.", "All honour and reverence to the divine beauty of form!", "Let us cultivate\nit to the utmost in men, women, and children--in our gardens and in our\nhouses.", "But let us love that other beauty too, which lies in no secret\nof proportion, but in the secret of deep human sympathy.", "Paint us an\nangel, if you can, with a floating violet robe, and a face paled by the\ncelestial light; paint us yet oftener a Madonna, turning her mild face\nupward and opening her arms to welcome the divine glory; but do not\nimpose on us any aesthetic rules which shall banish from the region of\nArt those old women scraping carrots with their work-worn hands, those\nheavy clowns taking holiday in a dingy pot-house, those rounded backs\nand stupid weather-beaten faces that have bent over the spade and done\nthe rough work of the world--those homes with their tin pans, their\nbrown pitchers, their rough curs, and their clusters of onions.", "In\nthis world there are so many of these common coarse people, who have\nno picturesque sentimental wretchedness!", "It is so needful we should\nremember their existence, else we may happen to leave them quite out of\nour religion and philosophy and frame lofty theories which only fit\na world of extremes.", "Therefore, let Art always remind us of them;\ntherefore let us always have men ready to give the loving pains of a\nlife to the faithful representing of commonplace things--men who see\nbeauty in these commonplace things, and delight in showing how kindly\nthe light of heaven falls on them.", "There are few prophets in the world;\nfew sublimely beautiful women; few heroes.", "I can't afford to give all\nmy love and reverence to such rarities: I want a great deal of those\nfeelings for my every-day fellow-men, especially for the few in the\nforeground of the great multitude, whose faces I know, whose hands I\ntouch, for whom I have to make way with kindly courtesy.", "Neither are\npicturesque lazzaroni or romantic criminals half so frequent as your\ncommon labourer, who gets his own bread and eats it vulgarly but\ncreditably with his own pocket-knife.", "It is more needful that I should\nhave a fibre of sympathy connecting me with that vulgar citizen who\nweighs out my sugar in a vilely assorted cravat and waistcoat, than with\nthe handsomest rascal in red scarf and green feathers--more needful that\nmy heart should swell with loving admiration at some trait of gentle\ngoodness in the faulty people who sit at the same hearth with me, or in\nthe clergyman of my own parish, who is perhaps rather too corpulent and\nin other respects is not an Oberlin or a Tillotson, than at the deeds\nof heroes whom I shall never know except by hearsay, or at the sublimest\nabstract of all clerical graces that was ever conceived by an able\nnovelist.", "And so I come back to Mr. Irwine, with whom I desire you to be in\nperfect charity, far as he may be from satisfying your demands on the\nclerical character.", "Perhaps you think he was not--as he ought to have\nbeen--a living demonstration of the benefits attached to a national\nchurch?", "But I am not sure of that; at least I know that the people\nin Broxton and Hayslope would have been very sorry to part with their\nclergyman, and that most faces brightened at his approach; and until it\ncan be proved that hatred is a better thing for the soul than love,\nI must believe that Mr. Irwine's influence in his parish was a more\nwholesome one than that of the zealous Mr. Ryde, who came there twenty\nyears afterwards, when Mr. Irwine had been gathered to his fathers.", "It\nis true, Mr. Ryde insisted strongly on the doctrines of the Reformation,\nvisited his flock a great deal in their own homes, and was severe\nin rebuking the aberrations of the flesh--put a stop, indeed, to the\nChristmas rounds of the church singers, as promoting drunkenness and\ntoo light a handling of sacred things.", "But I gathered from Adam Bede, to\nwhom I talked of these matters in his old age, that few clergymen could\nbe less successful in winning the hearts of their parishioners than Mr.\nRyde.", "They learned a great many notions about doctrine from him, so\nthat almost every church-goer under fifty began to distinguish as well\nbetween the genuine gospel and what did not come precisely up to that\nstandard, as if he had been born and bred a Dissenter; and for some time\nafter his arrival there seemed to be quite a religious movement in that\nquiet rural district.", "\"But,\" said Adam, \"I've seen pretty clear, ever\nsince I was a young un, as religion's something else besides notions.", "It\nisn't notions sets people doing the right thing--it's feelings.", "It's the\nsame with the notions in religion as it is with math'matics--a man may\nbe able to work problems straight off in's head as he sits by the fire\nand smokes his pipe, but if he has to make a machine or a building, he\nmust have a will and a resolution and love something else better than\nhis own ease.", "Somehow, the congregation began to fall off, and people\nbegan to speak light o' Mr. Ryde.", "I believe he meant right at bottom;\nbut, you see, he was sourish-tempered, and was for beating down prices\nwith the people as worked for him; and his preaching wouldn't go down\nwell with that sauce.", "And he wanted to be like my lord judge i' the\nparish, punishing folks for doing wrong; and he scolded 'em from\nthe pulpit as if he'd been a Ranter, and yet he couldn't abide the\nDissenters, and was a deal more set against 'em than Mr. Irwine was.", "And\nthen he didn't keep within his income, for he seemed to think at first\ngo-off that six hundred a-year was to make him as big a man as Mr.\nDonnithorne.", "That's a sore mischief I've often seen with the poor\ncurates jumping into a bit of a living all of a sudden.", "Mr. Ryde was a\ndeal thought on at a distance, I believe, and he wrote books, but as for\nmath'matics and the natur o' things, he was as ignorant as a woman.", "He\nwas very knowing about doctrines, and used to call 'em the bulwarks of\nthe Reformation; but I've always mistrusted that sort o' learning as\nleaves folks foolish and unreasonable about business.", "Now Mester Irwine\nwas as different as could be: as quick!--he understood what you meant in\na minute, and he knew all about building, and could see when you'd made\na good job.", "And he behaved as much like a gentleman to the farmers, and\nth' old women, and the labourers, as he did to the gentry.", "You never saw\nHIM interfering and scolding, and trying to play th' emperor.", "Ah, he was\na fine man as ever you set eyes on; and so kind to's mother and sisters.", "That poor sickly Miss Anne--he seemed to think more of her than of\nanybody else in the world.", "There wasn't a soul in the parish had a word\nto say against him; and his servants stayed with him till they were so\nold and pottering, he had to hire other folks to do their work.\"", "\"Well,\" I said, \"that was an excellent way of preaching in the weekdays;\nbut I daresay, if your old friend Mr. Irwine were to come to life again,\nand get into the pulpit next Sunday, you would be rather ashamed that he\ndidn't preach better after all your praise of him.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Adam, broadening his chest and throwing himself back in\nhis chair, as if he were ready to meet all inferences, \"nobody has ever\nheard me say Mr. Irwine was much of a preacher.", "He didn't go into deep\nsperitial experience; and I know there s a deal in a man's inward life\nas you can't measure by the square, and say, 'Do this and that 'll\nfollow,' and, 'Do that and this 'll follow.'", "There's things go on in the\nsoul, and times when feelings come into you like a rushing mighty wind,\nas the Scripture says, and part your life in two a'most, so you look\nback on yourself as if you was somebody else.", "Those are things as you\ncan't bottle up in a 'do this' and 'do that'; and I'll go so far with\nthe strongest Methodist ever you'll find.", "That shows me there's deep\nsperitial things in religion.", "You can't make much out wi' talking about\nit, but you feel it.", "Mr. Irwine didn't go into those things--he preached\nshort moral sermons, and that was all.", "But then he acted pretty much\nup to what he said; he didn't set up for being so different from other\nfolks one day, and then be as like 'em as two peas the next.", "And he\nmade folks love him and respect him, and that was better nor stirring\nup their gall wi' being overbusy.", "Mrs. Poyser used to say--you know she\nwould have her word about everything--she said, Mr. Irwine was like a\ngood meal o' victual, you were the better for him without thinking on\nit, and Mr. Ryde was like a dose o' physic, he gripped you and worreted\nyou, and after all he left you much the same.\"", "\"But didn't Mr. Ryde preach a great deal more about that spiritual part\nof religion that you talk of, Adam?", "Couldn't you get more out of his\nsermons than out of Mr.", "Irwine's?\"", "\"Eh, I knowna.", "He preached a deal about doctrines.", "But I've seen pretty\nclear, ever since I was a young un, as religion's something else besides\ndoctrines and notions.", "I look at it as if the doctrines was like finding\nnames for your feelings, so as you can talk of 'em when you've never\nknown 'em, just as a man may talk o' tools when he knows their names,\nthough he's never so much as seen 'em, still less handled 'em.", "I've\nheard a deal o' doctrine i' my time, for I used to go after the\nDissenting preachers along wi' Seth, when I was a lad o' seventeen, and\ngot puzzling myself a deal about th' Arminians and the Calvinists.", "The\nWesleyans, you know, are strong Arminians; and Seth, who could never\nabide anything harsh and was always for hoping the best, held fast by\nthe Wesleyans from the very first; but I thought I could pick a hole or\ntwo in their notions, and I got disputing wi' one o' the class leaders\ndown at Treddles'on, and harassed him so, first o' this side and then\no' that, till at last he said, 'Young man, it's the devil making use o'\nyour pride and conceit as a weapon to war against the simplicity o'\nthe truth.'", "I couldn't help laughing then, but as I was going home, I\nthought the man wasn't far wrong.", "I began to see as all this weighing\nand sifting what this text means and that text means, and whether folks\nare saved all by God's grace, or whether there goes an ounce o' their\nown will to't, was no part o' real religion at all.", "You may talk o'\nthese things for hours on end, and you'll only be all the more coxy and\nconceited for't.", "So I took to going nowhere but to church, and hearing\nnobody but Mr. Irwine, for he said nothing but what was good and what\nyou'd be the wiser for remembering.", "And I found it better for my soul\nto be humble before the mysteries o' God's dealings, and not be making\na clatter about what I could never understand.", "And they're poor foolish\nquestions after all; for what have we got either inside or outside of us\nbut what comes from God?", "If we've got a resolution to do right, He gave\nit us, I reckon, first or last; but I see plain enough we shall never do\nit without a resolution, and that's enough for me.\"", "Adam, you perceive, was a warm admirer, perhaps a partial judge, of Mr.\nIrwine, as, happily, some of us still are of the people we have known\nfamiliarly.", "Doubtless it will be despised as a weakness by that lofty\norder of minds who pant after the ideal, and are oppressed by a general\nsense that their emotions are of too exquisite a character to find fit\nobjects among their everyday fellowmen.", "I have often been favoured with\nthe confidence of these select natures, and find them to concur in\nthe experience that great men are overestimated and small men are\ninsupportable; that if you would love a woman without ever looking back\non your love as a folly, she must die while you are courting her; and if\nyou would maintain the slightest belief in human heroism, you must never\nmake a pilgrimage to see the hero.", "I confess I have often meanly shrunk\nfrom confessing to these accomplished and acute gentlemen what my own\nexperience has been.", "I am afraid I have often smiled with hypocritical\nassent, and gratified them with an epigram on the fleeting nature of our\nillusions, which any one moderately acquainted with French literature\ncan command at a moment's notice.", "Human converse, I think some wise\nman has remarked, is not rigidly sincere.", "But I herewith discharge my\nconscience, and declare that I have had quite enthusiastic movements of\nadmiration towards old gentlemen who spoke the worst English, who were\noccasionally fretful in their temper, and who had never moved in a\nhigher sphere of influence than that of parish overseer; and that\nthe way in which I have come to the conclusion that human nature is\nlovable--the way I have learnt something of its deep pathos, its sublime\nmysteries--has been by living a great deal among people more or less\ncommonplace and vulgar, of whom you would perhaps hear nothing very\nsurprising if you were to inquire about them in the neighbourhoods where\nthey dwelt.", "Ten to one most of the small shopkeepers in their vicinity\nsaw nothing at all in them.", "For I have observed this remarkable\ncoincidence, that the select natures who pant after the ideal, and\nfind nothing in pantaloons or petticoats great enough to command their\nreverence and love, are curiously in unison with the narrowest and\npettiest.", "For example, I have often heard Mr. Gedge, the landlord of\nthe Royal Oak, who used to turn a bloodshot eye on his neighbours in\nthe village of Shepperton, sum up his opinion of the people in his own\nparish--and they were all the people he knew--in these emphatic words:\n\"Aye, sir, I've said it often, and I'll say it again, they're a poor lot\ni' this parish--a poor lot, sir, big and little.\"", "I think he had a\ndim idea that if he could migrate to a distant parish, he might find\nneighbours worthy of him; and indeed he did subsequently transfer\nhimself to the Saracen's Head, which was doing a thriving business in\nthe back street of a neighbouring market-town.", "But, oddly enough, he has\nfound the people up that back street of precisely the same stamp as the\ninhabitants of Shepperton--\"a poor lot, sir, big and little, and them\nas comes for a go o' gin are no better than them as comes for a pint o'\ntwopenny--a poor lot.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\"THIS Rector of Broxton is little better than a pagan!\"", "\"How much more edifying it would have been if you had\nmade him give Arthur some truly spiritual advice!", "Certainly I could, if I held it the highest vocation of the novelist\nto represent things as they never have been and never will be.", "But, my good friend, what will you do then with your fellow-parishioner\nwho opposes your husband in the vestry?", "But bless us, things may be lovable that are not altogether handsome, I\nhope?", "Yet there is a great deal of family love amongst\nus.", "And he wanted to be like my lord judge i' the\nparish, punishing folks for doing wrong; and he scolded 'em from\nthe pulpit as if he'd been a Ranter, and yet he couldn't abide the\nDissenters, and was a deal more set against 'em than Mr. Irwine was.", "There wasn't a soul in the parish had a word\nto say against him; and his servants stayed with him till they were so\nold and pottering, he had to hire other folks to do their work.\"", "He preached a deal about doctrines.", "For example, I have often heard Mr. Gedge, the landlord of\nthe Royal Oak, who used to turn a bloodshot eye on his neighbours in\nthe village of Shepperton, sum up his opinion of the people in his own\nparish--and they were all the people he knew--in these emphatic words:\n\"Aye, sir, I've said it often, and I'll say it again, they're a poor lot\ni' this parish--a poor lot, sir, big and little.\"" ]

[ "Therefore, let Art always remind us of them;\ntherefore let us always have men ready to give the loving pains of a\nlife to the faithful representing of commonplace things--men who see\nbeauty in these commonplace things, and delight in showing how kindly\nthe light of heaven falls on them.", "But let us love that other beauty too, which lies in no secret\nof proportion, but in the secret of deep human sympathy.", "But bless us, things may be lovable that are not altogether handsome, I\nhope?", "For I have observed this remarkable\ncoincidence, that the select natures who pant after the ideal, and\nfind nothing in pantaloons or petticoats great enough to command their\nreverence and love, are curiously in unison with the narrowest and\npettiest.", "\"Well,\" I said, \"that was an excellent way of preaching in the weekdays;\nbut I daresay, if your old friend Mr. Irwine were to come to life again,\nand get into the pulpit next Sunday, you would be rather ashamed that he\ndidn't preach better after all your praise of him.\"", "I think he had a\ndim idea that if he could migrate to a distant parish, he might find\nneighbours worthy of him; and indeed he did subsequently transfer\nhimself to the Saracen's Head, which was doing a thriving business in\nthe back street of a neighbouring market-town.", "With your neighbour, Mrs. Green, who was really kind to you\nin your last illness, but has said several ill-natured things about you\nsince your convalescence?", "It\nisn't notions sets people doing the right thing--it's feelings.", "And I found it better for my soul\nto be humble before the mysteries o' God's dealings, and not be making\na clatter about what I could never understand.", "Ah, he was\na fine man as ever you set eyes on; and so kind to's mother and sisters." ]

[ "Neither are\npicturesque lazzaroni or romantic criminals half so frequent as your\ncommon labourer, who gets his own bread and eats it vulgarly but\ncreditably with his own pocket-knife.", "It is more needful that I should\nhave a fibre of sympathy connecting me with that vulgar citizen who\nweighs out my sugar in a vilely assorted cravat and waistcoat, than with\nthe handsomest rascal in red scarf and green feathers--more needful that\nmy heart should swell with loving admiration at some trait of gentle\ngoodness in the faulty people who sit at the same hearth with me, or in\nthe clergyman of my own parish, who is perhaps rather too corpulent and\nin other respects is not an Oberlin or a Tillotson, than at the deeds\nof heroes whom I shall never know except by hearsay, or at the sublimest\nabstract of all clerical graces that was ever conceived by an able\nnovelist.", "And so I come back to Mr. Irwine, with whom I desire you to be in\nperfect charity, far as he may be from satisfying your demands on the\nclerical character.", "Perhaps you think he was not--as he ought to have\nbeen--a living demonstration of the benefits attached to a national\nchurch?", "But I am not sure of that; at least I know that the people\nin Broxton and Hayslope would have been very sorry to part with their\nclergyman, and that most faces brightened at his approach; and until it\ncan be proved that hatred is a better thing for the soul than love,\nI must believe that Mr. Irwine's influence in his parish was a more\nwholesome one than that of the zealous Mr. Ryde, who came there twenty\nyears afterwards, when Mr. Irwine had been gathered to his fathers.", "It\nis true, Mr. Ryde insisted strongly on the doctrines of the Reformation,\nvisited his flock a great deal in their own homes, and was severe\nin rebuking the aberrations of the flesh--put a stop, indeed, to the\nChristmas rounds of the church singers, as promoting drunkenness and\ntoo light a handling of sacred things.", "But I gathered from Adam Bede, to\nwhom I talked of these matters in his old age, that few clergymen could\nbe less successful in winning the hearts of their parishioners than Mr.\nRyde.", "They learned a great many notions about doctrine from him, so\nthat almost every church-goer under fifty began to distinguish as well\nbetween the genuine gospel and what did not come precisely up to that\nstandard, as if he had been born and bred a Dissenter; and for some time\nafter his arrival there seemed to be quite a religious movement in that\nquiet rural district.", "\"But,\" said Adam, \"I've seen pretty clear, ever\nsince I was a young un, as religion's something else besides notions.", "It\nisn't notions sets people doing the right thing--it's feelings.", "It's the\nsame with the notions in religion as it is with math'matics--a man may\nbe able to work problems straight off in's head as he sits by the fire\nand smokes his pipe, but if he has to make a machine or a building, he\nmust have a will and a resolution and love something else better than\nhis own ease." ]

[ "\n\n\"THIS Rector of Broxton is little better than a pagan!\"", "I hear one of my\nreaders exclaim.", "\"How much more edifying it would have been if you had\nmade him give Arthur some truly spiritual advice!", "You might have put\ninto his mouth the most beautiful things--quite as good as reading a\nsermon.\"", "Certainly I could, if I held it the highest vocation of the novelist\nto represent things as they never have been and never will be.", "Then,\nof course, I might refashion life and character entirely after my own\nliking; I might select the most unexceptionable type of clergyman and\nput my own admirable opinions into his mouth on all occasions.", "But it\nhappens, on the contrary, that my strongest effort is to avoid any such\narbitrary picture, and to give a faithful account of men and things\nas they have mirrored themselves in my mind.", "The mirror is doubtless\ndefective, the outlines will sometimes be disturbed, the reflection\nfaint or confused; but I feel as much bound to tell you as precisely\nas I can what that reflection is, as if I were in the witness-box,\nnarrating my experience on oath.", "Sixty years ago--it is a long time, so no wonder things have\nchanged--all clergymen were not zealous; indeed, there is reason to\nbelieve that the number of zealous clergymen was small, and it is\nprobable that if one among the small minority had owned the livings\nof Broxton and Hayslope in the year 1799, you would have liked him no\nbetter than you like Mr. Irwine.", "Ten to one, you would have thought him\na tasteless, indiscreet, methodistical man.", "I have often been favoured with\nthe confidence of these select natures, and find them to concur in\nthe experience that great men are overestimated and small men are\ninsupportable; that if you would love a woman without ever looking back\non your love as a folly, she must die while you are courting her; and if\nyou would maintain the slightest belief in human heroism, you must never\nmake a pilgrimage to see the hero.", "I confess I have often meanly shrunk\nfrom confessing to these accomplished and acute gentlemen what my own\nexperience has been.", "I am afraid I have often smiled with hypocritical\nassent, and gratified them with an epigram on the fleeting nature of our\nillusions, which any one moderately acquainted with French literature\ncan command at a moment's notice.", "Human converse, I think some wise\nman has remarked, is not rigidly sincere.", "But I herewith discharge my\nconscience, and declare that I have had quite enthusiastic movements of\nadmiration towards old gentlemen who spoke the worst English, who were\noccasionally fretful in their temper, and who had never moved in a\nhigher sphere of influence than that of parish overseer; and that\nthe way in which I have come to the conclusion that human nature is\nlovable--the way I have learnt something of its deep pathos, its sublime\nmysteries--has been by living a great deal among people more or less\ncommonplace and vulgar, of whom you would perhaps hear nothing very\nsurprising if you were to inquire about them in the neighbourhoods where\nthey dwelt.", "Ten to one most of the small shopkeepers in their vicinity\nsaw nothing at all in them.", "For I have observed this remarkable\ncoincidence, that the select natures who pant after the ideal, and\nfind nothing in pantaloons or petticoats great enough to command their\nreverence and love, are curiously in unison with the narrowest and\npettiest.", "For example, I have often heard Mr. Gedge, the landlord of\nthe Royal Oak, who used to turn a bloodshot eye on his neighbours in\nthe village of Shepperton, sum up his opinion of the people in his own\nparish--and they were all the people he knew--in these emphatic words:\n\"Aye, sir, I've said it often, and I'll say it again, they're a poor lot\ni' this parish--a poor lot, sir, big and little.\"", "I think he had a\ndim idea that if he could migrate to a distant parish, he might find\nneighbours worthy of him; and indeed he did subsequently transfer\nhimself to the Saracen's Head, which was doing a thriving business in\nthe back street of a neighbouring market-town.", "But, oddly enough, he has\nfound the people up that back street of precisely the same stamp as the\ninhabitants of Shepperton--\"a poor lot, sir, big and little, and them\nas comes for a go o' gin are no better than them as comes for a pint o'\ntwopenny--a poor lot.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\"HETTY, Hetty, don't you know church begins at two, and it's gone half\nafter one a'ready?", "Have you got nothing better to think on this good\nSunday as poor old Thias Bede's to be put into the ground, and him\ndrownded i' th' dead o' the night, as it's enough to make one's back\nrun cold, but you must be 'dizening yourself as if there was a wedding\ni'stid of a funeral?\"", "\"Well, Aunt,\" said Hetty, \"I can't be ready so soon as everybody else,\nwhen I've got Totty's things to put on.", "And I'd ever such work to make\nher stand still.\"", "Hetty was coming downstairs, and Mrs. Poyser, in her plain bonnet and\nshawl, was standing below.", "If ever a girl looked as if she had been made\nof roses, that girl was Hetty in her Sunday hat and frock.", "For her hat\nwas trimmed with pink, and her frock had pink spots, sprinkled on a\nwhite ground.", "There was nothing but pink and white about her, except\nin her dark hair and eyes and her little buckled shoes.", "Mrs. Poyser\nwas provoked at herself, for she could hardly keep from smiling, as any\nmortal is inclined to do at the sight of pretty round things.", "So she\nturned without speaking, and joined the group outside the house door,\nfollowed by Hetty, whose heart was fluttering so at the thought of some\none she expected to see at church that she hardly felt the ground she\ntrod on.", "And now the little procession set off.", "Mr. Poyser was in his Sunday suit\nof drab, with a red-and-green waistcoat and a green watch-ribbon having\na large cornelian seal attached, pendant like a plumb-line from that\npromontory where his watch-pocket was situated; a silk handkerchief of a\nyellow tone round his neck; and excellent grey ribbed stockings, knitted\nby Mrs. Poyser's own hand, setting off the proportions of his leg.", "Mr.\nPoyser had no reason to be ashamed of his leg, and suspected that the\ngrowing abuse of top-boots and other fashions tending to disguise the\nnether limbs had their origin in a pitiable degeneracy of the human\ncalf.", "Still less had he reason to be ashamed of his round jolly face,\nwhich was good humour itself as he said, \"Come, Hetty--come, little\nuns!\"", "and giving his arm to his wife, led the way through the causeway\ngate into the yard.", "The \"little uns\" addressed were Marty and Tommy, boys of nine and seven,\nin little fustian tailed coats and knee-breeches, relieved by rosy\ncheeks and black eyes, looking as much like their father as a very small\nelephant is like a very large one.", "Hetty walked between them, and behind\ncame patient Molly, whose task it was to carry Totty through the yard\nand over all the wet places on the road; for Totty, having speedily\nrecovered from her threatened fever, had insisted on going to church\nto-day, and especially on wearing her red-and-black necklace outside her\ntippet.", "And there were many wet places for her to be carried over this\nafternoon, for there had been heavy showers in the morning, though now\nthe clouds had rolled off and lay in towering silvery masses on the\nhorizon.", "You might have known it was Sunday if you had only waked up in the\nfarmyard.", "The cocks and hens seemed to know it, and made only crooning\nsubdued noises; the very bull-dog looked less savage, as if he would\nhave been satisfied with a smaller bite than usual.", "The sunshine seemed\nto call all things to rest and not to labour.", "It was asleep itself on\nthe moss-grown cow-shed; on the group of white ducks nestling together\nwith their bills tucked under their wings; on the old black sow\nstretched languidly on the straw, while her largest young one found an\nexcellent spring-bed on his mother's fat ribs; on Alick, the shepherd,\nin his new smock-frock, taking an uneasy siesta, half-sitting,\nhalf-standing on the granary steps.", "Alick was of opinion that church,\nlike other luxuries, was not to be indulged in often by a foreman who\nhad the weather and the ewes on his mind.", "\"Church!", "Nay--I'n gotten\nsummat else to think on,\" was an answer which he often uttered in a tone\nof bitter significance that silenced further question.", "I feel sure\nAlick meant no irreverence; indeed, I know that his mind was not of a\nspeculative, negative cast, and he would on no account have missed going\nto church on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and \"Whissuntide.\"", "But he had\na general impression that public worship and religious ceremonies,\nlike other non-productive employments, were intended for people who had\nleisure.", "\"There's Father a-standing at the yard-gate,\" said Martin Poyser.", "\"I\nreckon he wants to watch us down the field.", "It's wonderful what sight he\nhas, and him turned seventy-five.\"", "\"Ah, I often think it's wi' th' old folks as it is wi' the babbies,\"\nsaid Mrs. Poyser; \"they're satisfied wi' looking, no matter what they're\nlooking at.", "It's God A'mighty's way o' quietening 'em, I reckon, afore\nthey go to sleep.\"", "Old Martin opened the gate as he saw the family procession approaching,\nand held it wide open, leaning on his stick--pleased to do this bit\nof work; for, like all old men whose life has been spent in labour, he\nliked to feel that he was still useful--that there was a better crop of\nonions in the garden because he was by at the sowing--and that the cows\nwould be milked the better if he stayed at home on a Sunday afternoon\nto look on.", "He always went to church on Sacrament Sundays, but not very\nregularly at other times; on wet Sundays, or whenever he had a touch of\nrheumatism, he used to read the three first chapters of Genesis instead.", "\"They'll ha' putten Thias Bede i' the ground afore ye get to the\nchurchyard,\" he said, as his son came up.", "\"It 'ud ha' been better luck\nif they'd ha' buried him i' the forenoon when the rain was fallin';\nthere's no likelihoods of a drop now; an' the moon lies like a boat\nthere, dost see?", "That's a sure sign o' fair weather--there's a many as\nis false but that's sure.\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said the son, \"I'm in hopes it'll hold up now.\"", "\"Mind what the parson says, mind what the parson says, my lads,\" said\nGrandfather to the black-eyed youngsters in knee-breeches, conscious of\na marble or two in their pockets which they looked forward to handling,\na little, secretly, during the sermon.", "\"Dood-bye, Dandad,\" said Totty.", "\"Me doin' to church.", "Me dot my neklace\non.", "Dive me a peppermint.\"", "Grandad, shaking with laughter at this \"deep little wench,\" slowly\ntransferred his stick to his left hand, which held the gate open, and\nslowly thrust his finger into the waistcoat pocket on which Totty had\nfixed her eyes with a confident look of expectation.", "And when they were all gone, the old man leaned on the gate again,\nwatching them across the lane along the Home Close, and through the\nfar gate, till they disappeared behind a bend in the hedge.", "For the\nhedgerows in those days shut out one's view, even on the better-managed\nfarms; and this afternoon, the dog-roses were tossing out their pink\nwreaths, the nightshade was in its yellow and purple glory, the pale\nhoneysuckle grew out of reach, peeping high up out of a holly bush, and\nover all an ash or a sycamore every now and then threw its shadow across\nthe path.", "There were acquaintances at other gates who had to move aside and let\nthem pass: at the gate of the Home Close there was half the dairy of\ncows standing one behind the other, extremely slow to understand that\ntheir large bodies might be in the way; at the far gate there was the\nmare holding her head over the bars, and beside her the liver-coloured\nfoal with its head towards its mother's flank, apparently still much\nembarrassed by its own straddling existence.", "The way lay entirely\nthrough Mr. Poyser's own fields till they reached the main road leading\nto the village, and he turned a keen eye on the stock and the crops\nas they went along, while Mrs. Poyser was ready to supply a running\ncommentary on them all.", "The woman who manages a dairy has a large share\nin making the rent, so she may well be allowed to have her opinion on\nstock and their \"keep\"--an exercise which strengthens her understanding\nso much that she finds herself able to give her husband advice on most\nother subjects.", "\"There's that shorthorned Sally,\" she said, as they entered the Home\nClose, and she caught sight of the meek beast that lay chewing the cud\nand looking at her with a sleepy eye.", "\"I begin to hate the sight o' the\ncow; and I say now what I said three weeks ago, the sooner we get rid of\nher the better, for there's that little yallow cow as doesn't give half\nthe milk, and yet I've twice as much butter from her.\"", "\"Why, thee't not like the women in general,\" said Mr. Poyser; \"they like\nthe shorthorns, as give such a lot o' milk.", "There's Chowne's wife wants\nhim to buy no other sort.\"", "\"What's it sinnify what Chowne's wife likes?", "A poor soft thing, wi' no\nmore head-piece nor a sparrow.", "She'd take a big cullender to strain\nher lard wi', and then wonder as the scratchin's run through.", "I've\nseen enough of her to know as I'll niver take a servant from her house\nagain--all hugger-mugger--and you'd niver know, when you went in,\nwhether it was Monday or Friday, the wash draggin' on to th' end o' the\nweek; and as for her cheese, I know well enough it rose like a loaf in\na tin last year.", "And then she talks o' the weather bein' i' fault, as\nthere's folks 'ud stand on their heads and then say the fault was i'\ntheir boots.\"", "\"Well, Chowne's been wanting to buy Sally, so we can get rid of her if\nthee lik'st,\" said Mr. Poyser, secretly proud of his wife's superior\npower of putting two and two together; indeed, on recent market-days\nhe had more than once boasted of her discernment in this very matter of\nshorthorns.", "\"Aye, them as choose a soft for a wife may's well buy up\nthe shorthorns, for if you get your head stuck in a bog, your legs may's\nwell go after it.", "Eh!", "Talk o' legs, there's legs for you,\" Mrs. Poyser\ncontinued, as Totty, who had been set down now the road was dry, toddled\non in front of her father and mother.", "\"There's shapes!", "An' she's got\nsuch a long foot, she'll be her father's own child.\"", "\"Aye, she'll be welly such a one as Hetty i' ten years' time, on'y she's\ngot THY coloured eyes.", "I niver remember a blue eye i' my family; my\nmother had eyes as black as sloes, just like Hetty's.\"", "\"The child 'ull be none the worse for having summat as isn't like Hetty.", "An' I'm none for having her so overpretty.", "Though for the matter o'\nthat, there's people wi' light hair an' blue eyes as pretty as them wi'\nblack.", "If Dinah had got a bit o' colour in her cheeks, an' didn't stick\nthat Methodist cap on her head, enough to frighten the cows, folks 'ud\nthink her as pretty as Hetty.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, with rather a contemptuous emphasis, \"thee\ndostna know the pints of a woman.", "The men 'ud niver run after Dinah as\nthey would after Hetty.\"", "\"What care I what the men 'ud run after?", "It's well seen what choice the\nmost of 'em know how to make, by the poor draggle-tails o' wives you\nsee, like bits o' gauze ribbin, good for nothing when the colour's\ngone.\"", "\"Well, well, thee canstna say but what I knowed how to make a choice\nwhen I married thee,\" said Mr. Poyser, who usually settled little\nconjugal disputes by a compliment of this sort; \"and thee wast twice as\nbuxom as Dinah ten year ago.\"", "\"I niver said as a woman had need to be ugly to make a good missis of a\nhouse.", "There's Chowne's wife ugly enough to turn the milk an' save the\nrennet, but she'll niver save nothing any other way.", "But as for Dinah,\npoor child, she's niver likely to be buxom as long as she'll make her\ndinner o' cake and water, for the sake o' giving to them as want.", "She\nprovoked me past bearing sometimes; and, as I told her, she went clean\nagain' the Scriptur', for that says, 'Love your neighbour as yourself';\n'but,' I said, 'if you loved your neighbour no better nor you do\nyourself, Dinah, it's little enough you'd do for him.", "You'd be thinking\nhe might do well enough on a half-empty stomach.'", "Eh, I wonder where she\nis this blessed Sunday!", "Sitting by that sick woman, I daresay, as she'd\nset her heart on going to all of a sudden.\"", "\"Ah, it was a pity she should take such megrims into her head, when\nshe might ha' stayed wi' us all summer, and eaten twice as much as she\nwanted, and it 'ud niver ha' been missed.", "She made no odds in th' house\nat all, for she sat as still at her sewing as a bird on the nest, and\nwas uncommon nimble at running to fetch anything.", "If Hetty gets married,\ntheed'st like to ha' Dinah wi' thee constant.\"", "\"It's no use thinking o' that,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"You might as\nwell beckon to the flying swallow as ask Dinah to come an' live here\ncomfortable, like other folks.", "If anything could turn her, I should ha'\nturned her, for I've talked to her for a hour on end, and scolded her\ntoo; for she's my own sister's child, and it behoves me to do what I can\nfor her.", "But eh, poor thing, as soon as she'd said us 'good-bye' an'\ngot into the cart, an' looked back at me with her pale face, as is welly\nlike her Aunt Judith come back from heaven, I begun to be frightened to\nthink o' the set-downs I'd given her; for it comes over you sometimes\nas if she'd a way o' knowing the rights o' things more nor other folks\nhave.", "But I'll niver give in as that's 'cause she's a Methodist, no more\nnor a white calf's white 'cause it eats out o' the same bucket wi' a\nblack un.\"", "\"Nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, with as near an approach to a snarl as his\ngood-nature would allow; \"I'm no opinion o' the Methodists.", "It's on'y\ntradesfolks as turn Methodists; you nuver knew a farmer bitten wi' them\nmaggots.", "There's maybe a workman now an' then, as isn't overclever at's\nwork, takes to preachin' an' that, like Seth Bede.", "But you see Adam, as\nhas got one o' the best head-pieces hereabout, knows better; he's a good\nChurchman, else I'd never encourage him for a sweetheart for Hetty.\"", "\"Why, goodness me,\" said Mrs. Poyser, who had looked back while her\nhusband was speaking, \"look where Molly is with them lads!", "They're the\nfield's length behind us.", "How COULD you let 'em do so, Hetty?", "Anybody\nmight as well set a pictur' to watch the children as you.", "Run back and\ntell 'em to come on.\"", "Mr. and Mrs. Poyser were now at the end of the second field, so they set\nTotty on the top of one of the large stones forming the true Loamshire\nstile, and awaited the loiterers Totty observing with complacency, \"Dey\nnaughty, naughty boys--me dood.\"", "The fact was that this Sunday walk through the fields was fraught with\ngreat excitement to Marty and Tommy, who saw a perpetual drama going on\nin the hedgerows, and could no more refrain from stopping and peeping\nthan if they had been a couple of spaniels or terriers.", "Marty was quite\nsure he saw a yellow-hammer on the boughs of the great ash, and while\nhe was peeping, he missed the sight of a white-throated stoat, which had\nrun across the path and was described with much fervour by the junior\nTommy.", "Then there was a little greenfinch, just fledged, fluttering\nalong the ground, and it seemed quite possible to catch it, till it\nmanaged to flutter under the blackberry bush.", "Hetty could not be got\nto give any heed to these things, so Molly was called on for her ready\nsympathy, and peeped with open mouth wherever she was told, and said\n\"Lawks!\"", "whenever she was expected to wonder.", "Molly hastened on with some alarm when Hetty had come back and called to\nthem that her aunt was angry; but Marty ran on first, shouting,\n\"We've found the speckled turkey's nest, Mother!\"", "with the instinctive\nconfidence that people who bring good news are never in fault.", "\"Ah,\" said Mrs. Poyser, really forgetting all discipline in this\npleasant surprise, \"that's a good lad; why, where is it?\"", "\"Down in ever such a hole, under the hedge.", "I saw it first, looking\nafter the greenfinch, and she sat on th' nest.\"", "\"You didn't frighten her, I hope,\" said the mother, \"else she'll forsake\nit.\"", "\"No, I went away as still as still, and whispered to Molly--didn't I,\nMolly?\"", "\"Well, well, now come on,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"and walk before Father and\nMother, and take your little sister by the hand.", "We must go straight on\nnow.", "Good boys don't look after the birds of a Sunday.\"", "\"But, Mother,\" said Marty, \"you said you'd give half-a-crown to find\nthe speckled turkey's nest.", "Mayn't I have the half-crown put into my\nmoney-box?\"", "\"We'll see about that, my lad, if you walk along now, like a good boy.\"", "The father and mother exchanged a significant glance of amusement at\ntheir eldest-born's acuteness; but on Tommy's round face there was a\ncloud.", "\"Mother,\" he said, half-crying, \"Marty's got ever so much more money in\nhis box nor I've got in mine.\"", "\"Munny, me want half-a-toun in my bots,\" said Totty.", "\"Hush, hush, hush,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"did ever anybody hear such\nnaughty children?", "Nobody shall ever see their money-boxes any more, if\nthey don't make haste and go on to church.\"", "This dreadful threat had the desired effect, and through the two\nremaining fields the three pair of small legs trotted on without any\nserious interruption, notwithstanding a small pond full of tadpoles,\nalias \"bullheads,\" which the lads looked at wistfully.", "The damp hay that must be scattered and turned afresh to-morrow was\nnot a cheering sight to Mr. Poyser, who during hay and corn harvest had\noften some mental struggles as to the benefits of a day of rest; but no\ntemptation would have induced him to carry on any field-work, however\nearly in the morning, on a Sunday; for had not Michael Holdsworth had a\npair of oxen \"sweltered\" while he was ploughing on Good Friday?", "That was\na demonstration that work on sacred days was a wicked thing; and with\nwickedness of any sort Martin Poyser was quite clear that he would have\nnothing to do, since money got by such means would never prosper.", "\"It a'most makes your fingers itch to be at the hay now the sun shines\nso,\" he observed, as they passed through the \"Big Meadow.\"", "\"But it's\npoor foolishness to think o' saving by going against your conscience.", "There's that Jim Wakefield, as they used to call 'Gentleman Wakefield,'\nused to do the same of a Sunday as o' weekdays, and took no heed to\nright or wrong, as if there was nayther God nor devil.", "An' what's he\ncome to?", "Why, I saw him myself last market-day a-carrying a basket wi'\noranges in't.\"", "\"Ah, to be sure,\" said Mrs. Poyser, emphatically, \"you make but a poor\ntrap to catch luck if you go and bait it wi' wickedness.", "The money as is\ngot so's like to burn holes i' your pocket.", "I'd niver wish us to leave\nour lads a sixpence but what was got i' the rightful way.", "And as for\nthe weather, there's One above makes it, and we must put up wi't: it's\nnothing of a plague to what the wenches are.\"", "Notwithstanding the interruption in their walk, the excellent habit\nwhich Mrs. Poyser's clock had of taking time by the forelock had secured\ntheir arrival at the village while it was still a quarter to two,\nthough almost every one who meant to go to church was already within the\nchurchyard gates.", "Those who stayed at home were chiefly mothers, like\nTimothy's Bess, who stood at her own door nursing her baby and feeling\nas women feel in that position--that nothing else can be expected of\nthem.", "It was not entirely to see Thias Bede's funeral that the people were\nstanding about the churchyard so long before service began; that was\ntheir common practice.", "The women, indeed, usually entered the church at\nonce, and the farmers' wives talked in an undertone to each other, over\nthe tall pews, about their illnesses and the total failure of doctor's\nstuff, recommending dandelion-tea, and other home-made specifics, as\nfar preferable--about the servants, and their growing exorbitance as to\nwages, whereas the quality of their services declined from year to year,\nand there was no girl nowadays to be trusted any further than you could\nsee her--about the bad price Mr. Dingall, the Treddleston grocer, was\ngiving for butter, and the reasonable doubts that might be held as to\nhis solvency, notwithstanding that Mrs. Dingall was a sensible woman,\nand they were all sorry for HER, for she had very good kin.", "Meantime the\nmen lingered outside, and hardly any of them except the singers, who had\na humming and fragmentary rehearsal to go through, entered the church\nuntil Mr. Irwine was in the desk.", "They saw no reason for that premature\nentrance--what could they do in church if they were there before service\nbegan?--and they did not conceive that any power in the universe\ncould take it ill of them if they stayed out and talked a little about\n\"bus'ness.\"", "Chad Cranage looks like quite a new acquaintance to-day, for he has got\nhis clean Sunday face, which always makes his little granddaughter cry\nat him as a stranger.", "But an experienced eye would have fixed on him at\nonce as the village blacksmith, after seeing the humble deference with\nwhich the big saucy fellow took off his hat and stroked his hair to the\nfarmers; for Chad was accustomed to say that a working-man must hold\na candle to a personage understood to be as black as he was himself\non weekdays; by which evil-sounding rule of conduct he meant what was,\nafter all, rather virtuous than otherwise, namely, that men who had\nhorses to be shod must be treated with respect.", "Chad and the rougher\nsort of workmen kept aloof from the grave under the white thorn,\nwhere the burial was going forward; but Sandy Jim, and several of the\nfarm-labourers, made a group round it, and stood with their hats off, as\nfellow-mourners with the mother and sons.", "Others held a midway position,\nsometimes watching the group at the grave, sometimes listening to the\nconversation of the farmers, who stood in a knot near the church door,\nand were now joined by Martin Poyser, while his family passed into the\nchurch.", "On the outside of this knot stood Mr. Casson, the landlord of\nthe Donnithorne Arms, in his most striking attitude--that is to say,\nwith the forefinger of his right hand thrust between the buttons of his\nwaistcoat, his left hand in his breeches pocket, and his head very\nmuch on one side; looking, on the whole, like an actor who has only a\nmono-syllabic part entrusted to him, but feels sure that the audience\ndiscern his fitness for the leading business; curiously in contrast with\nold Jonathan Burge, who held his hands behind him and leaned forward,\ncoughing asthmatically, with an inward scorn of all knowingness that\ncould not be turned into cash.", "The talk was in rather a lower tone than\nusual to-day, hushed a little by the sound of Mr. Irwine's voice reading\nthe final prayers of the burial-service.", "They had all had their word\nof pity for poor Thias, but now they had got upon the nearer subject of\ntheir own grievances against Satchell, the Squire's bailiff, who\nplayed the part of steward so far as it was not performed by old Mr.\nDonnithorne himself, for that gentleman had the meanness to receive\nhis own rents and make bargains about his own timber.", "This subject of\nconversation was an additional reason for not being loud, since Satchell\nhimself might presently be walking up the paved road to the church door.", "And soon they became suddenly silent; for Mr. Irwine's voice had ceased,\nand the group round the white thorn was dispersing itself towards the\nchurch.", "They all moved aside, and stood with their hats off, while Mr. Irwine\npassed.", "Adam and Seth were coming next, with their mother between them;\nfor Joshua Rann officiated as head sexton as well as clerk, and was not\nyet ready to follow the rector into the vestry.", "But there was a pause\nbefore the three mourners came on: Lisbeth had turned round to look\nagain towards the grave!", "Ah!", "There was nothing now but the brown earth\nunder the white thorn.", "Yet she cried less to-day than she had done any\nday since her husband's death.", "Along with all her grief there was mixed\nan unusual sense of her own importance in having a \"burial,\" and in Mr.\nIrwine's reading a special service for her husband; and besides, she\nknew the funeral psalm was going to be sung for him.", "She felt this\ncounter-excitement to her sorrow still more strongly as she walked with\nher sons towards the church door, and saw the friendly sympathetic nods\nof their fellow-parishioners.", "The mother and sons passed into the church, and one by one the\nloiterers followed, though some still lingered without; the sight of Mr.\nDonnithorne's carriage, which was winding slowly up the hill, perhaps\nhelping to make them feel that there was no need for haste.", "But presently the sound of the bassoon and the key-bugles burst forth;\nthe evening hymn, which always opened the service, had begun, and every\none must now enter and take his place.", "I cannot say that the interior of Hayslope Church was remarkable for\nanything except for the grey age of its oaken pews--great square pews\nmostly, ranged on each side of a narrow aisle.", "It was free, indeed,\nfrom the modern blemish of galleries.", "The choir had two narrow pews to\nthemselves in the middle of the right-hand row, so that it was a short\nprocess for Joshua Rann to take his place among them as principal bass,\nand return to his desk after the singing was over.", "The pulpit and desk,\ngrey and old as the pews, stood on one side of the arch leading into\nthe chancel, which also had its grey square pews for Mr. Donnithorne's\nfamily and servants.", "Yet I assure you these grey pews, with the\nbuff-washed walls, gave a very pleasing tone to this shabby interior,\nand agreed extremely well with the ruddy faces and bright waistcoats.", "And there were liberal touches of crimson toward the chancel, for\nthe pulpit and Mr. Donnithorne's own pew had handsome crimson cloth\ncushions; and, to close the vista, there was a crimson altar-cloth,\nembroidered with golden rays by Miss Lydia's own hand.", "But even without the crimson cloth, the effect must have been warm and\ncheering when Mr. Irwine was in the desk, looking benignly round on\nthat simple congregation--on the hardy old men, with bent knees and\nshoulders, perhaps, but with vigour left for much hedge-clipping and\nthatching; on the tall stalwart frames and roughly cut bronzed faces of\nthe stone-cutters and carpenters; on the half-dozen well-to-do farmers,\nwith their apple-cheeked families; and on the clean old women, mostly\nfarm-labourers' wives, with their bit of snow-white cap-border under\ntheir black bonnets, and with their withered arms, bare from the elbow,\nfolded passively over their chests.", "For none of the old people held\nbooks--why should they?", "Not one of them could read.", "But they knew a\nfew \"good words\" by heart, and their withered lips now and then moved\nsilently, following the service without any very clear comprehension\nindeed, but with a simple faith in its efficacy to ward off harm and\nbring blessing.", "And now all faces were visible, for all were standing\nup--the little children on the seats peeping over the edge of the grey\npews, while good Bishop Ken's evening hymn was being sung to one of\nthose lively psalm-tunes which died out with the last generation of\nrectors and choral parish clerks.", "Melodies die out, like the pipe of\nPan, with the ears that love them and listen for them.", "Adam was not in\nhis usual place among the singers to-day, for he sat with his mother\nand Seth, and he noticed with surprise that Bartle Massey was absent\ntoo--all the more agreeable for Mr. Joshua Rann, who gave out his bass\nnotes with unusual complacency and threw an extra ray of severity into\nthe glances he sent over his spectacles at the recusant Will Maskery.", "I beseech you to imagine Mr. Irwine looking round on this scene, in his\nample white surplice that became him so well, with his powdered hair\nthrown back, his rich brown complexion, and his finely cut nostril and\nupper lip; for there was a certain virtue in that benignant yet keen\ncountenance as there is in all human faces from which a generous soul\nbeams out.", "And over all streamed the delicious June sunshine through the\nold windows, with their desultory patches of yellow, red, and blue, that\nthrew pleasant touches of colour on the opposite wall.", "I think, as Mr. Irwine looked round to-day, his eyes rested an instant\nlonger than usual on the square pew occupied by Martin Poyser and his\nfamily.", "And there was another pair of dark eyes that found it impossible\nnot to wander thither, and rest on that round pink-and-white figure.", "But\nHetty was at that moment quite careless of any glances--she was absorbed\nin the thought that Arthur Donnithorne would soon be coming into church,\nfor the carriage must surely be at the church-gate by this time.", "She\nhad never seen him since she parted with him in the wood on Thursday\nevening, and oh, how long the time had seemed!", "Things had gone on just\nthe same as ever since that evening; the wonders that had happened then\nhad brought no changes after them; they were already like a dream.", "When\nshe heard the church door swinging, her heart beat so, she dared not\nlook up.", "She felt that her aunt was curtsying; she curtsied herself.", "That must be old Mr. Donnithorne--he always came first, the wrinkled\nsmall old man, peering round with short-sighted glances at the bowing\nand curtsying congregation; then she knew Miss Lydia was passing,\nand though Hetty liked so much to look at her fashionable little\ncoal-scuttle bonnet, with the wreath of small roses round it, she didn't\nmind it to-day.", "But there were no more curtsies--no, he was not come;\nshe felt sure there was nothing else passing the pew door but the\nhouse-keeper's black bonnet and the lady's maid's beautiful straw hat\nthat had once been Miss Lydia's, and then the powdered heads of the\nbutler and footman.", "No, he was not there; yet she would look now--she\nmight be mistaken--for, after all, she had not looked.", "So she lifted\nup her eyelids and glanced timidly at the cushioned pew in the\nchancel--there was no one but old Mr. Donnithorne rubbing his spectacles\nwith his white handkerchief, and Miss Lydia opening the large gilt-edged\nprayer-book.", "The chill disappointment was too hard to bear.", "She felt\nherself turning pale, her lips trembling; she was ready to cry.", "Oh, what\nSHOULD she do?", "Everybody would know the reason; they would know she was\ncrying because Arthur was not there.", "And Mr. Craig, with the wonderful\nhothouse plant in his button-hole, was staring at her, she knew.", "It was\ndreadfully long before the General Confession began, so that she could\nkneel down.", "Two great drops WOULD fall then, but no one saw them except\ngood-natured Molly, for her aunt and uncle knelt with their backs\ntowards her.", "Molly, unable to imagine any cause for tears in church\nexcept faintness, of which she had a vague traditional knowledge, drew\nout of her pocket a queer little flat blue smelling-bottle, and after\nmuch labour in pulling the cork out, thrust the narrow neck against\nHetty's nostrils.", "\"It donna smell,\" she whispered, thinking this was a\ngreat advantage which old salts had over fresh ones: they did you good\nwithout biting your nose.", "Hetty pushed it away peevishly; but this\nlittle flash of temper did what the salts could not have done--it roused\nher to wipe away the traces of her tears, and try with all her might\nnot to shed any more.", "Hetty had a certain strength in her vain little\nnature: she would have borne anything rather than be laughed at, or\npointed at with any other feeling than admiration; she would have\npressed her own nails into her tender flesh rather than people should\nknow a secret she did not want them to know.", "What fluctuations there were in her busy thoughts and feelings, while\nMr. Irwine was pronouncing the solemn \"Absolution\" in her deaf ears, and\nthrough all the tones of petition that followed!", "Anger lay very close to\ndisappointment, and soon won the victory over the conjectures her\nsmall ingenuity could devise to account for Arthur's absence on the\nsupposition that he really wanted to come, really wanted to see her\nagain.", "And by the time she rose from her knees mechanically, because all\nthe rest were rising, the colour had returned to her cheeks even with\na heightened glow, for she was framing little indignant speeches to\nherself, saying she hated Arthur for giving her this pain--she would\nlike him to suffer too.", "Yet while this selfish tumult was going on in\nher soul, her eyes were bent down on her prayer-book, and the eyelids\nwith their dark fringe looked as lovely as ever.", "Adam Bede thought so,\nas he glanced at her for a moment on rising from his knees.", "But Adam's thoughts of Hetty did not deafen him to the service; they\nrather blended with all the other deep feelings for which the church\nservice was a channel to him this afternoon, as a certain consciousness\nof our entire past and our imagined future blends itself with all our\nmoments of keen sensibility.", "And to Adam the church service was the\nbest channel he could have found for his mingled regret, yearning, and\nresignation; its interchange of beseeching cries for help with outbursts\nof faith and praise, its recurrent responses and the familiar rhythm of\nits collects, seemed to speak for him as no other form of worship could\nhave done; as, to those early Christians who had worshipped from their\nchildhood upwards in catacombs, the torch-light and shadows must have\nseemed nearer the Divine presence than the heathenish daylight of the\nstreets.", "The secret of our emotions never lies in the bare object, but\nin its subtle relations to our own past: no wonder the secret escapes\nthe unsympathizing observer, who might as well put on his spectacles to\ndiscern odours.", "But there was one reason why even a chance comer would have found the\nservice in Hayslope Church more impressive than in most other village\nnooks in the kingdom--a reason of which I am sure you have not the\nslightest suspicion.", "It was the reading of our friend Joshua Rann.", "Where\nthat good shoemaker got his notion of reading from remained a mystery\neven to his most intimate acquaintances.", "I believe, after all, he got it\nchiefly from Nature, who had poured some of her music into this honest\nconceited soul, as she had been known to do into other narrow souls\nbefore his.", "She had given him, at least, a fine bass voice and a musical\near; but I cannot positively say whether these alone had sufficed to\ninspire him with the rich chant in which he delivered the responses.", "The way he rolled from a rich deep forte into a melancholy cadence,\nsubsiding, at the end of the last word, into a sort of faint resonance,\nlike the lingering vibrations of a fine violoncello, I can compare to\nnothing for its strong calm melancholy but the rush and cadence of the\nwind among the autumn boughs.", "This may seem a strange mode of speaking\nabout the reading of a parish clerk--a man in rusty spectacles, with\nstubbly hair, a large occiput, and a prominent crown.", "But that is\nNature's way: she will allow a gentleman of splendid physiognomy and\npoetic aspirations to sing woefully out of tune, and not give him the\nslightest hint of it; and takes care that some narrow-browed fellow,\ntrolling a ballad in the corner of a pot-house, shall be as true to his\nintervals as a bird.", "Joshua himself was less proud of his reading than of his singing, and it\nwas always with a sense of heightened importance that he passed from the\ndesk to the choir.", "Still more to-day: it was a special occasion, for an\nold man, familiar to all the parish, had died a sad death--not in his\nbed, a circumstance the most painful to the mind of the peasant--and\nnow the funeral psalm was to be sung in memory of his sudden departure.", "Moreover, Bartle Massey was not at church, and Joshua's importance in\nthe choir suffered no eclipse.", "It was a solemn minor strain they sang.", "The old psalm-tunes have many a wail among them, and the words--\n\n Thou sweep'st us off as with a flood;\n We vanish hence like dreams--\n\nseemed to have a closer application than usual in the death of poor\nThias.", "The mother and sons listened, each with peculiar feelings.", "Lisbeth had a vague belief that the psalm was doing her husband good; it\nwas part of that decent burial which she would have thought it a greater\nwrong to withhold from him than to have caused him many unhappy days\nwhile he was living.", "The more there was said about her husband, the\nmore there was done for him, surely the safer he would be.", "It was poor\nLisbeth's blind way of feeling that human love and pity are a ground of\nfaith in some other love.", "Seth, who was easily touched, shed tears, and\ntried to recall, as he had done continually since his father's death,\nall that he had heard of the possibility that a single moment of\nconsciousness at the last might be a moment of pardon and reconcilement;\nfor was it not written in the very psalm they were singing that the\nDivine dealings were not measured and circumscribed by time?", "Adam had\nnever been unable to join in a psalm before.", "He had known plenty of\ntrouble and vexation since he had been a lad, but this was the first\nsorrow that had hemmed in his voice, and strangely enough it was sorrow\nbecause the chief source of his past trouble and vexation was for ever\ngone out of his reach.", "He had not been able to press his father's\nhand before their parting, and say, \"Father, you know it was all right\nbetween us; I never forgot what I owed you when I was a lad; you forgive\nme if I have been too hot and hasty now and then!\"", "Adam thought but\nlittle to-day of the hard work and the earnings he had spent on his\nfather: his thoughts ran constantly on what the old man's feelings had\nbeen in moments of humiliation, when he had held down his head before\nthe rebukes of his son.", "When our indignation is borne in submissive\nsilence, we are apt to feel twinges of doubt afterwards as to our own\ngenerosity, if not justice; how much more when the object of our anger\nhas gone into everlasting silence, and we have seen his face for the\nlast time in the meekness of death!", "\"Ah!", "I was always too hard,\" Adam said to himself.", "\"It's a sore fault in\nme as I'm so hot and out o' patience with people when they do wrong, and\nmy heart gets shut up against 'em, so as I can't bring myself to forgive\n'em.", "I see clear enough there's more pride nor love in my soul, for I\ncould sooner make a thousand strokes with th' hammer for my father than\nbring myself to say a kind word to him.", "And there went plenty o' pride\nand temper to the strokes, as the devil WILL be having his finger in\nwhat we call our duties as well as our sins.", "Mayhap the best thing I\never did in my life was only doing what was easiest for myself.", "It's\nallays been easier for me to work nor to sit still, but the real tough\njob for me 'ud be to master my own will and temper and go right against\nmy own pride.", "It seems to me now, if I was to find Father at home\nto-night, I should behave different; but there's no knowing--perhaps\nnothing 'ud be a lesson to us if it didn't come too late.", "It's well we\nshould feel as life's a reckoning we can't make twice over; there's\nno real making amends in this world, any more nor you can mend a wrong\nsubtraction by doing your addition right.\"", "This was the key-note to which Adam's thoughts had perpetually returned\nsince his father's death, and the solemn wail of the funeral psalm\nwas only an influence that brought back the old thoughts with stronger\nemphasis.", "So was the sermon, which Mr. Irwine had chosen with reference\nto Thias's funeral.", "It spoke briefly and simply of the words, \"In the\nmidst of life we are in death\"--how the present moment is all we can\ncall our own for works of mercy, of righteous dealing, and of family\ntenderness.", "All very old truths--but what we thought the oldest truth\nbecomes the most startling to us in the week when we have looked on the\ndead face of one who has made a part of our own lives.", "For when men want\nto impress us with the effect of a new and wonderfully vivid light, do\nthey not let it fall on the most familiar objects, that we may measure\nits intensity by remembering the former dimness?", "Then came the moment of the final blessing, when the forever sublime\nwords, \"The peace of God, which passeth all understanding,\" seemed to\nblend with the calm afternoon sunshine that fell on the bowed heads of\nthe congregation; and then the quiet rising, the mothers tying on the\nbonnets of the little maidens who had slept through the sermon, the\nfathers collecting the prayer-books, until all streamed out through the\nold archway into the green churchyard and began their neighbourly talk,\ntheir simple civilities, and their invitations to tea; for on a Sunday\nevery one was ready to receive a guest--it was the day when all must be\nin their best clothes and their best humour.", "Mr. and Mrs. Poyser paused a minute at the church gate: they were\nwaiting for Adam to come up, not being contented to go away without\nsaying a kind word to the widow and her sons.", "\"Well, Mrs. Bede,\" said Mrs. Poyser, as they walked on together, \"you\nmust keep up your heart; husbands and wives must be content when they've\nlived to rear their children and see one another's hair grey.\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Mr. Poyser; \"they wonna have long to wait for one\nanother then, anyhow.", "And ye've got two o' the strapping'st sons i'\nth' country; and well you may, for I remember poor Thias as fine a\nbroad-shouldered fellow as need to be; and as for you, Mrs. Bede, why\nyou're straighter i' the back nor half the young women now.\"", "\"Eh,\" said Lisbeth, \"it's poor luck for the platter to wear well when\nit's broke i' two.", "The sooner I'm laid under the thorn the better.", "I'm\nno good to nobody now.\"", "Adam never took notice of his mother's little unjust plaints; but Seth\nsaid, \"Nay, Mother, thee mustna say so.", "Thy sons 'ull never get another\nmother.\"", "\"That's true, lad, that's true,\" said Mr. Poyser; \"and it's wrong on us\nto give way to grief, Mrs. Bede; for it's like the children cryin' when\nthe fathers and mothers take things from 'em.", "There's One above knows\nbetter nor us.\"", "\"Ah,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"an' it's poor work allays settin' the dead\nabove the livin'.", "We shall all on us be dead some time, I reckon--it 'ud\nbe better if folks 'ud make much on us beforehand, i'stid o' beginnin'\nwhen we're gone.", "It's but little good you'll do a-watering the last\nyear's crop.\"", "\"Well, Adam,\" said Mr. Poyser, feeling that his wife's words were,\nas usual, rather incisive than soothing, and that it would be well to\nchange the subject, \"you'll come and see us again now, I hope.", "I hanna\nhad a talk with you this long while, and the missis here wants you to\nsee what can be done with her best spinning-wheel, for it's got broke,\nand it'll be a nice job to mend it--there'll want a bit o' turning.", "You'll come as soon as you can now, will you?\"", "Mr. Poyser paused and looked round while he was speaking, as if to see\nwhere Hetty was; for the children were running on before.", "Hetty was not\nwithout a companion, and she had, besides, more pink and white about\nher than ever, for she held in her hand the wonderful pink-and-white\nhot-house plant, with a very long name--a Scotch name, she supposed,\nsince people said Mr. Craig the gardener was Scotch.", "Adam took the\nopportunity of looking round too; and I am sure you will not require of\nhim that he should feel any vexation in observing a pouting expression\non Hetty's face as she listened to the gardener's small talk.", "Yet in her\nsecret heart she was glad to have him by her side, for she would perhaps\nlearn from him how it was Arthur had not come to church.", "Not that she\ncared to ask him the question, but she hoped the information would be\ngiven spontaneously; for Mr. Craig, like a superior man, was very fond\nof giving information.", "Mr. Craig was never aware that his conversation and advances were\nreceived coldly, for to shift one's point of view beyond certain limits\nis impossible to the most liberal and expansive mind; we are none of\nus aware of the impression we produce on Brazilian monkeys of feeble\nunderstanding--it is possible they see hardly anything in us.", "Moreover,\nMr. Craig was a man of sober passions, and was already in his tenth\nyear of hesitation as to the relative advantages of matrimony and\nbachelorhood.", "It is true that, now and then, when he had been a little\nheated by an extra glass of grog, he had been heard to say of Hetty\nthat the \"lass was well enough,\" and that \"a man might do worse\"; but on\nconvivial occasions men are apt to express themselves strongly.", "Martin Poyser held Mr. Craig in honour, as a man who \"knew his business\"\nand who had great lights concerning soils and compost; but he was\nless of a favourite with Mrs. Poyser, who had more than once said in\nconfidence to her husband, \"You're mighty fond o' Craig, but for my\npart, I think he's welly like a cock as thinks the sun's rose o' purpose\nto hear him crow.\"", "For the rest, Mr. Craig was an estimable gardener,\nand was not without reasons for having a high opinion of himself.", "He\nhad also high shoulders and high cheek-bones and hung his head forward\na little, as he walked along with his hands in his breeches pockets.", "I\nthink it was his pedigree only that had the advantage of being Scotch,\nand not his \"bringing up\"; for except that he had a stronger burr in\nhis accent, his speech differed little from that of the Loamshire people\nabout him.", "But a gardener is Scotch, as a French teacher is Parisian.", "\"Well, Mr. Poyser,\" he said, before the good slow farmer had time to\nspeak, \"ye'll not be carrying your hay to-morrow, I'm thinking.", "The\nglass sticks at 'change,' and ye may rely upo' my word as we'll ha' more\ndownfall afore twenty-four hours is past.", "Ye see that darkish-blue cloud\nthere upo' the 'rizon--ye know what I mean by the 'rizon, where the land\nand sky seems to meet?\"", "\"Aye, aye, I see the cloud,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"'rizon or no 'rizon.", "It's\nright o'er Mike Holdsworth's fallow, and a foul fallow it is.\"", "\"Well, you mark my words, as that cloud 'ull spread o'er the sky pretty\nnigh as quick as you'd spread a tarpaulin over one o' your hay-ricks.", "It's a great thing to ha' studied the look o' the clouds.", "Lord bless\nyou!", "Th' met'orological almanecks can learn me nothing, but there's a\npretty sight o' things I could let THEM up to, if they'd just come\nto me.", "And how are you, Mrs.", "Poyser?--thinking o' getherin' the red\ncurrants soon, I reckon.", "You'd a deal better gether 'em afore they're\no'erripe, wi' such weather as we've got to look forward to.", "How do ye\ndo, Mistress Bede?\"", "Mr. Craig continued, without a pause, nodding by the\nway to Adam and Seth.", "\"I hope y' enjoyed them spinach and gooseberries\nas I sent Chester with th' other day.", "If ye want vegetables while ye're\nin trouble, ye know where to come to.", "It's well known I'm not giving\nother folks' things away, for when I've supplied the house, the garden's\nmy own spekilation, and it isna every man th' old squire could get\nas 'ud be equil to the undertaking, let alone asking whether he'd be\nwilling I've got to run my calkilation fine, I can tell you, to make\nsure o' getting back the money as I pay the squire.", "I should like to see\nsome o' them fellows as make the almanecks looking as far before their\nnoses as I've got to do every year as comes.\"", "\"They look pretty fur, though,\" said Mr. Poyser, turning his head on one\nside and speaking in rather a subdued reverential tone.", "\"Why, what could\ncome truer nor that pictur o' the cock wi' the big spurs, as has got its\nhead knocked down wi' th' anchor, an' th' firin', an' the ships behind?", "Why, that pictur was made afore Christmas, and yit it's come as true\nas th' Bible.", "Why, th' cock's France, an' th' anchor's Nelson--an' they\ntold us that beforehand.\"", "\"Pee--ee-eh!\"", "said Mr. Craig.", "\"A man doesna want to see fur to know as\nth' English 'ull beat the French.", "Why, I know upo' good authority as\nit's a big Frenchman as reaches five foot high, an' they live upo'\nspoon-meat mostly.", "I knew a man as his father had a particular knowledge\no' the French.", "I should like to know what them grasshoppers are to\ndo against such fine fellows as our young Captain Arthur.", "Why, it\n'ud astonish a Frenchman only to look at him; his arm's thicker nor a\nFrenchman's body, I'll be bound, for they pinch theirsells in wi' stays;\nand it's easy enough, for they've got nothing i' their insides.\"", "\"Where IS the captain, as he wasna at church to-day?\"", "said Adam.", "\"I was\ntalking to him o' Friday, and he said nothing about his going away.\"", "\"Oh, he's only gone to Eagledale for a bit o' fishing; I reckon he'll be\nback again afore many days are o'er, for he's to be at all th' arranging\nand preparing o' things for the comin' o' age o' the 30th o' July.", "But he's fond o' getting away for a bit, now and then.", "Him and th' old\nsquire fit one another like frost and flowers.\"", "Mr. Craig smiled and winked slowly as he made this last observation,\nbut the subject was not developed farther, for now they had reached the\nturning in the road where Adam and his companions must say \"good-bye.\"", "The gardener, too, would have had to turn off in the same direction if\nhe had not accepted Mr. Poyser's invitation to tea.", "Mrs. Poyser duly\nseconded the invitation, for she would have held it a deep disgrace not\nto make her neighbours welcome to her house: personal likes and dislikes\nmust not interfere with that sacred custom.", "Moreover, Mr. Craig had\nalways been full of civilities to the family at the Hall Farm, and Mrs.\nPoyser was scrupulous in declaring that she had \"nothing to say again'\nhim, on'y it was a pity he couldna be hatched o'er again, an' hatched\ndifferent.\"", "So Adam and Seth, with their mother between them, wound their way down\nto the valley and up again to the old house, where a saddened memory had\ntaken the place of a long, long anxiety--where Adam would never have to\nask again as he entered, \"Where's Father?\"", "And the other family party, with Mr. Craig for company, went back to\nthe pleasant bright house-place at the Hall Farm--all with quiet minds,\nexcept Hetty, who knew now where Arthur was gone, but was only the\nmore puzzled and uneasy.", "For it appeared that his absence was quite\nvoluntary; he need not have gone--he would not have gone if he had\nwanted to see her.", "She had a sickening sense that no lot could ever\nbe pleasant to her again if her Thursday night's vision was not to be\nfulfilled; and in this moment of chill, bare, wintry disappointment and\ndoubt, she looked towards the possibility of being with Arthur again,\nof meeting his loving glance, and hearing his soft words with that eager\nyearning which one may call the \"growing pain\" of passion." ]

[ "Mr. Poyser was in his Sunday suit\nof drab, with a red-and-green waistcoat and a green watch-ribbon having\na large cornelian seal attached, pendant like a plumb-line from that\npromontory where his watch-pocket was situated; a silk handkerchief of a\nyellow tone round his neck; and excellent grey ribbed stockings, knitted\nby Mrs. Poyser's own hand, setting off the proportions of his leg.", "I saw it first, looking\nafter the greenfinch, and she sat on th' nest.\"", "We must go straight on\nnow.", "Chad Cranage looks like quite a new acquaintance to-day, for he has got\nhis clean Sunday face, which always makes his little granddaughter cry\nat him as a stranger.", "Ah!", "It was free, indeed,\nfrom the modern blemish of galleries.", "Hetty was not\nwithout a companion, and she had, besides, more pink and white about\nher than ever, for she held in her hand the wonderful pink-and-white\nhot-house plant, with a very long name--a Scotch name, she supposed,\nsince people said Mr. Craig the gardener was Scotch.", "Poyser?--thinking o' getherin' the red\ncurrants soon, I reckon.", "You'd a deal better gether 'em afore they're\no'erripe, wi' such weather as we've got to look forward to.", "\"Why, what could\ncome truer nor that pictur o' the cock wi' the big spurs, as has got its\nhead knocked down wi' th' anchor, an' th' firin', an' the ships behind?" ]

[ "The sooner I'm laid under the thorn the better.", "And then she talks o' the weather bein' i' fault, as\nthere's folks 'ud stand on their heads and then say the fault was i'\ntheir boots.\"", "Hetty could not be got\nto give any heed to these things, so Molly was called on for her ready\nsympathy, and peeped with open mouth wherever she was told, and said\n\"Lawks!\"", "But eh, poor thing, as soon as she'd said us 'good-bye' an'\ngot into the cart, an' looked back at me with her pale face, as is welly\nlike her Aunt Judith come back from heaven, I begun to be frightened to\nthink o' the set-downs I'd given her; for it comes over you sometimes\nas if she'd a way o' knowing the rights o' things more nor other folks\nhave.", "The \"little uns\" addressed were Marty and Tommy, boys of nine and seven,\nin little fustian tailed coats and knee-breeches, relieved by rosy\ncheeks and black eyes, looking as much like their father as a very small\nelephant is like a very large one.", "\"They'll ha' putten Thias Bede i' the ground afore ye get to the\nchurchyard,\" he said, as his son came up.", "Good boys don't look after the birds of a Sunday.\"", "\"Mother,\" he said, half-crying, \"Marty's got ever so much more money in\nhis box nor I've got in mine.\"", "\n\n\"HETTY, Hetty, don't you know church begins at two, and it's gone half\nafter one a'ready?", "That was\na demonstration that work on sacred days was a wicked thing; and with\nwickedness of any sort Martin Poyser was quite clear that he would have\nnothing to do, since money got by such means would never prosper." ]

[ "Ah!", "There was nothing now but the brown earth\nunder the white thorn.", "Yet she cried less to-day than she had done any\nday since her husband's death.", "Along with all her grief there was mixed\nan unusual sense of her own importance in having a \"burial,\" and in Mr.\nIrwine's reading a special service for her husband; and besides, she\nknew the funeral psalm was going to be sung for him.", "She felt this\ncounter-excitement to her sorrow still more strongly as she walked with\nher sons towards the church door, and saw the friendly sympathetic nods\nof their fellow-parishioners.", "The mother and sons passed into the church, and one by one the\nloiterers followed, though some still lingered without; the sight of Mr.\nDonnithorne's carriage, which was winding slowly up the hill, perhaps\nhelping to make them feel that there was no need for haste.", "But presently the sound of the bassoon and the key-bugles burst forth;\nthe evening hymn, which always opened the service, had begun, and every\none must now enter and take his place.", "I cannot say that the interior of Hayslope Church was remarkable for\nanything except for the grey age of its oaken pews--great square pews\nmostly, ranged on each side of a narrow aisle.", "It was free, indeed,\nfrom the modern blemish of galleries.", "The choir had two narrow pews to\nthemselves in the middle of the right-hand row, so that it was a short\nprocess for Joshua Rann to take his place among them as principal bass,\nand return to his desk after the singing was over.", "The pulpit and desk,\ngrey and old as the pews, stood on one side of the arch leading into\nthe chancel, which also had its grey square pews for Mr. Donnithorne's\nfamily and servants." ]

[ "\n\n\"HETTY, Hetty, don't you know church begins at two, and it's gone half\nafter one a'ready?", "Have you got nothing better to think on this good\nSunday as poor old Thias Bede's to be put into the ground, and him\ndrownded i' th' dead o' the night, as it's enough to make one's back\nrun cold, but you must be 'dizening yourself as if there was a wedding\ni'stid of a funeral?\"", "\"Well, Aunt,\" said Hetty, \"I can't be ready so soon as everybody else,\nwhen I've got Totty's things to put on.", "And I'd ever such work to make\nher stand still.\"", "Hetty was coming downstairs, and Mrs. Poyser, in her plain bonnet and\nshawl, was standing below.", "If ever a girl looked as if she had been made\nof roses, that girl was Hetty in her Sunday hat and frock.", "For her hat\nwas trimmed with pink, and her frock had pink spots, sprinkled on a\nwhite ground.", "There was nothing but pink and white about her, except\nin her dark hair and eyes and her little buckled shoes.", "Mrs. Poyser\nwas provoked at herself, for she could hardly keep from smiling, as any\nmortal is inclined to do at the sight of pretty round things.", "So she\nturned without speaking, and joined the group outside the house door,\nfollowed by Hetty, whose heart was fluttering so at the thought of some\none she expected to see at church that she hardly felt the ground she\ntrod on.", "But he's fond o' getting away for a bit, now and then.", "Him and th' old\nsquire fit one another like frost and flowers.\"", "Mr. Craig smiled and winked slowly as he made this last observation,\nbut the subject was not developed farther, for now they had reached the\nturning in the road where Adam and his companions must say \"good-bye.\"", "The gardener, too, would have had to turn off in the same direction if\nhe had not accepted Mr. Poyser's invitation to tea.", "Mrs. Poyser duly\nseconded the invitation, for she would have held it a deep disgrace not\nto make her neighbours welcome to her house: personal likes and dislikes\nmust not interfere with that sacred custom.", "Moreover, Mr. Craig had\nalways been full of civilities to the family at the Hall Farm, and Mrs.\nPoyser was scrupulous in declaring that she had \"nothing to say again'\nhim, on'y it was a pity he couldna be hatched o'er again, an' hatched\ndifferent.\"", "So Adam and Seth, with their mother between them, wound their way down\nto the valley and up again to the old house, where a saddened memory had\ntaken the place of a long, long anxiety--where Adam would never have to\nask again as he entered, \"Where's Father?\"", "And the other family party, with Mr. Craig for company, went back to\nthe pleasant bright house-place at the Hall Farm--all with quiet minds,\nexcept Hetty, who knew now where Arthur was gone, but was only the\nmore puzzled and uneasy.", "For it appeared that his absence was quite\nvoluntary; he need not have gone--he would not have gone if he had\nwanted to see her.", "She had a sickening sense that no lot could ever\nbe pleasant to her again if her Thursday night's vision was not to be\nfulfilled; and in this moment of chill, bare, wintry disappointment and\ndoubt, she looked towards the possibility of being with Arthur again,\nof meeting his loving glance, and hearing his soft words with that eager\nyearning which one may call the \"growing pain\" of passion." ]

[ "\n\nNOTWITHSTANDING Mr. Craig's prophecy, the dark-blue cloud dispersed\nitself without having produced the threatened consequences.", "\"The\nweather\"--as he observed the next morning--\"the weather, you see, 's\na ticklish thing, an' a fool 'ull hit on't sometimes when a wise man\nmisses; that's why the almanecks get so much credit.", "It's one o' them\nchancy things as fools thrive on.\"", "This unreasonable behaviour of the weather, however, could displease no\none else in Hayslope besides Mr. Craig.", "All hands were to be out in\nthe meadows this morning as soon as the dew had risen; the wives and\ndaughters did double work in every farmhouse, that the maids might give\ntheir help in tossing the hay; and when Adam was marching along the\nlanes, with his basket of tools over his shoulder, he caught the sound\nof jocose talk and ringing laughter from behind the hedges.", "The jocose\ntalk of hay-makers is best at a distance; like those clumsy bells round\nthe cows' necks, it has rather a coarse sound when it comes close,\nand may even grate on your ears painfully; but heard from far off, it\nmingles very prettily with the other joyous sounds of nature.", "Men's\nmuscles move better when their souls are making merry music, though\ntheir merriment is of a poor blundering sort, not at all like the\nmerriment of birds.", "And perhaps there is no time in a summer's day more cheering than when\nthe warmth of the sun is just beginning to triumph over the freshness\nof the morning--when there is just a lingering hint of early coolness\nto keep off languor under the delicious influence of warmth.", "The reason\nAdam was walking along the lanes at this time was because his work for\nthe rest of the day lay at a country-house about three miles off, which\nwas being put in repair for the son of a neighbouring squire; and he\nhad been busy since early morning with the packing of panels, doors,\nand chimney-pieces, in a waggon which was now gone on before him, while\nJonathan Burge himself had ridden to the spot on horseback, to await its\narrival and direct the workmen.", "This little walk was a rest to Adam, and he was unconsciously under\nthe charm of the moment.", "It was summer morning in his heart, and he saw\nHetty in the sunshine--a sunshine without glare, with slanting rays\nthat tremble between the delicate shadows of the leaves.", "He thought,\nyesterday when he put out his hand to her as they came out of church,\nthat there was a touch of melancholy kindness in her face, such as he\nhad not seen before, and he took it as a sign that she had some sympathy\nwith his family trouble.", "Poor fellow!", "That touch of melancholy came from\nquite another source, but how was he to know?", "We look at the one little\nwoman's face we love as we look at the face of our mother earth, and see\nall sorts of answers to our own yearnings.", "It was impossible for Adam\nnot to feel that what had happened in the last week had brought the\nprospect of marriage nearer to him.", "Hitherto he had felt keenly the\ndanger that some other man might step in and get possession of Hetty's\nheart and hand, while he himself was still in a position that made him\nshrink from asking her to accept him.", "Even if he had had a strong hope\nthat she was fond of him--and his hope was far from being strong--he\nhad been too heavily burdened with other claims to provide a home for\nhimself and Hetty--a home such as he could expect her to be content with\nafter the comfort and plenty of the Farm.", "Like all strong natures, Adam\nhad confidence in his ability to achieve something in the future; he\nfelt sure he should some day, if he lived, be able to maintain a family\nand make a good broad path for himself; but he had too cool a head not\nto estimate to the full the obstacles that were to be overcome.", "And the\ntime would be so long!", "And there was Hetty, like a bright-cheeked apple\nhanging over the orchard wall, within sight of everybody, and everybody\nmust long for her!", "To be sure, if she loved him very much, she would be\ncontent to wait for him: but DID she love him?", "His hopes had never risen\nso high that he had dared to ask her.", "He was clear-sighted enough to be\naware that her uncle and aunt would have looked kindly on his suit, and\nindeed, without this encouragement he would never have persevered in\ngoing to the Farm; but it was impossible to come to any but fluctuating\nconclusions about Hetty's feelings.", "She was like a kitten, and had the\nsame distractingly pretty looks, that meant nothing, for everybody that\ncame near her.", "But now he could not help saying to himself that the heaviest part of\nhis burden was removed, and that even before the end of another year\nhis circumstances might be brought into a shape that would allow him to\nthink of marrying.", "It would always be a hard struggle with his mother,\nhe knew: she would be jealous of any wife he might choose, and she had\nset her mind especially against Hetty--perhaps for no other reason than\nthat she suspected Hetty to be the woman he HAD chosen.", "It would never\ndo, he feared, for his mother to live in the same house with him when\nhe was married; and yet how hard she would think it if he asked her to\nleave him!", "Yes, there was a great deal of pain to be gone through with\nhis mother, but it was a case in which he must make her feel that his\nwill was strong--it would be better for her in the end.", "For himself,\nhe would have liked that they should all live together till Seth was\nmarried, and they might have built a bit themselves to the old house,\nand made more room.", "He did not like \"to part wi' th' lad\": they had\nhardly ever been separated for more than a day since they were born.", "But Adam had no sooner caught his imagination leaping forward in this\nway--making arrangements for an uncertain future--than he checked\nhimself.", "\"A pretty building I'm making, without either bricks or\ntimber.", "I'm up i' the garret a'ready, and haven't so much as dug the\nfoundation.\"", "Whenever Adam was strongly convinced of any proposition, it\ntook the form of a principle in his mind: it was knowledge to be acted\non, as much as the knowledge that damp will cause rust.", "Perhaps here lay\nthe secret of the hardness he had accused himself of: he had too\nlittle fellow-feeling with the weakness that errs in spite of foreseen\nconsequences.", "Without this fellow-feeling, how are we to get enough\npatience and charity towards our stumbling, falling companions in the\nlong and changeful journey?", "And there is but one way in which a strong\ndetermined soul can learn it--by getting his heart-strings bound\nround the weak and erring, so that he must share not only the outward\nconsequence of their error, but their inward suffering.", "That is a long\nand hard lesson, and Adam had at present only learned the alphabet of it\nin his father's sudden death, which, by annihilating in an instant all\nthat had stimulated his indignation, had sent a sudden rush of thought\nand memory over what had claimed his pity and tenderness.", "But it was Adam's strength, not its correlative hardness, that\ninfluenced his meditations this morning.", "He had long made up his mind\nthat it would be wrong as well as foolish for him to marry a blooming\nyoung girl, so long as he had no other prospect than that of growing\npoverty with a growing family.", "And his savings had been so constantly\ndrawn upon (besides the terrible sweep of paying for Seth's substitute\nin the militia) that he had not enough money beforehand to furnish even\na small cottage, and keep something in reserve against a rainy day.", "He\nhad good hope that he should be \"firmer on his legs\" by and by; but he\ncould not be satisfied with a vague confidence in his arm and brain; he\nmust have definite plans, and set about them at once.", "The partnership\nwith Jonathan Burge was not to be thought of at present--there were\nthings implicitly tacked to it that he could not accept; but Adam\nthought that he and Seth might carry on a little business for themselves\nin addition to their journeyman's work, by buying a small stock of\nsuperior wood and making articles of household furniture, for which Adam\nhad no end of contrivances.", "Seth might gain more by working at separate\njobs under Adam's direction than by his journeyman's work, and Adam,\nin his overhours, could do all the \"nice\" work that required peculiar\nskill.", "The money gained in this way, with the good wages he received\nas foreman, would soon enable them to get beforehand with the world,\nso sparingly as they would all live now.", "No sooner had this little\nplan shaped itself in his mind than he began to be busy with exact\ncalculations about the wood to be bought and the particular article of\nfurniture that should be undertaken first--a kitchen cupboard of his\nown contrivance, with such an ingenious arrangement of sliding-doors and\nbolts, such convenient nooks for stowing household provender, and such\na symmetrical result to the eye, that every good housewife would be\nin raptures with it, and fall through all the gradations of melancholy\nlonging till her husband promised to buy it for her.", "Adam pictured to\nhimself Mrs. Poyser examining it with her keen eye and trying in vain to\nfind out a deficiency; and, of course, close to Mrs. Poyser stood Hetty,\nand Adam was again beguiled from calculations and contrivances into\ndreams and hopes.", "Yes, he would go and see her this evening--it was so\nlong since he had been at the Hall Farm.", "He would have liked to go\nto the night-school, to see why Bartle Massey had not been at church\nyesterday, for he feared his old friend was ill; but, unless he could\nmanage both visits, this last must be put off till to-morrow--the desire\nto be near Hetty and to speak to her again was too strong.", "As he made up his mind to this, he was coming very near to the end of\nhis walk, within the sound of the hammers at work on the refitting of\nthe old house.", "The sound of tools to a clever workman who loves his work\nis like the tentative sounds of the orchestra to the violinist who\nhas to bear his part in the overture: the strong fibres begin their\naccustomed thrill, and what was a moment before joy, vexation, or\nambition, begins its change into energy.", "All passion becomes strength\nwhen it has an outlet from the narrow limits of our personal lot in the\nlabour of our right arm, the cunning of our right hand, or the still,\ncreative activity of our thought.", "Look at Adam through the rest of the\nday, as he stands on the scaffolding with the two-feet ruler in\nhis hand, whistling low while he considers how a difficulty about a\nfloor-joist or a window-frame is to be overcome; or as he pushes one of\nthe younger workmen aside and takes his place in upheaving a weight of\ntimber, saying, \"Let alone, lad!", "Thee'st got too much gristle i' thy\nbones yet\"; or as he fixes his keen black eyes on the motions of a\nworkman on the other side of the room and warns him that his distances\nare not right.", "Look at this broad-shouldered man with the bare muscular\narms, and the thick, firm, black hair tossed about like trodden\nmeadow-grass whenever he takes off his paper cap, and with the strong\nbarytone voice bursting every now and then into loud and solemn\npsalm-tunes, as if seeking an outlet for superfluous strength, yet\npresently checking himself, apparently crossed by some thought which\njars with the singing.", "Perhaps, if you had not been already in\nthe secret, you might not have guessed what sad memories what warm\naffection, what tender fluttering hopes, had their home in this athletic\nbody with the broken finger-nails--in this rough man, who knew no better\nlyrics than he could find in the Old and New Version and an occasional\nhymn; who knew the smallest possible amount of profane history; and for\nwhom the motion and shape of the earth, the course of the sun, and the\nchanges of the seasons lay in the region of mystery just made visible by\nfragmentary knowledge.", "It had cost Adam a great deal of trouble and\nwork in overhours to know what he knew over and above the secrets of his\nhandicraft, and that acquaintance with mechanics and figures, and the\nnature of the materials he worked with, which was made easy to him by\ninborn inherited faculty--to get the mastery of his pen, and write a\nplain hand, to spell without any other mistakes than must in fairness be\nattributed to the unreasonable character of orthography rather than to\nany deficiency in the speller, and, moreover, to learn his musical notes\nand part-singing.", "Besides all this, he had read his Bible, including\nthe apocryphal books; Poor Richard's Almanac, Taylor's Holy Living and\nDying, The Pilgrim's Progress, with Bunyan's Life and Holy War, a great\ndeal of Bailey's Dictionary, Valentine and Orson, and part of a History\nof Babylon, which Bartle Massey had lent him.", "He might have had many\nmore books from Bartle Massey, but he had no time for reading \"the\ncommin print,\" as Lisbeth called it, so busy as he was with figures in\nall the leisure moments which he did not fill up with extra carpentry.", "Adam, you perceive, was by no means a marvellous man, nor, properly\nspeaking, a genius, yet I will not pretend that his was an ordinary\ncharacter among workmen; and it would not be at all a safe conclusion\nthat the next best man you may happen to see with a basket of tools over\nhis shoulder and a paper cap on his head has the strong conscience and\nthe strong sense, the blended susceptibility and self-command, of our\nfriend Adam.", "He was not an average man.", "Yet such men as he are reared\nhere and there in every generation of our peasant artisans--with an\ninheritance of affections nurtured by a simple family life of common\nneed and common industry, and an inheritance of faculties trained\nin skilful courageous labour: they make their way upwards, rarely as\ngeniuses, most commonly as painstaking honest men, with the skill and\nconscience to do well the tasks that lie before them.", "Their lives have\nno discernible echo beyond the neighbourhood where they dwelt, but you\nare almost sure to find there some good piece of road, some building,\nsome application of mineral produce, some improvement in farming\npractice, some reform of parish abuses, with which their names are\nassociated by one or two generations after them.", "Their employers were\nthe richer for them, the work of their hands has worn well, and the work\nof their brains has guided well the hands of other men.", "They went about\nin their youth in flannel or paper caps, in coats black with coal-dust\nor streaked with lime and red paint; in old age their white hairs are\nseen in a place of honour at church and at market, and they tell their\nwell-dressed sons and daughters, seated round the bright hearth on\nwinter evenings, how pleased they were when they first earned their\ntwopence a-day.", "Others there are who die poor and never put off the\nworkman's coat on weekdays.", "They have not had the art of getting rich,\nbut they are men of trust, and when they die before the work is all out\nof them, it is as if some main screw had got loose in a machine; the\nmaster who employed them says, \"Where shall I find their like?\"" ]

[ "All hands were to be out in\nthe meadows this morning as soon as the dew had risen; the wives and\ndaughters did double work in every farmhouse, that the maids might give\ntheir help in tossing the hay; and when Adam was marching along the\nlanes, with his basket of tools over his shoulder, he caught the sound\nof jocose talk and ringing laughter from behind the hedges.", "The reason\nAdam was walking along the lanes at this time was because his work for\nthe rest of the day lay at a country-house about three miles off, which\nwas being put in repair for the son of a neighbouring squire; and he\nhad been busy since early morning with the packing of panels, doors,\nand chimney-pieces, in a waggon which was now gone on before him, while\nJonathan Burge himself had ridden to the spot on horseback, to await its\narrival and direct the workmen.", "This little walk was a rest to Adam, and he was unconsciously under\nthe charm of the moment.", "Poor fellow!", "Hitherto he had felt keenly the\ndanger that some other man might step in and get possession of Hetty's\nheart and hand, while he himself was still in a position that made him\nshrink from asking her to accept him.", "And the\ntime would be so long!", "He was clear-sighted enough to be\naware that her uncle and aunt would have looked kindly on his suit, and\nindeed, without this encouragement he would never have persevered in\ngoing to the Farm; but it was impossible to come to any but fluctuating\nconclusions about Hetty's feelings.", "The money gained in this way, with the good wages he received\nas foreman, would soon enable them to get beforehand with the world,\nso sparingly as they would all live now.", "Perhaps, if you had not been already in\nthe secret, you might not have guessed what sad memories what warm\naffection, what tender fluttering hopes, had their home in this athletic\nbody with the broken finger-nails--in this rough man, who knew no better\nlyrics than he could find in the Old and New Version and an occasional\nhymn; who knew the smallest possible amount of profane history; and for\nwhom the motion and shape of the earth, the course of the sun, and the\nchanges of the seasons lay in the region of mystery just made visible by\nfragmentary knowledge.", "Besides all this, he had read his Bible, including\nthe apocryphal books; Poor Richard's Almanac, Taylor's Holy Living and\nDying, The Pilgrim's Progress, with Bunyan's Life and Holy War, a great\ndeal of Bailey's Dictionary, Valentine and Orson, and part of a History\nof Babylon, which Bartle Massey had lent him." ]

[ "It would always be a hard struggle with his mother,\nhe knew: she would be jealous of any wife he might choose, and she had\nset her mind especially against Hetty--perhaps for no other reason than\nthat she suspected Hetty to be the woman he HAD chosen.", "It had cost Adam a great deal of trouble and\nwork in overhours to know what he knew over and above the secrets of his\nhandicraft, and that acquaintance with mechanics and figures, and the\nnature of the materials he worked with, which was made easy to him by\ninborn inherited faculty--to get the mastery of his pen, and write a\nplain hand, to spell without any other mistakes than must in fairness be\nattributed to the unreasonable character of orthography rather than to\nany deficiency in the speller, and, moreover, to learn his musical notes\nand part-singing.", "But Adam had no sooner caught his imagination leaping forward in this\nway--making arrangements for an uncertain future--than he checked\nhimself.", "For himself,\nhe would have liked that they should all live together till Seth was\nmarried, and they might have built a bit themselves to the old house,\nand made more room.", "He would have liked to go\nto the night-school, to see why Bartle Massey had not been at church\nyesterday, for he feared his old friend was ill; but, unless he could\nmanage both visits, this last must be put off till to-morrow--the desire\nto be near Hetty and to speak to her again was too strong.", "The jocose\ntalk of hay-makers is best at a distance; like those clumsy bells round\nthe cows' necks, it has rather a coarse sound when it comes close,\nand may even grate on your ears painfully; but heard from far off, it\nmingles very prettily with the other joyous sounds of nature.", "And there is but one way in which a strong\ndetermined soul can learn it--by getting his heart-strings bound\nround the weak and erring, so that he must share not only the outward\nconsequence of their error, but their inward suffering.", "All hands were to be out in\nthe meadows this morning as soon as the dew had risen; the wives and\ndaughters did double work in every farmhouse, that the maids might give\ntheir help in tossing the hay; and when Adam was marching along the\nlanes, with his basket of tools over his shoulder, he caught the sound\nof jocose talk and ringing laughter from behind the hedges.", "The sound of tools to a clever workman who loves his work\nis like the tentative sounds of the orchestra to the violinist who\nhas to bear his part in the overture: the strong fibres begin their\naccustomed thrill, and what was a moment before joy, vexation, or\nambition, begins its change into energy.", "That touch of melancholy came from\nquite another source, but how was he to know?" ]

[ "For himself,\nhe would have liked that they should all live together till Seth was\nmarried, and they might have built a bit themselves to the old house,\nand made more room.", "He did not like \"to part wi' th' lad\": they had\nhardly ever been separated for more than a day since they were born.", "But Adam had no sooner caught his imagination leaping forward in this\nway--making arrangements for an uncertain future--than he checked\nhimself.", "\"A pretty building I'm making, without either bricks or\ntimber.", "I'm up i' the garret a'ready, and haven't so much as dug the\nfoundation.\"", "Whenever Adam was strongly convinced of any proposition, it\ntook the form of a principle in his mind: it was knowledge to be acted\non, as much as the knowledge that damp will cause rust.", "Perhaps here lay\nthe secret of the hardness he had accused himself of: he had too\nlittle fellow-feeling with the weakness that errs in spite of foreseen\nconsequences.", "Without this fellow-feeling, how are we to get enough\npatience and charity towards our stumbling, falling companions in the\nlong and changeful journey?", "And there is but one way in which a strong\ndetermined soul can learn it--by getting his heart-strings bound\nround the weak and erring, so that he must share not only the outward\nconsequence of their error, but their inward suffering.", "That is a long\nand hard lesson, and Adam had at present only learned the alphabet of it\nin his father's sudden death, which, by annihilating in an instant all\nthat had stimulated his indignation, had sent a sudden rush of thought\nand memory over what had claimed his pity and tenderness.", "But it was Adam's strength, not its correlative hardness, that\ninfluenced his meditations this morning." ]

[ "\n\nNOTWITHSTANDING Mr. Craig's prophecy, the dark-blue cloud dispersed\nitself without having produced the threatened consequences.", "\"The\nweather\"--as he observed the next morning--\"the weather, you see, 's\na ticklish thing, an' a fool 'ull hit on't sometimes when a wise man\nmisses; that's why the almanecks get so much credit.", "It's one o' them\nchancy things as fools thrive on.\"", "This unreasonable behaviour of the weather, however, could displease no\none else in Hayslope besides Mr. Craig.", "All hands were to be out in\nthe meadows this morning as soon as the dew had risen; the wives and\ndaughters did double work in every farmhouse, that the maids might give\ntheir help in tossing the hay; and when Adam was marching along the\nlanes, with his basket of tools over his shoulder, he caught the sound\nof jocose talk and ringing laughter from behind the hedges.", "The jocose\ntalk of hay-makers is best at a distance; like those clumsy bells round\nthe cows' necks, it has rather a coarse sound when it comes close,\nand may even grate on your ears painfully; but heard from far off, it\nmingles very prettily with the other joyous sounds of nature.", "Men's\nmuscles move better when their souls are making merry music, though\ntheir merriment is of a poor blundering sort, not at all like the\nmerriment of birds.", "And perhaps there is no time in a summer's day more cheering than when\nthe warmth of the sun is just beginning to triumph over the freshness\nof the morning--when there is just a lingering hint of early coolness\nto keep off languor under the delicious influence of warmth.", "The reason\nAdam was walking along the lanes at this time was because his work for\nthe rest of the day lay at a country-house about three miles off, which\nwas being put in repair for the son of a neighbouring squire; and he\nhad been busy since early morning with the packing of panels, doors,\nand chimney-pieces, in a waggon which was now gone on before him, while\nJonathan Burge himself had ridden to the spot on horseback, to await its\narrival and direct the workmen.", "This little walk was a rest to Adam, and he was unconsciously under\nthe charm of the moment.", "Besides all this, he had read his Bible, including\nthe apocryphal books; Poor Richard's Almanac, Taylor's Holy Living and\nDying, The Pilgrim's Progress, with Bunyan's Life and Holy War, a great\ndeal of Bailey's Dictionary, Valentine and Orson, and part of a History\nof Babylon, which Bartle Massey had lent him.", "He might have had many\nmore books from Bartle Massey, but he had no time for reading \"the\ncommin print,\" as Lisbeth called it, so busy as he was with figures in\nall the leisure moments which he did not fill up with extra carpentry.", "Adam, you perceive, was by no means a marvellous man, nor, properly\nspeaking, a genius, yet I will not pretend that his was an ordinary\ncharacter among workmen; and it would not be at all a safe conclusion\nthat the next best man you may happen to see with a basket of tools over\nhis shoulder and a paper cap on his head has the strong conscience and\nthe strong sense, the blended susceptibility and self-command, of our\nfriend Adam.", "He was not an average man.", "Yet such men as he are reared\nhere and there in every generation of our peasant artisans--with an\ninheritance of affections nurtured by a simple family life of common\nneed and common industry, and an inheritance of faculties trained\nin skilful courageous labour: they make their way upwards, rarely as\ngeniuses, most commonly as painstaking honest men, with the skill and\nconscience to do well the tasks that lie before them.", "Their lives have\nno discernible echo beyond the neighbourhood where they dwelt, but you\nare almost sure to find there some good piece of road, some building,\nsome application of mineral produce, some improvement in farming\npractice, some reform of parish abuses, with which their names are\nassociated by one or two generations after them.", "Their employers were\nthe richer for them, the work of their hands has worn well, and the work\nof their brains has guided well the hands of other men.", "They went about\nin their youth in flannel or paper caps, in coats black with coal-dust\nor streaked with lime and red paint; in old age their white hairs are\nseen in a place of honour at church and at market, and they tell their\nwell-dressed sons and daughters, seated round the bright hearth on\nwinter evenings, how pleased they were when they first earned their\ntwopence a-day.", "Others there are who die poor and never put off the\nworkman's coat on weekdays.", "They have not had the art of getting rich,\nbut they are men of trust, and when they die before the work is all out\nof them, it is as if some main screw had got loose in a machine; the\nmaster who employed them says, \"Where shall I find their like?\"" ]

[ "\n\nADAM came back from his work in the empty waggon--that was why he had\nchanged his clothes--and was ready to set out to the Hall Farm when it\nstill wanted a quarter to seven.", "\"What's thee got thy Sunday cloose on for?\"", "said Lisbeth complainingly,\nas he came downstairs.", "\"Thee artna goin' to th' school i' thy best\ncoat?\"", "\"No, Mother,\" said Adam, quietly.", "\"I'm going to the Hall Farm, but\nmayhap I may go to the school after, so thee mustna wonder if I'm a\nbit late.", "Seth 'ull be at home in half an hour--he's only gone to the\nvillage; so thee wutna mind.\"", "\"Eh, an' what's thee got thy best cloose on for to go to th' Hall Farm?", "The Poyser folks see'd thee in 'em yesterday, I warrand.", "What dost mean\nby turnin' worki'day into Sunday a-that'n?", "It's poor keepin' company wi'\nfolks as donna like to see thee i' thy workin' jacket.\"", "\"Good-bye, mother, I can't stay,\" said Adam, putting on his hat and\ngoing out.", "But he had no sooner gone a few paces beyond the door than Lisbeth\nbecame uneasy at the thought that she had vexed him.", "Of course, the\nsecret of her objection to the best clothes was her suspicion that they\nwere put on for Hetty's sake; but deeper than all her peevishness lay\nthe need that her son should love her.", "She hurried after him, and laid\nhold of his arm before he had got half-way down to the brook, and said,\n\"Nay, my lad, thee wutna go away angered wi' thy mother, an' her got\nnought to do but to sit by hersen an' think on thee?\"", "\"Nay, nay, Mother,\" said Adam, gravely, and standing still while he put\nhis arm on her shoulder, \"I'm not angered.", "But I wish, for thy own sake,\nthee'dst be more contented to let me do what I've made up my mind to do.", "I'll never be no other than a good son to thee as long as we live.", "But a\nman has other feelings besides what he owes to's father and mother, and\nthee oughtna to want to rule over me body and soul.", "And thee must make\nup thy mind as I'll not give way to thee where I've a right to do what I\nlike.", "So let us have no more words about it.\"", "\"Eh,\" said Lisbeth, not willing to show that she felt the real bearing\nof Adam's words, \"and' who likes to see thee i' thy best cloose better\nnor thy mother?", "An' when thee'st got thy face washed as clean as\nthe smooth white pibble, an' thy hair combed so nice, and thy eyes\na-sparklin'--what else is there as thy old mother should like to look at\nhalf so well?", "An' thee sha't put on thy Sunday cloose when thee lik'st\nfor me--I'll ne'er plague thee no moor about'n.\"", "\"Well, well; good-bye, mother,\" said Adam, kissing her and hurrying\naway.", "He saw there was no other means of putting an end to the dialogue.", "Lisbeth stood still on the spot, shading her eyes and looking after him\ntill he was quite out of sight.", "She felt to the full all the meaning\nthat had lain in Adam's words, and, as she lost sight of him and turned\nback slowly into the house, she said aloud to herself--for it was her\nway to speak her thoughts aloud in the long days when her husband and\nsons were at their work--\"Eh, he'll be tellin' me as he's goin' to bring\nher home one o' these days; an' she'll be missis o'er me, and I mun\nlook on, belike, while she uses the blue-edged platters, and breaks\n'em, mayhap, though there's ne'er been one broke sin' my old man an' me\nbought 'em at the fair twenty 'ear come next Whissuntide.", "Eh!\"", "she went\non, still louder, as she caught up her knitting from the table, \"but\nshe'll ne'er knit the lad's stockin's, nor foot 'em nayther, while I\nlive; an' when I'm gone, he'll bethink him as nobody 'ull ne'er fit's\nleg an' foot as his old mother did.", "She'll know nothin' o' narrowin' an'\nheelin', I warrand, an' she'll make a long toe as he canna get's boot\non.", "That's what comes o' marr'in' young wenches.", "I war gone thirty, an'\nth' feyther too, afore we war married; an' young enough too.", "She'll be\na poor dratchell by then SHE'S thirty, a-marr'in' a-that'n, afore her\nteeth's all come.\"", "Adam walked so fast that he was at the yard-gate before seven.", "Martin\nPoyser and the grandfather were not yet come in from the meadow: every\none was in the meadow, even to the black-and-tan terrier--no one\nkept watch in the yard but the bull-dog; and when Adam reached the\nhouse-door, which stood wide open, he saw there was no one in the bright\nclean house-place.", "But he guessed where Mrs. Poyser and some one else\nwould be, quite within hearing; so he knocked on the door and said in\nhis strong voice, \"Mrs. Poyser within?\"", "\"Come in, Mr. Bede, come in,\" Mrs. Poyser called out from the dairy.", "She\nalways gave Adam this title when she received him in her own house.", "\"You may come into the dairy if you will, for I canna justly leave the\ncheese.\"", "Adam walked into the dairy, where Mrs. Poyser and Nancy were crushing\nthe first evening cheese.", "\"Why, you might think you war come to a dead-house,\" said Mrs. Poyser,\nas he stood in the open doorway; \"they're all i' the meadow; but\nMartin's sure to be in afore long, for they're leaving the hay cocked\nto-night, ready for carrying first thing to-morrow.", "I've been forced\nt' have Nancy in, upo' 'count as Hetty must gether the red currants\nto-night; the fruit allays ripens so contrairy, just when every hand's\nwanted.", "An' there's no trustin' the children to gether it, for they put\nmore into their own mouths nor into the basket; you might as well set\nthe wasps to gether the fruit.\"", "Adam longed to say he would go into the garden till Mr. Poyser came in,\nbut he was not quite courageous enough, so he said, \"I could be looking\nat your spinning-wheel, then, and see what wants doing to it.", "Perhaps it\nstands in the house, where I can find it?\"", "\"No, I've put it away in the right-hand parlour; but let it be till\nI can fetch it and show it you.", "I'd be glad now if you'd go into the\ngarden and tell Hetty to send Totty in.", "The child 'ull run in if she's\ntold, an' I know Hetty's lettin' her eat too many currants.", "I'll be much\nobliged to you, Mr. Bede, if you'll go and send her in; an' there's the\nYork and Lankester roses beautiful in the garden now--you'll like to see\n'em.", "But you'd like a drink o' whey first, p'r'aps; I know you're fond\no' whey, as most folks is when they hanna got to crush it out.\"", "\"Thank you, Mrs. Poyser,\" said Adam; \"a drink o' whey's allays a treat\nto me.", "I'd rather have it than beer any day.\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Mrs. Poyser, reaching a small white basin that stood on\nthe shelf, and dipping it into the whey-tub, \"the smell o' bread's\nsweet t' everybody but the baker.", "The Miss Irwines allays say, 'Oh, Mrs.\nPoyser, I envy you your dairy; and I envy you your chickens; and what\na beautiful thing a farm-house is, to be sure!'", "An' I say, 'Yes; a\nfarm-house is a fine thing for them as look on, an' don't know the\nliftin', an' the stannin', an' the worritin' o' th' inside as belongs\nto't.'\"", "\"Why, Mrs. Poyser, you wouldn't like to live anywhere else but in a\nfarm-house, so well as you manage it,\" said Adam, taking the basin;\n\"and there can be nothing to look at pleasanter nor a fine milch cow,\nstanding up to'ts knees in pasture, and the new milk frothing in the\npail, and the fresh butter ready for market, and the calves, and the\npoultry.", "Here's to your health, and may you allays have strength to look\nafter your own dairy, and set a pattern t' all the farmers' wives in the\ncountry.\"", "Mrs. Poyser was not to be caught in the weakness of smiling at a\ncompliment, but a quiet complacency over-spread her face like a stealing\nsunbeam, and gave a milder glance than usual to her blue-grey eyes,\nas she looked at Adam drinking the whey.", "Ah!", "I think I taste that whey\nnow--with a flavour so delicate that one can hardly distinguish it from\nan odour, and with that soft gliding warmth that fills one's imagination\nwith a still, happy dreaminess.", "And the light music of the dropping whey\nis in my ears, mingling with the twittering of a bird outside the wire\nnetwork window--the window overlooking the garden, and shaded by tall\nGuelder roses.", "\"Have a little more, Mr.", "Bede?\"", "said Mrs. Poyser, as Adam set down the\nbasin.", "\"No, thank you; I'll go into the garden now, and send in the little\nlass.\"", "\"Aye, do; and tell her to come to her mother in the dairy.\"", "Adam walked round by the rick-yard, at present empty of ricks, to\nthe little wooden gate leading into the garden--once the well-tended\nkitchen-garden of a manor-house; now, but for the handsome brick wall\nwith stone coping that ran along one side of it, a true farmhouse\ngarden, with hardy perennial flowers, unpruned fruit-trees, and kitchen\nvegetables growing together in careless, half-neglected abundance.", "In\nthat leafy, flowery, bushy time, to look for any one in this garden\nwas like playing at \"hide-and-seek.\"", "There were the tall hollyhocks\nbeginning to flower and dazzle the eye with their pink, white, and\nyellow; there were the syringas and Guelder roses, all large and\ndisorderly for want of trimming; there were leafy walls of scarlet beans\nand late peas; there was a row of bushy filberts in one direction,\nand in another a huge apple-tree making a barren circle under its\nlow-spreading boughs.", "But what signified a barren patch or two?", "The\ngarden was so large.", "There was always a superfluity of broad beans--it\ntook nine or ten of Adam's strides to get to the end of the uncut grass\nwalk that ran by the side of them; and as for other vegetables, there\nwas so much more room than was necessary for them that in the rotation\nof crops a large flourishing bed of groundsel was of yearly occurrence\non one spot or other.", "The very rose-trees at which Adam stopped to pluck\none looked as if they grew wild; they were all huddled together in bushy\nmasses, now flaunting with wide-open petals, almost all of them of the\nstreaked pink-and-white kind, which doubtless dated from the union\nof the houses of York and Lancaster.", "Adam was wise enough to choose a\ncompact Provence rose that peeped out half-smothered by its flaunting\nscentless neighbours, and held it in his hand--he thought he should be\nmore at ease holding something in his hand--as he walked on to the far\nend of the garden, where he remembered there was the largest row of\ncurrant-trees, not far off from the great yew-tree arbour.", "But he had not gone many steps beyond the roses, when he heard the\nshaking of a bough, and a boy's voice saying, \"Now, then, Totty, hold\nout your pinny--there's a duck.\"", "The voice came from the boughs of a tall cherry-tree, where Adam had\nno difficulty in discerning a small blue-pinafored figure perched in a\ncommodious position where the fruit was thickest.", "Doubtless Totty was\nbelow, behind the screen of peas.", "Yes--with her bonnet hanging down her\nback, and her fat face, dreadfully smeared with red juice, turned up\ntowards the cherry-tree, while she held her little round hole of a mouth\nand her red-stained pinafore to receive the promised downfall.", "I am\nsorry to say, more than half the cherries that fell were hard and yellow\ninstead of juicy and red; but Totty spent no time in useless regrets,\nand she was already sucking the third juiciest when Adam said, \"There\nnow, Totty, you've got your cherries.", "Run into the house with 'em to\nMother--she wants you--she's in the dairy.", "Run in this minute--there's a\ngood little girl.\"", "He lifted her up in his strong arms and kissed her as he spoke,\na ceremony which Totty regarded as a tiresome interruption to\ncherry-eating; and when he set her down she trotted off quite silently\ntowards the house, sucking her cherries as she went along.", "\"Tommy, my lad, take care you're not shot for a little thieving bird,\"\nsaid Adam, as he walked on towards the currant-trees.", "He could see there was a large basket at the end of the row: Hetty would\nnot be far off, and Adam already felt as if she were looking at him.", "Yet\nwhen he turned the corner she was standing with her back towards him,\nand stooping to gather the low-hanging fruit.", "Strange that she had\nnot heard him coming!", "Perhaps it was because she was making the\nleaves rustle.", "She started when she became conscious that some one was\nnear--started so violently that she dropped the basin with the currants\nin it, and then, when she saw it was Adam, she turned from pale to deep\nred.", "That blush made his heart beat with a new happiness.", "Hetty had\nnever blushed at seeing him before.", "\"I frightened you,\" he said, with a delicious sense that it didn't\nsignify what he said, since Hetty seemed to feel as much as he did; \"let\nME pick the currants up.\"", "That was soon done, for they had only fallen in a tangled mass on the\ngrass-plot, and Adam, as he rose and gave her the basin again, looked\nstraight into her eyes with the subdued tenderness that belongs to the\nfirst moments of hopeful love.", "Hetty did not turn away her eyes; her blush had subsided, and she met\nhis glance with a quiet sadness, which contented Adam because it was so\nunlike anything he had seen in her before.", "\"There's not many more currants to get,\" she said; \"I shall soon ha'\ndone now.\"", "\"I'll help you,\" said Adam; and he fetched the large basket, which was\nnearly full of currants, and set it close to them.", "Not a word more was spoken as they gathered the currants.", "Adam's heart\nwas too full to speak, and he thought Hetty knew all that was in it.", "She\nwas not indifferent to his presence after all; she had blushed when she\nsaw him, and then there was that touch of sadness about her which must\nsurely mean love, since it was the opposite of her usual manner, which\nhad often impressed him as indifference.", "And he could glance at her\ncontinually as she bent over the fruit, while the level evening sunbeams\nstole through the thick apple-tree boughs, and rested on her round cheek\nand neck as if they too were in love with her.", "It was to Adam the time\nthat a man can least forget in after-life, the time when he believes\nthat the first woman he has ever loved betrays by a slight something--a\nword, a tone, a glance, the quivering of a lip or an eyelid--that she is\nat least beginning to love him in return.", "The sign is so slight, it\nis scarcely perceptible to the ear or eye--he could describe it to no\none--it is a mere feather-touch, yet it seems to have changed his\nwhole being, to have merged an uneasy yearning into a delicious\nunconsciousness of everything but the present moment.", "So much of our\nearly gladness vanishes utterly from our memory: we can never recall the\njoy with which we laid our heads on our mother's bosom or rode on our\nfather's back in childhood.", "Doubtless that joy is wrought up into our\nnature, as the sunlight of long-past mornings is wrought up in the soft\nmellowness of the apricot, but it is gone for ever from our imagination,\nand we can only BELIEVE in the joy of childhood.", "But the first glad\nmoment in our first love is a vision which returns to us to the last,\nand brings with it a thrill of feeling intense and special as the\nrecurrent sensation of a sweet odour breathed in a far-off hour\nof happiness.", "It is a memory that gives a more exquisite touch to\ntenderness, that feeds the madness of jealousy and adds the last\nkeenness to the agony of despair.", "Hetty bending over the red bunches, the level rays piercing the screen\nof apple-tree boughs, the length of bushy garden beyond, his own emotion\nas he looked at her and believed that she was thinking of him, and that\nthere was no need for them to talk--Adam remembered it all to the last\nmoment of his life.", "And Hetty?", "You know quite well that Adam was mistaken about her.", "Like\nmany other men, he thought the signs of love for another were signs of\nlove towards himself.", "When Adam was approaching unseen by her, she was\nabsorbed as usual in thinking and wondering about Arthur's possible\nreturn.", "The sound of any man's footstep would have affected her just in\nthe same way--she would have FELT it might be Arthur before she had time\nto see, and the blood that forsook her cheek in the agitation of that\nmomentary feeling would have rushed back again at the sight of any one\nelse just as much as at the sight of Adam.", "He was not wrong in thinking\nthat a change had come over Hetty: the anxieties and fears of a first\npassion, with which she was trembling, had become stronger than vanity,\nhad given her for the first time that sense of helpless dependence on\nanother's feeling which awakens the clinging deprecating womanhood even\nin the shallowest girl that can ever experience it, and creates in her a\nsensibility to kindness which found her quite hard before.", "For the first\ntime Hetty felt that there was something soothing to her in Adam's timid\nyet manly tenderness.", "She wanted to be treated lovingly--oh, it was\nvery hard to bear this blank of absence, silence, apparent indifference,\nafter those moments of glowing love!", "She was not afraid that Adam\nwould tease her with love-making and flattering speeches like her other\nadmirers; he had always been so reserved to her; she could enjoy without\nany fear the sense that this strong brave man loved her and was near\nher.", "It never entered into her mind that Adam was pitiable too--that\nAdam too must suffer one day.", "Hetty, we know, was not the first woman that had behaved more gently\nto the man who loved her in vain because she had herself begun to love\nanother.", "It was a very old story, but Adam knew nothing about it, so he\ndrank in the sweet delusion.", "\"That'll do,\" said Hetty, after a little while.", "\"Aunt wants me to leave\nsome on the trees.", "I'll take 'em in now.\"", "\"It's very well I came to carry the basket,\" said Adam \"for it 'ud ha'\nbeen too heavy for your little arms.\"", "\"No; I could ha' carried it with both hands.\"", "\"Oh, I daresay,\" said Adam, smiling, \"and been as long getting into the\nhouse as a little ant carrying a caterpillar.", "Have you ever seen those\ntiny fellows carrying things four times as big as themselves?\"", "\"No,\" said Hetty, indifferently, not caring to know the difficulties of\nant life.", "\"Oh, I used to watch 'em often when I was a lad.", "But now, you see, I can\ncarry the basket with one arm, as if it was an empty nutshell, and give\nyou th' other arm to lean on.", "Won't you?", "Such big arms as mine were made\nfor little arms like yours to lean on.\"", "Hetty smiled faintly and put her arm within his.", "Adam looked down at\nher, but her eyes were turned dreamily towards another corner of the\ngarden.", "\"Have you ever been to Eagledale?\"", "she said, as they walked slowly\nalong.", "\"Yes,\" said Adam, pleased to have her ask a question about himself.", "\"Ten\nyears ago, when I was a lad, I went with father to see about some work\nthere.", "It's a wonderful sight--rocks and caves such as you never saw in\nyour life.", "I never had a right notion o' rocks till I went there.\"", "\"How long did it take to get there?\"", "\"Why, it took us the best part o' two days' walking.", "But it's nothing of\na day's journey for anybody as has got a first-rate nag.", "The captain 'ud\nget there in nine or ten hours, I'll be bound, he's such a rider.", "And I\nshouldn't wonder if he's back again to-morrow; he's too active to rest\nlong in that lonely place, all by himself, for there's nothing but a\nbit of a inn i' that part where he's gone to fish.", "I wish he'd got th'\nestate in his hands; that 'ud be the right thing for him, for it 'ud\ngive him plenty to do, and he'd do't well too, for all he's so young;\nhe's got better notions o' things than many a man twice his age.", "He\nspoke very handsome to me th' other day about lending me money to set up\ni' business; and if things came round that way, I'd rather be beholding\nto him nor to any man i' the world.\"", "Poor Adam was led on to speak about Arthur because he thought Hetty\nwould be pleased to know that the young squire was so ready to befriend\nhim; the fact entered into his future prospects, which he would like to\nseem promising in her eyes.", "And it was true that Hetty listened with an\ninterest which brought a new light into her eyes and a half-smile upon\nher lips.", "\"How pretty the roses are now!\"", "Adam continued, pausing to look at them.", "\"See!", "I stole the prettiest, but I didna mean to keep it myself.", "I think\nthese as are all pink, and have got a finer sort o' green leaves, are\nprettier than the striped uns, don't you?\"", "He set down the basket and took the rose from his button-hole.", "\"It smells very sweet,\" he said; \"those striped uns have no smell.", "Stick\nit in your frock, and then you can put it in water after.", "It 'ud be a\npity to let it fade.\"", "Hetty took the rose, smiling as she did so at the pleasant thought that\nArthur could so soon get back if he liked.", "There was a flash of hope and\nhappiness in her mind, and with a sudden impulse of gaiety she did what\nshe had very often done before--stuck the rose in her hair a little\nabove the left ear.", "The tender admiration in Adam's face was slightly\nshadowed by reluctant disapproval.", "Hetty's love of finery was just the\nthing that would most provoke his mother, and he himself disliked it\nas much as it was possible for him to dislike anything that belonged to\nher.", "\"Ah,\" he said, \"that's like the ladies in the pictures at the Chase;\nthey've mostly got flowers or feathers or gold things i' their hair,\nbut somehow I don't like to see 'em; they allays put me i' mind o' the\npainted women outside the shows at Treddles'on Fair.", "What can a woman\nhave to set her off better than her own hair, when it curls so, like\nyours?", "If a woman's young and pretty, I think you can see her good looks\nall the better for her being plain dressed.", "Why, Dinah Morris looks very\nnice, for all she wears such a plain cap and gown.", "It seems to me as a\nwoman's face doesna want flowers; it's almost like a flower itself.", "I'm\nsure yours is.\"", "\"Oh, very well,\" said Hetty, with a little playful pout, taking the rose\nout of her hair.", "\"I'll put one o' Dinah's caps on when we go in, and\nyou'll see if I look better in it.", "She left one behind, so I can take\nthe pattern.\"", "\"Nay, nay, I don't want you to wear a Methodist cap like Dinah's.", "I\ndaresay it's a very ugly cap, and I used to think when I saw her here as\nit was nonsense for her to dress different t' other people; but I never\nrightly noticed her till she came to see mother last week, and then I\nthought the cap seemed to fit her face somehow as th 'acorn-cup fits th'\nacorn, and I shouldn't like to see her so well without it.", "But you've\ngot another sort o' face; I'd have you just as you are now, without\nanything t' interfere with your own looks.", "It's like when a man's\nsinging a good tune--you don't want t' hear bells tinkling and\ninterfering wi' the sound.\"", "He took her arm and put it within his again, looking down on her fondly.", "He was afraid she should think he had lectured her, imagining, as we\nare apt to do, that she had perceived all the thoughts he had only\nhalf-expressed.", "And the thing he dreaded most was lest any cloud should\ncome over this evening's happiness.", "For the world he would not have\nspoken of his love to Hetty yet, till this commencing kindness towards\nhim should have grown into unmistakable love.", "In his imagination he\nsaw long years of his future life stretching before him, blest with the\nright to call Hetty his own: he could be content with very little at\npresent.", "So he took up the basket of currants once more, and they went\non towards the house.", "The scene had quite changed in the half-hour that Adam had been in the\ngarden.", "The yard was full of life now: Marty was letting the screaming\ngeese through the gate, and wickedly provoking the gander by hissing at\nhim; the granary-door was groaning on its hinges as Alick shut it, after\ndealing out the corn; the horses were being led out to watering,\namidst much barking of all the three dogs and many \"whups\" from Tim the\nploughman, as if the heavy animals who held down their meek, intelligent\nheads, and lifted their shaggy feet so deliberately, were likely to rush\nwildly in every direction but the right.", "Everybody was come back from\nthe meadow; and when Hetty and Adam entered the house-place, Mr. Poyser\nwas seated in the three-cornered chair, and the grandfather in the\nlarge arm-chair opposite, looking on with pleasant expectation while the\nsupper was being laid on the oak table.", "Mrs. Poyser had laid the cloth\nherself--a cloth made of homespun linen, with a shining checkered\npattern on it, and of an agreeable whitey-brown hue, such as all\nsensible housewives like to see--none of your bleached \"shop-rag\" that\nwould wear into holes in no time, but good homespun that would last\nfor two generations.", "The cold veal, the fresh lettuces, and the stuffed\nchine might well look tempting to hungry men who had dined at half-past\ntwelve o'clock.", "On the large deal table against the wall there were\nbright pewter plates and spoons and cans, ready for Alick and his\ncompanions; for the master and servants ate their supper not far off\neach other; which was all the pleasanter, because if a remark about\nto-morrow morning's work occurred to Mr. Poyser, Alick was at hand to\nhear it.", "\"Well, Adam, I'm glad to see ye,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"What!", "ye've been\nhelping Hetty to gether the curran's, eh?", "Come, sit ye down, sit ye\ndown.", "Why, it's pretty near a three-week since y' had your supper with\nus; and the missis has got one of her rare stuffed chines.", "I'm glad\nye're come.\"", "\"Hetty,\" said Mrs. Poyser, as she looked into the basket of currants\nto see if the fruit was fine, \"run upstairs and send Molly down.", "She's\nputting Totty to bed, and I want her to draw th' ale, for Nancy's busy\nyet i' the dairy.", "You can see to the child.", "But whativer did you let her\nrun away from you along wi' Tommy for, and stuff herself wi' fruit as\nshe can't eat a bit o' good victual?\"", "This was said in a lower tone than usual, while her husband was talking\nto Adam; for Mrs. Poyser was strict in adherence to her own rules of\npropriety, and she considered that a young girl was not to be treated\nsharply in the presence of a respectable man who was courting her.", "That\nwould not be fair-play: every woman was young in her turn, and had her\nchances of matrimony, which it was a point of honour for other women not\nto spoil--just as one market-woman who has sold her own eggs must not\ntry to balk another of a customer.", "Hetty made haste to run away upstairs, not easily finding an answer to\nher aunt's question, and Mrs. Poyser went out to see after Marty and\nTommy and bring them in to supper.", "Soon they were all seated--the two rosy lads, one on each side, by the\npale mother, a place being left for Hetty between Adam and her uncle.", "Alick too was come in, and was seated in his far corner, eating cold\nbroad beans out of a large dish with his pocket-knife, and finding\na flavour in them which he would not have exchanged for the finest\npineapple.", "\"What a time that gell is drawing th' ale, to be sure!\"", "said Mrs.\nPoyser, when she was dispensing her slices of stuffed chine.", "\"I think\nshe sets the jug under and forgets to turn the tap, as there's nothing\nyou can't believe o' them wenches: they'll set the empty kettle o' the\nfire, and then come an hour after to see if the water boils.\"", "\"She's drawin' for the men too,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Thee shouldst ha'\ntold her to bring our jug up first.\"", "\"Told her?\"", "said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Yes, I might spend all the wind i' my\nbody, an' take the bellows too, if I was to tell them gells everything\nas their own sharpness wonna tell 'em.", "Mr. Bede, will you take some\nvinegar with your lettuce?", "Aye you're i' the right not.", "It spoils the\nflavour o' the chine, to my thinking.", "It's poor eating where the flavour\no' the meat lies i' the cruets.", "There's folks as make bad butter and\ntrusten to the salt t' hide it.\"", "Mrs. Poyser's attention was here diverted by the appearance of Molly,\ncarrying a large jug, two small mugs, and four drinking-cans, all full\nof ale or small beer--an interesting example of the prehensile power\npossessed by the human hand.", "Poor Molly's mouth was rather wider open\nthan usual, as she walked along with her eyes fixed on the double\ncluster of vessels in her hands, quite innocent of the expression in her\nmistress's eye.", "\"Molly, I niver knew your equils--to think o' your poor mother as is\na widow, an' I took you wi' as good as no character, an' the times an'\ntimes I've told you....\"\n\nMolly had not seen the lightning, and the thunder shook her nerves the\nmore for the want of that preparation.", "With a vague alarmed sense that\nshe must somehow comport herself differently, she hastened her step\na little towards the far deal table, where she might set down her\ncans--caught her foot in her apron, which had become untied, and fell\nwith a crash and a splash into a pool of beer; whereupon a tittering\nexplosion from Marty and Tommy, and a serious \"Ello!\"", "from Mr. Poyser,\nwho saw his draught of ale unpleasantly deferred.", "\"There you go!\"", "resumed Mrs. Poyser, in a cutting tone, as she rose and\nwent towards the cupboard while Molly began dolefully to pick up the\nfragments of pottery.", "\"It's what I told you 'ud come, over and over\nagain; and there's your month's wage gone, and more, to pay for that jug\nas I've had i' the house this ten year, and nothing ever happened to't\nbefore; but the crockery you've broke sin' here in th' house you've been\n'ud make a parson swear--God forgi' me for saying so--an' if it had been\nboiling wort out o' the copper, it 'ud ha' been the same, and you'd ha'\nbeen scalded and very like lamed for life, as there's no knowing but\nwhat you will be some day if you go on; for anybody 'ud think you'd got\nthe St. Vitus's Dance, to see the things you've throwed down.", "It's\na pity but what the bits was stacked up for you to see, though it's\nneither seeing nor hearing as 'ull make much odds to you--anybody 'ud\nthink you war case-hardened.\"", "Poor Molly's tears were dropping fast by this time, and in her\ndesperation at the lively movement of the beer-stream towards Alick's\nlegs, she was converting her apron into a mop, while Mrs. Poyser,\nopening the cupboard, turned a blighting eye upon her.", "\"Ah,\" she went on, \"you'll do no good wi' crying an' making more wet to\nwipe up.", "It's all your own wilfulness, as I tell you, for there's nobody\nno call to break anything if they'll only go the right way to work.", "But\nwooden folks had need ha' wooden things t' handle.", "And here must I take\nthe brown-and-white jug, as it's niver been used three times this year,\nand go down i' the cellar myself, and belike catch my death, and be laid\nup wi' inflammation....\"\n\nMrs. Poyser had turned round from the cupboard with the brown-and-white\njug in her hand, when she caught sight of something at the other end\nof the kitchen; perhaps it was because she was already trembling and\nnervous that the apparition had so strong an effect on her; perhaps\njug-breaking, like other crimes, has a contagious influence.", "However\nit was, she stared and started like a ghost-seer, and the precious\nbrown-and-white jug fell to the ground, parting for ever with its spout\nand handle.", "\"Did ever anybody see the like?\"", "she said, with a suddenly lowered\ntone, after a moment's bewildered glance round the room.", "\"The jugs are\nbewitched, I think.", "It's them nasty glazed handles--they slip o'er the\nfinger like a snail.\"", "\"Why, thee'st let thy own whip fly i' thy face,\" said her husband, who\nhad now joined in the laugh of the young ones.", "\"It's all very fine to look on and grin,\" rejoined Mrs. Poyser; \"but\nthere's times when the crockery seems alive an' flies out o' your hand\nlike a bird.", "It's like the glass, sometimes, 'ull crack as it stands.", "What is to be broke WILL be broke, for I never dropped a thing i' my\nlife for want o' holding it, else I should never ha' kept the crockery\nall these 'ears as I bought at my own wedding.", "And Hetty, are you mad?", "Whativer do you mean by coming down i' that way, and making one think as\nthere's a ghost a-walking i' th' house?\"", "A new outbreak of laughter, while Mrs. Poyser was speaking, was caused,\nless by her sudden conversion to a fatalistic view of jug-breaking than\nby that strange appearance of Hetty, which had startled her aunt.", "The\nlittle minx had found a black gown of her aunt's, and pinned it close\nround her neck to look like Dinah's, had made her hair as flat as she\ncould, and had tied on one of Dinah's high-crowned borderless net caps.", "The thought of Dinah's pale grave face and mild grey eyes, which the\nsight of the gown and cap brought with it, made it a laughable surprise\nenough to see them replaced by Hetty's round rosy cheeks and coquettish\ndark eyes.", "The boys got off their chairs and jumped round her, clapping\ntheir hands, and even Alick gave a low ventral laugh as he looked up\nfrom his beans.", "Under cover of the noise, Mrs. Poyser went into the back\nkitchen to send Nancy into the cellar with the great pewter measure,\nwhich had some chance of being free from bewitchment.", "\"Why, Hetty, lass, are ye turned Methodist?\"", "said Mr. Poyser, with\nthat comfortable slow enjoyment of a laugh which one only sees in stout\npeople.", "\"You must pull your face a deal longer before you'll do for one;\nmustna she, Adam?", "How come you put them things on, eh?\"", "\"Adam said he liked Dinah's cap and gown better nor my clothes,\" said\nHetty, sitting down demurely.", "\"He says folks looks better in ugly\nclothes.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Adam, looking at her admiringly; \"I only said they\nseemed to suit Dinah.", "But if I'd said you'd look pretty in 'em, I should\nha' said nothing but what was true.\"", "\"Why, thee thought'st Hetty war a ghost, didstna?\"", "said Mr. Poyser to\nhis wife, who now came back and took her seat again.", "\"Thee look'dst as\nscared as scared.\"", "\"It little sinnifies how I looked,\" said Mrs. Poyser; \"looks 'ull mend\nno jugs, nor laughing neither, as I see.", "Mr. Bede, I'm sorry you've to\nwait so long for your ale, but it's coming in a minute.", "Make yourself at\nhome wi' th' cold potatoes: I know you like 'em.", "Tommy, I'll send you to\nbed this minute, if you don't give over laughing.", "What is there to laugh\nat, I should like to know?", "I'd sooner cry nor laugh at the sight o' that\npoor thing's cap; and there's them as 'ud be better if they could make\ntheirselves like her i' more ways nor putting on her cap.", "It little\nbecomes anybody i' this house to make fun o' my sister's child, an' her\njust gone away from us, as it went to my heart to part wi' her.", "An' I\nknow one thing, as if trouble was to come, an' I was to be laid up i'\nmy bed, an' the children was to die--as there's no knowing but what they\nwill--an' the murrain was to come among the cattle again, an' everything\nwent to rack an' ruin, I say we might be glad to get sight o' Dinah's\ncap again, wi' her own face under it, border or no border.", "For she's one\no' them things as looks the brightest on a rainy day, and loves you the\nbest when you're most i' need on't.\"", "Mrs. Poyser, you perceive, was aware that nothing would be so likely\nto expel the comic as the terrible.", "Tommy, who was of a susceptible\ndisposition, and very fond of his mother, and who had, besides, eaten so\nmany cherries as to have his feelings less under command than usual, was\nso affected by the dreadful picture she had made of the possible future\nthat he began to cry; and the good-natured father, indulgent to all\nweaknesses but those of negligent farmers, said to Hetty, \"You'd better\ntake the things off again, my lass; it hurts your aunt to see 'em.\"", "Hetty went upstairs again, and the arrival of the ale made an agreeable\ndiversion; for Adam had to give his opinion of the new tap, which could\nnot be otherwise than complimentary to Mrs. Poyser; and then followed\na discussion on the secrets of good brewing, the folly of stinginess in\n\"hopping,\" and the doubtful economy of a farmer's making his own malt.", "Mrs. Poyser had so many opportunities of expressing herself with\nweight on these subjects that by the time supper was ended, the ale-jug\nrefilled, and Mr. Poyser's pipe alight she was once more in high good\nhumour, and ready, at Adam's request, to fetch the broken spinning-wheel\nfor his inspection.", "\"Ah,\" said Adam, looking at it carefully, \"here's a nice bit o' turning\nwanted.", "It's a pretty wheel.", "I must have it up at the turning-shop in\nthe village and do it there, for I've no convenence for turning at home.", "If you'll send it to Mr. Burge's shop i' the morning, I'll get it\ndone for you by Wednesday.", "I've been turning it over in my mind,\" he\ncontinued, looking at Mr. Poyser, \"to make a bit more convenence at home\nfor nice jobs o' cabinet-making.", "I've always done a deal at such\nlittle things in odd hours, and they're profitable, for there's more\nworkmanship nor material in 'em.", "I look for me and Seth to get a little\nbusiness for ourselves i' that way, for I know a man at Rosseter as 'ull\ntake as many things as we should make, besides what we could get orders\nfor round about.\"", "Mr. Poyser entered with interest into a project which seemed a step\ntowards Adam's becoming a \"master-man,\" and Mrs. Poyser gave her\napprobation to the scheme of the movable kitchen cupboard, which was to\nbe capable of containing grocery, pickles, crockery, and house-linen in\nthe utmost compactness without confusion.", "Hetty, once more in her own\ndress, with her neckerchief pushed a little backwards on this warm\nevening, was seated picking currants near the window, where Adam could\nsee her quite well.", "And so the time passed pleasantly till Adam got up\nto go.", "He was pressed to come again soon, but not to stay longer, for at\nthis busy time sensible people would not run the risk of being sleepy at\nfive o'clock in the morning.", "\"I shall take a step farther,\" said Adam, \"and go on to see Mester\nMassey, for he wasn't at church yesterday, and I've not seen him for a\nweek past.", "I've never hardly known him to miss church before.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"we've heared nothing about him, for it's the\nboys' hollodays now, so we can give you no account.\"", "\"But you'll niver think o' going there at this hour o' the night?\"", "said\nMrs. Poyser, folding up her knitting.", "\"Oh, Mester Massey sits up late,\" said Adam.", "\"An' the night-school's not\nover yet.", "Some o' the men don't come till late--they've got so far to\nwalk.", "And Bartle himself's never in bed till it's gone eleven.\"", "\"I wouldna have him to live wi' me, then,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"a-dropping\ncandle-grease about, as you're like to tumble down o' the floor the\nfirst thing i' the morning.\"", "\"Aye, eleven o'clock's late--it's late,\" said old Martin.", "\"I ne'er sot\nup so i' MY life, not to say as it warna a marr'in', or a christenin',\nor a wake, or th' harvest supper.", "Eleven o'clock's late.\"", "\"Why, I sit up till after twelve often,\" said Adam, laughing, \"but\nit isn't t' eat and drink extry, it's to work extry.", "Good-night, Mrs.\nPoyser; good-night, Hetty.\"", "Hetty could only smile and not shake hands, for hers were dyed and damp\nwith currant-juice; but all the rest gave a hearty shake to the large\npalm that was held out to them, and said, \"Come again, come again!\"", "\"Aye, think o' that now,\" said Mr. Poyser, when Adam was out of on the\ncauseway.", "\"Sitting up till past twelve to do extry work!", "Ye'll not find\nmany men o' six-an' twenty as 'ull do to put i' the shafts wi' him.", "If you can catch Adam for a husband, Hetty, you'll ride i' your own\nspring-cart some day, I'll be your warrant.\"", "Hetty was moving across the kitchen with the currants, so her uncle did\nnot see the little toss of the head with which she answered him.", "To ride\nin a spring-cart seemed a very miserable lot indeed to her now." ]

[ "I'd be glad now if you'd go into the\ngarden and tell Hetty to send Totty in.", "The sound of any man's footstep would have affected her just in\nthe same way--she would have FELT it might be Arthur before she had time\nto see, and the blood that forsook her cheek in the agitation of that\nmomentary feeling would have rushed back again at the sight of any one\nelse just as much as at the sight of Adam.", "\"That'll do,\" said Hetty, after a little while.", "\"Oh, I used to watch 'em often when I was a lad.", "Hetty smiled faintly and put her arm within his.", "He set down the basket and took the rose from his button-hole.", "\"She's drawin' for the men too,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "Eleven o'clock's late.\"", "\"Why, I sit up till after twelve often,\" said Adam, laughing, \"but\nit isn't t' eat and drink extry, it's to work extry.", "If you can catch Adam for a husband, Hetty, you'll ride i' your own\nspring-cart some day, I'll be your warrant.\"" ]

[ "There was a flash of hope and\nhappiness in her mind, and with a sudden impulse of gaiety she did what\nshe had very often done before--stuck the rose in her hair a little\nabove the left ear.", "\"That'll do,\" said Hetty, after a little while.", "I think I taste that whey\nnow--with a flavour so delicate that one can hardly distinguish it from\nan odour, and with that soft gliding warmth that fills one's imagination\nwith a still, happy dreaminess.", "resumed Mrs. Poyser, in a cutting tone, as she rose and\nwent towards the cupboard while Molly began dolefully to pick up the\nfragments of pottery.", "Ah!", "said Mr. Poyser, with\nthat comfortable slow enjoyment of a laugh which one only sees in stout\npeople.", "The sound of any man's footstep would have affected her just in\nthe same way--she would have FELT it might be Arthur before she had time\nto see, and the blood that forsook her cheek in the agitation of that\nmomentary feeling would have rushed back again at the sight of any one\nelse just as much as at the sight of Adam.", "Adam's heart\nwas too full to speak, and he thought Hetty knew all that was in it.", "Hetty was moving across the kitchen with the currants, so her uncle did\nnot see the little toss of the head with which she answered him.", "I've always done a deal at such\nlittle things in odd hours, and they're profitable, for there's more\nworkmanship nor material in 'em." ]

[ "He\nspoke very handsome to me th' other day about lending me money to set up\ni' business; and if things came round that way, I'd rather be beholding\nto him nor to any man i' the world.\"", "Poor Adam was led on to speak about Arthur because he thought Hetty\nwould be pleased to know that the young squire was so ready to befriend\nhim; the fact entered into his future prospects, which he would like to\nseem promising in her eyes.", "And it was true that Hetty listened with an\ninterest which brought a new light into her eyes and a half-smile upon\nher lips.", "\"How pretty the roses are now!\"", "Adam continued, pausing to look at them.", "\"See!", "I stole the prettiest, but I didna mean to keep it myself.", "I think\nthese as are all pink, and have got a finer sort o' green leaves, are\nprettier than the striped uns, don't you?\"", "He set down the basket and took the rose from his button-hole.", "\"It smells very sweet,\" he said; \"those striped uns have no smell.", "Stick\nit in your frock, and then you can put it in water after." ]

[ "\n\nADAM came back from his work in the empty waggon--that was why he had\nchanged his clothes--and was ready to set out to the Hall Farm when it\nstill wanted a quarter to seven.", "\"What's thee got thy Sunday cloose on for?\"", "said Lisbeth complainingly,\nas he came downstairs.", "\"Thee artna goin' to th' school i' thy best\ncoat?\"", "\"No, Mother,\" said Adam, quietly.", "\"I'm going to the Hall Farm, but\nmayhap I may go to the school after, so thee mustna wonder if I'm a\nbit late.", "Seth 'ull be at home in half an hour--he's only gone to the\nvillage; so thee wutna mind.\"", "\"Eh, an' what's thee got thy best cloose on for to go to th' Hall Farm?", "The Poyser folks see'd thee in 'em yesterday, I warrand.", "What dost mean\nby turnin' worki'day into Sunday a-that'n?", "Eleven o'clock's late.\"", "\"Why, I sit up till after twelve often,\" said Adam, laughing, \"but\nit isn't t' eat and drink extry, it's to work extry.", "Good-night, Mrs.\nPoyser; good-night, Hetty.\"", "Hetty could only smile and not shake hands, for hers were dyed and damp\nwith currant-juice; but all the rest gave a hearty shake to the large\npalm that was held out to them, and said, \"Come again, come again!\"", "\"Aye, think o' that now,\" said Mr. Poyser, when Adam was out of on the\ncauseway.", "\"Sitting up till past twelve to do extry work!", "Ye'll not find\nmany men o' six-an' twenty as 'ull do to put i' the shafts wi' him.", "If you can catch Adam for a husband, Hetty, you'll ride i' your own\nspring-cart some day, I'll be your warrant.\"", "Hetty was moving across the kitchen with the currants, so her uncle did\nnot see the little toss of the head with which she answered him.", "To ride\nin a spring-cart seemed a very miserable lot indeed to her now." ]

[ "\n\nBartle Massey's was one of a few scattered houses on the edge of a\ncommon, which was divided by the road to Treddleston.", "Adam reached it\nin a quarter of an hour after leaving the Hall Farm; and when he had his\nhand on the door-latch, he could see, through the curtainless window,\nthat there were eight or nine heads bending over the desks, lighted by\nthin dips.", "When he entered, a reading lesson was going forward and Bartle Massey\nmerely nodded, leaving him to take his place where he pleased.", "He had\nnot come for the sake of a lesson to-night, and his mind was too full\nof personal matters, too full of the last two hours he had passed in\nHetty's presence, for him to amuse himself with a book till school was\nover; so he sat down in a corner and looked on with an absent mind.", "It\nwas a sort of scene which Adam had beheld almost weekly for years; he\nknew by heart every arabesque flourish in the framed specimen of Bartle\nMassey's handwriting which hung over the schoolmaster's head, by way of\nkeeping a lofty ideal before the minds of his pupils; he knew the backs\nof all the books on the shelf running along the whitewashed wall above\nthe pegs for the slates; he knew exactly how many grains were gone out\nof the ear of Indian corn that hung from one of the rafters; he had long\nago exhausted the resources of his imagination in trying to think\nhow the bunch of leathery seaweed had looked and grown in its native\nelement; and from the place where he sat, he could make nothing of the\nold map of England that hung against the opposite wall, for age had\nturned it of a fine yellow brown, something like that of a well-seasoned\nmeerschaum.", "The drama that was going on was almost as familiar as the\nscene, nevertheless habit had not made him indifferent to it, and even\nin his present self-absorbed mood, Adam felt a momentary stirring of the\nold fellow-feeling, as he looked at the rough men painfully holding pen\nor pencil with their cramped hands, or humbly labouring through their\nreading lesson.", "The reading class now seated on the form in front of the schoolmaster's\ndesk consisted of the three most backward pupils.", "Adam would have known\nit only by seeing Bartle Massey's face as he looked over his spectacles,\nwhich he had shifted to the ridge of his nose, not requiring them for\npresent purposes.", "The face wore its mildest expression: the grizzled\nbushy eyebrows had taken their more acute angle of compassionate\nkindness, and the mouth, habitually compressed with a pout of the lower\nlip, was relaxed so as to be ready to speak a helpful word or syllable\nin a moment.", "This gentle expression was the more interesting because the\nschoolmaster's nose, an irregular aquiline twisted a little on one side,\nhad rather a formidable character; and his brow, moreover, had that\npeculiar tension which always impresses one as a sign of a keen\nimpatient temperament: the blue veins stood out like cords under the\ntransparent yellow skin, and this intimidating brow was softened by no\ntendency to baldness, for the grey bristly hair, cut down to about an\ninch in length, stood round it in as close ranks as ever.", "\"Nay, Bill, nay,\" Bartle was saying in a kind tone, as he nodded to\nAdam, \"begin that again, and then perhaps, it'll come to you what d-r-y\nspells.", "It's the same lesson you read last week, you know.\"", "\"Bill\" was a sturdy fellow, aged four-and-twenty, an excellent\nstone-sawyer, who could get as good wages as any man in the trade of his\nyears; but he found a reading lesson in words of one syllable a harder\nmatter to deal with than the hardest stone he had ever had to saw.", "The\nletters, he complained, were so \"uncommon alike, there was no tellin'\n'em one from another,\" the sawyer's business not being concerned with\nminute differences such as exist between a letter with its tail\nturned up and a letter with its tail turned down.", "But Bill had a firm\ndetermination that he would learn to read, founded chiefly on two\nreasons: first, that Tom Hazelow, his cousin, could read anything \"right\noff,\" whether it was print or writing, and Tom had sent him a letter\nfrom twenty miles off, saying how he was prospering in the world and had\ngot an overlooker's place; secondly, that Sam Phillips, who sawed with\nhim, had learned to read when he was turned twenty, and what could be\ndone by a little fellow like Sam Phillips, Bill considered, could\nbe done by himself, seeing that he could pound Sam into wet clay if\ncircumstances required it.", "So here he was, pointing his big finger\ntowards three words at once, and turning his head on one side that he\nmight keep better hold with his eye of the one word which was to be\ndiscriminated out of the group.", "The amount of knowledge Bartle Massey\nmust possess was something so dim and vast that Bill's imagination\nrecoiled before it: he would hardly have ventured to deny that the\nschoolmaster might have something to do in bringing about the regular\nreturn of daylight and the changes in the weather.", "The man seated next to Bill was of a very different type: he was a\nMethodist brickmaker who, after spending thirty years of his life in\nperfect satisfaction with his ignorance, had lately \"got religion,\" and\nalong with it the desire to read the Bible.", "But with him, too, learning\nwas a heavy business, and on his way out to-night he had offered as\nusual a special prayer for help, seeing that he had undertaken this hard\ntask with a single eye to the nourishment of his soul--that he might\nhave a greater abundance of texts and hymns wherewith to banish evil\nmemories and the temptations of old habit--or, in brief language,\nthe devil.", "For the brickmaker had been a notorious poacher, and was\nsuspected, though there was no good evidence against him, of being the\nman who had shot a neighbouring gamekeeper in the leg.", "However that\nmight be, it is certain that shortly after the accident referred to,\nwhich was coincident with the arrival of an awakening Methodist preacher\nat Treddleston, a great change had been observed in the brickmaker; and\nthough he was still known in the neighbourhood by his old sobriquet of\n\"Brimstone,\" there was nothing he held in so much horror as any further\ntransactions with that evil-smelling element.", "He was a broad-chested\nfellow with a fervid temperament, which helped him better in imbibing\nreligious ideas than in the dry process of acquiring the mere human\nknowledge of the alphabet.", "Indeed, he had been already a little shaken\nin his resolution by a brother Methodist, who assured him that the\nletter was a mere obstruction to the Spirit, and expressed a fear that\nBrimstone was too eager for the knowledge that puffeth up.", "The third beginner was a much more promising pupil.", "He was a tall but\nthin and wiry man, nearly as old as Brimstone, with a very pale face and\nhands stained a deep blue.", "He was a dyer, who in the course of dipping\nhomespun wool and old women's petticoats had got fired with the ambition\nto learn a great deal more about the strange secrets of colour.", "He had\nalready a high reputation in the district for his dyes, and he was\nbent on discovering some method by which he could reduce the expense\nof crimsons and scarlets.", "The druggist at Treddleston had given him a\nnotion that he might save himself a great deal of labour and expense if\nhe could learn to read, and so he had begun to give his spare hours to\nthe night-school, resolving that his \"little chap\" should lose no time\nin coming to Mr. Massey's day-school as soon as he was old enough.", "It was touching to see these three big men, with the marks of their hard\nlabour about them, anxiously bending over the worn books and painfully\nmaking out, \"The grass is green,\" \"The sticks are dry,\" \"The corn is\nripe\"--a very hard lesson to pass to after columns of single words\nall alike except in the first letter.", "It was almost as if three rough\nanimals were making humble efforts to learn how they might become human.", "And it touched the tenderest fibre in Bartle Massey's nature, for such\nfull-grown children as these were the only pupils for whom he had\nno severe epithets and no impatient tones.", "He was not gifted with an\nimperturbable temper, and on music-nights it was apparent that patience\ncould never be an easy virtue to him; but this evening, as he glances\nover his spectacles at Bill Downes, the sawyer, who is turning his\nhead on one side with a desperate sense of blankness before the letters\nd-r-y, his eyes shed their mildest and most encouraging light.", "After the reading class, two youths between sixteen and nineteen came up\nwith the imaginary bills of parcels, which they had been writing out on\ntheir slates and were now required to calculate \"off-hand\"--a test which\nthey stood with such imperfect success that Bartle Massey, whose eyes\nhad been glaring at them ominously through his spectacles for some\nminutes, at length burst out in a bitter, high-pitched tone, pausing\nbetween every sentence to rap the floor with a knobbed stick which\nrested between his legs.", "\"Now, you see, you don't do this thing a bit better than you did a\nfortnight ago, and I'll tell you what's the reason.", "You want to learn\naccounts--that's well and good.", "But you think all you need do to learn\naccounts is to come to me and do sums for an hour or so, two or three\ntimes a-week; and no sooner do you get your caps on and turn out of\ndoors again than you sweep the whole thing clean out of your mind.", "You\ngo whistling about, and take no more care what you're thinking of\nthan if your heads were gutters for any rubbish to swill through that\nhappened to be in the way; and if you get a good notion in 'em,\nit's pretty soon washed out again.", "You think knowledge is to be got\ncheap--you'll come and pay Bartle Massey sixpence a-week, and he'll make\nyou clever at figures without your taking any trouble.", "But knowledge\nisn't to be got with paying sixpence, let me tell you.", "If you're to know\nfigures, you must turn 'em over in your heads and keep your thoughts\nfixed on 'em.", "There's nothing you can't turn into a sum, for there's\nnothing but what's got number in it--even a fool.", "You may say to\nyourselves, 'I'm one fool, and Jack's another; if my fool's head weighed\nfour pound, and Jack's three pound three ounces and three quarters, how\nmany pennyweights heavier would my head be than Jack's?'", "A man that had\ngot his heart in learning figures would make sums for himself and work\n'em in his head.", "When he sat at his shoemaking, he'd count his stitches\nby fives, and then put a price on his stitches, say half a farthing, and\nthen see how much money he could get in an hour; and then ask himself\nhow much money he'd get in a day at that rate; and then how much ten\nworkmen would get working three, or twenty, or a hundred years at that\nrate--and all the while his needle would be going just as fast as if\nhe left his head empty for the devil to dance in.", "But the long and the\nshort of it is--I'll have nobody in my night-school that doesn't strive\nto learn what he comes to learn, as hard as if he was striving to get\nout of a dark hole into broad daylight.", "I'll send no man away because\nhe's stupid: if Billy Taft, the idiot, wanted to learn anything, I'd not\nrefuse to teach him.", "But I'll not throw away good knowledge on people\nwho think they can get it by the sixpenn'orth, and carry it away with\n'em as they would an ounce of snuff.", "So never come to me again, if you\ncan't show that you've been working with your own heads, instead of\nthinking that you can pay for mine to work for you.", "That's the last word\nI've got to say to you.\"", "With this final sentence, Bartle Massey gave a sharper rap than ever\nwith his knobbed stick, and the discomfited lads got up to go with a\nsulky look.", "The other pupils had happily only their writing-books to\nshow, in various stages of progress from pot-hooks to round text; and\nmere pen-strokes, however perverse, were less exasperating to Bartle\nthan false arithmetic.", "He was a little more severe than usual on Jacob\nStorey's Z's, of which poor Jacob had written a pageful, all with their\ntops turned the wrong way, with a puzzled sense that they were not right\n\"somehow.\"", "But he observed in apology, that it was a letter you never\nwanted hardly, and he thought it had only been there \"to finish off th'\nalphabet, like, though ampusand (&) would ha' done as well, for what he\ncould see.\"", "At last the pupils had all taken their hats and said their\n\"Good-nights,\" and Adam, knowing his old master's habits, rose and said,\n\"Shall I put the candles out, Mr.", "Massey?\"", "\"Yes, my boy, yes, all but this, which I'll carry into the house; and\njust lock the outer door, now you're near it,\" said Bartle, getting his\nstick in the fitting angle to help him in descending from his stool.", "He was no sooner on the ground than it became obvious why the stick\nwas necessary--the left leg was much shorter than the right.", "But the\nschool-master was so active with his lameness that it was hardly thought\nof as a misfortune; and if you had seen him make his way along the\nschoolroom floor, and up the step into his kitchen, you would perhaps\nhave understood why the naughty boys sometimes felt that his pace might\nbe indefinitely quickened and that he and his stick might overtake them\neven in their swiftest run.", "The moment he appeared at the kitchen door with the candle in his\nhand, a faint whimpering began in the chimney-corner, and a\nbrown-and-tan-coloured bitch, of that wise-looking breed with short legs\nand long body, known to an unmechanical generation as turnspits, came\ncreeping along the floor, wagging her tail, and hesitating at every\nother step, as if her affections were painfully divided between the\nhamper in the chimney-corner and the master, whom she could not leave\nwithout a greeting.", "\"Well, Vixen, well then, how are the babbies?\"", "said the schoolmaster,\nmaking haste towards the chimney-corner and holding the candle over\nthe low hamper, where two extremely blind puppies lifted up their heads\ntowards the light from a nest of flannel and wool.", "Vixen could not even\nsee her master look at them without painful excitement: she got into the\nhamper and got out again the next moment, and behaved with true feminine\nfolly, though looking all the while as wise as a dwarf with a large\nold-fashioned head and body on the most abbreviated legs.", "\"Why, you've got a family, I see, Mr.", "Massey?\"", "said Adam, smiling, as\nhe came into the kitchen.", "\"How's that?", "I thought it was against the law\nhere.\"", "\"Law?", "What's the use o' law when a man's once such a fool as to let a\nwoman into his house?\"", "said Bartle, turning away from the hamper with\nsome bitterness.", "He always called Vixen a woman, and seemed to have lost\nall consciousness that he was using a figure of speech.", "\"If I'd known\nVixen was a woman, I'd never have held the boys from drowning her; but\nwhen I'd got her into my hand, I was forced to take to her.", "And now you\nsee what she's brought me to--the sly, hypocritical wench\"--Bartle spoke\nthese last words in a rasping tone of reproach, and looked at Vixen, who\npoked down her head and turned up her eyes towards him with a keen\nsense of opprobrium--\"and contrived to be brought to bed on a Sunday at\nchurch-time.", "I've wished again and again I'd been a bloody minded man,\nthat I could have strangled the mother and the brats with one cord.\"", "\"I'm glad it was no worse a cause kept you from church,\" said Adam.", "\"I\nwas afraid you must be ill for the first time i' your life.", "And I was\nparticularly sorry not to have you at church yesterday.\"", "\"Ah, my boy, I know why, I know why,\" said Bartle kindly, going up to\nAdam and raising his hand up to the shoulder that was almost on a level\nwith his own head.", "\"You've had a rough bit o' road to get over since I\nsaw you--a rough bit o' road.", "But I'm in hopes there are better times\ncoming for you.", "I've got some news to tell you.", "But I must get my supper\nfirst, for I'm hungry, I'm hungry.", "Sit down, sit down.\"", "Bartel went into his little pantry, and brought out an excellent\nhome-baked loaf; for it was his one extravagance in these dear times\nto eat bread once a-day instead of oat-cake; and he justified it by\nobserving, that what a schoolmaster wanted was brains, and oat-cake ran\ntoo much to bone instead of brains.", "Then came a piece of cheese and a\nquart jug with a crown of foam upon it.", "He placed them all on the\nround deal table which stood against his large arm-chair in the\nchimney-corner, with Vixen's hamper on one side of it and a window-shelf\nwith a few books piled up in it on the other.", "The table was as clean as\nif Vixen had been an excellent housewife in a checkered apron; so was\nthe quarry floor; and the old carved oaken press, table, and chairs,\nwhich in these days would be bought at a high price in aristocratic\nhouses, though, in that period of spider-legs and inlaid cupids, Bartle\nhad got them for an old song, where as free from dust as things could be\nat the end of a summer's day.", "\"Now, then, my boy, draw up, draw up.", "We'll not talk about business till\nwe've had our supper.", "No man can be wise on an empty stomach.", "But,\" said\nBartle, rising from his chair again, \"I must give Vixen her supper\ntoo, confound her!", "Though she'll do nothing with it but nourish those\nunnecessary babbies.", "That's the way with these women--they've got no\nhead-pieces to nourish, and so their food all runs either to fat or to\nbrats.\"", "He brought out of the pantry a dish of scraps, which Vixen at once fixed\nher eyes on, and jumped out of her hamper to lick up with the utmost\ndispatch.", "\"I've had my supper, Mr. Massey,\" said Adam, \"so I'll look on while you\neat yours.", "I've been at the Hall Farm, and they always have their supper\nbetimes, you know: they don't keep your late hours.\"", "\"I know little about their hours,\" said Bartle dryly, cutting his bread\nand not shrinking from the crust.", "\"It's a house I seldom go into, though\nI'm fond of the boys, and Martin Poyser's a good fellow.", "There's too\nmany women in the house for me: I hate the sound of women's voices;\nthey're always either a-buzz or a-squeak--always either a-buzz or\na-squeak.", "Mrs. Poyser keeps at the top o' the talk like a fife; and\nas for the young lasses, I'd as soon look at water-grubs.", "I know what\nthey'll turn to--stinging gnats, stinging gnats.", "Here, take some ale, my\nboy: it's been drawn for you--it's been drawn for you.\"", "\"Nay, Mr. Massey,\" said Adam, who took his old friend's whim more\nseriously than usual to-night, \"don't be so hard on the creaturs God has\nmade to be companions for us.", "A working-man 'ud be badly off without\na wife to see to th' house and the victual, and make things clean and\ncomfortable.\"", "\"Nonsense!", "It's the silliest lie a sensible man like you ever believed,\nto say a woman makes a house comfortable.", "It's a story got up because\nthe women are there and something must be found for 'em to do.", "I tell\nyou there isn't a thing under the sun that needs to be done at all, but\nwhat a man can do better than a woman, unless it's bearing children, and\nthey do that in a poor make-shift way; it had better ha' been left to\nthe men--it had better ha' been left to the men.", "I tell you, a woman\n'ull bake you a pie every week of her life and never come to see that\nthe hotter th' oven the shorter the time.", "I tell you, a woman 'ull make\nyour porridge every day for twenty years and never think of measuring\nthe proportion between the meal and the milk--a little more or less,\nshe'll think, doesn't signify.", "The porridge WILL be awk'ard now and\nthen: if it's wrong, it's summat in the meal, or it's summat in the\nmilk, or it's summat in the water.", "Look at me!", "I make my own bread, and\nthere's no difference between one batch and another from year's end to\nyear's end; but if I'd got any other woman besides Vixen in the house,\nI must pray to the Lord every baking to give me patience if the bread\nturned out heavy.", "And as for cleanliness, my house is cleaner than any\nother house on the Common, though the half of 'em swarm with women.", "Will\nBaker's lad comes to help me in a morning, and we get as much cleaning\ndone in one hour, without any fuss, as a woman 'ud get done in three,\nand all the while be sending buckets o' water after your ankles, and let\nthe fender and the fire-irons stand in the middle o' the floor half the\nday for you to break your shins against 'em.", "Don't tell me about God\nhaving made such creatures to be companions for us!", "I don't say but\nHe might make Eve to be a companion to Adam in Paradise--there was no\ncooking to be spoilt there, and no other woman to cackle with and make\nmischief, though you see what mischief she did as soon as she'd an\nopportunity.", "But it's an impious, unscriptural opinion to say a woman's\na blessing to a man now; you might as well say adders and wasps, and\nfoxes and wild beasts are a blessing, when they're only the evils that\nbelong to this state o' probation, which it's lawful for a man to keep\nas clear of as he can in this life, hoping to get quit of 'em for ever\nin another--hoping to get quit of 'em for ever in another.\"", "Bartle had become so excited and angry in the course of his invective\nthat he had forgotten his supper, and only used the knife for the\npurpose of rapping the table with the haft.", "But towards the close, the\nraps became so sharp and frequent, and his voice so quarrelsome, that\nVixen felt it incumbent on her to jump out of the hamper and bark\nvaguely.", "\"Quiet, Vixen!\"", "snarled Bartle, turning round upon her.", "\"You're like the\nrest o' the women--always putting in your word before you know why.\"", "Vixen returned to her hamper again in humiliation, and her master\ncontinued his supper in a silence which Adam did not choose to\ninterrupt; he knew the old man would be in a better humour when he had\nhad his supper and lighted his pipe.", "Adam was used to hear him talk in\nthis way, but had never learned so much of Bartle's past life as to know\nwhether his view of married comfort was founded on experience.", "On that\npoint Bartle was mute, and it was even a secret where he had lived\nprevious to the twenty years in which happily for the peasants and\nartisans of this neighbourhood he had been settled among them as their\nonly schoolmaster.", "If anything like a question was ventured on this\nsubject, Bartle always replied, \"Oh, I've seen many places--I've been a\ndeal in the south,\" and the Loamshire men would as soon have thought of\nasking for a particular town or village in Africa as in \"the south.\"", "\"Now then, my boy,\" said Bartle, at last, when he had poured out his\nsecond mug of ale and lighted his pipe, \"now then, we'll have a little\ntalk.", "But tell me first, have you heard any particular news to-day?\"", "\"No,\" said Adam, \"not as I remember.\"", "\"Ah, they'll keep it close, they'll keep it close, I daresay.", "But I\nfound it out by chance; and it's news that may concern you, Adam, else\nI'm a man that don't know a superficial square foot from a solid.\"", "Here Bartle gave a series of fierce and rapid puffs, looking earnestly\nthe while at Adam.", "Your impatient loquacious man has never any notion of\nkeeping his pipe alight by gentle measured puffs; he is always letting\nit go nearly out, and then punishing it for that negligence.", "At last he\nsaid, \"Satchell's got a paralytic stroke.", "I found it out from the lad\nthey sent to Treddleston for the doctor, before seven o'clock this\nmorning.", "He's a good way beyond sixty, you know; it's much if he gets\nover it.\"", "\"Well,\" said Adam, \"I daresay there'd be more rejoicing than sorrow\nin the parish at his being laid up.", "He's been a selfish, tale-bearing,\nmischievous fellow; but, after all, there's nobody he's done so much\nharm to as to th' old squire.", "Though it's the squire himself as is to\nblame--making a stupid fellow like that a sort o' man-of-all-work, just\nto save th' expense of having a proper steward to look after th' estate.", "And he's lost more by ill management o' the woods, I'll be bound, than\n'ud pay for two stewards.", "If he's laid on the shelf, it's to be hoped\nhe'll make way for a better man, but I don't see how it's like to make\nany difference to me.\"", "\"But I see it, but I see it,\" said Bartle, \"and others besides me.", "The\ncaptain's coming of age now--you know that as well as I do--and it's to\nbe expected he'll have a little more voice in things.", "And I know, and\nyou know too, what 'ud be the captain's wish about the woods, if there\nwas a fair opportunity for making a change.", "He's said in plenty of\npeople's hearing that he'd make you manager of the woods to-morrow, if\nhe'd the power.", "Why, Carroll, Mr. Irwine's butler, heard him say so to\nthe parson not many days ago.", "Carroll looked in when we were smoking\nour pipes o' Saturday night at Casson's, and he told us about it; and\nwhenever anybody says a good word for you, the parson's ready to back\nit, that I'll answer for.", "It was pretty well talked over, I can tell\nyou, at Casson's, and one and another had their fling at you; for if\ndonkeys set to work to sing, you're pretty sure what the tune'll be.\"", "\"Why, did they talk it over before Mr.", "Burge?\"", "said Adam; \"or wasn't he\nthere o' Saturday?\"", "\"Oh, he went away before Carroll came; and Casson--he's always for\nsetting other folks right, you know--would have it Burge was the man to\nhave the management of the woods.", "'A substantial man,' says he, 'with\npretty near sixty years' experience o' timber: it 'ud be all very well\nfor Adam Bede to act under him, but it isn't to be supposed the squire\n'ud appoint a young fellow like Adam, when there's his elders and\nbetters at hand!'", "But I said, 'That's a pretty notion o' yours, Casson.", "Why, Burge is the man to buy timber; would you put the woods into his\nhands and let him make his own bargains?", "I think you don't leave your\ncustomers to score their own drink, do you?", "And as for age, what that's\nworth depends on the quality o' the liquor.", "It's pretty well known who's\nthe backbone of Jonathan Burge's business.'\"", "\"I thank you for your good word, Mr. Massey,\" said Adam.", "\"But, for\nall that, Casson was partly i' the right for once.", "There's not much\nlikelihood that th' old squire 'ud ever consent t' employ me.", "I offended\nhim about two years ago, and he's never forgiven me.\"", "\"Why, how was that?", "You never told me about it,\" said Bartle.", "\"Oh, it was a bit o' nonsense.", "I'd made a frame for a screen for\nMiss Lyddy--she's allays making something with her worsted-work, you\nknow--and she'd given me particular orders about this screen, and there\nwas as much talking and measuring as if we'd been planning a house.", "However, it was a nice bit o' work, and I liked doing it for her.", "But,\nyou know, those little friggling things take a deal o' time.", "I only\nworked at it in overhours--often late at night--and I had to go to\nTreddleston over an' over again about little bits o' brass nails and\nsuch gear; and I turned the little knobs and the legs, and carved th'\nopen work, after a pattern, as nice as could be.", "And I was uncommon\npleased with it when it was done.", "And when I took it home, Miss Lyddy\nsent for me to bring it into her drawing-room, so as she might give me\ndirections about fastening on the work--very fine needlework, Jacob and\nRachel a-kissing one another among the sheep, like a picture--and th'\nold squire was sitting there, for he mostly sits with her.", "Well, she was\nmighty pleased with the screen, and then she wanted to know what pay she\nwas to give me.", "I didn't speak at random--you know it's not my way; I'd\ncalculated pretty close, though I hadn't made out a bill, and I said,\n'One pound thirteen.'", "That was paying for the mater'als and paying me, but\nnone too much, for my work.", "Th' old squire looked up at this, and peered\nin his way at the screen, and said, 'One pound thirteen for a gimcrack\nlike that!", "Lydia, my dear, if you must spend money on these things,\nwhy don't you get them at Rosseter, instead of paying double price for\nclumsy work here?", "Such things are not work for a carpenter like Adam.", "Give him a guinea, and no more.'", "Well, Miss Lyddy, I reckon, believed\nwhat he told her, and she's not overfond o' parting with the money\nherself--she's not a bad woman at bottom, but she's been brought up\nunder his thumb; so she began fidgeting with her purse, and turned as\nred as her ribbon.", "But I made a bow, and said, 'No, thank you, madam;\nI'll make you a present o' the screen, if you please.", "I've charged\nthe regular price for my work, and I know it's done well; and I know,\nbegging His Honour's pardon, that you couldn't get such a screen at\nRosseter under two guineas.", "I'm willing to give you my work--it's been\ndone in my own time, and nobody's got anything to do with it but me; but\nif I'm paid, I can't take a smaller price than I asked, because that\n'ud be like saying I'd asked more than was just.", "With your leave, madam,\nI'll bid you good-morning.'", "I made my bow and went out before she'd\ntime to say any more, for she stood with the purse in her hand, looking\nalmost foolish.", "I didn't mean to be disrespectful, and I spoke as polite\nas I could; but I can give in to no man, if he wants to make it out as\nI'm trying to overreach him.", "And in the evening the footman brought me\nthe one pound thirteen wrapped in paper.", "But since then I've seen pretty\nclear as th' old squire can't abide me.\"", "\"That's likely enough, that's likely enough,\" said Bartle meditatively.", "\"The only way to bring him round would be to show him what was for his\nown interest, and that the captain may do--that the captain may do.\"", "\"Nay, I don't know,\" said Adam; \"the squire's 'cute enough but it takes\nsomething else besides 'cuteness to make folks see what'll be their\ninterest in the long run.", "It takes some conscience and belief in right\nand wrong, I see that pretty clear.", "You'd hardly ever bring round th'\nold squire to believe he'd gain as much in a straightfor'ard way as by\ntricks and turns.", "And, besides, I've not much mind to work under him:\nI don't want to quarrel with any gentleman, more particular an old\ngentleman turned eighty, and I know we couldn't agree long.", "If the\ncaptain was master o' th' estate, it 'ud be different: he's got a\nconscience and a will to do right, and I'd sooner work for him nor for\nany man living.\"", "\"Well, well, my boy, if good luck knocks at your door, don't you put\nyour head out at window and tell it to be gone about its business,\nthat's all.", "You must learn to deal with odd and even in life, as well\nas in figures.", "I tell you now, as I told you ten years ago, when you\npommelled young Mike Holdsworth for wanting to pass a bad shilling\nbefore you knew whether he was in jest or earnest--you're overhasty and\nproud, and apt to set your teeth against folks that don't square to your\nnotions.", "It's no harm for me to be a bit fiery and stiff-backed--I'm an\nold schoolmaster, and shall never want to get on to a higher perch.", "But\nwhere's the use of all the time I've spent in teaching you writing and\nmapping and mensuration, if you're not to get for'ard in the world and\nshow folks there's some advantage in having a head on your shoulders,\ninstead of a turnip?", "Do you mean to go on turning up your nose at every\nopportunity because it's got a bit of a smell about it that nobody finds\nout but yourself?", "It's as foolish as that notion o' yours that a wife\nis to make a working-man comfortable.", "Stuff and nonsense!", "Stuff and\nnonsense!", "Leave that to fools that never got beyond a sum in simple\naddition.", "Simple addition enough!", "Add one fool to another fool, and in\nsix years' time six fools more--they're all of the same denomination,\nbig and little's nothing to do with the sum!\"", "During this rather heated exhortation to coolness and discretion the\npipe had gone out, and Bartle gave the climax to his speech by striking\na light furiously, after which he puffed with fierce resolution, fixing\nhis eye still on Adam, who was trying not to laugh.", "\"There's a good deal o' sense in what you say, Mr. Massey,\" Adam began,\nas soon as he felt quite serious, \"as there always is.", "But you'll give\nin that it's no business o' mine to be building on chances that may\nnever happen.", "What I've got to do is to work as well as I can with the\ntools and mater'als I've got in my hands.", "If a good chance comes to me,\nI'll think o' what you've been saying; but till then, I've got nothing\nto do but to trust to my own hands and my own head-piece.", "I'm turning\nover a little plan for Seth and me to go into the cabinet-making a bit\nby ourselves, and win a extra pound or two in that way.", "But it's getting\nlate now--it'll be pretty near eleven before I'm at home, and Mother may\nhappen to lie awake; she's more fidgety nor usual now.", "So I'll bid you\ngood-night.\"", "\"Well, well, we'll go to the gate with you--it's a fine night,\" said\nBartle, taking up his stick.", "Vixen was at once on her legs, and without\nfurther words the three walked out into the starlight, by the side of\nBartle's potato-beds, to the little gate.", "\"Come to the music o' Friday night, if you can, my boy,\" said the old\nman, as he closed the gate after Adam and leaned against it.", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Adam, striding along towards the streak of pale road.", "He was the only object moving on the wide common.", "The two grey donkeys,\njust visible in front of the gorse bushes, stood as still as limestone\nimages--as still as the grey-thatched roof of the mud cottage a little\nfarther on.", "Bartle kept his eye on the moving figure till it passed into\nthe darkness, while Vixen, in a state of divided affection, had twice\nrun back to the house to bestow a parenthetic lick on her puppies.", "\"Aye, aye,\" muttered the schoolmaster, as Adam disappeared, \"there you\ngo, stalking along--stalking along; but you wouldn't have been what you\nare if you hadn't had a bit of old lame Bartle inside you.", "The strongest\ncalf must have something to suck at.", "There's plenty of these big,\nlumbering fellows 'ud never have known their A B C if it hadn't been for\nBartle Massey.", "Well, well, Vixen, you foolish wench, what is it, what is\nit?", "I must go in, must I?", "Aye, aye, I'm never to have a will o' my own\nany more.", "And those pups--what do you think I'm to do with 'em, when\nthey're twice as big as you?", "For I'm pretty sure the father was that\nhulking bull-terrier of Will Baker's--wasn't he now, eh, you sly hussy?\"", "(Here Vixen tucked her tail between her legs and ran forward into the\nhouse.", "Subjects are sometimes broached which a well-bred female will\nignore.)", "\"But where's the use of talking to a woman with babbies?\"", "continued\nBartle.", "\"She's got no conscience--no conscience; it's all run to milk.\"", "Book Three" ]

[ "For the brickmaker had been a notorious poacher, and was\nsuspected, though there was no good evidence against him, of being the\nman who had shot a neighbouring gamekeeper in the leg.", "But the long and the\nshort of it is--I'll have nobody in my night-school that doesn't strive\nto learn what he comes to learn, as hard as if he was striving to get\nout of a dark hole into broad daylight.", "Bartel went into his little pantry, and brought out an excellent\nhome-baked loaf; for it was his one extravagance in these dear times\nto eat bread once a-day instead of oat-cake; and he justified it by\nobserving, that what a schoolmaster wanted was brains, and oat-cake ran\ntoo much to bone instead of brains.", "Vixen returned to her hamper again in humiliation, and her master\ncontinued his supper in a silence which Adam did not choose to\ninterrupt; he knew the old man would be in a better humour when he had\nhad his supper and lighted his pipe.", "Adam was used to hear him talk in\nthis way, but had never learned so much of Bartle's past life as to know\nwhether his view of married comfort was founded on experience.", "I didn't mean to be disrespectful, and I spoke as polite\nas I could; but I can give in to no man, if he wants to make it out as\nI'm trying to overreach him.", "But since then I've seen pretty\nclear as th' old squire can't abide me.\"", "Stuff and nonsense!", "If a good chance comes to me,\nI'll think o' what you've been saying; but till then, I've got nothing\nto do but to trust to my own hands and my own head-piece.", "(Here Vixen tucked her tail between her legs and ran forward into the\nhouse." ]

[ "He's a good way beyond sixty, you know; it's much if he gets\nover it.\"", "said the schoolmaster,\nmaking haste towards the chimney-corner and holding the candle over\nthe low hamper, where two extremely blind puppies lifted up their heads\ntowards the light from a nest of flannel and wool.", "A man that had\ngot his heart in learning figures would make sums for himself and work\n'em in his head.", "We'll not talk about business till\nwe've had our supper.", "Sit down, sit down.\"", "The\nletters, he complained, were so \"uncommon alike, there was no tellin'\n'em one from another,\" the sawyer's business not being concerned with\nminute differences such as exist between a letter with its tail\nturned up and a letter with its tail turned down.", "He was a dyer, who in the course of dipping\nhomespun wool and old women's petticoats had got fired with the ambition\nto learn a great deal more about the strange secrets of colour.", "For the brickmaker had been a notorious poacher, and was\nsuspected, though there was no good evidence against him, of being the\nman who had shot a neighbouring gamekeeper in the leg.", "If he's laid on the shelf, it's to be hoped\nhe'll make way for a better man, but I don't see how it's like to make\nany difference to me.\"", "But\nwhere's the use of all the time I've spent in teaching you writing and\nmapping and mensuration, if you're not to get for'ard in the world and\nshow folks there's some advantage in having a head on your shoulders,\ninstead of a turnip?" ]

[ "And as for cleanliness, my house is cleaner than any\nother house on the Common, though the half of 'em swarm with women.", "Will\nBaker's lad comes to help me in a morning, and we get as much cleaning\ndone in one hour, without any fuss, as a woman 'ud get done in three,\nand all the while be sending buckets o' water after your ankles, and let\nthe fender and the fire-irons stand in the middle o' the floor half the\nday for you to break your shins against 'em.", "Don't tell me about God\nhaving made such creatures to be companions for us!", "I don't say but\nHe might make Eve to be a companion to Adam in Paradise--there was no\ncooking to be spoilt there, and no other woman to cackle with and make\nmischief, though you see what mischief she did as soon as she'd an\nopportunity.", "But it's an impious, unscriptural opinion to say a woman's\na blessing to a man now; you might as well say adders and wasps, and\nfoxes and wild beasts are a blessing, when they're only the evils that\nbelong to this state o' probation, which it's lawful for a man to keep\nas clear of as he can in this life, hoping to get quit of 'em for ever\nin another--hoping to get quit of 'em for ever in another.\"", "Bartle had become so excited and angry in the course of his invective\nthat he had forgotten his supper, and only used the knife for the\npurpose of rapping the table with the haft.", "But towards the close, the\nraps became so sharp and frequent, and his voice so quarrelsome, that\nVixen felt it incumbent on her to jump out of the hamper and bark\nvaguely.", "\"Quiet, Vixen!\"", "snarled Bartle, turning round upon her.", "\"You're like the\nrest o' the women--always putting in your word before you know why.\"", "Vixen returned to her hamper again in humiliation, and her master\ncontinued his supper in a silence which Adam did not choose to\ninterrupt; he knew the old man would be in a better humour when he had\nhad his supper and lighted his pipe." ]

[ "\n\nBartle Massey's was one of a few scattered houses on the edge of a\ncommon, which was divided by the road to Treddleston.", "Adam reached it\nin a quarter of an hour after leaving the Hall Farm; and when he had his\nhand on the door-latch, he could see, through the curtainless window,\nthat there were eight or nine heads bending over the desks, lighted by\nthin dips.", "When he entered, a reading lesson was going forward and Bartle Massey\nmerely nodded, leaving him to take his place where he pleased.", "He had\nnot come for the sake of a lesson to-night, and his mind was too full\nof personal matters, too full of the last two hours he had passed in\nHetty's presence, for him to amuse himself with a book till school was\nover; so he sat down in a corner and looked on with an absent mind.", "It\nwas a sort of scene which Adam had beheld almost weekly for years; he\nknew by heart every arabesque flourish in the framed specimen of Bartle\nMassey's handwriting which hung over the schoolmaster's head, by way of\nkeeping a lofty ideal before the minds of his pupils; he knew the backs\nof all the books on the shelf running along the whitewashed wall above\nthe pegs for the slates; he knew exactly how many grains were gone out\nof the ear of Indian corn that hung from one of the rafters; he had long\nago exhausted the resources of his imagination in trying to think\nhow the bunch of leathery seaweed had looked and grown in its native\nelement; and from the place where he sat, he could make nothing of the\nold map of England that hung against the opposite wall, for age had\nturned it of a fine yellow brown, something like that of a well-seasoned\nmeerschaum.", "The drama that was going on was almost as familiar as the\nscene, nevertheless habit had not made him indifferent to it, and even\nin his present self-absorbed mood, Adam felt a momentary stirring of the\nold fellow-feeling, as he looked at the rough men painfully holding pen\nor pencil with their cramped hands, or humbly labouring through their\nreading lesson.", "The reading class now seated on the form in front of the schoolmaster's\ndesk consisted of the three most backward pupils.", "Adam would have known\nit only by seeing Bartle Massey's face as he looked over his spectacles,\nwhich he had shifted to the ridge of his nose, not requiring them for\npresent purposes.", "The face wore its mildest expression: the grizzled\nbushy eyebrows had taken their more acute angle of compassionate\nkindness, and the mouth, habitually compressed with a pout of the lower\nlip, was relaxed so as to be ready to speak a helpful word or syllable\nin a moment.", "This gentle expression was the more interesting because the\nschoolmaster's nose, an irregular aquiline twisted a little on one side,\nhad rather a formidable character; and his brow, moreover, had that\npeculiar tension which always impresses one as a sign of a keen\nimpatient temperament: the blue veins stood out like cords under the\ntransparent yellow skin, and this intimidating brow was softened by no\ntendency to baldness, for the grey bristly hair, cut down to about an\ninch in length, stood round it in as close ranks as ever.", "I must go in, must I?", "Aye, aye, I'm never to have a will o' my own\nany more.", "And those pups--what do you think I'm to do with 'em, when\nthey're twice as big as you?", "For I'm pretty sure the father was that\nhulking bull-terrier of Will Baker's--wasn't he now, eh, you sly hussy?\"", "(Here Vixen tucked her tail between her legs and ran forward into the\nhouse.", "Subjects are sometimes broached which a well-bred female will\nignore.)", "\"But where's the use of talking to a woman with babbies?\"", "continued\nBartle.", "\"She's got no conscience--no conscience; it's all run to milk.\"", "Book Three" ]

[ "\n\nTHE thirtieth of July was come, and it was one of those half-dozen warm\ndays which sometimes occur in the middle of a rainy English summer.", "No\nrain had fallen for the last three or four days, and the weather was\nperfect for that time of the year: there was less dust than usual on\nthe dark-green hedge-rows and on the wild camomile that starred the\nroadside, yet the grass was dry enough for the little children to roll\non it, and there was no cloud but a long dash of light, downy ripple,\nhigh, high up in the far-off blue sky.", "Perfect weather for an outdoor\nJuly merry-making, yet surely not the best time of year to be born in.", "Nature seems to make a hot pause just then: all the loveliest flowers\nare gone; the sweet time of early growth and vague hopes is past; and\nyet the time of harvest and ingathering is not come, and we tremble at\nthe possible storms that may ruin the precious fruit in the moment\nof its ripeness.", "The woods are all one dark monotonous green; the\nwaggon-loads of hay no longer creep along the lanes, scattering their\nsweet-smelling fragments on the blackberry branches; the pastures are\noften a little tanned, yet the corn has not got its last splendour\nof red and gold; the lambs and calves have lost all traces of their\ninnocent frisky prettiness, and have become stupid young sheep and cows.", "But it is a time of leisure on the farm--that pause between hay-and\ncorn-harvest, and so the farmers and labourers in Hayslope and Broxton\nthought the captain did well to come of age just then, when they could\ngive their undivided minds to the flavour of the great cask of ale which\nhad been brewed the autumn after \"the heir\" was born, and was to be\ntapped on his twenty-first birthday.", "The air had been merry with the\nringing of church-bells very early this morning, and every one had made\nhaste to get through the needful work before twelve, when it would be\ntime to think of getting ready to go to the Chase.", "The midday sun was streaming into Hetty's bedchamber, and there was no\nblind to temper the heat with which it fell on her head as she looked at\nherself in the old specked glass.", "Still, that was the only glass she had\nin which she could see her neck and arms, for the small hanging\nglass she had fetched out of the next room--the room that had been\nDinah's--would show her nothing below her little chin; and that\nbeautiful bit of neck where the roundness of her cheek melted into\nanother roundness shadowed by dark delicate curls.", "And to-day she\nthought more than usual about her neck and arms; for at the dance this\nevening she was not to wear any neckerchief, and she had been busy\nyesterday with her spotted pink-and-white frock, that she might make the\nsleeves either long or short at will.", "She was dressed now just as she\nwas to be in the evening, with a tucker made of \"real\" lace, which her\naunt had lent her for this unparalleled occasion, but with no ornaments\nbesides; she had even taken out her small round ear-rings which she wore\nevery day.", "But there was something more to be done, apparently, before\nshe put on her neckerchief and long sleeves, which she was to wear in\nthe day-time, for now she unlocked the drawer that held her private\ntreasures.", "It is more than a month since we saw her unlock that drawer\nbefore, and now it holds new treasures, so much more precious than the\nold ones that these are thrust into the corner.", "Hetty would not care to\nput the large coloured glass ear-rings into her ears now; for see!", "she\nhas got a beautiful pair of gold and pearls and garnet, lying snugly in\na pretty little box lined with white satin.", "Oh, the delight of taking\nout that little box and looking at the ear-rings!", "Do not reason about\nit, my philosphical reader, and say that Hetty, being very pretty, must\nhave known that it did not signify whether she had on any ornaments\nor not; and that, moreover, to look at ear-rings which she could not\npossibly wear out of her bedroom could hardly be a satisfaction, the\nessence of vanity being a reference to the impressions produced\non others; you will never understand women's natures if you are so\nexcessively rational.", "Try rather to divest yourself of all your rational\nprejudices, as much as if you were studying the psychology of a canary\nbird, and only watch the movements of this pretty round creature as she\nturns her head on one side with an unconscious smile at the ear-rings\nnestled in the little box.", "Ah, you think, it is for the sake of the\nperson who has given them to her, and her thoughts are gone back now to\nthe moment when they were put into her hands.", "No; else why should she\nhave cared to have ear-rings rather than anything else?", "And I know that\nshe had longed for ear-rings from among all the ornaments she could\nimagine.", "\"Little, little ears!\"", "Arthur had said, pretending to pinch them one\nevening, as Hetty sat beside him on the grass without her hat.", "\"I wish I\nhad some pretty ear-rings!\"", "she said in a moment, almost before she knew\nwhat she was saying--the wish lay so close to her lips, it WOULD flutter\npast them at the slightest breath.", "And the next day--it was only last\nweek--Arthur had ridden over to Rosseter on purpose to buy them.", "That\nlittle wish so naively uttered seemed to him the prettiest bit of\nchildishness; he had never heard anything like it before; and he had\nwrapped the box up in a great many covers, that he might see Hetty\nunwrapping it with growing curiosity, till at last her eyes flashed back\ntheir new delight into his.", "No, she was not thinking most of the giver when she smiled at the\near-rings, for now she is taking them out of the box, not to press them\nto her lips, but to fasten them in her ears--only for one moment, to\nsee how pretty they look, as she peeps at them in the glass against\nthe wall, with first one position of the head and then another, like a\nlistening bird.", "It is impossible to be wise on the subject of ear-rings\nas one looks at her; what should those delicate pearls and crystals be\nmade for, if not for such ears?", "One cannot even find fault with the\ntiny round hole which they leave when they are taken out; perhaps\nwater-nixies, and such lovely things without souls, have these little\nround holes in their ears by nature, ready to hang jewels in.", "And Hetty\nmust be one of them: it is too painful to think that she is a woman,\nwith a woman's destiny before her--a woman spinning in young ignorance a\nlight web of folly and vain hopes which may one day close round her and\npress upon her, a rancorous poisoned garment, changing all at once\nher fluttering, trivial butterfly sensations into a life of deep human\nanguish.", "But she cannot keep in the ear-rings long, else she may make her uncle\nand aunt wait.", "She puts them quickly into the box again and shuts them\nup.", "Some day she will be able to wear any ear-rings she likes,\nand already she lives in an invisible world of brilliant costumes,\nshimmering gauze, soft satin, and velvet, such as the lady's maid at the\nChase has shown her in Miss Lydia's wardrobe.", "She feels the bracelets on\nher arms, and treads on a soft carpet in front of a tall mirror.", "But\nshe has one thing in the drawer which she can venture to wear to-day,\nbecause she can hang it on the chain of dark-brown berries which she has\nbeen used to wear on grand days, with a tiny flat scent-bottle at\nthe end of it tucked inside her frock; and she must put on her brown\nberries--her neck would look so unfinished without it.", "Hetty was\nnot quite as fond of the locket as of the ear-rings, though it was\na handsome large locket, with enamelled flowers at the back and a\nbeautiful gold border round the glass, which showed a light-brown\nslightly waving lock, forming a background for two little dark rings.", "She must keep it under her clothes, and no one would see it.", "But Hetty\nhad another passion, only a little less strong than her love of finery,\nand that other passion made her like to wear the locket even hidden in\nher bosom.", "She would always have worn it, if she had dared to encounter\nher aunt's questions about a ribbon round her neck.", "So now she slipped\nit on along her chain of dark-brown berries, and snapped the chain round\nher neck.", "It was not a very long chain, only allowing the locket to hang\na little way below the edge of her frock.", "And now she had nothing to do\nbut to put on her long sleeves, her new white gauze neckerchief, and\nher straw hat trimmed with white to-day instead of the pink, which\nhad become rather faded under the July sun.", "That hat made the drop of\nbitterness in Hetty's cup to-day, for it was not quite new--everybody\nwould see that it was a little tanned against the white ribbon--and Mary\nBurge, she felt sure, would have a new hat or bonnet on.", "She looked for\nconsolation at her fine white cotton stockings: they really were very\nnice indeed, and she had given almost all her spare money for them.", "Hetty's dream of the future could not make her insensible to triumph in\nthe present.", "To be sure, Captain Donnithorne loved her so that he would\nnever care about looking at other people, but then those other people\ndidn't know how he loved her, and she was not satisfied to appear shabby\nand insignificant in their eyes even for a short space.", "The whole party was assembled in the house-place when Hetty went down,\nall of course in their Sunday clothes; and the bells had been ringing so\nthis morning in honour of the captain's twenty-first birthday, and the\nwork had all been got done so early, that Marty and Tommy were not quite\neasy in their minds until their mother had assured them that going\nto church was not part of the day's festivities.", "Mr. Poyser had once\nsuggested that the house should be shut up and left to take care\nof itself; \"for,\" said he, \"there's no danger of anybody's breaking\nin--everybody'll be at the Chase, thieves an' all.", "If we lock th' house\nup, all the men can go: it's a day they wonna see twice i' their lives.\"", "But Mrs. Poyser answered with great decision: \"I never left the house to\ntake care of itself since I was a missis, and I never will.", "There's been\nill-looking tramps enoo' about the place this last week, to carry off\nevery ham an' every spoon we'n got; and they all collogue together,\nthem tramps, as it's a mercy they hanna come and poisoned the dogs and\nmurdered us all in our beds afore we knowed, some Friday night when\nwe'n got the money in th' house to pay the men.", "And it's like enough the\ntramps know where we're going as well as we do oursens; for if Old Harry\nwants any work done, you may be sure he'll find the means.\"", "\"Nonsense about murdering us in our beds,\" said Mr. Poyser; \"I've got a\ngun i' our room, hanna I?", "and thee'st got ears as 'ud find it out if a\nmouse was gnawing the bacon.", "Howiver, if thee wouldstna be easy, Alick\ncan stay at home i' the forepart o' the day, and Tim can come back\ntow'rds five o'clock, and let Alick have his turn.", "They may let Growler\nloose if anybody offers to do mischief, and there's Alick's dog too,\nready enough to set his tooth in a tramp if Alick gives him a wink.\"", "Mrs. Poyser accepted this compromise, but thought it advisable to bar\nand bolt to the utmost; and now, at the last moment before starting,\nNancy, the dairy-maid, was closing the shutters of the house-place,\nalthough the window, lying under the immediate observation of Alick and\nthe dogs, might have been supposed the least likely to be selected for a\nburglarious attempt.", "The covered cart, without springs, was standing ready to carry the whole\nfamily except the men-servants.", "Mr. Poyser and the grandfather sat\non the seat in front, and within there was room for all the women and\nchildren; the fuller the cart the better, because then the jolting\nwould not hurt so much, and Nancy's broad person and thick arms were an\nexcellent cushion to be pitched on.", "But Mr. Poyser drove at no more\nthan a walking pace, that there might be as little risk of jolting as\npossible on this warm day, and there was time to exchange greetings and\nremarks with the foot-passengers who were going the same way, specking\nthe paths between the green meadows and the golden cornfields with bits\nof movable bright colour--a scarlet waistcoat to match the poppies that\nnodded a little too thickly among the corn, or a dark-blue neckerchief\nwith ends flaunting across a brand-new white smock-frock.", "All Broxton\nand all Hayslope were to be at the Chase, and make merry there in honour\nof \"th' heir\"; and the old men and women, who had never been so far down\nthis side of the hill for the last twenty years, were being brought from\nBroxton and Hayslope in one of the farmer's waggons, at Mr. Irwine's\nsuggestion.", "The church-bells had struck up again now--a last tune,\nbefore the ringers came down the hill to have their share in the\nfestival; and before the bells had finished, other music was heard\napproaching, so that even Old Brown, the sober horse that was drawing\nMr. Poyser's cart, began to prick up his ears.", "It was the band of the\nBenefit Club, which had mustered in all its glory--that is to say, in\nbright-blue scarfs and blue favours, and carrying its banner with\nthe motto, \"Let brotherly love continue,\" encircling a picture of a\nstone-pit.", "The carts, of course, were not to enter the Chase.", "Every one must get\ndown at the lodges, and the vehicles must be sent back.", "\"Why, the Chase is like a fair a'ready,\" said Mrs. Poyser, as she got\ndown from the cart, and saw the groups scattered under the great oaks,\nand the boys running about in the hot sunshine to survey the tall poles\nsurmounted by the fluttering garments that were to be the prize of the\nsuccessful climbers.", "\"I should ha' thought there wasna so many people\ni' the two parishes.", "Mercy on us!", "How hot it is out o' the shade!", "Come\nhere, Totty, else your little face 'ull be burnt to a scratchin'!", "They\nmight ha' cooked the dinners i' that open space an' saved the fires.", "I\nshall go to Mrs. Best's room an' sit down.\"", "\"Stop a bit, stop a bit,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"There's th' waggin coming\nwi' th' old folks in't; it'll be such a sight as wonna come o'er again,\nto see 'em get down an' walk along all together.", "You remember some on\n'em i' their prime, eh, Father?\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said old Martin, walking slowly under the shade of the lodge\nporch, from which he could see the aged party descend.", "\"I remember Jacob\nTaft walking fifty mile after the Scotch raybels, when they turned back\nfrom Stoniton.\"", "He felt himself quite a youngster, with a long life before him, as he\nsaw the Hayslope patriarch, old Feyther Taft, descend from the waggon\nand walk towards him, in his brown nightcap, and leaning on his two\nsticks.", "\"Well, Mester Taft,\" shouted old Martin, at the utmost stretch of his\nvoice--for though he knew the old man was stone deaf, he could not omit\nthe propriety of a greeting--\"you're hearty yet.", "You can enjoy yoursen\nto-day, for-all you're ninety an' better.\"", "\"Your sarvant, mesters, your sarvant,\" said Feyther Taft in a treble\ntone, perceiving that he was in company.", "The aged group, under care of sons or daughters, themselves worn and\ngrey, passed on along the least-winding carriage-road towards the house,\nwhere a special table was prepared for them; while the Poyser party\nwisely struck across the grass under the shade of the great trees,\nbut not out of view of the house-front, with its sloping lawn and\nflower-beds, or of the pretty striped marquee at the edge of the lawn,\nstanding at right angles with two larger marquees on each side of the\nopen green space where the games were to be played.", "The house would have\nbeen nothing but a plain square mansion of Queen Anne's time, but for\nthe remnant of an old abbey to which it was united at one end, in much\nthe same way as one may sometimes see a new farmhouse rising high and\nprim at the end of older and lower farm-offices.", "The fine old remnant\nstood a little backward and under the shadow of tall beeches, but the\nsun was now on the taller and more advanced front, the blinds were all\ndown, and the house seemed asleep in the hot midday.", "It made Hetty quite\nsad to look at it: Arthur must be somewhere in the back rooms, with the\ngrand company, where he could not possibly know that she was come, and\nshe should not see him for a long, long while--not till after dinner,\nwhen they said he was to come up and make a speech.", "But Hetty was wrong in part of her conjecture.", "No grand company was\ncome except the Irwines, for whom the carriage had been sent early,\nand Arthur was at that moment not in a back room, but walking with the\nrector into the broad stone cloisters of the old abbey, where the long\ntables were laid for all the cottage tenants and the farm-servants.", "A very handsome young Briton he looked to-day, in high spirits and a\nbright-blue frock-coat, the highest mode--his arm no longer in a sling.", "So open-looking and candid, too; but candid people have their secrets,\nand secrets leave no lines in young faces.", "\"Upon my word,\" he said, as they entered the cool cloisters, \"I think\nthe cottagers have the best of it: these cloisters make a delightful\ndining-room on a hot day.", "That was capital advice of yours, Irwine,\nabout the dinners--to let them be as orderly and comfortable as\npossible, and only for the tenants: especially as I had only a limited\nsum after all; for though my grandfather talked of a carte blanche, he\ncouldn't make up his mind to trust me, when it came to the point.\"", "\"Never mind, you'll give more pleasure in this quiet way,\" said Mr.\nIrwine.", "\"In this sort of thing people are constantly confounding\nliberality with riot and disorder.", "It sounds very grand to say that so\nmany sheep and oxen were roasted whole, and everybody ate who liked\nto come; but in the end it generally happens that no one has had an\nenjoyable meal.", "If the people get a good dinner and a moderate quantity\nof ale in the middle of the day, they'll be able to enjoy the games\nas the day cools.", "You can't hinder some of them from getting too much\ntowards evening, but drunkenness and darkness go better together than\ndrunkenness and daylight.\"", "\"Well, I hope there won't be much of it.", "I've kept the Treddleston\npeople away by having a feast for them in the town; and I've got Casson\nand Adam Bede and some other good fellows to look to the giving out of\nale in the booths, and to take care things don't go too far.", "Come, let\nus go up above now and see the dinner-tables for the large tenants.\"", "They went up the stone staircase leading simply to the long gallery\nabove the cloisters, a gallery where all the dusty worthless old\npictures had been banished for the last three generations--mouldy\nportraits of Queen Elizabeth and her ladies, General Monk with his eye\nknocked out, Daniel very much in the dark among the lions, and Julius\nCaesar on horseback, with a high nose and laurel crown, holding his\nCommentaries in his hand.", "\"What a capital thing it is that they saved this piece of the old\nabbey!\"", "said Arthur.", "\"If I'm ever master here, I shall do up the gallery\nin first-rate style.", "We've got no room in the house a third as large\nas this.", "That second table is for the farmers' wives and children: Mrs.\nBest said it would be more comfortable for the mothers and children\nto be by themselves.", "I was determined to have the children, and make a\nregular family thing of it.", "I shall be 'the old squire' to those little\nlads and lasses some day, and they'll tell their children what a much\nfiner young fellow I was than my own son.", "There's a table for the women\nand children below as well.", "But you will see them all--you will come up\nwith me after dinner, I hope?\"", "\"Yes, to be sure,\" said Mr. Irwine.", "\"I wouldn't miss your maiden speech\nto the tenantry.\"", "\"And there will be something else you'll like to hear,\" said Arthur.", "\"Let us go into the library and I'll tell you all about it while my\ngrandfather is in the drawing-room with the ladies.", "Something that will\nsurprise you,\" he continued, as they sat down.", "\"My grandfather has come\nround after all.\"", "\"What, about Adam?\"", "\"Yes; I should have ridden over to tell you about it, only I was so\nbusy.", "You know I told you I had quite given up arguing the matter with\nhim--I thought it was hopeless--but yesterday morning he asked me to\ncome in here to him before I went out, and astonished me by saying that\nhe had decided on all the new arrangements he should make in consequence\nof old Satchell being obliged to lay by work, and that he intended to\nemploy Adam in superintending the woods at a salary of a guinea a-week,\nand the use of a pony to be kept here.", "I believe the secret of it is,\nhe saw from the first it would be a profitable plan, but he had some\nparticular dislike of Adam to get over--and besides, the fact that I\npropose a thing is generally a reason with him for rejecting it.", "There's\nthe most curious contradiction in my grandfather: I know he means to\nleave me all the money he has saved, and he is likely enough to have cut\noff poor Aunt Lydia, who has been a slave to him all her life, with only\nfive hundred a-year, for the sake of giving me all the more; and yet I\nsometimes think he positively hates me because I'm his heir.", "I believe\nif I were to break my neck, he would feel it the greatest misfortune\nthat could befall him, and yet it seems a pleasure to him to make my\nlife a series of petty annoyances.\"", "\"Ah, my boy, it is not only woman's love that is [two greek words\nomitted] as old AEschylus calls it.", "There's plenty of 'unloving love' in\nthe world of a masculine kind.", "But tell me about Adam.", "Has he accepted\nthe post?", "I don't see that it can be much more profitable than his\npresent work, though, to be sure, it will leave him a good deal of time\non his own hands.", "\"Well, I felt some doubt about it when I spoke to him and he seemed to\nhesitate at first.", "His objection was that he thought he should not be\nable to satisfy my grandfather.", "But I begged him as a personal favour\nto me not to let any reason prevent him from accepting the place, if he\nreally liked the employment and would not be giving up anything that\nwas more profitable to him.", "And he assured me he should like it of all\nthings--it would be a great step forward for him in business, and it\nwould enable him to do what he had long wished to do, to give up working\nfor Burge.", "He says he shall have plenty of time to superintend a little\nbusiness of his own, which he and Seth will carry on, and will perhaps\nbe able to enlarge by degrees.", "So he has agreed at last, and I have\narranged that he shall dine with the large tenants to-day; and I mean to\nannounce the appointment to them, and ask them to drink Adam's health.", "It's a little drama I've got up in honour of my friend Adam.", "He's a fine\nfellow, and I like the opportunity of letting people know that I think\nso.\"", "\"A drama in which friend Arthur piques himself on having a pretty part\nto play,\" said Mr. Irwine, smiling.", "But when he saw Arthur colour, he\nwent on relentingly, \"My part, you know, is always that of the old fogy\nwho sees nothing to admire in the young folks.", "I don't like to admit\nthat I'm proud of my pupil when he does graceful things.", "But I must play\nthe amiable old gentleman for once, and second your toast in honour of\nAdam.", "Has your grandfather yielded on the other point too, and agreed to\nhave a respectable man as steward?\"", "\"Oh no,\" said Arthur, rising from his chair with an air of impatience\nand walking along the room with his hands in his pockets.", "\"He's got\nsome project or other about letting the Chase Farm and bargaining for\na supply of milk and butter for the house.", "But I ask no questions about\nit--it makes me too angry.", "I believe he means to do all the business\nhimself, and have nothing in the shape of a steward.", "It's amazing what\nenergy he has, though.\"", "\"Well, we'll go to the ladies now,\" said Mr. Irwine, rising too.", "\"I want\nto tell my mother what a splendid throne you've prepared for her under\nthe marquee.\"", "\"Yes, and we must be going to luncheon too,\" said Arthur.", "\"It must be\ntwo o'clock, for there is the gong beginning to sound for the tenants'\ndinners.\"" ]

[ "And to-day she\nthought more than usual about her neck and arms; for at the dance this\nevening she was not to wear any neckerchief, and she had been busy\nyesterday with her spotted pink-and-white frock, that she might make the\nsleeves either long or short at will.", "she\nhas got a beautiful pair of gold and pearls and garnet, lying snugly in\na pretty little box lined with white satin.", "And I know that\nshe had longed for ear-rings from among all the ornaments she could\nimagine.", "she said in a moment, almost before she knew\nwhat she was saying--the wish lay so close to her lips, it WOULD flutter\npast them at the slightest breath.", "\"Aye, aye,\" said old Martin, walking slowly under the shade of the lodge\nporch, from which he could see the aged party descend.", "It made Hetty quite\nsad to look at it: Arthur must be somewhere in the back rooms, with the\ngrand company, where he could not possibly know that she was come, and\nshe should not see him for a long, long while--not till after dinner,\nwhen they said he was to come up and make a speech.", "So open-looking and candid, too; but candid people have their secrets,\nand secrets leave no lines in young faces.", "\"Well, I hope there won't be much of it.", "\"I wouldn't miss your maiden speech\nto the tenantry.\"", "\"Yes, and we must be going to luncheon too,\" said Arthur." ]

[ "It sounds very grand to say that so\nmany sheep and oxen were roasted whole, and everybody ate who liked\nto come; but in the end it generally happens that no one has had an\nenjoyable meal.", "She would always have worn it, if she had dared to encounter\nher aunt's questions about a ribbon round her neck.", "Has your grandfather yielded on the other point too, and agreed to\nhave a respectable man as steward?\"", "\"What, about Adam?\"", "But tell me about Adam.", "Come, let\nus go up above now and see the dinner-tables for the large tenants.\"", "But Mr. Poyser drove at no more\nthan a walking pace, that there might be as little risk of jolting as\npossible on this warm day, and there was time to exchange greetings and\nremarks with the foot-passengers who were going the same way, specking\nthe paths between the green meadows and the golden cornfields with bits\nof movable bright colour--a scarlet waistcoat to match the poppies that\nnodded a little too thickly among the corn, or a dark-blue neckerchief\nwith ends flaunting across a brand-new white smock-frock.", "His objection was that he thought he should not be\nable to satisfy my grandfather.", "She feels the bracelets on\nher arms, and treads on a soft carpet in front of a tall mirror.", "The fine old remnant\nstood a little backward and under the shadow of tall beeches, but the\nsun was now on the taller and more advanced front, the blinds were all\ndown, and the house seemed asleep in the hot midday." ]

[ "How hot it is out o' the shade!", "Come\nhere, Totty, else your little face 'ull be burnt to a scratchin'!", "They\nmight ha' cooked the dinners i' that open space an' saved the fires.", "I\nshall go to Mrs. Best's room an' sit down.\"", "\"Stop a bit, stop a bit,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"There's th' waggin coming\nwi' th' old folks in't; it'll be such a sight as wonna come o'er again,\nto see 'em get down an' walk along all together.", "You remember some on\n'em i' their prime, eh, Father?\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said old Martin, walking slowly under the shade of the lodge\nporch, from which he could see the aged party descend.", "\"I remember Jacob\nTaft walking fifty mile after the Scotch raybels, when they turned back\nfrom Stoniton.\"", "He felt himself quite a youngster, with a long life before him, as he\nsaw the Hayslope patriarch, old Feyther Taft, descend from the waggon\nand walk towards him, in his brown nightcap, and leaning on his two\nsticks.", "\"Well, Mester Taft,\" shouted old Martin, at the utmost stretch of his\nvoice--for though he knew the old man was stone deaf, he could not omit\nthe propriety of a greeting--\"you're hearty yet." ]

[ "\n\nTHE thirtieth of July was come, and it was one of those half-dozen warm\ndays which sometimes occur in the middle of a rainy English summer.", "No\nrain had fallen for the last three or four days, and the weather was\nperfect for that time of the year: there was less dust than usual on\nthe dark-green hedge-rows and on the wild camomile that starred the\nroadside, yet the grass was dry enough for the little children to roll\non it, and there was no cloud but a long dash of light, downy ripple,\nhigh, high up in the far-off blue sky.", "Perfect weather for an outdoor\nJuly merry-making, yet surely not the best time of year to be born in.", "Nature seems to make a hot pause just then: all the loveliest flowers\nare gone; the sweet time of early growth and vague hopes is past; and\nyet the time of harvest and ingathering is not come, and we tremble at\nthe possible storms that may ruin the precious fruit in the moment\nof its ripeness.", "The woods are all one dark monotonous green; the\nwaggon-loads of hay no longer creep along the lanes, scattering their\nsweet-smelling fragments on the blackberry branches; the pastures are\noften a little tanned, yet the corn has not got its last splendour\nof red and gold; the lambs and calves have lost all traces of their\ninnocent frisky prettiness, and have become stupid young sheep and cows.", "But it is a time of leisure on the farm--that pause between hay-and\ncorn-harvest, and so the farmers and labourers in Hayslope and Broxton\nthought the captain did well to come of age just then, when they could\ngive their undivided minds to the flavour of the great cask of ale which\nhad been brewed the autumn after \"the heir\" was born, and was to be\ntapped on his twenty-first birthday.", "The air had been merry with the\nringing of church-bells very early this morning, and every one had made\nhaste to get through the needful work before twelve, when it would be\ntime to think of getting ready to go to the Chase.", "The midday sun was streaming into Hetty's bedchamber, and there was no\nblind to temper the heat with which it fell on her head as she looked at\nherself in the old specked glass.", "Still, that was the only glass she had\nin which she could see her neck and arms, for the small hanging\nglass she had fetched out of the next room--the room that had been\nDinah's--would show her nothing below her little chin; and that\nbeautiful bit of neck where the roundness of her cheek melted into\nanother roundness shadowed by dark delicate curls.", "And to-day she\nthought more than usual about her neck and arms; for at the dance this\nevening she was not to wear any neckerchief, and she had been busy\nyesterday with her spotted pink-and-white frock, that she might make the\nsleeves either long or short at will.", "Has your grandfather yielded on the other point too, and agreed to\nhave a respectable man as steward?\"", "\"Oh no,\" said Arthur, rising from his chair with an air of impatience\nand walking along the room with his hands in his pockets.", "\"He's got\nsome project or other about letting the Chase Farm and bargaining for\na supply of milk and butter for the house.", "But I ask no questions about\nit--it makes me too angry.", "I believe he means to do all the business\nhimself, and have nothing in the shape of a steward.", "It's amazing what\nenergy he has, though.\"", "\"Well, we'll go to the ladies now,\" said Mr. Irwine, rising too.", "\"I want\nto tell my mother what a splendid throne you've prepared for her under\nthe marquee.\"", "\"Yes, and we must be going to luncheon too,\" said Arthur.", "\"It must be\ntwo o'clock, for there is the gong beginning to sound for the tenants'\ndinners.\"" ]

[ "\nWHEN Adam heard that he was to dine upstairs with the large tenants, he\nfelt rather uncomfortable at the idea of being exalted in this way above\nhis mother and Seth, who were to dine in the cloisters below.", "But\nMr. Mills, the butler, assured him that Captain Donnithorne had given\nparticular orders about it, and would be very angry if Adam was not\nthere.", "Adam nodded and went up to Seth, who was standing a few yards off.", "\"Seth, lad,\" he said, \"the captain has sent to say I'm to dine\nupstairs--he wishes it particular, Mr. Mills says, so I suppose it 'ud\nbe behaving ill for me not to go.", "But I don't like sitting up above thee\nand mother, as if I was better than my own flesh and blood.", "Thee't not\ntake it unkind, I hope?\"", "\"Nay, nay, lad,\" said Seth, \"thy honour's our honour; and if thee get'st\nrespect, thee'st won it by thy own deserts.", "The further I see thee\nabove me, the better, so long as thee feel'st like a brother to me.", "It's because o' thy being appointed over the woods, and it's nothing but\nwhat's right.", "That's a place o' trust, and thee't above a common workman\nnow.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Adam, \"but nobody knows a word about it yet.", "I haven't given\nnotice to Mr. Burge about leaving him, and I don't like to tell anybody\nelse about it before he knows, for he'll be a good bit hurt, I doubt.", "People 'ull be wondering to see me there, and they'll like enough be\nguessing the reason and asking questions, for there's been so much talk\nup and down about my having the place, this last three weeks.\"", "\"Well, thee canst say thee wast ordered to come without being told the\nreason.", "That's the truth.", "And mother 'ull be fine and joyful about it.", "Let's go and tell her.\"", "Adam was not the only guest invited to come upstairs on other grounds\nthan the amount he contributed to the rent-roll.", "There were other people\nin the two parishes who derived dignity from their functions rather than\nfrom their pocket, and of these Bartle Massey was one.", "His lame walk was\nrather slower than usual on this warm day, so Adam lingered behind when\nthe bell rang for dinner, that he might walk up with his old friend;\nfor he was a little too shy to join the Poyser party on this public\noccasion.", "Opportunities of getting to Hetty's side would be sure to turn\nup in the course of the day, and Adam contented himself with that for\nhe disliked any risk of being \"joked\" about Hetty--the big, outspoken,\nfearless man was very shy and diffident as to his love-making.", "\"Well, Mester Massey,\" said Adam, as Bartle came up \"I'm going to dine\nupstairs with you to-day: the captain's sent me orders.\"", "\"Ah!\"", "said Bartle, pausing, with one hand on his back.", "\"Then there's\nsomething in the wind--there's something in the wind.", "Have you heard\nanything about what the old squire means to do?\"", "\"Why, yes,\" said Adam; \"I'll tell you what I know, because I believe you\ncan keep a still tongue in your head if you like, and I hope you'll\nnot let drop a word till it's common talk, for I've particular reasons\nagainst its being known.\"", "\"Trust to me, my boy, trust to me.", "I've got no wife to worm it out of\nme and then run out and cackle it in everybody's hearing.", "If you trust a\nman, let him be a bachelor--let him be a bachelor.\"", "\"Well, then, it was so far settled yesterday that I'm to take the\nmanagement o' the woods.", "The captain sent for me t' offer it me, when\nI was seeing to the poles and things here and I've agreed to't.", "But if\nanybody asks any questions upstairs, just you take no notice, and turn\nthe talk to something else, and I'll be obliged to you.", "Now, let us go\non, for we're pretty nigh the last, I think.\"", "\"I know what to do, never fear,\" said Bartle, moving on.", "\"The news will\nbe good sauce to my dinner.", "Aye, aye, my boy, you'll get on.", "I'll back\nyou for an eye at measuring and a head-piece for figures, against\nany man in this county and you've had good teaching--you've had good\nteaching.\"", "When they got upstairs, the question which Arthur had left unsettled, as\nto who was to be president, and who vice, was still under discussion, so\nthat Adam's entrance passed without remark.", "\"It stands to sense,\" Mr. Casson was saying, \"as old Mr. Poyser, as is\nth' oldest man i' the room, should sit at top o' the table.", "I wasn't\nbutler fifteen year without learning the rights and the wrongs about\ndinner.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said old Martin, \"I'n gi'en up to my son; I'm no tenant now:\nlet my son take my place.", "Th' ould foulks ha' had their turn: they mun\nmake way for the young uns.\"", "\"I should ha' thought the biggest tenant had the best right, more nor\nth' oldest,\" said Luke Britton, who was not fond of the critical Mr.\nPoyser; \"there's Mester Holdsworth has more land nor anybody else on th'\nestate.\"", "\"Well,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"suppose we say the man wi' the foulest land\nshall sit at top; then whoever gets th' honour, there'll be no envying\non him.\"", "\"Eh, here's Mester Massey,\" said Mr. Craig, who, being a neutral in the\ndispute, had no interest but in conciliation; \"the schoolmaster ought to\nbe able to tell you what's right.", "Who's to sit at top o' the table, Mr.", "Massey?\"", "\"Why, the broadest man,\" said Bartle; \"and then he won't take up other\nfolks' room; and the next broadest must sit at bottom.\"", "This happy mode of settling the dispute produced much laughter--a\nsmaller joke would have sufficed for that Mr. Casson, however, did not\nfeel it compatible with his dignity and superior knowledge to join\nin the laugh, until it turned out that he was fixed on as the second\nbroadest man.", "Martin Poyser the younger, as the broadest, was to be\npresident, and Mr. Casson, as next broadest, was to be vice.", "Owing to this arrangement, Adam, being, of course, at the bottom of the\ntable, fell under the immediate observation of Mr. Casson, who, too much\noccupied with the question of precedence, had not hitherto noticed his\nentrance.", "Mr. Casson, we have seen, considered Adam \"rather lifted up\nand peppery-like\": he thought the gentry made more fuss about this\nyoung carpenter than was necessary; they made no fuss about Mr. Casson,\nalthough he had been an excellent butler for fifteen years.", "\"Well, Mr. Bede, you're one o' them as mounts hup'ards apace,\" he said,\nwhen Adam sat down.", "\"You've niver dined here before, as I remember.\"", "\"No, Mr. Casson,\" said Adam, in his strong voice, that could be heard\nalong the table; \"I've never dined here before, but I come by Captain\nDonnithorne's wish, and I hope it's not disagreeable to anybody here.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said several voices at once, \"we're glad ye're come.", "Who's\ngot anything to say again' it?\"", "\"And ye'll sing us 'Over the hills and far away,' after dinner, wonna\nye?\"", "said Mr. Chowne.", "\"That's a song I'm uncommon fond on.\"", "\"Peeh!\"", "said Mr. Craig; \"it's not to be named by side o' the Scotch\ntunes.", "I've never cared about singing myself; I've had something better\nto do.", "A man that's got the names and the natur o' plants in's head isna\nlikely to keep a hollow place t' hold tunes in.", "But a second cousin o'\nmine, a drovier, was a rare hand at remembering the Scotch tunes.", "He'd\ngot nothing else to think on.\"", "\"The Scotch tunes!\"", "said Bartle Massey, contemptuously; \"I've heard\nenough o' the Scotch tunes to last me while I live.", "They're fit for\nnothing but to frighten the birds with--that's to say, the English\nbirds, for the Scotch birds may sing Scotch for what I know.", "Give the\nlads a bagpipe instead of a rattle, and I'll answer for it the corn 'll\nbe safe.\"", "\"Yes, there's folks as find a pleasure in undervallying what they know\nbut little about,\" said Mr. Craig.", "\"Why, the Scotch tunes are just like a scolding, nagging woman,\" Bartle\nwent on, without deigning to notice Mr. Craig's remark.", "\"They go on with\nthe same thing over and over again, and never come to a reasonable end.", "Anybody 'ud think the Scotch tunes had always been asking a question of\nsomebody as deaf as old Taft, and had never got an answer yet.\"", "Adam minded the less about sitting by Mr. Casson, because this position\nenabled him to see Hetty, who was not far off him at the next table.", "Hetty, however, had not even noticed his presence yet, for she was\ngiving angry attention to Totty, who insisted on drawing up her feet on\nto the bench in antique fashion, and thereby threatened to make dusty\nmarks on Hetty's pink-and-white frock.", "No sooner were the little fat\nlegs pushed down than up they came again, for Totty's eyes were too busy\nin staring at the large dishes to see where the plum pudding was for\nher to retain any consciousness of her legs.", "Hetty got quite out of\npatience, and at last, with a frown and pout, and gathering tears, she\nsaid, \"Oh dear, Aunt, I wish you'd speak to Totty; she keeps putting her\nlegs up so, and messing my frock.\"", "\"What's the matter wi' the child?", "She can niver please you,\" said the\nmother.", "\"Let her come by the side o' me, then.", "I can put up wi' her.\"", "Adam was looking at Hetty, and saw the frown, and pout, and the dark\neyes seeming to grow larger with pettish half-gathered tears.", "Quiet Mary\nBurge, who sat near enough to see that Hetty was cross and that Adam's\neyes were fixed on her, thought that so sensible a man as Adam must be\nreflecting on the small value of beauty in a woman whose temper was bad.", "Mary was a good girl, not given to indulge in evil feelings, but she\nsaid to herself, that, since Hetty had a bad temper, it was better Adam\nshould know it.", "And it was quite true that if Hetty had been plain, she\nwould have looked very ugly and unamiable at that moment, and no one's\nmoral judgment upon her would have been in the least beguiled.", "But\nreally there was something quite charming in her pettishness: it looked\nso much more like innocent distress than ill humour; and the severe Adam\nfelt no movement of disapprobation; he only felt a sort of amused pity,\nas if he had seen a kitten setting up its back, or a little bird with\nits feathers ruffled.", "He could not gather what was vexing her, but it\nwas impossible to him to feel otherwise than that she was the prettiest\nthing in the world, and that if he could have his way, nothing should\never vex her any more.", "And presently, when Totty was gone, she caught\nhis eye, and her face broke into one of its brightest smiles, as she\nnodded to him.", "It was a bit of flirtation--she knew Mary Burge was\nlooking at them.", "But the smile was like wine to Adam." ]

[ "But\nMr. Mills, the butler, assured him that Captain Donnithorne had given\nparticular orders about it, and would be very angry if Adam was not\nthere.", "\"Nay, nay, lad,\" said Seth, \"thy honour's our honour; and if thee get'st\nrespect, thee'st won it by thy own deserts.", "And mother 'ull be fine and joyful about it.", "If you trust a\nman, let him be a bachelor--let him be a bachelor.\"", "\"Why, the broadest man,\" said Bartle; \"and then he won't take up other\nfolks' room; and the next broadest must sit at bottom.\"", "\"Well, Mr. Bede, you're one o' them as mounts hup'ards apace,\" he said,\nwhen Adam sat down.", "No sooner were the little fat\nlegs pushed down than up they came again, for Totty's eyes were too busy\nin staring at the large dishes to see where the plum pudding was for\nher to retain any consciousness of her legs.", "She can niver please you,\" said the\nmother.", "\"Let her come by the side o' me, then.", "Adam was looking at Hetty, and saw the frown, and pout, and the dark\neyes seeming to grow larger with pettish half-gathered tears." ]

[ "Have you heard\nanything about what the old squire means to do?\"", "But I don't like sitting up above thee\nand mother, as if I was better than my own flesh and blood.", "\"That's a song I'm uncommon fond on.\"", "said Mr. Chowne.", "But\nreally there was something quite charming in her pettishness: it looked\nso much more like innocent distress than ill humour; and the severe Adam\nfelt no movement of disapprobation; he only felt a sort of amused pity,\nas if he had seen a kitten setting up its back, or a little bird with\nits feathers ruffled.", "It was a bit of flirtation--she knew Mary Burge was\nlooking at them.", "\"You've niver dined here before, as I remember.\"", "\nWHEN Adam heard that he was to dine upstairs with the large tenants, he\nfelt rather uncomfortable at the idea of being exalted in this way above\nhis mother and Seth, who were to dine in the cloisters below.", "People 'ull be wondering to see me there, and they'll like enough be\nguessing the reason and asking questions, for there's been so much talk\nup and down about my having the place, this last three weeks.\"", "If you trust a\nman, let him be a bachelor--let him be a bachelor.\"" ]

[ "\"Nay, nay,\" said old Martin, \"I'n gi'en up to my son; I'm no tenant now:\nlet my son take my place.", "Th' ould foulks ha' had their turn: they mun\nmake way for the young uns.\"", "\"I should ha' thought the biggest tenant had the best right, more nor\nth' oldest,\" said Luke Britton, who was not fond of the critical Mr.\nPoyser; \"there's Mester Holdsworth has more land nor anybody else on th'\nestate.\"", "\"Well,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"suppose we say the man wi' the foulest land\nshall sit at top; then whoever gets th' honour, there'll be no envying\non him.\"", "\"Eh, here's Mester Massey,\" said Mr. Craig, who, being a neutral in the\ndispute, had no interest but in conciliation; \"the schoolmaster ought to\nbe able to tell you what's right.", "Who's to sit at top o' the table, Mr.", "Massey?\"", "\"Why, the broadest man,\" said Bartle; \"and then he won't take up other\nfolks' room; and the next broadest must sit at bottom.\"", "This happy mode of settling the dispute produced much laughter--a\nsmaller joke would have sufficed for that Mr. Casson, however, did not\nfeel it compatible with his dignity and superior knowledge to join\nin the laugh, until it turned out that he was fixed on as the second\nbroadest man.", "Martin Poyser the younger, as the broadest, was to be\npresident, and Mr. Casson, as next broadest, was to be vice.", "Owing to this arrangement, Adam, being, of course, at the bottom of the\ntable, fell under the immediate observation of Mr. Casson, who, too much\noccupied with the question of precedence, had not hitherto noticed his\nentrance." ]

[ "\nWHEN Adam heard that he was to dine upstairs with the large tenants, he\nfelt rather uncomfortable at the idea of being exalted in this way above\nhis mother and Seth, who were to dine in the cloisters below.", "But\nMr. Mills, the butler, assured him that Captain Donnithorne had given\nparticular orders about it, and would be very angry if Adam was not\nthere.", "Adam nodded and went up to Seth, who was standing a few yards off.", "\"Seth, lad,\" he said, \"the captain has sent to say I'm to dine\nupstairs--he wishes it particular, Mr. Mills says, so I suppose it 'ud\nbe behaving ill for me not to go.", "But I don't like sitting up above thee\nand mother, as if I was better than my own flesh and blood.", "Thee't not\ntake it unkind, I hope?\"", "\"Nay, nay, lad,\" said Seth, \"thy honour's our honour; and if thee get'st\nrespect, thee'st won it by thy own deserts.", "The further I see thee\nabove me, the better, so long as thee feel'st like a brother to me.", "It's because o' thy being appointed over the woods, and it's nothing but\nwhat's right.", "That's a place o' trust, and thee't above a common workman\nnow.\"", "I can put up wi' her.\"", "Adam was looking at Hetty, and saw the frown, and pout, and the dark\neyes seeming to grow larger with pettish half-gathered tears.", "Quiet Mary\nBurge, who sat near enough to see that Hetty was cross and that Adam's\neyes were fixed on her, thought that so sensible a man as Adam must be\nreflecting on the small value of beauty in a woman whose temper was bad.", "Mary was a good girl, not given to indulge in evil feelings, but she\nsaid to herself, that, since Hetty had a bad temper, it was better Adam\nshould know it.", "And it was quite true that if Hetty had been plain, she\nwould have looked very ugly and unamiable at that moment, and no one's\nmoral judgment upon her would have been in the least beguiled.", "But\nreally there was something quite charming in her pettishness: it looked\nso much more like innocent distress than ill humour; and the severe Adam\nfelt no movement of disapprobation; he only felt a sort of amused pity,\nas if he had seen a kitten setting up its back, or a little bird with\nits feathers ruffled.", "He could not gather what was vexing her, but it\nwas impossible to him to feel otherwise than that she was the prettiest\nthing in the world, and that if he could have his way, nothing should\never vex her any more.", "And presently, when Totty was gone, she caught\nhis eye, and her face broke into one of its brightest smiles, as she\nnodded to him.", "It was a bit of flirtation--she knew Mary Burge was\nlooking at them.", "But the smile was like wine to Adam." ]

[ "\n\nWHEN the dinner was over, and the first draughts from the great cask of\nbirthday ale were brought up, room was made for the broad Mr. Poyser at\nthe side of the table, and two chairs were placed at the head.", "It had\nbeen settled very definitely what Mr. Poyser was to do when the young\nsquire should appear, and for the last five minutes he had been in a\nstate of abstraction, with his eyes fixed on the dark picture opposite,\nand his hands busy with the loose cash and other articles in his\nbreeches pockets.", "When the young squire entered, with Mr. Irwine by his side, every one\nstood up, and this moment of homage was very agreeable to Arthur.", "He\nliked to feel his own importance, and besides that, he cared a great\ndeal for the good-will of these people: he was fond of thinking that\nthey had a hearty, special regard for him.", "The pleasure he felt was in\nhis face as he said, \"My grandfather and I hope all our friends here\nhave enjoyed their dinner, and find my birthday ale good.", "Mr. Irwine\nand I are come to taste it with you, and I am sure we shall all like\nanything the better that the rector shares with us.\"", "All eyes were now turned on Mr. Poyser, who, with his hands still busy\nin his pockets, began with the deliberateness of a slow-striking clock.", "\"Captain, my neighbours have put it upo' me to speak for 'em to-day, for\nwhere folks think pretty much alike, one spokesman's as good as a score.", "And though we've mayhappen got contrairy ways o' thinking about a many\nthings--one man lays down his land one way an' another another--an' I'll\nnot take it upon me to speak to no man's farming, but my own--this I'll\nsay, as we're all o' one mind about our young squire.", "We've pretty nigh\nall on us known you when you war a little un, an' we've niver known\nanything on you but what was good an' honorable.", "You speak fair an'\ny' act fair, an' we're joyful when we look forrard to your being our\nlandlord, for we b'lieve you mean to do right by everybody, an' 'ull\nmake no man's bread bitter to him if you can help it.", "That's what I\nmean, an' that's what we all mean; and when a man's said what he means,\nhe'd better stop, for th' ale 'ull be none the better for stannin'.", "An'\nI'll not say how we like th' ale yet, for we couldna well taste it till\nwe'd drunk your health in it; but the dinner was good, an' if there's\nanybody hasna enjoyed it, it must be the fault of his own inside.", "An' as\nfor the rector's company, it's well known as that's welcome t' all the\nparish wherever he may be; an' I hope, an' we all hope, as he'll live\nto see us old folks, an' our children grown to men an' women an' Your\nHonour a family man.", "I've no more to say as concerns the present time,\nan' so we'll drink our young squire's health--three times three.\"", "Hereupon a glorious shouting, a rapping, a jingling, a clattering, and a\nshouting, with plentiful da capo, pleasanter than a strain of sublimest\nmusic in the ears that receive such a tribute for the first time.", "Arthur\nhad felt a twinge of conscience during Mr. Poyser's speech, but it was\ntoo feeble to nullify the pleasure he felt in being praised.", "Did he not\ndeserve what was said of him on the whole?", "If there was something in\nhis conduct that Poyser wouldn't have liked if he had known it, why,\nno man's conduct will bear too close an inspection; and Poyser was not\nlikely to know it; and, after all, what had he done?", "Gone a little too\nfar, perhaps, in flirtation, but another man in his place would have\nacted much worse; and no harm would come--no harm should come, for the\nnext time he was alone with Hetty, he would explain to her that she must\nnot think seriously of him or of what had passed.", "It was necessary\nto Arthur, you perceive, to be satisfied with himself.", "Uncomfortable\nthoughts must be got rid of by good intentions for the future, which can\nbe formed so rapidly that he had time to be uncomfortable and to become\neasy again before Mr. Poyser's slow speech was finished, and when it was\ntime for him to speak he was quite light-hearted.", "\"I thank you all, my good friends and neighbours,\" Arthur said, \"for the\ngood opinion of me, and the kind feelings towards me which Mr. Poyser\nhas been expressing on your behalf and on his own, and it will always be\nmy heartiest wish to deserve them.", "In the course of things we may expect\nthat, if I live, I shall one day or other be your landlord; indeed, it\nis on the ground of that expectation that my grandfather has wished me\nto celebrate this day and to come among you now; and I look forward to\nthis position, not merely as one of power and pleasure for myself, but\nas a means of benefiting my neighbours.", "It hardly becomes so young a man\nas I am to talk much about farming to you, who are most of you so much\nolder, and are men of experience; still, I have interested myself a good\ndeal in such matters, and learned as much about them as my opportunities\nhave allowed; and when the course of events shall place the estate in\nmy hands, it will be my first desire to afford my tenants all the\nencouragement a landlord can give them, in improving their land and\ntrying to bring about a better practice of husbandry.", "It will be my wish\nto be looked on by all my deserving tenants as their best friend, and\nnothing would make me so happy as to be able to respect every man on\nthe estate, and to be respected by him in return.", "It is not my place\nat present to enter into particulars; I only meet your good hopes\nconcerning me by telling you that my own hopes correspond to them--that\nwhat you expect from me I desire to fulfil; and I am quite of Mr.\nPoyser's opinion, that when a man has said what he means, he had better\nstop.", "But the pleasure I feel in having my own health drunk by you would\nnot be perfect if we did not drink the health of my grandfather, who has\nfilled the place of both parents to me.", "I will say no more, until you\nhave joined me in drinking his health on a day when he has wished me to\nappear among you as the future representative of his name and family.\"", "Perhaps there was no one present except Mr. Irwine who thoroughly\nunderstood and approved Arthur's graceful mode of proposing his\ngrandfather's health.", "The farmers thought the young squire knew well\nenough that they hated the old squire, and Mrs. Poyser said, \"he'd\nbetter not ha' stirred a kettle o' sour broth.\"", "The bucolic mind does\nnot readily apprehend the refinements of good taste.", "But the toast could\nnot be rejected and when it had been drunk, Arthur said, \"I thank you,\nboth for my grandfather and myself; and now there is one more thing I\nwish to tell you, that you may share my pleasure about it, as I hope\nand believe you will.", "I think there can be no man here who has not a\nrespect, and some of you, I am sure, have a very high regard, for my\nfriend Adam Bede.", "It is well known to every one in this neighbourhood\nthat there is no man whose word can be more depended on than his; that\nwhatever he undertakes to do, he does well, and is as careful for the\ninterests of those who employ him as for his own.", "I'm proud to say that\nI was very fond of Adam when I was a little boy, and I have never lost\nmy old feeling for him--I think that shows that I know a good fellow\nwhen I find him.", "It has long been my wish that he should have the\nmanagement of the woods on the estate, which happen to be very valuable,\nnot only because I think so highly of his character, but because he has\nthe knowledge and the skill which fit him for the place.", "And I am happy\nto tell you that it is my grandfather's wish too, and it is now settled\nthat Adam shall manage the woods--a change which I am sure will be very\nmuch for the advantage of the estate; and I hope you will by and by join\nme in drinking his health, and in wishing him all the prosperity in life\nthat he deserves.", "But there is a still older friend of mine than Adam\nBede present, and I need not tell you that it is Mr. Irwine.", "I'm sure\nyou will agree with me that we must drink no other person's health until\nwe have drunk his.", "I know you have all reason to love him, but no one of\nhis parishioners has so much reason as I.", "Come, charge your glasses, and\nlet us drink to our excellent rector--three times three!\"", "This toast was drunk with all the enthusiasm that was wanting to the\nlast, and it certainly was the most picturesque moment in the scene when\nMr. Irwine got up to speak, and all the faces in the room were turned\ntowards him.", "The superior refinement of his face was much more striking\nthan that of Arthur's when seen in comparison with the people round\nthem.", "Arthur's was a much commoner British face, and the splendour of\nhis new-fashioned clothes was more akin to the young farmer's taste\nin costume than Mr. Irwine's powder and the well-brushed but well-worn\nblack, which seemed to be his chosen suit for great occasions; for he\nhad the mysterious secret of never wearing a new-looking coat.", "\"This is not the first time, by a great many,\" he said, \"that I have\nhad to thank my parishioners for giving me tokens of their goodwill, but\nneighbourly kindness is among those things that are the more precious\nthe older they get.", "Indeed, our pleasant meeting to-day is a proof that\nwhen what is good comes of age and is likely to live, there is reason\nfor rejoicing, and the relation between us as clergyman and parishioners\ncame of age two years ago, for it is three-and-twenty years since I\nfirst came among you, and I see some tall fine-looking young men here,\nas well as some blooming young women, that were far from looking as\npleasantly at me when I christened them as I am happy to see them\nlooking now.", "But I'm sure you will not wonder when I say that among all\nthose young men, the one in whom I have the strongest interest is my\nfriend Mr. Arthur Donnithorne, for whom you have just expressed your\nregard.", "I had the pleasure of being his tutor for several years, and\nhave naturally had opportunities of knowing him intimately which cannot\nhave occurred to any one else who is present; and I have some pride as\nwell as pleasure in assuring you that I share your high hopes concerning\nhim, and your confidence in his possession of those qualities which will\nmake him an excellent landlord when the time shall come for him to take\nthat important position among you.", "We feel alike on most matters on\nwhich a man who is getting towards fifty can feel in common with a young\nman of one-and-twenty, and he has just been expressing a feeling which\nI share very heartily, and I would not willingly omit the opportunity of\nsaying so.", "That feeling is his value and respect for Adam Bede.", "People\nin a high station are of course more thought of and talked about and\nhave their virtues more praised, than those whose lives are passed in\nhumble everyday work; but every sensible man knows how necessary that\nhumble everyday work is, and how important it is to us that it should be\ndone well.", "And I agree with my friend Mr. Arthur Donnithorne in feeling\nthat when a man whose duty lies in that sort of work shows a character\nwhich would make him an example in any station, his merit should be\nacknowledged.", "He is one of those to whom honour is due, and his friends\nshould delight to honour him.", "I know Adam Bede well--I know what he is\nas a workman, and what he has been as a son and brother--and I am saying\nthe simplest truth when I say that I respect him as much as I respect\nany man living.", "But I am not speaking to you about a stranger; some of\nyou are his intimate friends, and I believe there is not one here who\ndoes not know enough of him to join heartily in drinking his health.\"", "As Mr. Irwine paused, Arthur jumped up and, filling his glass, said, \"A\nbumper to Adam Bede, and may he live to have sons as faithful and clever\nas himself!\"", "No hearer, not even Bartle Massey, was so delighted with this toast as\nMr. Poyser.", "\"Tough work\" as his first speech had been, he would have\nstarted up to make another if he had not known the extreme irregularity\nof such a course.", "As it was, he found an outlet for his feeling in\ndrinking his ale unusually fast, and setting down his glass with a swing\nof his arm and a determined rap.", "If Jonathan Burge and a few others\nfelt less comfortable on the occasion, they tried their best to look\ncontented, and so the toast was drunk with a goodwill apparently\nunanimous.", "Adam was rather paler than usual when he got up to thank his friends.", "He\nwas a good deal moved by this public tribute--very naturally, for he was\nin the presence of all his little world, and it was uniting to do him\nhonour.", "But he felt no shyness about speaking, not being troubled\nwith small vanity or lack of words; he looked neither awkward nor\nembarrassed, but stood in his usual firm upright attitude, with his head\nthrown a little backward and his hands perfectly still, in that rough\ndignity which is peculiar to intelligent, honest, well-built workmen,\nwho are never wondering what is their business in the world.", "\"I'm quite taken by surprise,\" he said.", "\"I didn't expect anything o'\nthis sort, for it's a good deal more than my wages.", "But I've the more\nreason to be grateful to you, Captain, and to you, Mr. Irwine, and to\nall my friends here, who've drunk my health and wished me well.", "It 'ud\nbe nonsense for me to be saying, I don't at all deserve th' opinion you\nhave of me; that 'ud be poor thanks to you, to say that you've known me\nall these years and yet haven't sense enough to find out a great deal o'\nthe truth about me.", "You think, if I undertake to do a bit o' work, I'll\ndo it well, be my pay big or little--and that's true.", "I'd be ashamed\nto stand before you here if it wasna true.", "But it seems to me that's\na man's plain duty, and nothing to be conceited about, and it's pretty\nclear to me as I've never done more than my duty; for let us do what we\nwill, it's only making use o' the sperrit and the powers that ha' been\ngiven to us.", "And so this kindness o' yours, I'm sure, is no debt you owe\nme, but a free gift, and as such I accept it and am thankful.", "And as to\nthis new employment I've taken in hand, I'll only say that I took it\nat Captain Donnithorne's desire, and that I'll try to fulfil his\nexpectations.", "I'd wish for no better lot than to work under him, and\nto know that while I was getting my own bread I was taking care of his\nint'rests.", "For I believe he's one o those gentlemen as wishes to do the\nright thing, and to leave the world a bit better than he found it, which\nit's my belief every man may do, whether he's gentle or simple, whether\nhe sets a good bit o' work going and finds the money, or whether he does\nthe work with his own hands.", "There's no occasion for me to say any more\nabout what I feel towards him: I hope to show it through the rest o' my\nlife in my actions.\"", "There were various opinions about Adam's speech: some of the women\nwhispered that he didn't show himself thankful enough, and seemed to\nspeak as proud as could be; but most of the men were of opinion that\nnobody could speak more straightfor'ard, and that Adam was as fine a\nchap as need to be.", "While such observations were being buzzed about,\nmingled with wonderings as to what the old squire meant to do for a\nbailiff, and whether he was going to have a steward, the two gentlemen\nhad risen, and were walking round to the table where the wives and\nchildren sat.", "There was none of the strong ale here, of course, but\nwine and dessert--sparkling gooseberry for the young ones, and some good\nsherry for the mothers.", "Mrs. Poyser was at the head of this table, and\nTotty was now seated in her lap, bending her small nose deep down into a\nwine-glass in search of the nuts floating there.", "\"How do you do, Mrs.", "Poyser?\"", "said Arthur.", "\"Weren't you pleased to hear\nyour husband make such a good speech to-day?\"", "\"Oh, sir, the men are mostly so tongue-tied--you're forced partly to\nguess what they mean, as you do wi' the dumb creaturs.\"", "\"What!", "you think you could have made it better for him?\"", "said Mr.\nIrwine, laughing.", "\"Well, sir, when I want to say anything, I can mostly find words to say\nit in, thank God.", "Not as I'm a-finding faut wi' my husband, for if he's\na man o' few words, what he says he'll stand to.\"", "\"I'm sure I never saw a prettier party than this,\" Arthur said, looking\nround at the apple-cheeked children.", "\"My aunt and the Miss Irwines will\ncome up and see you presently.", "They were afraid of the noise of the\ntoasts, but it would be a shame for them not to see you at table.\"", "He walked on, speaking to the mothers and patting the children, while\nMr. Irwine satisfied himself with standing still and nodding at a\ndistance, that no one's attention might be disturbed from the young\nsquire, the hero of the day.", "Arthur did not venture to stop near Hetty,\nbut merely bowed to her as he passed along the opposite side.", "The\nfoolish child felt her heart swelling with discontent; for what woman\nwas ever satisfied with apparent neglect, even when she knows it to be\nthe mask of love?", "Hetty thought this was going to be the most miserable\nday she had had for a long while, a moment of chill daylight and reality\ncame across her dream: Arthur, who had seemed so near to her only a few\nhours before, was separated from her, as the hero of a great procession\nis separated from a small outsider in the crowd." ]

[ "Mr. Irwine\nand I are come to taste it with you, and I am sure we shall all like\nanything the better that the rector shares with us.\"", "Gone a little too\nfar, perhaps, in flirtation, but another man in his place would have\nacted much worse; and no harm would come--no harm should come, for the\nnext time he was alone with Hetty, he would explain to her that she must\nnot think seriously of him or of what had passed.", "I'm sure\nyou will agree with me that we must drink no other person's health until\nwe have drunk his.", "I know you have all reason to love him, but no one of\nhis parishioners has so much reason as I.", "Come, charge your glasses, and\nlet us drink to our excellent rector--three times three!\"", "\"I'm quite taken by surprise,\" he said.", "It 'ud\nbe nonsense for me to be saying, I don't at all deserve th' opinion you\nhave of me; that 'ud be poor thanks to you, to say that you've known me\nall these years and yet haven't sense enough to find out a great deal o'\nthe truth about me.", "I'd be ashamed\nto stand before you here if it wasna true.", "And as to\nthis new employment I've taken in hand, I'll only say that I took it\nat Captain Donnithorne's desire, and that I'll try to fulfil his\nexpectations.", "Not as I'm a-finding faut wi' my husband, for if he's\na man o' few words, what he says he'll stand to.\"" ]

[ "Uncomfortable\nthoughts must be got rid of by good intentions for the future, which can\nbe formed so rapidly that he had time to be uncomfortable and to become\neasy again before Mr. Poyser's slow speech was finished, and when it was\ntime for him to speak he was quite light-hearted.", "He is one of those to whom honour is due, and his friends\nshould delight to honour him.", "They were afraid of the noise of the\ntoasts, but it would be a shame for them not to see you at table.\"", "You think, if I undertake to do a bit o' work, I'll\ndo it well, be my pay big or little--and that's true.", "It is well known to every one in this neighbourhood\nthat there is no man whose word can be more depended on than his; that\nwhatever he undertakes to do, he does well, and is as careful for the\ninterests of those who employ him as for his own.", "Perhaps there was no one present except Mr. Irwine who thoroughly\nunderstood and approved Arthur's graceful mode of proposing his\ngrandfather's health.", "An' as\nfor the rector's company, it's well known as that's welcome t' all the\nparish wherever he may be; an' I hope, an' we all hope, as he'll live\nto see us old folks, an' our children grown to men an' women an' Your\nHonour a family man.", "You speak fair an'\ny' act fair, an' we're joyful when we look forrard to your being our\nlandlord, for we b'lieve you mean to do right by everybody, an' 'ull\nmake no man's bread bitter to him if you can help it.", "\"How do you do, Mrs.", "I'm proud to say that\nI was very fond of Adam when I was a little boy, and I have never lost\nmy old feeling for him--I think that shows that I know a good fellow\nwhen I find him." ]

[ "The superior refinement of his face was much more striking\nthan that of Arthur's when seen in comparison with the people round\nthem.", "Arthur's was a much commoner British face, and the splendour of\nhis new-fashioned clothes was more akin to the young farmer's taste\nin costume than Mr. Irwine's powder and the well-brushed but well-worn\nblack, which seemed to be his chosen suit for great occasions; for he\nhad the mysterious secret of never wearing a new-looking coat.", "\"This is not the first time, by a great many,\" he said, \"that I have\nhad to thank my parishioners for giving me tokens of their goodwill, but\nneighbourly kindness is among those things that are the more precious\nthe older they get.", "Indeed, our pleasant meeting to-day is a proof that\nwhen what is good comes of age and is likely to live, there is reason\nfor rejoicing, and the relation between us as clergyman and parishioners\ncame of age two years ago, for it is three-and-twenty years since I\nfirst came among you, and I see some tall fine-looking young men here,\nas well as some blooming young women, that were far from looking as\npleasantly at me when I christened them as I am happy to see them\nlooking now.", "But I'm sure you will not wonder when I say that among all\nthose young men, the one in whom I have the strongest interest is my\nfriend Mr. Arthur Donnithorne, for whom you have just expressed your\nregard.", "I had the pleasure of being his tutor for several years, and\nhave naturally had opportunities of knowing him intimately which cannot\nhave occurred to any one else who is present; and I have some pride as\nwell as pleasure in assuring you that I share your high hopes concerning\nhim, and your confidence in his possession of those qualities which will\nmake him an excellent landlord when the time shall come for him to take\nthat important position among you.", "We feel alike on most matters on\nwhich a man who is getting towards fifty can feel in common with a young\nman of one-and-twenty, and he has just been expressing a feeling which\nI share very heartily, and I would not willingly omit the opportunity of\nsaying so.", "That feeling is his value and respect for Adam Bede.", "People\nin a high station are of course more thought of and talked about and\nhave their virtues more praised, than those whose lives are passed in\nhumble everyday work; but every sensible man knows how necessary that\nhumble everyday work is, and how important it is to us that it should be\ndone well.", "And I agree with my friend Mr. Arthur Donnithorne in feeling\nthat when a man whose duty lies in that sort of work shows a character\nwhich would make him an example in any station, his merit should be\nacknowledged.", "He is one of those to whom honour is due, and his friends\nshould delight to honour him." ]

[ "\n\nWHEN the dinner was over, and the first draughts from the great cask of\nbirthday ale were brought up, room was made for the broad Mr. Poyser at\nthe side of the table, and two chairs were placed at the head.", "It had\nbeen settled very definitely what Mr. Poyser was to do when the young\nsquire should appear, and for the last five minutes he had been in a\nstate of abstraction, with his eyes fixed on the dark picture opposite,\nand his hands busy with the loose cash and other articles in his\nbreeches pockets.", "When the young squire entered, with Mr. Irwine by his side, every one\nstood up, and this moment of homage was very agreeable to Arthur.", "He\nliked to feel his own importance, and besides that, he cared a great\ndeal for the good-will of these people: he was fond of thinking that\nthey had a hearty, special regard for him.", "The pleasure he felt was in\nhis face as he said, \"My grandfather and I hope all our friends here\nhave enjoyed their dinner, and find my birthday ale good.", "Mr. Irwine\nand I are come to taste it with you, and I am sure we shall all like\nanything the better that the rector shares with us.\"", "All eyes were now turned on Mr. Poyser, who, with his hands still busy\nin his pockets, began with the deliberateness of a slow-striking clock.", "\"Captain, my neighbours have put it upo' me to speak for 'em to-day, for\nwhere folks think pretty much alike, one spokesman's as good as a score.", "And though we've mayhappen got contrairy ways o' thinking about a many\nthings--one man lays down his land one way an' another another--an' I'll\nnot take it upon me to speak to no man's farming, but my own--this I'll\nsay, as we're all o' one mind about our young squire.", "We've pretty nigh\nall on us known you when you war a little un, an' we've niver known\nanything on you but what was good an' honorable.", "said Mr.\nIrwine, laughing.", "\"Well, sir, when I want to say anything, I can mostly find words to say\nit in, thank God.", "Not as I'm a-finding faut wi' my husband, for if he's\na man o' few words, what he says he'll stand to.\"", "\"I'm sure I never saw a prettier party than this,\" Arthur said, looking\nround at the apple-cheeked children.", "\"My aunt and the Miss Irwines will\ncome up and see you presently.", "They were afraid of the noise of the\ntoasts, but it would be a shame for them not to see you at table.\"", "He walked on, speaking to the mothers and patting the children, while\nMr. Irwine satisfied himself with standing still and nodding at a\ndistance, that no one's attention might be disturbed from the young\nsquire, the hero of the day.", "Arthur did not venture to stop near Hetty,\nbut merely bowed to her as he passed along the opposite side.", "The\nfoolish child felt her heart swelling with discontent; for what woman\nwas ever satisfied with apparent neglect, even when she knows it to be\nthe mask of love?", "Hetty thought this was going to be the most miserable\nday she had had for a long while, a moment of chill daylight and reality\ncame across her dream: Arthur, who had seemed so near to her only a few\nhours before, was separated from her, as the hero of a great procession\nis separated from a small outsider in the crowd." ]

[ "\n\nTHE great dance was not to begin until eight o'clock, but for any lads\nand lasses who liked to dance on the shady grass before then, there was\nmusic always at hand--for was not the band of the Benefit Club capable\nof playing excellent jigs, reels, and hornpipes?", "And, besides this,\nthere was a grand band hired from Rosseter, who, with their wonderful\nwind-instruments and puffed-out cheeks, were themselves a delightful\nshow to the small boys and girls.", "To say nothing of Joshua Rann's\nfiddle, which, by an act of generous forethought, he had provided\nhimself with, in case any one should be of sufficiently pure taste to\nprefer dancing to a solo on that instrument.", "Meantime, when the sun had moved off the great open space in front of\nthe house, the games began.", "There were, of course, well-soaped poles\nto be climbed by the boys and youths, races to be run by the old women,\nraces to be run in sacks, heavy weights to be lifted by the strong men,\nand a long list of challenges to such ambitious attempts as that\nof walking as many yards possible on one leg--feats in which it was\ngenerally remarked that Wiry Ben, being \"the lissom'st, springest fellow\ni' the country,\" was sure to be pre-eminent.", "To crown all, there was to\nbe a donkey-race--that sublimest of all races, conducted on the grand\nsocialistic idea of everybody encouraging everybody else's donkey, and\nthe sorriest donkey winning.", "And soon after four o'clock, splendid old Mrs. Irwine, in her damask\nsatin and jewels and black lace, was led out by Arthur, followed by the\nwhole family party, to her raised seat under the striped marquee, where\nshe was to give out the prizes to the victors.", "Staid, formal Miss Lydia\nhad requested to resign that queenly office to the royal old lady, and\nArthur was pleased with this opportunity of gratifying his godmother's\ntaste for stateliness.", "Old Mr. Donnithorne, the delicately clean,\nfinely scented, withered old man, led out Miss Irwine, with his air of\npunctilious, acid politeness; Mr. Gawaine brought Miss Lydia, looking\nneutral and stiff in an elegant peach-blossom silk; and Mr. Irwine came\nlast with his pale sister Anne.", "No other friend of the family, besides\nMr. Gawaine, was invited to-day; there was to be a grand dinner for\nthe neighbouring gentry on the morrow, but to-day all the forces were\nrequired for the entertainment of the tenants.", "There was a sunk fence in front of the marquee, dividing the lawn from\nthe park, but a temporary bridge had been made for the passage of the\nvictors, and the groups of people standing, or seated here and there\non benches, stretched on each side of the open space from the white\nmarquees up to the sunk fence.", "\"Upon my word it's a pretty sight,\" said the old lady, in her deep\nvoice, when she was seated, and looked round on the bright scene with\nits dark-green background; \"and it's the last fete-day I'm likely to\nsee, unless you make haste and get married, Arthur.", "But take care you\nget a charming bride, else I would rather die without seeing her.\"", "\"You're so terribly fastidious, Godmother,\" said Arthur, \"I'm afraid I\nshould never satisfy you with my choice.\"", "\"Well, I won't forgive you if she's not handsome.", "I can't be put off\nwith amiability, which is always the excuse people are making for the\nexistence of plain people.", "And she must not be silly; that will never\ndo, because you'll want managing, and a silly woman can't manage you.", "Who is that tall young man, Dauphin, with the mild face?", "There, standing\nwithout his hat, and taking such care of that tall old woman by the side\nof him--his mother, of course.", "I like to see that.\"", "\"What, don't you know him, Mother?\"", "said Mr. Irwine.", "\"That is Seth\nBede, Adam's brother--a Methodist, but a very good fellow.", "Poor Seth\nhas looked rather down-hearted of late; I thought it was because of his\nfather's dying in that sad way, but Joshua Rann tells me he wanted to\nmarry that sweet little Methodist preacher who was here about a month\nago, and I suppose she refused him.\"", "\"Ah, I remember hearing about her.", "But there are no end of people here\nthat I don't know, for they're grown up and altered so since I used to\ngo about.\"", "\"What excellent sight you have!\"", "said old Mr. Donnithorne, who was\nholding a double glass up to his eyes, \"to see the expression of that\nyoung man's face so far off.", "His face is nothing but a pale blurred\nspot to me.", "But I fancy I have the advantage of you when we come to look\nclose.", "I can read small print without spectacles.\"", "\"Ah, my dear sir, you began with being very near-sighted, and those\nnear-sighted eyes always wear the best.", "I want very strong spectacles to\nread with, but then I think my eyes get better and better for things at\na distance.", "I suppose if I could live another fifty years, I should be\nblind to everything that wasn't out of other people's sight, like a man\nwho stands in a well and sees nothing but the stars.\"", "\"See,\" said Arthur, \"the old women are ready to set out on their race\nnow.", "Which do you bet on, Gawaine?\"", "\"The long-legged one, unless they're going to have several heats, and\nthen the little wiry one may win.\"", "\"There are the Poysers, Mother, not far off on the right hand,\" said\nMiss Irwine.", "\"Mrs. Poyser is looking at you.", "Do take notice of her.\"", "\"To be sure I will,\" said the old lady, giving a gracious bow to Mrs.\nPoyser.", "\"A woman who sends me such excellent cream-cheese is not to\nbe neglected.", "Bless me!", "What a fat child that is she is holding on her\nknee!", "But who is that pretty girl with dark eyes?\"", "\"That is Hetty Sorrel,\" said Miss Lydia Donnithorne, \"Martin Poyser's\nniece--a very likely young person, and well-looking too.", "My maid has\ntaught her fine needlework, and she has mended some lace of mine very\nrespectably indeed--very respectably.\"", "\"Why, she has lived with the Poysers six or seven years, Mother; you\nmust have seen her,\" said Miss Irwine.", "\"No, I've never seen her, child--at least not as she is now,\" said Mrs.\nIrwine, continuing to look at Hetty.", "\"Well-looking, indeed!", "She's a\nperfect beauty!", "I've never seen anything so pretty since my young days.", "What a pity such beauty as that should be thrown away among the farmers,\nwhen it's wanted so terribly among the good families without fortune!", "I daresay, now, she'll marry a man who would have thought her just as\npretty if she had had round eyes and red hair.\"", "Arthur dared not turn his eyes towards Hetty while Mrs. Irwine was\nspeaking of her.", "He feigned not to hear, and to be occupied with\nsomething on the opposite side.", "But he saw her plainly enough without\nlooking; saw her in heightened beauty, because he heard her beauty\npraised--for other men's opinion, you know, was like a native climate\nto Arthur's feelings: it was the air on which they thrived the best, and\ngrew strong.", "Yes!", "She was enough to turn any man's head: any man in his\nplace would have done and felt the same.", "And to give her up after all,\nas he was determined to do, would be an act that he should always look\nback upon with pride.", "\"No, Mother,\" and Mr. Irwine, replying to her last words; \"I can't\nagree with you there.", "The common people are not quite so stupid as you\nimagine.", "The commonest man, who has his ounce of sense and feeling,\nis conscious of the difference between a lovely, delicate woman and a\ncoarse one.", "Even a dog feels a difference in their presence.", "The man may\nbe no better able than the dog to explain the influence the more refined\nbeauty has on him, but he feels it.\"", "\"Bless me, Dauphin, what does an old bachelor like you know about it?\"", "\"Oh, that is one of the matters in which old bachelors are wiser than\nmarried men, because they have time for more general contemplation.", "Your fine critic of woman must never shackle his judgment by calling\none woman his own.", "But, as an example of what I was saying, that pretty\nMethodist preacher I mentioned just now told me that she had preached\nto the roughest miners and had never been treated with anything but the\nutmost respect and kindness by them.", "The reason is--though she doesn't\nknow it--that there's so much tenderness, refinement, and purity about\nher.", "Such a woman as that brings with her 'airs from heaven' that the\ncoarsest fellow is not insensible to.\"", "\"Here's a delicate bit of womanhood, or girlhood, coming to receive a\nprize, I suppose,\" said Mr. Gawaine.", "\"She must be one of the racers in\nthe sacks, who had set off before we came.\"", "The \"bit of womanhood\" was our old acquaintance Bessy Cranage, otherwise\nChad's Bess, whose large red cheeks and blowsy person had undergone\nan exaggeration of colour, which, if she had happened to be a heavenly\nbody, would have made her sublime.", "Bessy, I am sorry to say, had taken\nto her ear-rings again since Dinah's departure, and was otherwise decked\nout in such small finery as she could muster.", "Any one who could have\nlooked into poor Bessy's heart would have seen a striking resemblance\nbetween her little hopes and anxieties and Hetty's.", "The advantage,\nperhaps, would have been on Bessy's side in the matter of feeling.", "But\nthen, you see, they were so very different outside!", "You would have been\ninclined to box Bessy's ears, and you would have longed to kiss Hetty.", "Bessy had been tempted to run the arduous race, partly from mere\nhedonish gaiety, partly because of the prize.", "Some one had said there\nwere to be cloaks and other nice clothes for prizes, and she approached\nthe marquee, fanning herself with her handkerchief, but with exultation\nsparkling in her round eyes.", "\"Here is the prize for the first sack-race,\" said Miss Lydia, taking a\nlarge parcel from the table where the prizes were laid and giving it to\nMrs. Irwine before Bessy came up, \"an excellent grogram gown and a piece\nof flannel.\"", "\"You didn't think the winner was to be so young, I suppose, Aunt?\"", "said\nArthur.", "\"Couldn't you find something else for this girl, and save that\ngrim-looking gown for one of the older women?\"", "\"I have bought nothing but what is useful and substantial,\" said Miss\nLydia, adjusting her own lace; \"I should not think of encouraging a love\nof finery in young women of that class.", "I have a scarlet cloak, but that\nis for the old woman who wins.\"", "This speech of Miss Lydia's produced rather a mocking expression in Mrs.\nIrwine's face as she looked at Arthur, while Bessy came up and dropped a\nseries of curtsies.", "\"This is Bessy Cranage, mother,\" said Mr. Irwine, kindly, \"Chad\nCranage's daughter.", "You remember Chad Cranage, the blacksmith?\"", "\"Yes, to be sure,\" said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"Well, Bessy, here is your\nprize--excellent warm things for winter.", "I'm sure you have had hard work\nto win them this warm day.\"", "Bessy's lip fell as she saw the ugly, heavy gown--which felt so hot and\ndisagreeable too, on this July day, and was such a great ugly thing to\ncarry.", "She dropped her curtsies again, without looking up, and with a\ngrowing tremulousness about the corners of her mouth, and then turned\naway.", "\"Poor girl,\" said Arthur; \"I think she's disappointed.", "I wish it had\nbeen something more to her taste.\"", "\"She's a bold-looking young person,\" observed Miss Lydia.", "\"Not at all\none I should like to encourage.\"", "Arthur silently resolved that he would make Bessy a present of money\nbefore the day was over, that she might buy something more to her mind;\nbut she, not aware of the consolation in store for her, turned out of\nthe open space, where she was visible from the marquee, and throwing\ndown the odious bundle under a tree, began to cry--very much tittered at\nthe while by the small boys.", "In this situation she was descried by her\ndiscreet matronly cousin, who lost no time in coming up, having just\ngiven the baby into her husband's charge.", "\"What's the matter wi' ye?\"", "said Bess the matron, taking up the bundle\nand examining it.", "\"Ye'n sweltered yoursen, I reckon, running that fool's\nrace.", "An' here, they'n gi'en you lots o' good grogram and flannel, as\nshould ha' been gi'en by good rights to them as had the sense to keep\naway from such foolery.", "Ye might spare me a bit o' this grogram to make\nclothes for the lad--ye war ne'er ill-natured, Bess; I ne'er said that\non ye.\"", "\"Ye may take it all, for what I care,\" said Bess the maiden, with a\npettish movement, beginning to wipe away her tears and recover herself.", "\"Well, I could do wi't, if so be ye want to get rid on't,\" said the\ndisinterested cousin, walking quickly away with the bundle, lest Chad's\nBess should change her mind.", "But that bonny-cheeked lass was blessed with an elasticity of spirits\nthat secured her from any rankling grief; and by the time the grand\nclimax of the donkey-race came on, her disappointment was entirely lost\nin the delightful excitement of attempting to stimulate the last donkey\nby hisses, while the boys applied the argument of sticks.", "But the\nstrength of the donkey mind lies in adopting a course inversely as the\narguments urged, which, well considered, requires as great a mental\nforce as the direct sequence; and the present donkey proved the\nfirst-rate order of his intelligence by coming to a dead standstill\njust when the blows were thickest.", "Great was the shouting of the crowd,\nradiant the grinning of Bill Downes the stone-sawyer and the fortunate\nrider of this superior beast, which stood calm and stiff-legged in the\nmidst of its triumph.", "Arthur himself had provided the prizes for the men, and Bill was made\nhappy with a splendid pocket-knife, supplied with blades and gimlets\nenough to make a man at home on a desert island.", "He had hardly returned\nfrom the marquee with the prize in his hand, when it began to be\nunderstood that Wiry Ben proposed to amuse the company, before\nthe gentry went to dinner, with an impromptu and gratuitous\nperformance--namely, a hornpipe, the main idea of which was doubtless\nborrowed; but this was to be developed by the dancer in so peculiar and\ncomplex a manner that no one could deny him the praise of originality.", "Wiry Ben's pride in his dancing--an accomplishment productive of great\neffect at the yearly Wake--had needed only slightly elevating by an\nextra quantity of good ale to convince him that the gentry would be\nvery much struck with his performance of his hornpipe; and he had been\ndecidedly encouraged in this idea by Joshua Rann, who observed that it\nwas nothing but right to do something to please the young squire, in\nreturn for what he had done for them.", "You will be the less surprised\nat this opinion in so grave a personage when you learn that Ben had\nrequested Mr. Rann to accompany him on the fiddle, and Joshua felt quite\nsure that though there might not be much in the dancing, the music would\nmake up for it.", "Adam Bede, who was present in one of the large marquees,\nwhere the plan was being discussed, told Ben he had better not make a\nfool of himself--a remark which at once fixed Ben's determination: he\nwas not going to let anything alone because Adam Bede turned up his nose\nat it.", "\"What's this, what's this?\"", "said old Mr. Donnithorne.", "\"Is it something\nyou've arranged, Arthur?", "Here's the clerk coming with his fiddle, and a\nsmart fellow with a nosegay in his button-hole.\"", "\"No,\" said Arthur; \"I know nothing about it.", "By Jove, he's going to\ndance!", "It's one of the carpenters--I forget his name at this moment.\"", "\"It's Ben Cranage--Wiry Ben, they call him,\" said Mr. Irwine; \"rather\na loose fish, I think.", "Anne, my dear, I see that fiddle-scraping is too\nmuch for you: you're getting tired.", "Let me take you in now, that you may\nrest till dinner.\"", "Miss Anne rose assentingly, and the good brother took her away, while\nJoshua's preliminary scrapings burst into the \"White Cockade,\" from\nwhich he intended to pass to a variety of tunes, by a series of\ntransitions which his good ear really taught him to execute with some\nskill.", "It would have been an exasperating fact to him, if he had known\nit, that the general attention was too thoroughly absorbed by Ben's\ndancing for any one to give much heed to the music.", "Have you ever seen a real English rustic perform a solo dance?", "Perhaps\nyou have only seen a ballet rustic, smiling like a merry countryman in\ncrockery, with graceful turns of the haunch and insinuating movements\nof the head.", "That is as much like the real thing as the \"Bird Waltz\" is\nlike the song of birds.", "Wiry Ben never smiled: he looked as serious as a\ndancing monkey--as serious as if he had been an experimental philosopher\nascertaining in his own person the amount of shaking and the varieties\nof angularity that could be given to the human limbs.", "To make amends for the abundant laughter in the striped marquee, Arthur\nclapped his hands continually and cried \"Bravo!\"", "But Ben had one admirer\nwhose eyes followed his movements with a fervid gravity that equalled\nhis own.", "It was Martin Poyser, who was seated on a bench, with Tommy\nbetween his legs.", "\"What dost think o' that?\"", "he said to his wife.", "\"He goes as pat to the\nmusic as if he was made o' clockwork.", "I used to be a pretty good un at\ndancing myself when I was lighter, but I could niver ha' hit it just to\nth' hair like that.\"", "\"It's little matter what his limbs are, to my thinking,\" re-turned\nMrs. Poyser.", "\"He's empty enough i' the upper story, or he'd niver come\njigging an' stamping i' that way, like a mad grasshopper, for the gentry\nto look at him.", "They're fit to die wi' laughing, I can see.\"", "\"Well, well, so much the better, it amuses 'em,\" said Mr. Poyser, who\ndid not easily take an irritable view of things.", "\"But they're going away\nnow, t' have their dinner, I reckon.", "Well move about a bit, shall we,\nand see what Adam Bede's doing.", "He's got to look after the drinking and\nthings: I doubt he hasna had much fun.\"" ]

[ "But take care you\nget a charming bride, else I would rather die without seeing her.\"", "Poor Seth\nhas looked rather down-hearted of late; I thought it was because of his\nfather's dying in that sad way, but Joshua Rann tells me he wanted to\nmarry that sweet little Methodist preacher who was here about a month\nago, and I suppose she refused him.\"", "\"There are the Poysers, Mother, not far off on the right hand,\" said\nMiss Irwine.", "Do take notice of her.\"", "But he saw her plainly enough without\nlooking; saw her in heightened beauty, because he heard her beauty\npraised--for other men's opinion, you know, was like a native climate\nto Arthur's feelings: it was the air on which they thrived the best, and\ngrew strong.", "Bessy, I am sorry to say, had taken\nto her ear-rings again since Dinah's departure, and was otherwise decked\nout in such small finery as she could muster.", "In this situation she was descried by her\ndiscreet matronly cousin, who lost no time in coming up, having just\ngiven the baby into her husband's charge.", "Great was the shouting of the crowd,\nradiant the grinning of Bill Downes the stone-sawyer and the fortunate\nrider of this superior beast, which stood calm and stiff-legged in the\nmidst of its triumph.", "You will be the less surprised\nat this opinion in so grave a personage when you learn that Ben had\nrequested Mr. Rann to accompany him on the fiddle, and Joshua felt quite\nsure that though there might not be much in the dancing, the music would\nmake up for it.", "Perhaps\nyou have only seen a ballet rustic, smiling like a merry countryman in\ncrockery, with graceful turns of the haunch and insinuating movements\nof the head." ]

[ "Meantime, when the sun had moved off the great open space in front of\nthe house, the games began.", "\"Well, I could do wi't, if so be ye want to get rid on't,\" said the\ndisinterested cousin, walking quickly away with the bundle, lest Chad's\nBess should change her mind.", "\"Upon my word it's a pretty sight,\" said the old lady, in her deep\nvoice, when she was seated, and looked round on the bright scene with\nits dark-green background; \"and it's the last fete-day I'm likely to\nsee, unless you make haste and get married, Arthur.", "But, as an example of what I was saying, that pretty\nMethodist preacher I mentioned just now told me that she had preached\nto the roughest miners and had never been treated with anything but the\nutmost respect and kindness by them.", "\"She's a bold-looking young person,\" observed Miss Lydia.", "Here's the clerk coming with his fiddle, and a\nsmart fellow with a nosegay in his button-hole.\"", "The commonest man, who has his ounce of sense and feeling,\nis conscious of the difference between a lovely, delicate woman and a\ncoarse one.", "But who is that pretty girl with dark eyes?\"", "\"Well-looking, indeed!", "Ye might spare me a bit o' this grogram to make\nclothes for the lad--ye war ne'er ill-natured, Bess; I ne'er said that\non ye.\"" ]

[ "But, as an example of what I was saying, that pretty\nMethodist preacher I mentioned just now told me that she had preached\nto the roughest miners and had never been treated with anything but the\nutmost respect and kindness by them.", "The reason is--though she doesn't\nknow it--that there's so much tenderness, refinement, and purity about\nher.", "Such a woman as that brings with her 'airs from heaven' that the\ncoarsest fellow is not insensible to.\"", "\"Here's a delicate bit of womanhood, or girlhood, coming to receive a\nprize, I suppose,\" said Mr. Gawaine.", "\"She must be one of the racers in\nthe sacks, who had set off before we came.\"", "The \"bit of womanhood\" was our old acquaintance Bessy Cranage, otherwise\nChad's Bess, whose large red cheeks and blowsy person had undergone\nan exaggeration of colour, which, if she had happened to be a heavenly\nbody, would have made her sublime.", "Bessy, I am sorry to say, had taken\nto her ear-rings again since Dinah's departure, and was otherwise decked\nout in such small finery as she could muster.", "Any one who could have\nlooked into poor Bessy's heart would have seen a striking resemblance\nbetween her little hopes and anxieties and Hetty's.", "The advantage,\nperhaps, would have been on Bessy's side in the matter of feeling.", "But\nthen, you see, they were so very different outside!", "You would have been\ninclined to box Bessy's ears, and you would have longed to kiss Hetty." ]

[ "\n\nTHE great dance was not to begin until eight o'clock, but for any lads\nand lasses who liked to dance on the shady grass before then, there was\nmusic always at hand--for was not the band of the Benefit Club capable\nof playing excellent jigs, reels, and hornpipes?", "And, besides this,\nthere was a grand band hired from Rosseter, who, with their wonderful\nwind-instruments and puffed-out cheeks, were themselves a delightful\nshow to the small boys and girls.", "To say nothing of Joshua Rann's\nfiddle, which, by an act of generous forethought, he had provided\nhimself with, in case any one should be of sufficiently pure taste to\nprefer dancing to a solo on that instrument.", "Meantime, when the sun had moved off the great open space in front of\nthe house, the games began.", "There were, of course, well-soaped poles\nto be climbed by the boys and youths, races to be run by the old women,\nraces to be run in sacks, heavy weights to be lifted by the strong men,\nand a long list of challenges to such ambitious attempts as that\nof walking as many yards possible on one leg--feats in which it was\ngenerally remarked that Wiry Ben, being \"the lissom'st, springest fellow\ni' the country,\" was sure to be pre-eminent.", "To crown all, there was to\nbe a donkey-race--that sublimest of all races, conducted on the grand\nsocialistic idea of everybody encouraging everybody else's donkey, and\nthe sorriest donkey winning.", "And soon after four o'clock, splendid old Mrs. Irwine, in her damask\nsatin and jewels and black lace, was led out by Arthur, followed by the\nwhole family party, to her raised seat under the striped marquee, where\nshe was to give out the prizes to the victors.", "Staid, formal Miss Lydia\nhad requested to resign that queenly office to the royal old lady, and\nArthur was pleased with this opportunity of gratifying his godmother's\ntaste for stateliness.", "Old Mr. Donnithorne, the delicately clean,\nfinely scented, withered old man, led out Miss Irwine, with his air of\npunctilious, acid politeness; Mr. Gawaine brought Miss Lydia, looking\nneutral and stiff in an elegant peach-blossom silk; and Mr. Irwine came\nlast with his pale sister Anne.", "No other friend of the family, besides\nMr. Gawaine, was invited to-day; there was to be a grand dinner for\nthe neighbouring gentry on the morrow, but to-day all the forces were\nrequired for the entertainment of the tenants.", "he said to his wife.", "\"He goes as pat to the\nmusic as if he was made o' clockwork.", "I used to be a pretty good un at\ndancing myself when I was lighter, but I could niver ha' hit it just to\nth' hair like that.\"", "\"It's little matter what his limbs are, to my thinking,\" re-turned\nMrs. Poyser.", "\"He's empty enough i' the upper story, or he'd niver come\njigging an' stamping i' that way, like a mad grasshopper, for the gentry\nto look at him.", "They're fit to die wi' laughing, I can see.\"", "\"Well, well, so much the better, it amuses 'em,\" said Mr. Poyser, who\ndid not easily take an irritable view of things.", "\"But they're going away\nnow, t' have their dinner, I reckon.", "Well move about a bit, shall we,\nand see what Adam Bede's doing.", "He's got to look after the drinking and\nthings: I doubt he hasna had much fun.\"" ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR had chosen the entrance-hall for the ballroom: very wisely, for\nno other room could have been so airy, or would have had the advantage\nof the wide doors opening into the garden, as well as a ready entrance\ninto the other rooms.", "To be sure, a stone floor was not the pleasantest\nto dance on, but then, most of the dancers had known what it was\nto enjoy a Christmas dance on kitchen quarries.", "It was one of those\nentrance-halls which make the surrounding rooms look like closets--with\nstucco angels, trumpets, and flower-wreaths on the lofty ceiling, and\ngreat medallions of miscellaneous heroes on the walls, alternating with\nstatues in niches.", "Just the sort of place to be ornamented well with\ngreen boughs, and Mr. Craig had been proud to show his taste and his\nhothouse plants on the occasion.", "The broad steps of the stone staircase\nwere covered with cushions to serve as seats for the children, who were\nto stay till half-past nine with the servant-maids to see the dancing,\nand as this dance was confined to the chief tenants, there was\nabundant room for every one.", "The lights were charmingly disposed in\ncoloured-paper lamps, high up among green boughs, and the farmers'\nwives and daughters, as they peeped in, believed no scene could be more\nsplendid; they knew now quite well in what sort of rooms the king and\nqueen lived, and their thoughts glanced with some pity towards cousins\nand acquaintances who had not this fine opportunity of knowing how\nthings went on in the great world.", "The lamps were already lit, though\nthe sun had not long set, and there was that calm light out of doors in\nwhich we seem to see all objects more distinctly than in the broad day.", "It was a pretty scene outside the house: the farmers and their families\nwere moving about the lawn, among the flowers and shrubs, or along the\nbroad straight road leading from the east front, where a carpet of\nmossy grass spread on each side, studded here and there with a dark\nflat-boughed cedar, or a grand pyramidal fir sweeping the ground with\nits branches, all tipped with a fringe of paler green.", "The groups of\ncottagers in the park were gradually diminishing, the young ones being\nattracted towards the lights that were beginning to gleam from the\nwindows of the gallery in the abbey, which was to be their dancing-room,\nand some of the sober elder ones thinking it time to go home quietly.", "One of these was Lisbeth Bede, and Seth went with her--not from filial\nattention only, for his conscience would not let him join in dancing.", "It had been rather a melancholy day to Seth: Dinah had never been more\nconstantly present with him than in this scene, where everything was\nso unlike her.", "He saw her all the more vividly after looking at the\nthoughtless faces and gay-coloured dresses of the young women--just as\none feels the beauty and the greatness of a pictured Madonna the more\nwhen it has been for a moment screened from us by a vulgar head in a\nbonnet.", "But this presence of Dinah in his mind only helped him to bear\nthe better with his mother's mood, which had been becoming more and more\nquerulous for the last hour.", "Poor Lisbeth was suffering from a strange\nconflict of feelings.", "Her joy and pride in the honour paid to her\ndarling son Adam was beginning to be worsted in the conflict with the\njealousy and fretfulness which had revived when Adam came to tell her\nthat Captain Donnithorne desired him to join the dancers in the hall.", "Adam was getting more and more out of her reach; she wished all the old\ntroubles back again, for then it mattered more to Adam what his mother\nsaid and did.", "\"Eh, it's fine talkin' o' dancin',\" she said, \"an' thy father not a five\nweek in's grave.", "An' I wish I war there too, i'stid o' bein' left to\ntake up merrier folks's room above ground.\"", "\"Nay, don't look at it i' that way, Mother,\" said Adam, who was\ndetermined to be gentle to her to-day.", "\"I don't mean to dance--I shall\nonly look on.", "And since the captain wishes me to be there, it 'ud look\nas if I thought I knew better than him to say as I'd rather not stay.", "And thee know'st how he's behaved to me to-day.\"", "\"Eh, thee't do as thee lik'st, for thy old mother's got no right t'\nhinder thee.", "She's nought but th' old husk, and thee'st slipped away\nfrom her, like the ripe nut.\"", "\"Well, Mother,\" said Adam, \"I'll go and tell the captain as it hurts thy\nfeelings for me to stay, and I'd rather go home upo' that account: he\nwon't take it ill then, I daresay, and I'm willing.\"", "He said this with\nsome effort, for he really longed to be near Hetty this evening.", "\"Nay, nay, I wonna ha' thee do that--the young squire 'ull be angered.", "Go an' do what thee't ordered to do, an' me and Seth 'ull go whome.", "I\nknow it's a grit honour for thee to be so looked on--an' who's to be\nprouder on it nor thy mother?", "Hadna she the cumber o' rearin' thee an'\ndoin' for thee all these 'ears?\"", "\"Well, good-bye, then, Mother--good-bye, lad--remember Gyp when you get\nhome,\" said Adam, turning away towards the gate of the pleasure-grounds,\nwhere he hoped he might be able to join the Poysers, for he had been so\noccupied throughout the afternoon that he had had no time to speak to\nHetty.", "His eye soon detected a distant group, which he knew to be the\nright one, returning to the house along the broad gravel road, and he\nhastened on to meet them.", "\"Why, Adam, I'm glad to get sight on y' again,\" said Mr. Poyser, who was\ncarrying Totty on his arm.", "\"You're going t' have a bit o' fun, I hope,\nnow your work's all done.", "And here's Hetty has promised no end o'\npartners, an' I've just been askin' her if she'd agreed to dance wi'\nyou, an' she says no.\"", "\"Well, I didn't think o' dancing to-night,\" said Adam, already tempted\nto change his mind, as he looked at Hetty.", "\"Nonsense!\"", "said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Why, everybody's goin' to dance to-night,\nall but th' old squire and Mrs. Irwine.", "Mrs. Best's been tellin' us as\nMiss Lyddy and Miss Irwine 'ull dance, an' the young squire 'ull pick\nmy wife for his first partner, t' open the ball: so she'll be forced to\ndance, though she's laid by ever sin' the Christmas afore the little un\nwas born.", "You canna for shame stand still, Adam, an' you a fine young\nfellow and can dance as well as anybody.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"it 'ud be unbecomin'.", "I know the dancin's\nnonsense, but if you stick at everything because it's nonsense, you\nwonna go far i' this life.", "When your broth's ready-made for you, you mun\nswallow the thickenin', or else let the broth alone.\"", "\"Then if Hetty 'ull dance with me,\" said Adam, yielding either to Mrs.\nPoyser's argument or to something else, \"I'll dance whichever dance\nshe's free.\"", "\"I've got no partner for the fourth dance,\" said Hetty; \"I'll dance that\nwith you, if you like.\"", "\"Ah,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"but you mun dance the first dance, Adam, else\nit'll look partic'ler.", "There's plenty o' nice partners to pick an'\nchoose from, an' it's hard for the gells when the men stan' by and don't\nask 'em.\"", "Adam felt the justice of Mr. Poyser's observation: it would not do for\nhim to dance with no one besides Hetty; and remembering that Jonathan\nBurge had some reason to feel hurt to-day, he resolved to ask Miss Mary\nto dance with him the first dance, if she had no other partner.", "\"There's the big clock strikin' eight,\" said Mr. Poyser; \"we must make\nhaste in now, else the squire and the ladies 'ull be in afore us, an'\nthat wouldna look well.\"", "When they had entered the hall, and the three children under Molly's\ncharge had been seated on the stairs, the folding-doors of the\ndrawing-room were thrown open, and Arthur entered in his regimentals,\nleading Mrs. Irwine to a carpet-covered dais ornamented with hot-house\nplants, where she and Miss Anne were to be seated with old Mr.\nDonnithorne, that they might look on at the dancing, like the kings\nand queens in the plays.", "Arthur had put on his uniform to please the\ntenants, he said, who thought as much of his militia dignity as if it\nhad been an elevation to the premiership.", "He had not the least objection\nto gratify them in that way: his uniform was very advantageous to his\nfigure.", "The old squire, before sitting down, walked round the hall to greet the\ntenants and make polite speeches to the wives: he was always polite; but\nthe farmers had found out, after long puzzling, that this polish was\none of the signs of hardness.", "It was observed that he gave his most\nelaborate civility to Mrs. Poyser to-night, inquiring particularly about\nher health, recommending her to strengthen herself with cold water as\nhe did, and avoid all drugs.", "Mrs. Poyser curtsied and thanked him with\ngreat self-command, but when he had passed on, she whispered to her\nhusband, \"I'll lay my life he's brewin' some nasty turn against us.", "Old\nHarry doesna wag his tail so for nothin'.\"", "Mr. Poyser had no time to\nanswer, for now Arthur came up and said, \"Mrs. Poyser, I'm come to\nrequest the favour of your hand for the first dance; and, Mr. Poyser,\nyou must let me take you to my aunt, for she claims you as her partner.\"", "The wife's pale cheek flushed with a nervous sense of unwonted honour as\nArthur led her to the top of the room; but Mr. Poyser, to whom an extra\nglass had restored his youthful confidence in his good looks and good\ndancing, walked along with them quite proudly, secretly flattering\nhimself that Miss Lydia had never had a partner in HER life who could\nlift her off the ground as he would.", "In order to balance the honours\ngiven to the two parishes, Miss Irwine danced with Luke Britton, the\nlargest Broxton farmer, and Mr. Gawaine led out Mrs. Britton.", "Mr.\nIrwine, after seating his sister Anne, had gone to the abbey gallery,\nas he had agreed with Arthur beforehand, to see how the merriment of the\ncottagers was prospering.", "Meanwhile, all the less distinguished couples\nhad taken their places: Hetty was led out by the inevitable Mr. Craig,\nand Mary Burge by Adam; and now the music struck up, and the glorious\ncountry-dance, best of all dances, began.", "Pity it was not a boarded floor!", "Then the rhythmic stamping of the thick\nshoes would have been better than any drums.", "That merry stamping, that\ngracious nodding of the head, that waving bestowal of the hand--where\ncan we see them now?", "That simple dancing of well-covered matrons, laying\naside for an hour the cares of house and dairy, remembering but not\naffecting youth, not jealous but proud of the young maidens by their\nside--that holiday sprightliness of portly husbands paying little\ncompliments to their wives, as if their courting days were come\nagain--those lads and lasses a little confused and awkward with their\npartners, having nothing to say--it would be a pleasant variety to\nsee all that sometimes, instead of low dresses and large skirts, and\nscanning glances exploring costumes, and languid men in lacquered boots\nsmiling with double meaning.", "There was but one thing to mar Martin Poyser's pleasure in this dance:\nit was that he was always in close contact with Luke Britton, that\nslovenly farmer.", "He thought of throwing a little glazed coldness into\nhis eye in the crossing of hands; but then, as Miss Irwine was opposite\nto him instead of the offensive Luke, he might freeze the wrong person.", "So he gave his face up to hilarity, unchilled by moral judgments.", "How Hetty's heart beat as Arthur approached her!", "He had hardly looked at\nher to-day: now he must take her hand.", "Would he press it?", "Would he look\nat her?", "She thought she would cry if he gave her no sign of feeling.", "Now he was there--he had taken her hand--yes, he was pressing it.", "Hetty\nturned pale as she looked up at him for an instant and met his eyes,\nbefore the dance carried him away.", "That pale look came upon Arthur like\nthe beginning of a dull pain, which clung to him, though he must dance\nand smile and joke all the same.", "Hetty would look so, when he told her\nwhat he had to tell her; and he should never be able to bear it--he\nshould be a fool and give way again.", "Hetty's look did not really mean\nso much as he thought: it was only the sign of a struggle between the\ndesire for him to notice her and the dread lest she should betray the\ndesire to others.", "But Hetty's face had a language that transcended her\nfeelings.", "There are faces which nature charges with a meaning and pathos\nnot belonging to the single human soul that flutters beneath them, but\nspeaking the joys and sorrows of foregone generations--eyes that tell of\ndeep love which doubtless has been and is somewhere, but not paired with\nthese eyes--perhaps paired with pale eyes that can say nothing; just as\na national language may be instinct with poetry unfelt by the lips that\nuse it.", "That look of Hetty's oppressed Arthur with a dread which yet had\nsomething of a terrible unconfessed delight in it, that she loved him\ntoo well.", "There was a hard task before him, for at that moment he felt\nhe would have given up three years of his youth for the happiness of\nabandoning himself without remorse to his passion for Hetty.", "These were the incongruous thoughts in his mind as he led Mrs. Poyser,\nwho was panting with fatigue, and secretly resolving that neither judge\nnor jury should force her to dance another dance, to take a quiet rest\nin the dining-room, where supper was laid out for the guests to come and\ntake it as they chose.", "\"I've desired Hetty to remember as she's got to dance wi' you, sir,\"\nsaid the good innocent woman; \"for she's so thoughtless, she'd be like\nenough to go an' engage herself for ivery dance.", "So I told her not to\npromise too many.\"", "\"Thank you, Mrs. Poyser,\" said Arthur, not without a twinge.", "\"Now, sit\ndown in this comfortable chair, and here is Mills ready to give you what\nyou would like best.\"", "He hurried away to seek another matronly partner, for due honour must be\npaid to the married women before he asked any of the young ones; and\nthe country-dances, and the stamping, and the gracious nodding, and the\nwaving of the hands, went on joyously.", "At last the time had come for the fourth dance--longed for by the\nstrong, grave Adam, as if he had been a delicate-handed youth of\neighteen; for we are all very much alike when we are in our first love;\nand Adam had hardly ever touched Hetty's hand for more than a transient\ngreeting--had never danced with her but once before.", "His eyes had\nfollowed her eagerly to-night in spite of himself, and had taken in\ndeeper draughts of love.", "He thought she behaved so prettily, so quietly;\nshe did not seem to be flirting at all she smiled less than usual; there\nwas almost a sweet sadness about her.", "\"God bless her!\"", "he said inwardly;\n\"I'd make her life a happy 'un, if a strong arm to work for her, and a\nheart to love her, could do it.\"", "And then there stole over him delicious thoughts of coming home from\nwork, and drawing Hetty to his side, and feeling her cheek softly\npressed against his, till he forgot where he was, and the music and the\ntread of feet might have been the falling of rain and the roaring of the\nwind, for what he knew.", "But now the third dance was ended, and he might go up to her and\nclaim her hand.", "She was at the far end of the hall near the staircase,\nwhispering with Molly, who had just given the sleeping Totty into her\narms before running to fetch shawls and bonnets from the landing.", "Mrs.\nPoyser had taken the two boys away into the dining-room to give them\nsome cake before they went home in the cart with Grandfather and Molly\nwas to follow as fast as possible.", "\"Let me hold her,\" said Adam, as Molly turned upstairs; \"the children\nare so heavy when they're asleep.\"", "Hetty was glad of the relief, for to hold Totty in her arms, standing,\nwas not at all a pleasant variety to her.", "But this second transfer had\nthe unfortunate effect of rousing Totty, who was not behind any child\nof her age in peevishness at an unseasonable awaking.", "While Hetty was\nin the act of placing her in Adam's arms, and had not yet withdrawn her\nown, Totty opened her eyes, and forthwith fought out with her left fist\nat Adam's arm, and with her right caught at the string of brown beads\nround Hetty's neck.", "The locket leaped out from her frock, and the next\nmoment the string was broken, and Hetty, helpless, saw beads and locket\nscattered wide on the floor.", "\"My locket, my locket!\"", "she said, in a loud frightened whisper to Adam;\n\"never mind the beads.\"", "Adam had already seen where the locket fell, for it had attracted his\nglance as it leaped out of her frock.", "It had fallen on the raised wooden\ndais where the band sat, not on the stone floor; and as Adam picked it\nup, he saw the glass with the dark and light locks of hair under it.", "It\nhad fallen that side upwards, so the glass was not broken.", "He turned it\nover on his hand, and saw the enamelled gold back.", "\"It isn't hurt,\" he said, as he held it towards Hetty, who was unable to\ntake it because both her hands were occupied with Totty.", "\"Oh, it doesn't matter, I don't mind about it,\" said Hetty, who had been\npale and was now red.", "\"Not matter?\"", "said Adam, gravely.", "\"You seemed very frightened about it.", "I'll hold it till you're ready to take it,\" he added, quietly closing\nhis hand over it, that she might not think he wanted to look at it\nagain.", "By this time Molly had come with bonnet and shawl, and as soon as she\nhad taken Totty, Adam placed the locket in Hetty's hand.", "She took it\nwith an air of indifference and put it in her pocket, in her heart vexed\nand angry with Adam because he had seen it, but determined now that she\nwould show no more signs of agitation.", "\"See,\" she said, \"they're taking their places to dance; let us go.\"", "Adam assented silently.", "A puzzled alarm had taken possession of him.", "Had\nHetty a lover he didn't know of?", "For none of her relations, he was sure,\nwould give her a locket like that; and none of her admirers, with whom\nhe was acquainted, was in the position of an accepted lover, as the\ngiver of that locket must be.", "Adam was lost in the utter impossibility\nof finding any person for his fears to alight on.", "He could only feel\nwith a terrible pang that there was something in Hetty's life unknown to\nhim; that while he had been rocking himself in the hope that she would\ncome to love him, she was already loving another.", "The pleasure of the\ndance with Hetty was gone; his eyes, when they rested on her, had an\nuneasy questioning expression in them; he could think of nothing to say\nto her; and she too was out of temper and disinclined to speak.", "They\nwere both glad when the dance was ended.", "Adam was determined to stay no longer; no one wanted him, and no one\nwould notice if he slipped away.", "As soon as he got out of doors, he\nbegan to walk at his habitual rapid pace, hurrying along without knowing\nwhy, busy with the painful thought that the memory of this day, so full\nof honour and promise to him, was poisoned for ever.", "Suddenly, when\nhe was far on through the Chase, he stopped, startled by a flash of\nreviving hope.", "After all, he might be a fool, making a great misery out\nof a trifle.", "Hetty, fond of finery as she was, might have bought the\nthing herself.", "It looked too expensive for that--it looked like the\nthings on white satin in the great jeweller's shop at Rosseter.", "But Adam\nhad very imperfect notions of the value of such things, and he thought\nit could certainly not cost more than a guinea.", "Perhaps Hetty had had as\nmuch as that in Christmas boxes, and there was no knowing but she might\nhave been childish enough to spend it in that way; she was such a young\nthing, and she couldn't help loving finery!", "But then, why had she been\nso frightened about it at first, and changed colour so, and afterwards\npretended not to care?", "Oh, that was because she was ashamed of his\nseeing that she had such a smart thing--she was conscious that it\nwas wrong for her to spend her money on it, and she knew that Adam\ndisapproved of finery.", "It was a proof she cared about what he liked and\ndisliked.", "She must have thought from his silence and gravity afterwards\nthat he was very much displeased with her, that he was inclined to be\nharsh and severe towards her foibles.", "And as he walked on more quietly,\nchewing the cud of this new hope, his only uneasiness was that he had\nbehaved in a way which might chill Hetty's feeling towards him.", "For this\nlast view of the matter must be the true one.", "How could Hetty have\nan accepted lover, quite unknown to him?", "She was never away from her\nuncle's house for more than a day; she could have no acquaintances that\ndid not come there, and no intimacies unknown to her uncle and aunt.", "It\nwould be folly to believe that the locket was given to her by a lover.", "The little ring of dark hair he felt sure was her own; he could form\nno guess about the light hair under it, for he had not seen it very\ndistinctly.", "It might be a bit of her father's or mother's, who had died\nwhen she was a child, and she would naturally put a bit of her own along\nwith it.", "And so Adam went to bed comforted, having woven for himself an ingenious\nweb of probabilities--the surest screen a wise man can place between\nhimself and the truth.", "His last waking thoughts melted into a dream that\nhe was with Hetty again at the Hall Farm, and that he was asking her to\nforgive him for being so cold and silent.", "And while he was dreaming this, Arthur was leading Hetty to the dance\nand saying to her in low hurried tones, \"I shall be in the wood the day\nafter to-morrow at seven; come as early as you can.\"", "And Hetty's foolish\njoys and hopes, which had flown away for a little space, scared by a\nmere nothing, now all came fluttering back, unconscious of the real\nperil.", "She was happy for the first time this long day, and wished\nthat dance would last for hours.", "Arthur wished it too; it was the\nlast weakness he meant to indulge in; and a man never lies with more\ndelicious languor under the influence of a passion than when he has\npersuaded himself that he shall subdue it to-morrow.", "But Mrs. Poyser's wishes were quite the reverse of this, for her mind\nwas filled with dreary forebodings as to the retardation of to-morrow\nmorning's cheese in consequence of these late hours.", "Now that Hetty had\ndone her duty and danced one dance with the young squire, Mr. Poyser\nmust go out and see if the cart was come back to fetch them, for it was\nhalf-past ten o'clock, and notwithstanding a mild suggestion on his part\nthat it would be bad manners for them to be the first to go, Mrs. Poyser\nwas resolute on the point, \"manners or no manners.\"", "\"What!", "Going already, Mrs.", "Poyser?\"", "said old Mr. Donnithorne, as she\ncame to curtsy and take leave; \"I thought we should not part with any of\nour guests till eleven.", "Mrs. Irwine and I, who are elderly people, think\nof sitting out the dance till then.\"", "\"Oh, Your Honour, it's all right and proper for gentlefolks to stay up\nby candlelight--they've got no cheese on their minds.", "We're late enough\nas it is, an' there's no lettin' the cows know as they mustn't want to\nbe milked so early to-morrow mornin'.", "So, if you'll please t' excuse us,\nwe'll take our leave.\"", "\"Eh!\"", "she said to her husband, as they set off in the cart, \"I'd sooner\nha' brewin' day and washin' day together than one o' these pleasurin'\ndays.", "There's no work so tirin' as danglin' about an' starin' an' not\nrightly knowin' what you're goin' to do next; and keepin' your face i'\nsmilin' order like a grocer o' market-day for fear people shouldna think\nyou civil enough.", "An' you've nothing to show for't when it's done, if it\nisn't a yallow face wi' eatin' things as disagree.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, who was in his merriest mood, and felt that\nhe had had a great day, \"a bit o' pleasuring's good for thee sometimes.", "An' thee danc'st as well as any of 'em, for I'll back thee against all\nthe wives i' the parish for a light foot an' ankle.", "An' it was a great\nhonour for the young squire to ask thee first--I reckon it was because\nI sat at th' head o' the table an' made the speech.", "An' Hetty too--she\nnever had such a partner before--a fine young gentleman in reg'mentals.", "It'll serve you to talk on, Hetty, when you're an old woman--how you\ndanced wi' th' young squire the day he come o' age.\"", "Book Four" ]

[ "But this presence of Dinah in his mind only helped him to bear\nthe better with his mother's mood, which had been becoming more and more\nquerulous for the last hour.", "And thee know'st how he's behaved to me to-day.\"", "\"You're going t' have a bit o' fun, I hope,\nnow your work's all done.", "He thought of throwing a little glazed coldness into\nhis eye in the crossing of hands; but then, as Miss Irwine was opposite\nto him instead of the offensive Luke, he might freeze the wrong person.", "\"Thank you, Mrs. Poyser,\" said Arthur, not without a twinge.", "The locket leaped out from her frock, and the next\nmoment the string was broken, and Hetty, helpless, saw beads and locket\nscattered wide on the floor.", "For none of her relations, he was sure,\nwould give her a locket like that; and none of her admirers, with whom\nhe was acquainted, was in the position of an accepted lover, as the\ngiver of that locket must be.", "Suddenly, when\nhe was far on through the Chase, he stopped, startled by a flash of\nreviving hope.", "How could Hetty have\nan accepted lover, quite unknown to him?", "His last waking thoughts melted into a dream that\nhe was with Hetty again at the Hall Farm, and that he was asking her to\nforgive him for being so cold and silent." ]

[ "Had\nHetty a lover he didn't know of?", "The lights were charmingly disposed in\ncoloured-paper lamps, high up among green boughs, and the farmers'\nwives and daughters, as they peeped in, believed no scene could be more\nsplendid; they knew now quite well in what sort of rooms the king and\nqueen lived, and their thoughts glanced with some pity towards cousins\nand acquaintances who had not this fine opportunity of knowing how\nthings went on in the great world.", "And then there stole over him delicious thoughts of coming home from\nwork, and drawing Hetty to his side, and feeling her cheek softly\npressed against his, till he forgot where he was, and the music and the\ntread of feet might have been the falling of rain and the roaring of the\nwind, for what he knew.", "Then the rhythmic stamping of the thick\nshoes would have been better than any drums.", "It had fallen on the raised wooden\ndais where the band sat, not on the stone floor; and as Adam picked it\nup, he saw the glass with the dark and light locks of hair under it.", "There's no work so tirin' as danglin' about an' starin' an' not\nrightly knowin' what you're goin' to do next; and keepin' your face i'\nsmilin' order like a grocer o' market-day for fear people shouldna think\nyou civil enough.", "Go an' do what thee't ordered to do, an' me and Seth 'ull go whome.", "The broad steps of the stone staircase\nwere covered with cushions to serve as seats for the children, who were\nto stay till half-past nine with the servant-maids to see the dancing,\nand as this dance was confined to the chief tenants, there was\nabundant room for every one.", "So I told her not to\npromise too many.\"", "Hadna she the cumber o' rearin' thee an'\ndoin' for thee all these 'ears?\"" ]

[ "There are faces which nature charges with a meaning and pathos\nnot belonging to the single human soul that flutters beneath them, but\nspeaking the joys and sorrows of foregone generations--eyes that tell of\ndeep love which doubtless has been and is somewhere, but not paired with\nthese eyes--perhaps paired with pale eyes that can say nothing; just as\na national language may be instinct with poetry unfelt by the lips that\nuse it.", "That look of Hetty's oppressed Arthur with a dread which yet had\nsomething of a terrible unconfessed delight in it, that she loved him\ntoo well.", "There was a hard task before him, for at that moment he felt\nhe would have given up three years of his youth for the happiness of\nabandoning himself without remorse to his passion for Hetty.", "These were the incongruous thoughts in his mind as he led Mrs. Poyser,\nwho was panting with fatigue, and secretly resolving that neither judge\nnor jury should force her to dance another dance, to take a quiet rest\nin the dining-room, where supper was laid out for the guests to come and\ntake it as they chose.", "\"I've desired Hetty to remember as she's got to dance wi' you, sir,\"\nsaid the good innocent woman; \"for she's so thoughtless, she'd be like\nenough to go an' engage herself for ivery dance.", "So I told her not to\npromise too many.\"", "\"Thank you, Mrs. Poyser,\" said Arthur, not without a twinge.", "\"Now, sit\ndown in this comfortable chair, and here is Mills ready to give you what\nyou would like best.\"", "He hurried away to seek another matronly partner, for due honour must be\npaid to the married women before he asked any of the young ones; and\nthe country-dances, and the stamping, and the gracious nodding, and the\nwaving of the hands, went on joyously.", "At last the time had come for the fourth dance--longed for by the\nstrong, grave Adam, as if he had been a delicate-handed youth of\neighteen; for we are all very much alike when we are in our first love;\nand Adam had hardly ever touched Hetty's hand for more than a transient\ngreeting--had never danced with her but once before.", "His eyes had\nfollowed her eagerly to-night in spite of himself, and had taken in\ndeeper draughts of love." ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR had chosen the entrance-hall for the ballroom: very wisely, for\nno other room could have been so airy, or would have had the advantage\nof the wide doors opening into the garden, as well as a ready entrance\ninto the other rooms.", "To be sure, a stone floor was not the pleasantest\nto dance on, but then, most of the dancers had known what it was\nto enjoy a Christmas dance on kitchen quarries.", "It was one of those\nentrance-halls which make the surrounding rooms look like closets--with\nstucco angels, trumpets, and flower-wreaths on the lofty ceiling, and\ngreat medallions of miscellaneous heroes on the walls, alternating with\nstatues in niches.", "Just the sort of place to be ornamented well with\ngreen boughs, and Mr. Craig had been proud to show his taste and his\nhothouse plants on the occasion.", "The broad steps of the stone staircase\nwere covered with cushions to serve as seats for the children, who were\nto stay till half-past nine with the servant-maids to see the dancing,\nand as this dance was confined to the chief tenants, there was\nabundant room for every one.", "The lights were charmingly disposed in\ncoloured-paper lamps, high up among green boughs, and the farmers'\nwives and daughters, as they peeped in, believed no scene could be more\nsplendid; they knew now quite well in what sort of rooms the king and\nqueen lived, and their thoughts glanced with some pity towards cousins\nand acquaintances who had not this fine opportunity of knowing how\nthings went on in the great world.", "The lamps were already lit, though\nthe sun had not long set, and there was that calm light out of doors in\nwhich we seem to see all objects more distinctly than in the broad day.", "It was a pretty scene outside the house: the farmers and their families\nwere moving about the lawn, among the flowers and shrubs, or along the\nbroad straight road leading from the east front, where a carpet of\nmossy grass spread on each side, studded here and there with a dark\nflat-boughed cedar, or a grand pyramidal fir sweeping the ground with\nits branches, all tipped with a fringe of paler green.", "The groups of\ncottagers in the park were gradually diminishing, the young ones being\nattracted towards the lights that were beginning to gleam from the\nwindows of the gallery in the abbey, which was to be their dancing-room,\nand some of the sober elder ones thinking it time to go home quietly.", "One of these was Lisbeth Bede, and Seth went with her--not from filial\nattention only, for his conscience would not let him join in dancing.", "\"Eh!\"", "she said to her husband, as they set off in the cart, \"I'd sooner\nha' brewin' day and washin' day together than one o' these pleasurin'\ndays.", "There's no work so tirin' as danglin' about an' starin' an' not\nrightly knowin' what you're goin' to do next; and keepin' your face i'\nsmilin' order like a grocer o' market-day for fear people shouldna think\nyou civil enough.", "An' you've nothing to show for't when it's done, if it\nisn't a yallow face wi' eatin' things as disagree.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, who was in his merriest mood, and felt that\nhe had had a great day, \"a bit o' pleasuring's good for thee sometimes.", "An' thee danc'st as well as any of 'em, for I'll back thee against all\nthe wives i' the parish for a light foot an' ankle.", "An' it was a great\nhonour for the young squire to ask thee first--I reckon it was because\nI sat at th' head o' the table an' made the speech.", "An' Hetty too--she\nnever had such a partner before--a fine young gentleman in reg'mentals.", "It'll serve you to talk on, Hetty, when you're an old woman--how you\ndanced wi' th' young squire the day he come o' age.\"", "Book Four" ]

[ "\n\nIT was beyond the middle of August--nearly three weeks after the\nbirthday feast.", "The reaping of the wheat had begun in our north midland\ncounty of Loamshire, but the harvest was likely still to be retarded\nby the heavy rains, which were causing inundations and much damage\nthroughout the country.", "From this last trouble the Broxton and Hayslope\nfarmers, on their pleasant uplands and in their brook-watered\nvalleys, had not suffered, and as I cannot pretend that they were such\nexceptional farmers as to love the general good better than their own,\nyou will infer that they were not in very low spirits about the rapid\nrise in the price of bread, so long as there was hope of gathering in\ntheir own corn undamaged; and occasional days of sunshine and drying\nwinds flattered this hope.", "The eighteenth of August was one of these days when the sunshine looked\nbrighter in all eyes for the gloom that went before.", "Grand masses of\ncloud were hurried across the blue, and the great round hills behind the\nChase seemed alive with their flying shadows; the sun was hidden for a\nmoment, and then shone out warm again like a recovered joy; the leaves,\nstill green, were tossed off the hedgerow trees by the wind; around the\nfarmhouses there was a sound of clapping doors; the apples fell in the\norchards; and the stray horses on the green sides of the lanes and on\nthe common had their manes blown about their faces.", "And yet the wind\nseemed only part of the general gladness because the sun was shining.", "A\nmerry day for the children, who ran and shouted to see if they could\ntop the wind with their voices; and the grown-up people too were in\ngood spirits, inclined to believe in yet finer days, when the wind had\nfallen.", "If only the corn were not ripe enough to be blown out of the\nhusk and scattered as untimely seed!", "And yet a day on which a blighting sorrow may fall upon a man.", "For if it\nbe true that Nature at certain moments seems charged with a presentiment\nof one individual lot must it not also be true that she seems unmindful\nunconscious of another?", "For there is no hour that has not its births\nof gladness and despair, no morning brightness that does not bring new\nsickness to desolation as well as new forces to genius and love.", "There\nare so many of us, and our lots are so different, what wonder that\nNature's mood is often in harsh contrast with the great crisis of\nour lives?", "We are children of a large family, and must learn, as such\nchildren do, not to expect that our hurts will be made much of--to be\ncontent with little nurture and caressing, and help each other the more.", "It was a busy day with Adam, who of late had done almost double work,\nfor he was continuing to act as foreman for Jonathan Burge, until some\nsatisfactory person could be found to supply his place, and Jonathan was\nslow to find that person.", "But he had done the extra work cheerfully, for\nhis hopes were buoyant again about Hetty.", "Every time she had seen him\nsince the birthday, she had seemed to make an effort to behave all the\nmore kindly to him, that she might make him understand she had forgiven\nhis silence and coldness during the dance.", "He had never mentioned the\nlocket to her again; too happy that she smiled at him--still happier\nbecause he observed in her a more subdued air, something that he\ninterpreted as the growth of womanly tenderness and seriousness.", "\"Ah!\"", "he thought, again and again, \"she's only seventeen; she'll be thoughtful\nenough after a while.", "And her aunt allays says how clever she is at the\nwork.", "She'll make a wife as Mother'll have no occasion to grumble at,\nafter all.\"", "To be sure, he had only seen her at home twice since the\nbirthday; for one Sunday, when he was intending to go from church to the\nHall Farm, Hetty had joined the party of upper servants from the Chase\nand had gone home with them--almost as if she were inclined to encourage\nMr. Craig.", "\"She's takin' too much likin' to them folks i' the house\nkeeper's room,\" Mrs. Poyser remarked.", "\"For my part, I was never overfond\no' gentlefolks's servants--they're mostly like the fine ladies' fat\ndogs, nayther good for barking nor butcher's meat, but on'y for show.\"", "And another evening she was gone to Treddleston to buy some things;\nthough, to his great surprise, as he was returning home, he saw her at\na distance getting over a stile quite out of the Treddleston road.", "But,\nwhen he hastened to her, she was very kind, and asked him to go in again\nwhen he had taken her to the yard gate.", "She had gone a little farther\ninto the fields after coming from Treddleston because she didn't want to\ngo in, she said: it was so nice to be out of doors, and her aunt always\nmade such a fuss about it if she wanted to go out.", "\"Oh, do come in with\nme!\"", "she said, as he was going to shake hands with her at the gate, and\nhe could not resist that.", "So he went in, and Mrs. Poyser was contented\nwith only a slight remark on Hetty's being later than was expected;\nwhile Hetty, who had looked out of spirits when he met her, smiled and\ntalked and waited on them all with unusual promptitude.", "That was the last time he had seen her; but he meant to make leisure for\ngoing to the Farm to-morrow.", "To-day, he knew, was her day for going to\nthe Chase to sew with the lady's maid, so he would get as much work done\nas possible this evening, that the next might be clear.", "One piece of work that Adam was superintending was some slight repairs\nat the Chase Farm, which had been hitherto occupied by Satchell, as\nbailiff, but which it was now rumoured that the old squire was going to\nlet to a smart man in top-boots, who had been seen to ride over it\none day.", "Nothing but the desire to get a tenant could account for the\nsquire's undertaking repairs, though the Saturday-evening party at Mr.\nCasson's agreed over their pipes that no man in his senses would take\nthe Chase Farm unless there was a bit more ploughland laid to it.", "However that might be, the repairs were ordered to be executed with all\ndispatch, and Adam, acting for Mr. Burge, was carrying out the order\nwith his usual energy.", "But to-day, having been occupied elsewhere,\nhe had not been able to arrive at the Chase Farm till late in the\nafternoon, and he then discovered that some old roofing, which he had\ncalculated on preserving, had given way.", "There was clearly no good to\nbe done with this part of the building without pulling it all down, and\nAdam immediately saw in his mind a plan for building it up again, so as\nto make the most convenient of cow-sheds and calf-pens, with a hovel for\nimplements; and all without any great expense for materials.", "So, when\nthe workmen were gone, he sat down, took out his pocket-book, and\nbusied himself with sketching a plan, and making a specification of the\nexpenses that he might show it to Burge the next morning, and set him\non persuading the squire to consent.", "To \"make a good job\" of anything,\nhowever small, was always a pleasure to Adam, and he sat on a block,\nwith his book resting on a planing-table, whistling low every now and\nthen and turning his head on one side with a just perceptible smile of\ngratification--of pride, too, for if Adam loved a bit of good work, he\nloved also to think, \"I did it!\"", "And I believe the only people who are\nfree from that weakness are those who have no work to call their own.", "It\nwas nearly seven before he had finished and put on his jacket again; and\non giving a last look round, he observed that Seth, who had been working\nhere to-day, had left his basket of tools behind him.", "\"Why, th' lad's\nforgot his tools,\" thought Adam, \"and he's got to work up at the shop\nto-morrow.", "There never was such a chap for wool-gathering; he'd leave\nhis head behind him, if it was loose.", "However, it's lucky I've seen 'em;\nI'll carry 'em home.\"", "The buildings of the Chase Farm lay at one extremity of the Chase,\nat about ten minutes' walking distance from the Abbey.", "Adam had come\nthither on his pony, intending to ride to the stables and put up his nag\non his way home.", "At the stables he encountered Mr. Craig, who had come\nto look at the captain's new horse, on which he was to ride away the day\nafter to-morrow; and Mr. Craig detained him to tell how all the servants\nwere to collect at the gate of the courtyard to wish the young squire\nluck as he rode out; so that by the time Adam had got into the Chase,\nand was striding along with the basket of tools over his shoulder, the\nsun was on the point of setting, and was sending level crimson rays\namong the great trunks of the old oaks, and touching every bare patch of\nground with a transient glory that made it look like a jewel dropt upon\nthe grass.", "The wind had fallen now, and there was only enough breeze to\nstir the delicate-stemmed leaves.", "Any one who had been sitting in the\nhouse all day would have been glad to walk now; but Adam had been quite\nenough in the open air to wish to shorten his way home, and he bethought\nhimself that he might do so by striking across the Chase and going\nthrough the Grove, where he had never been for years.", "He hurried on\nacross the Chase, stalking along the narrow paths between the fern, with\nGyp at his heels, not lingering to watch the magnificent changes of the\nlight--hardly once thinking of it--yet feeling its presence in a certain\ncalm happy awe which mingled itself with his busy working-day thoughts.", "How could he help feeling it?", "The very deer felt it, and were more\ntimid.", "Presently Adam's thoughts recurred to what Mr. Craig had said about\nArthur Donnithorne, and pictured his going away, and the changes\nthat might take place before he came back; then they travelled back\naffectionately over the old scenes of boyish companionship, and dwelt\non Arthur's good qualities, which Adam had a pride in, as we all have in\nthe virtues of the superior who honours us.", "A nature like Adam's, with\na great need of love and reverence in it, depends for so much of its\nhappiness on what it can believe and feel about others!", "And he had no\nideal world of dead heroes; he knew little of the life of men in\nthe past; he must find the beings to whom he could cling with loving\nadmiration among those who came within speech of him.", "These pleasant\nthoughts about Arthur brought a milder expression than usual into his\nkeen rough face: perhaps they were the reason why, when he opened the\nold green gate leading into the Grove, he paused to pat Gyp and say a\nkind word to him.", "After that pause, he strode on again along the broad winding path\nthrough the Grove.", "What grand beeches!", "Adam delighted in a fine tree of\nall things; as the fisherman's sight is keenest on the sea, so Adam's\nperceptions were more at home with trees than with other objects.", "He\nkept them in his memory, as a painter does, with all the flecks and\nknots in their bark, all the curves and angles of their boughs, and had\noften calculated the height and contents of a trunk to a nicety, as he\nstood looking at it.", "No wonder that, not-withstanding his desire to get\non, he could not help pausing to look at a curious large beech which\nhe had seen standing before him at a turning in the road, and convince\nhimself that it was not two trees wedded together, but only one.", "For the\nrest of his life he remembered that moment when he was calmly examining\nthe beech, as a man remembers his last glimpse of the home where his\nyouth was passed, before the road turned, and he saw it no more.", "The\nbeech stood at the last turning before the Grove ended in an archway of\nboughs that let in the eastern light; and as Adam stepped away from the\ntree to continue his walk, his eyes fell on two figures about twenty\nyards before him.", "He remained as motionless as a statue, and turned almost as pale.", "The\ntwo figures were standing opposite to each other, with clasped hands\nabout to part; and while they were bending to kiss, Gyp, who had been\nrunning among the brushwood, came out, caught sight of them, and gave\na sharp bark.", "They separated with a start--one hurried through the gate\nout of the Grove, and the other, turning round, walked slowly, with\na sort of saunter, towards Adam who still stood transfixed and pale,\nclutching tighter the stick with which he held the basket of tools over\nhis shoulder, and looking at the approaching figure with eyes in which\namazement was fast turning to fierceness.", "Arthur Donnithorne looked flushed and excited; he had tried to make\nunpleasant feelings more bearable by drinking a little more wine than\nusual at dinner to-day, and was still enough under its flattering\ninfluence to think more lightly of this unwished-for rencontre with Adam\nthan he would otherwise have done.", "After all, Adam was the best person\nwho could have happened to see him and Hetty together--he was a sensible\nfellow, and would not babble about it to other people.", "Arthur felt\nconfident that he could laugh the thing off and explain it away.", "And so\nhe sauntered forward with elaborate carelessness--his flushed face, his\nevening dress of fine cloth and fine linen, his hands half-thrust into\nhis waistcoat pockets, all shone upon by the strange evening light which\nthe light clouds had caught up even to the zenith, and were now shedding\ndown between the topmost branches above him.", "Adam was still motionless, looking at him as he came up.", "He understood\nit all now--the locket and everything else that had been doubtful to\nhim: a terrible scorching light showed him the hidden letters that\nchanged the meaning of the past.", "If he had moved a muscle, he must\ninevitably have sprung upon Arthur like a tiger; and in the conflicting\nemotions that filled those long moments, he had told himself that he\nwould not give loose to passion, he would only speak the right thing.", "He stood as if petrified by an unseen force, but the force was his own\nstrong will.", "\"Well, Adam,\" said Arthur, \"you've been looking at the fine old beeches,\neh?", "They're not to be come near by the hatchet, though; this is a sacred\ngrove.", "I overtook pretty little Hetty Sorrel as I was coming to my\nden--the Hermitage, there.", "She ought not to come home this way so late.", "So I took care of her to the gate, and asked for a kiss for my pains.", "But I must get back now, for this road is confoundedly damp.", "Good-night,\nAdam.", "I shall see you to-morrow--to say good-bye, you know.\"", "Arthur was too much preoccupied with the part he was playing himself to\nbe thoroughly aware of the expression in Adam's face.", "He did not look\ndirectly at Adam, but glanced carelessly round at the trees and then\nlifted up one foot to look at the sole of his boot.", "He cared to say no\nmore--he had thrown quite dust enough into honest Adam's eyes--and as he\nspoke the last words, he walked on.", "\"Stop a bit, sir,\" said Adam, in a hard peremptory voice, without\nturning round.", "\"I've got a word to say to you.\"", "Arthur paused in surprise.", "Susceptible persons are more affected by\na change of tone than by unexpected words, and Arthur had the\nsusceptibility of a nature at once affectionate and vain.", "He was still\nmore surprised when he saw that Adam had not moved, but stood with his\nback to him, as if summoning him to return.", "What did he mean?", "He was\ngoing to make a serious business of this affair.", "Arthur felt his temper\nrising.", "A patronising disposition always has its meaner side, and in the\nconfusion of his irritation and alarm there entered the feeling that a\nman to whom he had shown so much favour as to Adam was not in a position\nto criticize his conduct.", "And yet he was dominated, as one who feels\nhimself in the wrong always is, by the man whose good opinion he cares\nfor.", "In spite of pride and temper, there was as much deprecation as\nanger in his voice when he said, \"What do you mean, Adam?\"", "\"I mean, sir\"--answered Adam, in the same harsh voice, still without\nturning round--\"I mean, sir, that you don't deceive me by your light\nwords.", "This is not the first time you've met Hetty Sorrel in this grove,\nand this is not the first time you've kissed her.\"", "Arthur felt a startled uncertainty how far Adam was speaking from\nknowledge, and how far from mere inference.", "And this uncertainty,\nwhich prevented him from contriving a prudent answer, heightened his\nirritation.", "He said, in a high sharp tone, \"Well, sir, what then?\"", "\"Why, then, instead of acting like th' upright, honourable man we've\nall believed you to be, you've been acting the part of a selfish\nlight-minded scoundrel.", "You know as well as I do what it's to lead to\nwhen a gentleman like you kisses and makes love to a young woman like\nHetty, and gives her presents as she's frightened for other folks\nto see.", "And I say it again, you're acting the part of a selfish\nlight-minded scoundrel though it cuts me to th' heart to say so, and I'd\nrather ha' lost my right hand.\"", "\"Let me tell you, Adam,\" said Arthur, bridling his growing anger and\ntrying to recur to his careless tone, \"you're not only devilishly\nimpertinent, but you're talking nonsense.", "Every pretty girl is not such\na fool as you, to suppose that when a gentleman admires her beauty and\npays her a little attention, he must mean something particular.", "Every\nman likes to flirt with a pretty girl, and every pretty girl likes to be\nflirted with.", "The wider the distance between them, the less harm there\nis, for then she's not likely to deceive herself.\"", "\"I don't know what you mean by flirting,\" said Adam, \"but if you mean\nbehaving to a woman as if you loved her, and yet not loving her all\nthe while, I say that's not th' action of an honest man, and what isn't\nhonest does come t' harm.", "I'm not a fool, and you're not a fool, and you\nknow better than what you're saying.", "You know it couldn't be made\npublic as you've behaved to Hetty as y' have done without her losing her\ncharacter and bringing shame and trouble on her and her relations.", "What\nif you meant nothing by your kissing and your presents?", "Other folks\nwon't believe as you've meant nothing; and don't tell me about her not\ndeceiving herself.", "I tell you as you've filled her mind so with the\nthought of you as it'll mayhap poison her life, and she'll never love\nanother man as 'ud make her a good husband.\"", "Arthur had felt a sudden relief while Adam was speaking; he perceived\nthat Adam had no positive knowledge of the past, and that there was no\nirrevocable damage done by this evening's unfortunate rencontre.", "Adam\ncould still be deceived.", "The candid Arthur had brought himself into a\nposition in which successful lying was his only hope.", "The hope allayed\nhis anger a little.", "\"Well, Adam,\" he said, in a tone of friendly concession, \"you're perhaps\nright.", "Perhaps I've gone a little too far in taking notice of the pretty\nlittle thing and stealing a kiss now and then.", "You're such a grave,\nsteady fellow, you don't understand the temptation to such trifling.", "I'm sure I wouldn't bring any trouble or annoyance on her and the good\nPoysers on any account if I could help it.", "But I think you look a little\ntoo seriously at it.", "You know I'm going away immediately, so I shan't\nmake any more mistakes of the kind.", "But let us say good-night\"--Arthur\nhere turned round to walk on--\"and talk no more about the matter.", "The\nwhole thing will soon be forgotten.\"", "\"No, by God!\"", "Adam burst out with rage that could be controlled no\nlonger, throwing down the basket of tools and striding forward till he\nwas right in front of Arthur.", "All his jealousy and sense of personal\ninjury, which he had been hitherto trying to keep under, had leaped up\nand mastered him.", "What man of us, in the first moments of a sharp\nagony, could ever feel that the fellow-man who has been the medium of\ninflicting it did not mean to hurt us?", "In our instinctive rebellion\nagainst pain, we are children again, and demand an active will to wreak\nour vengeance on.", "Adam at this moment could only feel that he had\nbeen robbed of Hetty--robbed treacherously by the man in whom he had\ntrusted--and he stood close in front of Arthur, with fierce eyes glaring\nat him, with pale lips and clenched hands, the hard tones in which he\nhad hitherto been constraining himself to express no more than a just\nindignation giving way to a deep agitated voice that seemed to shake him\nas he spoke.", "\"No, it'll not be soon forgot, as you've come in between her and me,\nwhen she might ha' loved me--it'll not soon be forgot as you've robbed\nme o' my happiness, while I thought you was my best friend, and a\nnoble-minded man, as I was proud to work for.", "And you've been kissing\nher, and meaning nothing, have you?", "And I never kissed her i' my\nlife--but I'd ha' worked hard for years for the right to kiss her.", "And\nyou make light of it.", "You think little o' doing what may damage other\nfolks, so as you get your bit o' trifling, as means nothing.", "I throw\nback your favours, for you're not the man I took you for.", "I'll never\ncount you my friend any more.", "I'd rather you'd act as my enemy, and\nfight me where I stand--it's all th' amends you can make me.\"", "Poor Adam, possessed by rage that could find no other vent, began to\nthrow off his coat and his cap, too blind with passion to notice the\nchange that had taken place in Arthur while he was speaking.", "Arthur's\nlips were now as pale as Adam's; his heart was beating violently.", "The\ndiscovery that Adam loved Hetty was a shock which made him for the\nmoment see himself in the light of Adam's indignation, and regard Adam's\nsuffering as not merely a consequence, but an element of his error.", "The words of hatred and contempt--the first he had ever heard in his\nlife--seemed like scorching missiles that were making ineffaceable scars\non him.", "All screening self-excuse, which rarely falls quite away while\nothers respect us, forsook him for an instant, and he stood face to face\nwith the first great irrevocable evil he had ever committed.", "He was\nonly twenty-one, and three months ago--nay, much later--he had thought\nproudly that no man should ever be able to reproach him justly.", "His\nfirst impulse, if there had been time for it, would perhaps have been to\nutter words of propitiation; but Adam had no sooner thrown off his\ncoat and cap than he became aware that Arthur was standing pale and\nmotionless, with his hands still thrust in his waistcoat pockets.", "\"What!\"", "he said, \"won't you fight me like a man?", "You know I won't strike\nyou while you stand so.\"", "\"Go away, Adam,\" said Arthur, \"I don't want to fight you.\"", "\"No,\" said Adam, bitterly; \"you don't want to fight me--you think I'm a\ncommon man, as you can injure without answering for it.\"", "\"I never meant to injure you,\" said Arthur, with returning anger.", "\"I\ndidn't know you loved her.\"", "\"But you've made her love you,\" said Adam.", "\"You're a double-faced\nman--I'll never believe a word you say again.\"", "\"Go away, I tell you,\" said Arthur, angrily, \"or we shall both repent.\"", "\"No,\" said Adam, with a convulsed voice, \"I swear I won't go away\nwithout fighting you.", "Do you want provoking any more?", "I tell you you're\na coward and a scoundrel, and I despise you.\"", "The colour had all rushed back to Arthur's face; in a moment his right\nhand was clenched, and dealt a blow like lightning, which sent Adam\nstaggering backward.", "His blood was as thoroughly up as Adam's now, and\nthe two men, forgetting the emotions that had gone before, fought\nwith the instinctive fierceness of panthers in the deepening twilight\ndarkened by the trees.", "The delicate-handed gentleman was a match for the\nworkman in everything but strength, and Arthur's skill enabled him to\nprotract the struggle for some long moments.", "But between unarmed men the\nbattle is to the strong, where the strong is no blunderer, and Arthur\nmust sink under a well-planted blow of Adam's as a steel rod is broken\nby an iron bar.", "The blow soon came, and Arthur fell, his head lying\nconcealed in a tuft of fern, so that Adam could only discern his darkly\nclad body.", "He stood still in the dim light waiting for Arthur to rise.", "The blow had been given now, towards which he had been straining all the\nforce of nerve and muscle--and what was the good of it?", "What had he\ndone by fighting?", "Only satisfied his own passion, only wreaked his own\nvengeance.", "He had not rescued Hetty, nor changed the past--there it was,\njust as it had been, and he sickened at the vanity of his own rage.", "But why did not Arthur rise?", "He was perfectly motionless, and the time\nseemed long to Adam.", "Good God!", "had the blow been too much for him?", "Adam\nshuddered at the thought of his own strength, as with the oncoming of\nthis dread he knelt down by Arthur's side and lifted his head from among\nthe fern.", "There was no sign of life: the eyes and teeth were set.", "The\nhorror that rushed over Adam completely mastered him, and forced upon\nhim its own belief.", "He could feel nothing but that death was in Arthur's\nface, and that he was helpless before it.", "He made not a single movement,\nbut knelt like an image of despair gazing at an image of death." ]

[ "Nothing but the desire to get a tenant could account for the\nsquire's undertaking repairs, though the Saturday-evening party at Mr.\nCasson's agreed over their pipes that no man in his senses would take\nthe Chase Farm unless there was a bit more ploughland laid to it.", "However that might be, the repairs were ordered to be executed with all\ndispatch, and Adam, acting for Mr. Burge, was carrying out the order\nwith his usual energy.", "How could he help feeling it?", "\"Why, then, instead of acting like th' upright, honourable man we've\nall believed you to be, you've been acting the part of a selfish\nlight-minded scoundrel.", "What\nif you meant nothing by your kissing and your presents?", "You know I'm going away immediately, so I shan't\nmake any more mistakes of the kind.", "But let us say good-night\"--Arthur\nhere turned round to walk on--\"and talk no more about the matter.", "The words of hatred and contempt--the first he had ever heard in his\nlife--seemed like scorching missiles that were making ineffaceable scars\non him.", "The blow had been given now, towards which he had been straining all the\nforce of nerve and muscle--and what was the good of it?", "He made not a single movement,\nbut knelt like an image of despair gazing at an image of death." ]

[ "The blow soon came, and Arthur fell, his head lying\nconcealed in a tuft of fern, so that Adam could only discern his darkly\nclad body.", "His blood was as thoroughly up as Adam's now, and\nthe two men, forgetting the emotions that had gone before, fought\nwith the instinctive fierceness of panthers in the deepening twilight\ndarkened by the trees.", "And yet he was dominated, as one who feels\nhimself in the wrong always is, by the man whose good opinion he cares\nfor.", "\"For my part, I was never overfond\no' gentlefolks's servants--they're mostly like the fine ladies' fat\ndogs, nayther good for barking nor butcher's meat, but on'y for show.\"", "How could he help feeling it?", "Arthur Donnithorne looked flushed and excited; he had tried to make\nunpleasant feelings more bearable by drinking a little more wine than\nusual at dinner to-day, and was still enough under its flattering\ninfluence to think more lightly of this unwished-for rencontre with Adam\nthan he would otherwise have done.", "\"No,\" said Adam, with a convulsed voice, \"I swear I won't go away\nwithout fighting you.", "Every time she had seen him\nsince the birthday, she had seemed to make an effort to behave all the\nmore kindly to him, that she might make him understand she had forgiven\nhis silence and coldness during the dance.", "The hope allayed\nhis anger a little.", "So, when\nthe workmen were gone, he sat down, took out his pocket-book, and\nbusied himself with sketching a plan, and making a specification of the\nexpenses that he might show it to Burge the next morning, and set him\non persuading the squire to consent." ]

[ "He cared to say no\nmore--he had thrown quite dust enough into honest Adam's eyes--and as he\nspoke the last words, he walked on.", "\"Stop a bit, sir,\" said Adam, in a hard peremptory voice, without\nturning round.", "\"I've got a word to say to you.\"", "Arthur paused in surprise.", "Susceptible persons are more affected by\na change of tone than by unexpected words, and Arthur had the\nsusceptibility of a nature at once affectionate and vain.", "He was still\nmore surprised when he saw that Adam had not moved, but stood with his\nback to him, as if summoning him to return.", "What did he mean?", "He was\ngoing to make a serious business of this affair.", "Arthur felt his temper\nrising.", "A patronising disposition always has its meaner side, and in the\nconfusion of his irritation and alarm there entered the feeling that a\nman to whom he had shown so much favour as to Adam was not in a position\nto criticize his conduct.", "And yet he was dominated, as one who feels\nhimself in the wrong always is, by the man whose good opinion he cares\nfor." ]

[ "\n\nIT was beyond the middle of August--nearly three weeks after the\nbirthday feast.", "The reaping of the wheat had begun in our north midland\ncounty of Loamshire, but the harvest was likely still to be retarded\nby the heavy rains, which were causing inundations and much damage\nthroughout the country.", "From this last trouble the Broxton and Hayslope\nfarmers, on their pleasant uplands and in their brook-watered\nvalleys, had not suffered, and as I cannot pretend that they were such\nexceptional farmers as to love the general good better than their own,\nyou will infer that they were not in very low spirits about the rapid\nrise in the price of bread, so long as there was hope of gathering in\ntheir own corn undamaged; and occasional days of sunshine and drying\nwinds flattered this hope.", "The eighteenth of August was one of these days when the sunshine looked\nbrighter in all eyes for the gloom that went before.", "Grand masses of\ncloud were hurried across the blue, and the great round hills behind the\nChase seemed alive with their flying shadows; the sun was hidden for a\nmoment, and then shone out warm again like a recovered joy; the leaves,\nstill green, were tossed off the hedgerow trees by the wind; around the\nfarmhouses there was a sound of clapping doors; the apples fell in the\norchards; and the stray horses on the green sides of the lanes and on\nthe common had their manes blown about their faces.", "And yet the wind\nseemed only part of the general gladness because the sun was shining.", "A\nmerry day for the children, who ran and shouted to see if they could\ntop the wind with their voices; and the grown-up people too were in\ngood spirits, inclined to believe in yet finer days, when the wind had\nfallen.", "If only the corn were not ripe enough to be blown out of the\nhusk and scattered as untimely seed!", "And yet a day on which a blighting sorrow may fall upon a man.", "For if it\nbe true that Nature at certain moments seems charged with a presentiment\nof one individual lot must it not also be true that she seems unmindful\nunconscious of another?", "He had not rescued Hetty, nor changed the past--there it was,\njust as it had been, and he sickened at the vanity of his own rage.", "But why did not Arthur rise?", "He was perfectly motionless, and the time\nseemed long to Adam.", "Good God!", "had the blow been too much for him?", "Adam\nshuddered at the thought of his own strength, as with the oncoming of\nthis dread he knelt down by Arthur's side and lifted his head from among\nthe fern.", "There was no sign of life: the eyes and teeth were set.", "The\nhorror that rushed over Adam completely mastered him, and forced upon\nhim its own belief.", "He could feel nothing but that death was in Arthur's\nface, and that he was helpless before it.", "He made not a single movement,\nbut knelt like an image of despair gazing at an image of death." ]

[ "\n\nIT was only a few minutes measured by the clock--though Adam always\nthought it had been a long while--before he perceived a gleam of\nconsciousness in Arthur's face and a slight shiver through his frame.", "The intense joy that flooded his soul brought back some of the old\naffection with it.", "\"Do you feel any pain, sir?\"", "he said, tenderly, loosening Arthur's\ncravat.", "Arthur turned his eyes on Adam with a vague stare which gave way to a\nslightly startled motion as if from the shock of returning memory.", "But\nhe only shivered again and said nothing.", "\"Do you feel any hurt, sir?\"", "Adam said again, with a trembling in his\nvoice.", "Arthur put his hand up to his waistcoat buttons, and when Adam had\nunbuttoned it, he took a longer breath.", "\"Lay my head down,\" he said,\nfaintly, \"and get me some water if you can.\"", "Adam laid the head down gently on the fern again, and emptying the tools\nout of the flag-basket, hurried through the trees to the edge of the\nGrove bordering on the Chase, where a brook ran below the bank.", "When he returned with his basket leaking, but still half-full, Arthur\nlooked at him with a more thoroughly reawakened consciousness.", "\"Can you drink a drop out o' your hand, sir?\"", "said Adam, kneeling down\nagain to lift up Arthur's head.", "\"No,\" said Arthur, \"dip my cravat in and souse it on my head.\"", "The water seemed to do him some good, for he presently raised himself a\nlittle higher, resting on Adam's arm.", "\"Do you feel any hurt inside sir?\"", "Adam asked again\n\n\"No--no hurt,\" said Arthur, still faintly, \"but rather done up.\"", "After a while he said, \"I suppose I fainted away when you knocked me\ndown.\"", "\"Yes, sir, thank God,\" said Adam.", "\"I thought it was worse.\"", "\"What!", "You thought you'd done for me, eh?", "Come help me on my legs.\"", "\"I feel terribly shaky and dizzy,\" Arthur said, as he stood leaning\non Adam's arm; \"that blow of yours must have come against me like a\nbattering-ram.", "I don't believe I can walk alone.\"", "\"Lean on me, sir; I'll get you along,\" said Adam.", "\"Or, will you sit down\na bit longer, on my coat here, and I'll prop y' up.", "You'll perhaps be\nbetter in a minute or two.\"", "\"No,\" said Arthur.", "\"I'll go to the Hermitage--I think I've got some\nbrandy there.", "There's a short road to it a little farther on, near the\ngate.", "If you'll just help me on.\"", "They walked slowly, with frequent pauses, but without speaking again.", "In both of them, the concentration in the present which had attended\nthe first moments of Arthur's revival had now given way to a vivid\nrecollection of the previous scene.", "It was nearly dark in the narrow\npath among the trees, but within the circle of fir-trees round the\nHermitage there was room for the growing moonlight to enter in at the\nwindows.", "Their steps were noiseless on the thick carpet of fir-needles,\nand the outward stillness seemed to heighten their inward consciousness,\nas Arthur took the key out of his pocket and placed it in Adam's hand,\nfor him to open the door.", "Adam had not known before that Arthur had\nfurnished the old Hermitage and made it a retreat for himself, and it\nwas a surprise to him when he opened the door to see a snug room with\nall the signs of frequent habitation.", "Arthur loosed Adam's arm and threw himself on the ottoman.", "\"You'll see\nmy hunting-bottle somewhere,\" he said.", "\"A leather case with a bottle and\nglass in.\"", "Adam was not long in finding the case.", "\"There's very little brandy in\nit, sir,\" he said, turning it downwards over the glass, as he held it\nbefore the window; \"hardly this little glassful.\"", "\"Well, give me that,\" said Arthur, with the peevishness of physical\ndepression.", "When he had taken some sips, Adam said, \"Hadn't I better\nrun to th' house, sir, and get some more brandy?", "I can be there and\nback pretty soon.", "It'll be a stiff walk home for you, if you don't have\nsomething to revive you.\"", "\"Yes--go.", "But don't say I'm ill.", "Ask for my man Pym, and tell him to get\nit from Mills, and not to say I'm at the Hermitage.", "Get some water too.\"", "Adam was relieved to have an active task--both of them were relieved to\nbe apart from each other for a short time.", "But Adam's swift pace could\nnot still the eager pain of thinking--of living again with concentrated\nsuffering through the last wretched hour, and looking out from it over\nall the new sad future.", "Arthur lay still for some minutes after Adam was gone, but presently\nhe rose feebly from the ottoman and peered about slowly in the broken\nmoonlight, seeking something.", "It was a short bit of wax candle that\nstood amongst a confusion of writing and drawing materials.", "There was\nmore searching for the means of lighting the candle, and when that was\ndone, he went cautiously round the room, as if wishing to assure himself\nof the presence or absence of something.", "At last he had found a slight\nthing, which he put first in his pocket, and then, on a second thought,\ntook out again and thrust deep down into a waste-paper basket.", "It was a\nwoman's little, pink, silk neckerchief.", "He set the candle on the table,\nand threw himself down on the ottoman again, exhausted with the effort.", "When Adam came back with his supplies, his entrance awoke Arthur from a\ndoze.", "\"That's right,\" Arthur said; \"I'm tremendously in want of some\nbrandy-vigour.\"", "\"I'm glad to see you've got a light, sir,\" said Adam.", "\"I've been\nthinking I'd better have asked for a lanthorn.\"", "\"No, no; the candle will last long enough--I shall soon be up to walking\nhome now.\"", "\"I can't go before I've seen you safe home, sir,\" said Adam,\nhesitatingly.", "\"No: it will be better for you to stay--sit down.\"", "Adam sat down, and they remained opposite to each other in uneasy\nsilence, while Arthur slowly drank brandy-and-water, with visibly\nrenovating effect.", "He began to lie in a more voluntary position, and\nlooked as if he were less overpowered by bodily sensations.", "Adam was\nkeenly alive to these indications, and as his anxiety about Arthur's\ncondition began to be allayed, he felt more of that impatience which\nevery one knows who has had his just indignation suspended by the\nphysical state of the culprit.", "Yet there was one thing on his mind to be\ndone before he could recur to remonstrance: it was to confess what had\nbeen unjust in his own words.", "Perhaps he longed all the more to make\nthis confession, that his indignation might be free again; and as he saw\nthe signs of returning ease in Arthur, the words again and again came to\nhis lips and went back, checked by the thought that it would be better\nto leave everything till to-morrow.", "As long as they were silent they did\nnot look at each other, and a foreboding came across Adam that if they\nbegan to speak as though they remembered the past--if they looked at\neach other with full recognition--they must take fire again.", "So they sat\nin silence till the bit of wax candle flickered low in the socket, the\nsilence all the while becoming more irksome to Adam.", "Arthur had just\npoured out some more brandy-and-water, and he threw one arm behind his\nhead and drew up one leg in an attitude of recovered ease, which was an\nirresistible temptation to Adam to speak what was on his mind.", "\"You begin to feel more yourself again, sir,\" he said, as the candle\nwent out and they were half-hidden from each other in the faint\nmoonlight.", "\"Yes: I don't feel good for much--very lazy, and not inclined to move;\nbut I'll go home when I've taken this dose.\"", "There was a slight pause before Adam said, \"My temper got the better of\nme, and I said things as wasn't true.", "I'd no right to speak as if you'd\nknown you was doing me an injury: you'd no grounds for knowing it; I've\nalways kept what I felt for her as secret as I could.\"", "He paused again before he went on.", "\"And perhaps I judged you too harsh--I'm apt to be harsh--and you may\nhave acted out o' thoughtlessness more than I should ha' believed was\npossible for a man with a heart and a conscience.", "We're not all put\ntogether alike, and we may misjudge one another.", "God knows, it's all the\njoy I could have now, to think the best of you.\"", "Arthur wanted to go home without saying any more--he was too painfully\nembarrassed in mind, as well as too weak in body, to wish for any\nfurther explanation to-night.", "And yet it was a relief to him that Adam\nreopened the subject in a way the least difficult for him to answer.", "Arthur was in the wretched position of an open, generous man who has\ncommitted an error which makes deception seem a necessity.", "The native\nimpulse to give truth in return for truth, to meet trust with frank\nconfession, must be suppressed, and duty was becoming a question of\ntactics.", "His deed was reacting upon him--was already governing him\ntyrannously and forcing him into a course that jarred with his habitual\nfeelings.", "The only aim that seemed admissible to him now was to deceive\nAdam to the utmost: to make Adam think better of him than he deserved.", "And when he heard the words of honest retractation--when he heard the\nsad appeal with which Adam ended--he was obliged to rejoice in\nthe remains of ignorant confidence it implied.", "He did not answer\nimmediately, for he had to be judicious and not truthful.", "\"Say no more about our anger, Adam,\" he said, at last, very languidly,\nfor the labour of speech was unwelcome to him; \"I forgive your momentary\ninjustice--it was quite natural, with the exaggerated notions you had in\nyour mind.", "We shall be none the worse friends in future, I hope, because\nwe've fought.", "You had the best of it, and that was as it should be, for\nI believe I've been most in the wrong of the two.", "Come, let us shake\nhands.\"", "Arthur held out his hand, but Adam sat still.", "\"I don't like to say 'No' to that, sir,\" he said, \"but I can't shake\nhands till it's clear what we mean by't.", "I was wrong when I spoke as\nif you'd done me an injury knowingly, but I wasn't wrong in what I said\nbefore, about your behaviour t' Hetty, and I can't shake hands with you\nas if I held you my friend the same as ever till you've cleared that up\nbetter.\"", "Arthur swallowed his pride and resentment as he drew back his hand.", "He was silent for some moments, and then said, as indifferently as he\ncould, \"I don't know what you mean by clearing up, Adam.", "I've told you\nalready that you think too seriously of a little flirtation.", "But if\nyou are right in supposing there is any danger in it--I'm going away on\nSaturday, and there will be an end of it.", "As for the pain it has given\nyou, I'm heartily sorry for it.", "I can say no more.\"", "Adam said nothing, but rose from his chair and stood with his face\ntowards one of the windows, as if looking at the blackness of the\nmoonlit fir-trees; but he was in reality conscious of nothing but the\nconflict within him.", "It was of no use now--his resolution not to speak\ntill to-morrow.", "He must speak there and then.", "But it was several minutes\nbefore he turned round and stepped nearer to Arthur, standing and\nlooking down on him as he lay.", "\"It'll be better for me to speak plain,\" he said, with evident effort,\n\"though it's hard work.", "You see, sir, this isn't a trifle to me,\nwhatever it may be to you.", "I'm none o' them men as can go making love\nfirst to one woman and then t' another, and don't think it much odds\nwhich of 'em I take.", "What I feel for Hetty's a different sort o' love,\nsuch as I believe nobody can know much about but them as feel it and God\nas has given it to 'em.", "She's more nor everything else to me, all but\nmy conscience and my good name.", "And if it's true what you've been saying\nall along--and if it's only been trifling and flirting as you call it,\nas 'll be put an end to by your going away--why, then, I'd wait, and\nhope her heart 'ud turn to me after all.", "I'm loath to think you'd speak\nfalse to me, and I'll believe your word, however things may look.\"", "\"You would be wronging Hetty more than me not to believe it,\" said\nArthur, almost violently, starting up from the ottoman and moving away.", "But he threw himself into a chair again directly, saying, more feebly,\n\"You seem to forget that, in suspecting me, you are casting imputations\nupon her.\"", "\"Nay, sir,\" Adam said, in a calmer voice, as if he were\nhalf-relieved--for he was too straightforward to make a distinction\nbetween a direct falsehood and an indirect one--\"Nay, sir, things don't\nlie level between Hetty and you.", "You're acting with your eyes open,\nwhatever you may do; but how do you know what's been in her mind?", "She's\nall but a child--as any man with a conscience in him ought to feel bound\nto take care on.", "And whatever you may think, I know you've disturbed\nher mind.", "I know she's been fixing her heart on you, for there's a many\nthings clear to me now as I didn't understand before.", "But you seem to\nmake light o' what she may feel--you don't think o' that.\"", "\"Good God, Adam, let me alone!\"", "Arthur burst out impetuously; \"I feel it\nenough without your worrying me.\"", "He was aware of his indiscretion as soon as the words had escaped him.", "\"Well, then, if you feel it,\" Adam rejoined, eagerly; \"if you feel as\nyou may ha' put false notions into her mind, and made her believe as\nyou loved her, when all the while you meant nothing, I've this demand\nto make of you--I'm not speaking for myself, but for her.", "I ask you t'\nundeceive her before you go away.", "Y'aren't going away for ever, and if\nyou leave her behind with a notion in her head o' your feeling about her\nthe same as she feels about you, she'll be hankering after you, and the\nmischief may get worse.", "It may be a smart to her now, but it'll save her\npain i' th' end.", "I ask you to write a letter--you may trust to my seeing\nas she gets it.", "Tell her the truth, and take blame to yourself for\nbehaving as you'd no right to do to a young woman as isn't your equal.", "I speak plain, sir, but I can't speak any other way.", "There's nobody can\ntake care o' Hetty in this thing but me.\"", "\"I can do what I think needful in the matter,\" said Arthur, more and\nmore irritated by mingled distress and perplexity, \"without giving\npromises to you.", "I shall take what measures I think proper.\"", "\"No,\" said Adam, in an abrupt decided tone, \"that won't do.", "I must know\nwhat ground I'm treading on.", "I must be safe as you've put an end to what\nought never to ha' been begun.", "I don't forget what's owing to you as a\ngentleman, but in this thing we're man and man, and I can't give up.\"", "There was no answer for some moments.", "Then Arthur said, \"I'll see you\nto-morrow.", "I can bear no more now; I'm ill.\" He rose as he spoke, and\nreached his cap, as if intending to go.", "\"You won't see her again!\"", "Adam exclaimed, with a flash of recurring\nanger and suspicion, moving towards the door and placing his back\nagainst it.", "\"Either tell me she can never be my wife--tell me you've\nbeen lying--or else promise me what I've said.\"", "Adam, uttering this alternative, stood like a terrible fate before\nArthur, who had moved forward a step or two, and now stopped, faint,\nshaken, sick in mind and body.", "It seemed long to both of them--that\ninward struggle of Arthur's--before he said, feebly, \"I promise; let me\ngo.\"", "Adam moved away from the door and opened it, but when Arthur reached the\nstep, he stopped again and leaned against the door-post.", "\"You're not well enough to walk alone, sir,\" said Adam.", "\"Take my arm\nagain.\"", "Arthur made no answer, and presently walked on, Adam following.", "But,\nafter a few steps, he stood still again, and said, coldly, \"I believe I\nmust trouble you.", "It's getting late now, and there may be an alarm set\nup about me at home.\"", "Adam gave his arm, and they walked on without uttering a word, till they\ncame where the basket and the tools lay.", "\"I must pick up the tools, sir,\" Adam said.", "\"They're my brother's.", "I\ndoubt they'll be rusted.", "If you'll please to wait a minute.\"", "Arthur stood still without speaking, and no other word passed between\nthem till they were at the side entrance, where he hoped to get in\nwithout being seen by any one.", "He said then, \"Thank you; I needn't\ntrouble you any further.\"", "\"What time will it be conven'ent for me to see you to-morrow, sir?\"", "said\nAdam.", "\"You may send me word that you're here at five o'clock,\" said Arthur;\n\"not before.\"", "\"Good-night, sir,\" said Adam.", "But he heard no reply; Arthur had turned\ninto the house." ]

[ "After a while he said, \"I suppose I fainted away when you knocked me\ndown.\"", "Get some water too.\"", "\"I've been\nthinking I'd better have asked for a lanthorn.\"", "\"No, no; the candle will last long enough--I shall soon be up to walking\nhome now.\"", "Adam was\nkeenly alive to these indications, and as his anxiety about Arthur's\ncondition began to be allayed, he felt more of that impatience which\nevery one knows who has had his just indignation suspended by the\nphysical state of the culprit.", "What I feel for Hetty's a different sort o' love,\nsuch as I believe nobody can know much about but them as feel it and God\nas has given it to 'em.", "I shall take what measures I think proper.\"", "Adam exclaimed, with a flash of recurring\nanger and suspicion, moving towards the door and placing his back\nagainst it.", "It seemed long to both of them--that\ninward struggle of Arthur's--before he said, feebly, \"I promise; let me\ngo.\"", "If you'll please to wait a minute.\"" ]

[ "\"No,\" said Adam, in an abrupt decided tone, \"that won't do.", "\"Well, give me that,\" said Arthur, with the peevishness of physical\ndepression.", "\"Say no more about our anger, Adam,\" he said, at last, very languidly,\nfor the labour of speech was unwelcome to him; \"I forgive your momentary\ninjustice--it was quite natural, with the exaggerated notions you had in\nyour mind.", "The native\nimpulse to give truth in return for truth, to meet trust with frank\nconfession, must be suppressed, and duty was becoming a question of\ntactics.", "\"I thought it was worse.\"", "\"And perhaps I judged you too harsh--I'm apt to be harsh--and you may\nhave acted out o' thoughtlessness more than I should ha' believed was\npossible for a man with a heart and a conscience.", "He was silent for some moments, and then said, as indifferently as he\ncould, \"I don't know what you mean by clearing up, Adam.", "\"Good-night, sir,\" said Adam.", "Adam, uttering this alternative, stood like a terrible fate before\nArthur, who had moved forward a step or two, and now stopped, faint,\nshaken, sick in mind and body.", "When he returned with his basket leaking, but still half-full, Arthur\nlooked at him with a more thoroughly reawakened consciousness." ]

[ "I'd no right to speak as if you'd\nknown you was doing me an injury: you'd no grounds for knowing it; I've\nalways kept what I felt for her as secret as I could.\"", "He paused again before he went on.", "\"And perhaps I judged you too harsh--I'm apt to be harsh--and you may\nhave acted out o' thoughtlessness more than I should ha' believed was\npossible for a man with a heart and a conscience.", "We're not all put\ntogether alike, and we may misjudge one another.", "God knows, it's all the\njoy I could have now, to think the best of you.\"", "Arthur wanted to go home without saying any more--he was too painfully\nembarrassed in mind, as well as too weak in body, to wish for any\nfurther explanation to-night.", "And yet it was a relief to him that Adam\nreopened the subject in a way the least difficult for him to answer.", "Arthur was in the wretched position of an open, generous man who has\ncommitted an error which makes deception seem a necessity.", "The native\nimpulse to give truth in return for truth, to meet trust with frank\nconfession, must be suppressed, and duty was becoming a question of\ntactics.", "His deed was reacting upon him--was already governing him\ntyrannously and forcing him into a course that jarred with his habitual\nfeelings.", "The only aim that seemed admissible to him now was to deceive\nAdam to the utmost: to make Adam think better of him than he deserved." ]

[ "\n\nIT was only a few minutes measured by the clock--though Adam always\nthought it had been a long while--before he perceived a gleam of\nconsciousness in Arthur's face and a slight shiver through his frame.", "The intense joy that flooded his soul brought back some of the old\naffection with it.", "\"Do you feel any pain, sir?\"", "he said, tenderly, loosening Arthur's\ncravat.", "Arthur turned his eyes on Adam with a vague stare which gave way to a\nslightly startled motion as if from the shock of returning memory.", "But\nhe only shivered again and said nothing.", "\"Do you feel any hurt, sir?\"", "Adam said again, with a trembling in his\nvoice.", "Arthur put his hand up to his waistcoat buttons, and when Adam had\nunbuttoned it, he took a longer breath.", "\"Lay my head down,\" he said,\nfaintly, \"and get me some water if you can.\"", "\"They're my brother's.", "I\ndoubt they'll be rusted.", "If you'll please to wait a minute.\"", "Arthur stood still without speaking, and no other word passed between\nthem till they were at the side entrance, where he hoped to get in\nwithout being seen by any one.", "He said then, \"Thank you; I needn't\ntrouble you any further.\"", "\"What time will it be conven'ent for me to see you to-morrow, sir?\"", "said\nAdam.", "\"You may send me word that you're here at five o'clock,\" said Arthur;\n\"not before.\"", "\"Good-night, sir,\" said Adam.", "But he heard no reply; Arthur had turned\ninto the house." ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR did not pass a sleepless night; he slept long and well.", "For sleep\ncomes to the perplexed--if the perplexed are only weary enough.", "But at\nseven he rang his bell and astonished Pym by declaring he was going to\nget up, and must have breakfast brought to him at eight.", "\"And see that my mare is saddled at half-past eight, and tell my\ngrandfather when he's down that I'm better this morning and am gone for\na ride.\"", "He had been awake an hour, and could rest in bed no longer.", "In bed our\nyesterdays are too oppressive: if a man can only get up, though it\nbe but to whistle or to smoke, he has a present which offers some\nresistance to the past--sensations which assert themselves against\ntyrannous memories.", "And if there were such a thing as taking averages\nof feeling, it would certainly be found that in the hunting and shooting\nseasons regret, self-reproach, and mortified pride weigh lighter on\ncountry gentlemen than in late spring and summer.", "Arthur felt that he\nshould be more of a man on horseback.", "Even the presence of Pym, waiting\non him with the usual deference, was a reassurance to him after the\nscenes of yesterday.", "For, with Arthur's sensitiveness to opinion,\nthe loss of Adam's respect was a shock to his self-contentment which\nsuffused his imagination with the sense that he had sunk in all eyes--as\na sudden shock of fear from some real peril makes a nervous woman afraid\neven to step, because all her perceptions are suffused with a sense of\ndanger.", "Arthur's, as you know, was a loving nature.", "Deeds of kindness were as\neasy to him as a bad habit: they were the common issue of his weaknesses\nand good qualities, of his egoism and his sympathy.", "He didn't like to\nwitness pain, and he liked to have grateful eyes beaming on him as the\ngiver of pleasure.", "When he was a lad of seven, he one day kicked down an\nold gardener's pitcher of broth, from no motive but a kicking impulse,\nnot reflecting that it was the old man's dinner; but on learning that\nsad fact, he took his favourite pencil-case and a silver-hafted knife\nout of his pocket and offered them as compensation.", "He had been the same\nArthur ever since, trying to make all offences forgotten in benefits.", "If there were any bitterness in his nature, it could only show itself\nagainst the man who refused to be conciliated by him.", "And perhaps the\ntime was come for some of that bitterness to rise.", "At the first moment,\nArthur had felt pure distress and self-reproach at discovering that\nAdam's happiness was involved in his relation to Hetty.", "If there had\nbeen a possibility of making Adam tenfold amends--if deeds of gift, or\nany other deeds, could have restored Adam's contentment and regard for\nhim as a benefactor, Arthur would not only have executed them without\nhesitation, but would have felt bound all the more closely to Adam,\nand would never have been weary of making retribution.", "But Adam could\nreceive no amends; his suffering could not be cancelled; his respect and\naffection could not be recovered by any prompt deeds of atonement.", "He\nstood like an immovable obstacle against which no pressure could\navail; an embodiment of what Arthur most shrank from believing in--the\nirrevocableness of his own wrongdoing.", "The words of scorn, the refusal\nto shake hands, the mastery asserted over him in their last conversation\nin the Hermitage--above all, the sense of having been knocked down, to\nwhich a man does not very well reconcile himself, even under the most\nheroic circumstances--pressed on him with a galling pain which was\nstronger than compunction.", "Arthur would so gladly have persuaded himself\nthat he had done no harm!", "And if no one had told him the contrary, he\ncould have persuaded himself so much better.", "Nemesis can seldom forge a\nsword for herself out of our consciences--out of the suffering we feel\nin the suffering we may have caused: there is rarely metal enough there\nto make an effective weapon.", "Our moral sense learns the manners of good\nsociety and smiles when others smile, but when some rude person gives\nrough names to our actions, she is apt to take part against us.", "And\nso it was with Arthur: Adam's judgment of him, Adam's grating words,\ndisturbed his self-soothing arguments.", "Not that Arthur had been at ease before Adam's discovery.", "Struggles and\nresolves had transformed themselves into compunction and anxiety.", "He was\ndistressed for Hetty's sake, and distressed for his own, that he\nmust leave her behind.", "He had always, both in making and breaking\nresolutions, looked beyond his passion and seen that it must speedily\nend in separation; but his nature was too ardent and tender for him not\nto suffer at this parting; and on Hetty's account he was filled with\nuneasiness.", "He had found out the dream in which she was living--that she\nwas to be a lady in silks and satins--and when he had first talked to\nher about his going away, she had asked him tremblingly to let her go\nwith him and be married.", "It was his painful knowledge of this which had\ngiven the most exasperating sting to Adam's reproaches.", "He had said no\nword with the purpose of deceiving her--her vision was all spun by her\nown childish fancy--but he was obliged to confess to himself that it was\nspun half out of his own actions.", "And to increase the mischief, on this\nlast evening he had not dared to hint the truth to Hetty; he had been\nobliged to soothe her with tender, hopeful words, lest he should throw\nher into violent distress.", "He felt the situation acutely, felt the\nsorrow of the dear thing in the present, and thought with a darker\nanxiety of the tenacity which her feelings might have in the future.", "That was the one sharp point which pressed against him; every other he\ncould evade by hopeful self-persuasion.", "The whole thing had been secret;\nthe Poysers had not the shadow of a suspicion.", "No one, except Adam, knew\nanything of what had passed--no one else was likely to know; for Arthur\nhad impressed on Hetty that it would be fatal to betray, by word or\nlook, that there had been the least intimacy between them; and Adam, who\nknew half their secret, would rather help them to keep it than betray\nit.", "It was an unfortunate business altogether, but there was no use in\nmaking it worse than it was by imaginary exaggerations and forebodings\nof evil that might never come.", "The temporary sadness for Hetty was\nthe worst consequence; he resolutely turned away his eyes from any bad\nconsequence that was not demonstrably inevitable.", "But--but Hetty might\nhave had the trouble in some other way if not in this.", "And perhaps\nhereafter he might be able to do a great deal for her and make up to her\nfor all the tears she would shed about him.", "She would owe the advantage\nof his care for her in future years to the sorrow she had incurred now.", "So good comes out of evil.", "Such is the beautiful arrangement of things!", "Are you inclined to ask whether this can be the same Arthur who, two\nmonths ago, had that freshness of feeling, that delicate honour which\nshrinks from wounding even a sentiment, and does not contemplate any\nmore positive offence as possible for it?--who thought that his own\nself-respect was a higher tribunal than any external opinion?", "The same,\nI assure you, only under different conditions.", "Our deeds determine us,\nas much as we determine our deeds, and until we know what has been or\nwill be the peculiar combination of outward with inward facts, which\nconstitutes a man's critical actions, it will be better not to think\nourselves wise about his character.", "There is a terrible coercion in\nour deeds, which may first turn the honest man into a deceiver and then\nreconcile him to the change, for this reason--that the second wrong\npresents itself to him in the guise of the only practicable right.", "The\naction which before commission has been seen with that blended common\nsense and fresh untarnished feeling which is the healthy eye of the\nsoul, is looked at afterwards with the lens of apologetic ingenuity,\nthrough which all things that men call beautiful and ugly are seen to\nbe made up of textures very much alike.", "Europe adjusts itself to a\n_fait accompli_, and so does an individual character--until the placid\nadjustment is disturbed by a convulsive retribution.", "No man can escape this vitiating effect of an offence against his own\nsentiment of right, and the effect was the stronger in Arthur because of\nthat very need of self-respect which, while his conscience was still at\nease, was one of his best safeguards.", "Self-accusation was too painful to\nhim--he could not face it.", "He must persuade himself that he had not been\nvery much to blame; he began even to pity himself for the necessity he\nwas under of deceiving Adam--it was a course so opposed to the honesty\nof his own nature.", "But then, it was the only right thing to do.", "Well, whatever had been amiss in him, he was miserable enough in\nconsequence: miserable about Hetty; miserable about this letter that\nhe had promised to write, and that seemed at one moment to be a gross\nbarbarity, at another perhaps the greatest kindness he could do to her.", "And across all this reflection would dart every now and then a sudden\nimpulse of passionate defiance towards all consequences.", "He would carry\nHetty away, and all other considerations might go to....", "In this state of mind the four walls of his room made an intolerable\nprison to him; they seemed to hem in and press down upon him all the\ncrowd of contradictory thoughts and conflicting feelings, some of which\nwould fly away in the open air.", "He had only an hour or two to make up\nhis mind in, and he must get clear and calm.", "Once on Meg's back, in\nthe fresh air of that fine morning, he should be more master of the\nsituation.", "The pretty creature arched her bay neck in the sunshine, and pawed the\ngravel, and trembled with pleasure when her master stroked her nose, and\npatted her, and talked to her even in a more caressing tone than usual.", "He loved her the better because she knew nothing of his secrets.", "But\nMeg was quite as well acquainted with her master's mental state as many\nothers of her sex with the mental condition of the nice young gentlemen\ntowards whom their hearts are in a state of fluttering expectation.", "Arthur cantered for five miles beyond the Chase, till he was at the foot\nof a hill where there were no hedges or trees to hem in the road.", "Then\nhe threw the bridle on Meg's neck and prepared to make up his mind.", "Hetty knew that their meeting yesterday must be the last before Arthur\nwent away--there was no possibility of their contriving another without\nexciting suspicion--and she was like a frightened child, unable to think\nof anything, only able to cry at the mention of parting, and then put\nher face up to have the tears kissed away.", "He could do nothing but\ncomfort her, and lull her into dreaming on.", "A letter would be a\ndreadfully abrupt way of awakening her!", "Yet there was truth in what Adam\nsaid--that it would save her from a lengthened delusion, which might be\nworse than a sharp immediate pain.", "And it was the only way of satisfying\nAdam, who must be satisfied, for more reasons than one.", "If he could have\nseen her again!", "But that was impossible; there was such a thorny hedge\nof hindrances between them, and an imprudence would be fatal.", "And yet,\nif he COULD see her again, what good would it do?", "Only cause him to\nsuffer more from the sight of her distress and the remembrance of it.", "Away from him she was surrounded by all the motives to self-control.", "A sudden dread here fell like a shadow across his imagination--the dread\nlest she should do something violent in her grief; and close upon that\ndread came another, which deepened the shadow.", "But he shook them off\nwith the force of youth and hope.", "What was the ground for painting the\nfuture in that dark way?", "It was just as likely to be the reverse.", "Arthur\ntold himself he did not deserve that things should turn out badly.", "He\nhad never meant beforehand to do anything his conscience disapproved;\nhe had been led on by circumstances.", "There was a sort of implicit\nconfidence in him that he was really such a good fellow at bottom,\nProvidence would not treat him harshly.", "At all events, he couldn't help what would come now: all he could do\nwas to take what seemed the best course at the present moment.", "And he\npersuaded himself that that course was to make the way open between\nAdam and Hetty.", "Her heart might really turn to Adam, as he said, after a\nwhile; and in that case there would have been no great harm done, since\nit was still Adam's ardent wish to make her his wife.", "To be sure, Adam\nwas deceived--deceived in a way that Arthur would have resented as a\ndeep wrong if it had been practised on himself.", "That was a reflection\nthat marred the consoling prospect.", "Arthur's cheeks even burned in\nmingled shame and irritation at the thought.", "But what could a man do in\nsuch a dilemma?", "He was bound in honour to say no word that could injure\nHetty: his first duty was to guard her.", "He would never have told or\nacted a lie on his own account.", "Good God!", "What a miserable fool he was\nto have brought himself into such a dilemma; and yet, if ever a man had\nexcuses, he had.", "(Pity that consequences are determined not by excuses\nbut by actions!)", "Well, the letter must be written; it was the only means that promised\na solution of the difficulty.", "The tears came into Arthur's eyes as he\nthought of Hetty reading it; but it would be almost as hard for him\nto write it; he was not doing anything easy to himself; and this\nlast thought helped him to arrive at a conclusion.", "He could never\ndeliberately have taken a step which inflicted pain on another and left\nhimself at ease.", "Even a movement of jealousy at the thought of giving up\nHetty to Adam went to convince him that he was making a sacrifice.", "When once he had come to this conclusion, he turned Meg round and set\noff home again in a canter.", "The letter should be written the first\nthing, and the rest of the day would be filled up with other business:\nhe should have no time to look behind him.", "Happily, Irwine and Gawaine\nwere coming to dinner, and by twelve o'clock the next day he should\nhave left the Chase miles behind him.", "There was some security in this\nconstant occupation against an uncontrollable impulse seizing him to\nrush to Hetty and thrust into her hand some mad proposition that would\nundo everything.", "Faster and faster went the sensitive Meg, at every\nslight sign from her rider, till the canter had passed into a swift\ngallop.", "\"I thought they said th' young mester war took ill last night,\" said\nsour old John, the groom, at dinner-time in the servants' hall.", "\"He's\nbeen ridin' fit to split the mare i' two this forenoon.\"", "\"That's happen one o' the symptims, John,\" said the facetious coachman.", "\"Then I wish he war let blood for 't, that's all,\" said John, grimly.", "Adam had been early at the Chase to know how Arthur was, and had been\nrelieved from all anxiety about the effects of his blow by learning\nthat he was gone out for a ride.", "At five o'clock he was punctually there\nagain, and sent up word of his arrival.", "In a few minutes Pym came down\nwith a letter in his hand and gave it to Adam, saying that the captain\nwas too busy to see him, and had written everything he had to say.", "The letter was directed to Adam, but he went out of doors again before\nopening it.", "It contained a sealed enclosure directed to Hetty.", "On the\ninside of the cover Adam read:\n\n\n\"In the enclosed letter I have written everything you wish.", "I leave it\nto you to decide whether you will be doing best to deliver it to Hetty\nor to return it to me.", "Ask yourself once more whether you are not taking\na measure which may pain her more than mere silence.", "\"There is no need for our seeing each other again now.", "We shall meet\nwith better feelings some months hence.", "\"A.D.\"\n\n\n\"Perhaps he's i' th' right on 't not to see me,\" thought Adam.", "\"It's\nno use meeting to say more hard words, and it's no use meeting to shake\nhands and say we're friends again.", "We're not friends, an' it's better\nnot to pretend it.", "I know forgiveness is a man's duty, but, to my\nthinking, that can only mean as you're to give up all thoughts o' taking\nrevenge: it can never mean as you're t' have your old feelings back\nagain, for that's not possible.", "He's not the same man to me, and I can't\nfeel the same towards him.", "God help me!", "I don't know whether I feel the\nsame towards anybody: I seem as if I'd been measuring my work from a\nfalse line, and had got it all to measure over again.\"", "But the question about delivering the letter to Hetty soon absorbed\nAdam's thoughts.", "Arthur had procured some relief to himself by throwing\nthe decision on Adam with a warning; and Adam, who was not given to\nhesitation, hesitated here.", "He determined to feel his way--to ascertain\nas well as he could what was Hetty's state of mind before he decided on\ndelivering the letter." ]

[ "And if there were such a thing as taking averages\nof feeling, it would certainly be found that in the hunting and shooting\nseasons regret, self-reproach, and mortified pride weigh lighter on\ncountry gentlemen than in late spring and summer.", "Arthur would so gladly have persuaded himself\nthat he had done no harm!", "Struggles and\nresolves had transformed themselves into compunction and anxiety.", "Our deeds determine us,\nas much as we determine our deeds, and until we know what has been or\nwill be the peculiar combination of outward with inward facts, which\nconstitutes a man's critical actions, it will be better not to think\nourselves wise about his character.", "He\nhad never meant beforehand to do anything his conscience disapproved;\nhe had been led on by circumstances.", "That was a reflection\nthat marred the consoling prospect.", "Arthur's cheeks even burned in\nmingled shame and irritation at the thought.", "Good God!", "\"I thought they said th' young mester war took ill last night,\" said\nsour old John, the groom, at dinner-time in the servants' hall.", "\"Then I wish he war let blood for 't, that's all,\" said John, grimly." ]

[ "Faster and faster went the sensitive Meg, at every\nslight sign from her rider, till the canter had passed into a swift\ngallop.", "And if no one had told him the contrary, he\ncould have persuaded himself so much better.", "And he\npersuaded himself that that course was to make the way open between\nAdam and Hetty.", "He had only an hour or two to make up\nhis mind in, and he must get clear and calm.", "There is a terrible coercion in\nour deeds, which may first turn the honest man into a deceiver and then\nreconcile him to the change, for this reason--that the second wrong\npresents itself to him in the guise of the only practicable right.", "When once he had come to this conclusion, he turned Meg round and set\noff home again in a canter.", "He was\ndistressed for Hetty's sake, and distressed for his own, that he\nmust leave her behind.", "He would carry\nHetty away, and all other considerations might go to....", "Our moral sense learns the manners of good\nsociety and smiles when others smile, but when some rude person gives\nrough names to our actions, she is apt to take part against us.", "Ask yourself once more whether you are not taking\na measure which may pain her more than mere silence." ]

[ "In this state of mind the four walls of his room made an intolerable\nprison to him; they seemed to hem in and press down upon him all the\ncrowd of contradictory thoughts and conflicting feelings, some of which\nwould fly away in the open air.", "He had only an hour or two to make up\nhis mind in, and he must get clear and calm.", "Once on Meg's back, in\nthe fresh air of that fine morning, he should be more master of the\nsituation.", "The pretty creature arched her bay neck in the sunshine, and pawed the\ngravel, and trembled with pleasure when her master stroked her nose, and\npatted her, and talked to her even in a more caressing tone than usual.", "He loved her the better because she knew nothing of his secrets.", "But\nMeg was quite as well acquainted with her master's mental state as many\nothers of her sex with the mental condition of the nice young gentlemen\ntowards whom their hearts are in a state of fluttering expectation.", "Arthur cantered for five miles beyond the Chase, till he was at the foot\nof a hill where there were no hedges or trees to hem in the road.", "Then\nhe threw the bridle on Meg's neck and prepared to make up his mind.", "Hetty knew that their meeting yesterday must be the last before Arthur\nwent away--there was no possibility of their contriving another without\nexciting suspicion--and she was like a frightened child, unable to think\nof anything, only able to cry at the mention of parting, and then put\nher face up to have the tears kissed away.", "He could do nothing but\ncomfort her, and lull her into dreaming on.", "A letter would be a\ndreadfully abrupt way of awakening her!" ]

[ "\n\nARTHUR did not pass a sleepless night; he slept long and well.", "For sleep\ncomes to the perplexed--if the perplexed are only weary enough.", "But at\nseven he rang his bell and astonished Pym by declaring he was going to\nget up, and must have breakfast brought to him at eight.", "\"And see that my mare is saddled at half-past eight, and tell my\ngrandfather when he's down that I'm better this morning and am gone for\na ride.\"", "He had been awake an hour, and could rest in bed no longer.", "In bed our\nyesterdays are too oppressive: if a man can only get up, though it\nbe but to whistle or to smoke, he has a present which offers some\nresistance to the past--sensations which assert themselves against\ntyrannous memories.", "And if there were such a thing as taking averages\nof feeling, it would certainly be found that in the hunting and shooting\nseasons regret, self-reproach, and mortified pride weigh lighter on\ncountry gentlemen than in late spring and summer.", "Arthur felt that he\nshould be more of a man on horseback.", "Even the presence of Pym, waiting\non him with the usual deference, was a reassurance to him after the\nscenes of yesterday.", "For, with Arthur's sensitiveness to opinion,\nthe loss of Adam's respect was a shock to his self-contentment which\nsuffused his imagination with the sense that he had sunk in all eyes--as\na sudden shock of fear from some real peril makes a nervous woman afraid\neven to step, because all her perceptions are suffused with a sense of\ndanger.", "\"A.D.\"\n\n\n\"Perhaps he's i' th' right on 't not to see me,\" thought Adam.", "\"It's\nno use meeting to say more hard words, and it's no use meeting to shake\nhands and say we're friends again.", "We're not friends, an' it's better\nnot to pretend it.", "I know forgiveness is a man's duty, but, to my\nthinking, that can only mean as you're to give up all thoughts o' taking\nrevenge: it can never mean as you're t' have your old feelings back\nagain, for that's not possible.", "He's not the same man to me, and I can't\nfeel the same towards him.", "God help me!", "I don't know whether I feel the\nsame towards anybody: I seem as if I'd been measuring my work from a\nfalse line, and had got it all to measure over again.\"", "But the question about delivering the letter to Hetty soon absorbed\nAdam's thoughts.", "Arthur had procured some relief to himself by throwing\nthe decision on Adam with a warning; and Adam, who was not given to\nhesitation, hesitated here.", "He determined to feel his way--to ascertain\nas well as he could what was Hetty's state of mind before he decided on\ndelivering the letter." ]

[ "\n\nTHE next Sunday Adam joined the Poysers on their way out of church,\nhoping for an invitation to go home with them.", "He had the letter in\nhis pocket, and was anxious to have an opportunity of talking to Hetty\nalone.", "He could not see her face at church, for she had changed her\nseat, and when he came up to her to shake hands, her manner was doubtful\nand constrained.", "He expected this, for it was the first time she had\nmet him since she had been aware that he had seen her with Arthur in the\nGrove.", "\"Come, you'll go on with us, Adam,\" Mr. Poyser said when they reached\nthe turning; and as soon as they were in the fields Adam ventured to\noffer his arm to Hetty.", "The children soon gave them an opportunity of\nlingering behind a little, and then Adam said:\n\n\"Will you contrive for me to walk out in the garden a bit with you this\nevening, if it keeps fine, Hetty?", "I've something partic'lar to talk to\nyou about.\"", "Hetty said, \"Very well.\"", "She was really as anxious as Adam was that she\nshould have some private talk with him.", "She wondered what he thought of\nher and Arthur.", "He must have seen them kissing, she knew, but she had\nno conception of the scene that had taken place between Arthur and Adam.", "Her first feeling had been that Adam would be very angry with her, and\nperhaps would tell her aunt and uncle, but it never entered her mind\nthat he would dare to say anything to Captain Donnithorne.", "It was a\nrelief to her that he behaved so kindly to her to-day, and wanted to\nspeak to her alone, for she had trembled when she found he was going\nhome with them lest he should mean \"to tell.\"", "But, now he wanted to talk\nto her by herself, she should learn what he thought and what he meant to\ndo.", "She felt a certain confidence that she could persuade him not to\ndo anything she did not want him to do; she could perhaps even make him\nbelieve that she didn't care for Arthur; and as long as Adam thought\nthere was any hope of her having him, he would do just what she liked,\nshe knew.", "Besides, she MUST go on seeming to encourage Adam, lest her\nuncle and aunt should be angry and suspect her of having some secret\nlover.", "Hetty's little brain was busy with this combination as she hung on\nAdam's arm and said \"yes\" or \"no\" to some slight observations of his\nabout the many hawthorn-berries there would be for the birds this\nnext winter, and the low-hanging clouds that would hardly hold up till\nmorning.", "And when they rejoined her aunt and uncle, she could pursue her\nthoughts without interruption, for Mr. Poyser held that though a young\nman might like to have the woman he was courting on his arm, he would\nnevertheless be glad of a little reasonable talk about business the\nwhile; and, for his own part, he was curious to hear the most recent\nnews about the Chase Farm.", "So, through the rest of the walk, he claimed\nAdam's conversation for himself, and Hetty laid her small plots and\nimagined her little scenes of cunning blandishment, as she walked along\nby the hedgerows on honest Adam's arm, quite as well as if she had been\nan elegantly clad coquette alone in her boudoir.", "For if a country beauty\nin clumsy shoes be only shallow-hearted enough, it is astonishing how\nclosely her mental processes may resemble those of a lady in society\nand crinoline, who applies her refined intellect to the problem of\ncommitting indiscretions without compromising herself.", "Perhaps the\nresemblance was not much the less because Hetty felt very unhappy all\nthe while.", "The parting with Arthur was a double pain to her--mingling\nwith the tumult of passion and vanity there was a dim undefined fear\nthat the future might shape itself in some way quite unlike her dream.", "She clung to the comforting hopeful words Arthur had uttered in their\nlast meeting--\"I shall come again at Christmas, and then we will see\nwhat can be done.\"", "She clung to the belief that he was so fond of\nher, he would never be happy without her; and she still hugged her\nsecret--that a great gentleman loved her--with gratified pride, as a\nsuperiority over all the girls she knew.", "But the uncertainty of the\nfuture, the possibilities to which she could give no shape, began to\npress upon her like the invisible weight of air; she was alone on her\nlittle island of dreams, and all around her was the dark unknown water\nwhere Arthur was gone.", "She could gather no elation of spirits now by\nlooking forward, but only by looking backward to build confidence on\npast words and caresses.", "But occasionally, since Thursday evening, her\ndim anxieties had been almost lost behind the more definite fear that\nAdam might betray what he knew to her uncle and aunt, and his sudden\nproposition to talk with her alone had set her thoughts to work in a\nnew way.", "She was eager not to lose this evening's opportunity; and after\ntea, when the boys were going into the garden and Totty begged to go\nwith them, Hetty said, with an alacrity that surprised Mrs. Poyser,\n\"I'll go with her, Aunt.\"", "It did not seem at all surprising that Adam said he would go too,\nand soon he and Hetty were left alone together on the walk by the\nfilbert-trees, while the boys were busy elsewhere gathering the large\nunripe nuts to play at \"cob-nut\" with, and Totty was watching them with\na puppylike air of contemplation.", "It was but a short time--hardly two\nmonths--since Adam had had his mind filled with delicious hopes as he\nstood by Hetty's side in this garden.", "The remembrance of that scene had\noften been with him since Thursday evening: the sunlight through\nthe apple-tree boughs, the red bunches, Hetty's sweet blush.", "It came\nimportunately now, on this sad evening, with the low-hanging clouds, but\nhe tried to suppress it, lest some emotion should impel him to say more\nthan was needful for Hetty's sake.", "\"After what I saw on Thursday night, Hetty,\" he began, \"you won't think\nme making too free in what I'm going to say.", "If you was being courted by\nany man as 'ud make you his wife, and I'd known you was fond of him and\nmeant to have him, I should have no right to speak a word to you about\nit; but when I see you're being made love to by a gentleman as can never\nmarry you, and doesna think o' marrying you, I feel bound t' interfere\nfor you.", "I can't speak about it to them as are i' the place o' your\nparents, for that might bring worse trouble than's needful.\"", "Adam's words relieved one of Hetty's fears, but they also carried a\nmeaning which sickened her with a strengthened foreboding.", "She was pale\nand trembling, and yet she would have angrily contradicted Adam, if she\nhad dared to betray her feelings.", "But she was silent.", "\"You're so young, you know, Hetty,\" he went on, almost tenderly, \"and y'\nhaven't seen much o' what goes on in the world.", "It's right for me to\ndo what I can to save you from getting into trouble for want o' your\nknowing where you're being led to.", "If anybody besides me knew what I\nknow about your meeting a gentleman and having fine presents from him,\nthey'd speak light on you, and you'd lose your character.", "And besides\nthat, you'll have to suffer in your feelings, wi' giving your love to\na man as can never marry you, so as he might take care of you all your\nlife.\"", "Adam paused and looked at Hetty, who was plucking the leaves from the\nfilbert-trees and tearing them up in her hand.", "Her little plans and\npreconcerted speeches had all forsaken her, like an ill-learnt lesson,\nunder the terrible agitation produced by Adam's words.", "There was a cruel\nforce in their calm certainty which threatened to grapple and crush her\nflimsy hopes and fancies.", "She wanted to resist them--she wanted to throw\nthem off with angry contradiction--but the determination to conceal what\nshe felt still governed her.", "It was nothing more than a blind prompting\nnow, for she was unable to calculate the effect of her words.", "\"You've no right to say as I love him,\" she said, faintly, but\nimpetuously, plucking another rough leaf and tearing it up.", "She was very\nbeautiful in her paleness and agitation, with her dark childish eyes\ndilated and her breath shorter than usual.", "Adam's heart yearned over her\nas he looked at her.", "Ah, if he could but comfort her, and soothe her,\nand save her from this pain; if he had but some sort of strength that\nwould enable him to rescue her poor troubled mind, as he would have\nrescued her body in the face of all danger!", "\"I doubt it must be so, Hetty,\" he said, tenderly; \"for I canna believe\nyou'd let any man kiss you by yourselves, and give you a gold box with\nhis hair, and go a-walking i' the Grove to meet him, if you didna love\nhim.", "I'm not blaming you, for I know it 'ud begin by little and little,\ntill at last you'd not be able to throw it off.", "It's him I blame for\nstealing your love i' that way, when he knew he could never make you\nthe right amends.", "He's been trifling with you, and making a plaything of\nyou, and caring nothing about you as a man ought to care.\"", "\"Yes, he does care for me; I know better nor you,\" Hetty burst out.", "Everything was forgotten but the pain and anger she felt at Adam's\nwords.", "\"Nay, Hetty,\" said Adam, \"if he'd cared for you rightly, he'd never\nha' behaved so.", "He told me himself he meant nothing by his kissing and\npresents, and he wanted to make me believe as you thought light of 'em\ntoo.", "But I know better nor that.", "I can't help thinking as you've been\ntrusting to his loving you well enough to marry you, for all he's a\ngentleman.", "And that's why I must speak to you about it, Hetty, for\nfear you should be deceiving yourself.", "It's never entered his head the\nthought o' marrying you.\"", "\"How do you know?", "How durst you say so?\"", "said Hetty, pausing in her walk\nand trembling.", "The terrible decision of Adam's tone shook her with fear.", "She had no presence of mind left for the reflection that Arthur would\nhave his reasons for not telling the truth to Adam.", "Her words and look\nwere enough to determine Adam: he must give her the letter.", "\"Perhaps you can't believe me, Hetty, because you think too well of\nhim--because you think he loves you better than he does.", "But I've got\na letter i' my pocket, as he wrote himself for me to give you.", "I've not\nread the letter, but he says he's told you the truth in it.", "But before\nI give you the letter, consider, Hetty, and don't let it take too much\nhold on you.", "It wouldna ha' been good for you if he'd wanted to do such\na mad thing as marry you: it 'ud ha' led to no happiness i' th' end.\"", "Hetty said nothing; she felt a revival of hope at the mention of a\nletter which Adam had not read.", "There would be something quite different\nin it from what he thought.", "Adam took out the letter, but he held it in his hand still, while he\nsaid, in a tone of tender entreaty, \"Don't you bear me ill will, Hetty,\nbecause I'm the means o' bringing you this pain.", "God knows I'd ha' borne\na good deal worse for the sake o' sparing it you.", "And think--there's\nnobody but me knows about this, and I'll take care of you as if I was\nyour brother.", "You're the same as ever to me, for I don't believe you've\ndone any wrong knowingly.\"", "Hetty had laid her hand on the letter, but Adam did not loose it till\nhe had done speaking.", "She took no notice of what he said--she had not\nlistened; but when he loosed the letter, she put it into her pocket,\nwithout opening it, and then began to walk more quickly, as if she\nwanted to go in.", "\"You're in the right not to read it just yet,\" said Adam.", "\"Read it when\nyou're by yourself.", "But stay out a little bit longer, and let us call\nthe children: you look so white and ill, your aunt may take notice of\nit.\"", "Hetty heard the warning.", "It recalled to her the necessity of rallying\nher native powers of concealment, which had half given way under the\nshock of Adam's words.", "And she had the letter in her pocket: she was\nsure there was comfort in that letter in spite of Adam.", "She ran to find\nTotty, and soon reappeared with recovered colour, leading Totty, who was\nmaking a sour face because she had been obliged to throw away an unripe\napple that she had set her small teeth in.", "\"Hegh, Totty,\" said Adam, \"come and ride on my shoulder--ever so\nhigh--you'll touch the tops o' the trees.\"", "What little child ever refused to be comforted by that glorious sense of\nbeing seized strongly and swung upward?", "I don't believe Ganymede cried\nwhen the eagle carried him away, and perhaps deposited him on Jove's\nshoulder at the end.", "Totty smiled down complacently from her secure\nheight, and pleasant was the sight to the mother's eyes, as she stood at\nthe house door and saw Adam coming with his small burden.", "\"Bless your sweet face, my pet,\" she said, the mother's strong love\nfilling her keen eyes with mildness, as Totty leaned forward and put\nout her arms.", "She had no eyes for Hetty at that moment, and only said,\nwithout looking at her, \"You go and draw some ale, Hetty; the gells are\nboth at the cheese.\"", "After the ale had been drawn and her uncle's pipe lighted, there was\nTotty to be taken to bed, and brought down again in her night-gown\nbecause she would cry instead of going to sleep.", "Then there was supper\nto be got ready, and Hetty must be continually in the way to give help.", "Adam stayed till he knew Mrs. Poyser expected him to go, engaging her\nand her husband in talk as constantly as he could, for the sake of\nleaving Hetty more at ease.", "He lingered, because he wanted to see her\nsafely through that evening, and he was delighted to find how much\nself-command she showed.", "He knew she had not had time to read the\nletter, but he did not know she was buoyed up by a secret hope that the\nletter would contradict everything he had said.", "It was hard work for him\nto leave her--hard to think that he should not know for days how she was\nbearing her trouble.", "But he must go at last, and all he could do was\nto press her hand gently as he said \"Good-bye,\" and hope she would take\nthat as a sign that if his love could ever be a refuge for her, it was\nthere the same as ever.", "How busy his thoughts were, as he walked home,\nin devising pitying excuses for her folly, in referring all her weakness\nto the sweet lovingness of her nature, in blaming Arthur, with less and\nless inclination to admit that his conduct might be extenuated too!", "His\nexasperation at Hetty's suffering--and also at the sense that she was\npossibly thrust for ever out of his own reach--deafened him to any\nplea for the miscalled friend who had wrought this misery.", "Adam was a\nclear-sighted, fair-minded man--a fine fellow, indeed, morally as well\nas physically.", "But if Aristides the Just was ever in love and jealous,\nhe was at that moment not perfectly magnanimous.", "And I cannot pretend\nthat Adam, in these painful days, felt nothing but righteous indignation\nand loving pity.", "He was bitterly jealous, and in proportion as his love\nmade him indulgent in his judgment of Hetty, the bitterness found a vent\nin his feeling towards Arthur.", "\"Her head was allays likely to be turned,\" he thought, \"when a\ngentleman, with his fine manners, and fine clothes, and his white hands,\nand that way o' talking gentlefolks have, came about her, making up to\nher in a bold way, as a man couldn't do that was only her equal; and\nit's much if she'll ever like a common man now.\"", "He could not help\ndrawing his own hands out of his pocket and looking at them--at the hard\npalms and the broken finger-nails.", "\"I'm a roughish fellow, altogether; I\ndon't know, now I come to think on't, what there is much for a woman to\nlike about me; and yet I might ha' got another wife easy enough, if\nI hadn't set my heart on her.", "But it's little matter what other women\nthink about me, if she can't love me.", "She might ha' loved me, perhaps,\nas likely as any other man--there's nobody hereabouts as I'm afraid of,\nif he hadn't come between us; but now I shall belike be hateful to her\nbecause I'm so different to him.", "And yet there's no telling--she may\nturn round the other way, when she finds he's made light of her all the\nwhile.", "She may come to feel the vally of a man as 'ud be thankful to be\nbound to her all his life.", "But I must put up with it whichever way it\nis--I've only to be thankful it's been no worse.", "I am not th' only man\nthat's got to do without much happiness i' this life.", "There's many a\ngood bit o' work done with a bad heart.", "It's God's will, and that's\nenough for us: we shouldn't know better how things ought to be than He\ndoes, I reckon, if we was to spend our lives i' puzzling.", "But it 'ud ha'\ngone near to spoil my work for me, if I'd seen her brought to sorrow and\nshame, and through the man as I've always been proud to think on.", "Since\nI've been spared that, I've no right to grumble.", "When a man's got his\nlimbs whole, he can bear a smart cut or two.\"", "As Adam was getting over a stile at this point in his reflections, he\nperceived a man walking along the field before him.", "He knew it was Seth,\nreturning from an evening preaching, and made haste to overtake him.", "\"I thought thee'dst be at home before me,\" he said, as Seth turned round\nto wait for him, \"for I'm later than usual to-night.\"", "\"Well, I'm later too, for I got into talk, after meeting, with John\nBarnes, who has lately professed himself in a state of perfection,\nand I'd a question to ask him about his experience.", "It's one o' them\nsubjects that lead you further than y' expect--they don't lie along the\nstraight road.\"", "They walked along together in silence two or three minutes.", "Adam was not\ninclined to enter into the subtleties of religious experience, but he\nwas inclined to interchange a word or two of brotherly affection and\nconfidence with Seth.", "That was a rare impulse in him, much as the\nbrothers loved each other.", "They hardly ever spoke of personal matters,\nor uttered more than an allusion to their family troubles.", "Adam was\nby nature reserved in all matters of feeling, and Seth felt a certain\ntimidity towards his more practical brother.", "\"Seth, lad,\" Adam said, putting his arm on his brother's shoulder, \"hast\nheard anything from Dinah Morris since she went away?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Seth.", "\"She told me I might write her word after a while, how\nwe went on, and how mother bore up under her trouble.", "So I wrote to her\na fortnight ago, and told her about thee having a new employment, and\nhow Mother was more contented; and last Wednesday, when I called at the\npost at Treddles'on, I found a letter from her.", "I think thee'dst perhaps\nlike to read it, but I didna say anything about it because thee'st\nseemed so full of other things.", "It's quite easy t' read--she writes\nwonderful for a woman.\"", "Seth had drawn the letter from his pocket and held it out to Adam, who\nsaid, as he took it, \"Aye, lad, I've got a tough load to carry just\nnow--thee mustna take it ill if I'm a bit silenter and crustier nor\nusual.", "Trouble doesna make me care the less for thee.", "I know we shall\nstick together to the last.\"", "\"I take nought ill o' thee, Adam.", "I know well enough what it means if\nthee't a bit short wi' me now and then.\"", "\"There's Mother opening the door to look out for us,\" said Adam, as they\nmounted the slope.", "\"She's been sitting i' the dark as usual.", "Well, Gyp,\nwell, art glad to see me?\"", "Lisbeth went in again quickly and lighted a candle, for she had heard\nthe welcome rustling of footsteps on the grass, before Gyp's joyful\nbark.", "\"Eh, my lads!", "Th' hours war ne'er so long sin' I war born as they'n been\nthis blessed Sunday night.", "What can ye both ha' been doin' till this\ntime?\"", "\"Thee shouldstna sit i' the dark, Mother,\" said Adam; \"that makes the\ntime seem longer.\"", "\"Eh, what am I to do wi' burnin' candle of a Sunday, when there's on'y\nme an' it's sin to do a bit o' knittin'?", "The daylight's long enough\nfor me to stare i' the booke as I canna read.", "It 'ud be a fine way o'\nshortenin' the time, to make it waste the good candle.", "But which on\nyou's for ha'in' supper?", "Ye mun ayther be clemmed or full, I should\nthink, seein' what time o' night it is.\"", "\"I'm hungry, Mother,\" said Seth, seating himself at the little table,\nwhich had been spread ever since it was light.", "\"I've had my supper,\" said Adam.", "\"Here, Gyp,\" he added, taking some cold\npotato from the table and rubbing the rough grey head that looked up\ntowards him.", "\"Thee needstna be gi'in' th' dog,\" said Lisbeth; \"I'n fed him well\na'ready.", "I'm not like to forget him, I reckon, when he's all o' thee I\ncan get sight on.\"", "\"Come, then, Gyp,\" said Adam, \"we'll go to bed.", "Good-night, Mother; I'm\nvery tired.\"", "\"What ails him, dost know?\"", "Lisbeth said to Seth, when Adam was gone\nupstairs.", "\"He's like as if he was struck for death this day or two--he's\nso cast down.", "I found him i' the shop this forenoon, arter thee wast\ngone, a-sittin' an' doin' nothin'--not so much as a booke afore him.\"", "\"He's a deal o' work upon him just now, Mother,\" said Seth, \"and I think\nhe's a bit troubled in his mind.", "Don't you take notice of it, because it\nhurts him when you do.", "Be as kind to him as you can, Mother, and don't\nsay anything to vex him.\"", "\"Eh, what dost talk o' my vexin' him?", "An' what am I like to be but kind?", "I'll ma' him a kettle-cake for breakfast i' the mornin'.\"", "Adam, meanwhile, was reading Dinah's letter by the light of his dip\ncandle.", "DEAR BROTHER SETH--Your letter lay three days beyond my knowing of it\nat the post, for I had not money enough by me to pay the carriage, this\nbeing a time of great need and sickness here, with the rains that have\nfallen, as if the windows of heaven were opened again; and to lay\nby money, from day to day, in such a time, when there are so many in\npresent need of all things, would be a want of trust like the laying\nup of the manna.", "I speak of this, because I would not have you think me\nslow to answer, or that I had small joy in your rejoicing at the worldly\ngood that has befallen your brother Adam.", "The honour and love you bear\nhim is nothing but meet, for God has given him great gifts, and he uses\nthem as the patriarch Joseph did, who, when he was exalted to a place of\npower and trust, yet yearned with tenderness towards his parent and his\nyounger brother.", "\"My heart is knit to your aged mother since it was granted me to be near\nher in the day of trouble.", "Speak to her of me, and tell her I often bear\nher in my thoughts at evening time, when I am sitting in the dim light\nas I did with her, and we held one another's hands, and I spoke the\nwords of comfort that were given to me.", "Ah, that is a blessed time,\nisn't it, Seth, when the outward light is fading, and the body is a\nlittle wearied with its work and its labour.", "Then the inward light\nshines the brighter, and we have a deeper sense of resting on the Divine\nstrength.", "I sit on my chair in the dark room and close my eyes, and it\nis as if I was out of the body and could feel no want for evermore.", "For\nthen, the very hardship, and the sorrow, and the blindness, and the sin\nI have beheld and been ready to weep over--yea, all the anguish of the\nchildren of men, which sometimes wraps me round like sudden darkness--I\ncan bear with a willing pain, as if I was sharing the Redeemer's cross.", "For I feel it, I feel it--infinite love is suffering too--yea, in the\nfulness of knowledge it suffers, it yearns, it mourns; and that is a\nblind self-seeking which wants to be freed from the sorrow wherewith\nthe whole creation groaneth and travaileth.", "Surely it is not true\nblessedness to be free from sorrow, while there is sorrow and sin in the\nworld: sorrow is then a part of love, and love does not seek to throw it\noff.", "It is not the spirit only that tells me this--I see it in the whole\nwork and word of the Gospel.", "Is there not pleading in heaven?", "Is not the\nMan of Sorrows there in that crucified body wherewith he ascended?", "And\nis He not one with the Infinite Love itself--as our love is one with our\nsorrow?", "\"These thoughts have been much borne in on me of late, and I have seen\nwith new clearness the meaning of those words, 'If any man love me, let\nhim take up my cross.'", "I have heard this enlarged on as if it meant the\ntroubles and persecutions we bring on ourselves by confessing Jesus.", "But\nsurely that is a narrow thought.", "The true cross of the Redeemer was the\nsin and sorrow of this world--that was what lay heavy on his heart--and\nthat is the cross we shall share with him, that is the cup we must drink\nof with him, if we would have any part in that Divine Love which is one\nwith his sorrow.", "\"In my outward lot, which you ask about, I have all things and abound.", "I\nhave had constant work in the mill, though some of the other hands have\nbeen turned off for a time, and my body is greatly strengthened, so that\nI feel little weariness after long walking and speaking.", "What you say\nabout staying in your own country with your mother and brother shows me\nthat you have a true guidance; your lot is appointed there by a clear\nshowing, and to seek a greater blessing elsewhere would be like laying a\nfalse offering on the altar and expecting the fire from heaven to kindle\nit.", "My work and my joy are here among the hills, and I sometimes think\nI cling too much to my life among the people here, and should be\nrebellious if I was called away.", "\"I was thankful for your tidings about the dear friends at the Hall\nFarm, for though I sent them a letter, by my aunt's desire, after I came\nback from my sojourn among them, I have had no word from them.", "My\naunt has not the pen of a ready writer, and the work of the house is\nsufficient for the day, for she is weak in body.", "My heart cleaves to her\nand her children as the nearest of all to me in the flesh--yea, and to\nall in that house.", "I am carried away to them continually in my sleep,\nand often in the midst of work, and even of speech, the thought of them\nis borne in on me as if they were in need and trouble, which yet is dark\nto me.", "There may be some leading here; but I wait to be taught.", "You say\nthey are all well.", "\"We shall see each other again in the body, I trust, though, it may be,\nnot for a long while; for the brethren and sisters at Leeds are desirous\nto have me for a short space among them, when I have a door opened me\nagain to leave Snowfield.", "\"Farewell, dear brother--and yet not farewell.", "For those children of\nGod whom it has been granted to see each other face to face, and to\nhold communion together, and to feel the same spirit working in both can\nnever more be sundered though the hills may lie between.", "For their souls\nare enlarged for evermore by that union, and they bear one another about\nin their thoughts continually as it were a new strength.--Your faithful\nSister and fellow-worker in Christ,\n\n\"DINAH MORRIS.\"", "\"I have not skill to write the words so small as you do and my pen moves\nslow.", "And so I am straitened, and say but little of what is in my mind.", "Greet your mother for me with a kiss.", "She asked me to kiss her twice\nwhen we parted.\"", "Adam had refolded the letter, and was sitting meditatively with his head\nresting on his arm at the head of the bed, when Seth came upstairs.", "\"Hast read the letter?\"", "said Seth.", "\"Yes,\" said Adam.", "\"I don't know what I should ha' thought of her and her\nletter if I'd never seen her: I daresay I should ha' thought a preaching\nwoman hateful.", "But she's one as makes everything seem right she says\nand does, and I seemed to see her and hear her speaking when I read the\nletter.", "It's wonderful how I remember her looks and her voice.", "She'd\nmake thee rare and happy, Seth; she's just the woman for thee.\"", "\"It's no use thinking o' that,\" said Seth, despondingly.", "\"She spoke so\nfirm, and she's not the woman to say one thing and mean another.\"", "\"Nay, but her feelings may grow different.", "A woman may get to love by\ndegrees--the best fire dosna flare up the soonest.", "I'd have thee go and\nsee her by and by: I'd make it convenient for thee to be away three\nor four days, and it 'ud be no walk for thee--only between twenty and\nthirty mile.\"", "\"I should like to see her again, whether or no, if she wouldna be\ndispleased with me for going,\" said Seth.", "\"She'll be none displeased,\" said Adam emphatically, getting up and\nthrowing off his coat.", "\"It might be a great happiness to us all if she'd\nhave thee, for mother took to her so wonderful and seemed so contented\nto be with her.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Seth, rather timidly, \"and Dinah's fond o' Hetty too; she\nthinks a deal about her.\"", "Adam made no reply to that, and no other word but \"good-night\" passed\nbetween them." ]

[ "But she was silent.", "Her little plans and\npreconcerted speeches had all forsaken her, like an ill-learnt lesson,\nunder the terrible agitation produced by Adam's words.", "And think--there's\nnobody but me knows about this, and I'll take care of you as if I was\nyour brother.", "\"Hegh, Totty,\" said Adam, \"come and ride on my shoulder--ever so\nhigh--you'll touch the tops o' the trees.\"", "And yet there's no telling--she may\nturn round the other way, when she finds he's made light of her all the\nwhile.", "\"I've had my supper,\" said Adam.", "\"Thee needstna be gi'in' th' dog,\" said Lisbeth; \"I'n fed him well\na'ready.", "\"I was thankful for your tidings about the dear friends at the Hall\nFarm, for though I sent them a letter, by my aunt's desire, after I came\nback from my sojourn among them, I have had no word from them.", "For those children of\nGod whom it has been granted to see each other face to face, and to\nhold communion together, and to feel the same spirit working in both can\nnever more be sundered though the hills may lie between.", "She asked me to kiss her twice\nwhen we parted.\"" ]

[ "It was nothing more than a blind prompting\nnow, for she was unable to calculate the effect of her words.", "Hetty heard the warning.", "\"I doubt it must be so, Hetty,\" he said, tenderly; \"for I canna believe\nyou'd let any man kiss you by yourselves, and give you a gold box with\nhis hair, and go a-walking i' the Grove to meet him, if you didna love\nhim.", "I'm not blaming you, for I know it 'ud begin by little and little,\ntill at last you'd not be able to throw it off.", "\"I'm hungry, Mother,\" said Seth, seating himself at the little table,\nwhich had been spread ever since it was light.", "They walked along together in silence two or three minutes.", "\"What ails him, dost know?\"", "It was but a short time--hardly two\nmonths--since Adam had had his mind filled with delicious hopes as he\nstood by Hetty's side in this garden.", "\"She's been sitting i' the dark as usual.", "She asked me to kiss her twice\nwhen we parted.\"" ]

[ "He could not help\ndrawing his own hands out of his pocket and looking at them--at the hard\npalms and the broken finger-nails.", "\"I'm a roughish fellow, altogether; I\ndon't know, now I come to think on't, what there is much for a woman to\nlike about me; and yet I might ha' got another wife easy enough, if\nI hadn't set my heart on her.", "But it's little matter what other women\nthink about me, if she can't love me.", "She might ha' loved me, perhaps,\nas likely as any other man--there's nobody hereabouts as I'm afraid of,\nif he hadn't come between us; but now I shall belike be hateful to her\nbecause I'm so different to him.", "And yet there's no telling--she may\nturn round the other way, when she finds he's made light of her all the\nwhile.", "She may come to feel the vally of a man as 'ud be thankful to be\nbound to her all his life.", "But I must put up with it whichever way it\nis--I've only to be thankful it's been no worse.", "I am not th' only man\nthat's got to do without much happiness i' this life.", "There's many a\ngood bit o' work done with a bad heart.", "It's God's will, and that's\nenough for us: we shouldn't know better how things ought to be than He\ndoes, I reckon, if we was to spend our lives i' puzzling.", "But it 'ud ha'\ngone near to spoil my work for me, if I'd seen her brought to sorrow and\nshame, and through the man as I've always been proud to think on." ]

[ "\n\nTHE next Sunday Adam joined the Poysers on their way out of church,\nhoping for an invitation to go home with them.", "He had the letter in\nhis pocket, and was anxious to have an opportunity of talking to Hetty\nalone.", "He could not see her face at church, for she had changed her\nseat, and when he came up to her to shake hands, her manner was doubtful\nand constrained.", "He expected this, for it was the first time she had\nmet him since she had been aware that he had seen her with Arthur in the\nGrove.", "\"Come, you'll go on with us, Adam,\" Mr. Poyser said when they reached\nthe turning; and as soon as they were in the fields Adam ventured to\noffer his arm to Hetty.", "The children soon gave them an opportunity of\nlingering behind a little, and then Adam said:\n\n\"Will you contrive for me to walk out in the garden a bit with you this\nevening, if it keeps fine, Hetty?", "I've something partic'lar to talk to\nyou about.\"", "Hetty said, \"Very well.\"", "She was really as anxious as Adam was that she\nshould have some private talk with him.", "She wondered what he thought of\nher and Arthur.", "\"It's no use thinking o' that,\" said Seth, despondingly.", "\"She spoke so\nfirm, and she's not the woman to say one thing and mean another.\"", "\"Nay, but her feelings may grow different.", "A woman may get to love by\ndegrees--the best fire dosna flare up the soonest.", "I'd have thee go and\nsee her by and by: I'd make it convenient for thee to be away three\nor four days, and it 'ud be no walk for thee--only between twenty and\nthirty mile.\"", "\"I should like to see her again, whether or no, if she wouldna be\ndispleased with me for going,\" said Seth.", "\"She'll be none displeased,\" said Adam emphatically, getting up and\nthrowing off his coat.", "\"It might be a great happiness to us all if she'd\nhave thee, for mother took to her so wonderful and seemed so contented\nto be with her.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Seth, rather timidly, \"and Dinah's fond o' Hetty too; she\nthinks a deal about her.\"", "Adam made no reply to that, and no other word but \"good-night\" passed\nbetween them." ]

[ "\n\nIT was no longer light enough to go to bed without a candle, even in\nMrs. Poyser's early household, and Hetty carried one with her as she\nwent up at last to her bedroom soon after Adam was gone, and bolted the\ndoor behind her.", "Now she would read her letter.", "It must--it must have comfort in it.", "How\nwas Adam to know the truth?", "It was always likely he should say what he\ndid say.", "She set down the candle and took out the letter.", "It had a faint scent of\nroses, which made her feel as if Arthur were close to her.", "She put it to\nher lips, and a rush of remembered sensations for a moment or two swept\naway all fear.", "But her heart began to flutter strangely, and her hands\nto tremble as she broke the seal.", "She read slowly; it was not easy for\nher to read a gentleman's handwriting, though Arthur had taken pains to\nwrite plainly.", "\"DEAREST HETTY--I have spoken truly when I have said that I loved you,\nand I shall never forget our love.", "I shall be your true friend as long\nas life lasts, and I hope to prove this to you in many ways.", "If I say\nanything to pain you in this letter, do not believe it is for want of\nlove and tenderness towards you, for there is nothing I would not do\nfor you, if I knew it to be really for your happiness.", "I cannot bear to\nthink of my little Hetty shedding tears when I am not there to kiss them\naway; and if I followed only my own inclinations, I should be with her\nat this moment instead of writing.", "It is very hard for me to part from\nher--harder still for me to write words which may seem unkind, though\nthey spring from the truest kindness.", "\"Dear, dear Hetty, sweet as our love has been to me, sweet as it would\nbe to me for you to love me always, I feel that it would have been\nbetter for us both if we had never had that happiness, and that it is\nmy duty to ask you to love me and care for me as little as you can.", "The\nfault has all been mine, for though I have been unable to resist the\nlonging to be near you, I have felt all the while that your affection\nfor me might cause you grief.", "I ought to have resisted my feelings.", "I\nshould have done so, if I had been a better fellow than I am; but now,\nsince the past cannot be altered, I am bound to save you from any evil\nthat I have power to prevent.", "And I feel it would be a great evil for\nyou if your affections continued so fixed on me that you could think of\nno other man who might be able to make you happier by his love than I\never can, and if you continued to look towards something in the future\nwhich cannot possibly happen.", "For, dear Hetty, if I were to do what you\none day spoke of, and make you my wife, I should do what you yourself\nwould come to feel was for your misery instead of your welfare.", "I know\nyou can never be happy except by marrying a man in your own station; and\nif I were to marry you now, I should only be adding to any wrong I have\ndone, besides offending against my duty in the other relations of life.", "You know nothing, dear Hetty, of the world in which I must always live,\nand you would soon begin to dislike me, because there would be so little\nin which we should be alike.", "\"And since I cannot marry you, we must part--we must try not to feel\nlike lovers any more.", "I am miserable while I say this, but nothing else\ncan be.", "Be angry with me, my sweet one, I deserve it; but do not believe\nthat I shall not always care for you--always be grateful to you--always\nremember my Hetty; and if any trouble should come that we do not now\nforesee, trust in me to do everything that lies in my power.", "\"I have told you where you are to direct a letter to, if you want to\nwrite, but I put it down below lest you should have forgotten.", "Do not\nwrite unless there is something I can really do for you; for, dear\nHetty, we must try to think of each other as little as we can.", "Forgive\nme, and try to forget everything about me, except that I shall be, as\nlong as I live, your affectionate friend,\n\n\"ARTHUR DONNITHORNE.\"", "Slowly Hetty had read this letter; and when she looked up from it there\nwas the reflection of a blanched face in the old dim glass--a white\nmarble face with rounded childish forms, but with something sadder than\na child's pain in it.", "Hetty did not see the face--she saw nothing--she\nonly felt that she was cold and sick and trembling.", "The letter shook and\nrustled in her hand.", "She laid it down.", "It was a horrible sensation--this\ncold and trembling.", "It swept away the very ideas that produced it, and\nHetty got up to reach a warm cloak from her clothes-press, wrapped it\nround her, and sat as if she were thinking of nothing but getting warm.", "Presently she took up the letter with a firmer hand, and began to read\nit through again.", "The tears came this time--great rushing tears that\nblinded her and blotched the paper.", "She felt nothing but that Arthur was\ncruel--cruel to write so, cruel not to marry her.", "Reasons why he could\nnot marry her had no existence for her mind; how could she believe in\nany misery that could come to her from the fulfilment of all she had\nbeen longing for and dreaming of?", "She had not the ideas that could make\nup the notion of that misery.", "As she threw down the letter again, she caught sight of her face in the\nglass; it was reddened now, and wet with tears; it was almost like a\ncompanion that she might complain to--that would pity her.", "She leaned\nforward on her elbows, and looked into those dark overflooding eyes and\nat the quivering mouth, and saw how the tears came thicker and thicker,\nand how the mouth became convulsed with sobs.", "The shattering of all her little dream-world, the crushing blow on\nher new-born passion, afflicted her pleasure-craving nature with an\noverpowering pain that annihilated all impulse to resistance, and\nsuspended her anger.", "She sat sobbing till the candle went out, and then,\nwearied, aching, stupefied with crying, threw herself on the bed without\nundressing and went to sleep.", "There was a feeble dawn in the room when Hetty awoke, a little after\nfour o'clock, with a sense of dull misery, the cause of which broke upon\nher gradually as she began to discern the objects round her in the dim\nlight.", "And then came the frightening thought that she had to conceal her\nmisery as well as to bear it, in this dreary daylight that was coming.", "She could lie no longer.", "She got up and went towards the table: there\nlay the letter.", "She opened her treasure-drawer: there lay the ear-rings\nand the locket--the signs of all her short happiness--the signs of\nthe lifelong dreariness that was to follow it.", "Looking at the little\ntrinkets which she had once eyed and fingered so fondly as the earnest\nof her future paradise of finery, she lived back in the moments when\nthey had been given to her with such tender caresses, such strangely\npretty words, such glowing looks, which filled her with a bewildering\ndelicious surprise--they were so much sweeter than she had thought\nanything could be.", "And the Arthur who had spoken to her and looked at\nher in this way, who was present with her now--whose arm she felt round\nher, his cheek against hers, his very breath upon her--was the cruel,\ncruel Arthur who had written that letter, that letter which she snatched\nand crushed and then opened again, that she might read it once more.", "The\nhalf-benumbed mental condition which was the effect of the last night's\nviolent crying made it necessary to her to look again and see if her\nwretched thoughts were actually true--if the letter was really so cruel.", "She had to hold it close to the window, else she could not have read it\nby the faint light.", "Yes!", "It was worse--it was more cruel.", "She crushed\nit up again in anger.", "She hated the writer of that letter--hated him\nfor the very reason that she hung upon him with all her love--all the\ngirlish passion and vanity that made up her love.", "She had no tears this morning.", "She had wept them all away last night,\nand now she felt that dry-eyed morning misery, which is worse than the\nfirst shock because it has the future in it as well as the present.", "Every morning to come, as far as her imagination could stretch, she\nwould have to get up and feel that the day would have no joy for her.", "For there is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first\nmoments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is\nto have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and to have recovered\nhope.", "As Hetty began languidly to take off the clothes she had worn all\nthe night, that she might wash herself and brush her hair, she had a\nsickening sense that her life would go on in this way.", "She should always\nbe doing things she had no pleasure in, getting up to the old tasks of\nwork, seeing people she cared nothing about, going to church, and to\nTreddleston, and to tea with Mrs. Best, and carrying no happy thought\nwith her.", "For her short poisonous delights had spoiled for ever all the\nlittle joys that had once made the sweetness of her life--the new frock\nready for Treddleston Fair, the party at Mr. Britton's at Broxton wake,\nthe beaux that she would say \"No\" to for a long while, and the prospect\nof the wedding that was to come at last when she would have a silk gown\nand a great many clothes all at once.", "These things were all flat and\ndreary to her now; everything would be a weariness, and she would carry\nabout for ever a hopeless thirst and longing.", "She paused in the midst of her languid undressing and leaned against the\ndark old clothes-press.", "Her neck and arms were bare, her hair hung down\nin delicate rings--and they were just as beautiful as they were that\nnight two months ago, when she walked up and down this bed-chamber\nglowing with vanity and hope.", "She was not thinking of her neck and arms\nnow; even her own beauty was indifferent to her.", "Her eyes wandered sadly\nover the dull old chamber, and then looked out vacantly towards the\ngrowing dawn.", "Did a remembrance of Dinah come across her mind?", "Of her\nforeboding words, which had made her angry?", "Of Dinah's affectionate\nentreaty to think of her as a friend in trouble?", "No, the impression\nhad been too slight to recur.", "Any affection or comfort Dinah could\nhave given her would have been as indifferent to Hetty this morning as\neverything else was except her bruised passion.", "She was only thinking\nshe could never stay here and go on with the old life--she could better\nbear something quite new than sinking back into the old everyday round.", "She would like to run away that very morning, and never see any of the\nold faces again.", "But Hetty's was not a nature to face difficulties--to\ndare to loose her hold on the familiar and rush blindly on some unknown\ncondition.", "Hers was a luxurious and vain nature--not a passionate\none--and if she were ever to take any violent measure, she must be urged\nto it by the desperation of terror.", "There was not much room for her\nthoughts to travel in the narrow circle of her imagination, and she soon\nfixed on the one thing she would do to get away from her old life: she\nwould ask her uncle to let her go to be a lady's maid.", "Miss Lydia's maid\nwould help her to get a situation, if she knew Hetty had her uncle's\nleave.", "When she had thought of this, she fastened up her hair and began to\nwash: it seemed more possible to her to go downstairs and try to behave\nas usual.", "She would ask her uncle this very day.", "On Hetty's blooming\nhealth it would take a great deal of such mental suffering as hers to\nleave any deep impress; and when she was dressed as neatly as usual\nin her working-dress, with her hair tucked up under her little cap,\nan indifferent observer would have been more struck with the young\nroundness of her cheek and neck and the darkness of her eyes and\neyelashes than with any signs of sadness about her.", "But when she took up\nthe crushed letter and put it in her drawer, that she might lock it out\nof sight, hard smarting tears, having no relief in them as the great\ndrops had that fell last night, forced their way into her eyes.", "She\nwiped them away quickly: she must not cry in the day-time.", "Nobody should\nfind out how miserable she was, nobody should know she was disappointed\nabout anything; and the thought that the eyes of her aunt and uncle\nwould be upon her gave her the self-command which often accompanies a\ngreat dread.", "For Hetty looked out from her secret misery towards the\npossibility of their ever knowing what had happened, as the sick and\nweary prisoner might think of the possible pillory.", "They would think her\nconduct shameful, and shame was torture.", "That was poor little Hetty's\nconscience.", "So she locked up her drawer and went away to her early work.", "In the evening, when Mr. Poyser was smoking his pipe, and his\ngood-nature was therefore at its superlative moment, Hetty seized the\nopportunity of her aunt's absence to say, \"Uncle, I wish you'd let me go\nfor a lady's maid.\"", "Mr. Poyser took the pipe from his mouth and looked at Hetty in mild\nsurprise for some moments.", "She was sewing, and went on with her work\nindustriously.", "\"Why, what's put that into your head, my wench?\"", "he said at last, after\nhe had given one conservative puff.", "\"I should like it--I should like it better than farm-work.\"", "\"Nay, nay; you fancy so because you donna know it, my wench.", "It wouldn't\nbe half so good for your health, nor for your luck i' life.", "I'd like you\nto stay wi' us till you've got a good husband: you're my own niece, and\nI wouldn't have you go to service, though it was a gentleman's house, as\nlong as I've got a home for you.\"", "Mr. Poyser paused, and puffed away at his pipe.", "\"I like the needlework,\" said Hetty, \"and I should get good wages.\"", "\"Has your aunt been a bit sharp wi' you?\"", "said Mr. Poyser, not noticing\nHetty's further argument.", "\"You mustna mind that, my wench--she does it\nfor your good.", "She wishes you well; an' there isn't many aunts as are no\nkin to you 'ud ha' done by you as she has.\"", "\"No, it isn't my aunt,\" said Hetty, \"but I should like the work better.\"", "\"It was all very well for you to learn the work a bit--an' I gev my\nconsent to that fast enough, sin' Mrs. Pomfret was willing to teach you.", "For if anything was t' happen, it's well to know how to turn your hand\nto different sorts o' things.", "But I niver meant you to go to service, my\nwench; my family's ate their own bread and cheese as fur back as anybody\nknows, hanna they, Father?", "You wouldna like your grand-child to take\nwage?\"", "\"Na-a-y,\" said old Martin, with an elongation of the word, meant to make\nit bitter as well as negative, while he leaned forward and looked down\non the floor.", "\"But the wench takes arter her mother.", "I'd hard work t'\nhould HER in, an' she married i' spite o' me--a feller wi' on'y two head\no' stock when there should ha' been ten on's farm--she might well die o'\nth' inflammation afore she war thirty.\"", "It was seldom the old man made so long a speech, but his son's question\nhad fallen like a bit of dry fuel on the embers of a long unextinguished\nresentment, which had always made the grandfather more indifferent to\nHetty than to his son's children.", "Her mother's fortune had been spent by\nthat good-for-nought Sorrel, and Hetty had Sorrel's blood in her veins.", "\"Poor thing, poor thing!\"", "said Martin the younger, who was sorry to have\nprovoked this retrospective harshness.", "\"She'd but bad luck.", "But Hetty's\ngot as good a chance o' getting a solid, sober husband as any gell i'\nthis country.\"", "After throwing out this pregnant hint, Mr. Poyser recurred to his pipe\nand his silence, looking at Hetty to see if she did not give some sign\nof having renounced her ill-advised wish.", "But instead of that, Hetty,\nin spite of herself, began to cry, half out of ill temper at the denial,\nhalf out of the day's repressed sadness.", "\"Hegh, hegh!\"", "said Mr. Poyser, meaning to check her playfully, \"don't\nlet's have any crying.", "Crying's for them as ha' got no home, not for\nthem as want to get rid o' one.", "What dost think?\"", "he continued to his\nwife, who now came back into the house-place, knitting with fierce\nrapidity, as if that movement were a necessary function, like the\ntwittering of a crab's antennae.", "\"Think?", "Why, I think we shall have the fowl stole before we are much\nolder, wi' that gell forgetting to lock the pens up o' nights.", "What's\nthe matter now, Hetty?", "What are you crying at?\"", "\"Why, she's been wanting to go for a lady's maid,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"I\ntell her we can do better for her nor that.\"", "\"I thought she'd got some maggot in her head, she's gone about wi' her\nmouth buttoned up so all day.", "It's all wi' going so among them servants\nat the Chase, as we war fools for letting her.", "She thinks it 'ud be a\nfiner life than being wi' them as are akin to her and ha' brought her up\nsin' she war no bigger nor Marty.", "She thinks there's nothing belongs to\nbeing a lady's maid but wearing finer clothes nor she was born to, I'll\nbe bound.", "It's what rag she can get to stick on her as she's thinking on\nfrom morning till night, as I often ask her if she wouldn't like to be\nthe mawkin i' the field, for then she'd be made o' rags inside and out.", "I'll never gi' my consent to her going for a lady's maid, while she's\ngot good friends to take care on her till she's married to somebody\nbetter nor one o' them valets, as is neither a common man nor a\ngentleman, an' must live on the fat o' the land, an's like enough to\nstick his hands under his coat-tails and expect his wife to work for\nhim.\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"we must have a better husband for her nor\nthat, and there's better at hand.", "Come, my wench, give over crying and\nget to bed.", "I'll do better for you nor letting you go for a lady's maid.", "Let's hear no more on't.\"", "When Hetty was gone upstairs he said, \"I canna make it out as she should\nwant to go away, for I thought she'd got a mind t' Adam Bede.", "She's\nlooked like it o' late.\"", "\"Eh, there's no knowing what she's got a liking to, for things take\nno more hold on her than if she was a dried pea.", "I believe that gell,\nMolly--as is aggravatin' enough, for the matter o' that--but I believe\nshe'd care more about leaving us and the children, for all she's been\nhere but a year come Michaelmas, nor Hetty would.", "But she's got this\nnotion o' being a lady's maid wi' going among them servants--we might\nha' known what it 'ud lead to when we let her go to learn the fine work.", "But I'll put a stop to it pretty quick.\"", "\"Thee'dst be sorry to part wi' her, if it wasn't for her good,\" said Mr.\nPoyser.", "\"She's useful to thee i' the work.\"", "\"Sorry?", "Yes, I'm fonder on her nor she deserves--a little hard-hearted\nhussy, wanting to leave us i' that way.", "I can't ha' had her about me\nthese seven year, I reckon, and done for her, and taught her everything\nwi'out caring about her.", "An' here I'm having linen spun, an' thinking\nall the while it'll make sheeting and table-clothing for her when she's\nmarried, an' she'll live i' the parish wi' us, and never go out of\nour sights--like a fool as I am for thinking aught about her, as is no\nbetter nor a cherry wi' a hard stone inside it.\"", "\"Nay, nay, thee mustna make much of a trifle,\" said Mr. Poyser,\nsoothingly.", "\"She's fond on us, I'll be bound; but she's young, an' gets\nthings in her head as she can't rightly give account on.", "Them young\nfillies 'ull run away often wi'-ou knowing why.\"", "Her uncle's answers, however, had had another effect on Hetty besides\nthat of disappointing her and making her cry.", "She knew quite well whom\nhe had in his mind in his allusions to marriage, and to a sober, solid\nhusband; and when she was in her bedroom again, the possibility of her\nmarrying Adam presented itself to her in a new light.", "In a mind where no\nstrong sympathies are at work, where there is no supreme sense of\nright to which the agitated nature can cling and steady itself to quiet\nendurance, one of the first results of sorrow is a desperate vague\nclutching after any deed that will change the actual condition.", "Poor\nHetty's vision of consequences, at no time more than a narrow fantastic\ncalculation of her own probable pleasures and pains, was now quite shut\nout by reckless irritation under present suffering, and she was ready\nfor one of those convulsive, motiveless actions by which wretched men\nand women leap from a temporary sorrow into a lifelong misery.", "Why should she not marry Adam?", "She did not care what she did, so that\nit made some change in her life.", "She felt confident that he would still\nwant to marry her, and any further thought about Adam's happiness in the\nmatter had never yet visited her.", "\"Strange!\"", "perhaps you will say, \"this rush of impulse to-wards a course\nthat might have seemed the most repugnant to her present state of mind,\nand in only the second night of her sadness!\"", "Yes, the actions of a little trivial soul like Hetty's, struggling\namidst the serious sad destinies of a human being, are strange.", "So are\nthe motions of a little vessel without ballast tossed about on a stormy\nsea.", "How pretty it looked with its parti-coloured sail in the sunlight,\nmoored in the quiet bay!", "\"Let that man bear the loss who loosed it from its moorings.\"", "But that will not save the vessel--the pretty thing that might have been\na lasting joy." ]

[ "I shall be your true friend as long\nas life lasts, and I hope to prove this to you in many ways.", "I cannot bear to\nthink of my little Hetty shedding tears when I am not there to kiss them\naway; and if I followed only my own inclinations, I should be with her\nat this moment instead of writing.", "I know\nyou can never be happy except by marrying a man in your own station; and\nif I were to marry you now, I should only be adding to any wrong I have\ndone, besides offending against my duty in the other relations of life.", "Forgive\nme, and try to forget everything about me, except that I shall be, as\nlong as I live, your affectionate friend,\n\n\"ARTHUR DONNITHORNE.\"", "She had not the ideas that could make\nup the notion of that misery.", "The\nhalf-benumbed mental condition which was the effect of the last night's\nviolent crying made it necessary to her to look again and see if her\nwretched thoughts were actually true--if the letter was really so cruel.", "Every morning to come, as far as her imagination could stretch, she\nwould have to get up and feel that the day would have no joy for her.", "She should always\nbe doing things she had no pleasure in, getting up to the old tasks of\nwork, seeing people she cared nothing about, going to church, and to\nTreddleston, and to tea with Mrs. Best, and carrying no happy thought\nwith her.", "\"I should like it--I should like it better than farm-work.\"", "I'd hard work t'\nhould HER in, an' she married i' spite o' me--a feller wi' on'y two head\no' stock when there should ha' been ten on's farm--she might well die o'\nth' inflammation afore she war thirty.\"" ]

[ "\"Dear, dear Hetty, sweet as our love has been to me, sweet as it would\nbe to me for you to love me always, I feel that it would have been\nbetter for us both if we had never had that happiness, and that it is\nmy duty to ask you to love me and care for me as little as you can.", "Reasons why he could\nnot marry her had no existence for her mind; how could she believe in\nany misery that could come to her from the fulfilment of all she had\nbeen longing for and dreaming of?", "Presently she took up the letter with a firmer hand, and began to read\nit through again.", "Yes, the actions of a little trivial soul like Hetty's, struggling\namidst the serious sad destinies of a human being, are strange.", "She crushed\nit up again in anger.", "The\nhalf-benumbed mental condition which was the effect of the last night's\nviolent crying made it necessary to her to look again and see if her\nwretched thoughts were actually true--if the letter was really so cruel.", "She opened her treasure-drawer: there lay the ear-rings\nand the locket--the signs of all her short happiness--the signs of\nthe lifelong dreariness that was to follow it.", "Of Dinah's affectionate\nentreaty to think of her as a friend in trouble?", "Come, my wench, give over crying and\nget to bed.", "She was not thinking of her neck and arms\nnow; even her own beauty was indifferent to her." ]

[ "When she had thought of this, she fastened up her hair and began to\nwash: it seemed more possible to her to go downstairs and try to behave\nas usual.", "She would ask her uncle this very day.", "On Hetty's blooming\nhealth it would take a great deal of such mental suffering as hers to\nleave any deep impress; and when she was dressed as neatly as usual\nin her working-dress, with her hair tucked up under her little cap,\nan indifferent observer would have been more struck with the young\nroundness of her cheek and neck and the darkness of her eyes and\neyelashes than with any signs of sadness about her.", "But when she took up\nthe crushed letter and put it in her drawer, that she might lock it out\nof sight, hard smarting tears, having no relief in them as the great\ndrops had that fell last night, forced their way into her eyes.", "She\nwiped them away quickly: she must not cry in the day-time.", "Nobody should\nfind out how miserable she was, nobody should know she was disappointed\nabout anything; and the thought that the eyes of her aunt and uncle\nwould be upon her gave her the self-command which often accompanies a\ngreat dread.", "For Hetty looked out from her secret misery towards the\npossibility of their ever knowing what had happened, as the sick and\nweary prisoner might think of the possible pillory.", "They would think her\nconduct shameful, and shame was torture.", "That was poor little Hetty's\nconscience.", "So she locked up her drawer and went away to her early work.", "In the evening, when Mr. Poyser was smoking his pipe, and his\ngood-nature was therefore at its superlative moment, Hetty seized the\nopportunity of her aunt's absence to say, \"Uncle, I wish you'd let me go\nfor a lady's maid.\"" ]

[ "\n\nIT was no longer light enough to go to bed without a candle, even in\nMrs. Poyser's early household, and Hetty carried one with her as she\nwent up at last to her bedroom soon after Adam was gone, and bolted the\ndoor behind her.", "Now she would read her letter.", "It must--it must have comfort in it.", "How\nwas Adam to know the truth?", "It was always likely he should say what he\ndid say.", "She set down the candle and took out the letter.", "It had a faint scent of\nroses, which made her feel as if Arthur were close to her.", "She put it to\nher lips, and a rush of remembered sensations for a moment or two swept\naway all fear.", "But her heart began to flutter strangely, and her hands\nto tremble as she broke the seal.", "She read slowly; it was not easy for\nher to read a gentleman's handwriting, though Arthur had taken pains to\nwrite plainly.", "Why should she not marry Adam?", "She did not care what she did, so that\nit made some change in her life.", "She felt confident that he would still\nwant to marry her, and any further thought about Adam's happiness in the\nmatter had never yet visited her.", "\"Strange!\"", "perhaps you will say, \"this rush of impulse to-wards a course\nthat might have seemed the most repugnant to her present state of mind,\nand in only the second night of her sadness!\"", "Yes, the actions of a little trivial soul like Hetty's, struggling\namidst the serious sad destinies of a human being, are strange.", "So are\nthe motions of a little vessel without ballast tossed about on a stormy\nsea.", "How pretty it looked with its parti-coloured sail in the sunlight,\nmoored in the quiet bay!", "\"Let that man bear the loss who loosed it from its moorings.\"", "But that will not save the vessel--the pretty thing that might have been\na lasting joy." ]

[ "\n\nTHE next Saturday evening there was much excited discussion at the\nDonnithorne Arms concerning an incident which had occurred that very\nday--no less than a second appearance of the smart man in top-boots said\nby some to be a mere farmer in treaty for the Chase Farm, by others to\nbe the future steward, but by Mr. Casson himself, the personal witness\nto the stranger's visit, pronounced contemptuously to be nothing better\nthan a bailiff, such as Satchell had been before him.", "No one had thought\nof denying Mr. Casson's testimony to the fact that he had seen\nthe stranger; nevertheless, he proffered various corroborating\ncircumstances.", "\"I see him myself,\" he said; \"I see him coming along by the Crab-tree\nMeadow on a bald-faced hoss.", "I'd just been t' hev a pint--it was\nhalf after ten i' the fore-noon, when I hev my pint as reg'lar as the\nclock--and I says to Knowles, as druv up with his waggon, 'You'll get\na bit o' barley to-day, Knowles,' I says, 'if you look about you'; and\nthen I went round by the rick-yard, and towart the Treddles'on road, and\njust as I come up by the big ash-tree, I see the man i' top-boots coming\nalong on a bald-faced hoss--I wish I may never stir if I didn't.", "And I\nstood still till he come up, and I says, 'Good morning, sir,' I says,\nfor I wanted to hear the turn of his tongue, as I might know whether he\nwas a this-country man; so I says, 'Good morning, sir: it 'll 'old hup\nfor the barley this morning, I think.", "There'll be a bit got hin, if\nwe've good luck.'", "And he says, 'Eh, ye may be raight, there's noo\ntallin',' he says, and I knowed by that\"--here Mr. Casson gave a\nwink--\"as he didn't come from a hundred mile off.", "I daresay he'd think\nme a hodd talker, as you Loamshire folks allays does hany one as talks\nthe right language.\"", "\"The right language!\"", "said Bartle Massey, contemptuously.", "\"You're about\nas near the right language as a pig's squeaking is like a tune played on\na key-bugle.\"", "\"Well, I don't know,\" answered Mr. Casson, with an angry smile.", "\"I\nshould think a man as has lived among the gentry from a by, is likely to\nknow what's the right language pretty nigh as well as a schoolmaster.\"", "\"Aye, aye, man,\" said Bartle, with a tone of sarcastic consolation,\n\"you talk the right language for you.", "When Mike Holdsworth's goat says\nba-a-a, it's all right--it 'ud be unnatural for it to make any other\nnoise.\"", "The rest of the party being Loamshire men, Mr. Casson had the laugh\nstrongly against him, and wisely fell back on the previous question,\nwhich, far from being exhausted in a single evening, was renewed in\nthe churchyard, before service, the next day, with the fresh interest\nconferred on all news when there is a fresh person to hear it; and\nthat fresh hearer was Martin Poyser, who, as his wife said, \"never\nwent boozin' with that set at Casson's, a-sittin' soakin' in drink, and\nlooking as wise as a lot o' cod-fish wi' red faces.\"", "It was probably owing to the conversation she had had with her husband\non their way from church concerning this problematic stranger that\nMrs. Poyser's thoughts immediately reverted to him when, a day or two\nafterwards, as she was standing at the house-door with her knitting,\nin that eager leisure which came to her when the afternoon cleaning was\ndone, she saw the old squire enter the yard on his black pony,\nfollowed by John the groom.", "She always cited it afterwards as a case of\nprevision, which really had something more in it than her own remarkable\npenetration, that the moment she set eyes on the squire she said to\nherself, \"I shouldna wonder if he's come about that man as is a-going to\ntake the Chase Farm, wanting Poyser to do something for him without pay.", "But Poyser's a fool if he does.\"", "Something unwonted must clearly be in the wind, for the old squire's\nvisits to his tenantry were rare; and though Mrs. Poyser had during the\nlast twelvemonth recited many imaginary speeches, meaning even more than\nmet the ear, which she was quite determined to make to him the next time\nhe appeared within the gates of the Hall Farm, the speeches had always\nremained imaginary.", "\"Good-day, Mrs. Poyser,\" said the old squire, peering at her with his\nshort-sighted eyes--a mode of looking at her which, as Mrs. Poyser\nobserved, \"allays aggravated me: it was as if you was a insect, and he\nwas going to dab his finger-nail on you.\"", "However, she said, \"Your servant, sir,\" and curtsied with an air of\nperfect deference as she advanced towards him: she was not the woman\nto misbehave towards her betters, and fly in the face of the catechism,\nwithout severe provocation.", "\"Is your husband at home, Mrs.", "Poyser?\"", "\"Yes, sir; he's only i' the rick-yard.", "I'll send for him in a minute, if\nyou'll please to get down and step in.\"", "\"Thank you; I will do so.", "I want to consult him about a little matter;\nbut you are quite as much concerned in it, if not more.", "I must have your\nopinion too.\"", "\"Hetty, run and tell your uncle to come in,\" said Mrs. Poyser, as they\nentered the house, and the old gentleman bowed low in answer to Hetty's\ncurtsy; while Totty, conscious of a pinafore stained with gooseberry\njam, stood hiding her face against the clock and peeping round\nfurtively.", "\"What a fine old kitchen this is!\"", "said Mr. Donnithorne, looking round\nadmiringly.", "He always spoke in the same deliberate, well-chiselled,\npolite way, whether his words were sugary or venomous.", "\"And you keep it\nso exquisitely clean, Mrs. Poyser.", "I like these premises, do you know,\nbeyond any on the estate.\"", "\"Well, sir, since you're fond of 'em, I should be glad if you'd let a\nbit o' repairs be done to 'em, for the boarding's i' that state as we're\nlike to be eaten up wi' rats and mice; and the cellar, you may stan' up\nto your knees i' water in't, if you like to go down; but perhaps you'd\nrather believe my words.", "Won't you please to sit down, sir?\"", "\"Not yet; I must see your dairy.", "I have not seen it for years, and I\nhear on all hands about your fine cheese and butter,\" said the squire,\nlooking politely unconscious that there could be any question on which\nhe and Mrs. Poyser might happen to disagree.", "\"I think I see the door\nopen, there.", "You must not be surprised if I cast a covetous eye on your\ncream and butter.", "I don't expect that Mrs. Satchell's cream and butter\nwill bear comparison with yours.\"", "\"I can't say, sir, I'm sure.", "It's seldom I see other folks's butter,\nthough there's some on it as one's no need to see--the smell's enough.\"", "\"Ah, now this I like,\" said Mr. Donnithorne, looking round at the damp\ntemple of cleanliness, but keeping near the door.", "\"I'm sure I should\nlike my breakfast better if I knew the butter and cream came from this\ndairy.", "Thank you, that really is a pleasant sight.", "Unfortunately, my\nslight tendency to rheumatism makes me afraid of damp: I'll sit down\nin your comfortable kitchen.", "Ah, Poyser, how do you do?", "In the midst of\nbusiness, I see, as usual.", "I've been looking at your wife's beautiful\ndairy--the best manager in the parish, is she not?\"", "Mr. Poyser had just entered in shirt-sleeves and open waistcoat, with a\nface a shade redder than usual, from the exertion of \"pitching.\"", "As\nhe stood, red, rotund, and radiant, before the small, wiry, cool old\ngentleman, he looked like a prize apple by the side of a withered crab.", "\"Will you please to take this chair, sir?\"", "he said, lifting his father's\narm-chair forward a little: \"you'll find it easy.\"", "\"No, thank you, I never sit in easy-chairs,\" said the old gentleman,\nseating himself on a small chair near the door.", "\"Do you know, Mrs.\nPoyser--sit down, pray, both of you--I've been far from contented, for\nsome time, with Mrs. Satchell's dairy management.", "I think she has not a\ngood method, as you have.\"", "\"Indeed, sir, I can't speak to that,\" said Mrs. Poyser in a hard voice,\nrolling and unrolling her knitting and looking icily out of the window,\nas she continued to stand opposite the squire.", "Poyser might sit down if\nhe liked, she thought; she wasn't going to sit down, as if she'd give in\nto any such smooth-tongued palaver.", "Mr. Poyser, who looked and felt the\nreverse of icy, did sit down in his three-cornered chair.", "\"And now, Poyser, as Satchell is laid up, I am intending to let the\nChase Farm to a respectable tenant.", "I'm tired of having a farm on my\nown hands--nothing is made the best of in such cases, as you know.", "A\nsatisfactory bailiff is hard to find; and I think you and I, Poyser,\nand your excellent wife here, can enter into a little arrangement in\nconsequence, which will be to our mutual advantage.\"", "\"Oh,\" said Mr. Poyser, with a good-natured blankness of imagination as\nto the nature of the arrangement.", "\"If I'm called upon to speak, sir,\" said Mrs. Poyser, after glancing at\nher husband with pity at his softness, \"you know better than me; but I\ndon't see what the Chase Farm is t' us--we've cumber enough wi' our own\nfarm.", "Not but what I'm glad to hear o' anybody respectable coming into\nthe parish; there's some as ha' been brought in as hasn't been looked on\ni' that character.\"", "\"You're likely to find Mr. Thurle an excellent neighbour, I assure\nyou--such a one as you will feel glad to have accommodated by the little\nplan I'm going to mention, especially as I hope you will find it as much\nto your own advantage as his.\"", "\"Indeed, sir, if it's anything t' our advantage, it'll be the first\noffer o' the sort I've heared on.", "It's them as take advantage that get\nadvantage i' this world, I think.", "Folks have to wait long enough afore\nit's brought to 'em.\"", "\"The fact is, Poyser,\" said the squire, ignoring Mrs. Poyser's theory of\nworldly prosperity, \"there is too much dairy land, and too little plough\nland, on the Chase Farm to suit Thurle's purpose--indeed, he will only\ntake the farm on condition of some change in it: his wife, it appears,\nis not a clever dairy-woman, like yours.", "Now, the plan I'm thinking of\nis to effect a little exchange.", "If you were to have the Hollow Pastures,\nyou might increase your dairy, which must be so profitable under your\nwife's management; and I should request you, Mrs. Poyser, to supply my\nhouse with milk, cream, and butter at the market prices.", "On the other\nhand, Poyser, you might let Thurle have the Lower and Upper Ridges,\nwhich really, with our wet seasons, would be a good riddance for you.", "There is much less risk in dairy land than corn land.\"", "Mr. Poyser was leaning forward, with his elbows on his knees, his head\non one side, and his mouth screwed up--apparently absorbed in making the\ntips of his fingers meet so as to represent with perfect accuracy the\nribs of a ship.", "He was much too acute a man not to see through the whole\nbusiness, and to foresee perfectly what would be his wife's view of the\nsubject; but he disliked giving unpleasant answers.", "Unless it was on a\npoint of farming practice, he would rather give up than have a quarrel,\nany day; and, after all, it mattered more to his wife than to him.", "So,\nafter a few moments' silence, he looked up at her and said mildly, \"What\ndost say?\"", "Mrs. Poyser had had her eyes fixed on her husband with cold severity\nduring his silence, but now she turned away her head with a toss, looked\nicily at the opposite roof of the cow-shed, and spearing her knitting\ntogether with the loose pin, held it firmly between her clasped hands.", "\"Say?", "Why, I say you may do as you like about giving up any o' your\ncorn-land afore your lease is up, which it won't be for a year come next\nMichaelmas, but I'll not consent to take more dairy work into my hands,\neither for love or money; and there's nayther love nor money here, as I\ncan see, on'y other folks's love o' theirselves, and the money as is to\ngo into other folks's pockets.", "I know there's them as is born t' own\nthe land, and them as is born to sweat on't\"--here Mrs. Poyser paused\nto gasp a little--\"and I know it's christened folks's duty to submit to\ntheir betters as fur as flesh and blood 'ull bear it; but I'll not make\na martyr o' myself, and wear myself to skin and bone, and worret\nmyself as if I was a churn wi' butter a-coming in't, for no landlord in\nEngland, not if he was King George himself.\"", "\"No, no, my dear Mrs. Poyser, certainly not,\" said the squire, still\nconfident in his own powers of persuasion, \"you must not overwork\nyourself; but don't you think your work will rather be lessened than\nincreased in this way?", "There is so much milk required at the Abbey\nthat you will have little increase of cheese and butter making from\nthe addition to your dairy; and I believe selling the milk is the most\nprofitable way of disposing of dairy produce, is it not?\"", "\"Aye, that's true,\" said Mr. Poyser, unable to repress an opinion on a\nquestion of farming profits, and forgetting that it was not in this case\na purely abstract question.", "\"I daresay,\" said Mrs. Poyser bitterly, turning her head half-way\ntowards her husband and looking at the vacant arm-chair--\"I daresay\nit's true for men as sit i' th' chimney-corner and make believe as\neverything's cut wi' ins an' outs to fit int' everything else.", "If you\ncould make a pudding wi' thinking o' the batter, it 'ud be easy getting\ndinner.", "How do I know whether the milk 'ull be wanted constant?", "What's\nto make me sure as the house won't be put o' board wage afore we're\nmany months older, and then I may have to lie awake o' nights wi' twenty\ngallons o' milk on my mind--and Dingall 'ull take no more butter, let\nalone paying for it; and we must fat pigs till we're obliged to beg the\nbutcher on our knees to buy 'em, and lose half of 'em wi' the measles.", "And there's the fetching and carrying, as 'ud be welly half a day's work\nfor a man an' hoss--that's to be took out o' the profits, I reckon?", "But\nthere's folks 'ud hold a sieve under the pump and expect to carry away\nthe water.\"", "\"That difficulty--about the fetching and carrying--you will not have,\nMrs. Poyser,\" said the squire, who thought that this entrance into\nparticulars indicated a distant inclination to compromise on Mrs.\nPoyser's part.", "\"Bethell will do that regularly with the cart and pony.\"", "\"Oh, sir, begging your pardon, I've never been used t' having\ngentlefolks's servants coming about my back places, a-making love to\nboth the gells at once and keeping 'em with their hands on their hips\nlistening to all manner o' gossip when they should be down on their\nknees a-scouring.", "If we're to go to ruin, it shanna be wi' having our\nback kitchen turned into a public.\"", "\"Well, Poyser,\" said the squire, shifting his tactics and looking as if\nhe thought Mrs. Poyser had suddenly withdrawn from the proceedings and\nleft the room, \"you can turn the Hollows into feeding-land.", "I can easily\nmake another arrangement about supplying my house.", "And I shall not\nforget your readiness to accommodate your landlord as well as a\nneighbour.", "I know you will be glad to have your lease renewed for three\nyears, when the present one expires; otherwise, I daresay Thurle, who\nis a man of some capital, would be glad to take both the farms, as they\ncould be worked so well together.", "But I don't want to part with an old\ntenant like you.\"", "To be thrust out of the discussion in this way would have been enough to\ncomplete Mrs. Poyser's exasperation, even without the final threat.", "Her husband, really alarmed at the possibility of their leaving the old\nplace where he had been bred and born--for he believed the old squire\nhad small spite enough for anything--was beginning a mild remonstrance\nexplanatory of the inconvenience he should find in having to buy and\nsell more stock, with, \"Well, sir, I think as it's rether hard...\" when\nMrs. Poyser burst in with the desperate determination to have her say\nout this once, though it were to rain notices to quit and the only\nshelter were the work-house.", "\"Then, sir, if I may speak--as, for all I'm a woman, and there's folks\nas thinks a woman's fool enough to stan' by an' look on while the men\nsign her soul away, I've a right to speak, for I make one quarter o' the\nrent, and save another quarter--I say, if Mr. Thurle's so ready to take\nfarms under you, it's a pity but what he should take this, and see if\nhe likes to live in a house wi' all the plagues o' Egypt in't--wi'\nthe cellar full o' water, and frogs and toads hoppin' up the steps by\ndozens--and the floors rotten, and the rats and mice gnawing every bit\no' cheese, and runnin' over our heads as we lie i' bed till we expect\n'em to eat us up alive--as it's a mercy they hanna eat the children long\nago.", "I should like to see if there's another tenant besides Poyser as\n'ud put up wi' never having a bit o' repairs done till a place tumbles\ndown--and not then, on'y wi' begging and praying and having to pay\nhalf--and being strung up wi' the rent as it's much if he gets enough\nout o' the land to pay, for all he's put his own money into the ground\nbeforehand.", "See if you'll get a stranger to lead such a life here as\nthat: a maggot must be born i' the rotten cheese to like it, I reckon.", "You may run away from my words, sir,\" continued Mrs. Poyser, following\nthe old squire beyond the door--for after the first moments of stunned\nsurprise he had got up, and, waving his hand towards her with a smile,\nhad walked out towards his pony.", "But it was impossible for him to get\naway immediately, for John was walking the pony up and down the yard,\nand was some distance from the causeway when his master beckoned.", "\"You may run away from my words, sir, and you may go spinnin' underhand\nways o' doing us a mischief, for you've got Old Harry to your friend,\nthough nobody else is, but I tell you for once as we're not dumb\ncreatures to be abused and made money on by them as ha' got the lash i'\ntheir hands, for want o' knowing how t' undo the tackle.", "An' if I'm th'\nonly one as speaks my mind, there's plenty o' the same way o' thinking\ni' this parish and the next to 't, for your name's no better than a\nbrimstone match in everybody's nose--if it isna two-three old folks as\nyou think o' saving your soul by giving 'em a bit o' flannel and a drop\no' porridge.", "An' you may be right i' thinking it'll take but little to\nsave your soul, for it'll be the smallest savin' y' iver made, wi' all\nyour scrapin'.\"", "There are occasions on which two servant-girls and a waggoner may be a\nformidable audience, and as the squire rode away on his black pony, even\nthe gift of short-sightedness did not prevent him from being aware\nthat Molly and Nancy and Tim were grinning not far from him.", "Perhaps he\nsuspected that sour old John was grinning behind him--which was also\nthe fact.", "Meanwhile the bull-dog, the black-and-tan terrier, Alick's\nsheep-dog, and the gander hissing at a safe distance from the pony's\nheels carried out the idea of Mrs. Poyser's solo in an impressive\nquartet.", "Mrs. Poyser, however, had no sooner seen the pony move off than she\nturned round, gave the two hilarious damsels a look which drove them\ninto the back kitchen, and unspearing her knitting, began to knit again\nwith her usual rapidity as she re-entered the house.", "\"Thee'st done it now,\" said Mr. Poyser, a little alarmed and uneasy, but\nnot without some triumphant amusement at his wife's outbreak.", "\"Yes, I know I've done it,\" said Mrs. Poyser; \"but I've had my say out,\nand I shall be th' easier for't all my life.", "There's no pleasure i'\nliving if you're to be corked up for ever, and only dribble your mind\nout by the sly, like a leaky barrel.", "I shan't repent saying what I\nthink, if I live to be as old as th' old squire; and there's little\nlikelihood--for it seems as if them as aren't wanted here are th' only\nfolks as aren't wanted i' th' other world.\"", "\"But thee wutna like moving from th' old place, this Michaelmas\ntwelvemonth,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"and going into a strange parish, where\nthee know'st nobody.", "It'll be hard upon us both, and upo' Father too.\"", "\"Eh, it's no use worreting; there's plenty o' things may happen between\nthis and Michaelmas twelvemonth.", "The captain may be master afore them,\nfor what we know,\" said Mrs. Poyser, inclined to take an unusually\nhopeful view of an embarrassment which had been brought about by her own\nmerit and not by other people's fault.", "\"I'm none for worreting,\" said Mr. Poyser, rising from his\nthree-cornered chair and walking slowly towards the door; \"but I should\nbe loath to leave th' old place, and the parish where I was bred and\nborn, and Father afore me.", "We should leave our roots behind us, I doubt,\nand niver thrive again.\"" ]

[ "No one had thought\nof denying Mr. Casson's testimony to the fact that he had seen\nthe stranger; nevertheless, he proffered various corroborating\ncircumstances.", "But Poyser's a fool if he does.\"", "Won't you please to sit down, sir?\"", "It's seldom I see other folks's butter,\nthough there's some on it as one's no need to see--the smell's enough.\"", "So,\nafter a few moments' silence, he looked up at her and said mildly, \"What\ndost say?\"", "\"Then, sir, if I may speak--as, for all I'm a woman, and there's folks\nas thinks a woman's fool enough to stan' by an' look on while the men\nsign her soul away, I've a right to speak, for I make one quarter o' the\nrent, and save another quarter--I say, if Mr. Thurle's so ready to take\nfarms under you, it's a pity but what he should take this, and see if\nhe likes to live in a house wi' all the plagues o' Egypt in't--wi'\nthe cellar full o' water, and frogs and toads hoppin' up the steps by\ndozens--and the floors rotten, and the rats and mice gnawing every bit\no' cheese, and runnin' over our heads as we lie i' bed till we expect\n'em to eat us up alive--as it's a mercy they hanna eat the children long\nago.", "See if you'll get a stranger to lead such a life here as\nthat: a maggot must be born i' the rotten cheese to like it, I reckon.", "An' you may be right i' thinking it'll take but little to\nsave your soul, for it'll be the smallest savin' y' iver made, wi' all\nyour scrapin'.\"", "There's no pleasure i'\nliving if you're to be corked up for ever, and only dribble your mind\nout by the sly, like a leaky barrel.", "It'll be hard upon us both, and upo' Father too.\"" ]

[ "Why, I say you may do as you like about giving up any o' your\ncorn-land afore your lease is up, which it won't be for a year come next\nMichaelmas, but I'll not consent to take more dairy work into my hands,\neither for love or money; and there's nayther love nor money here, as I\ncan see, on'y other folks's love o' theirselves, and the money as is to\ngo into other folks's pockets.", "\"No, thank you, I never sit in easy-chairs,\" said the old gentleman,\nseating himself on a small chair near the door.", "\"I see him myself,\" he said; \"I see him coming along by the Crab-tree\nMeadow on a bald-faced hoss.", "I daresay he'd think\nme a hodd talker, as you Loamshire folks allays does hany one as talks\nthe right language.\"", "I shan't repent saying what I\nthink, if I live to be as old as th' old squire; and there's little\nlikelihood--for it seems as if them as aren't wanted here are th' only\nfolks as aren't wanted i' th' other world.\"", "he said, lifting his father's\narm-chair forward a little: \"you'll find it easy.\"", "There'll be a bit got hin, if\nwe've good luck.'", "\"You may run away from my words, sir, and you may go spinnin' underhand\nways o' doing us a mischief, for you've got Old Harry to your friend,\nthough nobody else is, but I tell you for once as we're not dumb\ncreatures to be abused and made money on by them as ha' got the lash i'\ntheir hands, for want o' knowing how t' undo the tackle.", "\"Thank you; I will do so.", "\n\nTHE next Saturday evening there was much excited discussion at the\nDonnithorne Arms concerning an incident which had occurred that very\nday--no less than a second appearance of the smart man in top-boots said\nby some to be a mere farmer in treaty for the Chase Farm, by others to\nbe the future steward, but by Mr. Casson himself, the personal witness\nto the stranger's visit, pronounced contemptuously to be nothing better\nthan a bailiff, such as Satchell had been before him." ]

[ "\"Indeed, sir, I can't speak to that,\" said Mrs. Poyser in a hard voice,\nrolling and unrolling her knitting and looking icily out of the window,\nas she continued to stand opposite the squire.", "Poyser might sit down if\nhe liked, she thought; she wasn't going to sit down, as if she'd give in\nto any such smooth-tongued palaver.", "Mr. Poyser, who looked and felt the\nreverse of icy, did sit down in his three-cornered chair.", "\"And now, Poyser, as Satchell is laid up, I am intending to let the\nChase Farm to a respectable tenant.", "I'm tired of having a farm on my\nown hands--nothing is made the best of in such cases, as you know.", "A\nsatisfactory bailiff is hard to find; and I think you and I, Poyser,\nand your excellent wife here, can enter into a little arrangement in\nconsequence, which will be to our mutual advantage.\"", "\"Oh,\" said Mr. Poyser, with a good-natured blankness of imagination as\nto the nature of the arrangement.", "\"If I'm called upon to speak, sir,\" said Mrs. Poyser, after glancing at\nher husband with pity at his softness, \"you know better than me; but I\ndon't see what the Chase Farm is t' us--we've cumber enough wi' our own\nfarm.", "Not but what I'm glad to hear o' anybody respectable coming into\nthe parish; there's some as ha' been brought in as hasn't been looked on\ni' that character.\"", "\"You're likely to find Mr. Thurle an excellent neighbour, I assure\nyou--such a one as you will feel glad to have accommodated by the little\nplan I'm going to mention, especially as I hope you will find it as much\nto your own advantage as his.\"", "\"Indeed, sir, if it's anything t' our advantage, it'll be the first\noffer o' the sort I've heared on." ]

[ "\n\nTHE next Saturday evening there was much excited discussion at the\nDonnithorne Arms concerning an incident which had occurred that very\nday--no less than a second appearance of the smart man in top-boots said\nby some to be a mere farmer in treaty for the Chase Farm, by others to\nbe the future steward, but by Mr. Casson himself, the personal witness\nto the stranger's visit, pronounced contemptuously to be nothing better\nthan a bailiff, such as Satchell had been before him.", "No one had thought\nof denying Mr. Casson's testimony to the fact that he had seen\nthe stranger; nevertheless, he proffered various corroborating\ncircumstances.", "\"I see him myself,\" he said; \"I see him coming along by the Crab-tree\nMeadow on a bald-faced hoss.", "I'd just been t' hev a pint--it was\nhalf after ten i' the fore-noon, when I hev my pint as reg'lar as the\nclock--and I says to Knowles, as druv up with his waggon, 'You'll get\na bit o' barley to-day, Knowles,' I says, 'if you look about you'; and\nthen I went round by the rick-yard, and towart the Treddles'on road, and\njust as I come up by the big ash-tree, I see the man i' top-boots coming\nalong on a bald-faced hoss--I wish I may never stir if I didn't.", "And I\nstood still till he come up, and I says, 'Good morning, sir,' I says,\nfor I wanted to hear the turn of his tongue, as I might know whether he\nwas a this-country man; so I says, 'Good morning, sir: it 'll 'old hup\nfor the barley this morning, I think.", "There'll be a bit got hin, if\nwe've good luck.'", "And he says, 'Eh, ye may be raight, there's noo\ntallin',' he says, and I knowed by that\"--here Mr. Casson gave a\nwink--\"as he didn't come from a hundred mile off.", "I daresay he'd think\nme a hodd talker, as you Loamshire folks allays does hany one as talks\nthe right language.\"", "\"The right language!\"", "said Bartle Massey, contemptuously.", "\"Thee'st done it now,\" said Mr. Poyser, a little alarmed and uneasy, but\nnot without some triumphant amusement at his wife's outbreak.", "\"Yes, I know I've done it,\" said Mrs. Poyser; \"but I've had my say out,\nand I shall be th' easier for't all my life.", "There's no pleasure i'\nliving if you're to be corked up for ever, and only dribble your mind\nout by the sly, like a leaky barrel.", "I shan't repent saying what I\nthink, if I live to be as old as th' old squire; and there's little\nlikelihood--for it seems as if them as aren't wanted here are th' only\nfolks as aren't wanted i' th' other world.\"", "\"But thee wutna like moving from th' old place, this Michaelmas\ntwelvemonth,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"and going into a strange parish, where\nthee know'st nobody.", "It'll be hard upon us both, and upo' Father too.\"", "\"Eh, it's no use worreting; there's plenty o' things may happen between\nthis and Michaelmas twelvemonth.", "The captain may be master afore them,\nfor what we know,\" said Mrs. Poyser, inclined to take an unusually\nhopeful view of an embarrassment which had been brought about by her own\nmerit and not by other people's fault.", "\"I'm none for worreting,\" said Mr. Poyser, rising from his\nthree-cornered chair and walking slowly towards the door; \"but I should\nbe loath to leave th' old place, and the parish where I was bred and\nborn, and Father afore me.", "We should leave our roots behind us, I doubt,\nand niver thrive again.\"" ]

[ "\n\nTHE barley was all carried at last, and the harvest suppers went by\nwithout waiting for the dismal black crop of beans.", "The apples and\nnuts were gathered and stored; the scent of whey departed from the\nfarm-houses, and the scent of brewing came in its stead.", "The woods\nbehind the Chase, and all the hedgerow trees, took on a solemn splendour\nunder the dark low-hanging skies.", "Michaelmas was come, with its fragrant\nbasketfuls of purple damsons, and its paler purple daisies, and its\nlads and lasses leaving or seeking service and winding along between\nthe yellow hedges, with their bundles under their arms.", "But though\nMichaelmas was come, Mr. Thurle, that desirable tenant, did not come to\nthe Chase Farm, and the old squire, after all, had been obliged to put\nin a new bailiff.", "It was known throughout the two parishes that the\nsquire's plan had been frustrated because the Poysers had refused to\nbe \"put upon,\" and Mrs. Poyser's outbreak was discussed in all\nthe farm-houses with a zest which was only heightened by frequent\nrepetition.", "The news that \"Bony\" was come back from Egypt was\ncomparatively insipid, and the repulse of the French in Italy was\nnothing to Mrs. Poyser's repulse of the old squire.", "Mr. Irwine had heard\na version of it in every parishioner's house, with the one exception of\nthe Chase.", "But since he had always, with marvellous skill, avoided any\nquarrel with Mr. Donnithorne, he could not allow himself the pleasure\nof laughing at the old gentleman's discomfiture with any one besides his\nmother, who declared that if she were rich she should like to allow Mrs.\nPoyser a pension for life, and wanted to invite her to the parsonage\nthat she might hear an account of the scene from Mrs. Poyser's own lips.", "\"No, no, Mother,\" said Mr. Irwine; \"it was a little bit of irregular\njustice on Mrs. Poyser's part, but a magistrate like me must not\ncountenance irregular justice.", "There must be no report spread that I\nhave taken notice of the quarrel, else I shall lose the little good\ninfluence I have over the old man.\"", "\"Well, I like that woman even better than her cream-cheeses,\" said Mrs.\nIrwine.", "\"She has the spirit of three men, with that pale face of hers.", "And she says such sharp things too.\"", "\"Sharp!", "Yes, her tongue is like a new-set razor.", "She's quite original\nin her talk too; one of those untaught wits that help to stock a country\nwith proverbs.", "I told you that capital thing I heard her say about\nCraig--that he was like a cock, who thought the sun had risen to hear\nhim crow.", "Now that's an AEsop's fable in a sentence.\"", "\"But it will be a bad business if the old gentleman turns them out of\nthe farm next Michaelmas, eh?\"", "said Mrs. Irwine.", "\"Oh, that must not be; and Poyser is such a good tenant that Donnithorne\nis likely to think twice, and digest his spleen rather than turn them\nout.", "But if he should give them notice at Lady Day, Arthur and I must\nmove heaven and earth to mollify him.", "Such old parishioners as they are\nmust not go.\"", "\"Ah, there's no knowing what may happen before Lady day,\" said Mrs.\nIrwine.", "\"It struck me on Arthur's birthday that the old man was a little\nshaken: he's eighty-three, you know.", "It's really an unconscionable age.", "It's only women who have a right to live as long as that.\"", "\"When they've got old-bachelor sons who would be forlorn without them,\"\nsaid Mr. Irwine, laughing, and kissing his mother's hand.", "Mrs. Poyser, too, met her husband's occasional forebodings of a notice\nto quit with \"There's no knowing what may happen before Lady day\"--one\nof those undeniable general propositions which are usually intended to\nconvey a particular meaning very far from undeniable.", "But it is really\ntoo hard upon human nature that it should be held a criminal offence to\nimagine the death even of the king when he is turned eighty-three.", "It is\nnot to be believed that any but the dullest Britons can be good subjects\nunder that hard condition.", "Apart from this foreboding, things went on much as usual in the Poyser\nhousehold.", "Mrs. Poyser thought she noticed a surprising improvement\nin Hetty.", "To be sure, the girl got \"closer tempered, and sometimes she\nseemed as if there'd be no drawing a word from her with cart-ropes,\"\nbut she thought much less about her dress, and went after the work quite\neagerly, without any telling.", "And it was wonderful how she never wanted\nto go out now--indeed, could hardly be persuaded to go; and she bore\nher aunt's putting a stop to her weekly lesson in fine-work at the Chase\nwithout the least grumbling or pouting.", "It must be, after all, that she\nhad set her heart on Adam at last, and her sudden freak of wanting to\nbe a lady's maid must have been caused by some little pique or\nmisunderstanding between them, which had passed by.", "For whenever Adam\ncame to the Hall Farm, Hetty seemed to be in better spirits and to talk\nmore than at other times, though she was almost sullen when Mr. Craig or\nany other admirer happened to pay a visit there.", "Adam himself watched her at first with trembling anxiety, which gave\nway to surprise and delicious hope.", "Five days after delivering Arthur's\nletter, he had ventured to go to the Hall Farm again--not without\ndread lest the sight of him might be painful to her.", "She was not in the\nhouse-place when he entered, and he sat talking to Mr. and Mrs. Poyser\nfor a few minutes with a heavy fear on his heart that they might\npresently tell him Hetty was ill.", "But by and by there came a light step\nthat he knew, and when Mrs. Poyser said, \"Come, Hetty, where have you\nbeen?\"", "Adam was obliged to turn round, though he was afraid to see the\nchanged look there must be in her face.", "He almost started when he saw\nher smiling as if she were pleased to see him--looking the same as ever\nat a first glance, only that she had her cap on, which he had never seen\nher in before when he came of an evening.", "Still, when he looked at\nher again and again as she moved about or sat at her work, there was a\nchange: the cheeks were as pink as ever, and she smiled as much as she\nhad ever done of late, but there was something different in her eyes,\nin the expression of her face, in all her movements, Adam\nthought--something harder, older, less child-like.", "\"Poor thing!\"", "he\nsaid to himself, \"that's allays likely.", "It's because she's had her first\nheartache.", "But she's got a spirit to bear up under it.", "Thank God for\nthat.\"", "As the weeks went by, and he saw her always looking pleased to see\nhim--turning up her lovely face towards him as if she meant him to\nunderstand that she was glad for him to come--and going about her work\nin the same equable way, making no sign of sorrow, he began to believe\nthat her feeling towards Arthur must have been much slighter than he had\nimagined in his first indignation and alarm, and that she had been able\nto think of her girlish fancy that Arthur was in love with her and would\nmarry her as a folly of which she was timely cured.", "And it perhaps was,\nas he had sometimes in his more cheerful moments hoped it would be--her\nheart was really turning with all the more warmth towards the man she\nknew to have a serious love for her.", "Possibly you think that Adam was not at all sagacious in his\ninterpretations, and that it was altogether extremely unbecoming in a\nsensible man to behave as he did--falling in love with a girl who really\nhad nothing more than her beauty to recommend her, attributing imaginary\nvirtues to her, and even condescending to cleave to her after she had\nfallen in love with another man, waiting for her kind looks as a patient\ntrembling dog waits for his master's eye to be turned upon him.", "But in\nso complex a thing as human nature, we must consider, it is hard to find\nrules without exceptions.", "Of course, I know that, as a rule, sensible\nmen fall in love with the most sensible women of their acquaintance,\nsee through all the pretty deceits of coquettish beauty, never imagine\nthemselves loved when they are not loved, cease loving on all\nproper occasions, and marry the woman most fitted for them in every\nrespect--indeed, so as to compel the approbation of all the maiden\nladies in their neighbourhood.", "But even to this rule an exception will\noccur now and then in the lapse of centuries, and my friend Adam was\none.", "For my own part, however, I respect him none the less--nay, I think\nthe deep love he had for that sweet, rounded, blossom-like, dark-eyed\nHetty, of whose inward self he was really very ignorant, came out of the\nvery strength of his nature and not out of any inconsistent weakness.", "Is\nit any weakness, pray, to be wrought on by exquisite music?", "To feel its\nwondrous harmonies searching the subtlest windings of your soul, the\ndelicate fibres of life where no memory can penetrate, and binding\ntogether your whole being past and present in one unspeakable vibration,\nmelting you in one moment with all the tenderness, all the love that has\nbeen scattered through the toilsome years, concentrating in one\nemotion of heroic courage or resignation all the hard-learnt lessons of\nself-renouncing sympathy, blending your present joy with past sorrow and\nyour present sorrow with all your past joy?", "If not, then neither is it\na weakness to be so wrought upon by the exquisite curves of a woman's\ncheek and neck and arms, by the liquid depths of her beseeching eyes, or\nthe sweet childish pout of her lips.", "For the beauty of a lovely woman is\nlike music: what can one say more?", "Beauty has an expression beyond and\nfar above the one woman's soul that it clothes, as the words of genius\nhave a wider meaning than the thought that prompted them.", "It is more\nthan a woman's love that moves us in a woman's eyes--it seems to be a\nfar-off mighty love that has come near to us, and made speech for itself\nthere; the rounded neck, the dimpled arm, move us by something more\nthan their prettiness--by their close kinship with all we have known\nof tenderness and peace.", "The noblest nature sees the most of this\nimpersonal expression in beauty (it is needless to say that there are\ngentlemen with whiskers dyed and undyed who see none of it whatever),\nand for this reason, the noblest nature is often the most blinded to\nthe character of the one woman's soul that the beauty clothes.", "Whence, I\nfear, the tragedy of human life is likely to continue for a long time\nto come, in spite of mental philosophers who are ready with the best\nreceipts for avoiding all mistakes of the kind.", "Our good Adam had no fine words into which he could put his feeling for\nHetty: he could not disguise mystery in this way with the appearance of\nknowledge; he called his love frankly a mystery, as you have heard him.", "He only knew that the sight and memory of her moved him deeply, touching\nthe spring of all love and tenderness, all faith and courage within\nhim.", "How could he imagine narrowness, selfishness, hardness in her?", "He created the mind he believed in out of his own, which was large,\nunselfish, tender.", "The hopes he felt about Hetty softened a little his feeling towards\nArthur.", "Surely his attentions to Hetty must have been of a slight kind;\nthey were altogether wrong, and such as no man in Arthur's position\nought to have allowed himself, but they must have had an air of\nplayfulness about them, which had probably blinded him to their danger\nand had prevented them from laying any strong hold on Hetty's heart.", "As\nthe new promise of happiness rose for Adam, his indignation and jealousy\nbegan to die out.", "Hetty was not made unhappy; he almost believed that\nshe liked him best; and the thought sometimes crossed his mind that the\nfriendship which had once seemed dead for ever might revive in the days\nto come, and he would not have to say \"good-bye\" to the grand old woods,\nbut would like them better because they were Arthur's.", "For this new\npromise of happiness following so quickly on the shock of pain had an\nintoxicating effect on the sober Adam, who had all his life been used to\nmuch hardship and moderate hope.", "Was he really going to have an easy\nlot after all?", "It seemed so, for at the beginning of November, Jonathan\nBurge, finding it impossible to replace Adam, had at last made up his\nmind to offer him a share in the business, without further condition\nthan that he should continue to give his energies to it and renounce\nall thought of having a separate business of his own.", "Son-in-law or no\nson-in-law, Adam had made himself too necessary to be parted with,\nand his headwork was so much more important to Burge than his skill\nin handicraft that his having the management of the woods made little\ndifference in the value of his services; and as to the bargains about\nthe squire's timber, it would be easy to call in a third person.", "Adam\nsaw here an opening into a broadening path of prosperous work such as he\nhad thought of with ambitious longing ever since he was a lad: he might\ncome to build a bridge, or a town hall, or a factory, for he had always\nsaid to himself that Jonathan Burge's building business was like an\nacorn, which might be the mother of a great tree.", "So he gave his hand\nto Burge on that bargain, and went home with his mind full of happy\nvisions, in which (my refined reader will perhaps be shocked when I\nsay it) the image of Hetty hovered, and smiled over plans for seasoning\ntimber at a trifling expense, calculations as to the cheapening of\nbricks per thousand by water-carriage, and a favourite scheme for the\nstrengthening of roofs and walls with a peculiar form of iron girder.", "What then?", "Adam's enthusiasm lay in these things; and our love is\ninwrought in our enthusiasm as electricity is inwrought in the air,\nexalting its power by a subtle presence.", "Adam would be able to take a separate house now, and provide for his\nmother in the old one; his prospects would justify his marrying very\nsoon, and if Dinah consented to have Seth, their mother would perhaps\nbe more contented to live apart from Adam.", "But he told himself that he\nwould not be hasty--he would not try Hetty's feeling for him until it\nhad had time to grow strong and firm.", "However, tomorrow, after church,\nhe would go to the Hall Farm and tell them the news.", "Mr. Poyser, he\nknew, would like it better than a five-pound note, and he should see if\nHetty's eyes brightened at it.", "The months would be short with all he had\nto fill his mind, and this foolish eagerness which had come over him of\nlate must not hurry him into any premature words.", "Yet when he got home\nand told his mother the good news, and ate his supper, while she sat\nby almost crying for joy and wanting him to eat twice as much as usual\nbecause of this good-luck, he could not help preparing her gently for\nthe coming change by talking of the old house being too small for them\nall to go on living in it always." ]

[ "The woods\nbehind the Chase, and all the hedgerow trees, took on a solemn splendour\nunder the dark low-hanging skies.", "\"Sharp!", "It's really an unconscionable age.", "It's only women who have a right to live as long as that.\"", "Five days after delivering Arthur's\nletter, he had ventured to go to the Hall Farm again--not without\ndread lest the sight of him might be painful to her.", "Adam was obliged to turn round, though he was afraid to see the\nchanged look there must be in her face.", "Is\nit any weakness, pray, to be wrought on by exquisite music?", "For the beauty of a lovely woman is\nlike music: what can one say more?", "He created the mind he believed in out of his own, which was large,\nunselfish, tender.", "The hopes he felt about Hetty softened a little his feeling towards\nArthur." ]

[ "The apples and\nnuts were gathered and stored; the scent of whey departed from the\nfarm-houses, and the scent of brewing came in its stead.", "He created the mind he believed in out of his own, which was large,\nunselfish, tender.", "Thank God for\nthat.\"", "\"When they've got old-bachelor sons who would be forlorn without them,\"\nsaid Mr. Irwine, laughing, and kissing his mother's hand.", "Our good Adam had no fine words into which he could put his feeling for\nHetty: he could not disguise mystery in this way with the appearance of\nknowledge; he called his love frankly a mystery, as you have heard him.", "But in\nso complex a thing as human nature, we must consider, it is hard to find\nrules without exceptions.", "Mrs. Poyser thought she noticed a surprising improvement\nin Hetty.", "It seemed so, for at the beginning of November, Jonathan\nBurge, finding it impossible to replace Adam, had at last made up his\nmind to offer him a share in the business, without further condition\nthan that he should continue to give his energies to it and renounce\nall thought of having a separate business of his own.", "Adam would be able to take a separate house now, and provide for his\nmother in the old one; his prospects would justify his marrying very\nsoon, and if Dinah consented to have Seth, their mother would perhaps\nbe more contented to live apart from Adam.", "So he gave his hand\nto Burge on that bargain, and went home with his mind full of happy\nvisions, in which (my refined reader will perhaps be shocked when I\nsay it) the image of Hetty hovered, and smiled over plans for seasoning\ntimber at a trifling expense, calculations as to the cheapening of\nbricks per thousand by water-carriage, and a favourite scheme for the\nstrengthening of roofs and walls with a peculiar form of iron girder." ]

[ "Adam himself watched her at first with trembling anxiety, which gave\nway to surprise and delicious hope.", "Five days after delivering Arthur's\nletter, he had ventured to go to the Hall Farm again--not without\ndread lest the sight of him might be painful to her.", "She was not in the\nhouse-place when he entered, and he sat talking to Mr. and Mrs. Poyser\nfor a few minutes with a heavy fear on his heart that they might\npresently tell him Hetty was ill.", "But by and by there came a light step\nthat he knew, and when Mrs. Poyser said, \"Come, Hetty, where have you\nbeen?\"", "Adam was obliged to turn round, though he was afraid to see the\nchanged look there must be in her face.", "He almost started when he saw\nher smiling as if she were pleased to see him--looking the same as ever\nat a first glance, only that she had her cap on, which he had never seen\nher in before when he came of an evening.", "Still, when he looked at\nher again and again as she moved about or sat at her work, there was a\nchange: the cheeks were as pink as ever, and she smiled as much as she\nhad ever done of late, but there was something different in her eyes,\nin the expression of her face, in all her movements, Adam\nthought--something harder, older, less child-like.", "\"Poor thing!\"", "he\nsaid to himself, \"that's allays likely.", "It's because she's had her first\nheartache.", "But she's got a spirit to bear up under it." ]

[ "\n\nTHE barley was all carried at last, and the harvest suppers went by\nwithout waiting for the dismal black crop of beans.", "The apples and\nnuts were gathered and stored; the scent of whey departed from the\nfarm-houses, and the scent of brewing came in its stead.", "The woods\nbehind the Chase, and all the hedgerow trees, took on a solemn splendour\nunder the dark low-hanging skies.", "Michaelmas was come, with its fragrant\nbasketfuls of purple damsons, and its paler purple daisies, and its\nlads and lasses leaving or seeking service and winding along between\nthe yellow hedges, with their bundles under their arms.", "But though\nMichaelmas was come, Mr. Thurle, that desirable tenant, did not come to\nthe Chase Farm, and the old squire, after all, had been obliged to put\nin a new bailiff.", "It was known throughout the two parishes that the\nsquire's plan had been frustrated because the Poysers had refused to\nbe \"put upon,\" and Mrs. Poyser's outbreak was discussed in all\nthe farm-houses with a zest which was only heightened by frequent\nrepetition.", "The news that \"Bony\" was come back from Egypt was\ncomparatively insipid, and the repulse of the French in Italy was\nnothing to Mrs. Poyser's repulse of the old squire.", "Mr. Irwine had heard\na version of it in every parishioner's house, with the one exception of\nthe Chase.", "But since he had always, with marvellous skill, avoided any\nquarrel with Mr. Donnithorne, he could not allow himself the pleasure\nof laughing at the old gentleman's discomfiture with any one besides his\nmother, who declared that if she were rich she should like to allow Mrs.\nPoyser a pension for life, and wanted to invite her to the parsonage\nthat she might hear an account of the scene from Mrs. Poyser's own lips.", "\"No, no, Mother,\" said Mr. Irwine; \"it was a little bit of irregular\njustice on Mrs. Poyser's part, but a magistrate like me must not\ncountenance irregular justice.", "Adam\nsaw here an opening into a broadening path of prosperous work such as he\nhad thought of with ambitious longing ever since he was a lad: he might\ncome to build a bridge, or a town hall, or a factory, for he had always\nsaid to himself that Jonathan Burge's building business was like an\nacorn, which might be the mother of a great tree.", "So he gave his hand\nto Burge on that bargain, and went home with his mind full of happy\nvisions, in which (my refined reader will perhaps be shocked when I\nsay it) the image of Hetty hovered, and smiled over plans for seasoning\ntimber at a trifling expense, calculations as to the cheapening of\nbricks per thousand by water-carriage, and a favourite scheme for the\nstrengthening of roofs and walls with a peculiar form of iron girder.", "What then?", "Adam's enthusiasm lay in these things; and our love is\ninwrought in our enthusiasm as electricity is inwrought in the air,\nexalting its power by a subtle presence.", "Adam would be able to take a separate house now, and provide for his\nmother in the old one; his prospects would justify his marrying very\nsoon, and if Dinah consented to have Seth, their mother would perhaps\nbe more contented to live apart from Adam.", "But he told himself that he\nwould not be hasty--he would not try Hetty's feeling for him until it\nhad had time to grow strong and firm.", "However, tomorrow, after church,\nhe would go to the Hall Farm and tell them the news.", "Mr. Poyser, he\nknew, would like it better than a five-pound note, and he should see if\nHetty's eyes brightened at it.", "The months would be short with all he had\nto fill his mind, and this foolish eagerness which had come over him of\nlate must not hurry him into any premature words.", "Yet when he got home\nand told his mother the good news, and ate his supper, while she sat\nby almost crying for joy and wanting him to eat twice as much as usual\nbecause of this good-luck, he could not help preparing her gently for\nthe coming change by talking of the old house being too small for them\nall to go on living in it always." ]

[ "\n\nIT was a dry Sunday, and really a pleasant day for the 2d of November.", "There was no sunshine, but the clouds were high, and the wind was so\nstill that the yellow leaves which fluttered down from the hedgerow elms\nmust have fallen from pure decay.", "Nevertheless, Mrs. Poyser did not go\nto church, for she had taken a cold too serious to be neglected; only\ntwo winters ago she had been laid up for weeks with a cold; and since\nhis wife did not go to church, Mr. Poyser considered that on the whole\nit would be as well for him to stay away too and \"keep her company.\"", "He\ncould perhaps have given no precise form to the reasons that determined\nthis conclusion, but it is well known to all experienced minds that our\nfirmest convictions are often dependent on subtle impressions for which\nwords are quite too coarse a medium.", "However it was, no one from the\nPoyser family went to church that afternoon except Hetty and the boys;\nyet Adam was bold enough to join them after church, and say that he\nwould walk home with them, though all the way through the village he\nappeared to be chiefly occupied with Marty and Tommy, telling them about\nthe squirrels in Binton Coppice, and promising to take them there some\nday.", "But when they came to the fields he said to the boys, \"Now, then,\nwhich is the stoutest walker?", "Him as gets to th' home-gate first shall\nbe the first to go with me to Binton Coppice on the donkey.", "But Tommy\nmust have the start up to the next stile, because he's the smallest.\"", "Adam had never behaved so much like a determined lover before.", "As soon\nas the boys had both set off, he looked down at Hetty and said, \"Won't\nyou hang on my arm, Hetty?\"", "in a pleading tone, as if he had already\nasked her and she had refused.", "Hetty looked up at him smilingly and put\nher round arm through his in a moment.", "It was nothing to her, putting\nher arm through Adam's, but she knew he cared a great deal about having\nher arm through his, and she wished him to care.", "Her heart beat no\nfaster, and she looked at the half-bare hedgerows and the ploughed field\nwith the same sense of oppressive dulness as before.", "But Adam scarcely\nfelt that he was walking.", "He thought Hetty must know that he was\npressing her arm a little--a very little.", "Words rushed to his lips that\nhe dared not utter--that he had made up his mind not to utter yet--and\nso he was silent for the length of that field.", "The calm patience\nwith which he had once waited for Hetty's love, content only with her\npresence and the thought of the future, had forsaken him since that\nterrible shock nearly three months ago.", "The agitations of jealousy had\ngiven a new restlessness to his passion--had made fear and uncertainty\ntoo hard almost to bear.", "But though he might not speak to Hetty of his\nlove, he would tell her about his new prospects and see if she would be\npleased.", "So when he was enough master of himself to talk, he said, \"I'm\ngoing to tell your uncle some news that'll surprise him, Hetty; and I\nthink he'll be glad to hear it too.\"", "\"What's that?\"", "Hetty said indifferently.", "\"Why, Mr. Burge has offered me a share in his business, and I'm going to\ntake it.\"", "There was a change in Hetty's face, certainly not produced by any\nagreeable impression from this news.", "In fact she felt a momentary\nannoyance and alarm, for she had so often heard it hinted by her uncle\nthat Adam might have Mary Burge and a share in the business any day,\nif he liked, that she associated the two objects now, and the thought\nimmediately occurred that perhaps Adam had given her up because of\nwhat had happened lately, and had turned towards Mary Burge.", "With that\nthought, and before she had time to remember any reasons why it could\nnot be true, came a new sense of forsakenness and disappointment.", "The\none thing--the one person--her mind had rested on in its dull weariness,\nhad slipped away from her, and peevish misery filled her eyes with\ntears.", "She was looking on the ground, but Adam saw her face, saw the\ntears, and before he had finished saying, \"Hetty, dear Hetty, what\nare you crying for?\"", "his eager rapid thought had flown through all the\ncauses conceivable to him, and had at last alighted on half the true\none.", "Hetty thought he was going to marry Mary Burge--she didn't like him\nto marry--perhaps she didn't like him to marry any one but herself?", "All\ncaution was swept away--all reason for it was gone, and Adam could feel\nnothing but trembling joy.", "He leaned towards her and took her hand, as\nhe said:\n\n\"I could afford to be married now, Hetty--I could make a wife\ncomfortable; but I shall never want to be married if you won't have me.\"", "Hetty looked up at him and smiled through her tears, as she had done to\nArthur that first evening in the wood, when she had thought he was not\ncoming, and yet he came.", "It was a feebler relief, a feebler triumph she\nfelt now, but the great dark eyes and the sweet lips were as beautiful\nas ever, perhaps more beautiful, for there was a more luxuriant\nwomanliness about Hetty of late.", "Adam could hardly believe in the\nhappiness of that moment.", "His right hand held her left, and he pressed\nher arm close against his heart as he leaned down towards her.", "\"Do you really love me, Hetty?", "Will you be my own wife, to love and take\ncare of as long as I live?\"", "Hetty did not speak, but Adam's face was very close to hers, and she\nput up her round cheek against his, like a kitten.", "She wanted to be\ncaressed--she wanted to feel as if Arthur were with her again.", "Adam cared for no words after that, and they hardly spoke through the\nrest of the walk.", "He only said, \"I may tell your uncle and aunt, mayn't\nI, Hetty?\"", "and she said, \"Yes.\"", "The red fire-light on the hearth at the Hall Farm shone on joyful faces\nthat evening, when Hetty was gone upstairs and Adam took the opportunity\nof telling Mr. and Mrs. Poyser and the grandfather that he saw his way\nto maintaining a wife now, and that Hetty had consented to have him.", "\"I hope you have no objections against me for her husband,\" said Adam;\n\"I'm a poor man as yet, but she shall want nothing as I can work for.\"", "\"Objections?\"", "said Mr. Poyser, while the grandfather leaned forward and\nbrought out his long \"Nay, nay.\"", "\"What objections can we ha' to you,\nlad?", "Never mind your being poorish as yet; there's money in your\nhead-piece as there's money i' the sown field, but it must ha' time.", "You'n got enough to begin on, and we can do a deal tow'rt the bit o'\nfurniture you'll want.", "Thee'st got feathers and linen to spare--plenty,\neh?\"", "This question was of course addressed to Mrs. Poyser, who was wrapped up\nin a warm shawl and was too hoarse to speak with her usual facility.", "At first she only nodded emphatically, but she was presently unable to\nresist the temptation to be more explicit.", "\"It ud be a poor tale if I hadna feathers and linen,\" she said,\nhoarsely, \"when I never sell a fowl but what's plucked, and the wheel's\na-going every day o' the week.\"", "\"Come, my wench,\" said Mr. Poyser, when Hetty came down, \"come and kiss\nus, and let us wish you luck.\"", "Hetty went very quietly and kissed the big good-natured man.", "\"There!\"", "he said, patting her on the back, \"go and kiss your aunt and\nyour grandfather.", "I'm as wishful t' have you settled well as if you was\nmy own daughter; and so's your aunt, I'll be bound, for she's done by\nyou this seven 'ear, Hetty, as if you'd been her own.", "Come, come, now,\"\nhe went on, becoming jocose, as soon as Hetty had kissed her aunt and\nthe old man, \"Adam wants a kiss too, I'll warrant, and he's a right to\none now.\"", "Hetty turned away, smiling, towards her empty chair.", "\"Come, Adam, then, take one,\" persisted Mr. Poyser, \"else y' arena half\na man.\"", "Adam got up, blushing like a small maiden--great strong fellow as he\nwas--and, putting his arm round Hetty stooped down and gently kissed her\nlips.", "It was a pretty scene in the red fire-light; for there were no\ncandles--why should there be, when the fire was so bright and was\nreflected from all the pewter and the polished oak?", "No one wanted to\nwork on a Sunday evening.", "Even Hetty felt something like contentment\nin the midst of all this love.", "Adam's attachment to her, Adam's caress,\nstirred no passion in her, were no longer enough to satisfy her vanity,\nbut they were the best her life offered her now--they promised her some\nchange.", "There was a great deal of discussion before Adam went away, about the\npossibility of his finding a house that would do for him to settle in.", "No house was empty except the one next to Will Maskery's in the village,\nand that was too small for Adam now.", "Mr. Poyser insisted that the best\nplan would be for Seth and his mother to move and leave Adam in the old\nhome, which might be enlarged after a while, for there was plenty of\nspace in the woodyard and garden; but Adam objected to turning his\nmother out.", "\"Well, well,\" said Mr. Poyser at last, \"we needna fix everything\nto-night.", "We must take time to consider.", "You canna think o' getting\nmarried afore Easter.", "I'm not for long courtships, but there must be a\nbit o' time to make things comfortable.\"", "\"Aye, to be sure,\" said Mrs. Poyser, in a hoarse whisper; \"Christian\nfolks can't be married like cuckoos, I reckon.\"", "\"I'm a bit daunted, though,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"when I think as we may\nhave notice to quit, and belike be forced to take a farm twenty mile\noff.\"", "\"Eh,\" said the old man, staring at the floor and lifting his hands up\nand down, while his arms rested on the elbows of his chair, \"it's a poor\ntale if I mun leave th' ould spot an be buried in a strange parish.", "An'\nyou'll happen ha' double rates to pay,\" he added, looking up at his son.", "\"Well, thee mustna fret beforehand, father,\" said Martin the younger.", "\"Happen the captain 'ull come home and make our peace wi' th' old\nsquire.", "I build upo' that, for I know the captain 'll see folks righted\nif he can.\"" ]

[ "Nevertheless, Mrs. Poyser did not go\nto church, for she had taken a cold too serious to be neglected; only\ntwo winters ago she had been laid up for weeks with a cold; and since\nhis wife did not go to church, Mr. Poyser considered that on the whole\nit would be as well for him to stay away too and \"keep her company.\"", "But when they came to the fields he said to the boys, \"Now, then,\nwhich is the stoutest walker?", "The agitations of jealousy had\ngiven a new restlessness to his passion--had made fear and uncertainty\ntoo hard almost to bear.", "Hetty looked up at him and smiled through her tears, as she had done to\nArthur that first evening in the wood, when she had thought he was not\ncoming, and yet he came.", "\"What objections can we ha' to you,\nlad?", "Hetty turned away, smiling, towards her empty chair.", "Even Hetty felt something like contentment\nin the midst of all this love.", "Adam's attachment to her, Adam's caress,\nstirred no passion in her, were no longer enough to satisfy her vanity,\nbut they were the best her life offered her now--they promised her some\nchange.", "Mr. Poyser insisted that the best\nplan would be for Seth and his mother to move and leave Adam in the old\nhome, which might be enlarged after a while, for there was plenty of\nspace in the woodyard and garden; but Adam objected to turning his\nmother out.", "I'm not for long courtships, but there must be a\nbit o' time to make things comfortable.\"" ]

[ "I'm not for long courtships, but there must be a\nbit o' time to make things comfortable.\"", "\"What's that?\"", "Adam got up, blushing like a small maiden--great strong fellow as he\nwas--and, putting his arm round Hetty stooped down and gently kissed her\nlips.", "An'\nyou'll happen ha' double rates to pay,\" he added, looking up at his son.", "The agitations of jealousy had\ngiven a new restlessness to his passion--had made fear and uncertainty\ntoo hard almost to bear.", "Hetty looked up at him and smiled through her tears, as she had done to\nArthur that first evening in the wood, when she had thought he was not\ncoming, and yet he came.", "Words rushed to his lips that\nhe dared not utter--that he had made up his mind not to utter yet--and\nso he was silent for the length of that field.", "Adam's attachment to her, Adam's caress,\nstirred no passion in her, were no longer enough to satisfy her vanity,\nbut they were the best her life offered her now--they promised her some\nchange.", "Mr. Poyser insisted that the best\nplan would be for Seth and his mother to move and leave Adam in the old\nhome, which might be enlarged after a while, for there was plenty of\nspace in the woodyard and garden; but Adam objected to turning his\nmother out.", "Her heart beat no\nfaster, and she looked at the half-bare hedgerows and the ploughed field\nwith the same sense of oppressive dulness as before." ]

[ "His right hand held her left, and he pressed\nher arm close against his heart as he leaned down towards her.", "\"Do you really love me, Hetty?", "Will you be my own wife, to love and take\ncare of as long as I live?\"", "Hetty did not speak, but Adam's face was very close to hers, and she\nput up her round cheek against his, like a kitten.", "She wanted to be\ncaressed--she wanted to feel as if Arthur were with her again.", "Adam cared for no words after that, and they hardly spoke through the\nrest of the walk.", "He only said, \"I may tell your uncle and aunt, mayn't\nI, Hetty?\"", "and she said, \"Yes.\"", "The red fire-light on the hearth at the Hall Farm shone on joyful faces\nthat evening, when Hetty was gone upstairs and Adam took the opportunity\nof telling Mr. and Mrs. Poyser and the grandfather that he saw his way\nto maintaining a wife now, and that Hetty had consented to have him.", "\"I hope you have no objections against me for her husband,\" said Adam;\n\"I'm a poor man as yet, but she shall want nothing as I can work for.\"", "\"Objections?\"" ]

[ "\n\nIT was a dry Sunday, and really a pleasant day for the 2d of November.", "There was no sunshine, but the clouds were high, and the wind was so\nstill that the yellow leaves which fluttered down from the hedgerow elms\nmust have fallen from pure decay.", "Nevertheless, Mrs. Poyser did not go\nto church, for she had taken a cold too serious to be neglected; only\ntwo winters ago she had been laid up for weeks with a cold; and since\nhis wife did not go to church, Mr. Poyser considered that on the whole\nit would be as well for him to stay away too and \"keep her company.\"", "He\ncould perhaps have given no precise form to the reasons that determined\nthis conclusion, but it is well known to all experienced minds that our\nfirmest convictions are often dependent on subtle impressions for which\nwords are quite too coarse a medium.", "However it was, no one from the\nPoyser family went to church that afternoon except Hetty and the boys;\nyet Adam was bold enough to join them after church, and say that he\nwould walk home with them, though all the way through the village he\nappeared to be chiefly occupied with Marty and Tommy, telling them about\nthe squirrels in Binton Coppice, and promising to take them there some\nday.", "But when they came to the fields he said to the boys, \"Now, then,\nwhich is the stoutest walker?", "Him as gets to th' home-gate first shall\nbe the first to go with me to Binton Coppice on the donkey.", "But Tommy\nmust have the start up to the next stile, because he's the smallest.\"", "Adam had never behaved so much like a determined lover before.", "As soon\nas the boys had both set off, he looked down at Hetty and said, \"Won't\nyou hang on my arm, Hetty?\"", "We must take time to consider.", "You canna think o' getting\nmarried afore Easter.", "I'm not for long courtships, but there must be a\nbit o' time to make things comfortable.\"", "\"Aye, to be sure,\" said Mrs. Poyser, in a hoarse whisper; \"Christian\nfolks can't be married like cuckoos, I reckon.\"", "\"I'm a bit daunted, though,\" said Mr. Poyser, \"when I think as we may\nhave notice to quit, and belike be forced to take a farm twenty mile\noff.\"", "\"Eh,\" said the old man, staring at the floor and lifting his hands up\nand down, while his arms rested on the elbows of his chair, \"it's a poor\ntale if I mun leave th' ould spot an be buried in a strange parish.", "An'\nyou'll happen ha' double rates to pay,\" he added, looking up at his son.", "\"Well, thee mustna fret beforehand, father,\" said Martin the younger.", "\"Happen the captain 'ull come home and make our peace wi' th' old\nsquire.", "I build upo' that, for I know the captain 'll see folks righted\nif he can.\"" ]

[ "\n\nIT was a busy time for Adam--the time between the beginning of November\nand the beginning of February, and he could see little of Hetty, except\non Sundays.", "But a happy time, nevertheless, for it was taking him nearer\nand nearer to March, when they were to be married, and all the little\npreparations for their new housekeeping marked the progress towards the\nlonged-for day.", "Two new rooms had been \"run up\" to the old house, for\nhis mother and Seth were to live with them after all.", "Lisbeth had cried\nso piteously at the thought of leaving Adam that he had gone to Hetty\nand asked her if, for the love of him, she would put up with his\nmother's ways and consent to live with her.", "To his great delight, Hetty\nsaid, \"Yes; I'd as soon she lived with us as not.\"", "Hetty's mind was\noppressed at that moment with a worse difficulty than poor Lisbeth's\nways; she could not care about them.", "So Adam was consoled for the\ndisappointment he had felt when Seth had come back from his visit to\nSnowfield and said \"it was no use--Dinah's heart wasna turned towards\nmarrying.\"", "For when he told his mother that Hetty was willing they\nshould all live together and there was no more need of them to think of\nparting, she said, in a more contented tone than he had heard her speak\nin since it had been settled that he was to be married, \"Eh, my lad,\nI'll be as still as th' ould tabby, an' ne'er want to do aught but\nth' offal work, as she wonna like t' do.", "An' then we needna part the\nplatters an' things, as ha' stood on the shelf together sin' afore thee\nwast born.\"", "There was only one cloud that now and then came across Adam's sunshine:\nHetty seemed unhappy sometimes.", "But to all his anxious, tender\nquestions, she replied with an assurance that she was quite contented\nand wished nothing different; and the next time he saw her she was more\nlively than usual.", "It might be that she was a little overdone with work\nand anxiety now, for soon after Christmas Mrs. Poyser had taken another\ncold, which had brought on inflammation, and this illness had confined\nher to her room all through January.", "Hetty had to manage everything\ndownstairs, and half-supply Molly's place too, while that good damsel\nwaited on her mistress, and she seemed to throw herself so entirely into\nher new functions, working with a grave steadiness which was new in her,\nthat Mr. Poyser often told Adam she was wanting to show him what a\ngood housekeeper he would have; but he \"doubted the lass was o'erdoing\nit--she must have a bit o' rest when her aunt could come downstairs.\"", "This desirable event of Mrs. Poyser's coming downstairs happened in the\nearly part of February, when some mild weather thawed the last patch of\nsnow on the Binton Hills.", "On one of these days, soon after her aunt came\ndown, Hetty went to Treddleston to buy some of the wedding things which\nwere wanting, and which Mrs. Poyser had scolded her for neglecting,\nobserving that she supposed \"it was because they were not for th'\noutside, else she'd ha' bought 'em fast enough.\"", "It was about ten o'clock when Hetty set off, and the slight hoar-frost\nthat had whitened the hedges in the early morning had disappeared as\nthe sun mounted the cloudless sky.", "Bright February days have a stronger\ncharm of hope about them than any other days in the year.", "One likes\nto pause in the mild rays of the sun, and look over the gates at the\npatient plough-horses turning at the end of the furrow, and think that\nthe beautiful year is all before one.", "The birds seem to feel just the\nsame: their notes are as clear as the clear air.", "There are no leaves on\nthe trees and hedgerows, but how green all the grassy fields are!", "And\nthe dark purplish brown of the ploughed earth and of the bare branches\nis beautiful too.", "What a glad world this looks like, as one drives or\nrides along the valleys and over the hills!", "I have often thought so\nwhen, in foreign countries, where the fields and woods have looked to me\nlike our English Loamshire--the rich land tilled with just as much care,\nthe woods rolling down the gentle slopes to the green meadows--I have\ncome on something by the roadside which has reminded me that I am not\nin Loamshire: an image of a great agony--the agony of the Cross.", "It has\nstood perhaps by the clustering apple-blossoms, or in the broad sunshine\nby the cornfield, or at a turning by the wood where a clear brook was\ngurgling below; and surely, if there came a traveller to this world who\nknew nothing of the story of man's life upon it, this image of agony\nwould seem to him strangely out of place in the midst of this joyous\nnature.", "He would not know that hidden behind the apple-blossoms, or\namong the golden corn, or under the shrouding boughs of the wood, there\nmight be a human heart beating heavily with anguish--perhaps a young\nblooming girl, not knowing where to turn for refuge from swift-advancing\nshame, understanding no more of this life of ours than a foolish lost\nlamb wandering farther and farther in the nightfall on the lonely heath,\nyet tasting the bitterest of life's bitterness.", "Such things are sometimes hidden among the sunny fields and behind the\nblossoming orchards; and the sound of the gurgling brook, if you came\nclose to one spot behind a small bush, would be mingled for your ear\nwith a despairing human sob.", "No wonder man's religion has much sorrow in\nit: no wonder he needs a suffering God.", "Hetty, in her red cloak and warm bonnet, with her basket in her hand, is\nturning towards a gate by the side of the Treddleston road, but not that\nshe may have a more lingering enjoyment of the sunshine and think\nwith hope of the long unfolding year.", "She hardly knows that the sun is\nshining; and for weeks, now, when she has hoped at all, it has been for\nsomething at which she herself trembles and shudders.", "She only wants to\nbe out of the high-road, that she may walk slowly and not care how her\nface looks, as she dwells on wretched thoughts; and through this gate\nshe can get into a field-path behind the wide thick hedgerows.", "Her great\ndark eyes wander blankly over the fields like the eyes of one who is\ndesolate, homeless, unloved, not the promised bride of a brave tender\nman.", "But there are no tears in them: her tears were all wept away in\nthe weary night, before she went to sleep.", "At the next stile the pathway\nbranches off: there are two roads before her--one along by the hedgerow,\nwhich will by and by lead her into the road again, the other across\nthe fields, which will take her much farther out of the way into the\nScantlands, low shrouded pastures where she will see nobody.", "She chooses\nthis and begins to walk a little faster, as if she had suddenly thought\nof an object towards which it was worth while to hasten.", "Soon she is in\nthe Scantlands, where the grassy land slopes gradually downwards, and\nshe leaves the level ground to follow the slope.", "Farther on there is a\nclump of trees on the low ground, and she is making her way towards it.", "No, it is not a clump of trees, but a dark shrouded pool, so full with\nthe wintry rains that the under boughs of the elder-bushes lie low\nbeneath the water.", "She sits down on the grassy bank, against the\nstooping stem of the great oak that hangs over the dark pool.", "She has\nthought of this pool often in the nights of the month that has just gone\nby, and now at last she is come to see it.", "She clasps her hands round\nher knees, and leans forward, and looks earnestly at it, as if trying to\nguess what sort of bed it would make for her young round limbs.", "No, she has not courage to jump into that cold watery bed, and if\nshe had, they might find her--they might find out why she had drowned\nherself.", "There is but one thing left to her: she must go away, go where\nthey can't find her.", "After the first on-coming of her great dread, some weeks after her\nbetrothal to Adam, she had waited and waited, in the blind vague hope\nthat something would happen to set her free from her terror; but she\ncould wait no longer.", "All the force of her nature had been concentrated\non the one effort of concealment, and she had shrunk with irresistible\ndread from every course that could tend towards a betrayal of her\nmiserable secret.", "Whenever the thought of writing to Arthur had occurred\nto her, she had rejected it.", "He could do nothing for her that would\nshelter her from discovery and scorn among the relatives and neighbours\nwho once more made all her world, now her airy dream had vanished.", "Her\nimagination no longer saw happiness with Arthur, for he could do\nnothing that would satisfy or soothe her pride.", "No, something else\nwould happen--something must happen--to set her free from this dread.", "In\nyoung, childish, ignorant souls there is constantly this blind trust in\nsome unshapen chance: it is as hard to a boy or girl to believe that\na great wretchedness will actually befall them as to believe that they\nwill die.", "But now necessity was pressing hard upon her--now the time of her\nmarriage was close at hand--she could no longer rest in this blind\ntrust.", "She must run away; she must hide herself where no familiar eyes\ncould detect her; and then the terror of wandering out into the world,\nof which she knew nothing, made the possibility of going to Arthur a\nthought which brought some comfort with it.", "She felt so helpless now, so\nunable to fashion the future for herself, that the prospect of throwing\nherself on him had a relief in it which was stronger than her pride.", "As\nshe sat by the pool and shuddered at the dark cold water, the hope that\nhe would receive her tenderly--that he would care for her and think for\nher--was like a sense of lulling warmth, that made her for the moment\nindifferent to everything else; and she began now to think of nothing\nbut the scheme by which she should get away.", "She had had a letter from Dinah lately, full of kind words about the\ncoming marriage, which she had heard of from Seth; and when Hetty had\nread this letter aloud to her uncle, he had said, \"I wish Dinah 'ud come\nagain now, for she'd be a comfort to your aunt when you're gone.", "What\ndo you think, my wench, o' going to see her as soon as you can be spared\nand persuading her to come back wi' you?", "You might happen persuade her\nwi' telling her as her aunt wants her, for all she writes o' not being\nable to come.\"", "Hetty had not liked the thought of going to Snowfield,\nand felt no longing to see Dinah, so she only said, \"It's so far off,\nUncle.\"", "But now she thought this proposed visit would serve as a pretext\nfor going away.", "She would tell her aunt when she got home again that she\nshould like the change of going to Snowfield for a week or ten days.", "And\nthen, when she got to Stoniton, where nobody knew her, she would ask\nfor the coach that would take her on the way to Windsor.", "Arthur was at\nWindsor, and she would go to him.", "As soon as Hetty had determined on this scheme, she rose from the\ngrassy bank of the pool, took up her basket, and went on her way to\nTreddleston, for she must buy the wedding things she had come out for,\nthough she would never want them.", "She must be careful not to raise any\nsuspicion that she was going to run away.", "Mrs. Poyser was quite agreeably surprised that Hetty wished to go and\nsee Dinah and try to bring her back to stay over the wedding.", "The sooner\nshe went the better, since the weather was pleasant now; and Adam, when\nhe came in the evening, said, if Hetty could set off to-morrow, he\nwould make time to go with her to Treddleston and see her safe into the\nStoniton coach.", "\"I wish I could go with you and take care of you, Hetty,\" he said, the\nnext morning, leaning in at the coach door; \"but you won't stay much\nbeyond a week--the time 'ull seem long.\"", "He was looking at her fondly, and his strong hand held hers in its\ngrasp.", "Hetty felt a sense of protection in his presence--she was used\nto it now: if she could have had the past undone and known no other love\nthan her quiet liking for Adam!", "The tears rose as she gave him the last\nlook.", "\"God bless her for loving me,\" said Adam, as he went on his way to work\nagain, with Gyp at his heels.", "But Hetty's tears were not for Adam--not for the anguish that would come\nupon him when he found she was gone from him for ever.", "They were for the\nmisery of her own lot, which took her away from this brave tender man\nwho offered up his whole life to her, and threw her, a poor helpless\nsuppliant, on the man who would think it a misfortune that she was\nobliged to cling to him.", "At three o'clock that day, when Hetty was on the coach that was to take\nher, they said, to Leicester--part of the long, long way to Windsor--she\nfelt dimly that she might be travelling all this weary journey towards\nthe beginning of new misery.", "Yet Arthur was at Windsor; he would surely not be angry with her.", "If he\ndid not mind about her as he used to do, he had promised to be good to\nher.", "Book Five" ]

[ "But a happy time, nevertheless, for it was taking him nearer\nand nearer to March, when they were to be married, and all the little\npreparations for their new housekeeping marked the progress towards the\nlonged-for day.", "So Adam was consoled for the\ndisappointment he had felt when Seth had come back from his visit to\nSnowfield and said \"it was no use--Dinah's heart wasna turned towards\nmarrying.\"", "For when he told his mother that Hetty was willing they\nshould all live together and there was no more need of them to think of\nparting, she said, in a more contented tone than he had heard her speak\nin since it had been settled that he was to be married, \"Eh, my lad,\nI'll be as still as th' ould tabby, an' ne'er want to do aught but\nth' offal work, as she wonna like t' do.", "An' then we needna part the\nplatters an' things, as ha' stood on the shelf together sin' afore thee\nwast born.\"", "What a glad world this looks like, as one drives or\nrides along the valleys and over the hills!", "Such things are sometimes hidden among the sunny fields and behind the\nblossoming orchards; and the sound of the gurgling brook, if you came\nclose to one spot behind a small bush, would be mingled for your ear\nwith a despairing human sob.", "At the next stile the pathway\nbranches off: there are two roads before her--one along by the hedgerow,\nwhich will by and by lead her into the road again, the other across\nthe fields, which will take her much farther out of the way into the\nScantlands, low shrouded pastures where she will see nobody.", "Soon she is in\nthe Scantlands, where the grassy land slopes gradually downwards, and\nshe leaves the level ground to follow the slope.", "No, it is not a clump of trees, but a dark shrouded pool, so full with\nthe wintry rains that the under boughs of the elder-bushes lie low\nbeneath the water.", "And\nthen, when she got to Stoniton, where nobody knew her, she would ask\nfor the coach that would take her on the way to Windsor." ]

[ "The sooner\nshe went the better, since the weather was pleasant now; and Adam, when\nhe came in the evening, said, if Hetty could set off to-morrow, he\nwould make time to go with her to Treddleston and see her safe into the\nStoniton coach.", "No, something else\nwould happen--something must happen--to set her free from this dread.", "But now necessity was pressing hard upon her--now the time of her\nmarriage was close at hand--she could no longer rest in this blind\ntrust.", "So Adam was consoled for the\ndisappointment he had felt when Seth had come back from his visit to\nSnowfield and said \"it was no use--Dinah's heart wasna turned towards\nmarrying.\"", "This desirable event of Mrs. Poyser's coming downstairs happened in the\nearly part of February, when some mild weather thawed the last patch of\nsnow on the Binton Hills.", "\"God bless her for loving me,\" said Adam, as he went on his way to work\nagain, with Gyp at his heels.", "Soon she is in\nthe Scantlands, where the grassy land slopes gradually downwards, and\nshe leaves the level ground to follow the slope.", "She chooses\nthis and begins to walk a little faster, as if she had suddenly thought\nof an object towards which it was worth while to hasten.", "I have often thought so\nwhen, in foreign countries, where the fields and woods have looked to me\nlike our English Loamshire--the rich land tilled with just as much care,\nthe woods rolling down the gentle slopes to the green meadows--I have\ncome on something by the roadside which has reminded me that I am not\nin Loamshire: an image of a great agony--the agony of the Cross.", "Lisbeth had cried\nso piteously at the thought of leaving Adam that he had gone to Hetty\nand asked her if, for the love of him, she would put up with his\nmother's ways and consent to live with her." ]

[ "She chooses\nthis and begins to walk a little faster, as if she had suddenly thought\nof an object towards which it was worth while to hasten.", "Soon she is in\nthe Scantlands, where the grassy land slopes gradually downwards, and\nshe leaves the level ground to follow the slope.", "Farther on there is a\nclump of trees on the low ground, and she is making her way towards it.", "No, it is not a clump of trees, but a dark shrouded pool, so full with\nthe wintry rains that the under boughs of the elder-bushes lie low\nbeneath the water.", "She sits down on the grassy bank, against the\nstooping stem of the great oak that hangs over the dark pool.", "She has\nthought of this pool often in the nights of the month that has just gone\nby, and now at last she is come to see it.", "She clasps her hands round\nher knees, and leans forward, and looks earnestly at it, as if trying to\nguess what sort of bed it would make for her young round limbs.", "No, she has not courage to jump into that cold watery bed, and if\nshe had, they might find her--they might find out why she had drowned\nherself.", "There is but one thing left to her: she must go away, go where\nthey can't find her.", "After the first on-coming of her great dread, some weeks after her\nbetrothal to Adam, she had waited and waited, in the blind vague hope\nthat something would happen to set her free from her terror; but she\ncould wait no longer.", "All the force of her nature had been concentrated\non the one effort of concealment, and she had shrunk with irresistible\ndread from every course that could tend towards a betrayal of her\nmiserable secret." ]

[ "\n\nIT was a busy time for Adam--the time between the beginning of November\nand the beginning of February, and he could see little of Hetty, except\non Sundays.", "But a happy time, nevertheless, for it was taking him nearer\nand nearer to March, when they were to be married, and all the little\npreparations for their new housekeeping marked the progress towards the\nlonged-for day.", "Two new rooms had been \"run up\" to the old house, for\nhis mother and Seth were to live with them after all.", "Lisbeth had cried\nso piteously at the thought of leaving Adam that he had gone to Hetty\nand asked her if, for the love of him, she would put up with his\nmother's ways and consent to live with her.", "To his great delight, Hetty\nsaid, \"Yes; I'd as soon she lived with us as not.\"", "Hetty's mind was\noppressed at that moment with a worse difficulty than poor Lisbeth's\nways; she could not care about them.", "So Adam was consoled for the\ndisappointment he had felt when Seth had come back from his visit to\nSnowfield and said \"it was no use--Dinah's heart wasna turned towards\nmarrying.\"", "For when he told his mother that Hetty was willing they\nshould all live together and there was no more need of them to think of\nparting, she said, in a more contented tone than he had heard her speak\nin since it had been settled that he was to be married, \"Eh, my lad,\nI'll be as still as th' ould tabby, an' ne'er want to do aught but\nth' offal work, as she wonna like t' do.", "An' then we needna part the\nplatters an' things, as ha' stood on the shelf together sin' afore thee\nwast born.\"", "There was only one cloud that now and then came across Adam's sunshine:\nHetty seemed unhappy sometimes.", "He was looking at her fondly, and his strong hand held hers in its\ngrasp.", "Hetty felt a sense of protection in his presence--she was used\nto it now: if she could have had the past undone and known no other love\nthan her quiet liking for Adam!", "The tears rose as she gave him the last\nlook.", "\"God bless her for loving me,\" said Adam, as he went on his way to work\nagain, with Gyp at his heels.", "But Hetty's tears were not for Adam--not for the anguish that would come\nupon him when he found she was gone from him for ever.", "They were for the\nmisery of her own lot, which took her away from this brave tender man\nwho offered up his whole life to her, and threw her, a poor helpless\nsuppliant, on the man who would think it a misfortune that she was\nobliged to cling to him.", "At three o'clock that day, when Hetty was on the coach that was to take\nher, they said, to Leicester--part of the long, long way to Windsor--she\nfelt dimly that she might be travelling all this weary journey towards\nthe beginning of new misery.", "Yet Arthur was at Windsor; he would surely not be angry with her.", "If he\ndid not mind about her as he used to do, he had promised to be good to\nher.", "Book Five" ]

[ "\n\nA LONG, lonely journey, with sadness in the heart; away from the\nfamiliar to the strange: that is a hard and dreary thing even to the\nrich, the strong, the instructed; a hard thing, even when we are called\nby duty, not urged by dread.", "What was it then to Hetty?", "With her poor narrow thoughts, no longer\nmelting into vague hopes, but pressed upon by the chill of\ndefinite fear, repeating again and again the same small round of\nmemories--shaping again and again the same childish, doubtful images\nof what was to come--seeing nothing in this wide world but the little\nhistory of her own pleasures and pains; with so little money in her\npocket, and the way so long and difficult.", "Unless she could afford\nalways to go in the coaches--and she felt sure she could not, for the\njourney to Stoniton was more expensive than she had expected--it was\nplain that she must trust to carriers' carts or slow waggons; and what\na time it would be before she could get to the end of her journey!", "The\nburly old coachman from Oakbourne, seeing such a pretty young woman\namong the outside passengers, had invited her to come and sit beside\nhim; and feeling that it became him as a man and a coachman to open the\ndialogue with a joke, he applied himself as soon as they were off the\nstones to the elaboration of one suitable in all respects.", "After many\ncuts with his whip and glances at Hetty out of the corner of his eye,\nhe lifted his lips above the edge of his wrapper and said, \"He's pretty\nnigh six foot, I'll be bound, isna he, now?\"", "\"Who?\"", "said Hetty, rather startled.", "\"Why, the sweetheart as you've left behind, or else him as you're goin'\narter--which is it?\"", "Hetty felt her face flushing and then turning pale.", "She thought this\ncoachman must know something about her.", "He must know Adam, and might\ntell him where she was gone, for it is difficult to country people to\nbelieve that those who make a figure in their own parish are not known\neverywhere else, and it was equally difficult to Hetty to understand\nthat chance words could happen to apply closely to her circumstances.", "She was too frightened to speak.", "\"Hegh, hegh!\"", "said the coachman, seeing that his joke was not so\ngratifying as he had expected, \"you munna take it too ser'ous; if he's\nbehaved ill, get another.", "Such a pretty lass as you can get a sweetheart\nany day.\"", "Hetty's fear was allayed by and by, when she found that the coachman\nmade no further allusion to her personal concerns; but it still had the\neffect of preventing her from asking him what were the places on the\nroad to Windsor.", "She told him she was only going a little way out of\nStoniton, and when she got down at the inn where the coach stopped, she\nhastened away with her basket to another part of the town.", "When she\nhad formed her plan of going to Windsor, she had not foreseen any\ndifficulties except that of getting away, and after she had overcome\nthis by proposing the visit to Dinah, her thoughts flew to the meeting\nwith Arthur and the question how he would behave to her--not resting on\nany probable incidents of the journey.", "She was too entirely ignorant\nof traveling to imagine any of its details, and with all her store\nof money--her three guineas--in her pocket, she thought herself amply\nprovided.", "It was not until she found how much it cost her to get to\nStoniton that she began to be alarmed about the journey, and then, for\nthe first time, she felt her ignorance as to the places that must be\npassed on her way.", "Oppressed with this new alarm, she walked along the\ngrim Stoniton streets, and at last turned into a shabby little inn,\nwhere she hoped to get a cheap lodging for the night.", "Here she asked\nthe landlord if he could tell her what places she must go to, to get to\nWindsor.", "\"Well, I can't rightly say.", "Windsor must be pretty nigh London, for it's\nwhere the king lives,\" was the answer.", "\"Anyhow, you'd best go t' Ashby\nnext--that's south'ard.", "But there's as many places from here to London\nas there's houses in Stoniton, by what I can make out.", "I've never been\nno traveller myself.", "But how comes a lone young woman like you to be\nthinking o' taking such a journey as that?\"", "\"I'm going to my brother--he's a soldier at Windsor,\" said Hetty,\nfrightened at the landlord's questioning look.", "\"I can't afford to go\nby the coach; do you think there's a cart goes toward Ashby in the\nmorning?\"", "\"Yes, there may be carts if anybody knowed where they started from; but\nyou might run over the town before you found out.", "You'd best set off and\nwalk, and trust to summat overtaking you.\"", "Every word sank like lead on Hetty's spirits; she saw the journey\nstretch bit by bit before her now.", "Even to get to Ashby seemed a hard\nthing: it might take the day, for what she knew, and that was nothing\nto the rest of the journey.", "But it must be done--she must get to Arthur.", "Oh, how she yearned to be again with somebody who would care for her!", "She who had never got up in the morning without the certainty of seeing\nfamiliar faces, people on whom she had an acknowledged claim; whose\nfarthest journey had been to Rosseter on the pillion with her uncle;\nwhose thoughts had always been taking holiday in dreams of pleasure,\nbecause all the business of her life was managed for her--this\nkittenlike Hetty, who till a few months ago had never felt any other\ngrief than that of envying Mary Burge a new ribbon, or being girded\nat by her aunt for neglecting Totty, must now make her toilsome way in\nloneliness, her peaceful home left behind for ever, and nothing but a\ntremulous hope of distant refuge before her.", "Now for the first time, as\nshe lay down to-night in the strange hard bed, she felt that her home\nhad been a happy one, that her uncle had been very good to her, that\nher quiet lot at Hayslope among the things and people she knew, with her\nlittle pride in her one best gown and bonnet, and nothing to hide from\nany one, was what she would like to wake up to as a reality, and find\nthat all the feverish life she had known besides was a short nightmare.", "She thought of all she had left behind with yearning regret for her own\nsake.", "Her own misery filled her heart--there was no room in it for other\npeople's sorrow.", "And yet, before the cruel letter, Arthur had been so\ntender and loving.", "The memory of that had still a charm for her, though\nit was no more than a soothing draught that just made pain bearable.", "For Hetty could conceive no other existence for herself in future than\na hidden one, and a hidden life, even with love, would have had no\ndelights for her; still less a life mingled with shame.", "She knew no\nromances, and had only a feeble share in the feelings which are the\nsource of romance, so that well-read ladies may find it difficult to\nunderstand her state of mind.", "She was too ignorant of everything beyond\nthe simple notions and habits in which she had been brought up to have\nany more definite idea of her probable future than that Arthur would\ntake care of her somehow, and shelter her from anger and scorn.", "He would\nnot marry her and make her a lady; and apart from that she could think\nof nothing he could give towards which she looked with longing and\nambition.", "The next morning she rose early, and taking only some milk and bread\nfor her breakfast, set out to walk on the road towards Ashby, under a\nleaden-coloured sky, with a narrowing streak of yellow, like a departing\nhope, on the edge of the horizon.", "Now in her faintness of heart at the\nlength and difficulty of her journey, she was most of all afraid of\nspending her money, and becoming so destitute that she would have to ask\npeople's charity; for Hettv had the pride not only of a proud nature\nbut of a proud class--the class that pays the most poor-rates, and\nmost shudders at the idea of profiting by a poor-rate.", "It had not yet\noccurred to her that she might get money for her locket and earrings\nwhich she carried with her, and she applied all her small arithmetic\nand knowledge of prices to calculating how many meals and how many rides\nwere contained in her two guineas, and the odd shillings, which had\na melancholy look, as if they were the pale ashes of the other\nbright-flaming coin.", "For the first few miles out of Stoniton, she walked on bravely, always\nfixing on some tree or gate or projecting bush at the most distant\nvisible point in the road as a goal, and feeling a faint joy when she\nhad reached it.", "But when she came to the fourth milestone, the first she\nhad happened to notice among the long grass by the roadside, and read\nthat she was still only four miles beyond Stoniton, her courage sank.", "She had come only this little way, and yet felt tired, and almost hungry\nagain in the keen morning air; for though Hetty was accustomed to much\nmovement and exertion indoors, she was not used to long walks which\nproduced quite a different sort of fatigue from that of household\nactivity.", "As she was looking at the milestone she felt some drops\nfalling on her face--it was beginning to rain.", "Here was a new trouble\nwhich had not entered into her sad thoughts before, and quite weighed\ndown by this sudden addition to her burden, she sat down on the step of\na stile and began to sob hysterically.", "The beginning of hardship is like\nthe first taste of bitter food--it seems for a moment unbearable; yet,\nif there is nothing else to satisfy our hunger, we take another bite\nand find it possible to go on.", "When Hetty recovered from her burst of\nweeping, she rallied her fainting courage: it was raining, and she\nmust try to get on to a village where she might find rest and shelter.", "Presently, as she walked on wearily, she heard the rumbling of heavy\nwheels behind her; a covered waggon was coming, creeping slowly along\nwith a slouching driver cracking his whip beside the horses.", "She waited\nfor it, thinking that if the waggoner were not a very sour-looking man,\nshe would ask him to take her up.", "As the waggon approached her, the\ndriver had fallen behind, but there was something in the front of the\nbig vehicle which encouraged her.", "At any previous moment in her life\nshe would not have noticed it, but now, the new susceptibility that\nsuffering had awakened in her caused this object to impress her\nstrongly.", "It was only a small white-and-liver-coloured spaniel which\nsat on the front ledge of the waggon, with large timid eyes, and an\nincessant trembling in the body, such as you may have seen in some of\nthese small creatures.", "Hetty cared little for animals, as you know,\nbut at this moment she felt as if the helpless timid creature had some\nfellowship with her, and without being quite aware of the reason, she\nwas less doubtful about speaking to the driver, who now came forward--a\nlarge ruddy man, with a sack over his shoulders, by way of scarf or\nmantle.", "\"Could you take me up in your waggon, if you're going towards Ashby?\"", "said Hetty.", "\"I'll pay you for it.\"", "\"Aw,\" said the big fellow, with that slowly dawning smile which belongs\nto heavy faces, \"I can take y' up fawst enough wi'out bein' paid for't\nif you dooant mind lyin' a bit closish a-top o' the wool-packs.", "Where do\nyou coom from?", "And what do you want at Ashby?\"", "\"I come from Stoniton.", "I'm going a long way--to Windsor.\"", "\"What!", "Arter some service, or what?\"", "\"Going to my brother--he's a soldier there.\"", "\"Well, I'm going no furder nor Leicester--and fur enough too--but I'll\ntake you, if you dooant mind being a bit long on the road.", "Th' hosses\nwooant feel YOUR weight no more nor they feel the little doog there, as\nI puck up on the road a fortni't agoo.", "He war lost, I b'lieve, an's been\nall of a tremble iver sin'.", "Come, gi' us your basket an' come behind and\nlet me put y' in.\"", "To lie on the wool-packs, with a cranny left between the curtains of the\nawning to let in the air, was luxury to Hetty now, and she half-slept\naway the hours till the driver came to ask her if she wanted to get down\nand have \"some victual\"; he himself was going to eat his dinner at this\n\"public.\"", "Late at night they reached Leicester, and so this second day\nof Hetty's journey was past.", "She had spent no money except what she\nhad paid for her food, but she felt that this slow journeying would be\nintolerable for her another day, and in the morning she found her way\nto a coach-office to ask about the road to Windsor, and see if it would\ncost her too much to go part of the distance by coach again.", "Yes!", "The\ndistance was too great--the coaches were too dear--she must give them\nup; but the elderly clerk at the office, touched by her pretty anxious\nface, wrote down for her the names of the chief places she must pass\nthrough.", "This was the only comfort she got in Leicester, for the men\nstared at her as she went along the street, and for the first time in\nher life Hetty wished no one would look at her.", "She set out walking\nagain; but this day she was fortunate, for she was soon overtaken by\na carrier's cart which carried her to Hinckley, and by the help of a\nreturn chaise, with a drunken postilion--who frightened her by driving\nlike Jehu the son of Nimshi, and shouting hilarious remarks at her,\ntwisting himself backwards on his saddle--she was before night in the\nheart of woody Warwickshire: but still almost a hundred miles from\nWindsor, they told her.", "Oh what a large world it was, and what hard work\nfor her to find her way in it!", "She went by mistake to Stratford-on-Avon,\nfinding Stratford set down in her list of places, and then she was told\nshe had come a long way out of the right road.", "It was not till the fifth\nday that she got to Stony Stratford.", "That seems but a slight journey as\nyou look at the map, or remember your own pleasant travels to and from\nthe meadowy banks of the Avon.", "But how wearily long it was to Hetty!", "It seemed to her as if this country of flat fields, and hedgerows, and\ndotted houses, and villages, and market-towns--all so much alike to her\nindifferent eyes--must have no end, and she must go on wandering among\nthem for ever, waiting tired at toll-gates for some cart to come, and\nthen finding the cart went only a little way--a very little way--to the\nmiller's a mile off perhaps; and she hated going into the public houses,\nwhere she must go to get food and ask questions, because there were\nalways men lounging there, who stared at her and joked her rudely.", "Her\nbody was very weary too with these days of new fatigue and anxiety; they\nhad made her look more pale and worn than all the time of hidden dread\nshe had gone through at home.", "When at last she reached Stony Stratford,\nher impatience and weariness had become too strong for her economical\ncaution; she determined to take the coach for the rest of the way,\nthough it should cost her all her remaining money.", "She would need\nnothing at Windsor but to find Arthur.", "When she had paid the fare for\nthe last coach, she had only a shilling; and as she got down at the\nsign of the Green Man in Windsor at twelve o'clock in the middle of the\nseventh day, hungry and faint, the coachman came up, and begged her\nto \"remember him.\"", "She put her hand in her pocket and took out the\nshilling, but the tears came with the sense of exhaustion and the\nthought that she was giving away her last means of getting food, which\nshe really required before she could go in search of Arthur.", "As she\nheld out the shilling, she lifted up her dark tear-filled eyes to the\ncoachman's face and said, \"Can you give me back sixpence?\"", "\"No, no,\" he said, gruffly, \"never mind--put the shilling up again.\"", "The landlord of the Green Man had stood near enough to witness this\nscene, and he was a man whose abundant feeding served to keep his\ngood nature, as well as his person, in high condition.", "And that lovely\ntearful face of Hetty's would have found out the sensitive fibre in most\nmen.", "\"Come, young woman, come in,\" he said, \"and have adrop o' something;\nyou're pretty well knocked up, I can see that.\"", "He took her into the bar and said to his wife, \"Here, missis, take this\nyoung woman into the parlour; she's a little overcome\"--for Hetty's\ntears were falling fast.", "They were merely hysterical tears: she thought\nshe had no reason for weeping now, and was vexed that she was too weak\nand tired to help it.", "She was at Windsor at last, not far from Arthur.", "She looked with eager, hungry eyes at the bread and meat and beer that\nthe landlady brought her, and for some minutes she forgot everything\nelse in the delicious sensations of satisfying hunger and recovering\nfrom exhaustion.", "The landlady sat opposite to her as she ate, and looked\nat her earnestly.", "No wonder: Hetty had thrown off her bonnet, and her\ncurls had fallen down.", "Her face was all the more touching in its\nyouth and beauty because of its weary look, and the good woman's eyes\npresently wandered to her figure, which in her hurried dressing on her\njourney she had taken no pains to conceal; moreover, the stranger's eye\ndetects what the familiar unsuspecting eye leaves unnoticed.", "\"Why, you're not very fit for travelling,\" she said, glancing while she\nspoke at Hetty's ringless hand.", "\"Have you come far?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty, roused by this question to exert more self-command,\nand feeling the better for the food she had taken.", "\"I've come a good\nlong way, and it's very tiring.", "But I'm better now.", "Could you tell me\nwhich way to go to this place?\"", "Here Hetty took from her pocket a bit\nof paper: it was the end of Arthur's letter on which he had written his\naddress.", "While she was speaking, the landlord had come in and had begun to look\nat her as earnestly as his wife had done.", "He took up the piece of paper\nwhich Hetty handed across the table, and read the address.", "\"Why, what do you want at this house?\"", "he said.", "It is in the nature of\ninnkeepers and all men who have no pressing business of their own to ask\nas many questions as possible before giving any information.", "\"I want to see a gentleman as is there,\" said Hetty.", "\"But there's no gentleman there,\" returned the landlord.", "\"It's shut\nup--been shut up this fortnight.", "What gentleman is it you want?", "Perhaps\nI can let you know where to find him.\"", "\"It's Captain Donnithorne,\" said Hetty tremulously, her heart beginning\nto beat painfully at this disappointment of her hope that she should\nfind Arthur at once.", "\"Captain Donnithorne?", "Stop a bit,\" said the landlord, slowly.", "\"Was he\nin the Loamshire Militia?", "A tall young officer with a fairish skin and\nreddish whiskers--and had a servant by the name o' Pym?\"", "\"Oh yes,\" said Hetty; \"you know him--where is he?\"", "\"A fine sight o' miles away from here.", "The Loamshire Militia's gone to\nIreland; it's been gone this fortnight.\"", "\"Look there!", "She's fainting,\" said the landlady, hastening to support\nHetty, who had lost her miserable consciousness and looked like a\nbeautiful corpse.", "They carried her to the sofa and loosened her dress.", "\"Here's a bad business, I suspect,\" said the landlord, as he brought in\nsome water.", "\"Ah, it's plain enough what sort of business it is,\" said the wife.", "\"She's not a common flaunting dratchell, I can see that.", "She looks like\na respectable country girl, and she comes from a good way off, to judge\nby her tongue.", "She talks something like that ostler we had that come\nfrom the north.", "He was as honest a fellow as we ever had about the\nhouse--they're all honest folks in the north.\"", "\"I never saw a prettier young woman in my life,\" said the husband.", "\"She's like a pictur in a shop-winder.", "It goes to one's 'eart to look at\nher.\"", "\"It 'ud have been a good deal better for her if she'd been uglier and\nhad more conduct,\" said the landlady, who on any charitable construction\nmust have been supposed to have more \"conduct\" than beauty.", "\"But she's\ncoming to again.", "Fetch a drop more water.\"" ]

[ "The\nburly old coachman from Oakbourne, seeing such a pretty young woman\namong the outside passengers, had invited her to come and sit beside\nhim; and feeling that it became him as a man and a coachman to open the\ndialogue with a joke, he applied himself as soon as they were off the\nstones to the elaboration of one suitable in all respects.", "I've never been\nno traveller myself.", "As the waggon approached her, the\ndriver had fallen behind, but there was something in the front of the\nbig vehicle which encouraged her.", "\"I come from Stoniton.", "\"Well, I'm going no furder nor Leicester--and fur enough too--but I'll\ntake you, if you dooant mind being a bit long on the road.", "When at last she reached Stony Stratford,\nher impatience and weariness had become too strong for her economical\ncaution; she determined to take the coach for the rest of the way,\nthough it should cost her all her remaining money.", "\"No, no,\" he said, gruffly, \"never mind--put the shilling up again.\"", "The landlord of the Green Man had stood near enough to witness this\nscene, and he was a man whose abundant feeding served to keep his\ngood nature, as well as his person, in high condition.", "And that lovely\ntearful face of Hetty's would have found out the sensitive fibre in most\nmen.", "\"Oh yes,\" said Hetty; \"you know him--where is he?\"" ]

[ "He took her into the bar and said to his wife, \"Here, missis, take this\nyoung woman into the parlour; she's a little overcome\"--for Hetty's\ntears were falling fast.", "\"It 'ud have been a good deal better for her if she'd been uglier and\nhad more conduct,\" said the landlady, who on any charitable construction\nmust have been supposed to have more \"conduct\" than beauty.", "But it must be done--she must get to Arthur.", "When at last she reached Stony Stratford,\nher impatience and weariness had become too strong for her economical\ncaution; she determined to take the coach for the rest of the way,\nthough it should cost her all her remaining money.", "The landlord of the Green Man had stood near enough to witness this\nscene, and he was a man whose abundant feeding served to keep his\ngood nature, as well as his person, in high condition.", "She would need\nnothing at Windsor but to find Arthur.", "You'd best set off and\nwalk, and trust to summat overtaking you.\"", "But there's as many places from here to London\nas there's houses in Stoniton, by what I can make out.", "But when she came to the fourth milestone, the first she\nhad happened to notice among the long grass by the roadside, and read\nthat she was still only four miles beyond Stoniton, her courage sank.", "\n\nA LONG, lonely journey, with sadness in the heart; away from the\nfamiliar to the strange: that is a hard and dreary thing even to the\nrich, the strong, the instructed; a hard thing, even when we are called\nby duty, not urged by dread." ]

[ "\"I come from Stoniton.", "I'm going a long way--to Windsor.\"", "\"What!", "Arter some service, or what?\"", "\"Going to my brother--he's a soldier there.\"", "\"Well, I'm going no furder nor Leicester--and fur enough too--but I'll\ntake you, if you dooant mind being a bit long on the road.", "Th' hosses\nwooant feel YOUR weight no more nor they feel the little doog there, as\nI puck up on the road a fortni't agoo.", "He war lost, I b'lieve, an's been\nall of a tremble iver sin'.", "Come, gi' us your basket an' come behind and\nlet me put y' in.\"", "To lie on the wool-packs, with a cranny left between the curtains of the\nawning to let in the air, was luxury to Hetty now, and she half-slept\naway the hours till the driver came to ask her if she wanted to get down\nand have \"some victual\"; he himself was going to eat his dinner at this\n\"public.\"", "Late at night they reached Leicester, and so this second day\nof Hetty's journey was past." ]

[ "\n\nA LONG, lonely journey, with sadness in the heart; away from the\nfamiliar to the strange: that is a hard and dreary thing even to the\nrich, the strong, the instructed; a hard thing, even when we are called\nby duty, not urged by dread.", "What was it then to Hetty?", "With her poor narrow thoughts, no longer\nmelting into vague hopes, but pressed upon by the chill of\ndefinite fear, repeating again and again the same small round of\nmemories--shaping again and again the same childish, doubtful images\nof what was to come--seeing nothing in this wide world but the little\nhistory of her own pleasures and pains; with so little money in her\npocket, and the way so long and difficult.", "Unless she could afford\nalways to go in the coaches--and she felt sure she could not, for the\njourney to Stoniton was more expensive than she had expected--it was\nplain that she must trust to carriers' carts or slow waggons; and what\na time it would be before she could get to the end of her journey!", "The\nburly old coachman from Oakbourne, seeing such a pretty young woman\namong the outside passengers, had invited her to come and sit beside\nhim; and feeling that it became him as a man and a coachman to open the\ndialogue with a joke, he applied himself as soon as they were off the\nstones to the elaboration of one suitable in all respects.", "After many\ncuts with his whip and glances at Hetty out of the corner of his eye,\nhe lifted his lips above the edge of his wrapper and said, \"He's pretty\nnigh six foot, I'll be bound, isna he, now?\"", "\"Who?\"", "said Hetty, rather startled.", "\"Why, the sweetheart as you've left behind, or else him as you're goin'\narter--which is it?\"", "Hetty felt her face flushing and then turning pale.", "\"She's not a common flaunting dratchell, I can see that.", "She looks like\na respectable country girl, and she comes from a good way off, to judge\nby her tongue.", "She talks something like that ostler we had that come\nfrom the north.", "He was as honest a fellow as we ever had about the\nhouse--they're all honest folks in the north.\"", "\"I never saw a prettier young woman in my life,\" said the husband.", "\"She's like a pictur in a shop-winder.", "It goes to one's 'eart to look at\nher.\"", "\"It 'ud have been a good deal better for her if she'd been uglier and\nhad more conduct,\" said the landlady, who on any charitable construction\nmust have been supposed to have more \"conduct\" than beauty.", "\"But she's\ncoming to again.", "Fetch a drop more water.\"" ]

[ "\n\nHETTY was too ill through the rest of that day for any questions to be\naddressed to her--too ill even to think with any distinctness of the\nevils that were to come.", "She only felt that all her hope was crushed,\nand that instead of having found a refuge she had only reached the\nborders of a new wilderness where no goal lay before her.", "The sensations\nof bodily sickness, in a comfortable bed, and with the tendance of the\ngood-natured landlady, made a sort of respite for her; such a respite as\nthere is in the faint weariness which obliges a man to throw himself on\nthe sand instead of toiling onward under the scorching sun.", "But when sleep and rest had brought back the strength necessary for the\nkeenness of mental suffering--when she lay the next morning looking at\nthe growing light which was like a cruel task-master returning to urge\nfrom her a fresh round of hated hopeless labour--she began to think what\ncourse she must take, to remember that all her money was gone, to\nlook at the prospect of further wandering among strangers with the new\nclearness shed on it by the experience of her journey to Windsor.", "But\nwhich way could she turn?", "It was impossible for her to enter into any\nservice, even if she could obtain it.", "There was nothing but immediate\nbeggary before her.", "She thought of a young woman who had been found\nagainst the church wall at Hayslope one Sunday, nearly dead with cold\nand hunger--a tiny infant in her arms.", "The woman was rescued and taken\nto the parish.", "\"The parish!\"", "You can perhaps hardly understand the\neffect of that word on a mind like Hetty's, brought up among people who\nwere somewhat hard in their feelings even towards poverty, who lived\namong the fields, and had little pity for want and rags as a cruel\ninevitable fate such as they sometimes seem in cities, but held them\na mark of idleness and vice--and it was idleness and vice that brought\nburdens on the parish.", "To Hetty the \"parish\" was next to the prison\nin obloquy, and to ask anything of strangers--to beg--lay in the same\nfar-off hideous region of intolerable shame that Hetty had all her life\nthought it impossible she could ever come near.", "But now the remembrance\nof that wretched woman whom she had seen herself, on her way from\nchurch, being carried into Joshua Rann's, came back upon her with the\nnew terrible sense that there was very little now to divide HER from\nthe same lot.", "And the dread of bodily hardship mingled with the dread\nof shame; for Hetty had the luxurious nature of a round soft-coated pet\nanimal.", "How she yearned to be back in her safe home again, cherished and cared\nfor as she had always been!", "Her aunt's scolding about trifles would have\nbeen music to her ears now; she longed for it; she used to hear it in a\ntime when she had only trifles to hide.", "Could she be the same Hetty that\nused to make up the butter in the dairy with the Guelder roses peeping\nin at the window--she, a runaway whom her friends would not open their\ndoors to again, lying in this strange bed, with the knowledge that\nshe had no money to pay for what she received, and must offer those\nstrangers some of the clothes in her basket?", "It was then she thought of\nher locket and ear-rings, and seeing her pocket lie near, she reached it\nand spread the contents on the bed before her.", "There were the locket and\near-rings in the little velvet-lined boxes, and with them there was a\nbeautiful silver thimble which Adam had bought her, the words \"Remember\nme\" making the ornament of the border; a steel purse, with her one\nshilling in it; and a small red-leather case, fastening with a strap.", "Those beautiful little ear-rings, with their delicate pearls and garnet,\nthat she had tried in her ears with such longing in the bright sunshine\non the 30th of July!", "She had no longing to put them in her ears now: her\nhead with its dark rings of hair lay back languidly on the pillow, and\nthe sadness that rested about her brow and eyes was something too hard\nfor regretful memory.", "Yet she put her hands up to her ears: it was\nbecause there were some thin gold rings in them, which were also worth\na little money.", "Yes, she could surely get some money for her ornaments:\nthose Arthur had given her must have cost a great deal of money.", "The\nlandlord and landlady had been good to her; perhaps they would help her\nto get the money for these things.", "But this money would not keep her long.", "What should she do when it was\ngone?", "Where should she go?", "The horrible thought of want and beggary\ndrove her once to think she would go back to her uncle and aunt and ask\nthem to forgive her and have pity on her.", "But she shrank from that idea\nagain, as she might have shrunk from scorching metal.", "She could never\nendure that shame before her uncle and aunt, before Mary Burge, and the\nservants at the Chase, and the people at Broxton, and everybody who knew\nher.", "They should never know what had happened to her.", "What could she do?", "She would go away from Windsor--travel again as she had done the last\nweek, and get among the flat green fields with the high hedges round\nthem, where nobody could see her or know her; and there, perhaps, when\nthere was nothing else she could do, she should get courage to drown\nherself in some pond like that in the Scantlands.", "Yes, she would get\naway from Windsor as soon as possible: she didn't like these people at\nthe inn to know about her, to know that she had come to look for Captain\nDonnithorne.", "She must think of some reason to tell them why she had\nasked for him.", "With this thought she began to put the things back into her pocket,\nmeaning to get up and dress before the landlady came to her.", "She had her\nhand on the red-leather case, when it occurred to her that there might\nbe something in this case which she had forgotten--something worth\nselling; for without knowing what she should do with her life, she\ncraved the means of living as long as possible; and when we desire\neagerly to find something, we are apt to search for it in hopeless\nplaces.", "No, there was nothing but common needles and pins, and dried\ntulip-petals between the paper leaves where she had written down her\nlittle money-accounts.", "But on one of these leaves there was a name,\nwhich, often as she had seen it before, now flashed on Hetty's mind like\na newly discovered message.", "The name was--Dinah Morris, Snowfield.", "There\nwas a text above it, written, as well as the name, by Dinah's own hand\nwith a little pencil, one evening that they were sitting together and\nHetty happened to have the red case lying open before her.", "Hetty did not\nread the text now: she was only arrested by the name.", "Now, for the first\ntime, she remembered without indifference the affectionate kindness\nDinah had shown her, and those words of Dinah in the bed-chamber--that\nHetty must think of her as a friend in trouble.", "Suppose she were to go\nto Dinah, and ask her to help her?", "Dinah did not think about things as\nother people did.", "She was a mystery to Hetty, but Hetty knew she was\nalways kind.", "She couldn't imagine Dinah's face turning away from her in\ndark reproof or scorn, Dinah's voice willingly speaking ill of her, or\nrejoicing in her misery as a punishment.", "Dinah did not seem to belong to\nthat world of Hetty's, whose glance she dreaded like scorching fire.", "But\neven to her Hetty shrank from beseeching and confession.", "She could not\nprevail on herself to say, \"I will go to Dinah\": she only thought of\nthat as a possible alternative, if she had not courage for death.", "The good landlady was amazed when she saw Hetty come downstairs soon\nafter herself, neatly dressed, and looking resolutely self-possessed.", "Hetty told her she was quite well this morning.", "She had only been very\ntired and overcome with her journey, for she had come a long way to ask\nabout her brother, who had run away, and they thought he was gone for a\nsoldier, and Captain Donnithorne might know, for he had been very\nkind to her brother once.", "It was a lame story, and the landlady looked\ndoubtfully at Hetty as she told it; but there was a resolute air of\nself-reliance about her this morning, so different from the helpless\nprostration of yesterday, that the landlady hardly knew how to make a\nremark that might seem like prying into other people's affairs.", "She only\ninvited her to sit down to breakfast with them, and in the course of it\nHetty brought out her ear-rings and locket, and asked the landlord if\nhe could help her to get money for them.", "Her journey, she said, had cost\nher much more than she expected, and now she had no money to get back to\nher friends, which she wanted to do at once.", "It was not the first time the landlady had seen the ornaments, for she\nhad examined the contents of Hetty's pocket yesterday, and she and her\nhusband had discussed the fact of a country girl having these beautiful\nthings, with a stronger conviction than ever that Hetty had been\nmiserably deluded by the fine young officer.", "\"Well,\" said the landlord, when Hetty had spread the precious trifles\nbefore him, \"we might take 'em to the jeweller's shop, for there's one\nnot far off; but Lord bless you, they wouldn't give you a quarter o'\nwhat the things are worth.", "And you wouldn't like to part with 'em?\"", "he\nadded, looking at her inquiringly.", "\"Oh, I don't mind,\" said Hetty, hastily, \"so as I can get money to go\nback.\"", "\"And they might think the things were stolen, as you wanted to sell\n'em,\" he went on, \"for it isn't usual for a young woman like you to have\nfine jew'llery like that.\"", "The blood rushed to Hetty's face with anger.", "\"I belong to respectable\nfolks,\" she said; \"I'm not a thief.\"", "\"No, that you aren't, I'll be bound,\" said the landlady; \"and you'd no\ncall to say that,\" looking indignantly at her husband.", "\"The things were\ngev to her: that's plain enough to be seen.\"", "\"I didn't mean as I thought so,\" said the husband, apologetically,\n\"but I said it was what the jeweller might think, and so he wouldn't be\noffering much money for 'em.\"", "\"Well,\" said the wife, \"suppose you were to advance some money on the\nthings yourself, and then if she liked to redeem 'em when she got home,\nshe could.", "But if we heard nothing from her after two months, we might\ndo as we liked with 'em.\"", "I will not say that in this accommodating proposition the landlady had\nno regard whatever to the possible reward of her good nature in the\nultimate possession of the locket and ear-rings: indeed, the effect they\nwould have in that case on the mind of the grocer's wife had presented\nitself with remarkable vividness to her rapid imagination.", "The landlord\ntook up the ornaments and pushed out his lips in a meditative manner.", "He wished Hetty well, doubtless; but pray, how many of your well-wishers\nwould decline to make a little gain out of you?", "Your landlady is\nsincerely affected at parting with you, respects you highly, and will\nreally rejoice if any one else is generous to you; but at the same\ntime she hands you a bill by which she gains as high a percentage as\npossible.", "\"How much money do you want to get home with, young woman?\"", "said the\nwell-wisher, at length.", "\"Three guineas,\" answered Hetty, fixing on the sum she set out with, for\nwant of any other standard, and afraid of asking too much.", "\"Well, I've no objections to advance you three guineas,\" said the\nlandlord; \"and if you like to send it me back and get the jewellery\nagain, you can, you know.", "The Green Man isn't going to run away.\"", "\"Oh yes, I'll be very glad if you'll give me that,\" said Hetty, relieved\nat the thought that she would not have to go to the jeweller's and be\nstared at and questioned.", "\"But if you want the things again, you'll write before long,\" said the\nlandlady, \"because when two months are up, we shall make up our minds as\nyou don't want 'em.\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty indifferently.", "The husband and wife were equally content with this arrangement.", "The\nhusband thought, if the ornaments were not redeemed, he could make a\ngood thing of it by taking them to London and selling them.", "The wife\nthought she would coax the good man into letting her keep them.", "And\nthey were accommodating Hetty, poor thing--a pretty, respectable-looking\nyoung woman, apparently in a sad case.", "They declined to take anything\nfor her food and bed: she was quite welcome.", "And at eleven o'clock Hetty\nsaid \"Good-bye\" to them with the same quiet, resolute air she had worn\nall the morning, mounting the coach that was to take her twenty miles\nback along the way she had come.", "There is a strength of self-possession which is the sign that the\nlast hope has departed.", "Despair no more leans on others than perfect\ncontentment, and in despair pride ceases to be counteracted by the sense\nof dependence.", "Hetty felt that no one could deliver her from the evils that would make\nlife hateful to her; and no one, she said to herself, should ever know\nher misery and humiliation.", "No; she would not confess even to Dinah.", "She\nwould wander out of sight, and drown herself where her body would never\nbe found, and no one should know what had become of her.", "When she got off this coach, she began to walk again, and take cheap\nrides in carts, and get cheap meals, going on and on without distinct\npurpose, yet strangely, by some fascination, taking the way she had\ncome, though she was determined not to go back to her own country.", "Perhaps it was because she had fixed her mind on the grassy Warwickshire\nfields, with the bushy tree-studded hedgerows that made a hiding-place\neven in this leafless season.", "She went more slowly than she came, often\ngetting over the stiles and sitting for hours under the hedgerows,\nlooking before her with blank, beautiful eyes; fancying herself at the\nedge of a hidden pool, low down, like that in the Scantlands; wondering\nif it were very painful to be drowned, and if there would be anything\nworse after death than what she dreaded in life.", "Religious doctrines had\ntaken no hold on Hetty's mind.", "She was one of those numerous people\nwho have had godfathers and godmothers, learned their catechism, been\nconfirmed, and gone to church every Sunday, and yet, for any practical\nresult of strength in life, or trust in death, have never appropriated a\nsingle Christian idea or Christian feeling.", "You would misunderstand\nher thoughts during these wretched days, if you imagined that they were\ninfluenced either by religious fears or religious hopes.", "She chose to go to Stratford-on-Avon again, where she had gone before by\nmistake, for she remembered some grassy fields on her former way towards\nit--fields among which she thought she might find just the sort of pool\nshe had in her mind.", "Yet she took care of her money still; she carried\nher basket; death seemed still a long way off, and life was so strong\nin her.", "She craved food and rest--she hastened towards them at the very\nmoment she was picturing to herself the bank from which she would leap\ntowards death.", "It was already five days since she had left Windsor, for\nshe had wandered about, always avoiding speech or questioning looks,\nand recovering her air of proud self-dependence whenever she was under\nobservation, choosing her decent lodging at night, and dressing herself\nneatly in the morning, and setting off on her way steadily, or remaining\nunder shelter if it rained, as if she had a happy life to cherish.", "And yet, even in her most self-conscious moments, the face was sadly\ndifferent from that which had smiled at itself in the old specked glass,\nor smiled at others when they glanced at it admiringly.", "A hard and even\nfierce look had come in the eyes, though their lashes were as long as\never, and they had all their dark brightness.", "And the cheek was never\ndimpled with smiles now.", "It was the same rounded, pouting, childish\nprettiness, but with all love and belief in love departed from it--the\nsadder for its beauty, like that wondrous Medusa-face, with the\npassionate, passionless lips.", "At last she was among the fields she had been dreaming of, on a long\nnarrow pathway leading towards a wood.", "If there should be a pool in that\nwood!", "It would be better hidden than one in the fields.", "No, it was not a\nwood, only a wild brake, where there had once been gravel-pits, leaving\nmounds and hollows studded with brushwood and small trees.", "She roamed up\nand down, thinking there was perhaps a pool in every hollow before she\ncame to it, till her limbs were weary, and she sat down to rest.", "The\nafternoon was far advanced, and the leaden sky was darkening, as if the\nsun were setting behind it.", "After a little while Hetty started up again,\nfeeling that darkness would soon come on; and she must put off finding\nthe pool till to-morrow, and make her way to some shelter for the night.", "She had quite lost her way in the fields, and might as well go in one\ndirection as another, for aught she knew.", "She walked through field after\nfield, and no village, no house was in sight; but there, at the corner\nof this pasture, there was a break in the hedges; the land seemed to\ndip down a little, and two trees leaned towards each other across the\nopening.", "Hetty's heart gave a great beat as she thought there must be\na pool there.", "She walked towards it heavily over the tufted grass, with\npale lips and a sense of trembling.", "It was as if the thing were come in\nspite of herself, instead of being the object of her search.", "There it was, black under the darkening sky: no motion, no sound near.", "She set down her basket, and then sank down herself on the grass,\ntrembling.", "The pool had its wintry depth now: by the time it got\nshallow, as she remembered the pools did at Hayslope, in the summer,\nno one could find out that it was her body.", "But then there was her\nbasket--she must hide that too.", "She must throw it into the water--make\nit heavy with stones first, and then throw it in.", "She got up to look\nabout for stones, and soon brought five or six, which she laid down\nbeside her basket, and then sat down again.", "There was no need to\nhurry--there was all the night to drown herself in.", "She sat leaning her\nelbow on the basket.", "She was weary, hungry.", "There were some buns in her\nbasket--three, which she had supplied herself with at the place where\nshe ate her dinner.", "She took them out now and ate them eagerly, and then\nsat still again, looking at the pool.", "The soothed sensation that came\nover her from the satisfaction of her hunger, and this fixed dreamy\nattitude, brought on drowsiness, and presently her head sank down on her\nknees.", "She was fast asleep.", "When she awoke it was deep night, and she felt chill.", "She was frightened\nat this darkness--frightened at the long night before her.", "If she could\nbut throw herself into the water!", "No, not yet.", "She began to walk about\nthat she might get warm again, as if she would have more resolution\nthen.", "Oh how long the time was in that darkness!", "The bright hearth and\nthe warmth and the voices of home, the secure uprising and lying down,\nthe familiar fields, the familiar people, the Sundays and holidays with\ntheir simple joys of dress and feasting--all the sweets of her young\nlife rushed before her now, and she seemed to be stretching her arms\ntowards them across a great gulf.", "She set her teeth when she thought of\nArthur.", "She cursed him, without knowing what her cursing would do.", "She\nwished he too might know desolation, and cold, and a life of shame that\nhe dared not end by death.", "The horror of this cold, and darkness, and solitude--out of all human\nreach--became greater every long minute.", "It was almost as if she were\ndead already, and knew that she was dead, and longed to get back to life\nagain.", "But no: she was alive still; she had not taken the dreadful\nleap.", "She felt a strange contradictory wretchedness and exultation:\nwretchedness, that she did not dare to face death; exultation, that she\nwas still in life--that she might yet know light and warmth again.", "She\nwalked backwards and forwards to warm herself, beginning to discern\nsomething of the objects around her, as her eyes became accustomed to\nthe night--the darker line of the hedge, the rapid motion of some living\ncreature--perhaps a field-mouse--rushing across the grass.", "She no longer\nfelt as if the darkness hedged her in.", "She thought she could walk back\nacross the field, and get over the stile; and then, in the very next\nfield, she thought she remembered there was a hovel of furze near a\nsheepfold.", "If she could get into that hovel, she would be warmer.", "She\ncould pass the night there, for that was what Alick did at Hayslope\nin lambing-time.", "The thought of this hovel brought the energy of a new\nhope.", "She took up her basket and walked across the field, but it was\nsome time before she got in the right direction for the stile.", "The\nexercise and the occupation of finding the stile were a stimulus to her,\nhowever, and lightened the horror of the darkness and solitude.", "There\nwere sheep in the next field, and she startled a group as she set down\nher basket and got over the stile; and the sound of their movement\ncomforted her, for it assured her that her impression was right--this\nwas the field where she had seen the hovel, for it was the field where\nthe sheep were.", "Right on along the path, and she would get to it.", "She\nreached the opposite gate, and felt her way along its rails and the\nrails of the sheep-fold, till her hand encountered the pricking of the\ngorsy wall.", "Delicious sensation!", "She had found the shelter.", "She groped\nher way, touching the prickly gorse, to the door, and pushed it open.", "It was an ill-smelling close place, but warm, and there was straw on\nthe ground.", "Hetty sank down on the straw with a sense of escape.", "Tears\ncame--she had never shed tears before since she left Windsor--tears and\nsobs of hysterical joy that she had still hold of life, that she\nwas still on the familiar earth, with the sheep near her.", "The very\nconsciousness of her own limbs was a delight to her: she turned up her\nsleeves, and kissed her arms with the passionate love of life.", "Soon\nwarmth and weariness lulled her in the midst of her sobs, and she fell\ncontinually into dozing, fancying herself at the brink of the pool\nagain--fancying that she had jumped into the water, and then awaking\nwith a start, and wondering where she was.", "But at last deep dreamless\nsleep came; her head, guarded by her bonnet, found a pillow against\nthe gorsy wall, and the poor soul, driven to and fro between two equal\nterrors, found the one relief that was possible to it--the relief of\nunconsciousness.", "Alas!", "That relief seems to end the moment it has begun.", "It seemed to\nHetty as if those dozen dreams had only passed into another dream--that\nshe was in the hovel, and her aunt was standing over her with a candle\nin her hand.", "She trembled under her aunt's glance, and opened her eyes.", "There was no candle, but there was light in the hovel--the light of\nearly morning through the open door.", "And there was a face looking down\non her; but it was an unknown face, belonging to an elderly man in a\nsmock-frock.", "\"Why, what do you do here, young woman?\"", "the man said roughly.", "Hetty trembled still worse under this real fear and shame than she had\ndone in her momentary dream under her aunt's glance.", "She felt that she\nwas like a beggar already--found sleeping in that place.", "But in spite of\nher trembling, she was so eager to account to the man for her presence\nhere, that she found words at once.", "\"I lost my way,\" she said.", "\"I'm travelling--north'ard, and I got away\nfrom the road into the fields, and was overtaken by the dark.", "Will you\ntell me the way to the nearest village?\"", "She got up as she was speaking, and put her hands to her bonnet to\nadjust it, and then laid hold of her basket.", "The man looked at her with a slow bovine gaze, without giving her any\nanswer, for some seconds.", "Then he turned away and walked towards the\ndoor of the hovel, but it was not till he got there that he stood still,\nand, turning his shoulder half-round towards her, said, \"Aw, I can show\nyou the way to Norton, if you like.", "But what do you do gettin' out o'\nthe highroad?\"", "he added, with a tone of gruff reproof.", "\"Y'ull be gettin'\ninto mischief, if you dooant mind.\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty, \"I won't do it again.", "I'll keep in the road, if\nyou'll be so good as show me how to get to it.\"", "\"Why dooant you keep where there's a finger-poasses an' folks to ax the\nway on?\"", "the man said, still more gruffly.", "\"Anybody 'ud think you was a\nwild woman, an' look at yer.\"", "Hetty was frightened at this gruff old man, and still more at this last\nsuggestion that she looked like a wild woman.", "As she followed him out of\nthe hovel she thought she would give him a sixpence for telling her the\nway, and then he would not suppose she was wild.", "As he stopped to point\nout the road to her, she put her hand in her pocket to get the six-pence\nready, and when he was turning away, without saying good-morning,\nshe held it out to him and said, \"Thank you; will you please to take\nsomething for your trouble?\"", "He looked slowly at the sixpence, and then said, \"I want none o' your\nmoney.", "You'd better take care on't, else you'll get it stool from yer,\nif you go trapesin' about the fields like a mad woman a-thatway.\"", "The man left her without further speech, and Hetty held on her way.", "Another day had risen, and she must wander on.", "It was no use to think of\ndrowning herself--she could not do it, at least while she had money left\nto buy food and strength to journey on.", "But the incident on her waking\nthis morning heightened her dread of that time when her money would be\nall gone; she would have to sell her basket and clothes then, and she\nwould really look like a beggar or a wild woman, as the man had said.", "The passionate joy in life she had felt in the night, after escaping\nfrom the brink of the black cold death in the pool, was gone now.", "Life now, by the morning light, with the impression of that man's hard\nwondering look at her, was as full of dread as death--it was worse; it\nwas a dread to which she felt chained, from which she shrank and shrank\nas she did from the black pool, and yet could find no refuge from it.", "She took out her money from her purse, and looked at it.", "She had still\ntwo-and-twenty shillings; it would serve her for many days more, or it\nwould help her to get on faster to Stonyshire, within reach of\nDinah.", "The thought of Dinah urged itself more strongly now, since the\nexperience of the night had driven her shuddering imagination away from\nthe pool.", "If it had been only going to Dinah--if nobody besides Dinah\nwould ever know--Hetty could have made up her mind to go to her.", "The\nsoft voice, the pitying eyes, would have drawn her.", "But afterwards the\nother people must know, and she could no more rush on that shame than\nshe could rush on death.", "She must wander on and on, and wait for a lower depth of despair to give\nher courage.", "Perhaps death would come to her, for she was getting less\nand less able to bear the day's weariness.", "And yet--such is the strange\naction of our souls, drawing us by a lurking desire towards the very\nends we dread--Hetty, when she set out again from Norton, asked the\nstraightest road northwards towards Stonyshire, and kept it all that\nday.", "Poor wandering Hetty, with the rounded childish face and the hard,\nunloving, despairing soul looking out of it--with the narrow heart\nand narrow thoughts, no room in them for any sorrows but her own, and\ntasting that sorrow with the more intense bitterness!", "My heart bleeds\nfor her as I see her toiling along on her weary feet, or seated in\na cart, with her eyes fixed vacantly on the road before her, never\nthinking or caring whither it tends, till hunger comes and makes her\ndesire that a village may be near.", "What will be the end, the end of her objectless wandering, apart from\nall love, caring for human beings only through her pride, clinging to\nlife only as the hunted wounded brute clings to it?", "God preserve you and me from being the beginners of such misery!" ]

[ "Yes, she could surely get some money for her ornaments:\nthose Arthur had given her must have cost a great deal of money.", "What should she do when it was\ngone?", "Dinah did not seem to belong to\nthat world of Hetty's, whose glance she dreaded like scorching fire.", "The good landlady was amazed when she saw Hetty come downstairs soon\nafter herself, neatly dressed, and looking resolutely self-possessed.", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty indifferently.", "There was no need to\nhurry--there was all the night to drown herself in.", "She took them out now and ate them eagerly, and then\nsat still again, looking at the pool.", "Oh how long the time was in that darkness!", "The\nexercise and the occupation of finding the stile were a stimulus to her,\nhowever, and lightened the horror of the darkness and solitude.", "Then he turned away and walked towards the\ndoor of the hovel, but it was not till he got there that he stood still,\nand, turning his shoulder half-round towards her, said, \"Aw, I can show\nyou the way to Norton, if you like." ]

[ "Religious doctrines had\ntaken no hold on Hetty's mind.", "Will you\ntell me the way to the nearest village?\"", "She was one of those numerous people\nwho have had godfathers and godmothers, learned their catechism, been\nconfirmed, and gone to church every Sunday, and yet, for any practical\nresult of strength in life, or trust in death, have never appropriated a\nsingle Christian idea or Christian feeling.", "She got up to look\nabout for stones, and soon brought five or six, which she laid down\nbeside her basket, and then sat down again.", "But in spite of\nher trembling, she was so eager to account to the man for her presence\nhere, that she found words at once.", "They declined to take anything\nfor her food and bed: she was quite welcome.", "The horrible thought of want and beggary\ndrove her once to think she would go back to her uncle and aunt and ask\nthem to forgive her and have pity on her.", "\"I didn't mean as I thought so,\" said the husband, apologetically,\n\"but I said it was what the jeweller might think, and so he wouldn't be\noffering much money for 'em.\"", "he added, with a tone of gruff reproof.", "It was as if the thing were come in\nspite of herself, instead of being the object of her search." ]

[ "And yet, even in her most self-conscious moments, the face was sadly\ndifferent from that which had smiled at itself in the old specked glass,\nor smiled at others when they glanced at it admiringly.", "A hard and even\nfierce look had come in the eyes, though their lashes were as long as\never, and they had all their dark brightness.", "And the cheek was never\ndimpled with smiles now.", "It was the same rounded, pouting, childish\nprettiness, but with all love and belief in love departed from it--the\nsadder for its beauty, like that wondrous Medusa-face, with the\npassionate, passionless lips.", "At last she was among the fields she had been dreaming of, on a long\nnarrow pathway leading towards a wood.", "If there should be a pool in that\nwood!", "It would be better hidden than one in the fields.", "No, it was not a\nwood, only a wild brake, where there had once been gravel-pits, leaving\nmounds and hollows studded with brushwood and small trees.", "She roamed up\nand down, thinking there was perhaps a pool in every hollow before she\ncame to it, till her limbs were weary, and she sat down to rest.", "The\nafternoon was far advanced, and the leaden sky was darkening, as if the\nsun were setting behind it.", "After a little while Hetty started up again,\nfeeling that darkness would soon come on; and she must put off finding\nthe pool till to-morrow, and make her way to some shelter for the night." ]

[ "\n\nHETTY was too ill through the rest of that day for any questions to be\naddressed to her--too ill even to think with any distinctness of the\nevils that were to come.", "She only felt that all her hope was crushed,\nand that instead of having found a refuge she had only reached the\nborders of a new wilderness where no goal lay before her.", "The sensations\nof bodily sickness, in a comfortable bed, and with the tendance of the\ngood-natured landlady, made a sort of respite for her; such a respite as\nthere is in the faint weariness which obliges a man to throw himself on\nthe sand instead of toiling onward under the scorching sun.", "But when sleep and rest had brought back the strength necessary for the\nkeenness of mental suffering--when she lay the next morning looking at\nthe growing light which was like a cruel task-master returning to urge\nfrom her a fresh round of hated hopeless labour--she began to think what\ncourse she must take, to remember that all her money was gone, to\nlook at the prospect of further wandering among strangers with the new\nclearness shed on it by the experience of her journey to Windsor.", "But\nwhich way could she turn?", "It was impossible for her to enter into any\nservice, even if she could obtain it.", "There was nothing but immediate\nbeggary before her.", "She thought of a young woman who had been found\nagainst the church wall at Hayslope one Sunday, nearly dead with cold\nand hunger--a tiny infant in her arms.", "The woman was rescued and taken\nto the parish.", "\"The parish!\"", "If it had been only going to Dinah--if nobody besides Dinah\nwould ever know--Hetty could have made up her mind to go to her.", "The\nsoft voice, the pitying eyes, would have drawn her.", "But afterwards the\nother people must know, and she could no more rush on that shame than\nshe could rush on death.", "She must wander on and on, and wait for a lower depth of despair to give\nher courage.", "Perhaps death would come to her, for she was getting less\nand less able to bear the day's weariness.", "And yet--such is the strange\naction of our souls, drawing us by a lurking desire towards the very\nends we dread--Hetty, when she set out again from Norton, asked the\nstraightest road northwards towards Stonyshire, and kept it all that\nday.", "Poor wandering Hetty, with the rounded childish face and the hard,\nunloving, despairing soul looking out of it--with the narrow heart\nand narrow thoughts, no room in them for any sorrows but her own, and\ntasting that sorrow with the more intense bitterness!", "My heart bleeds\nfor her as I see her toiling along on her weary feet, or seated in\na cart, with her eyes fixed vacantly on the road before her, never\nthinking or caring whither it tends, till hunger comes and makes her\ndesire that a village may be near.", "What will be the end, the end of her objectless wandering, apart from\nall love, caring for human beings only through her pride, clinging to\nlife only as the hunted wounded brute clings to it?", "God preserve you and me from being the beginners of such misery!" ]

[ "\n\nTHE first ten days after Hetty's departure passed as quietly as any\nother days with the family at the Hall Farm, and with Adam at his daily\nwork.", "They had expected Hetty to stay away a week or ten days at least,\nperhaps a little longer if Dinah came back with her, because there might\nthen be something to detain them at Snowfield.", "But when a fortnight had\npassed they began to feel a little surprise that Hetty did not return;\nshe must surely have found it pleasanter to be with Dinah than any one\ncould have supposed.", "Adam, for his part, was getting very impatient\nto see her, and he resolved that, if she did not appear the next day\n(Saturday), he would set out on Sunday morning to fetch her.", "There\nwas no coach on a Sunday, but by setting out before it was light, and\nperhaps getting a lift in a cart by the way, he would arrive pretty\nearly at Snowfield, and bring back Hetty the next day--Dinah too, if she\nwere coming.", "It was quite time Hetty came home, and he would afford to\nlose his Monday for the sake of bringing her.", "His project was quite approved at the Farm when he went there on\nSaturday evening.", "Mrs. Poyser desired him emphatically not to come back\nwithout Hetty, for she had been quite too long away, considering the\nthings she had to get ready by the middle of March, and a week was\nsurely enough for any one to go out for their health.", "As for Dinah, Mrs.\nPoyser had small hope of their bringing her, unless they could make her\nbelieve the folks at Hayslope were twice as miserable as the folks at\nSnowfield.", "\"Though,\" said Mrs. Poyser, by way of conclusion, \"you might\ntell her she's got but one aunt left, and SHE'S wasted pretty nigh to\na shadder; and we shall p'rhaps all be gone twenty mile farther off her\nnext Michaelmas, and shall die o' broken hearts among strange folks, and\nleave the children fatherless and motherless.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, who certainly had the air of a man\nperfectly heart-whole, \"it isna so bad as that.", "Thee't looking rarely\nnow, and getting flesh every day.", "But I'd be glad for Dinah t' come, for\nshe'd help thee wi' the little uns: they took t' her wonderful.\"", "So at daybreak, on Sunday, Adam set off.", "Seth went with him the first\nmile or two, for the thought of Snowfield and the possibility that Dinah\nmight come again made him restless, and the walk with Adam in the cold\nmorning air, both in their best clothes, helped to give him a sense of\nSunday calm.", "It was the last morning in February, with a low grey sky,\nand a slight hoar-frost on the green border of the road and on the black\nhedges.", "They heard the gurgling of the full brooklet hurrying down the\nhill, and the faint twittering of the early birds.", "For they walked in\nsilence, though with a pleased sense of companionship.", "\"Good-bye, lad,\" said Adam, laying his hand on Seth's shoulder and\nlooking at him affectionately as they were about to part.", "\"I wish thee\nwast going all the way wi' me, and as happy as I am.\"", "\"I'm content, Addy, I'm content,\" said Seth cheerfully.", "\"I'll be an old\nbachelor, belike, and make a fuss wi' thy children.\"", "They turned away from each other, and Seth walked leisurely homeward,\nmentally repeating one of his favourite hymns--he was very fond of\nhymns:\n\n Dark and cheerless is the morn\n Unaccompanied by thee:\n Joyless is the day's return\n Till thy mercy's beams I see:\n Till thou inward light impart,\n Glad my eyes and warm my heart.", "Visit, then, this soul of mine,\n Pierce the gloom of sin and grief--\n Fill me, Radiancy Divine,\n Scatter all my unbelief.", "More and more thyself display,\n Shining to the perfect day.", "Adam walked much faster, and any one coming along the Oakbourne road\nat sunrise that morning must have had a pleasant sight in this tall\nbroad-chested man, striding along with a carriage as upright and firm\nas any soldier's, glancing with keen glad eyes at the dark-blue hills as\nthey began to show themselves on his way.", "Seldom in Adam's life had his\nface been so free from any cloud of anxiety as it was this morning; and\nthis freedom from care, as is usual with constructive practical minds\nlike his, made him all the more observant of the objects round him\nand all the more ready to gather suggestions from them towards his\nown favourite plans and ingenious contrivances.", "His happy love--the\nknowledge that his steps were carrying him nearer and nearer to Hetty,\nwho was so soon to be his--was to his thoughts what the sweet morning\nair was to his sensations: it gave him a consciousness of well-being\nthat made activity delightful.", "Every now and then there was a rush of\nmore intense feeling towards her, which chased away other images than\nHetty; and along with that would come a wondering thankfulness that\nall this happiness was given to him--that this life of ours had such\nsweetness in it.", "For Adam had a devout mind, though he was perhaps\nrather impatient of devout words, and his tenderness lay very close\nto his reverence, so that the one could hardly be stirred without the\nother.", "But after feeling had welled up and poured itself out in this\nway, busy thought would come back with the greater vigour; and this\nmorning it was intent on schemes by which the roads might be improved\nthat were so imperfect all through the country, and on picturing all\nthe benefits that might come from the exertions of a single country\ngentleman, if he would set himself to getting the roads made good in his\nown district.", "It seemed a very short walk, the ten miles to Oakbourne, that pretty\ntown within sight of the blue hills, where he break-fasted.", "After\nthis, the country grew barer and barer: no more rolling woods, no more\nwide-branching trees near frequent homesteads, no more bushy hedgerows,\nbut greystone walls intersecting the meagre pastures, and dismal\nwide-scattered greystone houses on broken lands where mines had been and\nwere no longer.", "\"A hungry land,\" said Adam to himself.", "\"I'd rather go\nsouth'ard, where they say it's as flat as a table, than come to live\nhere; though if Dinah likes to live in a country where she can be the\nmost comfort to folks, she's i' the right to live o' this side; for she\nmust look as if she'd come straight from heaven, like th' angels in the\ndesert, to strengthen them as ha' got nothing t' eat.\"", "And when at last\nhe came in sight of Snowfield, he thought it looked like a town that was\n\"fellow to the country,\" though the stream through the valley where the\ngreat mill stood gave a pleasant greenness to the lower fields.", "The town\nlay, grim, stony, and unsheltered, up the side of a steep hill, and Adam\ndid not go forward to it at present, for Seth had told him where to find\nDinah.", "It was at a thatched cottage outside the town, a little way from\nthe mill--an old cottage, standing sideways towards the road, with a\nlittle bit of potato-ground before it.", "Here Dinah lodged with an elderly\ncouple; and if she and Hetty happened to be out, Adam could learn where\nthey were gone, or when they would be at home again.", "Dinah might be out\non some preaching errand, and perhaps she would have left Hetty at home.", "Adam could not help hoping this, and as he recognized the cottage by the\nroadside before him, there shone out in his face that involuntary smile\nwhich belongs to the expectation of a near joy.", "He hurried his step along the narrow causeway, and rapped at the door.", "It was opened by a very clean old woman, with a slow palsied shake of\nthe head.", "\"Is Dinah Morris at home?\"", "said Adam.", "\"Eh?...no,\" said the old woman, looking up at this tall stranger with\na wonder that made her slower of speech than usual.", "\"Will you please to\ncome in?\"", "she added, retiring from the door, as if recollecting herself.", "\"Why, ye're brother to the young man as come afore, arena ye?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Adam, entering.", "\"That was Seth Bede.", "I'm his brother Adam.", "He told me to give his respects to you and your good master.\"", "\"Aye, the same t' him.", "He was a gracious young man.", "An' ye feature him,\non'y ye're darker.", "Sit ye down i' th' arm-chair.", "My man isna come home\nfrom meeting.\"", "Adam sat down patiently, not liking to hurry the shaking old woman with\nquestions, but looking eagerly towards the narrow twisting stairs in one\ncorner, for he thought it was possible Hetty might have heard his voice\nand would come down them.", "\"So you're come to see Dinah Morris?\"", "said the old woman, standing\nopposite to him.", "\"An' you didn' know she was away from home, then?\"", "\"No,\" said Adam, \"but I thought it likely she might be away, seeing as\nit's Sunday.", "But the other young woman--is she at home, or gone along\nwith Dinah?\"", "The old woman looked at Adam with a bewildered air.", "\"Gone along wi' her?\"", "she said.", "\"Eh, Dinah's gone to Leeds, a big town\nye may ha' heared on, where there's a many o' the Lord's people.", "She's\nbeen gone sin' Friday was a fortnight: they sent her the money for her\njourney.", "You may see her room here,\" she went on, opening a door and not\nnoticing the effect of her words on Adam.", "He rose and followed her, and\ndarted an eager glance into the little room with its narrow bed, the\nportrait of Wesley on the wall, and the few books lying on the large\nBible.", "He had had an irrational hope that Hetty might be there.", "He could\nnot speak in the first moment after seeing that the room was empty; an\nundefined fear had seized him--something had happened to Hetty on the\njourney.", "Still the old woman was so slow of speech and apprehension,\nthat Hetty might be at Snowfield after all.", "\"It's a pity ye didna know,\" she said.", "\"Have ye come from your own\ncountry o' purpose to see her?\"", "\"But Hetty--Hetty Sorrel,\" said Adam, abruptly; \"Where is she?\"", "\"I know nobody by that name,\" said the old woman, wonderingly.", "\"Is it\nanybody ye've heared on at Snowfield?\"", "\"Did there come no young woman here--very young and pretty--Friday was a\nfortnight, to see Dinah Morris?\"", "\"Nay; I'n seen no young woman.\"", "\"Think; are you quite sure?", "A girl, eighteen years old, with dark eyes\nand dark curly hair, and a red cloak on, and a basket on her arm?", "You\ncouldn't forget her if you saw her.\"", "\"Nay; Friday was a fortnight--it was the day as Dinah went away--there\ncome nobody.", "There's ne'er been nobody asking for her till you come, for\nthe folks about know as she's gone.", "Eh dear, eh dear, is there summat\nthe matter?\"", "The old woman had seen the ghastly look of fear in Adam's face.", "But he\nwas not stunned or confounded: he was thinking eagerly where he could\ninquire about Hetty.", "\"Yes; a young woman started from our country to see Dinah, Friday was a\nfortnight.", "I came to fetch her back.", "I'm afraid something has happened\nto her.", "I can't stop.", "Good-bye.\"", "He hastened out of the cottage, and the old woman followed him to the\ngate, watching him sadly with her shaking head as he almost ran towards\nthe town.", "He was going to inquire at the place where the Oakbourne coach\nstopped.", "No!", "No young woman like Hetty had been seen there.", "Had any accident\nhappened to the coach a fortnight ago?", "No.", "And there was no coach to\ntake him back to Oakbourne that day.", "Well, he would walk: he couldn't\nstay here, in wretched inaction.", "But the innkeeper, seeing that Adam was\nin great anxiety, and entering into this new incident with the eagerness\nof a man who passes a great deal of time with his hands in his pockets\nlooking into an obstinately monotonous street, offered to take him back\nto Oakbourne in his own \"taxed cart\" this very evening.", "It was not five\no'clock; there was plenty of time for Adam to take a meal and yet to get\nto Oakbourne before ten o'clock.", "The innkeeper declared that he really\nwanted to go to Oakbourne, and might as well go to-night; he should have\nall Monday before him then.", "Adam, after making an ineffectual attempt\nto eat, put the food in his pocket, and, drinking a draught of ale,\ndeclared himself ready to set off.", "As they approached the cottage, it\noccurred to him that he would do well to learn from the old woman\nwhere Dinah was to be found in Leeds: if there was trouble at the Hall\nFarm--he only half-admitted the foreboding that there would be--the\nPoysers might like to send for Dinah.", "But Dinah had not left any\naddress, and the old woman, whose memory for names was infirm, could not\nrecall the name of the \"blessed woman\" who was Dinah's chief friend in\nthe Society at Leeds.", "During that long, long journey in the taxed cart, there was time for\nall the conjectures of importunate fear and struggling hope.", "In the very\nfirst shock of discovering that Hetty had not been to Snowfield, the\nthought of Arthur had darted through Adam like a sharp pang, but he\ntried for some time to ward off its return by busying himself with modes\nof accounting for the alarming fact, quite apart from that intolerable\nthought.", "Some accident had happened.", "Hetty had, by some strange chance,\ngot into a wrong vehicle from Oakbourne: she had been taken ill, and did\nnot want to frighten them by letting them know.", "But this frail fence\nof vague improbabilities was soon hurled down by a rush of distinct\nagonizing fears.", "Hetty had been deceiving herself in thinking that she\ncould love and marry him: she had been loving Arthur all the while; and\nnow, in her desperation at the nearness of their marriage, she had run\naway.", "And she was gone to him.", "The old indignation and jealousy\nrose again, and prompted the suspicion that Arthur had been dealing\nfalsely--had written to Hetty--had tempted her to come to him--being\nunwilling, after all, that she should belong to another man besides\nhimself.", "Perhaps the whole thing had been contrived by him, and he had\ngiven her directions how to follow him to Ireland--for Adam knew that\nArthur had been gone thither three weeks ago, having recently learnt it\nat the Chase.", "Every sad look of Hetty's, since she had been engaged\nto Adam, returned upon him now with all the exaggeration of painful\nretrospect.", "He had been foolishly sanguine and confident.", "The poor thing\nhadn't perhaps known her own mind for a long while; had thought that\nshe could forget Arthur; had been momentarily drawn towards the man who\noffered her a protecting, faithful love.", "He couldn't bear to blame her:\nshe never meant to cause him this dreadful pain.", "The blame lay with\nthat man who had selfishly played with her heart--had perhaps even\ndeliberately lured her away.", "At Oakbourne, the ostler at the Royal Oak remembered such a young woman\nas Adam described getting out of the Treddleston coach more than a\nfortnight ago--wasn't likely to forget such a pretty lass as that in\na hurry--was sure she had not gone on by the Buxton coach that went\nthrough Snowfield, but had lost sight of her while he went away with the\nhorses and had never set eyes on her again.", "Adam then went straight to\nthe house from which the Stonition coach started: Stoniton was the\nmost obvious place for Hetty to go to first, whatever might be\nher destination, for she would hardly venture on any but the chief\ncoach-roads.", "She had been noticed here too, and was remembered to have\nsat on the box by the coachman; but the coachman could not be seen, for\nanother man had been driving on that road in his stead the last three or\nfour days.", "He could probably be seen at Stoniton, through inquiry at the\ninn where the coach put up.", "So the anxious heart-stricken Adam must of\nnecessity wait and try to rest till morning--nay, till eleven o'clock,\nwhen the coach started.", "At Stoniton another delay occurred, for the old coachman who had driven\nHetty would not be in the town again till night.", "When he did come he\nremembered Hetty well, and remembered his own joke addressed to her,\nquoting it many times to Adam, and observing with equal frequency that\nhe thought there was something more than common, because Hetty had not\nlaughed when he joked her.", "But he declared, as the people had done at\nthe inn, that he had lost sight of Hetty directly she got down.", "Part of\nthe next morning was consumed in inquiries at every house in the town\nfrom which a coach started--(all in vain, for you know Hetty did not\nstart from Stonition by coach, but on foot in the grey morning)--and\nthen in walking out to the first toll-gates on the different lines of\nroad, in the forlorn hope of finding some recollection of her there.", "No,\nshe was not to be traced any farther; and the next hard task for Adam\nwas to go home and carry the wretched tidings to the Hall Farm.", "As to\nwhat he should do beyond that, he had come to two distinct resolutions\namidst the tumult of thought and feeling which was going on within him\nwhile he went to and fro.", "He would not mention what he knew of Arthur\nDonnithorne's behaviour to Hetty till there was a clear necessity for\nit: it was still possible Hetty might come back, and the disclosure\nmight be an injury or an offence to her.", "And as soon as he had been home\nand done what was necessary there to prepare for his further absence, he\nwould start off to Ireland: if he found no trace of Hetty on the road,\nhe would go straight to Arthur Donnithorne and make himself certain\nhow far he was acquainted with her movements.", "Several times the thought\noccurred to him that he would consult Mr. Irwine, but that would be\nuseless unless he told him all, and so betrayed the secret about Arthur.", "It seems strange that Adam, in the incessant occupation of his mind\nabout Hetty, should never have alighted on the probability that she had\ngone to Windsor, ignorant that Arthur was no longer there.", "Perhaps the\nreason was that he could not conceive Hetty's throwing herself on Arthur\nuncalled; he imagined no cause that could have driven her to such\na step, after that letter written in August.", "There were but two\nalternatives in his mind: either Arthur had written to her again and\nenticed her away, or she had simply fled from her approaching marriage\nwith himself because she found, after all, she could not love him well\nenough, and yet was afraid of her friends' anger if she retracted.", "With this last determination on his mind, of going straight to Arthur,\nthe thought that he had spent two days in inquiries which had proved to\nbe almost useless, was torturing to Adam; and yet, since he would not\ntell the Poysers his conviction as to where Hetty was gone, or his\nintention to follow her thither, he must be able to say to them that he\nhad traced her as far as possible.", "It was after twelve o'clock on Tuesday night when Adam reached\nTreddleston; and, unwilling to disturb his mother and Seth, and also\nto encounter their questions at that hour, he threw himself without\nundressing on a bed at the \"Waggon Overthrown,\" and slept hard from pure\nweariness.", "Not more than four hours, however, for before five o'clock he\nset out on his way home in the faint morning twilight.", "He always kept a\nkey of the workshop door in his pocket, so that he could let himself in;\nand he wished to enter without awaking his mother, for he was anxious\nto avoid telling her the new trouble himself by seeing Seth first, and\nasking him to tell her when it should be necessary.", "He walked gently\nalong the yard, and turned the key gently in the door; but, as he\nexpected, Gyp, who lay in the workshop, gave a sharp bark.", "It subsided\nwhen he saw Adam, holding up his finger at him to impose silence, and\nin his dumb, tailless joy he must content himself with rubbing his body\nagainst his master's legs.", "Adam was too heart-sick to take notice of Gyp's fondling.", "He threw\nhimself on the bench and stared dully at the wood and the signs of work\naround him, wondering if he should ever come to feel pleasure in them\nagain, while Gyp, dimly aware that there was something wrong with his\nmaster, laid his rough grey head on Adam's knee and wrinkled his brows\nto look up at him.", "Hitherto, since Sunday afternoon, Adam had been\nconstantly among strange people and in strange places, having no\nassociations with the details of his daily life, and now that by the\nlight of this new morning he was come back to his home and surrounded\nby the familiar objects that seemed for ever robbed of their charm, the\nreality--the hard, inevitable reality of his troubles pressed upon him\nwith a new weight.", "Right before him was an unfinished chest of drawers,\nwhich he had been making in spare moments for Hetty's use, when his home\nshould be hers.", "Seth had not heard Adam's entrance, but he had been roused by Gyp's\nbark, and Adam heard him moving about in the room above, dressing\nhimself.", "Seth's first thoughts were about his brother: he would come\nhome to-day, surely, for the business would be wanting him sadly by\nto-morrow, but it was pleasant to think he had had a longer holiday than\nhe had expected.", "And would Dinah come too?", "Seth felt that that was the\ngreatest happiness he could look forward to for himself, though he had\nno hope left that she would ever love him well enough to marry him; but\nhe had often said to himself, it was better to be Dinah's friend and\nbrother than any other woman's husband.", "If he could but be always near\nher, instead of living so far off!", "He came downstairs and opened the inner door leading from the kitchen\ninto the workshop, intending to let out Gyp; but he stood still in\nthe doorway, smitten with a sudden shock at the sight of Adam seated\nlistlessly on the bench, pale, unwashed, with sunken blank eyes, almost\nlike a drunkard in the morning.", "But Seth felt in an instant what the\nmarks meant--not drunkenness, but some great calamity.", "Adam looked up at\nhim without speaking, and Seth moved forward towards the bench, himself\ntrembling so that speech did not come readily.", "\"God have mercy on us, Addy,\" he said, in a low voice, sitting down on\nthe bench beside Adam, \"what is it?\"", "Adam was unable to speak.", "The strong man, accustomed to suppress the\nsigns of sorrow, had felt his heart swell like a child's at this first\napproach of sympathy.", "He fell on Seth's neck and sobbed.", "Seth was prepared for the worst now, for, even in his recollections of\ntheir boyhood, Adam had never sobbed before.", "\"Is it death, Adam?", "Is she dead?\"", "he asked, in a low tone, when Adam\nraised his head and was recovering himself.", "\"No, lad; but she's gone--gone away from us.", "She's never been to\nSnowfield.", "Dinah's been gone to Leeds ever since last Friday was a\nfortnight, the very day Hetty set out.", "I can't find out where she went\nafter she got to Stoniton.\"", "Seth was silent from utter astonishment: he knew nothing that could\nsuggest to him a reason for Hetty's going away.", "\"Hast any notion what she's done it for?\"", "he said, at last.", "\"She can't ha' loved me.", "She didn't like our marriage when it came\nnigh--that must be it,\" said Adam.", "He had determined to mention no\nfurther reason.", "\"I hear Mother stirring,\" said Seth.", "\"Must we tell her?\"", "\"No, not yet,\" said Adam, rising from the bench and pushing the hair\nfrom his face, as if he wanted to rouse himself.", "\"I can't have her told\nyet; and I must set out on another journey directly, after I've been to\nthe village and th' Hall Farm.", "I can't tell thee where I'm going, and\nthee must say to her I'm gone on business as nobody is to know anything\nabout.", "I'll go and wash myself now.\"", "Adam moved towards the door of the\nworkshop, but after a step or two he turned round, and, meeting Seth's\neyes with a calm sad glance, he said, \"I must take all the money out\no' the tin box, lad; but if anything happens to me, all the rest 'll be\nthine, to take care o' Mother with.\"", "Seth was pale and trembling: he felt there was some terrible secret\nunder all this.", "\"Brother,\" he said, faintly--he never called Adam\n\"Brother\" except in solemn moments--\"I don't believe you'll do anything\nas you can't ask God's blessing on.\"", "\"Nay, lad,\" said Adam, \"don't be afraid.", "I'm for doing nought but what's\na man's duty.\"", "The thought that if he betrayed his trouble to his mother, she would\nonly distress him by words, half of blundering affection, half of\nirrepressible triumph that Hetty proved as unfit to be his wife as she\nhad always foreseen, brought back some of his habitual firmness and\nself-command.", "He had felt ill on his journey home--he told her when she\ncame down--had stayed all night at Tredddleston for that reason; and a\nbad headache, that still hung about him this morning, accounted for his\npaleness and heavy eyes.", "He determined to go to the village, in the first place, attend to his\nbusiness for an hour, and give notice to Burge of his being obliged to\ngo on a journey, which he must beg him not to mention to any one; for\nhe wished to avoid going to the Hall Farm near breakfast-time, when the\nchildren and servants would be in the house-place, and there must be\nexclamations in their hearing about his having returned without Hetty.", "He waited until the clock struck nine before he left the work-yard at\nthe village, and set off, through the fields, towards the Farm.", "It was\nan immense relief to him, as he came near the Home Close, to see Mr.\nPoyser advancing towards him, for this would spare him the pain of going\nto the house.", "Mr. Poyser was walking briskly this March morning, with a\nsense of spring business on his mind: he was going to cast the master's\neye on the shoeing of a new cart-horse, carrying his spud as a useful\ncompanion by the way.", "His surprise was great when he caught sight of\nAdam, but he was not a man given to presentiments of evil.", "\"Why, Adam, lad, is't you?", "Have ye been all this time away and not\nbrought the lasses back, after all?", "Where are they?\"", "\"No, I've not brought 'em,\" said Adam, turning round, to indicate that\nhe wished to walk back with Mr. Poyser.", "\"Why,\" said Martin, looking with sharper attention at Adam, \"ye look\nbad.", "Is there anything happened?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Adam, heavily.", "\"A sad thing's happened.", "I didna find Hetty\nat Snowfield.\"", "Mr. Poyser's good-natured face showed signs of troubled astonishment.", "\"Not find her?", "What's happened to her?\"", "he said, his thoughts flying at\nonce to bodily accident.", "\"That I can't tell, whether anything's happened to her.", "She never went\nto Snowfield--she took the coach to Stoniton, but I can't learn nothing\nof her after she got down from the Stoniton coach.\"", "\"Why, you donna mean she's run away?\"", "said Martin, standing still, so\npuzzled and bewildered that the fact did not yet make itself felt as a\ntrouble by him.", "\"She must ha' done,\" said Adam.", "\"She didn't like our marriage when it\ncame to the point--that must be it.", "She'd mistook her feelings.\"", "Martin was silent for a minute or two, looking on the ground and rooting\nup the grass with his spud, without knowing what he was doing.", "His usual\nslowness was always trebled when the subject of speech was painful.", "At\nlast he looked up, right in Adam's face, saying, \"Then she didna deserve\nt' ha' ye, my lad.", "An' I feel i' fault myself, for she was my niece, and\nI was allays hot for her marr'ing ye.", "There's no amends I can make ye,\nlad--the more's the pity: it's a sad cut-up for ye, I doubt.\"", "Adam could say nothing; and Mr. Poyser, after pursuing his walk for a\nlittle while, went on, \"I'll be bound she's gone after trying to get a\nlady's maid's place, for she'd got that in her head half a year ago, and\nwanted me to gi' my consent.", "But I'd thought better on her\"--he added,\nshaking his head slowly and sadly--\"I'd thought better on her, nor to\nlook for this, after she'd gi'en y' her word, an' everything been got\nready.\"", "Adam had the strongest motives for encouraging this supposition in Mr.\nPoyser, and he even tried to believe that it might possibly be true.", "He\nhad no warrant for the certainty that she was gone to Arthur.", "\"It was better it should be so,\" he said, as quietly as he could, \"if\nshe felt she couldn't like me for a husband.", "Better run away before than\nrepent after.", "I hope you won't look harshly on her if she comes back, as\nshe may do if she finds it hard to get on away from home.\"", "\"I canna look on her as I've done before,\" said Martin decisively.", "\"She's acted bad by you, and by all of us.", "But I'll not turn my back on\nher: she's but a young un, and it's the first harm I've knowed on her.", "It'll be a hard job for me to tell her aunt.", "Why didna Dinah come back\nwi' ye?", "She'd ha' helped to pacify her aunt a bit.\"", "\"Dinah wasn't at Snowfield.", "She's been gone to Leeds this fortnight, and\nI couldn't learn from th' old woman any direction where she is at Leeds,\nelse I should ha' brought it you.\"", "\"She'd a deal better be staying wi' her own kin,\" said Mr. Poyser,\nindignantly, \"than going preaching among strange folks a-that'n.\"", "\"I must leave you now, Mr. Poyser,\" said Adam, \"for I've a deal to see\nto.\"", "\"Aye, you'd best be after your business, and I must tell the missis when\nI go home.", "It's a hard job.\"", "\"But,\" said Adam, \"I beg particular, you'll keep what's happened quiet\nfor a week or two.", "I've not told my mother yet, and there's no knowing\nhow things may turn out.\"", "\"Aye, aye; least said, soonest mended.", "We'n no need to say why the match\nis broke off, an' we may hear of her after a bit.", "Shake hands wi' me,\nlad: I wish I could make thee amends.\"", "There was something in Martin Poyser's throat at that moment which\ncaused him to bring out those scanty words in rather a broken fashion.", "Yet Adam knew what they meant all the better, and the two honest men\ngrasped each other's hard hands in mutual understanding.", "There was nothing now to hinder Adam from setting off.", "He had told Seth\nto go to the Chase and leave a message for the squire, saying that Adam\nBede had been obliged to start off suddenly on a journey--and to say as\nmuch, and no more, to any one else who made inquiries about him.", "If the\nPoysers learned that he was gone away again, Adam knew they would infer\nthat he was gone in search of Hetty.", "He had intended to go right on his way from the Hall Farm, but now the\nimpulse which had frequently visited him before--to go to Mr. Irwine,\nand make a confidant of him--recurred with the new force which belongs\nto a last opportunity.", "He was about to start on a long journey--a\ndifficult one--by sea--and no soul would know where he was gone.", "If\nanything happened to him?", "Or, if he absolutely needed help in any matter\nconcerning Hetty?", "Mr. Irwine was to be trusted; and the feeling which\nmade Adam shrink from telling anything which was her secret must give\nway before the need there was that she should have some one else besides\nhimself who would be prepared to defend her in the worst extremity.", "Towards Arthur, even though he might have incurred no new guilt, Adam\nfelt that he was not bound to keep silence when Hetty's interest called\non him to speak.", "\"I must do it,\" said Adam, when these thoughts, which had spread\nthemselves through hours of his sad journeying, now rushed upon him in\nan instant, like a wave that had been slowly gathering; \"it's the right\nthing.", "I can't stand alone in this way any longer.\"" ]

[ "It was quite time Hetty came home, and he would afford to\nlose his Monday for the sake of bringing her.", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, who certainly had the air of a man\nperfectly heart-whole, \"it isna so bad as that.", "But the other young woman--is she at home, or gone along\nwith Dinah?\"", "Every sad look of Hetty's, since she had been engaged\nto Adam, returned upon him now with all the exaggeration of painful\nretrospect.", "Several times the thought\noccurred to him that he would consult Mr. Irwine, but that would be\nuseless unless he told him all, and so betrayed the secret about Arthur.", "He walked gently\nalong the yard, and turned the key gently in the door; but, as he\nexpected, Gyp, who lay in the workshop, gave a sharp bark.", "Seth was pale and trembling: he felt there was some terrible secret\nunder all this.", "It's a hard job.\"", "\"But,\" said Adam, \"I beg particular, you'll keep what's happened quiet\nfor a week or two.", "He had intended to go right on his way from the Hall Farm, but now the\nimpulse which had frequently visited him before--to go to Mr. Irwine,\nand make a confidant of him--recurred with the new force which belongs\nto a last opportunity." ]

[ "\"Eh?...no,\" said the old woman, looking up at this tall stranger with\na wonder that made her slower of speech than usual.", "Have ye been all this time away and not\nbrought the lasses back, after all?", "During that long, long journey in the taxed cart, there was time for\nall the conjectures of importunate fear and struggling hope.", "\"I hear Mother stirring,\" said Seth.", "At Stoniton another delay occurred, for the old coachman who had driven\nHetty would not be in the town again till night.", "With this last determination on his mind, of going straight to Arthur,\nthe thought that he had spent two days in inquiries which had proved to\nbe almost useless, was torturing to Adam; and yet, since he would not\ntell the Poysers his conviction as to where Hetty was gone, or his\nintention to follow her thither, he must be able to say to them that he\nhad traced her as far as possible.", "\"Brother,\" he said, faintly--he never called Adam\n\"Brother\" except in solemn moments--\"I don't believe you'll do anything\nas you can't ask God's blessing on.\"", "Adam was too heart-sick to take notice of Gyp's fondling.", "Seth went with him the first\nmile or two, for the thought of Snowfield and the possibility that Dinah\nmight come again made him restless, and the walk with Adam in the cold\nmorning air, both in their best clothes, helped to give him a sense of\nSunday calm.", "He had had an irrational hope that Hetty might be there." ]

[ "At Oakbourne, the ostler at the Royal Oak remembered such a young woman\nas Adam described getting out of the Treddleston coach more than a\nfortnight ago--wasn't likely to forget such a pretty lass as that in\na hurry--was sure she had not gone on by the Buxton coach that went\nthrough Snowfield, but had lost sight of her while he went away with the\nhorses and had never set eyes on her again.", "Adam then went straight to\nthe house from which the Stonition coach started: Stoniton was the\nmost obvious place for Hetty to go to first, whatever might be\nher destination, for she would hardly venture on any but the chief\ncoach-roads.", "She had been noticed here too, and was remembered to have\nsat on the box by the coachman; but the coachman could not be seen, for\nanother man had been driving on that road in his stead the last three or\nfour days.", "He could probably be seen at Stoniton, through inquiry at the\ninn where the coach put up.", "So the anxious heart-stricken Adam must of\nnecessity wait and try to rest till morning--nay, till eleven o'clock,\nwhen the coach started.", "At Stoniton another delay occurred, for the old coachman who had driven\nHetty would not be in the town again till night.", "When he did come he\nremembered Hetty well, and remembered his own joke addressed to her,\nquoting it many times to Adam, and observing with equal frequency that\nhe thought there was something more than common, because Hetty had not\nlaughed when he joked her.", "But he declared, as the people had done at\nthe inn, that he had lost sight of Hetty directly she got down.", "Part of\nthe next morning was consumed in inquiries at every house in the town\nfrom which a coach started--(all in vain, for you know Hetty did not\nstart from Stonition by coach, but on foot in the grey morning)--and\nthen in walking out to the first toll-gates on the different lines of\nroad, in the forlorn hope of finding some recollection of her there.", "No,\nshe was not to be traced any farther; and the next hard task for Adam\nwas to go home and carry the wretched tidings to the Hall Farm.", "As to\nwhat he should do beyond that, he had come to two distinct resolutions\namidst the tumult of thought and feeling which was going on within him\nwhile he went to and fro." ]

[ "\n\nTHE first ten days after Hetty's departure passed as quietly as any\nother days with the family at the Hall Farm, and with Adam at his daily\nwork.", "They had expected Hetty to stay away a week or ten days at least,\nperhaps a little longer if Dinah came back with her, because there might\nthen be something to detain them at Snowfield.", "But when a fortnight had\npassed they began to feel a little surprise that Hetty did not return;\nshe must surely have found it pleasanter to be with Dinah than any one\ncould have supposed.", "Adam, for his part, was getting very impatient\nto see her, and he resolved that, if she did not appear the next day\n(Saturday), he would set out on Sunday morning to fetch her.", "There\nwas no coach on a Sunday, but by setting out before it was light, and\nperhaps getting a lift in a cart by the way, he would arrive pretty\nearly at Snowfield, and bring back Hetty the next day--Dinah too, if she\nwere coming.", "It was quite time Hetty came home, and he would afford to\nlose his Monday for the sake of bringing her.", "His project was quite approved at the Farm when he went there on\nSaturday evening.", "Mrs. Poyser desired him emphatically not to come back\nwithout Hetty, for she had been quite too long away, considering the\nthings she had to get ready by the middle of March, and a week was\nsurely enough for any one to go out for their health.", "As for Dinah, Mrs.\nPoyser had small hope of their bringing her, unless they could make her\nbelieve the folks at Hayslope were twice as miserable as the folks at\nSnowfield.", "\"Though,\" said Mrs. Poyser, by way of conclusion, \"you might\ntell her she's got but one aunt left, and SHE'S wasted pretty nigh to\na shadder; and we shall p'rhaps all be gone twenty mile farther off her\nnext Michaelmas, and shall die o' broken hearts among strange folks, and\nleave the children fatherless and motherless.\"", "He had told Seth\nto go to the Chase and leave a message for the squire, saying that Adam\nBede had been obliged to start off suddenly on a journey--and to say as\nmuch, and no more, to any one else who made inquiries about him.", "If the\nPoysers learned that he was gone away again, Adam knew they would infer\nthat he was gone in search of Hetty.", "He had intended to go right on his way from the Hall Farm, but now the\nimpulse which had frequently visited him before--to go to Mr. Irwine,\nand make a confidant of him--recurred with the new force which belongs\nto a last opportunity.", "He was about to start on a long journey--a\ndifficult one--by sea--and no soul would know where he was gone.", "If\nanything happened to him?", "Or, if he absolutely needed help in any matter\nconcerning Hetty?", "Mr. Irwine was to be trusted; and the feeling which\nmade Adam shrink from telling anything which was her secret must give\nway before the need there was that she should have some one else besides\nhimself who would be prepared to defend her in the worst extremity.", "Towards Arthur, even though he might have incurred no new guilt, Adam\nfelt that he was not bound to keep silence when Hetty's interest called\non him to speak.", "\"I must do it,\" said Adam, when these thoughts, which had spread\nthemselves through hours of his sad journeying, now rushed upon him in\nan instant, like a wave that had been slowly gathering; \"it's the right\nthing.", "I can't stand alone in this way any longer.\"" ]

[ "\n\nADAM turned his face towards Broxton and walked with his swiftest\nstride, looking at his watch with the fear that Mr. Irwine might be gone\nout--hunting, perhaps.", "The fear and haste together produced a state of\nstrong excitement before he reached the rectory gate, and outside it he\nsaw the deep marks of a recent hoof on the gravel.", "But the hoofs were turned towards the gate, not away from it, and though\nthere was a horse against the stable door, it was not Mr. Irwine's: it\nhad evidently had a journey this morning, and must belong to some one\nwho had come on business.", "Mr. Irwine was at home, then; but Adam could\nhardly find breath and calmness to tell Carroll that he wanted to speak\nto the rector.", "The double suffering of certain and uncertain sorrow had\nbegun to shake the strong man.", "The butler looked at him wonderingly, as\nhe threw himself on a bench in the passage and stared absently at the\nclock on the opposite wall.", "The master had somebody with him, he said,\nbut he heard the study door open--the stranger seemed to be coming out,\nand as Adam was in a hurry, he would let the master know at once.", "Adam sat looking at the clock: the minute-hand was hurrying along the\nlast five minutes to ten with a loud, hard, indifferent tick, and Adam\nwatched the movement and listened to the sound as if he had had some\nreason for doing so.", "In our times of bitter suffering there are almost\nalways these pauses, when our consciousness is benumbed to everything\nbut some trivial perception or sensation.", "It is as if semi-idiocy came\nto give us rest from the memory and the dread which refuse to leave us\nin our sleep.", "Carroll, coming back, recalled Adam to the sense of his burden.", "He\nwas to go into the study immediately.", "\"I can't think what that strange\nperson's come about,\" the butler added, from mere incontinence of\nremark, as he preceded Adam to the door, \"he's gone i' the dining-room.", "And master looks unaccountable--as if he was frightened.\"", "Adam took no\nnotice of the words: he could not care about other people's business.", "But when he entered the study and looked in Mr. Irwine's face, he felt\nin an instant that there was a new expression in it, strangely different\nfrom the warm friendliness it had always worn for him before.", "A letter\nlay open on the table, and Mr. Irwine's hand was on it, but the changed\nglance he cast on Adam could not be owing entirely to preoccupation with\nsome disagreeable business, for he was looking eagerly towards the door,\nas if Adam's entrance were a matter of poignant anxiety to him.", "\"You want to speak to me, Adam,\" he said, in that low constrainedly\nquiet tone which a man uses when he is determined to suppress agitation.", "\"Sit down here.\"", "He pointed to a chair just opposite to him, at no more\nthan a yard's distance from his own, and Adam sat down with a sense\nthat this cold manner of Mr. Irwine's gave an additional unexpected\ndifficulty to his disclosure.", "But when Adam had made up his mind to\na measure, he was not the man to renounce it for any but imperative\nreasons.", "\"I come to you, sir,\" he said, \"as the gentleman I look up to most of\nanybody.", "I've something very painful to tell you--something as it'll\npain you to hear as well as me to tell.", "But if I speak o' the wrong\nother people have done, you'll see I didn't speak till I'd good reason.\"", "Mr. Irwine nodded slowly, and Adam went on rather tremulously, \"You was\nt' ha' married me and Hetty Sorrel, you know, sir, o' the fifteenth o'\nthis month.", "I thought she loved me, and I was th' happiest man i' the\nparish.", "But a dreadful blow's come upon me.\"", "Mr. Irwine started up from his chair, as if involuntarily, but then,\ndetermined to control himself, walked to the window and looked out.", "\"She's gone away, sir, and we don't know where.", "She said she was going\nto Snowfield o' Friday was a fortnight, and I went last Sunday to\nfetch her back; but she'd never been there, and she took the coach to\nStoniton, and beyond that I can't trace her.", "But now I'm going a long\njourney to look for her, and I can't trust t' anybody but you where I'm\ngoing.\"", "Mr. Irwine came back from the window and sat down.", "\"Have you no idea of the reason why she went away?\"", "he said.", "\"It's plain enough she didn't want to marry me, sir,\" said Adam.", "\"She\ndidn't like it when it came so near.", "But that isn't all, I doubt.", "There's something else I must tell you, sir.", "There's somebody else\nconcerned besides me.\"", "A gleam of something--it was almost like relief or joy--came across the\neager anxiety of Mr. Irwine's face at that moment.", "Adam was looking on\nthe ground, and paused a little: the next words were hard to speak.", "But when he went on, he lifted up his head and looked straight at Mr.\nIrwine.", "He would do the thing he had resolved to do, without flinching.", "\"You know who's the man I've reckoned my greatest friend,\" he said, \"and\nused to be proud to think as I should pass my life i' working for him,\nand had felt so ever since we were lads....\"\n\nMr. Irwine, as if all self-control had forsaken him, grasped Adam's arm,\nwhich lay on the table, and, clutching it tightly like a man in pain,\nsaid, with pale lips and a low hurried voice, \"No, Adam, no--don't say\nit, for God's sake!\"", "Adam, surprised at the violence of Mr. Irwine's feeling, repented of the\nwords that had passed his lips and sat in distressed silence.", "The grasp\non his arm gradually relaxed, and Mr. Irwine threw himself back in his\nchair, saying, \"Go on--I must know it.\"", "\"That man played with Hetty's feelings, and behaved to her as he'd no\nright to do to a girl in her station o' life--made her presents and used\nto go and meet her out a-walking.", "I found it out only two days before\nhe went away--found him a-kissing her as they were parting in the Grove.", "There'd been nothing said between me and Hetty then, though I'd loved\nher for a long while, and she knew it.", "But I reproached him with his\nwrong actions, and words and blows passed between us; and he said\nsolemnly to me, after that, as it had been all nonsense and no more\nthan a bit o' flirting.", "But I made him write a letter to tell Hetty\nhe'd meant nothing, for I saw clear enough, sir, by several things as\nI hadn't understood at the time, as he'd got hold of her heart, and\nI thought she'd belike go on thinking of him and never come to love\nanother man as wanted to marry her.", "And I gave her the letter, and she\nseemed to bear it all after a while better than I'd expected...and she\nbehaved kinder and kinder to me...I daresay she didn't know her own\nfeelings then, poor thing, and they came back upon her when it was too\nlate...I don't want to blame her...I can't think as she meant to deceive\nme.", "But I was encouraged to think she loved me, and--you know the rest,\nsir.", "But it's on my mind as he's been false to me, and 'ticed her away,\nand she's gone to him--and I'm going now to see, for I can never go to\nwork again till I know what's become of her.\"", "During Adam's narrative, Mr. Irwine had had time to recover his\nself-mastery in spite of the painful thoughts that crowded upon him.", "It was a bitter remembrance to him now--that morning when Arthur\nbreakfasted with him and seemed as if he were on the verge of a\nconfession.", "It was plain enough now what he had wanted to confess.", "And\nif their words had taken another turn...if he himself had been less\nfastidious about intruding on another man's secrets...it was cruel\nto think how thin a film had shut out rescue from all this guilt and\nmisery.", "He saw the whole history now by that terrible illumination which\nthe present sheds back upon the past.", "But every other feeling as it\nrushed upon his was thrown into abeyance by pity, deep respectful pity,\nfor the man who sat before him--already so bruised, going forth with sad\nblind resignedness to an unreal sorrow, while a real one was close\nupon him, too far beyond the range of common trial for him ever to have\nfeared it.", "His own agitation was quelled by a certain awe that comes\nover us in the presence of a great anguish, for the anguish he must\ninflict on Adam was already present to him.", "Again he put his hand on\nthe arm that lay on the table, but very gently this time, as he said\nsolemnly:\n\n\"Adam, my dear friend, you have had some hard trials in your life.", "You\ncan bear sorrow manfully, as well as act manfully.", "God requires both\ntasks at our hands.", "And there is a heavier sorrow coming upon you than\nany you have yet known.", "But you are not guilty--you have not the worst\nof all sorrows.", "God help him who has!\"", "The two pale faces looked at each other; in Adam's there was trembling\nsuspense, in Mr. Irwine's hesitating, shrinking pity.", "But he went on.", "\"I have had news of Hetty this morning.", "She is not gone to him.", "She is\nin Stonyshire--at Stoniton.\"", "Adam started up from his chair, as if he thought he could have leaped\nto her that moment.", "But Mr. Irwine laid hold of his arm again and said,\npersuasively, \"Wait, Adam, wait.\"", "So he sat down.", "\"She is in a very unhappy position--one which will make it worse for you\nto find her, my poor friend, than to have lost her for ever.\"", "Adam's lips moved tremulously, but no sound came.", "They moved again, and\nhe whispered, \"Tell me.\"", "\"She has been arrested...she is in prison.\"", "It was as if an insulting blow had brought back the spirit of resistance\ninto Adam.", "The blood rushed to his face, and he said, loudly and\nsharply, \"For what?\"", "\"For a great crime--the murder of her child.\"", "\"It CAN'T BE!\"", "Adam almost shouted, starting up from his chair and\nmaking a stride towards the door; but he turned round again, setting his\nback against the bookcase, and looking fiercely at Mr. Irwine.", "\"It isn't\npossible.", "She never had a child.", "She can't be guilty.", "WHO says it?\"", "\"God grant she may be innocent, Adam.", "We can still hope she is.\"", "\"But who says she is guilty?\"", "said Adam violently.", "\"Tell me everything.\"", "\"Here is a letter from the magistrate before whom she was taken, and the\nconstable who arrested her is in the dining-room.", "She will not confess\nher name or where she comes from; but I fear, I fear, there can be no\ndoubt it is Hetty.", "The description of her person corresponds, only\nthat she is said to look very pale and ill. She had a small red-leather\npocket-book in her pocket with two names written in it--one at the\nbeginning, 'Hetty Sorrel, Hayslope,' and the other near the end, 'Dinah\nMorris, Snowfield.'", "She will not say which is her own name--she denies\neverything, and will answer no questions, and application has been made\nto me, as a magistrate, that I may take measures for identifying her,\nfor it was thought probable that the name which stands first is her own\nname.\"", "\"But what proof have they got against her, if it IS Hetty?\"", "said Adam,\nstill violently, with an effort that seemed to shake his whole frame.", "\"I'll not believe it.", "It couldn't ha' been, and none of us know it.\"", "\"Terrible proof that she was under the temptation to commit the crime;\nbut we have room to hope that she did not really commit it.", "Try and read\nthat letter, Adam.\"", "Adam took the letter between his shaking hands and tried to fix his eyes\nsteadily on it.", "Mr. Irwine meanwhile went out to give some orders.", "When\nhe came back, Adam's eyes were still on the first page--he couldn't\nread--he could not put the words together and make out what they meant.", "He threw it down at last and clenched his fist.", "\"It's HIS doing,\" he said; \"if there's been any crime, it's at his door,\nnot at hers.", "HE taught her to deceive--HE deceived me first.", "Let 'em put\nHIM on his trial--let him stand in court beside her, and I'll tell 'em\nhow he got hold of her heart, and 'ticed her t' evil, and then lied to\nme.", "Is HE to go free, while they lay all the punishment on her...so weak\nand young?\"", "The image called up by these last words gave a new direction to poor\nAdam's maddened feelings.", "He was silent, looking at the corner of the\nroom as if he saw something there.", "Then he burst out again, in a tone of\nappealing anguish, \"I can't bear it...O God, it's too hard to lay upon\nme--it's too hard to think she's wicked.\"", "Mr. Irwine had sat down again in silence.", "He was too wise to utter\nsoothing words at present, and indeed, the sight of Adam before him,\nwith that look of sudden age which sometimes comes over a young face in\nmoments of terrible emotion--the hard bloodless look of the skin, the\ndeep lines about the quivering mouth, the furrows in the brow--the sight\nof this strong firm man shattered by the invisible stroke of sorrow,\nmoved him so deeply that speech was not easy.", "Adam stood motionless,\nwith his eyes vacantly fixed in this way for a minute or two; in that\nshort space he was living through all his love again.", "\"She can't ha' done it,\" he said, still without moving his eyes, as\nif he were only talking to himself: \"it was fear made her hide it...I\nforgive her for deceiving me...I forgive thee, Hetty...thee wast\ndeceived too...it's gone hard wi' thee, my poor Hetty...but they'll\nnever make me believe it.\"", "He was silent again for a few moments, and then he said, with fierce\nabruptness, \"I'll go to him--I'll bring him back--I'll make him go and\nlook at her in her misery--he shall look at her till he can't forget\nit--it shall follow him night and day--as long as he lives it shall\nfollow him--he shan't escape wi' lies this time--I'll fetch him, I'll\ndrag him myself.\"", "In the act of going towards the door, Adam paused automatically and\nlooked about for his hat, quite unconscious where he was or who was\npresent with him.", "Mr. Irwine had followed him, and now took him by the\narm, saying, in a quiet but decided tone, \"No, Adam, no; I'm sure you\nwill wish to stay and see what good can be done for her, instead of\ngoing on a useless errand of vengeance.", "The punishment will surely fall\nwithout your aid.", "Besides, he is no longer in Ireland.", "He must be on his\nway home--or would be, long before you arrived, for his grandfather, I\nknow, wrote for him to come at least ten days ago.", "I want you now to go\nwith me to Stoniton.", "I have ordered a horse for you to ride with us, as\nsoon as you can compose yourself.\"", "While Mr. Irwine was speaking, Adam recovered his consciousness of the\nactual scene.", "He rubbed his hair off his forehead and listened.", "\"Remember,\" Mr. Irwine went on, \"there are others to think of, and\nact for, besides yourself, Adam: there are Hetty's friends, the good\nPoysers, on whom this stroke will fall more heavily than I can bear to\nthink.", "I expect it from your strength of mind, Adam--from your sense of\nduty to God and man--that you will try to act as long as action can be\nof any use.\"", "In reality, Mr. Irwine proposed this journey to Stoniton for Adam's\nown sake.", "Movement, with some object before him, was the best means of\ncounteracting the violence of suffering in these first hours.", "\"You will go with me to Stoniton, Adam?\"", "he said again, after a moment's\npause.", "\"We have to see if it is really Hetty who is there, you know.\"", "\"Yes, sir,\" said Adam, \"I'll do what you think right.", "But the folks at\nth' Hall Farm?\"", "\"I wish them not to know till I return to tell them myself.", "I shall\nhave ascertained things then which I am uncertain about now, and I shall\nreturn as soon as possible.", "Come now, the horses are ready.\"" ]

[ "The double suffering of certain and uncertain sorrow had\nbegun to shake the strong man.", "Adam was looking on\nthe ground, and paused a little: the next words were hard to speak.", "His own agitation was quelled by a certain awe that comes\nover us in the presence of a great anguish, for the anguish he must\ninflict on Adam was already present to him.", "They moved again, and\nhe whispered, \"Tell me.\"", "\"She has been arrested...she is in prison.\"", "She never had a child.", "\"God grant she may be innocent, Adam.", "\"But who says she is guilty?\"", "It couldn't ha' been, and none of us know it.\"", "I have ordered a horse for you to ride with us, as\nsoon as you can compose yourself.\"" ]

[ "But you are not guilty--you have not the worst\nof all sorrows.", "\"You know who's the man I've reckoned my greatest friend,\" he said, \"and\nused to be proud to think as I should pass my life i' working for him,\nand had felt so ever since we were lads....\"\n\nMr. Irwine, as if all self-control had forsaken him, grasped Adam's arm,\nwhich lay on the table, and, clutching it tightly like a man in pain,\nsaid, with pale lips and a low hurried voice, \"No, Adam, no--don't say\nit, for God's sake!\"", "There's somebody else\nconcerned besides me.\"", "Mr. Irwine was at home, then; but Adam could\nhardly find breath and calmness to tell Carroll that he wanted to speak\nto the rector.", "He was silent, looking at the corner of the\nroom as if he saw something there.", "\"Terrible proof that she was under the temptation to commit the crime;\nbut we have room to hope that she did not really commit it.", "And there is a heavier sorrow coming upon you than\nany you have yet known.", "Movement, with some object before him, was the best means of\ncounteracting the violence of suffering in these first hours.", "Mr. Irwine nodded slowly, and Adam went on rather tremulously, \"You was\nt' ha' married me and Hetty Sorrel, you know, sir, o' the fifteenth o'\nthis month.", "The butler looked at him wonderingly, as\nhe threw himself on a bench in the passage and stared absently at the\nclock on the opposite wall." ]

[ "But you are not guilty--you have not the worst\nof all sorrows.", "God help him who has!\"", "The two pale faces looked at each other; in Adam's there was trembling\nsuspense, in Mr. Irwine's hesitating, shrinking pity.", "But he went on.", "\"I have had news of Hetty this morning.", "She is not gone to him.", "She is\nin Stonyshire--at Stoniton.\"", "Adam started up from his chair, as if he thought he could have leaped\nto her that moment.", "But Mr. Irwine laid hold of his arm again and said,\npersuasively, \"Wait, Adam, wait.\"", "So he sat down.", "\"She is in a very unhappy position--one which will make it worse for you\nto find her, my poor friend, than to have lost her for ever.\"" ]

[ "\n\nADAM turned his face towards Broxton and walked with his swiftest\nstride, looking at his watch with the fear that Mr. Irwine might be gone\nout--hunting, perhaps.", "The fear and haste together produced a state of\nstrong excitement before he reached the rectory gate, and outside it he\nsaw the deep marks of a recent hoof on the gravel.", "But the hoofs were turned towards the gate, not away from it, and though\nthere was a horse against the stable door, it was not Mr. Irwine's: it\nhad evidently had a journey this morning, and must belong to some one\nwho had come on business.", "Mr. Irwine was at home, then; but Adam could\nhardly find breath and calmness to tell Carroll that he wanted to speak\nto the rector.", "The double suffering of certain and uncertain sorrow had\nbegun to shake the strong man.", "The butler looked at him wonderingly, as\nhe threw himself on a bench in the passage and stared absently at the\nclock on the opposite wall.", "The master had somebody with him, he said,\nbut he heard the study door open--the stranger seemed to be coming out,\nand as Adam was in a hurry, he would let the master know at once.", "Adam sat looking at the clock: the minute-hand was hurrying along the\nlast five minutes to ten with a loud, hard, indifferent tick, and Adam\nwatched the movement and listened to the sound as if he had had some\nreason for doing so.", "In our times of bitter suffering there are almost\nalways these pauses, when our consciousness is benumbed to everything\nbut some trivial perception or sensation.", "It is as if semi-idiocy came\nto give us rest from the memory and the dread which refuse to leave us\nin our sleep.", "In reality, Mr. Irwine proposed this journey to Stoniton for Adam's\nown sake.", "Movement, with some object before him, was the best means of\ncounteracting the violence of suffering in these first hours.", "\"You will go with me to Stoniton, Adam?\"", "he said again, after a moment's\npause.", "\"We have to see if it is really Hetty who is there, you know.\"", "\"Yes, sir,\" said Adam, \"I'll do what you think right.", "But the folks at\nth' Hall Farm?\"", "\"I wish them not to know till I return to tell them myself.", "I shall\nhave ascertained things then which I am uncertain about now, and I shall\nreturn as soon as possible.", "Come now, the horses are ready.\"" ]

[ "\n\nMR. IRWINE returned from Stoniton in a post-chaise that night, and the\nfirst words Carroll said to him, as he entered the house, were, that\nSquire Donnithorne was dead--found dead in his bed at ten o'clock that\nmorning--and that Mrs. Irwine desired him to say she should be awake\nwhen Mr. Irwine came home, and she begged him not to go to bed without\nseeing her.", "\"Well, Dauphin,\" Mrs. Irwine said, as her son entered her room, \"you're\ncome at last.", "So the old gentleman's fidgetiness and low spirits, which\nmade him send for Arthur in that sudden way, really meant something.", "I\nsuppose Carroll has told you that Donnithorne was found dead in his bed\nthis morning.", "You will believe my prognostications another time, though\nI daresay I shan't live to prognosticate anything but my own death.\"", "\"What have they done about Arthur?\"", "said Mr. Irwine.", "\"Sent a messenger\nto await him at Liverpool?\"", "\"Yes, Ralph was gone before the news was brought to us.", "Dear Arthur, I\nshall live now to see him master at the Chase, and making good times on\nthe estate, like a generous-hearted fellow as he is.", "He'll be as happy\nas a king now.\"", "Mr. Irwine could not help giving a slight groan: he was worn with\nanxiety and exertion, and his mother's light words were almost\nintolerable.", "\"What are you so dismal about, Dauphin?", "Is there any bad news?", "Or are\nyou thinking of the danger for Arthur in crossing that frightful Irish\nChannel at this time of year?\"", "\"No, Mother, I'm not thinking of that; but I'm not prepared to rejoice\njust now.\"", "\"You've been worried by this law business that you've been to Stoniton\nabout.", "What in the world is it, that you can't tell me?\"", "\"You will know by and by, mother.", "It would not be right for me to tell\nyou at present.", "Good-night: you'll sleep now you have no longer anything\nto listen for.\"", "Mr. Irwine gave up his intention of sending a letter to meet Arthur,\nsince it would not now hasten his return: the news of his grandfather's\ndeath would bring him as soon as he could possibly come.", "He could go\nto bed now and get some needful rest, before the time came for the\nmorning's heavy duty of carrying his sickening news to the Hall Farm and\nto Adam's home.", "Adam himself was not come back from Stoniton, for though he shrank from\nseeing Hetty, he could not bear to go to a distance from her again.", "\"It's no use, sir,\" he said to the rector, \"it's no use for me to go\nback.", "I can't go to work again while she's here, and I couldn't bear\nthe sight o' the things and folks round home.", "I'll take a bit of a room\nhere, where I can see the prison walls, and perhaps I shall get, in\ntime, to bear seeing her.\"", "Adam had not been shaken in his belief that Hetty was innocent of the\ncrime she was charged with, for Mr. Irwine, feeling that the belief in\nher guilt would be a crushing addition to Adam's load, had kept from him\nthe facts which left no hope in his own mind.", "There was not any reason\nfor thrusting the whole burden on Adam at once, and Mr. Irwine, at\nparting, only said, \"If the evidence should tell too strongly against\nher, Adam, we may still hope for a pardon.", "Her youth and other\ncircumstances will be a plea for her.\"", "\"Ah, and it's right people should know how she was tempted into the\nwrong way,\" said Adam, with bitter earnestness.", "\"It's right they should\nknow it was a fine gentleman made love to her, and turned her head wi'\nnotions.", "You'll remember, sir, you've promised to tell my mother, and\nSeth, and the people at the farm, who it was as led her wrong, else\nthey'll think harder of her than she deserves.", "You'll be doing her a\nhurt by sparing him, and I hold him the guiltiest before God, let her\nha' done what she may.", "If you spare him, I'll expose him!\"", "\"I think your demand is just, Adam,\" said Mr. Irwine, \"but when you are\ncalmer, you will judge Arthur more mercifully.", "I say nothing now, only\nthat his punishment is in other hands than ours.\"", "Mr. Irwine felt it hard upon him that he should have to tell of Arthur's\nsad part in the story of sin and sorrow--he who cared for Arthur with\nfatherly affection, who had cared for him with fatherly pride.", "But he\nsaw clearly that the secret must be known before long, even apart from\nAdam's determination, since it was scarcely to be supposed that Hetty\nwould persist to the end in her obstinate silence.", "He made up his mind\nto withhold nothing from the Poysers, but to tell them the worst at\nonce, for there was no time to rob the tidings of their suddenness.", "Hetty's trial must come on at the Lent assizes, and they were to be\nheld at Stoniton the next week.", "It was scarcely to be hoped that Martin\nPoyser could escape the pain of being called as a witness, and it was\nbetter he should know everything as long beforehand as possible.", "Before ten o'clock on Thursday morning the home at the Hall Farm was\na house of mourning for a misfortune felt to be worse than death.", "The\nsense of family dishonour was too keen even in the kind-hearted Martin\nPoyser the younger to leave room for any compassion towards Hetty.", "He\nand his father were simple-minded farmers, proud of their untarnished\ncharacter, proud that they came of a family which had held up its head\nand paid its way as far back as its name was in the parish register;\nand Hetty had brought disgrace on them all--disgrace that could never\nbe wiped out.", "That was the all-conquering feeling in the mind both of\nfather and son--the scorching sense of disgrace, which neutralised all\nother sensibility--and Mr. Irwine was struck with surprise to observe\nthat Mrs. Poyser was less severe than her husband.", "We are often startled\nby the severity of mild people on exceptional occasions; the reason is,\nthat mild people are most liable to be under the yoke of traditional\nimpressions.", "\"I'm willing to pay any money as is wanted towards trying to bring her\noff,\" said Martin the younger when Mr. Irwine was gone, while the old\ngrandfather was crying in the opposite chair, \"but I'll not go nigh her,\nnor ever see her again, by my own will.", "She's made our bread bitter to\nus for all our lives to come, an' we shall ne'er hold up our heads i'\nthis parish nor i' any other.", "The parson talks o' folks pitying us: it's\npoor amends pity 'ull make us.\"", "\"Pity?\"", "said the grandfather, sharply.", "\"I ne'er wanted folks's pity i'\nMY life afore...an' I mun begin to be looked down on now, an' me turned\nseventy-two last St. Thomas's, an' all th' underbearers and pall-bearers\nas I'n picked for my funeral are i' this parish and the next to\n't....It's o' no use now...I mun be ta'en to the grave by strangers.\"", "\"Don't fret so, father,\" said Mrs. Poyser, who had spoken very little,\nbeing almost overawed by her husband's unusual hardness and decision.", "\"You'll have your children wi' you; an' there's the lads and the little\nun 'ull grow up in a new parish as well as i' th' old un.\"", "\"Ah, there's no staying i' this country for us now,\" said Mr. Poyser,\nand the hard tears trickled slowly down his round cheeks.", "\"We thought\nit 'ud be bad luck if the old squire gave us notice this Lady day, but I\nmust gi' notice myself now, an' see if there can anybody be got to come\nan' take to the crops as I'n put i' the ground; for I wonna stay upo'\nthat man's land a day longer nor I'm forced to't.", "An' me, as thought him\nsuch a good upright young man, as I should be glad when he come to be\nour landlord.", "I'll ne'er lift my hat to him again, nor sit i' the same\nchurch wi' him...a man as has brought shame on respectable folks...an'\npretended to be such a friend t' everybody....Poor Adam there...a fine\nfriend he's been t' Adam, making speeches an' talking so fine, an' all\nthe while poisoning the lad's life, as it's much if he can stay i' this\ncountry any more nor we can.\"", "\"An' you t' ha' to go into court, and own you're akin t' her,\" said the\nold man.", "\"Why, they'll cast it up to the little un, as isn't four 'ear\nold, some day--they'll cast it up t' her as she'd a cousin tried at the\n'sizes for murder.\"", "\"It'll be their own wickedness, then,\" said Mrs. Poyser, with a sob in\nher voice.", "\"But there's One above 'ull take care o' the innicent child,\nelse it's but little truth they tell us at church.", "It'll be harder nor\never to die an' leave the little uns, an' nobody to be a mother to 'em.\"", "\"We'd better ha' sent for Dinah, if we'd known where she is,\" said Mr.\nPoyser; \"but Adam said she'd left no direction where she'd be at Leeds.\"", "\"Why, she'd be wi' that woman as was a friend t' her Aunt Judith,\" said\nMrs. Poyser, comforted a little by this suggestion of her husband.", "\"I've often heard Dinah talk of her, but I can't remember what name\nshe called her by.", "But there's Seth Bede; he's like enough to know, for\nshe's a preaching woman as the Methodists think a deal on.\"", "\"I'll send to Seth,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"I'll send Alick to tell him to\ncome, or else to send up word o' the woman's name, an' thee canst write\na letter ready to send off to Treddles'on as soon as we can make out a\ndirection.\"", "\"It's poor work writing letters when you want folks to come to you i'\ntrouble,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Happen it'll be ever so long on the road,\nan' never reach her at last.\"", "Before Alick arrived with the message, Lisbeth's thoughts too had\nalready flown to Dinah, and she had said to Seth, \"Eh, there's no\ncomfort for us i' this world any more, wi'out thee couldst get Dinah\nMorris to come to us, as she did when my old man died.", "I'd like her to\ncome in an' take me by th' hand again, an' talk to me.", "She'd tell me the\nrights on't, belike--she'd happen know some good i' all this trouble an'\nheart-break comin' upo' that poor lad, as ne'er done a bit o' wrong in's\nlife, but war better nor anybody else's son, pick the country round.", "Eh,\nmy lad...Adam, my poor lad!\"", "\"Thee wouldstna like me to leave thee, to go and fetch Dinah?\"", "said\nSeth, as his mother sobbed and rocked herself to and fro.", "\"Fetch her?\"", "said Lisbeth, looking up and pausing from her grief, like\na crying child who hears some promise of consolation.", "\"Why, what place\nis't she's at, do they say?\"", "\"It's a good way off, mother--Leeds, a big town.", "But I could be back in\nthree days, if thee couldst spare me.\"", "\"Nay, nay, I canna spare thee.", "Thee must go an' see thy brother, an'\nbring me word what he's a-doin'.", "Mester Irwine said he'd come an' tell\nme, but I canna make out so well what it means when he tells me.", "Thee\nmust go thysen, sin' Adam wonna let me go to him.", "Write a letter to\nDinah canstna?", "Thee't fond enough o' writin' when nobody wants thee.\"", "\"I'm not sure where she'd be i' that big town,\" said Seth.", "\"If I'd gone\nmyself, I could ha' found out by asking the members o' the Society.", "But\nperhaps if I put Sarah Williamson, Methodist preacher, Leeds, o'\nth' outside, it might get to her; for most like she'd be wi' Sarah\nWilliamson.\"", "Alick came now with the message, and Seth, finding that Mrs. Poyser was\nwriting to Dinah, gave up the intention of writing himself; but he went\nto the Hall Farm to tell them all he could suggest about the address\nof the letter, and warn them that there might be some delay in the\ndelivery, from his not knowing an exact direction.", "On leaving Lisbeth, Mr. Irwine had gone to Jonathan Burge, who had also\na claim to be acquainted with what was likely to keep Adam away from\nbusiness for some time; and before six o'clock that evening there were\nfew people in Broxton and Hayslope who had not heard the sad news.", "Mr.\nIrwine had not mentioned Arthur's name to Burge, and yet the story of\nhis conduct towards Hetty, with all the dark shadows cast upon it by\nits terrible consequences, was presently as well known as that his\ngrandfather was dead, and that he was come into the estate.", "For Martin\nPoyser felt no motive to keep silence towards the one or two neighbours\nwho ventured to come and shake him sorrowfully by the hand on the first\nday of his trouble; and Carroll, who kept his ears open to all that\npassed at the rectory, had framed an inferential version of the story,\nand found early opportunities of communicating it.", "One of those neighbours who came to Martin Poyser and shook him by the\nhand without speaking for some minutes was Bartle Massey.", "He had shut\nup his school, and was on his way to the rectory, where he arrived about\nhalf-past seven in the evening, and, sending his duty to Mr. Irwine,\nbegged pardon for troubling him at that hour, but had something\nparticular on his mind.", "He was shown into the study, where Mr. Irwine\nsoon joined him.", "\"Well, Bartle?\"", "said Mr. Irwine, putting out his hand.", "That was not his\nusual way of saluting the schoolmaster, but trouble makes us treat all\nwho feel with us very much alike.", "\"Sit down.\"", "\"You know what I'm come about as well as I do, sir, I daresay,\" said\nBartle.", "\"You wish to know the truth about the sad news that has reached\nyou...about Hetty Sorrel?\"", "\"Nay, sir, what I wish to know is about Adam Bede.", "I understand you left\nhim at Stoniton, and I beg the favour of you to tell me what's the state\nof the poor lad's mind, and what he means to do.", "For as for that bit o'\npink-and-white they've taken the trouble to put in jail, I don't value\nher a rotten nut--not a rotten nut--only for the harm or good that may\ncome out of her to an honest man--a lad I've set such store\nby--trusted to, that he'd make my bit o' knowledge go a good way in the\nworld....Why, sir, he's the only scholar I've had in this stupid country\nthat ever had the will or the head-piece for mathematics.", "If he hadn't\nhad so much hard work to do, poor fellow, he might have gone into the\nhigher branches, and then this might never have happened--might never\nhave happened.\"", "Bartle was heated by the exertion of walking fast in an agitated frame\nof mind, and was not able to check himself on this first occasion of\nventing his feelings.", "But he paused now to rub his moist forehead, and\nprobably his moist eyes also.", "\"You'll excuse me, sir,\" he said, when this pause had given him time to\nreflect, \"for running on in this way about my own feelings, like that\nfoolish dog of mine howling in a storm, when there's nobody wants to\nlisten to me.", "I came to hear you speak, not to talk myself--if you'll\ntake the trouble to tell me what the poor lad's doing.\"", "\"Don't put yourself under any restraint, Bartle,\" said Mr. Irwine.", "\"The\nfact is, I'm very much in the same condition as you just now; I've a\ngreat deal that's painful on my mind, and I find it hard work to be\nquite silent about my own feelings and only attend to others.", "I share\nyour concern for Adam, though he is not the only one whose sufferings I\ncare for in this affair.", "He intends to remain at Stoniton till after the\ntrial: it will come on probably a week to-morrow.", "He has taken a room\nthere, and I encouraged him to do so, because I think it better he\nshould be away from his own home at present; and, poor fellow, he still\nbelieves Hetty is innocent--he wants to summon up courage to see her if\nhe can; he is unwilling to leave the spot where she is.\"", "\"Do you think the creatur's guilty, then?\"", "said Bartle.", "\"Do you think\nthey'll hang her?\"", "\"I'm afraid it will go hard with her.", "The evidence is very strong.", "And\none bad symptom is that she denies everything--denies that she has had\na child in the face of the most positive evidence.", "I saw her myself, and\nshe was obstinately silent to me; she shrank up like a frightened animal\nwhen she saw me.", "I was never so shocked in my life as at the change in\nher.", "But I trust that, in the worst case, we may obtain a pardon for the\nsake of the innocent who are involved.\"", "\"Stuff and nonsense!\"", "said Bartle, forgetting in his irritation to whom\nhe was speaking.", "\"I beg your pardon, sir, I mean it's stuff and nonsense\nfor the innocent to care about her being hanged.", "For my own part, I\nthink the sooner such women are put out o' the world the better; and the\nmen that help 'em to do mischief had better go along with 'em for that\nmatter.", "What good will you do by keeping such vermin alive, eating the\nvictual that 'ud feed rational beings?", "But if Adam's fool enough to care\nabout it, I don't want him to suffer more than's needful....Is he very\nmuch cut up, poor fellow?\"", "Bartle added, taking out his spectacles and\nputting them on, as if they would assist his imagination.", "\"Yes, I'm afraid the grief cuts very deep,\" said Mr. Irwine.", "\"He looks\nterribly shattered, and a certain violence came over him now and then\nyesterday, which made me wish I could have remained near him.", "But I\nshall go to Stoniton again to-morrow, and I have confidence enough in\nthe strength of Adam's principle to trust that he will be able to endure\nthe worst without being driven to anything rash.\"", "Mr. Irwine, who was involuntarily uttering his own thoughts rather\nthan addressing Bartle Massey in the last sentence, had in his mind the\npossibility that the spirit of vengeance to-wards Arthur, which was\nthe form Adam's anguish was continually taking, might make him seek an\nencounter that was likely to end more fatally than the one in the Grove.", "This possibility heightened the anxiety with which he looked forward\nto Arthur's arrival.", "But Bartle thought Mr. Irwine was referring to\nsuicide, and his face wore a new alarm.", "\"I'll tell you what I have in my head, sir,\" he said, \"and I hope you'll\napprove of it.", "I'm going to shut up my school--if the scholars come,\nthey must go back again, that's all--and I shall go to Stoniton and look\nafter Adam till this business is over.", "I'll pretend I'm come to look\non at the assizes; he can't object to that.", "What do you think about it,\nsir?\"", "\"Well,\" said Mr. Irwine, rather hesitatingly, \"there would be some real\nadvantages in that...and I honour you for your friendship towards him,\nBartle.", "But...you must be careful what you say to him, you know.", "I'm\nafraid you have too little fellow-feeling in what you consider his\nweakness about Hetty.\"", "\"Trust to me, sir--trust to me.", "I know what you mean.", "I've been a fool\nmyself in my time, but that's between you and me.", "I shan't thrust myself\non him only keep my eye on him, and see that he gets some good food, and\nput in a word here and there.\"", "\"Then,\" said Mr. Irwine, reassured a little as to Bartle's discretion,\n\"I think you'll be doing a good deed; and it will be well for you to let\nAdam's mother and brother know that you're going.\"", "\"Yes, sir, yes,\" said Bartle, rising, and taking off his spectacles,\n\"I'll do that, I'll do that; though the mother's a whimpering\nthing--I don't like to come within earshot of her; however, she's\na straight-backed, clean woman, none of your slatterns.", "I wish you\ngood-bye, sir, and thank you for the time you've spared me.", "You're\neverybody's friend in this business--everybody's friend.", "It's a heavy\nweight you've got on your shoulders.\"", "\"Good-bye, Bartle, till we meet at Stoniton, as I daresay we shall.\"", "Bartle hurried away from the rectory, evading Carroll's conversational\nadvances, and saying in an exasperated tone to Vixen, whose short legs\npattered beside him on the gravel, \"Now, I shall be obliged to take you\nwith me, you good-for-nothing woman.", "You'd go fretting yourself to death\nif I left you--you know you would, and perhaps get snapped up by some\ntramp.", "And you'll be running into bad company, I expect, putting your\nnose in every hole and corner where you've no business!", "But if you do\nanything disgraceful, I'll disown you--mind that, madam, mind that!\"" ]

[ "\"Sent a messenger\nto await him at Liverpool?\"", "\"No, Mother, I'm not thinking of that; but I'm not prepared to rejoice\njust now.\"", "An' me, as thought him\nsuch a good upright young man, as I should be glad when he come to be\nour landlord.", "\"Why, she'd be wi' that woman as was a friend t' her Aunt Judith,\" said\nMrs. Poyser, comforted a little by this suggestion of her husband.", "\"It's poor work writing letters when you want folks to come to you i'\ntrouble,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Happen it'll be ever so long on the road,\nan' never reach her at last.\"", "\"Well, Bartle?\"", "said Bartle, forgetting in his irritation to whom\nhe was speaking.", "I'll pretend I'm come to look\non at the assizes; he can't object to that.", "But if you do\nanything disgraceful, I'll disown you--mind that, madam, mind that!\"" ]

[ "The parson talks o' folks pitying us: it's\npoor amends pity 'ull make us.\"", "\"You'll have your children wi' you; an' there's the lads and the little\nun 'ull grow up in a new parish as well as i' th' old un.\"", "\"You've been worried by this law business that you've been to Stoniton\nabout.", "\"Do you think the creatur's guilty, then?\"", "Adam had not been shaken in his belief that Hetty was innocent of the\ncrime she was charged with, for Mr. Irwine, feeling that the belief in\nher guilt would be a crushing addition to Adam's load, had kept from him\nthe facts which left no hope in his own mind.", "But if Adam's fool enough to care\nabout it, I don't want him to suffer more than's needful....Is he very\nmuch cut up, poor fellow?\"", "He'll be as happy\nas a king now.\"", "She's made our bread bitter to\nus for all our lives to come, an' we shall ne'er hold up our heads i'\nthis parish nor i' any other.", "Alick came now with the message, and Seth, finding that Mrs. Poyser was\nwriting to Dinah, gave up the intention of writing himself; but he went\nto the Hall Farm to tell them all he could suggest about the address\nof the letter, and warn them that there might be some delay in the\ndelivery, from his not knowing an exact direction.", "Bartle was heated by the exertion of walking fast in an agitated frame\nof mind, and was not able to check himself on this first occasion of\nventing his feelings." ]

[ "Eh,\nmy lad...Adam, my poor lad!\"", "\"Thee wouldstna like me to leave thee, to go and fetch Dinah?\"", "said\nSeth, as his mother sobbed and rocked herself to and fro.", "\"Fetch her?\"", "said Lisbeth, looking up and pausing from her grief, like\na crying child who hears some promise of consolation.", "\"Why, what place\nis't she's at, do they say?\"", "\"It's a good way off, mother--Leeds, a big town.", "But I could be back in\nthree days, if thee couldst spare me.\"", "\"Nay, nay, I canna spare thee.", "Thee must go an' see thy brother, an'\nbring me word what he's a-doin'.", "Mester Irwine said he'd come an' tell\nme, but I canna make out so well what it means when he tells me." ]

[ "\n\nMR. IRWINE returned from Stoniton in a post-chaise that night, and the\nfirst words Carroll said to him, as he entered the house, were, that\nSquire Donnithorne was dead--found dead in his bed at ten o'clock that\nmorning--and that Mrs. Irwine desired him to say she should be awake\nwhen Mr. Irwine came home, and she begged him not to go to bed without\nseeing her.", "\"Well, Dauphin,\" Mrs. Irwine said, as her son entered her room, \"you're\ncome at last.", "So the old gentleman's fidgetiness and low spirits, which\nmade him send for Arthur in that sudden way, really meant something.", "I\nsuppose Carroll has told you that Donnithorne was found dead in his bed\nthis morning.", "You will believe my prognostications another time, though\nI daresay I shan't live to prognosticate anything but my own death.\"", "\"What have they done about Arthur?\"", "said Mr. Irwine.", "\"Sent a messenger\nto await him at Liverpool?\"", "\"Yes, Ralph was gone before the news was brought to us.", "Dear Arthur, I\nshall live now to see him master at the Chase, and making good times on\nthe estate, like a generous-hearted fellow as he is.", "\"Then,\" said Mr. Irwine, reassured a little as to Bartle's discretion,\n\"I think you'll be doing a good deed; and it will be well for you to let\nAdam's mother and brother know that you're going.\"", "\"Yes, sir, yes,\" said Bartle, rising, and taking off his spectacles,\n\"I'll do that, I'll do that; though the mother's a whimpering\nthing--I don't like to come within earshot of her; however, she's\na straight-backed, clean woman, none of your slatterns.", "I wish you\ngood-bye, sir, and thank you for the time you've spared me.", "You're\neverybody's friend in this business--everybody's friend.", "It's a heavy\nweight you've got on your shoulders.\"", "\"Good-bye, Bartle, till we meet at Stoniton, as I daresay we shall.\"", "Bartle hurried away from the rectory, evading Carroll's conversational\nadvances, and saying in an exasperated tone to Vixen, whose short legs\npattered beside him on the gravel, \"Now, I shall be obliged to take you\nwith me, you good-for-nothing woman.", "You'd go fretting yourself to death\nif I left you--you know you would, and perhaps get snapped up by some\ntramp.", "And you'll be running into bad company, I expect, putting your\nnose in every hole and corner where you've no business!", "But if you do\nanything disgraceful, I'll disown you--mind that, madam, mind that!\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nAN upper room in a dull Stoniton street, with two beds in it--one laid\non the floor.", "It is ten o'clock on Thursday night, and the dark wall\nopposite the window shuts out the moonlight that might have struggled\nwith the light of the one dip candle by which Bartle Massey is\npretending to read, while he is really looking over his spectacles at\nAdam Bede, seated near the dark window.", "You would hardly have known it was Adam without being told.", "His face has\ngot thinner this last week: he has the sunken eyes, the neglected beard\nof a man just risen from a sick-bed.", "His heavy black hair hangs over his\nforehead, and there is no active impulse in him which inclines him to\npush it off, that he may be more awake to what is around him.", "He has one\narm over the back of the chair, and he seems to be looking down at his\nclasped hands.", "He is roused by a knock at the door.", "\"There he is,\" said Bartle Massey, rising hastily and unfastening the\ndoor.", "It was Mr. Irwine.", "Adam rose from his chair with instinctive respect, as Mr. Irwine\napproached him and took his hand.", "\"I'm late, Adam,\" he said, sitting down on the chair which Bartle placed\nfor him, \"but I was later in setting off from Broxton than I intended\nto be, and I have been incessantly occupied since I arrived.", "I have done\neverything now, however--everything that can be done to-night, at least.", "Let us all sit down.\"", "Adam took his chair again mechanically, and Bartle, for whom there was\nno chair remaining, sat on the bed in the background.", "\"Have you seen her, sir?\"", "said Adam tremulously.", "\"Yes, Adam; I and the chaplain have both been with her this evening.\"", "\"Did you ask her, sir...did you say anything about me?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Mr. Irwine, with some hesitation, \"I spoke of you.", "I said\nyou wished to see her before the trial, if she consented.\"", "As Mr. Irwine paused, Adam looked at him with eager, questioning eyes.", "\"You know she shrinks from seeing any one, Adam.", "It is not only\nyou--some fatal influence seems to have shut up her heart against her\nfellow-creatures.", "She has scarcely said anything more than 'No' either\nto me or the chaplain.", "Three or four days ago, before you were mentioned\nto her, when I asked her if there was any one of her family whom she\nwould like to see--to whom she could open her mind--she said, with a\nviolent shudder, 'Tell them not to come near me--I won't see any of\nthem.'\"", "Adam's head was hanging down again, and he did not speak.", "There was\nsilence for a few minutes, and then Mr. Irwine said, \"I don't like\nto advise you against your own feelings, Adam, if they now urge you\nstrongly to go and see her to-morrow morning, even without her consent.", "It is just possible, notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, that\nthe interview might affect her favourably.", "But I grieve to say I have\nscarcely any hope of that.", "She didn't seem agitated when I mentioned\nyour name; she only said 'No,' in the same cold, obstinate way as usual.", "And if the meeting had no good effect on her, it would be pure, useless\nsuffering to you--severe suffering, I fear.", "She is very much changed...\"\n\nAdam started up from his chair and seized his hat, which lay on the\ntable.", "But he stood still then, and looked at Mr. Irwine, as if he had a\nquestion to ask which it was yet difficult to utter.", "Bartle Massey rose\nquietly, turned the key in the door, and put it in his pocket.", "\"Is he come back?\"", "said Adam at last.", "\"No, he is not,\" said Mr. Irwine, quietly.", "\"Lay down your hat, Adam,\nunless you like to walk out with me for a little fresh air.", "I fear you\nhave not been out again to-day.\"", "\"You needn't deceive me, sir,\" said Adam, looking hard at Mr. Irwine and\nspeaking in a tone of angry suspicion.", "\"You needn't be afraid of me.", "I only want justice.", "I want him to feel what she feels.", "It's his\nwork...she was a child as it 'ud ha' gone t' anybody's heart to look\nat...I don't care what she's done...it was him brought her to it.", "And he\nshall know it...he shall feel it...if there's a just God, he shall feel\nwhat it is t' ha' brought a child like her to sin and misery.\"", "\"I'm not deceiving you, Adam,\" said Mr. Irwine.", "\"Arthur Donnithorne is\nnot come back--was not come back when I left.", "I have left a letter for\nhim: he will know all as soon as he arrives.\"", "\"But you don't mind about it,\" said Adam indignantly.", "\"You think it\ndoesn't matter as she lies there in shame and misery, and he knows\nnothing about it--he suffers nothing.\"", "\"Adam, he WILL know--he WILL suffer, long and bitterly.", "He has a heart\nand a conscience: I can't be entirely deceived in his character.", "I am\nconvinced--I am sure he didn't fall under temptation without a struggle.", "He may be weak, but he is not callous, not coldly selfish.", "I am\npersuaded that this will be a shock of which he will feel the effects\nall his life.", "Why do you crave vengeance in this way?", "No amount of\ntorture that you could inflict on him could benefit her.\"", "\"No--O God, no,\" Adam groaned out, sinking on his chair again; \"but\nthen, that's the deepest curse of all...that's what makes the blackness\nof it...IT CAN NEVER BE UNDONE.", "My poor Hetty...she can never be my\nsweet Hetty again...the prettiest thing God had made--smiling up at\nme...I thought she loved me...and was good...\"\n\nAdam's voice had been gradually sinking into a hoarse undertone, as if\nhe were only talking to himself; but now he said abruptly, looking at\nMr. Irwine, \"But she isn't as guilty as they say?", "You don't think she\nis, sir?", "She can't ha' done it.\"", "\"That perhaps can never be known with certainty, Adam,\" Mr. Irwine\nanswered gently.", "\"In these cases we sometimes form our judgment on what\nseems to us strong evidence, and yet, for want of knowing some small\nfact, our judgment is wrong.", "But suppose the worst: you have no right to\nsay that the guilt of her crime lies with him, and that he ought to bear\nthe punishment.", "It is not for us men to apportion the shares of moral\nguilt and retribution.", "We find it impossible to avoid mistakes even in\ndetermining who has committed a single criminal act, and the problem how\nfar a man is to be held responsible for the unforeseen consequences of\nhis own deed is one that might well make us tremble to look into it.", "The evil consequences that may lie folded in a single act of selfish\nindulgence is a thought so awful that it ought surely to awaken some\nfeeling less presumptuous than a rash desire to punish.", "You have a mind\nthat can understand this fully, Adam, when you are calm.", "Don't suppose\nI can't enter into the anguish that drives you into this state\nof revengeful hatred.", "But think of this: if you were to obey your\npassion--for it IS passion, and you deceive yourself in calling it\njustice--it might be with you precisely as it has been with Arthur; nay,\nworse; your passion might lead you yourself into a horrible crime.\"", "\"No--not worse,\" said Adam, bitterly; \"I don't believe it's worse--I'd\nsooner do it--I'd sooner do a wickedness as I could suffer for by myself\nthan ha' brought HER to do wickedness and then stand by and see 'em\npunish her while they let me alone; and all for a bit o' pleasure, as,\nif he'd had a man's heart in him, he'd ha' cut his hand off sooner than\nhe'd ha' taken it.", "What if he didn't foresee what's happened?", "He foresaw\nenough; he'd no right to expect anything but harm and shame to her.", "And\nthen he wanted to smooth it off wi' lies.", "No--there's plenty o' things\nfolks are hanged for not half so hateful as that.", "Let a man do what he\nwill, if he knows he's to bear the punishment himself, he isn't half so\nbad as a mean selfish coward as makes things easy t' himself and knows\nall the while the punishment 'll fall on somebody else.\"", "\"There again you partly deceive yourself, Adam.", "There is no sort of\nwrong deed of which a man can bear the punishment alone; you can't\nisolate yourself and say that the evil which is in you shall not spread.", "Men's lives are as thoroughly blended with each other as the air they\nbreathe: evil spreads as necessarily as disease.", "I know, I feel the\nterrible extent of suffering this sin of Arthur's has caused to others;\nbut so does every sin cause suffering to others besides those who commit\nit.", "An act of vengeance on your part against Arthur would simply be\nanother evil added to those we are suffering under: you could not bear\nthe punishment alone; you would entail the worst sorrows on every one\nwho loves you.", "You would have committed an act of blind fury that would\nleave all the present evils just as they were and add worse evils to\nthem.", "You may tell me that you meditate no fatal act of vengeance, but\nthe feeling in your mind is what gives birth to such actions, and as\nlong as you indulge it, as long as you do not see that to fix your mind\non Arthur's punishment is revenge, and not justice, you are in danger\nof being led on to the commission of some great wrong.", "Remember what you\ntold me about your feelings after you had given that blow to Arthur in\nthe Grove.\"", "Adam was silent: the last words had called up a vivid image of the past,\nand Mr. Irwine left him to his thoughts, while he spoke to Bartle Massey\nabout old Mr. Donnithorne's funeral and other matters of an indifferent\nkind.", "But at length Adam turned round and said, in a more subdued tone,\n\"I've not asked about 'em at th' Hall Farm, sir.", "Is Mr. Poyser coming?\"", "\"He is come; he is in Stoniton to-night.", "But I could not advise him to\nsee you, Adam.", "His own mind is in a very perturbed state, and it is best\nhe should not see you till you are calmer.\"", "\"Is Dinah Morris come to 'em, sir?", "Seth said they'd sent for her.\"", "\"No.", "Mr. Poyser tells me she was not come when he left.", "They're afraid\nthe letter has not reached her.", "It seems they had no exact address.\"", "Adam sat ruminating a little while, and then said, \"I wonder if Dinah\n'ud ha' gone to see her.", "But perhaps the Poysers would ha' been sorely\nagainst it, since they won't come nigh her themselves.", "But I think she\nwould, for the Methodists are great folks for going into the prisons;\nand Seth said he thought she would.", "She'd a very tender way with her,\nDinah had; I wonder if she could ha' done any good.", "You never saw her,\nsir, did you?\"", "\"Yes, I did.", "I had a conversation with her--she pleased me a good deal.", "And now you mention it, I wish she would come, for it is possible that a\ngentle mild woman like her might move Hetty to open her heart.", "The jail\nchaplain is rather harsh in his manner.\"", "\"But it's o' no use if she doesn't come,\" said Adam sadly.", "\"If I'd thought of it earlier, I would have taken some measures\nfor finding her out,\" said Mr. Irwine, \"but it's too late now, I\nfear...Well, Adam, I must go now.", "Try to get some rest to-night.", "God\nbless you.", "I'll see you early to-morrow morning.\"" ]

[ "I have done\neverything now, however--everything that can be done to-night, at least.", "\"Did you ask her, sir...did you say anything about me?\"", "I said\nyou wished to see her before the trial, if she consented.\"", "It's his\nwork...she was a child as it 'ud ha' gone t' anybody's heart to look\nat...I don't care what she's done...it was him brought her to it.", "\"But you don't mind about it,\" said Adam indignantly.", "\"Adam, he WILL know--he WILL suffer, long and bitterly.", "The evil consequences that may lie folded in a single act of selfish\nindulgence is a thought so awful that it ought surely to awaken some\nfeeling less presumptuous than a rash desire to punish.", "Adam was silent: the last words had called up a vivid image of the past,\nand Mr. Irwine left him to his thoughts, while he spoke to Bartle Massey\nabout old Mr. Donnithorne's funeral and other matters of an indifferent\nkind.", "Is Mr. Poyser coming?\"", "Mr. Poyser tells me she was not come when he left." ]

[ "Bartle Massey rose\nquietly, turned the key in the door, and put it in his pocket.", "\"If I'd thought of it earlier, I would have taken some measures\nfor finding her out,\" said Mr. Irwine, \"but it's too late now, I\nfear...Well, Adam, I must go now.", "\"Arthur Donnithorne is\nnot come back--was not come back when I left.", "But he stood still then, and looked at Mr. Irwine, as if he had a\nquestion to ask which it was yet difficult to utter.", "\"Adam, he WILL know--he WILL suffer, long and bitterly.", "I'll see you early to-morrow morning.\"", "I only want justice.", "You never saw her,\nsir, did you?\"", "But I grieve to say I have\nscarcely any hope of that.", "Men's lives are as thoroughly blended with each other as the air they\nbreathe: evil spreads as necessarily as disease." ]

[ "\"Adam, he WILL know--he WILL suffer, long and bitterly.", "He has a heart\nand a conscience: I can't be entirely deceived in his character.", "I am\nconvinced--I am sure he didn't fall under temptation without a struggle.", "He may be weak, but he is not callous, not coldly selfish.", "I am\npersuaded that this will be a shock of which he will feel the effects\nall his life.", "Why do you crave vengeance in this way?", "No amount of\ntorture that you could inflict on him could benefit her.\"", "\"No--O God, no,\" Adam groaned out, sinking on his chair again; \"but\nthen, that's the deepest curse of all...that's what makes the blackness\nof it...IT CAN NEVER BE UNDONE.", "My poor Hetty...she can never be my\nsweet Hetty again...the prettiest thing God had made--smiling up at\nme...I thought she loved me...and was good...\"\n\nAdam's voice had been gradually sinking into a hoarse undertone, as if\nhe were only talking to himself; but now he said abruptly, looking at\nMr. Irwine, \"But she isn't as guilty as they say?", "You don't think she\nis, sir?", "She can't ha' done it.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nAN upper room in a dull Stoniton street, with two beds in it--one laid\non the floor.", "It is ten o'clock on Thursday night, and the dark wall\nopposite the window shuts out the moonlight that might have struggled\nwith the light of the one dip candle by which Bartle Massey is\npretending to read, while he is really looking over his spectacles at\nAdam Bede, seated near the dark window.", "You would hardly have known it was Adam without being told.", "His face has\ngot thinner this last week: he has the sunken eyes, the neglected beard\nof a man just risen from a sick-bed.", "His heavy black hair hangs over his\nforehead, and there is no active impulse in him which inclines him to\npush it off, that he may be more awake to what is around him.", "He has one\narm over the back of the chair, and he seems to be looking down at his\nclasped hands.", "He is roused by a knock at the door.", "\"There he is,\" said Bartle Massey, rising hastily and unfastening the\ndoor.", "It was Mr. Irwine.", "Adam rose from his chair with instinctive respect, as Mr. Irwine\napproached him and took his hand.", "You never saw her,\nsir, did you?\"", "\"Yes, I did.", "I had a conversation with her--she pleased me a good deal.", "And now you mention it, I wish she would come, for it is possible that a\ngentle mild woman like her might move Hetty to open her heart.", "The jail\nchaplain is rather harsh in his manner.\"", "\"But it's o' no use if she doesn't come,\" said Adam sadly.", "\"If I'd thought of it earlier, I would have taken some measures\nfor finding her out,\" said Mr. Irwine, \"but it's too late now, I\nfear...Well, Adam, I must go now.", "Try to get some rest to-night.", "God\nbless you.", "I'll see you early to-morrow morning.\"" ]

[ "\n\nAT one o'clock the next day, Adam was alone in his dull upper room;\nhis watch lay before him on the table, as if he were counting the\nlong minutes.", "He had no knowledge of what was likely to be said by\nthe witnesses on the trial, for he had shrunk from all the particulars\nconnected with Hetty's arrest and accusation.", "This brave active man, who\nwould have hastened towards any danger or toil to rescue Hetty from an\napprehended wrong or misfortune, felt himself powerless to contemplate\nirremediable evil and suffering.", "The susceptibility which would have\nbeen an impelling force where there was any possibility of action became\nhelpless anguish when he was obliged to be passive, or else sought an\nactive outlet in the thought of inflicting justice on Arthur.", "Energetic\nnatures, strong for all strenuous deeds, will often rush away from a\nhopeless sufferer, as if they were hard-hearted.", "It is the overmastering\nsense of pain that drives them.", "They shrink by an ungovernable instinct,\nas they would shrink from laceration.", "Adam had brought himself to think\nof seeing Hetty, if she would consent to see him, because he thought the\nmeeting might possibly be a good to her--might help to melt away this\nterrible hardness they told him of.", "If she saw he bore her no ill will\nfor what she had done to him, she might open her heart to him.", "But this\nresolution had been an immense effort--he trembled at the thought of\nseeing her changed face, as a timid woman trembles at the thought of\nthe surgeon's knife, and he chose now to bear the long hours of suspense\nrather than encounter what seemed to him the more intolerable agony of\nwitnessing her trial.", "Deep unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration,\nthe initiation into a new state.", "The yearning memories, the bitter\nregret, the agonized sympathy, the struggling appeals to the Invisible\nRight--all the intense emotions which had filled the days and nights of\nthe past week, and were compressing themselves again like an eager crowd\ninto the hours of this single morning, made Adam look back on all the\nprevious years as if they had been a dim sleepy existence, and he had\nonly now awaked to full consciousness.", "It seemed to him as if he had\nalways before thought it a light thing that men should suffer, as if all\nthat he had himself endured and called sorrow before was only a moment's\nstroke that had never left a bruise.", "Doubtless a great anguish may do\nthe work of years, and we may come out from that baptism of fire with a\nsoul full of new awe and new pity.", "\"O God,\" Adam groaned, as he leaned on the table and looked blankly at\nthe face of the watch, \"and men have suffered like this before...and\npoor helpless young things have suffered like her....Such a little while\nago looking so happy and so pretty...kissing 'em all, her grandfather\nand all of 'em, and they wishing her luck....O my poor, poor\nHetty...dost think on it now?\"", "Adam started and looked round towards the door.", "Vixen had begun to\nwhimper, and there was a sound of a stick and a lame walk on the stairs.", "It was Bartle Massey come back.", "Could it be all over?", "Bartle entered quietly, and, going up to Adam, grasped his hand and\nsaid, \"I'm just come to look at you, my boy, for the folks are gone out\nof court for a bit.\"", "Adam's heart beat so violently he was unable to speak--he could only\nreturn the pressure of his friend's hand--and Bartle, drawing up the\nother chair, came and sat in front of him, taking off his hat and his\nspectacles.", "\"That's a thing never happened to me before,\" he observed, \"to go out o'\nthe door with my spectacles on.", "I clean forgot to take 'em off.\"", "The old man made this trivial remark, thinking it better not to respond\nat all to Adam's agitation: he would gather, in an indirect way, that\nthere was nothing decisive to communicate at present.", "\"And now,\" he said, rising again, \"I must see to your having a bit of\nthe loaf, and some of that wine Mr. Irwine sent this morning.", "He'll be\nangry with me if you don't have it.", "Come, now,\" he went on, bringing\nforward the bottle and the loaf and pouring some wine into a cup, \"I\nmust have a bit and a sup myself.", "Drink a drop with me, my lad--drink\nwith me.\"", "Adam pushed the cup gently away and said, entreatingly, \"Tell me about\nit, Mr. Massey--tell me all about it.", "Was she there?", "Have they begun?\"", "\"Yes, my boy, yes--it's taken all the time since I first went; but\nthey're slow, they're slow; and there's the counsel they've got for her\nputs a spoke in the wheel whenever he can, and makes a deal to do with\ncross-examining the witnesses and quarrelling with the other lawyers.", "That's all he can do for the money they give him; and it's a big\nsum--it's a big sum.", "But he's a 'cute fellow, with an eye that 'ud pick\nthe needles out of the hay in no time.", "If a man had got no feelings, it\n'ud be as good as a demonstration to listen to what goes on in court;\nbut a tender heart makes one stupid.", "I'd have given up figures for ever\nonly to have had some good news to bring to you, my poor lad.\"", "\"But does it seem to be going against her?\"", "said Adam.", "\"Tell me what\nthey've said.", "I must know it now--I must know what they have to bring\nagainst her.\"", "\"Why, the chief evidence yet has been the doctors; all but Martin\nPoyser--poor Martin.", "Everybody in court felt for him--it was like one\nsob, the sound they made when he came down again.", "The worst was when\nthey told him to look at the prisoner at the bar.", "It was hard work, poor\nfellow--it was hard work.", "Adam, my boy, the blow falls heavily on him\nas well as you; you must help poor Martin; you must show courage.", "Drink\nsome wine now, and show me you mean to bear it like a man.\"", "Bartle had made the right sort of appeal.", "Adam, with an air of quiet\nobedience, took up the cup and drank a little.", "\"Tell me how SHE looked,\" he said presently.", "\"Frightened, very frightened, when they first brought her in; it was the\nfirst sight of the crowd and the judge, poor creatur.", "And there's a lot\no' foolish women in fine clothes, with gewgaws all up their arms\nand feathers on their heads, sitting near the judge: they've dressed\nthemselves out in that way, one 'ud think, to be scarecrows and warnings\nagainst any man ever meddling with a woman again.", "They put up their\nglasses, and stared and whispered.", "But after that she stood like a white\nimage, staring down at her hands and seeming neither to hear nor see\nanything.", "And she's as white as a sheet.", "She didn't speak when they\nasked her if she'd plead 'guilty' or 'not guilty,' and they pleaded 'not\nguilty' for her.", "But when she heard her uncle's name, there seemed to go\na shiver right through her; and when they told him to look at her, she\nhung her head down, and cowered, and hid her face in her hands.", "He'd much ado to speak poor man, his voice trembled so.", "And the\ncounsellors--who look as hard as nails mostly--I saw, spared him as much\nas they could.", "Mr. Irwine put himself near him and went with him out o'\ncourt.", "Ah, it's a great thing in a man's life to be able to stand by a\nneighbour and uphold him in such trouble as that.\"", "\"God bless him, and you too, Mr. Massey,\" said Adam, in a low voice,\nlaying his hand on Bartle's arm.", "\"Aye, aye, he's good metal; he gives the right ring when you try him,\nour parson does.", "A man o' sense--says no more than's needful.", "He's not\none of those that think they can comfort you with chattering, as if\nfolks who stand by and look on knew a deal better what the trouble was\nthan those who have to bear it.", "I've had to do with such folks in my\ntime--in the south, when I was in trouble myself.", "Mr. Irwine is to be\na witness himself, by and by, on her side, you know, to speak to her\ncharacter and bringing up.\"", "\"But the other evidence...does it go hard against her!\"", "said Adam.", "\"What\ndo you think, Mr. Massey?", "Tell me the truth.\"", "\"Yes, my lad, yes.", "The truth is the best thing to tell.", "It must come at\nlast.", "The doctors' evidence is heavy on her--is heavy.", "But she's gone\non denying she's had a child from first to last.", "These poor silly\nwomen-things--they've not the sense to know it's no use denying what's\nproved.", "It'll make against her with the jury, I doubt, her being so\nobstinate: they may be less for recommending her to mercy, if the\nverdict's against her.", "But Mr. Irwine 'ull leave no stone unturned with\nthe judge--you may rely upon that, Adam.\"", "\"Is there nobody to stand by her and seem to care for her in the court?\"", "said Adam.", "\"There's the chaplain o' the jail sits near her, but he's a sharp\nferrety-faced man--another sort o' flesh and blood to Mr. Irwine.", "They\nsay the jail chaplains are mostly the fag-end o' the clergy.\"", "\"There's one man as ought to be there,\" said Adam bitterly.", "Presently he\ndrew himself up and looked fixedly out of the window, apparently turning\nover some new idea in his mind.", "\"Mr. Massey,\" he said at last, pushing the hair off his forehead, \"I'll\ngo back with you.", "I'll go into court.", "It's cowardly of me to keep away.", "I'll stand by her--I'll own her--for all she's been deceitful.", "They\noughtn't to cast her off--her own flesh and blood.", "We hand folks over to\nGod's mercy, and show none ourselves.", "I used to be hard sometimes: I'll\nnever be hard again.", "I'll go, Mr. Massey--I'll go with you.\"", "There was a decision in Adam's manner which would have prevented Bartle\nfrom opposing him, even if he had wished to do so.", "He only said, \"Take\na bit, then, and another sup, Adam, for the love of me.", "See, I must stop\nand eat a morsel.", "Now, you take some.\"", "Nerved by an active resolution, Adam took a morsel of bread and drank\nsome wine.", "He was haggard and unshaven, as he had been yesterday, but he\nstood upright again, and looked more like the Adam Bede of former days." ]

[ "Bartle entered quietly, and, going up to Adam, grasped his hand and\nsaid, \"I'm just come to look at you, my boy, for the folks are gone out\nof court for a bit.\"", "Was she there?", "Have they begun?\"", "I must know it now--I must know what they have to bring\nagainst her.\"", "And she's as white as a sheet.", "She didn't speak when they\nasked her if she'd plead 'guilty' or 'not guilty,' and they pleaded 'not\nguilty' for her.", "The doctors' evidence is heavy on her--is heavy.", "\"Is there nobody to stand by her and seem to care for her in the court?\"", "\"There's the chaplain o' the jail sits near her, but he's a sharp\nferrety-faced man--another sort o' flesh and blood to Mr. Irwine.", "I'll stand by her--I'll own her--for all she's been deceitful." ]

[ "It's cowardly of me to keep away.", "\"There's one man as ought to be there,\" said Adam bitterly.", "Presently he\ndrew himself up and looked fixedly out of the window, apparently turning\nover some new idea in his mind.", "These poor silly\nwomen-things--they've not the sense to know it's no use denying what's\nproved.", "But this\nresolution had been an immense effort--he trembled at the thought of\nseeing her changed face, as a timid woman trembles at the thought of\nthe surgeon's knife, and he chose now to bear the long hours of suspense\nrather than encounter what seemed to him the more intolerable agony of\nwitnessing her trial.", "And there's a lot\no' foolish women in fine clothes, with gewgaws all up their arms\nand feathers on their heads, sitting near the judge: they've dressed\nthemselves out in that way, one 'ud think, to be scarecrows and warnings\nagainst any man ever meddling with a woman again.", "The susceptibility which would have\nbeen an impelling force where there was any possibility of action became\nhelpless anguish when he was obliged to be passive, or else sought an\nactive outlet in the thought of inflicting justice on Arthur.", "Drink a drop with me, my lad--drink\nwith me.\"", "Ah, it's a great thing in a man's life to be able to stand by a\nneighbour and uphold him in such trouble as that.\"", "They\noughtn't to cast her off--her own flesh and blood." ]

[ "Adam, my boy, the blow falls heavily on him\nas well as you; you must help poor Martin; you must show courage.", "Drink\nsome wine now, and show me you mean to bear it like a man.\"", "Bartle had made the right sort of appeal.", "Adam, with an air of quiet\nobedience, took up the cup and drank a little.", "\"Tell me how SHE looked,\" he said presently.", "\"Frightened, very frightened, when they first brought her in; it was the\nfirst sight of the crowd and the judge, poor creatur.", "And there's a lot\no' foolish women in fine clothes, with gewgaws all up their arms\nand feathers on their heads, sitting near the judge: they've dressed\nthemselves out in that way, one 'ud think, to be scarecrows and warnings\nagainst any man ever meddling with a woman again.", "They put up their\nglasses, and stared and whispered.", "But after that she stood like a white\nimage, staring down at her hands and seeming neither to hear nor see\nanything.", "And she's as white as a sheet.", "She didn't speak when they\nasked her if she'd plead 'guilty' or 'not guilty,' and they pleaded 'not\nguilty' for her." ]

[ "\n\nAT one o'clock the next day, Adam was alone in his dull upper room;\nhis watch lay before him on the table, as if he were counting the\nlong minutes.", "He had no knowledge of what was likely to be said by\nthe witnesses on the trial, for he had shrunk from all the particulars\nconnected with Hetty's arrest and accusation.", "This brave active man, who\nwould have hastened towards any danger or toil to rescue Hetty from an\napprehended wrong or misfortune, felt himself powerless to contemplate\nirremediable evil and suffering.", "The susceptibility which would have\nbeen an impelling force where there was any possibility of action became\nhelpless anguish when he was obliged to be passive, or else sought an\nactive outlet in the thought of inflicting justice on Arthur.", "Energetic\nnatures, strong for all strenuous deeds, will often rush away from a\nhopeless sufferer, as if they were hard-hearted.", "It is the overmastering\nsense of pain that drives them.", "They shrink by an ungovernable instinct,\nas they would shrink from laceration.", "Adam had brought himself to think\nof seeing Hetty, if she would consent to see him, because he thought the\nmeeting might possibly be a good to her--might help to melt away this\nterrible hardness they told him of.", "If she saw he bore her no ill will\nfor what she had done to him, she might open her heart to him.", "But this\nresolution had been an immense effort--he trembled at the thought of\nseeing her changed face, as a timid woman trembles at the thought of\nthe surgeon's knife, and he chose now to bear the long hours of suspense\nrather than encounter what seemed to him the more intolerable agony of\nwitnessing her trial.", "They\noughtn't to cast her off--her own flesh and blood.", "We hand folks over to\nGod's mercy, and show none ourselves.", "I used to be hard sometimes: I'll\nnever be hard again.", "I'll go, Mr. Massey--I'll go with you.\"", "There was a decision in Adam's manner which would have prevented Bartle\nfrom opposing him, even if he had wished to do so.", "He only said, \"Take\na bit, then, and another sup, Adam, for the love of me.", "See, I must stop\nand eat a morsel.", "Now, you take some.\"", "Nerved by an active resolution, Adam took a morsel of bread and drank\nsome wine.", "He was haggard and unshaven, as he had been yesterday, but he\nstood upright again, and looked more like the Adam Bede of former days." ]

[ "\n\nTHE place fitted up that day as a court of justice was a grand old hall,\nnow destroyed by fire.", "The midday light that fell on the close pavement\nof human heads was shed through a line of high pointed windows,\nvariegated with the mellow tints of old painted glass.", "Grim dusty armour\nhung in high relief in front of the dark oaken gallery at the farther\nend, and under the broad arch of the great mullioned window opposite was\nspread a curtain of old tapestry, covered with dim melancholy figures,\nlike a dozing indistinct dream of the past.", "It was a place that through\nthe rest of the year was haunted with the shadowy memories of old\nkings and queens, unhappy, discrowned, imprisoned; but to-day all those\nshadows had fled, and not a soul in the vast hall felt the presence of\nany but a living sorrow, which was quivering in warm hearts.", "But that sorrow seemed to have made it itself feebly felt hitherto, now\nwhen Adam Bede's tall figure was suddenly seen being ushered to the side\nof the prisoner's dock.", "In the broad sunlight of the great hall, among\nthe sleek shaven faces of other men, the marks of suffering in his face\nwere startling even to Mr. Irwine, who had last seen him in the dim\nlight of his small room; and the neighbours from Hayslope who were\npresent, and who told Hetty Sorrel's story by their firesides in their\nold age, never forgot to say how it moved them when Adam Bede, poor\nfellow, taller by the head than most of the people round him, came into\ncourt and took his place by her side.", "But Hetty did not see him.", "She was standing in the same position Bartle\nMassey had described, her hands crossed over each other and her eyes\nfixed on them.", "Adam had not dared to look at her in the first moments,\nbut at last, when the attention of the court was withdrawn by the\nproceedings he turned his face towards her with a resolution not to\nshrink.", "Why did they say she was so changed?", "In the corpse we love, it is the\nlikeness we see--it is the likeness, which makes itself felt the more\nkeenly because something else was and is not.", "There they were--the sweet\nface and neck, with the dark tendrils of hair, the long dark lashes, the\nrounded cheek and the pouting lips--pale and thin, yes, but like Hetty,\nand only Hetty.", "Others thought she looked as if some demon had cast a\nblighting glance upon her, withered up the woman's soul in her, and\nleft only a hard despairing obstinacy.", "But the mother's yearning, that\ncompletest type of the life in another life which is the essence of\nreal human love, feels the presence of the cherished child even in the\ndebased, degraded man; and to Adam, this pale, hard-looking culprit\nwas the Hetty who had smiled at him in the garden under the apple-tree\nboughs--she was that Hetty's corpse, which he had trembled to look at\nthe first time, and then was unwilling to turn away his eyes from.", "But presently he heard something that compelled him to listen, and made\nthe sense of sight less absorbing.", "A woman was in the witness-box, a\nmiddle-aged woman, who spoke in a firm distinct voice.", "She said, \"My\nname is Sarah Stone.", "I am a widow, and keep a small shop licensed to\nsell tobacco, snuff, and tea in Church Lane, Stoniton.", "The prisoner at\nthe bar is the same young woman who came, looking ill and tired, with\na basket on her arm, and asked for a lodging at my house on Saturday\nevening, the 27th of February.", "She had taken the house for a public,\nbecause there was a figure against the door.", "And when I said I didn't\ntake in lodgers, the prisoner began to cry, and said she was too tired\nto go anywhere else, and she only wanted a bed for one night.", "And her\nprettiness, and her condition, and something respectable about her\nclothes and looks, and the trouble she seemed to be in made me as I\ncouldn't find in my heart to send her away at once.", "I asked her to sit\ndown, and gave her some tea, and asked her where she was going, and\nwhere her friends were.", "She said she was going home to her friends: they\nwere farming folks a good way off, and she'd had a long journey that had\ncost her more money than she expected, so as she'd hardly any money left\nin her pocket, and was afraid of going where it would cost her much.", "She\nhad been obliged to sell most of the things out of her basket, but she'd\nthankfully give a shilling for a bed.", "I saw no reason why I shouldn't\ntake the young woman in for the night.", "I had only one room, but there\nwere two beds in it, and I told her she might stay with me.", "I thought\nshe'd been led wrong, and got into trouble, but if she was going to her\nfriends, it would be a good work to keep her out of further harm.\"", "The witness then stated that in the night a child was born, and she\nidentified the baby-clothes then shown to her as those in which she had\nherself dressed the child.", "\"Those are the clothes.", "I made them myself, and had kept them by me\never since my last child was born.", "I took a deal of trouble both for\nthe child and the mother.", "I couldn't help taking to the little thing and\nbeing anxious about it.", "I didn't send for a doctor, for there seemed no\nneed.", "I told the mother in the day-time she must tell me the name of her\nfriends, and where they lived, and let me write to them.", "She said, by\nand by she would write herself, but not to-day.", "She would have no nay,\nbut she would get up and be dressed, in spite of everything I could say.", "She said she felt quite strong enough; and it was wonderful what spirit\nshe showed.", "But I wasn't quite easy what I should do about her, and\ntowards evening I made up my mind I'd go, after Meeting was over, and\nspeak to our minister about it.", "I left the house about half-past eight\no'clock.", "I didn't go out at the shop door, but at the back door, which\nopens into a narrow alley.", "I've only got the ground-floor of the\nhouse, and the kitchen and bedroom both look into the alley.", "I left the\nprisoner sitting up by the fire in the kitchen with the baby on her lap.", "She hadn't cried or seemed low at all, as she did the night before.", "I\nthought she had a strange look with her eyes, and she got a bit flushed\ntowards evening.", "I was afraid of the fever, and I thought I'd call and\nask an acquaintance of mine, an experienced woman, to come back with\nme when I went out.", "It was a very dark night.", "I didn't fasten the door\nbehind me; there was no lock; it was a latch with a bolt inside, and\nwhen there was nobody in the house I always went out at the shop door.", "But I thought there was no danger in leaving it unfastened that little\nwhile.", "I was longer than I meant to be, for I had to wait for the woman\nthat came back with me.", "It was an hour and a half before we got back,\nand when we went in, the candle was standing burning just as I left it,\nbut the prisoner and the baby were both gone.", "She'd taken her cloak and\nbonnet, but she'd left the basket and the things in it....I was\ndreadful frightened, and angry with her for going.", "I didn't go to give\ninformation, because I'd no thought she meant to do any harm, and I knew\nshe had money in her pocket to buy her food and lodging.", "I didn't like\nto set the constable after her, for she'd a right to go from me if she\nliked.\"", "The effect of this evidence on Adam was electrical; it gave him new\nforce.", "Hetty could not be guilty of the crime--her heart must have clung\nto her baby--else why should she have taken it with her?", "She might have\nleft it behind.", "The little creature had died naturally, and then she\nhad hidden it.", "Babies were so liable to death--and there might be\nthe strongest suspicions without any proof of guilt.", "His mind was so\noccupied with imaginary arguments against such suspicions, that he\ncould not listen to the cross-examination by Hetty's counsel, who tried,\nwithout result, to elicit evidence that the prisoner had shown some\nmovements of maternal affection towards the child.", "The whole time this\nwitness was being examined, Hetty had stood as motionless as before: no\nword seemed to arrest her ear.", "But the sound of the next witness's\nvoice touched a chord that was still sensitive, she gave a start and a\nfrightened look towards him, but immediately turned away her head and\nlooked down at her hands as before.", "This witness was a man, a rough\npeasant.", "He said:\n\n\"My name is John Olding.", "I am a labourer, and live at Tedd's Hole, two\nmiles out of Stoniton.", "A week last Monday, towards one o'clock in the\nafternoon, I was going towards Hetton Coppice, and about a quarter of a\nmile from the coppice I saw the prisoner, in a red cloak, sitting under\na bit of a haystack not far off the stile.", "She got up when she saw me,\nand seemed as if she'd be walking on the other way.", "It was a regular\nroad through the fields, and nothing very uncommon to see a young woman\nthere, but I took notice of her because she looked white and scared.", "I\nshould have thought she was a beggar-woman, only for her good clothes.", "I\nthought she looked a bit crazy, but it was no business of mine.", "I stood\nand looked back after her, but she went right on while she was in sight.", "I had to go to the other side of the coppice to look after some stakes.", "There's a road right through it, and bits of openings here and there,\nwhere the trees have been cut down, and some of 'em not carried away.", "I didn't go straight along the road, but turned off towards the middle,\nand took a shorter way towards the spot I wanted to get to.", "I hadn't got\nfar out of the road into one of the open places before I heard a strange\ncry.", "I thought it didn't come from any animal I knew, but I wasn't for\nstopping to look about just then.", "But it went on, and seemed so strange\nto me in that place, I couldn't help stopping to look.", "I began to think\nI might make some money of it, if it was a new thing.", "But I had hard\nwork to tell which way it came from, and for a good while I kept looking\nup at the boughs.", "And then I thought it came from the ground; and there\nwas a lot of timber-choppings lying about, and loose pieces of turf, and\na trunk or two.", "And I looked about among them, but could find nothing,\nand at last the cry stopped.", "So I was for giving it up, and I went on\nabout my business.", "But when I came back the same way pretty nigh an hour\nafter, I couldn't help laying down my stakes to have another look.", "And\njust as I was stooping and laying down the stakes, I saw something odd\nand round and whitish lying on the ground under a nut-bush by the side\nof me.", "And I stooped down on hands and knees to pick it up.", "And I saw it\nwas a little baby's hand.\"", "At these words a thrill ran through the court.", "Hetty was visibly\ntrembling; now, for the first time, she seemed to be listening to what a\nwitness said.", "\"There was a lot of timber-choppings put together just where the ground\nwent hollow, like, under the bush, and the hand came out from among\nthem.", "But there was a hole left in one place and I could see down it\nand see the child's head; and I made haste and did away the turf and the\nchoppings, and took out the child.", "It had got comfortable clothes on,\nbut its body was cold, and I thought it must be dead.", "I made haste back\nwith it out of the wood, and took it home to my wife.", "She said it was\ndead, and I'd better take it to the parish and tell the constable.", "And I\nsaid, 'I'll lay my life it's that young woman's child as I met going to\nthe coppice.'", "But she seemed to be gone clean out of sight.", "And I took\nthe child on to Hetton parish and told the constable, and we went on to\nJustice Hardy.", "And then we went looking after the young woman till dark\nat night, and we went and gave information at Stoniton, as they might\nstop her.", "And the next morning, another constable came to me, to go with\nhim to the spot where I found the child.", "And when we got there, there\nwas the prisoner a-sitting against the bush where I found the child; and\nshe cried out when she saw us, but she never offered to move.", "She'd got\na big piece of bread on her lap.\"", "Adam had given a faint groan of despair while this witness was speaking.", "He had hidden his face on his arm, which rested on the boarding in front\nof him.", "It was the supreme moment of his suffering: Hetty was guilty;\nand he was silently calling to God for help.", "He heard no more of the\nevidence, and was unconscious when the case for the prosecution had\nclosed--unconscious that Mr. Irwine was in the witness-box, telling\nof Hetty's unblemished character in her own parish and of the virtuous\nhabits in which she had been brought up.", "This testimony could have no\ninfluence on the verdict, but it was given as part of that plea for\nmercy which her own counsel would have made if he had been allowed to\nspeak for her--a favour not granted to criminals in those stern times.", "At last Adam lifted up his head, for there was a general movement round\nhim.", "The judge had addressed the jury, and they were retiring.", "The\ndecisive moment was not far off.", "Adam felt a shuddering horror that would\nnot let him look at Hetty, but she had long relapsed into her blank hard\nindifference.", "All eyes were strained to look at her, but she stood like\na statue of dull despair.", "There was a mingled rustling, whispering, and low buzzing throughout\nthe court during this interval.", "The desire to listen was suspended, and\nevery one had some feeling or opinion to express in undertones.", "Adam\nsat looking blankly before him, but he did not see the objects that were\nright in front of his eyes--the counsel and attorneys talking with an\nair of cool business, and Mr. Irwine in low earnest conversation with\nthe judge--did not see Mr. Irwine sit down again in agitation and shake\nhis head mournfully when somebody whispered to him.", "The inward action\nwas too intense for Adam to take in outward objects until some strong\nsensation roused him.", "It was not very long, hardly more than a quarter of an hour, before\nthe knock which told that the jury had come to their decision fell as a\nsignal for silence on every ear.", "It is sublime--that sudden pause of a\ngreat multitude which tells that one soul moves in them all.", "Deeper and\ndeeper the silence seemed to become, like the deepening night, while the\njurymen's names were called over, and the prisoner was made to hold up\nher hand, and the jury were asked for their verdict.", "\"Guilty.\"", "It was the verdict every one expected, but there was a sigh\nof disappointment from some hearts that it was followed by no\nrecommendation to mercy.", "Still the sympathy of the court was not with\nthe prisoner.", "The unnaturalness of her crime stood out the more harshly\nby the side of her hard immovability and obstinate silence.", "Even the\nverdict, to distant eyes, had not appeared to move her, but those who\nwere near saw her trembling.", "The stillness was less intense until the judge put on his black cap, and\nthe chaplain in his canonicals was observed behind him.", "Then it deepened\nagain, before the crier had had time to command silence.", "If any sound\nwere heard, it must have been the sound of beating hearts.", "The judge\nspoke, \"Hester Sorrel....\"\n\nThe blood rushed to Hetty's face, and then fled back again as she\nlooked up at the judge and kept her wide-open eyes fixed on him, as if\nfascinated by fear.", "Adam had not yet turned towards her, there was a\ndeep horror, like a great gulf, between them.", "But at the words \"and\nthen to be hanged by the neck till you be dead,\" a piercing shriek rang\nthrough the hall.", "It was Hetty's shriek.", "Adam started to his feet and\nstretched out his arms towards her.", "But the arms could not reach her:\nshe had fallen down in a fainting-fit, and was carried out of court." ]

[ "I didn't send for a doctor, for there seemed no\nneed.", "I told the mother in the day-time she must tell me the name of her\nfriends, and where they lived, and let me write to them.", "She said, by\nand by she would write herself, but not to-day.", "She said she felt quite strong enough; and it was wonderful what spirit\nshe showed.", "She'd taken her cloak and\nbonnet, but she'd left the basket and the things in it....I was\ndreadful frightened, and angry with her for going.", "I didn't go to give\ninformation, because I'd no thought she meant to do any harm, and I knew\nshe had money in her pocket to buy her food and lodging.", "And then I thought it came from the ground; and there\nwas a lot of timber-choppings lying about, and loose pieces of turf, and\na trunk or two.", "And I stooped down on hands and knees to pick it up.", "There was a mingled rustling, whispering, and low buzzing throughout\nthe court during this interval.", "It was not very long, hardly more than a quarter of an hour, before\nthe knock which told that the jury had come to their decision fell as a\nsignal for silence on every ear." ]

[ "I didn't go to give\ninformation, because I'd no thought she meant to do any harm, and I knew\nshe had money in her pocket to buy her food and lodging.", "I thought\nshe'd been led wrong, and got into trouble, but if she was going to her\nfriends, it would be a good work to keep her out of further harm.\"", "It was a place that through\nthe rest of the year was haunted with the shadowy memories of old\nkings and queens, unhappy, discrowned, imprisoned; but to-day all those\nshadows had fled, and not a soul in the vast hall felt the presence of\nany but a living sorrow, which was quivering in warm hearts.", "I was afraid of the fever, and I thought I'd call and\nask an acquaintance of mine, an experienced woman, to come back with\nme when I went out.", "And I took\nthe child on to Hetton parish and told the constable, and we went on to\nJustice Hardy.", "I took a deal of trouble both for\nthe child and the mother.", "And her\nprettiness, and her condition, and something respectable about her\nclothes and looks, and the trouble she seemed to be in made me as I\ncouldn't find in my heart to send her away at once.", "It was not very long, hardly more than a quarter of an hour, before\nthe knock which told that the jury had come to their decision fell as a\nsignal for silence on every ear.", "So I was for giving it up, and I went on\nabout my business.", "It was an hour and a half before we got back,\nand when we went in, the candle was standing burning just as I left it,\nbut the prisoner and the baby were both gone." ]

[ "The whole time this\nwitness was being examined, Hetty had stood as motionless as before: no\nword seemed to arrest her ear.", "But the sound of the next witness's\nvoice touched a chord that was still sensitive, she gave a start and a\nfrightened look towards him, but immediately turned away her head and\nlooked down at her hands as before.", "This witness was a man, a rough\npeasant.", "He said:\n\n\"My name is John Olding.", "I am a labourer, and live at Tedd's Hole, two\nmiles out of Stoniton.", "A week last Monday, towards one o'clock in the\nafternoon, I was going towards Hetton Coppice, and about a quarter of a\nmile from the coppice I saw the prisoner, in a red cloak, sitting under\na bit of a haystack not far off the stile.", "She got up when she saw me,\nand seemed as if she'd be walking on the other way.", "It was a regular\nroad through the fields, and nothing very uncommon to see a young woman\nthere, but I took notice of her because she looked white and scared.", "I\nshould have thought she was a beggar-woman, only for her good clothes.", "I\nthought she looked a bit crazy, but it was no business of mine.", "I stood\nand looked back after her, but she went right on while she was in sight." ]

[ "\n\nTHE place fitted up that day as a court of justice was a grand old hall,\nnow destroyed by fire.", "The midday light that fell on the close pavement\nof human heads was shed through a line of high pointed windows,\nvariegated with the mellow tints of old painted glass.", "Grim dusty armour\nhung in high relief in front of the dark oaken gallery at the farther\nend, and under the broad arch of the great mullioned window opposite was\nspread a curtain of old tapestry, covered with dim melancholy figures,\nlike a dozing indistinct dream of the past.", "It was a place that through\nthe rest of the year was haunted with the shadowy memories of old\nkings and queens, unhappy, discrowned, imprisoned; but to-day all those\nshadows had fled, and not a soul in the vast hall felt the presence of\nany but a living sorrow, which was quivering in warm hearts.", "But that sorrow seemed to have made it itself feebly felt hitherto, now\nwhen Adam Bede's tall figure was suddenly seen being ushered to the side\nof the prisoner's dock.", "In the broad sunlight of the great hall, among\nthe sleek shaven faces of other men, the marks of suffering in his face\nwere startling even to Mr. Irwine, who had last seen him in the dim\nlight of his small room; and the neighbours from Hayslope who were\npresent, and who told Hetty Sorrel's story by their firesides in their\nold age, never forgot to say how it moved them when Adam Bede, poor\nfellow, taller by the head than most of the people round him, came into\ncourt and took his place by her side.", "But Hetty did not see him.", "She was standing in the same position Bartle\nMassey had described, her hands crossed over each other and her eyes\nfixed on them.", "Adam had not dared to look at her in the first moments,\nbut at last, when the attention of the court was withdrawn by the\nproceedings he turned his face towards her with a resolution not to\nshrink.", "Why did they say she was so changed?", "Even the\nverdict, to distant eyes, had not appeared to move her, but those who\nwere near saw her trembling.", "The stillness was less intense until the judge put on his black cap, and\nthe chaplain in his canonicals was observed behind him.", "Then it deepened\nagain, before the crier had had time to command silence.", "If any sound\nwere heard, it must have been the sound of beating hearts.", "The judge\nspoke, \"Hester Sorrel....\"\n\nThe blood rushed to Hetty's face, and then fled back again as she\nlooked up at the judge and kept her wide-open eyes fixed on him, as if\nfascinated by fear.", "Adam had not yet turned towards her, there was a\ndeep horror, like a great gulf, between them.", "But at the words \"and\nthen to be hanged by the neck till you be dead,\" a piercing shriek rang\nthrough the hall.", "It was Hetty's shriek.", "Adam started to his feet and\nstretched out his arms towards her.", "But the arms could not reach her:\nshe had fallen down in a fainting-fit, and was carried out of court." ]

[ "\n\nWhen Arthur Donnithorne landed at Liverpool and read the letter from\nhis Aunt Lydia, briefly announcing his grand-father's death, his first\nfeeling was, \"Poor Grandfather!", "I wish I could have got to him to be\nwith him when he died.", "He might have felt or wished something at the\nlast that I shall never know now.", "It was a lonely death.\"", "It is impossible to say that his grief was deeper than that.", "Pity\nand softened memory took place of the old antagonism, and in his busy\nthoughts about the future, as the chaise carried him rapidly along\ntowards the home where he was now to be master, there was a continually\nrecurring effort to remember anything by which he could show a regard\nfor his grandfather's wishes, without counteracting his own cherished\naims for the good of the tenants and the estate.", "But it is not in human\nnature--only in human pretence--for a young man like Arthur, with a fine\nconstitution and fine spirits, thinking well of himself, believing that\nothers think well of him, and having a very ardent intention to give\nthem more and more reason for that good opinion--it is not possible for\nsuch a young man, just coming into a splendid estate through the\ndeath of a very old man whom he was not fond of, to feel anything very\ndifferent from exultant joy.", "Now his real life was beginning; now he\nwould have room and opportunity for action, and he would use them.", "He\nwould show the Loamshire people what a fine country gentleman was; he\nwould not exchange that career for any other under the sun.", "He felt\nhimself riding over the hills in the breezy autumn days, looking after\nfavourite plans of drainage and enclosure; then admired on sombre\nmornings as the best rider on the best horse in the hunt; spoken well\nof on market-days as a first-rate landlord; by and by making speeches at\nelection dinners, and showing a wonderful knowledge of agriculture;\nthe patron of new ploughs and drills, the severe upbraider of negligent\nlandowners, and withal a jolly fellow that everybody must like--happy\nfaces greeting him everywhere on his own estate, and the neighbouring\nfamilies on the best terms with him.", "The Irwines should dine with him\nevery week, and have their own carriage to come in, for in some very\ndelicate way that Arthur would devise, the lay-impropriator of the\nHayslope tithes would insist on paying a couple of hundreds more to\nthe vicar; and his aunt should be as comfortable as possible, and go on\nliving at the Chase, if she liked, in spite of her old-maidish ways--at\nleast until he was married, and that event lay in the indistinct\nbackground, for Arthur had not yet seen the woman who would play the\nlady-wife to the first-rate country gentleman.", "These were Arthur's chief thoughts, so far as a man's thoughts through\nhours of travelling can be compressed into a few sentences, which are\nonly like the list of names telling you what are the scenes in a long\nlong panorama full of colour, of detail, and of life.", "The happy faces\nArthur saw greeting him were not pale abstractions, but real ruddy\nfaces, long familiar to him: Martin Poyser was there--the whole Poyser\nfamily.", "What--Hetty?", "Yes; for Arthur was at ease about Hetty--not quite at ease about the\npast, for a certain burning of the ears would come whenever he thought\nof the scenes with Adam last August, but at ease about her present lot.", "Mr. Irwine, who had been a regular correspondent, telling him all the\nnews about the old places and people, had sent him word nearly three\nmonths ago that Adam Bede was not to marry Mary Burge, as he had\nthought, but pretty Hetty Sorrel.", "Martin Poyser and Adam himself had\nboth told Mr. Irwine all about it--that Adam had been deeply in love\nwith Hetty these two years, and that now it was agreed they were to be\nmarried in March.", "That stalwart rogue Adam was more susceptible than the\nrector had thought; it was really quite an idyllic love affair; and if\nit had not been too long to tell in a letter, he would have liked to\ndescribe to Arthur the blushing looks and the simple strong words with\nwhich the fine honest fellow told his secret.", "He knew Arthur would like\nto hear that Adam had this sort of happiness in prospect.", "Yes, indeed!", "Arthur felt there was not air enough in the room to satisfy\nhis renovated life, when he had read that passage in the letter.", "He\nthrew up the windows, he rushed out of doors into the December air, and\ngreeted every one who spoke to him with an eager gaiety, as if there had\nbeen news of a fresh Nelson victory.", "For the first time that day since\nhe had come to Windsor, he was in true boyish spirits.", "The load that\nhad been pressing upon him was gone, the haunting fear had vanished.", "He\nthought he could conquer his bitterness towards Adam now--could offer\nhim his hand, and ask to be his friend again, in spite of that painful\nmemory which would still make his ears burn.", "He had been knocked down,\nand he had been forced to tell a lie: such things make a scar, do what\nwe will.", "But if Adam were the same again as in the old days, Arthur\nwished to be the same too, and to have Adam mixed up with his business\nand his future, as he had always desired before the accursed meeting\nin August.", "Nay, he would do a great deal more for Adam than he should\notherwise have done, when he came into the estate; Hetty's husband had\na special claim on him--Hetty herself should feel that any pain she\nhad suffered through Arthur in the past was compensated to her a\nhundredfold.", "For really she could not have felt much, since she had so\nsoon made up her mind to marry Adam.", "You perceive clearly what sort of picture Adam and Hetty made in the\npanorama of Arthur's thoughts on his journey homeward.", "It was March now;\nthey were soon to be married: perhaps they were already married.", "And now\nit was actually in his power to do a great deal for them.", "Sweet--sweet\nlittle Hetty!", "The little puss hadn't cared for him half as much as\nhe cared for her; for he was a great fool about her still--was almost\nafraid of seeing her--indeed, had not cared much to look at any other\nwoman since he parted from her.", "That little figure coming towards him in\nthe Grove, those dark-fringed childish eyes, the lovely lips put up to\nkiss him--that picture had got no fainter with the lapse of months.", "And\nshe would look just the same.", "It was impossible to think how he could\nmeet her: he should certainly tremble.", "Strange, how long this sort of\ninfluence lasts, for he was certainly not in love with Hetty now.", "He\nhad been earnestly desiring, for months, that she should marry Adam,\nand there was nothing that contributed more to his happiness in these\nmoments than the thought of their marriage.", "It was the exaggerating\neffect of imagination that made his heart still beat a little more\nquickly at the thought of her.", "When he saw the little thing again as she\nreally was, as Adam's wife, at work quite prosaically in her new home,\nhe should perhaps wonder at the possibility of his past feelings.", "Thank\nheaven it had turned out so well!", "He should have plenty of affairs and\ninterests to fill his life now, and not be in danger of playing the fool\nagain.", "Pleasant the crack of the post-boy's whip!", "Pleasant the sense of being\nhurried along in swift ease through English scenes, so like those round\nhis own home, only not quite so charming.", "Here was a market-town--very\nmuch like Treddleston--where the arms of the neighbouring lord of the\nmanor were borne on the sign of the principal inn; then mere fields and\nhedges, their vicinity to a market-town carrying an agreeable suggestion\nof high rent, till the land began to assume a trimmer look, the woods\nwere more frequent, and at length a white or red mansion looked down\nfrom a moderate eminence, or allowed him to be aware of its parapet\nand chimneys among the dense-looking masses of oaks and elms--masses\nreddened now with early buds.", "And close at hand came the village: the\nsmall church, with its red-tiled roof, looking humble even among the\nfaded half-timbered houses; the old green gravestones with nettles round\nthem; nothing fresh and bright but the children, opening round eyes at\nthe swift post-chaise; nothing noisy and busy but the gaping curs of\nmysterious pedigree.", "What a much prettier village Hayslope was!", "And it\nshould not be neglected like this place: vigorous repairs should go\non everywhere among farm-buildings and cottages, and travellers in\npost-chaises, coming along the Rosseter road, should do nothing but\nadmire as they went.", "And Adam Bede should superintend all the repairs,\nfor he had a share in Burge's business now, and, if he liked, Arthur\nwould put some money into the concern and buy the old man out in another\nyear or two.", "That was an ugly fault in Arthur's life, that affair last\nsummer, but the future should make amends.", "Many men would have retained\na feeling of vindictiveness towards Adam, but he would not--he would\nresolutely overcome all littleness of that kind, for he had certainly\nbeen very much in the wrong; and though Adam had been harsh and violent,\nand had thrust on him a painful dilemma, the poor fellow was in love,\nand had real provocation.", "No, Arthur had not an evil feeling in his mind\ntowards any human being: he was happy, and would make every one else\nhappy that came within his reach.", "And here was dear old Hayslope at last, sleeping, on the hill, like a\nquiet old place as it was, in the late afternoon sunlight, and opposite\nto it the great shoulders of the Binton Hills, below them the purplish\nblackness of the hanging woods, and at last the pale front of the Abbey,\nlooking out from among the oaks of the Chase, as if anxious for the\nheir's return.", "\"Poor Grandfather!", "And he lies dead there.", "He was a young\nfellow once, coming into the estate and making his plans.", "So the world\ngoes round!", "Aunt Lydia must feel very desolate, poor thing; but she\nshall be indulged as much as she indulges her fat Fido.\"", "The wheels of Arthur's chaise had been anxiously listened for at the\nChase, for to-day was Friday, and the funeral had already been deferred\ntwo days.", "Before it drew up on the gravel of the courtyard, all the\nservants in the house were assembled to receive him with a grave, decent\nwelcome, befitting a house of death.", "A month ago, perhaps, it would have\nbeen difficult for them to have maintained a suitable sadness in their\nfaces, when Mr. Arthur was come to take possession; but the hearts of\nthe head-servants were heavy that day for another cause than the death\nof the old squire, and more than one of them was longing to be twenty\nmiles away, as Mr. Craig was, knowing what was to become of Hetty\nSorrel--pretty Hetty Sorrel--whom they used to see every week.", "They had\nthe partisanship of household servants who like their places, and\nwere not inclined to go the full length of the severe indignation felt\nagainst him by the farming tenants, but rather to make excuses for him;\nnevertheless, the upper servants, who had been on terms of neighbourly\nintercourse with the Poysers for many years, could not help feeling that\nthe longed-for event of the young squire's coming into the estate had\nbeen robbed of all its pleasantness.", "To Arthur it was nothing surprising that the servants looked grave and\nsad: he himself was very much touched on seeing them all again, and\nfeeling that he was in a new relation to them.", "It was that sort of\npathetic emotion which has more pleasure than pain in it--which is\nperhaps one of the most delicious of all states to a good-natured man,\nconscious of the power to satisfy his good nature.", "His heart swelled\nagreeably as he said, \"Well, Mills, how is my aunt?\"", "But now Mr. Bygate, the lawyer, who had been in the house ever since\nthe death, came forward to give deferential greetings and answer all\nquestions, and Arthur walked with him towards the library, where his\nAunt Lydia was expecting him.", "Aunt Lydia was the only person in the\nhouse who knew nothing about Hetty.", "Her sorrow as a maiden daughter\nwas unmixed with any other thoughts than those of anxiety about funeral\narrangements and her own future lot; and, after the manner of women,\nshe mourned for the father who had made her life important, all the more\nbecause she had a secret sense that there was little mourning for him in\nother hearts.", "But Arthur kissed her tearful face more tenderly than he had ever done\nin his life before.", "\"Dear Aunt,\" he said affectionately, as he held her hand, \"YOUR loss is\nthe greatest of all, but you must tell me how to try and make it up to\nyou all the rest of your life.\"", "\"It was so sudden and so dreadful, Arthur,\" poor Miss Lydia began,\npouring out her little plaints, and Arthur sat down to listen with\nimpatient patience.", "When a pause came, he said:\n\n\"Now, Aunt, I'll leave you for a quarter of an hour just to go to my own\nroom, and then I shall come and give full attention to everything.\"", "\"My room is all ready for me, I suppose, Mills?\"", "he said to the butler,\nwho seemed to be lingering uneasily about the entrance-hall.", "\"Yes, sir, and there are letters for you; they are all laid on the\nwriting-table in your dressing-room.\"", "On entering the small anteroom which was called a dressing-room, but\nwhich Arthur really used only to lounge and write in, he just cast his\neyes on the writing-table, and saw that there were several letters and\npackets lying there; but he was in the uncomfortable dusty condition\nof a man who has had a long hurried journey, and he must really refresh\nhimself by attending to his toilette a little, before he read his\nletters.", "Pym was there, making everything ready for him, and soon, with\na delightful freshness about him, as if he were prepared to begin a new\nday, he went back into his dressing-room to open his letters.", "The level\nrays of the low afternoon sun entered directly at the window, and as\nArthur seated himself in his velvet chair with their pleasant warmth\nupon him, he was conscious of that quiet well-being which perhaps you\nand I have felt on a sunny afternoon when, in our brightest youth and\nhealth, life has opened a new vista for us, and long to-morrows of\nactivity have stretched before us like a lovely plain which there was no\nneed for hurrying to look at, because it was all our own.", "The top letter was placed with its address upwards: it was in Mr.\nIrwine's handwriting, Arthur saw at once; and below the address was\nwritten, \"To be delivered as soon as he arrives.\"", "Nothing could have\nbeen less surprising to him than a letter from Mr. Irwine at that\nmoment: of course, there was something he wished Arthur to know earlier\nthan it was possible for them to see each other.", "At such a time as that\nit was quite natural that Irwine should have something pressing to say.", "Arthur broke the seal with an agreeable anticipation of soon seeing the\nwriter.", "\"I send this letter to meet you on your arrival, Arthur, because I may\nthen be at Stoniton, whither I am called by the most painful duty it has\never been given me to perform, and it is right that you should know what\nI have to tell you without delay.", "\"I will not attempt to add by one word of reproach to the retribution\nthat is now falling on you: any other words that I could write at this\nmoment must be weak and unmeaning by the side of those in which I must\ntell you the simple fact.", "\"Hetty Sorrel is in prison, and will be tried on Friday for the crime of\nchild-murder.\"...", "Arthur read no more.", "He started up from his chair and stood for a single\nminute with a sense of violent convulsion in his whole frame, as if the\nlife were going out of him with horrible throbs; but the next minute he\nhad rushed out of the room, still clutching the letter--he was hurrying\nalong the corridor, and down the stairs into the hall.", "Mills was still\nthere, but Arthur did not see him, as he passed like a hunted man across\nthe hall and out along the gravel.", "The butler hurried out after him\nas fast as his elderly limbs could run: he guessed, he knew, where the\nyoung squire was going.", "When Mills got to the stables, a horse was being saddled, and Arthur was\nforcing himself to read the remaining words of the letter.", "He thrust\nit into his pocket as the horse was led up to him, and at that moment\ncaught sight of Mills' anxious face in front of him.", "\"Tell them I'm gone--gone to Stoniton,\" he said in a muffled tone of\nagitation--sprang into the saddle, and set off at a gallop." ]

[ "He\nwould show the Loamshire people what a fine country gentleman was; he\nwould not exchange that career for any other under the sun.", "Mr. Irwine, who had been a regular correspondent, telling him all the\nnews about the old places and people, had sent him word nearly three\nmonths ago that Adam Bede was not to marry Mary Burge, as he had\nthought, but pretty Hetty Sorrel.", "Arthur felt there was not air enough in the room to satisfy\nhis renovated life, when he had read that passage in the letter.", "The load that\nhad been pressing upon him was gone, the haunting fear had vanished.", "When he saw the little thing again as she\nreally was, as Adam's wife, at work quite prosaically in her new home,\nhe should perhaps wonder at the possibility of his past feelings.", "Her sorrow as a maiden daughter\nwas unmixed with any other thoughts than those of anxiety about funeral\narrangements and her own future lot; and, after the manner of women,\nshe mourned for the father who had made her life important, all the more\nbecause she had a secret sense that there was little mourning for him in\nother hearts.", "\"It was so sudden and so dreadful, Arthur,\" poor Miss Lydia began,\npouring out her little plaints, and Arthur sat down to listen with\nimpatient patience.", "When a pause came, he said:\n\n\"Now, Aunt, I'll leave you for a quarter of an hour just to go to my own\nroom, and then I shall come and give full attention to everything.\"", "\"I send this letter to meet you on your arrival, Arthur, because I may\nthen be at Stoniton, whither I am called by the most painful duty it has\never been given me to perform, and it is right that you should know what\nI have to tell you without delay.", "\"Tell them I'm gone--gone to Stoniton,\" he said in a muffled tone of\nagitation--sprang into the saddle, and set off at a gallop." ]

[ "Before it drew up on the gravel of the courtyard, all the\nservants in the house were assembled to receive him with a grave, decent\nwelcome, befitting a house of death.", "To Arthur it was nothing surprising that the servants looked grave and\nsad: he himself was very much touched on seeing them all again, and\nfeeling that he was in a new relation to them.", "A month ago, perhaps, it would have\nbeen difficult for them to have maintained a suitable sadness in their\nfaces, when Mr. Arthur was come to take possession; but the hearts of\nthe head-servants were heavy that day for another cause than the death\nof the old squire, and more than one of them was longing to be twenty\nmiles away, as Mr. Craig was, knowing what was to become of Hetty\nSorrel--pretty Hetty Sorrel--whom they used to see every week.", "When Mills got to the stables, a horse was being saddled, and Arthur was\nforcing himself to read the remaining words of the letter.", "The Irwines should dine with him\nevery week, and have their own carriage to come in, for in some very\ndelicate way that Arthur would devise, the lay-impropriator of the\nHayslope tithes would insist on paying a couple of hundreds more to\nthe vicar; and his aunt should be as comfortable as possible, and go on\nliving at the Chase, if she liked, in spite of her old-maidish ways--at\nleast until he was married, and that event lay in the indistinct\nbackground, for Arthur had not yet seen the woman who would play the\nlady-wife to the first-rate country gentleman.", "The load that\nhad been pressing upon him was gone, the haunting fear had vanished.", "It was the exaggerating\neffect of imagination that made his heart still beat a little more\nquickly at the thought of her.", "The level\nrays of the low afternoon sun entered directly at the window, and as\nArthur seated himself in his velvet chair with their pleasant warmth\nupon him, he was conscious of that quiet well-being which perhaps you\nand I have felt on a sunny afternoon when, in our brightest youth and\nhealth, life has opened a new vista for us, and long to-morrows of\nactivity have stretched before us like a lovely plain which there was no\nneed for hurrying to look at, because it was all our own.", "Martin Poyser and Adam himself had\nboth told Mr. Irwine all about it--that Adam had been deeply in love\nwith Hetty these two years, and that now it was agreed they were to be\nmarried in March.", "It is impossible to say that his grief was deeper than that." ]

[ "Thank\nheaven it had turned out so well!", "He should have plenty of affairs and\ninterests to fill his life now, and not be in danger of playing the fool\nagain.", "Pleasant the crack of the post-boy's whip!", "Pleasant the sense of being\nhurried along in swift ease through English scenes, so like those round\nhis own home, only not quite so charming.", "Here was a market-town--very\nmuch like Treddleston--where the arms of the neighbouring lord of the\nmanor were borne on the sign of the principal inn; then mere fields and\nhedges, their vicinity to a market-town carrying an agreeable suggestion\nof high rent, till the land began to assume a trimmer look, the woods\nwere more frequent, and at length a white or red mansion looked down\nfrom a moderate eminence, or allowed him to be aware of its parapet\nand chimneys among the dense-looking masses of oaks and elms--masses\nreddened now with early buds.", "And close at hand came the village: the\nsmall church, with its red-tiled roof, looking humble even among the\nfaded half-timbered houses; the old green gravestones with nettles round\nthem; nothing fresh and bright but the children, opening round eyes at\nthe swift post-chaise; nothing noisy and busy but the gaping curs of\nmysterious pedigree.", "What a much prettier village Hayslope was!", "And it\nshould not be neglected like this place: vigorous repairs should go\non everywhere among farm-buildings and cottages, and travellers in\npost-chaises, coming along the Rosseter road, should do nothing but\nadmire as they went.", "And Adam Bede should superintend all the repairs,\nfor he had a share in Burge's business now, and, if he liked, Arthur\nwould put some money into the concern and buy the old man out in another\nyear or two.", "That was an ugly fault in Arthur's life, that affair last\nsummer, but the future should make amends.", "Many men would have retained\na feeling of vindictiveness towards Adam, but he would not--he would\nresolutely overcome all littleness of that kind, for he had certainly\nbeen very much in the wrong; and though Adam had been harsh and violent,\nand had thrust on him a painful dilemma, the poor fellow was in love,\nand had real provocation." ]

[ "\n\nWhen Arthur Donnithorne landed at Liverpool and read the letter from\nhis Aunt Lydia, briefly announcing his grand-father's death, his first\nfeeling was, \"Poor Grandfather!", "I wish I could have got to him to be\nwith him when he died.", "He might have felt or wished something at the\nlast that I shall never know now.", "It was a lonely death.\"", "It is impossible to say that his grief was deeper than that.", "Pity\nand softened memory took place of the old antagonism, and in his busy\nthoughts about the future, as the chaise carried him rapidly along\ntowards the home where he was now to be master, there was a continually\nrecurring effort to remember anything by which he could show a regard\nfor his grandfather's wishes, without counteracting his own cherished\naims for the good of the tenants and the estate.", "But it is not in human\nnature--only in human pretence--for a young man like Arthur, with a fine\nconstitution and fine spirits, thinking well of himself, believing that\nothers think well of him, and having a very ardent intention to give\nthem more and more reason for that good opinion--it is not possible for\nsuch a young man, just coming into a splendid estate through the\ndeath of a very old man whom he was not fond of, to feel anything very\ndifferent from exultant joy.", "Now his real life was beginning; now he\nwould have room and opportunity for action, and he would use them.", "He\nwould show the Loamshire people what a fine country gentleman was; he\nwould not exchange that career for any other under the sun.", "He felt\nhimself riding over the hills in the breezy autumn days, looking after\nfavourite plans of drainage and enclosure; then admired on sombre\nmornings as the best rider on the best horse in the hunt; spoken well\nof on market-days as a first-rate landlord; by and by making speeches at\nelection dinners, and showing a wonderful knowledge of agriculture;\nthe patron of new ploughs and drills, the severe upbraider of negligent\nlandowners, and withal a jolly fellow that everybody must like--happy\nfaces greeting him everywhere on his own estate, and the neighbouring\nfamilies on the best terms with him.", "\"I send this letter to meet you on your arrival, Arthur, because I may\nthen be at Stoniton, whither I am called by the most painful duty it has\never been given me to perform, and it is right that you should know what\nI have to tell you without delay.", "\"I will not attempt to add by one word of reproach to the retribution\nthat is now falling on you: any other words that I could write at this\nmoment must be weak and unmeaning by the side of those in which I must\ntell you the simple fact.", "\"Hetty Sorrel is in prison, and will be tried on Friday for the crime of\nchild-murder.\"...", "Arthur read no more.", "He started up from his chair and stood for a single\nminute with a sense of violent convulsion in his whole frame, as if the\nlife were going out of him with horrible throbs; but the next minute he\nhad rushed out of the room, still clutching the letter--he was hurrying\nalong the corridor, and down the stairs into the hall.", "Mills was still\nthere, but Arthur did not see him, as he passed like a hunted man across\nthe hall and out along the gravel.", "The butler hurried out after him\nas fast as his elderly limbs could run: he guessed, he knew, where the\nyoung squire was going.", "When Mills got to the stables, a horse was being saddled, and Arthur was\nforcing himself to read the remaining words of the letter.", "He thrust\nit into his pocket as the horse was led up to him, and at that moment\ncaught sight of Mills' anxious face in front of him.", "\"Tell them I'm gone--gone to Stoniton,\" he said in a muffled tone of\nagitation--sprang into the saddle, and set off at a gallop." ]

[ "\n\nNEAR sunset that evening an elderly gentleman was standing with his back\nagainst the smaller entrance-door of Stoniton jail, saying a few last\nwords to the departing chaplain.", "The chaplain walked away, but the\nelderly gentleman stood still, looking down on the pavement and stroking\nhis chin with a ruminating air, when he was roused by a sweet clear\nwoman's voice, saying, \"Can I get into the prison, if you please?\"", "He turned his head and looked fixedly at the speaker for a few moments\nwithout answering.", "\"I have seen you before,\" he said at last.", "\"Do you remember preaching on\nthe village green at Hayslope in Loamshire?\"", "\"Yes, sir, surely.", "Are you the gentleman that stayed to listen on\nhorseback?\"", "\"Yes.", "Why do you want to go into the prison?\"", "\"I want to go to Hetty Sorrel, the young woman who has been condemned\nto death--and to stay with her, if I may be permitted.", "Have you power in\nthe prison, sir?\"", "\"Yes; I am a magistrate, and can get admittance for you.", "But did you\nknow this criminal, Hetty Sorrel?\"", "\"Yes, we are kin.", "My own aunt married her uncle, Martin Poyser.", "But I\nwas away at Leeds, and didn't know of this great trouble in time to get\nhere before to-day.", "I entreat you, sir, for the love of our heavenly\nFather, to let me go to her and stay with her.\"", "\"How did you know she was condemned to death, if you are only just come\nfrom Leeds?\"", "\"I have seen my uncle since the trial, sir.", "He is gone back to his home\nnow, and the poor sinner is forsaken of all.", "I beseech you to get leave\nfor me to be with her.\"", "\"What!", "Have you courage to stay all night in the prison?", "She is very\nsullen, and will scarcely make answer when she is spoken to.\"", "\"Oh, sir, it may please God to open her heart still.", "Don't let us\ndelay.\"", "\"Come, then,\" said the elderly gentleman, ringing and gaining admission,\n\"I know you have a key to unlock hearts.\"", "Dinah mechanically took off her bonnet and shawl as soon as they were\nwithin the prison court, from the habit she had of throwing them off\nwhen she preached or prayed, or visited the sick; and when they entered\nthe jailer's room, she laid them down on a chair unthinkingly.", "There was\nno agitation visible in her, but a deep concentrated calmness, as if,\neven when she was speaking, her soul was in prayer reposing on an unseen\nsupport.", "After speaking to the jailer, the magistrate turned to her and said,\n\"The turnkey will take you to the prisoner's cell and leave you there\nfor the night, if you desire it, but you can't have a light during the\nnight--it is contrary to rules.", "My name is Colonel Townley: if I can\nhelp you in anything, ask the jailer for my address and come to me.", "I take some interest in this Hetty Sorrel, for the sake of that fine\nfellow, Adam Bede.", "I happened to see him at Hayslope the same evening I\nheard you preach, and recognized him in court to-day, ill as he looked.\"", "\"Ah, sir, can you tell me anything about him?", "Can you tell me where\nhe lodges?", "For my poor uncle was too much weighed down with trouble to\nremember.\"", "\"Close by here.", "I inquired all about him of Mr. Irwine.", "He lodges over\na tinman's shop, in the street on the right hand as you entered the\nprison.", "There is an old school-master with him.", "Now, good-bye: I wish\nyou success.\"", "\"Farewell, sir.", "I am grateful to you.\"", "As Dinah crossed the prison court with the turnkey, the solemn evening\nlight seemed to make the walls higher than they were by day, and the\nsweet pale face in the cap was more than ever like a white flower on\nthis background of gloom.", "The turnkey looked askance at her all the\nwhile, but never spoke.", "He somehow felt that the sound of his own rude\nvoice would be grating just then.", "He struck a light as they entered the\ndark corridor leading to the condemned cell, and then said in his most\ncivil tone, \"It'll be pretty nigh dark in the cell a'ready, but I can\nstop with my light a bit, if you like.\"", "\"Nay, friend, thank you,\" said Dinah.", "\"I wish to go in alone.\"", "\"As you like,\" said the jailer, turning the harsh key in the lock and\nopening the door wide enough to admit Dinah.", "A jet of light from his\nlantern fell on the opposite corner of the cell, where Hetty was sitting\non her straw pallet with her face buried in her knees.", "It seemed as if\nshe were asleep, and yet the grating of the lock would have been likely\nto waken her.", "The door closed again, and the only light in the cell was that of the\nevening sky, through the small high grating--enough to discern human\nfaces by.", "Dinah stood still for a minute, hesitating to speak because\nHetty might be asleep, and looking at the motionless heap with a\nyearning heart.", "Then she said, softly, \"Hetty!\"", "There was a slight movement perceptible in Hetty's frame--a start such\nas might have been produced by a feeble electrical shock--but she did\nnot look up.", "Dinah spoke again, in a tone made stronger by irrepressible\nemotion, \"Hetty...it's Dinah.\"", "Again there was a slight startled movement through Hetty's frame,\nand without uncovering her face, she raised her head a little, as if\nlistening.", "\"Hetty...Dinah is come to you.\"", "After a moment's pause, Hetty lifted her head slowly and timidly from\nher knees and raised her eyes.", "The two pale faces were looking at\neach other: one with a wild hard despair in it, the other full of sad\nyearning love.", "Dinah unconsciously opened her arms and stretched them\nout.", "\"Don't you know me, Hetty?", "Don't you remember Dinah?", "Did you think I\nwouldn't come to you in trouble?\"", "Hetty kept her eyes fixed on Dinah's face--at first like an animal that\ngazes, and gazes, and keeps aloof.", "\"I'm come to be with you, Hetty--not to leave you--to stay with you--to\nbe your sister to the last.\"", "Slowly, while Dinah was speaking, Hetty rose, took a step forward, and\nwas clasped in Dinah's arms.", "They stood so a long while, for neither of them felt the impulse to move\napart again.", "Hetty, without any distinct thought of it, hung on this\nsomething that was come to clasp her now, while she was sinking helpless\nin a dark gulf; and Dinah felt a deep joy in the first sign that her\nlove was welcomed by the wretched lost one.", "The light got fainter as\nthey stood, and when at last they sat down on the straw pallet together,\ntheir faces had become indistinct.", "Not a word was spoken.", "Dinah waited, hoping for a spontaneous word from\nHetty, but she sat in the same dull despair, only clutching the hand\nthat held hers and leaning her cheek against Dinah's.", "It was the human\ncontact she clung to, but she was not the less sinking into the dark\ngulf.", "Dinah began to doubt whether Hetty was conscious who it was that sat\nbeside her.", "She thought suffering and fear might have driven the poor\nsinner out of her mind.", "But it was borne in upon her, as she afterwards\nsaid, that she must not hurry God's work: we are overhasty to speak--as\nif God did not manifest himself by our silent feeling, and make his love\nfelt through ours.", "She did not know how long they sat in that way, but\nit got darker and darker, till there was only a pale patch of light on\nthe opposite wall: all the rest was darkness.", "But she felt the Divine\npresence more and more--nay, as if she herself were a part of it, and\nit was the Divine pity that was beating in her heart and was willing the\nrescue of this helpless one.", "At last she was prompted to speak and find\nout how far Hetty was conscious of the present.", "\"Hetty,\" she said gently, \"do you know who it is that sits by your\nside?\"", "\"Yes,\" Hetty answered slowly, \"it's Dinah.\"", "\"And do you remember the time when we were at the Hall Farm together,\nand that night when I told you to be sure and think of me as a friend in\ntrouble?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty.", "Then, after a pause, she added, \"But you can do\nnothing for me.", "You can't make 'em do anything.", "They'll hang me o'\nMonday--it's Friday now.\"", "As Hetty said the last words, she clung closer to Dinah, shuddering.", "\"No, Hetty, I can't save you from that death.", "But isn't the suffering\nless hard when you have somebody with you, that feels for you--that you\ncan speak to, and say what's in your heart?...Yes, Hetty: you lean on\nme: you are glad to have me with you.\"", "\"You won't leave me, Dinah?", "You'll keep close to me?\"", "\"No, Hetty, I won't leave you.", "I'll stay with you to the last....But,\nHetty, there is some one else in this cell besides me, some one close to\nyou.\"", "Hetty said, in a frightened whisper, \"Who?\"", "\"Some one who has been with you through all your hours of sin and\ntrouble--who has known every thought you have had--has seen where you\nwent, where you lay down and rose up again, and all the deeds you have\ntried to hide in darkness.", "And on Monday, when I can't follow you--when\nmy arms can't reach you--when death has parted us--He who is with\nus now, and knows all, will be with you then.", "It makes no\ndifference--whether we live or die, we are in the presence of God.\"", "\"Oh, Dinah, won't nobody do anything for me?", "Will they hang me for\ncertain?...I wouldn't mind if they'd let me live.\"", "\"My poor Hetty, death is very dreadful to you.", "I know it's dreadful.", "But if you had a friend to take care of you after death--in that\nother world--some one whose love is greater than mine--who can do\neverything?...If God our Father was your friend, and was willing to\nsave you from sin and suffering, so as you should neither know wicked\nfeelings nor pain again?", "If you could believe he loved you and would\nhelp you, as you believe I love you and will help you, it wouldn't be so\nhard to die on Monday, would it?\"", "\"But I can't know anything about it,\" Hetty said, with sullen sadness.", "\"Because, Hetty, you are shutting up your soul against him, by trying\nto hide the truth.", "God's love and mercy can overcome all things--our\nignorance, and weakness, and all the burden of our past wickedness--all\nthings but our wilful sin, sin that we cling to, and will not give up.", "You believe in my love and pity for you, Hetty, but if you had not let\nme come near you, if you wouldn't have looked at me or spoken to me,\nyou'd have shut me out from helping you.", "I couldn't have made you feel\nmy love; I couldn't have told you what I felt for you.", "Don't shut God's\nlove out in that way, by clinging to sin....He can't bless you while\nyou have one falsehood in your soul; his pardoning mercy can't reach\nyou until you open your heart to him, and say, 'I have done this great\nwickedness; O God, save me, make me pure from sin.'", "While you cling to\none sin and will not part with it, it must drag you down to misery after\ndeath, as it has dragged you to misery here in this world, my poor, poor\nHetty.", "It is sin that brings dread, and darkness, and despair: there is\nlight and blessedness for us as soon as we cast it off.", "God enters our\nsouls then, and teaches us, and brings us strength and peace.", "Cast it\noff now, Hetty--now: confess the wickedness you have done--the sin you\nhave been guilty of against your Heavenly Father.", "Let us kneel down\ntogether, for we are in the presence of God.\"", "Hetty obeyed Dinah's movement, and sank on her knees.", "They still held\neach other's hands, and there was long silence.", "Then Dinah said, \"Hetty,\nwe are before God.", "He is waiting for you to tell the truth.\"", "Still there was silence.", "At last Hetty spoke, in a tone of beseeching--\n\n\"Dinah...help me...I can't feel anything like you...my heart is hard.\"", "Dinah held the clinging hand, and all her soul went forth in her voice:\n\n\n\"Jesus, thou present Saviour!", "Thou hast known the depths of all sorrow:\nthou hast entered that black darkness where God is not, and hast uttered\nthe cry of the forsaken.", "Come Lord, and gather of the fruits of thy\ntravail and thy pleading.", "Stretch forth thy hand, thou who art mighty\nto save to the uttermost, and rescue this lost one.", "She is clothed round\nwith thick darkness.", "The fetters of her sin are upon her, and she cannot\nstir to come to thee.", "She can only feel her heart is hard, and she is\nhelpless.", "She cries to me, thy weak creature....Saviour!", "It is a blind\ncry to thee.", "Hear it!", "Pierce the darkness!", "Look upon her with thy face\nof love and sorrow that thou didst turn on him who denied thee, and melt\nher hard heart.", "\"See, Lord, I bring her, as they of old brought the sick and helpless,\nand thou didst heal them.", "I bear her on my arms and carry her before\nthee.", "Fear and trembling have taken hold on her, but she trembles only\nat the pain and death of the body.", "Breathe upon her thy life-giving\nSpirit, and put a new fear within her--the fear of her sin.", "Make her\ndread to keep the accursed thing within her soul.", "Make her feel the\npresence of the living God, who beholds all the past, to whom the\ndarkness is as noonday; who is waiting now, at the eleventh hour, for\nher to turn to him, and confess her sin, and cry for mercy--now, before\nthe night of death comes, and the moment of pardon is for ever fled,\nlike yesterday that returneth not.", "\"Saviour!", "It is yet time--time to snatch this poor soul from everlasting\ndarkness.", "I believe--I believe in thy infinite love.", "What is my love or\nmy pleading?", "It is quenched in thine.", "I can only clasp her in my weak\narms and urge her with my weak pity.", "Thou--thou wilt breathe on the dead\nsoul, and it shall arise from the unanswering sleep of death.", "\"Yea, Lord, I see thee, coming through the darkness coming, like the\nmorning, with healing on thy wings.", "The marks of thy agony are upon\nthee--I see, I see thou art able and willing to save--thou wilt not let\nher perish for ever.", "Come, mighty Saviour!", "Let the dead hear thy voice.", "Let the eyes of the blind be opened.", "Let her see that God encompasses\nher.", "Let her tremble at nothing but at the sin that cuts her off from\nhim.", "Melt the hard heart.", "Unseal the closed lips: make her cry with her\nwhole soul, 'Father, I have sinned.'...\"", "\"Dinah,\" Hetty sobbed out, throwing her arms round Dinah's neck, \"I will\nspeak...I will tell...I won't hide it any more.\"", "But the tears and sobs were too violent.", "Dinah raised her gently from\nher knees and seated her on the pallet again, sitting down by her side.", "It was a long time before the convulsed throat was quiet, and even\nthen they sat some time in stillness and darkness, holding each other's\nhands.", "At last Hetty whispered, \"I did do it, Dinah...I buried it in the\nwood...the little baby...and it cried...I heard it cry...ever such a way\noff...all night...and I went back because it cried.\"", "She paused, and then spoke hurriedly in a louder, pleading tone.", "\"But I thought perhaps it wouldn't die--there might somebody find it.", "I\ndidn't kill it--I didn't kill it myself.", "I put it down there and covered\nit up, and when I came back it was gone....It was because I was so\nvery miserable, Dinah...I didn't know where to go...and I tried to kill\nmyself before, and I couldn't.", "Oh, I tried so to drown myself in the\npool, and I couldn't.", "I went to Windsor--I ran away--did you know?", "I\nwent to find him, as he might take care of me; and he was gone; and then\nI didn't know what to do.", "I daredn't go back home again--I couldn't bear\nit.", "I couldn't have bore to look at anybody, for they'd have scorned me.", "I thought o' you sometimes, and thought I'd come to you, for I didn't\nthink you'd be cross with me, and cry shame on me.", "I thought I could\ntell you.", "But then the other folks 'ud come to know it at last, and I\ncouldn't bear that.", "It was partly thinking o' you made me come toward\nStoniton; and, besides, I was so frightened at going wandering about\ntill I was a beggar-woman, and had nothing; and sometimes it seemed as\nif I must go back to the farm sooner than that.", "Oh, it was so dreadful,\nDinah...I was so miserable...I wished I'd never been born into this\nworld.", "I should never like to go into the green fields again--I hated\n'em so in my misery.\"", "Hetty paused again, as if the sense of the past were too strong upon her\nfor words.", "\"And then I got to Stoniton, and I began to feel frightened that night,\nbecause I was so near home.", "And then the little baby was born, when I\ndidn't expect it; and the thought came into my mind that I might get\nrid of it and go home again.", "The thought came all of a sudden, as I was\nlying in the bed, and it got stronger and stronger...I longed so to go\nback again...I couldn't bear being so lonely and coming to beg for want.", "And it gave me strength and resolution to get up and dress myself.", "I\nfelt I must do it...I didn't know how...I thought I'd find a pool, if\nI could, like that other, in the corner of the field, in the dark.", "And when the woman went out, I felt as if I was strong enough to do\nanything...I thought I should get rid of all my misery, and go back\nhome, and never let 'em know why I ran away.", "I put on my bonnet and\nshawl, and went out into the dark street, with the baby under my cloak;\nand I walked fast till I got into a street a good way off, and there\nwas a public, and I got some warm stuff to drink and some bread.", "And\nI walked on and on, and I hardly felt the ground I trod on; and it got\nlighter, for there came the moon--oh, Dinah, it frightened me when it\nfirst looked at me out o' the clouds--it never looked so before; and\nI turned out of the road into the fields, for I was afraid o' meeting\nanybody with the moon shining on me.", "And I came to a haystack, where\nI thought I could lie down and keep myself warm all night.", "There was a\nplace cut into it, where I could make me a bed, and I lay comfortable,\nand the baby was warm against me; and I must have gone to sleep for a\ngood while, for when I woke it was morning, but not very light, and the\nbaby was crying.", "And I saw a wood a little way off...I thought there'd\nperhaps be a ditch or a pond there...and it was so early I thought I\ncould hide the child there, and get a long way off before folks was up.", "And then I thought I'd go home--I'd get rides in carts and go home and\ntell 'em I'd been to try and see for a place, and couldn't get one.", "I\nlonged so for it, Dinah, I longed so to be safe at home.", "I don't know\nhow I felt about the baby.", "I seemed to hate it--it was like a heavy\nweight hanging round my neck; and yet its crying went through me, and I\ndaredn't look at its little hands and face.", "But I went on to the wood,\nand I walked about, but there was no water....\"\n\nHetty shuddered.", "She was silent for some moments, and when she began\nagain, it was in a whisper.", "\"I came to a place where there was lots of chips and turf, and I sat\ndown on the trunk of a tree to think what I should do.", "And all of a\nsudden I saw a hole under the nut-tree, like a little grave.", "And it\ndarted into me like lightning--I'd lay the baby there and cover it with\nthe grass and the chips.", "I couldn't kill it any other way.", "And I'd done\nit in a minute; and, oh, it cried so, Dinah--I couldn't cover it quite\nup--I thought perhaps somebody 'ud come and take care of it, and then\nit wouldn't die.", "And I made haste out of the wood, but I could hear it\ncrying all the while; and when I got out into the fields, it was as if I\nwas held fast--I couldn't go away, for all I wanted so to go.", "And I sat\nagainst the haystack to watch if anybody 'ud come.", "I was very hungry,\nand I'd only a bit of bread left, but I couldn't go away.", "And after ever\nsuch a while--hours and hours--the man came--him in a smock-frock, and\nhe looked at me so, I was frightened, and I made haste and went on.", "I\nthought he was going to the wood and would perhaps find the baby.", "And I\nwent right on, till I came to a village, a long way off from the wood,\nand I was very sick, and faint, and hungry.", "I got something to eat\nthere, and bought a loaf.", "But I was frightened to stay.", "I heard the baby\ncrying, and thought the other folks heard it too--and I went on.", "But\nI was so tired, and it was getting towards dark.", "And at last, by the\nroadside there was a barn--ever such a way off any house--like the barn\nin Abbot's Close, and I thought I could go in there and hide myself\namong the hay and straw, and nobody 'ud be likely to come.", "I went in,\nand it was half full o' trusses of straw, and there was some hay too.", "And I made myself a bed, ever so far behind, where nobody could find\nme; and I was so tired and weak, I went to sleep....But oh, the baby's\ncrying kept waking me, and I thought that man as looked at me so was\ncome and laying hold of me.", "But I must have slept a long while at last,\nthough I didn't know, for when I got up and went out of the barn, I\ndidn't know whether it was night or morning.", "But it was morning, for\nit kept getting lighter, and I turned back the way I'd come.", "I couldn't\nhelp it, Dinah; it was the baby's crying made me go--and yet I was\nfrightened to death.", "I thought that man in the smock-frock 'ud see me\nand know I put the baby there.", "But I went on, for all that.", "I'd left off\nthinking about going home--it had gone out o' my mind.", "I saw nothing\nbut that place in the wood where I'd buried the baby...I see it now.", "Oh\nDinah!", "shall I allays see it?\"", "Hetty clung round Dinah and shuddered again.", "The silence seemed long\nbefore she went on.", "\"I met nobody, for it was very early, and I got into the wood....I knew\nthe way to the place...the place against the nut-tree; and I could\nhear it crying at every step....I thought it was alive....I don't know\nwhether I was frightened or glad...I don't know what I felt.", "I only know\nI was in the wood and heard the cry.", "I don't know what I felt till I saw\nthe baby was gone.", "And when I'd put it there, I thought I should like\nsomebody to find it and save it from dying; but when I saw it was gone,\nI was struck like a stone, with fear.", "I never thought o' stirring, I\nfelt so weak.", "I knew I couldn't run away, and everybody as saw me 'ud\nknow about the baby.", "My heart went like a stone.", "I couldn't wish or try\nfor anything; it seemed like as if I should stay there for ever, and\nnothing 'ud ever change.", "But they came and took me away.\"", "Hetty was silent, but she shuddered again, as if there was still\nsomething behind; and Dinah waited, for her heart was so full that tears\nmust come before words.", "At last Hetty burst out, with a sob, \"Dinah, do\nyou think God will take away that crying and the place in the wood, now\nI've told everything?\"", "\"Let us pray, poor sinner.", "Let us fall on our knees again, and pray to\nthe God of all mercy.\"" ]

[ "\"Yes.", "I inquired all about him of Mr. Irwine.", "She did not know how long they sat in that way, but\nit got darker and darker, till there was only a pale patch of light on\nthe opposite wall: all the rest was darkness.", "\"Yes,\" Hetty answered slowly, \"it's Dinah.\"", "\"Because, Hetty, you are shutting up your soul against him, by trying\nto hide the truth.", "Cast it\noff now, Hetty--now: confess the wickedness you have done--the sin you\nhave been guilty of against your Heavenly Father.", "And I saw a wood a little way off...I thought there'd\nperhaps be a ditch or a pond there...and it was so early I thought I\ncould hide the child there, and get a long way off before folks was up.", "And it\ndarted into me like lightning--I'd lay the baby there and cover it with\nthe grass and the chips.", "I thought that man in the smock-frock 'ud see me\nand know I put the baby there.", "And when I'd put it there, I thought I should like\nsomebody to find it and save it from dying; but when I saw it was gone,\nI was struck like a stone, with fear." ]

[ "I put on my bonnet and\nshawl, and went out into the dark street, with the baby under my cloak;\nand I walked fast till I got into a street a good way off, and there\nwas a public, and I got some warm stuff to drink and some bread.", "shall I allays see it?\"", "Pierce the darkness!", "\"Yes,\" said Hetty.", "\"Yes,\" Hetty answered slowly, \"it's Dinah.\"", "As Hetty said the last words, she clung closer to Dinah, shuddering.", "But she felt the Divine\npresence more and more--nay, as if she herself were a part of it, and\nit was the Divine pity that was beating in her heart and was willing the\nrescue of this helpless one.", "\"You won't leave me, Dinah?", "Dinah raised her gently from\nher knees and seated her on the pallet again, sitting down by her side.", "\"No, Hetty, I won't leave you." ]

[ "God enters our\nsouls then, and teaches us, and brings us strength and peace.", "Cast it\noff now, Hetty--now: confess the wickedness you have done--the sin you\nhave been guilty of against your Heavenly Father.", "Let us kneel down\ntogether, for we are in the presence of God.\"", "Hetty obeyed Dinah's movement, and sank on her knees.", "They still held\neach other's hands, and there was long silence.", "Then Dinah said, \"Hetty,\nwe are before God.", "He is waiting for you to tell the truth.\"", "Still there was silence.", "At last Hetty spoke, in a tone of beseeching--\n\n\"Dinah...help me...I can't feel anything like you...my heart is hard.\"", "Dinah held the clinging hand, and all her soul went forth in her voice:\n\n\n\"Jesus, thou present Saviour!", "Thou hast known the depths of all sorrow:\nthou hast entered that black darkness where God is not, and hast uttered\nthe cry of the forsaken." ]

[ "\n\nNEAR sunset that evening an elderly gentleman was standing with his back\nagainst the smaller entrance-door of Stoniton jail, saying a few last\nwords to the departing chaplain.", "The chaplain walked away, but the\nelderly gentleman stood still, looking down on the pavement and stroking\nhis chin with a ruminating air, when he was roused by a sweet clear\nwoman's voice, saying, \"Can I get into the prison, if you please?\"", "He turned his head and looked fixedly at the speaker for a few moments\nwithout answering.", "\"I have seen you before,\" he said at last.", "\"Do you remember preaching on\nthe village green at Hayslope in Loamshire?\"", "\"Yes, sir, surely.", "Are you the gentleman that stayed to listen on\nhorseback?\"", "\"Yes.", "Why do you want to go into the prison?\"", "\"I want to go to Hetty Sorrel, the young woman who has been condemned\nto death--and to stay with her, if I may be permitted.", "And when I'd put it there, I thought I should like\nsomebody to find it and save it from dying; but when I saw it was gone,\nI was struck like a stone, with fear.", "I never thought o' stirring, I\nfelt so weak.", "I knew I couldn't run away, and everybody as saw me 'ud\nknow about the baby.", "My heart went like a stone.", "I couldn't wish or try\nfor anything; it seemed like as if I should stay there for ever, and\nnothing 'ud ever change.", "But they came and took me away.\"", "Hetty was silent, but she shuddered again, as if there was still\nsomething behind; and Dinah waited, for her heart was so full that tears\nmust come before words.", "At last Hetty burst out, with a sob, \"Dinah, do\nyou think God will take away that crying and the place in the wood, now\nI've told everything?\"", "\"Let us pray, poor sinner.", "Let us fall on our knees again, and pray to\nthe God of all mercy.\"" ]

[ "\n\nON Sunday morning, when the church bells in Stoniton were ringing for\nmorning service, Bartle Massey re-entered Adam's room, after a short\nabsence, and said, \"Adam, here's a visitor wants to see you.\"", "Adam was seated with his back towards the door, but he started up and\nturned round instantly, with a flushed face and an eager look.", "His face\nwas even thinner and more worn than we have seen it before, but he was\nwashed and shaven this Sunday morning.", "\"Is it any news?\"", "he said.", "\"Keep yourself quiet, my lad,\" said Bartle; \"keep quiet.", "It's not what\nyou're thinking of.", "It's the young Methodist woman come from the prison.", "She's at the bottom o' the stairs, and wants to know if you think\nwell to see her, for she has something to say to you about that poor\ncastaway; but she wouldn't come in without your leave, she said.", "She\nthought you'd perhaps like to go out and speak to her.", "These preaching\nwomen are not so back'ard commonly,\" Bartle muttered to himself.", "\"Ask her to come in,\" said Adam.", "He was standing with his face towards the door, and as Dinah entered,\nlifting up her mild grey eyes towards him, she saw at once the great\nchange that had come since the day when she had looked up at the tall\nman in the cottage.", "There was a trembling in her clear voice as she put\nher hand into his and said, \"Be comforted, Adam Bede, the Lord has not\nforsaken her.\"", "\"Bless you for coming to her,\" Adam said.", "\"Mr. Massey brought me word\nyesterday as you was come.\"", "They could neither of them say any more just yet, but stood before each\nother in silence; and Bartle Massey, too, who had put on his spectacles,\nseemed transfixed, examining Dinah's face.", "But he recovered himself\nfirst, and said, \"Sit down, young woman, sit down,\" placing the chair\nfor her and retiring to his old seat on the bed.", "\"Thank you, friend; I won't sit down,\" said Dinah, \"for I must hasten\nback.", "She entreated me not to stay long away.", "What I came for, Adam\nBede, was to pray you to go and see the poor sinner and bid her\nfarewell.", "She desires to ask your forgiveness, and it is meet you should\nsee her to-day, rather than in the early morning, when the time will be\nshort.\"", "Adam stood trembling, and at last sank down on his chair again.", "\"It won't be,\" he said, \"it'll be put off--there'll perhaps come a\npardon.", "Mr. Irwine said there was hope.", "He said, I needn't quite give it\nup.\"", "\"That's a blessed thought to me,\" said Dinah, her eyes filling with\ntears.", "\"It's a fearful thing hurrying her soul away so fast.\"", "\"But let what will be,\" she added presently.", "\"You will surely come, and\nlet her speak the words that are in her heart.", "Although her poor soul is\nvery dark and discerns little beyond the things of the flesh, she is no\nlonger hard.", "She is contrite, she has confessed all to me.", "The pride of\nher heart has given way, and she leans on me for help and desires to\nbe taught.", "This fills me with trust, for I cannot but think that the\nbrethren sometimes err in measuring the Divine love by the sinner's\nknowledge.", "She is going to write a letter to the friends at the Hall\nFarm for me to give them when she is gone, and when I told her you were\nhere, she said, 'I should like to say good-bye to Adam and ask him to\nforgive me.'", "You will come, Adam?", "Perhaps you will even now come back\nwith me.\"", "\"I can't,\" Adam said.", "\"I can't say good-bye while there's any hope.", "I'm\nlistening, and listening--I can't think o' nothing but that.", "It can't be\nas she'll die that shameful death--I can't bring my mind to it.\"", "He got up from his chair again and looked away out of the window, while\nDinah stood with compassionate patience.", "In a minute or two he turned\nround and said, \"I will come, Dinah...to-morrow morning...if it must be.", "I may have more strength to bear it, if I know it must be.", "Tell her, I\nforgive her; tell her I will come--at the very last.\"", "\"I will not urge you against the voice of your own heart,\" said Dinah.", "\"I must hasten back to her, for it is wonderful how she clings now, and\nwas not willing to let me out of her sight.", "She used never to make any\nreturn to my affection before, but now tribulation has opened her heart.", "Farewell, Adam.", "Our heavenly Father comfort you and strengthen you\nto bear all things.\"", "Dinah put out her hand, and Adam pressed it in\nsilence.", "Bartle Massey was getting up to lift the stiff latch of the door for\nher, but before he could reach it, she had said gently, \"Farewell,\nfriend,\" and was gone, with her light step down the stairs.", "\"Well,\" said Bartle, taking off his spectacles and putting them into his\npocket, \"if there must be women to make trouble in the world, it's\nbut fair there should be women to be comforters under it; and she's\none--she's one.", "It's a pity she's a Methodist; but there's no getting a\nwoman without some foolishness or other.\"", "Adam never went to bed that night.", "The excitement of suspense,\nheightening with every hour that brought him nearer the fatal moment,\nwas too great, and in spite of his entreaties, in spite of his promises\nthat he would be perfectly quiet, the schoolmaster watched too.", "\"What does it matter to me, lad?\"", "Bartle said: \"a night's sleep more\nor less?", "I shall sleep long enough, by and by, underground.", "Let me keep\nthee company in trouble while I can.\"", "It was a long and dreary night in that small chamber.", "Adam would\nsometimes get up and tread backwards and forwards along the short space\nfrom wall to wall; then he would sit down and hide his face, and no\nsound would be heard but the ticking of the watch on the table, or\nthe falling of a cinder from the fire which the schoolmaster carefully\ntended.", "Sometimes he would burst out into vehement speech, \"If I could\nha' done anything to save her--if my bearing anything would ha' done any\ngood...but t' have to sit still, and know it, and do nothing...it's\nhard for a man to bear...and to think o' what might ha' been now, if\nit hadn't been for HIM....O God, it's the very day we should ha' been\nmarried.\"", "\"Aye, my lad,\" said Bartle tenderly, \"it's heavy--it's heavy.", "But you\nmust remember this: when you thought of marrying her, you'd a notion\nshe'd got another sort of a nature inside her.", "You didn't think she\ncould have got hardened in that little while to do what she's done.\"", "\"I know--I know that,\" said Adam.", "\"I thought she was loving and\ntender-hearted, and wouldn't tell a lie, or act deceitful.", "How could I\nthink any other way?", "And if he'd never come near her, and I'd married\nher, and been loving to her, and took care of her, she might never\nha' done anything bad.", "What would it ha' signified--my having a bit o'\ntrouble with her?", "It 'ud ha' been nothing to this.\"", "\"There's no knowing, my lad--there's no knowing what might have come.", "The smart's bad for you to bear now: you must have time--you must have\ntime.", "But I've that opinion of you, that you'll rise above it all and be\na man again, and there may good come out of this that we don't see.\"", "\"Good come out of it!\"", "said Adam passionately.", "\"That doesn't alter th'\nevil: HER ruin can't be undone.", "I hate that talk o' people, as if there\nwas a way o' making amends for everything.", "They'd more need be brought\nto see as the wrong they do can never be altered.", "When a man's spoiled\nhis fellow-creatur's life, he's no right to comfort himself with\nthinking good may come out of it.", "Somebody else's good doesn't alter her\nshame and misery.\"", "\"Well, lad, well,\" said Bartle, in a gentle tone, strangely in contrast\nwith his usual peremptoriness and impatience of contradiction, \"it's\nlikely enough I talk foolishness.", "I'm an old fellow, and it's a good\nmany years since I was in trouble myself.", "It's easy finding reasons why\nother folks should be patient.\"", "\"Mr. Massey,\" said Adam penitently, \"I'm very hot and hasty.", "I owe you\nsomething different; but you mustn't take it ill of me.\"", "\"Not I, lad--not I.\"", "So the night wore on in agitation till the chill dawn and the growing\nlight brought the tremulous quiet that comes on the brink of despair.", "There would soon be no more suspense.", "\"Let us go to the prison now, Mr. Massey,\" said Adam, when he saw the\nhand of his watch at six.", "\"If there's any news come, we shall hear about\nit.\"", "The people were astir already, moving rapidly, in one direction, through\nthe streets.", "Adam tried not to think where they were going, as they\nhurried past him in that short space between his lodging and the prison\ngates.", "He was thankful when the gates shut him in from seeing those\neager people.", "No; there was no news come--no pardon--no reprieve.", "Adam lingered in the court half an hour before he could bring himself\nto send word to Dinah that he was come.", "But a voice caught his ear: he\ncould not shut out the words.", "\"The cart is to set off at half-past seven.\"", "It must be said--the last good-bye: there was no help.", "In ten minutes from that time, Adam was at the door of the cell.", "Dinah\nhad sent him word that she could not come to him; she could not leave\nHetty one moment; but Hetty was prepared for the meeting.", "He could not see her when he entered, for agitation deadened his senses,\nand the dim cell was almost dark to him.", "He stood a moment after the\ndoor closed behind him, trembling and stupefied.", "But he began to see through the dimness--to see the dark eyes lifted up\nto him once more, but with no smile in them.", "O God, how sad they looked!", "The last time they had met his was when he parted from her with his\nheart full of joyous hopeful love, and they looked out with a tearful\nsmile from a pink, dimpled, childish face.", "The face was marble now; the\nsweet lips were pallid and half-open and quivering; the dimples were all\ngone--all but one, that never went; and the eyes--O, the worst of all\nwas the likeness they had to Hetty's.", "They were Hetty's eyes looking\nat him with that mournful gaze, as if she had come back to him from the\ndead to tell him of her misery.", "She was clinging close to Dinah; her cheek was against Dinah's.", "It\nseemed as if her last faint strength and hope lay in that contact, and\nthe pitying love that shone out from Dinah's face looked like a visible\npledge of the Invisible Mercy.", "When the sad eyes met--when Hetty and Adam looked at each other--she\nfelt the change in him too, and it seemed to strike her with fresh\nfear.", "It was the first time she had seen any being whose face seemed to\nreflect the change in herself: Adam was a new image of the dreadful past\nand the dreadful present.", "She trembled more as she looked at him.", "\"Speak to him, Hetty,\" Dinah said; \"tell him what is in your heart.\"", "Hetty obeyed her, like a little child.", "\"Adam...I'm very sorry...I behaved very wrong to you...will you forgive\nme...before I die?\"", "Adam answered with a half-sob, \"Yes, I forgive thee Hetty.", "I forgave\nthee long ago.\"", "It had seemed to Adam as if his brain would burst with the anguish of\nmeeting Hetty's eyes in the first moments, but the sound of her voice\nuttering these penitent words touched a chord which had been less\nstrained.", "There was a sense of relief from what was becoming unbearable,\nand the rare tears came--they had never come before, since he had hung\non Seth's neck in the beginning of his sorrow.", "Hetty made an involuntary movement towards him, some of the love that\nshe had once lived in the midst of was come near her again.", "She kept\nhold of Dinah's hand, but she went up to Adam and said timidly, \"Will\nyou kiss me again, Adam, for all I've been so wicked?\"", "Adam took the blanched wasted hand she put out to him, and they gave\neach other the solemn unspeakable kiss of a lifelong parting.", "\"And tell him,\" Hetty said, in rather a stronger voice, \"tell him...for\nthere's nobody else to tell him...as I went after him and couldn't find\nhim...and I hated him and cursed him once...but Dinah says I should\nforgive him...and I try...for else God won't forgive me.\"", "There was a noise at the door of the cell now--the key was being turned\nin the lock, and when the door opened, Adam saw indistinctly that there\nwere several faces there.", "He was too agitated to see more--even to\nsee that Mr. Irwine's face was one of them.", "He felt that the last\npreparations were beginning, and he could stay no longer.", "Room\nwas silently made for him to depart, and he went to his chamber in\nloneliness, leaving Bartle Massey to watch and see the end." ]

[ "It's not what\nyou're thinking of.", "\"It's a fearful thing hurrying her soul away so fast.\"", "This fills me with trust, for I cannot but think that the\nbrethren sometimes err in measuring the Divine love by the sinner's\nknowledge.", "\"I can't say good-bye while there's any hope.", "She used never to make any\nreturn to my affection before, but now tribulation has opened her heart.", "Farewell, Adam.", "Let me keep\nthee company in trouble while I can.\"", "How could I\nthink any other way?", "What would it ha' signified--my having a bit o'\ntrouble with her?", "\"If there's any news come, we shall hear about\nit.\"" ]

[ "\"Is it any news?\"", "\"Good come out of it!\"", "She desires to ask your forgiveness, and it is meet you should\nsee her to-day, rather than in the early morning, when the time will be\nshort.\"", "Adam stood trembling, and at last sank down on his chair again.", "\"Ask her to come in,\" said Adam.", "There was a noise at the door of the cell now--the key was being turned\nin the lock, and when the door opened, Adam saw indistinctly that there\nwere several faces there.", "No; there was no news come--no pardon--no reprieve.", "What would it ha' signified--my having a bit o'\ntrouble with her?", "\"Aye, my lad,\" said Bartle tenderly, \"it's heavy--it's heavy.", "It had seemed to Adam as if his brain would burst with the anguish of\nmeeting Hetty's eyes in the first moments, but the sound of her voice\nuttering these penitent words touched a chord which had been less\nstrained." ]

[ "Let me keep\nthee company in trouble while I can.\"", "It was a long and dreary night in that small chamber.", "Adam would\nsometimes get up and tread backwards and forwards along the short space\nfrom wall to wall; then he would sit down and hide his face, and no\nsound would be heard but the ticking of the watch on the table, or\nthe falling of a cinder from the fire which the schoolmaster carefully\ntended.", "Sometimes he would burst out into vehement speech, \"If I could\nha' done anything to save her--if my bearing anything would ha' done any\ngood...but t' have to sit still, and know it, and do nothing...it's\nhard for a man to bear...and to think o' what might ha' been now, if\nit hadn't been for HIM....O God, it's the very day we should ha' been\nmarried.\"", "\"Aye, my lad,\" said Bartle tenderly, \"it's heavy--it's heavy.", "But you\nmust remember this: when you thought of marrying her, you'd a notion\nshe'd got another sort of a nature inside her.", "You didn't think she\ncould have got hardened in that little while to do what she's done.\"", "\"I know--I know that,\" said Adam.", "\"I thought she was loving and\ntender-hearted, and wouldn't tell a lie, or act deceitful.", "How could I\nthink any other way?", "And if he'd never come near her, and I'd married\nher, and been loving to her, and took care of her, she might never\nha' done anything bad." ]

[ "\n\nON Sunday morning, when the church bells in Stoniton were ringing for\nmorning service, Bartle Massey re-entered Adam's room, after a short\nabsence, and said, \"Adam, here's a visitor wants to see you.\"", "Adam was seated with his back towards the door, but he started up and\nturned round instantly, with a flushed face and an eager look.", "His face\nwas even thinner and more worn than we have seen it before, but he was\nwashed and shaven this Sunday morning.", "\"Is it any news?\"", "he said.", "\"Keep yourself quiet, my lad,\" said Bartle; \"keep quiet.", "It's not what\nyou're thinking of.", "It's the young Methodist woman come from the prison.", "She's at the bottom o' the stairs, and wants to know if you think\nwell to see her, for she has something to say to you about that poor\ncastaway; but she wouldn't come in without your leave, she said.", "She\nthought you'd perhaps like to go out and speak to her.", "It had seemed to Adam as if his brain would burst with the anguish of\nmeeting Hetty's eyes in the first moments, but the sound of her voice\nuttering these penitent words touched a chord which had been less\nstrained.", "There was a sense of relief from what was becoming unbearable,\nand the rare tears came--they had never come before, since he had hung\non Seth's neck in the beginning of his sorrow.", "Hetty made an involuntary movement towards him, some of the love that\nshe had once lived in the midst of was come near her again.", "She kept\nhold of Dinah's hand, but she went up to Adam and said timidly, \"Will\nyou kiss me again, Adam, for all I've been so wicked?\"", "Adam took the blanched wasted hand she put out to him, and they gave\neach other the solemn unspeakable kiss of a lifelong parting.", "\"And tell him,\" Hetty said, in rather a stronger voice, \"tell him...for\nthere's nobody else to tell him...as I went after him and couldn't find\nhim...and I hated him and cursed him once...but Dinah says I should\nforgive him...and I try...for else God won't forgive me.\"", "There was a noise at the door of the cell now--the key was being turned\nin the lock, and when the door opened, Adam saw indistinctly that there\nwere several faces there.", "He was too agitated to see more--even to\nsee that Mr. Irwine's face was one of them.", "He felt that the last\npreparations were beginning, and he could stay no longer.", "Room\nwas silently made for him to depart, and he went to his chamber in\nloneliness, leaving Bartle Massey to watch and see the end." ]

[ "\n\nIT was a sight that some people remembered better even than their own\nsorrows--the sight in that grey clear morning, when the fatal cart\nwith the two young women in it was descried by the waiting watching\nmultitude, cleaving its way towards the hideous symbol of a deliberately\ninflicted sudden death.", "All Stoniton had heard of Dinah Morris, the young Methodist woman who\nhad brought the obstinate criminal to confess, and there was as much\neagerness to see her as to see the wretched Hetty.", "But Dinah was hardly conscious of the multitude.", "When Hetty had\ncaught sight of the vast crowd in the distance, she had clutched Dinah\nconvulsively.", "\"Close your eyes, Hetty,\" Dinah said, \"and let us pray without ceasing\nto God.\"", "And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst of\nthe gazing crowd, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling intensity\nof a last pleading, for the trembling creature that clung to her and\nclutched her as the only visible sign of love and pity.", "Dinah did not know that the crowd was silent, gazing at her with a sort\nof awe--she did not even know how near they were to the fatal spot, when\nthe cart stopped, and she shrank appalled at a loud shout hideous to her\near, like a vast yell of demons.", "Hetty's shriek mingled with the sound,\nand they clasped each other in mutual horror.", "But it was not a shout of execration--not a yell of exultant cruelty.", "It was a shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman\ncleaving the crowd at full gallop.", "The horse is hot and distressed, but\nanswers to the desperate spurring; the rider looks as if his eyes were\nglazed by madness, and he saw nothing but what was unseen by others.", "See, he has something in his hand--he is holding it up as if it were a\nsignal.", "The Sheriff knows him: it is Arthur Donnithorne, carrying in his hand a\nhard-won release from death." ]

[ "All Stoniton had heard of Dinah Morris, the young Methodist woman who\nhad brought the obstinate criminal to confess, and there was as much\neagerness to see her as to see the wretched Hetty.", "But Dinah was hardly conscious of the multitude.", "And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst of\nthe gazing crowd, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling intensity\nof a last pleading, for the trembling creature that clung to her and\nclutched her as the only visible sign of love and pity.", "Dinah did not know that the crowd was silent, gazing at her with a sort\nof awe--she did not even know how near they were to the fatal spot, when\nthe cart stopped, and she shrank appalled at a loud shout hideous to her\near, like a vast yell of demons.", "Hetty's shriek mingled with the sound,\nand they clasped each other in mutual horror.", "But it was not a shout of execration--not a yell of exultant cruelty.", "It was a shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman\ncleaving the crowd at full gallop.", "The horse is hot and distressed, but\nanswers to the desperate spurring; the rider looks as if his eyes were\nglazed by madness, and he saw nothing but what was unseen by others.", "See, he has something in his hand--he is holding it up as if it were a\nsignal.", "The Sheriff knows him: it is Arthur Donnithorne, carrying in his hand a\nhard-won release from death." ]

[ "See, he has something in his hand--he is holding it up as if it were a\nsignal.", "\n\nIT was a sight that some people remembered better even than their own\nsorrows--the sight in that grey clear morning, when the fatal cart\nwith the two young women in it was descried by the waiting watching\nmultitude, cleaving its way towards the hideous symbol of a deliberately\ninflicted sudden death.", "It was a shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman\ncleaving the crowd at full gallop.", "But it was not a shout of execration--not a yell of exultant cruelty.", "When Hetty had\ncaught sight of the vast crowd in the distance, she had clutched Dinah\nconvulsively.", "Hetty's shriek mingled with the sound,\nand they clasped each other in mutual horror.", "\"Close your eyes, Hetty,\" Dinah said, \"and let us pray without ceasing\nto God.\"", "All Stoniton had heard of Dinah Morris, the young Methodist woman who\nhad brought the obstinate criminal to confess, and there was as much\neagerness to see her as to see the wretched Hetty.", "And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst of\nthe gazing crowd, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling intensity\nof a last pleading, for the trembling creature that clung to her and\nclutched her as the only visible sign of love and pity.", "The Sheriff knows him: it is Arthur Donnithorne, carrying in his hand a\nhard-won release from death." ]

[ "All Stoniton had heard of Dinah Morris, the young Methodist woman who\nhad brought the obstinate criminal to confess, and there was as much\neagerness to see her as to see the wretched Hetty.", "But Dinah was hardly conscious of the multitude.", "When Hetty had\ncaught sight of the vast crowd in the distance, she had clutched Dinah\nconvulsively.", "\"Close your eyes, Hetty,\" Dinah said, \"and let us pray without ceasing\nto God.\"", "And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst of\nthe gazing crowd, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling intensity\nof a last pleading, for the trembling creature that clung to her and\nclutched her as the only visible sign of love and pity.", "Dinah did not know that the crowd was silent, gazing at her with a sort\nof awe--she did not even know how near they were to the fatal spot, when\nthe cart stopped, and she shrank appalled at a loud shout hideous to her\near, like a vast yell of demons.", "Hetty's shriek mingled with the sound,\nand they clasped each other in mutual horror.", "But it was not a shout of execration--not a yell of exultant cruelty.", "It was a shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman\ncleaving the crowd at full gallop.", "The horse is hot and distressed, but\nanswers to the desperate spurring; the rider looks as if his eyes were\nglazed by madness, and he saw nothing but what was unseen by others.", "See, he has something in his hand--he is holding it up as if it were a\nsignal." ]

[ "\n\nIT was a sight that some people remembered better even than their own\nsorrows--the sight in that grey clear morning, when the fatal cart\nwith the two young women in it was descried by the waiting watching\nmultitude, cleaving its way towards the hideous symbol of a deliberately\ninflicted sudden death.", "All Stoniton had heard of Dinah Morris, the young Methodist woman who\nhad brought the obstinate criminal to confess, and there was as much\neagerness to see her as to see the wretched Hetty.", "But Dinah was hardly conscious of the multitude.", "When Hetty had\ncaught sight of the vast crowd in the distance, she had clutched Dinah\nconvulsively.", "\"Close your eyes, Hetty,\" Dinah said, \"and let us pray without ceasing\nto God.\"", "And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst of\nthe gazing crowd, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling intensity\nof a last pleading, for the trembling creature that clung to her and\nclutched her as the only visible sign of love and pity.", "Dinah did not know that the crowd was silent, gazing at her with a sort\nof awe--she did not even know how near they were to the fatal spot, when\nthe cart stopped, and she shrank appalled at a loud shout hideous to her\near, like a vast yell of demons.", "Hetty's shriek mingled with the sound,\nand they clasped each other in mutual horror.", "But it was not a shout of execration--not a yell of exultant cruelty.", "It was a shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman\ncleaving the crowd at full gallop.", "When Hetty had\ncaught sight of the vast crowd in the distance, she had clutched Dinah\nconvulsively.", "\"Close your eyes, Hetty,\" Dinah said, \"and let us pray without ceasing\nto God.\"", "And in a low voice, as the cart went slowly along through the midst of\nthe gazing crowd, she poured forth her soul with the wrestling intensity\nof a last pleading, for the trembling creature that clung to her and\nclutched her as the only visible sign of love and pity.", "Dinah did not know that the crowd was silent, gazing at her with a sort\nof awe--she did not even know how near they were to the fatal spot, when\nthe cart stopped, and she shrank appalled at a loud shout hideous to her\near, like a vast yell of demons.", "Hetty's shriek mingled with the sound,\nand they clasped each other in mutual horror.", "But it was not a shout of execration--not a yell of exultant cruelty.", "It was a shout of sudden excitement at the appearance of a horseman\ncleaving the crowd at full gallop.", "The horse is hot and distressed, but\nanswers to the desperate spurring; the rider looks as if his eyes were\nglazed by madness, and he saw nothing but what was unseen by others.", "See, he has something in his hand--he is holding it up as if it were a\nsignal.", "The Sheriff knows him: it is Arthur Donnithorne, carrying in his hand a\nhard-won release from death." ]

[ "\n\nTHE next day, at evening, two men were walking from opposite points\ntowards the same scene, drawn thither by a common memory.", "The scene was\nthe Grove by Donnithorne Chase: you know who the men were.", "The old squire's funeral had taken place that morning, the will had been\nread, and now in the first breathing-space, Arthur Donnithorne had come\nout for a lonely walk, that he might look fixedly at the new future\nbefore him and confirm himself in a sad resolution.", "He thought he could\ndo that best in the Grove.", "Adam too had come from Stontion on Monday evening, and to-day he had\nnot left home, except to go to the family at the Hall Farm and tell\nthem everything that Mr. Irwine had left untold.", "He had agreed with the\nPoysers that he would follow them to their new neighbourhood, wherever\nthat might be, for he meant to give up the management of the woods,\nand, as soon as it was practicable, he would wind up his business with\nJonathan Burge and settle with his mother and Seth in a home within\nreach of the friends to whom he felt bound by a mutual sorrow.", "\"Seth and me are sure to find work,\" he said.", "\"A man that's got our\ntrade at his finger-ends is at home everywhere; and we must make a new\nstart.", "My mother won't stand in the way, for she's told me, since I came\nhome, she'd made up her mind to being buried in another parish, if I\nwished it, and if I'd be more comfortable elsewhere.", "It's wonderful\nhow quiet she's been ever since I came back.", "It seems as if the very\ngreatness o' the trouble had quieted and calmed her.", "We shall all be\nbetter in a new country, though there's some I shall be loath to leave\nbehind.", "But I won't part from you and yours, if I can help it, Mr.\nPoyser.", "Trouble's made us kin.\"", "\"Aye, lad,\" said Martin.", "\"We'll go out o' hearing o' that man's name.", "But I doubt we shall ne'er go far enough for folks not to find out as\nwe've got them belonging to us as are transported o'er the seas, and\nwere like to be hanged.", "We shall have that flyin' up in our faces, and\nour children's after us.\"", "That was a long visit to the Hall Farm, and drew too strongly on Adam's\nenergies for him to think of seeing others, or re-entering on his old\noccupations till the morrow.", "\"But to-morrow,\" he said to himself, \"I'll\ngo to work again.", "I shall learn to like it again some time, maybe; and\nit's right whether I like it or not.\"", "This evening was the last he would allow to be absorbed by sorrow:\nsuspense was gone now, and he must bear the unalterable.", "He was resolved\nnot to see Arthur Donnithorne again, if it were possible to avoid him.", "He had no message to deliver from Hetty now, for Hetty had seen Arthur.", "And Adam distrusted himself--he had learned to dread the violence of his\nown feeling.", "That word of Mr. Irwine's--that he must remember what he\nhad felt after giving the last blow to Arthur in the Grove--had remained\nwith him.", "These thoughts about Arthur, like all thoughts that are charged with\nstrong feeling, were continually recurring, and they always called up\nthe image of the Grove--of that spot under the overarching boughs where\nhe had caught sight of the two bending figures, and had been possessed\nby sudden rage.", "\"I'll go and see it again to-night for the last time,\" he said; \"it'll\ndo me good; it'll make me feel over again what I felt when I'd knocked\nhim down.", "I felt what poor empty work it was, as soon as I'd done it,\nbefore I began to think he might be dead.\"", "In this way it happened that Arthur and Adam were walking towards the\nsame spot at the same time.", "Adam had on his working-dress again, now, for he had thrown off the\nother with a sense of relief as soon as he came home; and if he had had\nthe basket of tools over his shoulder, he might have been taken, with\nhis pale wasted face, for the spectre of the Adam Bede who entered the\nGrove on that August evening eight months ago.", "But he had no basket of\ntools, and he was not walking with the old erectness, looking keenly\nround him; his hands were thrust in his side pockets, and his eyes\nrested chiefly on the ground.", "He had not long entered the Grove, and now\nhe paused before a beech.", "He knew that tree well; it was the boundary\nmark of his youth--the sign, to him, of the time when some of his\nearliest, strongest feelings had left him.", "He felt sure they would never\nreturn.", "And yet, at this moment, there was a stirring of affection\nat the remembrance of that Arthur Donnithorne whom he had believed in\nbefore he had come up to this beech eight months ago.", "It was affection\nfor the dead: THAT Arthur existed no longer.", "He was disturbed by the sound of approaching footsteps, but the beech\nstood at a turning in the road, and he could not see who was coming\nuntil the tall slim figure in deep mourning suddenly stood before him at\nonly two yards' distance.", "They both started, and looked at each other\nin silence.", "Often, in the last fortnight, Adam had imagined himself\nas close to Arthur as this, assailing him with words that should be as\nharrowing as the voice of remorse, forcing upon him a just share in the\nmisery he had caused; and often, too, he had told himself that such a\nmeeting had better not be.", "But in imagining the meeting he had always\nseen Arthur, as he had met him on that evening in the Grove, florid,\ncareless, light of speech; and the figure before him touched him with\nthe signs of suffering.", "Adam knew what suffering was--he could not lay\na cruel finger on a bruised man.", "He felt no impulse that he needed to\nresist.", "Silence was more just than reproach.", "Arthur was the first to\nspeak.", "\"Adam,\" he said, quietly, \"it may be a good thing that we have met here,\nfor I wished to see you.", "I should have asked to see you to-morrow.\"", "He paused, but Adam said nothing.", "\"I know it is painful to you to meet me,\" Arthur went on, \"but it is not\nlikely to happen again for years to come.\"", "\"No, sir,\" said Adam, coldly, \"that was what I meant to write to you\nto-morrow, as it would be better all dealings should be at an end\nbetween us, and somebody else put in my place.\"", "Arthur felt the answer keenly, and it was not without an effort that he\nspoke again.", "\"It was partly on that subject I wished to speak to you.", "I don't want\nto lessen your indignation against me, or ask you to do anything for\nmy sake.", "I only wish to ask you if you will help me to lessen the\nevil consequences of the past, which is unchangeable.", "I don't mean\nconsequences to myself, but to others.", "It is but little I can do, I\nknow.", "I know the worst consequences will remain; but something may be\ndone, and you can help me.", "Will you listen to me patiently?\"", "\"Yes, sir,\" said Adam, after some hesitation; \"I'll hear what it is.", "If\nI can help to mend anything, I will.", "Anger 'ull mend nothing, I know.", "We've had enough o' that.\"", "\"I was going to the Hermitage,\" said Arthur.", "\"Will you go there with me\nand sit down?", "We can talk better there.\"", "The Hermitage had never been entered since they left it together, for\nArthur had locked up the key in his desk.", "And now, when he opened the\ndoor, there was the candle burnt out in the socket; there was the\nchair in the same place where Adam remembered sitting; there was the\nwaste-paper basket full of scraps, and deep down in it, Arthur felt in\nan instant, there was the little pink silk handkerchief.", "It would have\nbeen painful to enter this place if their previous thoughts had been\nless painful.", "They sat down opposite each other in the old places, and Arthur said,\n\"I'm going away, Adam; I'm going into the army.\"", "Poor Arthur felt that Adam ought to be affected by this\nannouncement--ought to have a movement of sympathy towards him.", "But\nAdam's lips remained firmly closed, and the expression of his face\nunchanged.", "\"What I want to say to you,\" Arthur continued, \"is this: one of my\nreasons for going away is that no one else may leave Hayslope--may leave\ntheir home on my account.", "I would do anything, there is no sacrifice\nI would not make, to prevent any further injury to others through\nmy--through what has happened.\"", "Arthur's words had precisely the opposite effect to that he had\nanticipated.", "Adam thought he perceived in them that notion of\ncompensation for irretrievable wrong, that self-soothing attempt to\nmake evil bear the same fruits as good, which most of all roused his\nindignation.", "He was as strongly impelled to look painful facts right in\nthe face as Arthur was to turn away his eyes from them.", "Moreover, he\nhad the wakeful suspicious pride of a poor man in the presence of a rich\nman.", "He felt his old severity returning as he said, \"The time's past for\nthat, sir.", "A man should make sacrifices to keep clear of doing a wrong;\nsacrifices won't undo it when it's done.", "When people's feelings have got\na deadly wound, they can't be cured with favours.\"", "\"Favours!\"", "said Arthur, passionately; \"no; how can you suppose I meant\nthat?", "But the Poysers--Mr. Irwine tells me the Poysers mean to leave the\nplace where they have lived so many years--for generations.", "Don't you\nsee, as Mr. Irwine does, that if they could be persuaded to overcome the\nfeeling that drives them away, it would be much better for them in the\nend to remain on the old spot, among the friends and neighbours who know\nthem?\"", "\"That's true,\" said Adam coldly.", "\"But then, sir, folks's feelings are\nnot so easily overcome.", "It'll be hard for Martin Poyser to go to a\nstrange place, among strange faces, when he's been bred up on the Hall\nFarm, and his father before him; but then it 'ud be harder for a man\nwith his feelings to stay.", "I don't see how the thing's to be made any\nother than hard.", "There's a sort o' damage, sir, that can't be made up\nfor.\"", "Arthur was silent some moments.", "In spite of other feelings dominant in\nhim this evening, his pride winced under Adam's mode of treating him.", "Wasn't he himself suffering?", "Was not he too obliged to renounce his most\ncherished hopes?", "It was now as it had been eight months ago--Adam was\nforcing Arthur to feel more intensely the irrevocableness of his own\nwrong-doing.", "He was presenting the sort of resistance that was the most\nirritating to Arthur's eager ardent nature.", "But his anger was subdued\nby the same influence that had subdued Adam's when they first confronted\neach other--by the marks of suffering in a long familiar face.", "The\nmomentary struggle ended in the feeling that he could bear a great deal\nfrom Adam, to whom he had been the occasion of bearing so much; but\nthere was a touch of pleading, boyish vexation in his tone as he said,\n\"But people may make injuries worse by unreasonable conduct--by giving\nway to anger and satisfying that for the moment, instead of thinking\nwhat will be the effect in the future.", "\"If I were going to stay here and act as landlord,\" he added presently,\nwith still more eagerness--\"if I were careless about what I've\ndone--what I've been the cause of, you would have some excuse, Adam, for\ngoing away and encouraging others to go.", "You would have some excuse then\nfor trying to make the evil worse.", "But when I tell you I'm going away\nfor years--when you know what that means for me, how it cuts off every\nplan of happiness I've ever formed--it is impossible for a sensible\nman like you to believe that there is any real ground for the Poysers\nrefusing to remain.", "I know their feeling about disgrace--Mr. Irwine has\ntold me all; but he is of opinion that they might be persuaded out of\nthis idea that they are disgraced in the eyes of their neighbours,\nand that they can't remain on my estate, if you would join him in his\nefforts--if you would stay yourself and go on managing the old woods.\"", "Arthur paused a moment and then added, pleadingly, \"You know that's a\ngood work to do for the sake of other people, besides the owner.", "And\nyou don't know but that they may have a better owner soon, whom you will\nlike to work for.", "If I die, my cousin Tradgett will have the estate and\ntake my name.", "He is a good fellow.\"", "Adam could not help being moved: it was impossible for him not to feel\nthat this was the voice of the honest warm-hearted Arthur whom he had\nloved and been proud of in old days; but nearer memories would not be\nthrust away.", "He was silent; yet Arthur saw an answer in his face that\ninduced him to go on, with growing earnestness.", "\"And then, if you would talk to the Poysers--if you would talk the\nmatter over with Mr. Irwine--he means to see you to-morrow--and then if\nyou would join your arguments to his to prevail on them not to go....I\nknow, of course, that they would not accept any favour from me--I mean\nnothing of that kind--but I'm sure they would suffer less in the end.", "Irwine thinks so too.", "And Mr. Irwine is to have the chief authority\non the estate--he has consented to undertake that.", "They will really be\nunder no man but one whom they respect and like.", "It would be the same\nwith you, Adam, and it could be nothing but a desire to give me worse\npain that could incline you to go.\"", "Arthur was silent again for a little while, and then said, with some\nagitation in his voice, \"I wouldn't act so towards you, I know.", "If you\nwere in my place and I in yours, I should try to help you to do the\nbest.\"", "Adam made a hasty movement on his chair and looked on the ground.", "Arthur\nwent on, \"Perhaps you've never done anything you've had bitterly to\nrepent of in your life, Adam; if you had, you would be more generous.", "You would know then that it's worse for me than for you.\"", "Arthur rose from his seat with the last words, and went to one of the\nwindows, looking out and turning his back on Adam, as he continued,\npassionately, \"Haven't I loved her too?", "Didn't I see her yesterday?", "Shan't I carry the thought of her about with me as much as you will?", "And\ndon't you think you would suffer more if you'd been in fault?\"", "There was silence for several minutes, for the struggle in Adam's mind\nwas not easily decided.", "Facile natures, whose emotions have little\npermanence, can hardly understand how much inward resistance he overcame\nbefore he rose from his seat and turned towards Arthur.", "Arthur heard the\nmovement, and turning round, met the sad but softened look with which\nAdam said, \"It's true what you say, sir.", "I'm hard--it's in my nature.", "I was too hard with my father, for doing wrong.", "I've been a bit hard t'\neverybody but her.", "I felt as if nobody pitied her enough--her suffering\ncut into me so; and when I thought the folks at the farm were too hard\nwith her, I said I'd never be hard to anybody myself again.", "But feeling\novermuch about her has perhaps made me unfair to you.", "I've known what\nit is in my life to repent and feel it's too late.", "I felt I'd been too\nharsh to my father when he was gone from me--I feel it now, when I think\nof him.", "I've no right to be hard towards them as have done wrong and\nrepent.\"", "Adam spoke these words with the firm distinctness of a man who is\nresolved to leave nothing unsaid that he is bound to say; but he went on\nwith more hesitation.", "\"I wouldn't shake hands with you once, sir, when you asked me--but if\nyou're willing to do it now, for all I refused then...\"\n\nArthur's white hand was in Adam's large grasp in an instant, and with\nthat action there was a strong rush, on both sides, of the old, boyish\naffection.", "\"Adam,\" Arthur said, impelled to full confession now, \"it would never\nhave happened if I'd known you loved her.", "That would have helped to save\nme from it.", "And I did struggle.", "I never meant to injure her.", "I deceived\nyou afterwards--and that led on to worse; but I thought it was forced\nupon me, I thought it was the best thing I could do.", "And in that letter\nI told her to let me know if she were in any trouble: don't think I\nwould not have done everything I could.", "But I was all wrong from the\nvery first, and horrible wrong has come of it.", "God knows, I'd give my\nlife if I could undo it.\"", "They sat down again opposite each other, and Adam said, tremulously,\n\"How did she seem when you left her, sir?\"", "\"Don't ask me, Adam,\" Arthur said; \"I feel sometimes as if I should go\nmad with thinking of her looks and what she said to me, and then, that I\ncouldn't get a full pardon--that I couldn't save her from that wretched\nfate of being transported--that I can do nothing for her all those\nyears; and she may die under it, and never know comfort any more.\"", "\"Ah, sir,\" said Adam, for the first time feeling his own pain merged in\nsympathy for Arthur, \"you and me'll often be thinking o' the same thing,\nwhen we're a long way off one another.", "I'll pray God to help you, as I\npray him to help me.\"", "\"But there's that sweet woman--that Dinah Morris,\" Arthur said, pursuing\nhis own thoughts and not knowing what had been the sense of Adam's\nwords, \"she says she shall stay with her to the very last moment--till\nshe goes; and the poor thing clings to her as if she found some comfort\nin her.", "I could worship that woman; I don't know what I should do if she\nwere not there.", "Adam, you will see her when she comes back.", "I could say\nnothing to her yesterday--nothing of what I felt towards her.", "Tell her,\"\nArthur went on hurriedly, as if he wanted to hide the emotion with which\nhe spoke, while he took off his chain and watch, \"tell her I asked you\nto give her this in remembrance of me--of the man to whom she is the\none source of comfort, when he thinks of...I know she doesn't care about\nsuch things--or anything else I can give her for its own sake.", "But she\nwill use the watch--I shall like to think of her using it.\"", "\"I'll give it to her, sir,\" Adam said, \"and tell her your words.", "She\ntold me she should come back to the people at the Hall Farm.\"", "\"And you will persuade the Poysers to stay, Adam?\"", "said Arthur, reminded\nof the subject which both of them had forgotten in the first interchange\nof revived friendship.", "\"You will stay yourself, and help Mr. Irwine to\ncarry out the repairs and improvements on the estate?\"", "\"There's one thing, sir, that perhaps you don't take account of,\" said\nAdam, with hesitating gentleness, \"and that was what made me hang back\nlonger.", "You see, it's the same with both me and the Poysers: if we stay,\nit's for our own worldly interest, and it looks as if we'd put up with\nanything for the sake o' that.", "I know that's what they'll feel, and\nI can't help feeling a little of it myself.", "When folks have got an\nhonourable independent spirit, they don't like to do anything that might\nmake 'em seem base-minded.\"", "\"But no one who knows you will think that, Adam.", "That is not a reason\nstrong enough against a course that is really more generous, more\nunselfish than the other.", "And it will be known--it shall be made known,\nthat both you and the Poysers stayed at my entreaty.", "Adam, don't try to\nmake things worse for me; I'm punished enough without that.\"", "\"No, sir, no,\" Adam said, looking at Arthur with mournful affection.", "\"God forbid I should make things worse for you.", "I used to wish I could\ndo it, in my passion--but that was when I thought you didn't feel\nenough.", "I'll stay, sir, I'll do the best I can.", "It's all I've got to\nthink of now--to do my work well and make the world a bit better place\nfor them as can enjoy it.\"", "\"Then we'll part now, Adam.", "You will see Mr. Irwine to-morrow, and\nconsult with him about everything.\"", "\"Are you going soon, sir?\"", "said Adam.", "\"As soon as possible--after I've made the necessary arrangements.", "Good-bye, Adam.", "I shall think of you going about the old place.\"", "\"Good-bye, sir.", "God bless you.\"", "The hands were clasped once more, and Adam left the Hermitage, feeling\nthat sorrow was more bearable now hatred was gone.", "As soon as the door was closed behind him, Arthur went to the\nwaste-paper basket and took out the little pink silk handkerchief.", "Book Six" ]

[ "He thought he could\ndo that best in the Grove.", "My mother won't stand in the way, for she's told me, since I came\nhome, she'd made up her mind to being buried in another parish, if I\nwished it, and if I'd be more comfortable elsewhere.", "And yet, at this moment, there was a stirring of affection\nat the remembrance of that Arthur Donnithorne whom he had believed in\nbefore he had come up to this beech eight months ago.", "Adam knew what suffering was--he could not lay\na cruel finger on a bruised man.", "\"No, sir,\" said Adam, coldly, \"that was what I meant to write to you\nto-morrow, as it would be better all dealings should be at an end\nbetween us, and somebody else put in my place.\"", "Will you listen to me patiently?\"", "But when I tell you I'm going away\nfor years--when you know what that means for me, how it cuts off every\nplan of happiness I've ever formed--it is impossible for a sensible\nman like you to believe that there is any real ground for the Poysers\nrefusing to remain.", "He is a good fellow.\"", "There was silence for several minutes, for the struggle in Adam's mind\nwas not easily decided.", "I was too hard with my father, for doing wrong." ]

[ "I could worship that woman; I don't know what I should do if she\nwere not there.", "I deceived\nyou afterwards--and that led on to worse; but I thought it was forced\nupon me, I thought it was the best thing I could do.", "Adam too had come from Stontion on Monday evening, and to-day he had\nnot left home, except to go to the family at the Hall Farm and tell\nthem everything that Mr. Irwine had left untold.", "He had agreed with the\nPoysers that he would follow them to their new neighbourhood, wherever\nthat might be, for he meant to give up the management of the woods,\nand, as soon as it was practicable, he would wind up his business with\nJonathan Burge and settle with his mother and Seth in a home within\nreach of the friends to whom he felt bound by a mutual sorrow.", "said Arthur, reminded\nof the subject which both of them had forgotten in the first interchange\nof revived friendship.", "Will you listen to me patiently?\"", "Arthur was silent again for a little while, and then said, with some\nagitation in his voice, \"I wouldn't act so towards you, I know.", "I felt I'd been too\nharsh to my father when he was gone from me--I feel it now, when I think\nof him.", "\"Then we'll part now, Adam.", "\"But no one who knows you will think that, Adam." ]

[ "It'll be hard for Martin Poyser to go to a\nstrange place, among strange faces, when he's been bred up on the Hall\nFarm, and his father before him; but then it 'ud be harder for a man\nwith his feelings to stay.", "I don't see how the thing's to be made any\nother than hard.", "There's a sort o' damage, sir, that can't be made up\nfor.\"", "Arthur was silent some moments.", "In spite of other feelings dominant in\nhim this evening, his pride winced under Adam's mode of treating him.", "Wasn't he himself suffering?", "Was not he too obliged to renounce his most\ncherished hopes?", "It was now as it had been eight months ago--Adam was\nforcing Arthur to feel more intensely the irrevocableness of his own\nwrong-doing.", "He was presenting the sort of resistance that was the most\nirritating to Arthur's eager ardent nature.", "But his anger was subdued\nby the same influence that had subdued Adam's when they first confronted\neach other--by the marks of suffering in a long familiar face.", "The\nmomentary struggle ended in the feeling that he could bear a great deal\nfrom Adam, to whom he had been the occasion of bearing so much; but\nthere was a touch of pleading, boyish vexation in his tone as he said,\n\"But people may make injuries worse by unreasonable conduct--by giving\nway to anger and satisfying that for the moment, instead of thinking\nwhat will be the effect in the future." ]

[ "\n\nTHE next day, at evening, two men were walking from opposite points\ntowards the same scene, drawn thither by a common memory.", "The scene was\nthe Grove by Donnithorne Chase: you know who the men were.", "The old squire's funeral had taken place that morning, the will had been\nread, and now in the first breathing-space, Arthur Donnithorne had come\nout for a lonely walk, that he might look fixedly at the new future\nbefore him and confirm himself in a sad resolution.", "He thought he could\ndo that best in the Grove.", "Adam too had come from Stontion on Monday evening, and to-day he had\nnot left home, except to go to the family at the Hall Farm and tell\nthem everything that Mr. Irwine had left untold.", "He had agreed with the\nPoysers that he would follow them to their new neighbourhood, wherever\nthat might be, for he meant to give up the management of the woods,\nand, as soon as it was practicable, he would wind up his business with\nJonathan Burge and settle with his mother and Seth in a home within\nreach of the friends to whom he felt bound by a mutual sorrow.", "\"Seth and me are sure to find work,\" he said.", "\"A man that's got our\ntrade at his finger-ends is at home everywhere; and we must make a new\nstart.", "My mother won't stand in the way, for she's told me, since I came\nhome, she'd made up her mind to being buried in another parish, if I\nwished it, and if I'd be more comfortable elsewhere.", "It's wonderful\nhow quiet she's been ever since I came back.", "\"Are you going soon, sir?\"", "said Adam.", "\"As soon as possible--after I've made the necessary arrangements.", "Good-bye, Adam.", "I shall think of you going about the old place.\"", "\"Good-bye, sir.", "God bless you.\"", "The hands were clasped once more, and Adam left the Hermitage, feeling\nthat sorrow was more bearable now hatred was gone.", "As soon as the door was closed behind him, Arthur went to the\nwaste-paper basket and took out the little pink silk handkerchief.", "Book Six" ]

[ "\n\nTHE first autumnal afternoon sunshine of 1801--more than eighteen months\nafter that parting of Adam and Arthur in the Hermitage--was on the\nyard at the Hall Farm; and the bull-dog was in one of his most excited\nmoments, for it was that hour of the day when the cows were being driven\ninto the yard for their afternoon milking.", "No wonder the patient beasts\nran confusedly into the wrong places, for the alarming din of the\nbull-dog was mingled with more distant sounds which the timid feminine\ncreatures, with pardonable superstition, imagined also to have some\nrelation to their own movements--with the tremendous crack of the\nwaggoner's whip, the roar of his voice, and the booming thunder of the\nwaggon, as it left the rick-yard empty of its golden load.", "The milking of the cows was a sight Mrs. Poyser loved, and at this\nhour on mild days she was usually standing at the house door, with her\nknitting in her hands, in quiet contemplation, only heightened to a\nkeener interest when the vicious yellow cow, who had once kicked over a\npailful of precious milk, was about to undergo the preventive punishment\nof having her hinder-legs strapped.", "To-day, however, Mrs. Poyser gave but a divided attention to the\narrival of the cows, for she was in eager discussion with Dinah, who was\nstitching Mr. Poyser's shirt-collars, and had borne patiently to have\nher thread broken three times by Totty pulling at her arm with a sudden\ninsistence that she should look at \"Baby,\" that is, at a large wooden\ndoll with no legs and a long skirt, whose bald head Totty, seated in her\nsmall chair at Dinah's side, was caressing and pressing to her fat cheek\nwith much fervour.", "Totty is larger by more than two years' growth than\nwhen you first saw her, and she has on a black frock under her pinafore.", "Mrs. Poyser too has on a black gown, which seems to heighten the family\nlikeness between her and Dinah.", "In other respects there is little\noutward change now discernible in our old friends, or in the pleasant\nhouse-place, bright with polished oak and pewter.", "\"I never saw the like to you, Dinah,\" Mrs. Poyser was saying, \"when\nyou've once took anything into your head: there's no more moving you\nthan the rooted tree.", "You may say what you like, but I don't believe\nthat's religion; for what's the Sermon on the Mount about, as you're so\nfond o' reading to the boys, but doing what other folks 'ud have you do?", "But if it was anything unreasonable they wanted you to do, like taking\nyour cloak off and giving it to 'em, or letting 'em slap you i' the\nface, I daresay you'd be ready enough.", "It's only when one 'ud have you\ndo what's plain common sense and good for yourself, as you're obstinate\nth' other way.\"", "\"Nay, dear Aunt,\" said Dinah, smiling slightly as she went on with her\nwork, \"I'm sure your wish 'ud be a reason for me to do anything that I\ndidn't feel it was wrong to do.\"", "\"Wrong!", "You drive me past bearing.", "What is there wrong, I should like\nto know, i' staying along wi' your own friends, as are th' happier for\nhaving you with 'em an' are willing to provide for you, even if your\nwork didn't more nor pay 'em for the bit o' sparrow's victual y' eat\nand the bit o' rag you put on?", "An' who is it, I should like to know, as\nyou're bound t' help and comfort i' the world more nor your own flesh\nand blood--an' me th' only aunt you've got above-ground, an' am brought\nto the brink o' the grave welly every winter as comes, an' there's the\nchild as sits beside you 'ull break her little heart when you go, an'\nthe grandfather not been dead a twelvemonth, an' your uncle 'ull miss\nyou so as never was--a-lighting his pipe an' waiting on him, an' now I\ncan trust you wi' the butter, an' have had all the trouble o' teaching\nyou, and there's all the sewing to be done, an' I must have a strange\ngell out o' Treddles'on to do it--an' all because you must go back to\nthat bare heap o' stones as the very crows fly over an' won't stop at.\"", "\"Dear Aunt Rachel,\" said Dinah, looking up in Mrs. Poyser's face, \"it's\nyour kindness makes you say I'm useful to you.", "You don't really want me\nnow, for Nancy and Molly are clever at their work, and you're in good\nhealth now, by the blessing of God, and my uncle is of a cheerful\ncountenance again, and you have neighbours and friends not a few--some\nof them come to sit with my uncle almost daily.", "Indeed, you will not\nmiss me; and at Snowfield there are brethren and sisters in great need,\nwho have none of those comforts you have around you.", "I feel that I am\ncalled back to those amongst whom my lot was first cast.", "I feel drawn\nagain towards the hills where I used to be blessed in carrying the word\nof life to the sinful and desolate.\"", "\"You feel!", "Yes,\" said Mrs. Poyser, returning from a parenthetic glance\nat the cows, \"that's allays the reason I'm to sit down wi', when you've\na mind to do anything contrairy.", "What do you want to be preaching for\nmore than you're preaching now?", "Don't you go off, the Lord knows where,\nevery Sunday a-preaching and praying?", "An' haven't you got Methodists\nenow at Treddles'on to go and look at, if church-folks's faces are too\nhandsome to please you?", "An' isn't there them i' this parish as you've\ngot under hand, and they're like enough to make friends wi' Old Harry\nagain as soon as your back's turned?", "There's that Bessy Cranage--she'll\nbe flaunting i' new finery three weeks after you're gone, I'll be bound.", "She'll no more go on in her new ways without you than a dog 'ull stand\non its hind-legs when there's nobody looking.", "But I suppose it doesna\nmatter so much about folks's souls i' this country, else you'd be for\nstaying with your own aunt, for she's none so good but what you might\nhelp her to be better.\"", "There was a certain something in Mrs. Poyser's voice just then, which\nshe did not wish to be noticed, so she turned round hastily to look at\nthe clock, and said: \"See there!", "It's tea-time; an' if Martin's i' the\nrick-yard, he'll like a cup.", "Here, Totty, my chicken, let mother put\nyour bonnet on, and then you go out into the rick-yard and see if\nFather's there, and tell him he mustn't go away again without coming t'\nhave a cup o' tea; and tell your brothers to come in too.\"", "Totty trotted off in her flapping bonnet, while Mrs. Poyser set out the\nbright oak table and reached down the tea-cups.", "\"You talk o' them gells Nancy and Molly being clever i' their work,\"\nshe began again; \"it's fine talking.", "They're all the same, clever or\nstupid--one can't trust 'em out o' one's sight a minute.", "They want\nsomebody's eye on 'em constant if they're to be kept to their work.", "An' suppose I'm ill again this winter, as I was the winter before last?", "Who's to look after 'em then, if you're gone?", "An' there's that blessed\nchild--something's sure t' happen to her--they'll let her tumble into\nthe fire, or get at the kettle wi' the boiling lard in't, or some\nmischief as 'ull lame her for life; an' it'll be all your fault, Dinah.\"", "\"Aunt,\" said Dinah, \"I promise to come back to you in the winter if\nyou're ill. Don't think I will ever stay away from you if you're in real\nwant of me.", "But, indeed, it is needful for my own soul that I should go\naway from this life of ease and luxury in which I have all things too\nrichly to enjoy--at least that I should go away for a short space.", "No\none can know but myself what are my inward needs, and the besetments I\nam most in danger from.", "Your wish for me to stay is not a call of duty\nwhich I refuse to hearken to because it is against my own desires; it\nis a temptation that I must resist, lest the love of the creature should\nbecome like a mist in my soul shutting out the heavenly light.\"", "\"It passes my cunning to know what you mean by ease and luxury,\" said\nMrs. Poyser, as she cut the bread and butter.", "\"It's true there's good\nvictual enough about you, as nobody shall ever say I don't provide\nenough and to spare, but if there's ever a bit o' odds an' ends as\nnobody else 'ud eat, you're sure to pick it out...but look there!", "There's Adam Bede a-carrying the little un in.", "I wonder how it is he's\ncome so early.\"", "Mrs. Poyser hastened to the door for the pleasure of looking at her\ndarling in a new position, with love in her eyes but reproof on her\ntongue.", "\"Oh for shame, Totty!", "Little gells o' five year old should be ashamed to\nbe carried.", "Why, Adam, she'll break your arm, such a big gell as that;\nset her down--for shame!\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Adam, \"I can lift her with my hand--I've no need to\ntake my arm to it.\"", "Totty, looking as serenely unconscious of remark as a fat white puppy,\nwas set down at the door-place, and the mother enforced her reproof with\na shower of kisses.", "\"You're surprised to see me at this hour o' the day,\" said Adam.", "\"Yes, but come in,\" said Mrs. Poyser, making way for him; \"there's no\nbad news, I hope?\"", "\"No, nothing bad,\" Adam answered, as he went up to Dinah and put out his\nhand to her.", "She had laid down her work and stood up, instinctively, as\nhe approached her.", "A faint blush died away from her pale cheek as she\nput her hand in his and looked up at him timidly.", "\"It's an errand to you brought me, Dinah,\" said Adam, apparently\nunconscious that he was holding her hand all the while; \"mother's a bit\nailing, and she's set her heart on your coming to stay the night with\nher, if you'll be so kind.", "I told her I'd call and ask you as I came\nfrom the village.", "She overworks herself, and I can't persuade her to\nhave a little girl t' help her.", "I don't know what's to be done.\"", "Adam released Dinah's hand as he ceased speaking, and was expecting an\nanswer, but before she had opened her lips Mrs. Poyser said, \"Look there\nnow!", "I told you there was folks enow t' help i' this parish, wi'out\ngoing further off.", "There's Mrs. Bede getting as old and cas'alty as can\nbe, and she won't let anybody but you go a-nigh her hardly.", "The folks at\nSnowfield have learnt by this time to do better wi'out you nor she can.\"", "\"I'll put my bonnet on and set off directly, if you don't want anything\ndone first, Aunt,\" said Dinah, folding up her work.", "\"Yes, I do want something done.", "I want you t' have your tea, child; it's\nall ready--and you'll have a cup, Adam, if y' arena in too big a hurry.\"", "\"Yes, I'll have a cup, please; and then I'll walk with Dinah.", "I'm going\nstraight home, for I've got a lot o' timber valuations to write out.\"", "\"Why, Adam, lad, are you here?\"", "said Mr. Poyser, entering warm and\ncoatless, with the two black-eyed boys behind him, still looking as much\nlike him as two small elephants are like a large one.", "\"How is it we've\ngot sight o' you so long before foddering-time?\"", "\"I came on an errand for Mother,\" said Adam.", "\"She's got a touch of her\nold complaint, and she wants Dinah to go and stay with her a bit.\"", "\"Well, we'll spare her for your mother a little while,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"But we wonna spare her for anybody else, on'y her husband.\"", "\"Husband!\"", "said Marty, who was at the most prosaic and literal period of\nthe boyish mind.", "\"Why, Dinah hasn't got a husband.\"", "\"Spare her?\"", "said Mrs. Poyser, placing a seed-cake on the table and then\nseating herself to pour out the tea.", "\"But we must spare her, it seems,\nand not for a husband neither, but for her own megrims.", "Tommy, what are\nyou doing to your little sister's doll?", "Making the child naughty, when\nshe'd be good if you'd let her.", "You shanna have a morsel o' cake if you\nbehave so.\"", "Tommy, with true brotherly sympathy, was amusing himself by turning\nDolly's skirt over her bald head and exhibiting her truncated body to\nthe general scorn--an indignity which cut Totty to the heart.", "\"What do you think Dinah's been a-telling me since dinner-time?\"", "Mrs.\nPoyser continued, looking at her husband.", "\"Eh!", "I'm a poor un at guessing,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Why, she means to go back to Snowfield again, and work i' the mill,\nand starve herself, as she used to do, like a creatur as has got no\nfriends.\"", "Mr. Poyser did not readily find words to express his unpleasant\nastonishment; he only looked from his wife to Dinah, who had now seated\nherself beside Totty, as a bulwark against brotherly playfulness, and\nwas busying herself with the children's tea.", "If he had been given to\nmaking general reflections, it would have occurred to him that there was\ncertainly a change come over Dinah, for she never used to change colour;\nbut, as it was, he merely observed that her face was flushed at that\nmoment.", "Mr. Poyser thought she looked the prettier for it: it was\na flush no deeper than the petal of a monthly rose.", "Perhaps it came\nbecause her uncle was looking at her so fixedly; but there is no\nknowing, for just then Adam was saying, with quiet surprise, \"Why, I\nhoped Dinah was settled among us for life.", "I thought she'd given up the\nnotion o' going back to her old country.\"", "\"Thought!", "Yes,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"and so would anybody else ha'\nthought, as had got their right end up'ards.", "But I suppose you must be\na Methodist to know what a Methodist 'ull do.", "It's ill guessing what the\nbats are flying after.\"", "\"Why, what have we done to you.", "Dinah, as you must go away from us?\"", "said Mr. Poyser, still pausing over his tea-cup.", "\"It's like breaking\nyour word, welly, for your aunt never had no thought but you'd make this\nyour home.\"", "\"Nay, Uncle,\" said Dinah, trying to be quite calm.", "\"When I first came, I\nsaid it was only for a time, as long as I could be of any comfort to my\naunt.\"", "\"Well, an' who said you'd ever left off being a comfort to me?\"", "said\nMrs. Poyser.", "\"If you didna mean to stay wi' me, you'd better never ha'\ncome.", "Them as ha' never had a cushion don't miss it.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Mr. Poyser, who objected to exaggerated views.", "\"Thee\nmustna say so; we should ha' been ill off wi'out her, Lady day was a\ntwelvemont'.", "We mun be thankful for that, whether she stays or no.", "But\nI canna think what she mun leave a good home for, to go back int' a\ncountry where the land, most on't, isna worth ten shillings an acre,\nrent and profits.\"", "\"Why, that's just the reason she wants to go, as fur as she can give a\nreason,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"She says this country's too comfortable,\nan' there's too much t' eat, an' folks arena miserable enough.", "And she's\ngoing next week.", "I canna turn her, say what I will.", "It's allays the way\nwi' them meek-faced people; you may's well pelt a bag o' feathers as\ntalk to 'em.", "But I say it isna religion, to be so obstinate--is it now,\nAdam?\"", "Adam saw that Dinah was more disturbed than he had ever seen her by any\nmatter relating to herself, and, anxious to relieve her, if possible,\nhe said, looking at her affectionately, \"Nay, I can't find fault with\nanything Dinah does.", "I believe her thoughts are better than our guesses,\nlet 'em be what they may.", "I should ha' been thankful for her to stay\namong us, but if she thinks well to go, I wouldn't cross her, or make it\nhard to her by objecting.", "We owe her something different to that.\"", "As it often happens, the words intended to relieve her were just too\nmuch for Dinah's susceptible feelings at this moment.", "The tears came\ninto the grey eyes too fast to be hidden and she got up hurriedly,\nmeaning it to be understood that she was going to put on her bonnet.", "\"Mother, what's Dinah crying for?\"", "said Totty.", "\"She isn't a naughty\ndell.\"", "\"Thee'st gone a bit too fur,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"We've no right t'\ninterfere with her doing as she likes.", "An' thee'dst be as angry as could\nbe wi' me, if I said a word against anything she did.\"", "\"Because you'd very like be finding fault wi'out reason,\" said Mrs.\nPoyser.", "\"But there's reason i' what I say, else I shouldna say it.", "It's\neasy talking for them as can't love her so well as her own aunt does.", "An' me got so used to her!", "I shall feel as uneasy as a new sheared sheep\nwhen she's gone from me.", "An' to think of her leaving a parish where\nshe's so looked on.", "There's Mr. Irwine makes as much of her as if\nshe was a lady, for all her being a Methodist, an' wi' that maggot o'\npreaching in her head--God forgi'e me if I'm i' the wrong to call it\nso.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Mr. Poyser, looking jocose; \"but thee dostna tell Adam what\nhe said to thee about it one day.", "The missis was saying, Adam, as the\npreaching was the only fault to be found wi' Dinah, and Mr. Irwine says,\n'But you mustn't find fault with her for that, Mrs. Poyser; you forget\nshe's got no husband to preach to.", "I'll answer for it, you give Poyser\nmany a good sermon.'", "The parson had thee there,\" Mr. Poyser added,\nlaughing unctuously.", "\"I told Bartle Massey on it, an' he laughed too.\"", "\"Yes, it's a small joke sets men laughing when they sit a-staring at\none another with a pipe i' their mouths,\" said Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Give\nBartle Massey his way and he'd have all the sharpness to himself.", "If\nthe chaff-cutter had the making of us, we should all be straw, I reckon.", "Totty, my chicken, go upstairs to cousin Dinah, and see what she's\ndoing, and give her a pretty kiss.\"", "This errand was devised for Totty as a means of checking certain\nthreatening symptoms about the corners of the mouth; for Tommy,\nno longer expectant of cake, was lifting up his eyelids with his\nforefingers and turning his eyeballs towards Totty in a way that she\nfelt to be disagreeably personal.", "\"You're rare and busy now--eh, Adam?\"", "said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Burge's getting\nso bad wi' his asthmy, it's well if he'll ever do much riding about\nagain.\"", "\"Yes, we've got a pretty bit o' building on hand now,\" said Adam, \"what\nwith the repairs on th' estate, and the new houses at Treddles'on.\"", "\"I'll bet a penny that new house Burge is building on his own bit o'\nland is for him and Mary to go to,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"He'll be for\nlaying by business soon, I'll warrant, and be wanting you to take to it\nall and pay him so much by th' 'ear.", "We shall see you living on th' hill\nbefore another twelvemont's over.\"", "\"Well,\" said Adam, \"I should like t' have the business in my own hands.", "It isn't as I mind much about getting any more money.", "We've enough and\nto spare now, with only our two selves and mother; but I should like\nt' have my own way about things--I could try plans then, as I can't do\nnow.\"", "\"You get on pretty well wi' the new steward, I reckon?\"", "said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Yes, yes; he's a sensible man enough; understands farming--he's\ncarrying on the draining, and all that, capital.", "You must go some day\ntowards the Stonyshire side and see what alterations they're making.", "But\nhe's got no notion about buildings.", "You can so seldom get hold of a man\nas can turn his brains to more nor one thing; it's just as if they wore\nblinkers like th' horses and could see nothing o' one side of 'em.", "Now,\nthere's Mr. Irwine has got notions o' building more nor most architects;\nfor as for th' architects, they set up to be fine fellows, but the most\nof 'em don't know where to set a chimney so as it shan't be quarrelling\nwith a door.", "My notion is, a practical builder that's got a bit o'\ntaste makes the best architect for common things; and I've ten times the\npleasure i' seeing after the work when I've made the plan myself.\"", "Mr. Poyser listened with an admiring interest to Adam's discourse on\nbuilding, but perhaps it suggested to him that the building of his\ncorn-rick had been proceeding a little too long without the control of\nthe master's eye, for when Adam had done speaking, he got up and said,\n\"Well, lad, I'll bid you good-bye now, for I'm off to the rick-yard\nagain.\"", "Adam rose too, for he saw Dinah entering, with her bonnet on and a\nlittle basket in her hand, preceded by Totty.", "\"You're ready, I see, Dinah,\" Adam said; \"so we'll set off, for the\nsooner I'm at home the better.\"", "\"Mother,\" said Totty, with her treble pipe, \"Dinah was saying her\nprayers and crying ever so.\"", "\"Hush, hush,\" said the mother, \"little gells mustn't chatter.\"", "Whereupon the father, shaking with silent laughter, set Totty on the\nwhite deal table and desired her to kiss him.", "Mr. and Mrs. Poyser, you\nperceive, had no correct principles of education.", "\"Come back to-morrow if Mrs. Bede doesn't want you, Dinah,\" said Mrs.\nPoyser: \"but you can stay, you know, if she's ill.\"\n\nSo, when the good-byes had been said, Dinah and Adam left the Hall Farm\ntogether." ]

[ "\"Dear Aunt Rachel,\" said Dinah, looking up in Mrs. Poyser's face, \"it's\nyour kindness makes you say I'm useful to you.", "\"It's true there's good\nvictual enough about you, as nobody shall ever say I don't provide\nenough and to spare, but if there's ever a bit o' odds an' ends as\nnobody else 'ud eat, you're sure to pick it out...but look there!", "Why, Adam, she'll break your arm, such a big gell as that;\nset her down--for shame!\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" said Adam, \"I can lift her with my hand--I've no need to\ntake my arm to it.\"", "\"No, nothing bad,\" Adam answered, as he went up to Dinah and put out his\nhand to her.", "I want you t' have your tea, child; it's\nall ready--and you'll have a cup, Adam, if y' arena in too big a hurry.\"", "said Mr. Poyser, still pausing over his tea-cup.", "Them as ha' never had a cushion don't miss it.\"", "\"He'll be for\nlaying by business soon, I'll warrant, and be wanting you to take to it\nall and pay him so much by th' 'ear.", "Adam rose too, for he saw Dinah entering, with her bonnet on and a\nlittle basket in her hand, preceded by Totty." ]

[ "What is there wrong, I should like\nto know, i' staying along wi' your own friends, as are th' happier for\nhaving you with 'em an' are willing to provide for you, even if your\nwork didn't more nor pay 'em for the bit o' sparrow's victual y' eat\nand the bit o' rag you put on?", "She overworks herself, and I can't persuade her to\nhave a little girl t' help her.", "I don't know what's to be done.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Mr. Poyser, looking jocose; \"but thee dostna tell Adam what\nhe said to thee about it one day.", "My notion is, a practical builder that's got a bit o'\ntaste makes the best architect for common things; and I've ten times the\npleasure i' seeing after the work when I've made the plan myself.\"", "\"It's an errand to you brought me, Dinah,\" said Adam, apparently\nunconscious that he was holding her hand all the while; \"mother's a bit\nailing, and she's set her heart on your coming to stay the night with\nher, if you'll be so kind.", "It's allays the way\nwi' them meek-faced people; you may's well pelt a bag o' feathers as\ntalk to 'em.", "It's tea-time; an' if Martin's i' the\nrick-yard, he'll like a cup.", "Why, Adam, she'll break your arm, such a big gell as that;\nset her down--for shame!\"", "There's Adam Bede a-carrying the little un in." ]

[ "\"But we must spare her, it seems,\nand not for a husband neither, but for her own megrims.", "Tommy, what are\nyou doing to your little sister's doll?", "Making the child naughty, when\nshe'd be good if you'd let her.", "You shanna have a morsel o' cake if you\nbehave so.\"", "Tommy, with true brotherly sympathy, was amusing himself by turning\nDolly's skirt over her bald head and exhibiting her truncated body to\nthe general scorn--an indignity which cut Totty to the heart.", "\"What do you think Dinah's been a-telling me since dinner-time?\"", "Mrs.\nPoyser continued, looking at her husband.", "\"Eh!", "I'm a poor un at guessing,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Why, she means to go back to Snowfield again, and work i' the mill,\nand starve herself, as she used to do, like a creatur as has got no\nfriends.\"", "Mr. Poyser did not readily find words to express his unpleasant\nastonishment; he only looked from his wife to Dinah, who had now seated\nherself beside Totty, as a bulwark against brotherly playfulness, and\nwas busying herself with the children's tea." ]

[ "\n\nTHE first autumnal afternoon sunshine of 1801--more than eighteen months\nafter that parting of Adam and Arthur in the Hermitage--was on the\nyard at the Hall Farm; and the bull-dog was in one of his most excited\nmoments, for it was that hour of the day when the cows were being driven\ninto the yard for their afternoon milking.", "No wonder the patient beasts\nran confusedly into the wrong places, for the alarming din of the\nbull-dog was mingled with more distant sounds which the timid feminine\ncreatures, with pardonable superstition, imagined also to have some\nrelation to their own movements--with the tremendous crack of the\nwaggoner's whip, the roar of his voice, and the booming thunder of the\nwaggon, as it left the rick-yard empty of its golden load.", "The milking of the cows was a sight Mrs. Poyser loved, and at this\nhour on mild days she was usually standing at the house door, with her\nknitting in her hands, in quiet contemplation, only heightened to a\nkeener interest when the vicious yellow cow, who had once kicked over a\npailful of precious milk, was about to undergo the preventive punishment\nof having her hinder-legs strapped.", "To-day, however, Mrs. Poyser gave but a divided attention to the\narrival of the cows, for she was in eager discussion with Dinah, who was\nstitching Mr. Poyser's shirt-collars, and had borne patiently to have\nher thread broken three times by Totty pulling at her arm with a sudden\ninsistence that she should look at \"Baby,\" that is, at a large wooden\ndoll with no legs and a long skirt, whose bald head Totty, seated in her\nsmall chair at Dinah's side, was caressing and pressing to her fat cheek\nwith much fervour.", "Totty is larger by more than two years' growth than\nwhen you first saw her, and she has on a black frock under her pinafore.", "Mrs. Poyser too has on a black gown, which seems to heighten the family\nlikeness between her and Dinah.", "In other respects there is little\noutward change now discernible in our old friends, or in the pleasant\nhouse-place, bright with polished oak and pewter.", "\"I never saw the like to you, Dinah,\" Mrs. Poyser was saying, \"when\nyou've once took anything into your head: there's no more moving you\nthan the rooted tree.", "You may say what you like, but I don't believe\nthat's religion; for what's the Sermon on the Mount about, as you're so\nfond o' reading to the boys, but doing what other folks 'ud have you do?", "But if it was anything unreasonable they wanted you to do, like taking\nyour cloak off and giving it to 'em, or letting 'em slap you i' the\nface, I daresay you'd be ready enough.", "Now,\nthere's Mr. Irwine has got notions o' building more nor most architects;\nfor as for th' architects, they set up to be fine fellows, but the most\nof 'em don't know where to set a chimney so as it shan't be quarrelling\nwith a door.", "My notion is, a practical builder that's got a bit o'\ntaste makes the best architect for common things; and I've ten times the\npleasure i' seeing after the work when I've made the plan myself.\"", "Mr. Poyser listened with an admiring interest to Adam's discourse on\nbuilding, but perhaps it suggested to him that the building of his\ncorn-rick had been proceeding a little too long without the control of\nthe master's eye, for when Adam had done speaking, he got up and said,\n\"Well, lad, I'll bid you good-bye now, for I'm off to the rick-yard\nagain.\"", "Adam rose too, for he saw Dinah entering, with her bonnet on and a\nlittle basket in her hand, preceded by Totty.", "\"You're ready, I see, Dinah,\" Adam said; \"so we'll set off, for the\nsooner I'm at home the better.\"", "\"Mother,\" said Totty, with her treble pipe, \"Dinah was saying her\nprayers and crying ever so.\"", "\"Hush, hush,\" said the mother, \"little gells mustn't chatter.\"", "Whereupon the father, shaking with silent laughter, set Totty on the\nwhite deal table and desired her to kiss him.", "Mr. and Mrs. Poyser, you\nperceive, had no correct principles of education.", "\"Come back to-morrow if Mrs. Bede doesn't want you, Dinah,\" said Mrs.\nPoyser: \"but you can stay, you know, if she's ill.\"\n\nSo, when the good-byes had been said, Dinah and Adam left the Hall Farm\ntogether." ]

[ "\n\nADAM did not ask Dinah to take his arm when they got out into the lane.", "He had never yet done so, often as they had walked together, for he had\nobserved that she never walked arm-in-arm with Seth, and he thought,\nperhaps, that kind of support was not agreeable to her.", "So they walked\napart, though side by side, and the close poke of her little black\nbonnet hid her face from him.", "\"You can't be happy, then, to make the Hall Farm your home, Dinah?\"", "Adam said, with the quiet interest of a brother, who has no anxiety for\nhimself in the matter.", "\"It's a pity, seeing they're so fond of you.\"", "\"You know, Adam, my heart is as their heart, so far as love for them\nand care for their welfare goes, but they are in no present need.", "Their\nsorrows are healed, and I feel that I am called back to my old work, in\nwhich I found a blessing that I have missed of late in the midst of too\nabundant worldly good.", "I know it is a vain thought to flee from the work\nthat God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing to our\nown souls, as if we could choose for ourselves where we shall find the\nfulness of the Divine Presence, instead of seeking it where alone it\nis to be found, in loving obedience.", "But now, I believe, I have a clear\nshowing that my work lies elsewhere--at least for a time.", "In the years\nto come, if my aunt's health should fail, or she should otherwise need\nme, I shall return.\"", "\"You know best, Dinah,\" said Adam.", "\"I don't believe you'd go against the\nwishes of them that love you, and are akin to you, without a good and\nsufficient reason in your own conscience.", "I've no right to say anything\nabout my being sorry: you know well enough what cause I have to put you\nabove every other friend I've got; and if it had been ordered so that\nyou could ha' been my sister, and lived with us all our lives, I should\nha' counted it the greatest blessing as could happen to us now.", "But\nSeth tells me there's no hope o' that: your feelings are different, and\nperhaps I'm taking too much upon me to speak about it.\"", "Dinah made no answer, and they walked on in silence for some yards, till\nthey came to the stone stile, where, as Adam had passed through first\nand turned round to give her his hand while she mounted the unusually\nhigh step, she could not prevent him from seeing her face.", "It struck\nhim with surprise, for the grey eyes, usually so mild and grave, had\nthe bright uneasy glance which accompanies suppressed agitation, and\nthe slight flush in her cheeks, with which she had come downstairs, was\nheightened to a deep rose-colour.", "She looked as if she were only sister\nto Dinah.", "Adam was silent with surprise and conjecture for some moments,\nand then he said, \"I hope I've not hurt or displeased you by what I've\nsaid, Dinah.", "Perhaps I was making too free.", "I've no wish different from\nwhat you see to be best, and I'm satisfied for you to live thirty mile\noff, if you think it right.", "I shall think of you just as much as I do\nnow, for you're bound up with what I can no more help remembering than I\ncan help my heart beating.\"", "Poor Adam!", "Thus do men blunder.", "Dinah made no answer, but she presently\nsaid, \"Have you heard any news from that poor young man, since we last\nspoke of him?\"", "Dinah always called Arthur so; she had never lost the image of him as\nshe had seen him in the prison.", "\"Yes,\" said Adam.", "\"Mr. Irwine read me part of a letter from him\nyesterday.", "It's pretty certain, they say, that there'll be a peace soon,\nthough nobody believes it'll last long; but he says he doesn't mean to\ncome home.", "He's no heart for it yet, and it's better for others that he\nshould keep away.", "Mr. Irwine thinks he's in the right not to come.", "It's\na sorrowful letter.", "He asks about you and the Poysers, as he always\ndoes.", "There's one thing in the letter cut me a good deal: 'You can't\nthink what an old fellow I feel,' he says; 'I make no schemes now.", "I'm\nthe best when I've a good day's march or fighting before me.'\"", "\"He's of a rash, warm-hearted nature, like Esau, for whom I have always\nfelt great pity,\" said Dinah.", "\"That meeting between the brothers, where\nEsau is so loving and generous, and Jacob so timid and distrustful,\nnotwithstanding his sense of the Divine favour, has always touched me\ngreatly.", "Truly, I have been tempted sometimes to say that Jacob was of a\nmean spirit.", "But that is our trial: we must learn to see the good in the\nmidst of much that is unlovely.\"", "\"Ah,\" said Adam, \"I like to read about Moses best, in th' Old Testament.", "He carried a hard business well through, and died when other folks were\ngoing to reap the fruits.", "A man must have courage to look at his life\nso, and think what'll come of it after he's dead and gone.", "A good solid\nbit o' work lasts: if it's only laying a floor down, somebody's the\nbetter for it being done well, besides the man as does it.\"", "They were both glad to talk of subjects that were not personal, and\nin this way they went on till they passed the bridge across the Willow\nBrook, when Adam turned round and said, \"Ah, here's Seth.", "I thought he'd\nbe home soon.", "Does he know of you're going, Dinah?\"", "\"Yes, I told him last Sabbath.\"", "Adam remembered now that Seth had come home much depressed on Sunday\nevening, a circumstance which had been very unusual with him of late,\nfor the happiness he had in seeing Dinah every week seemed long to have\noutweighed the pain of knowing she would never marry him.", "This evening\nhe had his habitual air of dreamy benignant contentment, until he came\nquite close to Dinah and saw the traces of tears on her delicate eyelids\nand eyelashes.", "He gave one rapid glance at his brother, but Adam was\nevidently quite outside the current of emotion that had shaken Dinah: he\nwore his everyday look of unexpectant calm.", "Seth tried not to let Dinah\nsee that he had noticed her face, and only said, \"I'm thankful you're\ncome, Dinah, for Mother's been hungering after the sight of you all day.", "She began to talk of you the first thing in the morning.\"", "When they entered the cottage, Lisbeth was seated in her arm-chair, too\ntired with setting out the evening meal, a task she always performed a\nlong time beforehand, to go and meet them at the door as usual, when she\nheard the approaching footsteps.", "\"Coom, child, thee't coom at last,\" she said, when Dinah went towards\nher.", "\"What dost mane by lavin' me a week an' ne'er coomin' a-nigh me?\"", "\"Dear friend,\" said Dinah, taking her hand, \"you're not well.", "If I'd\nknown it sooner, I'd have come.\"", "\"An' how's thee t' know if thee dostna coom?", "Th' lads on'y know what\nI tell 'em.", "As long as ye can stir hand and foot the men think ye're\nhearty.", "But I'm none so bad, on'y a bit of a cold sets me achin'.", "An'\nth' lads tease me so t' ha' somebody wi' me t' do the work--they make me\nache worse wi' talkin'.", "If thee'dst come and stay wi' me, they'd let me\nalone.", "The Poysers canna want thee so bad as I do.", "But take thy bonnet\noff, an' let me look at thee.\"", "Dinah was moving away, but Lisbeth held her fast, while she was taking\noff her bonnet, and looked at her face as one looks into a newly\ngathered snowdrop, to renew the old impressions of purity and\ngentleness.", "\"What's the matter wi' thee?\"", "said Lisbeth, in astonishment; \"thee'st\nbeen a-cryin'.\"", "\"It's only a grief that'll pass away,\" said Dinah, who did not wish just\nnow to call forth Lisbeth's remonstrances by disclosing her intention\nto leave Hayslope.", "\"You shall know about it shortly--we'll talk of it\nto-night.", "I shall stay with you to-night.\"", "Lisbeth was pacified by this prospect.", "And she had the whole evening\nto talk with Dinah alone; for there was a new room in the cottage,\nyou remember, built nearly two years ago, in the expectation of a new\ninmate; and here Adam always sat when he had writing to do or plans to\nmake.", "Seth sat there too this evening, for he knew his mother would like\nto have Dinah all to herself.", "There were two pretty pictures on the two sides of the wall in the\ncottage.", "On one side there was the broad-shouldered, large-featured,\nhardy old woman, in her blue jacket and buff kerchief, with her dim-eyed\nanxious looks turned continually on the lily face and the slight form\nin the black dress that were either moving lightly about in helpful\nactivity, or seated close by the old woman's arm-chair, holding her\nwithered hand, with eyes lifted up towards her to speak a language which\nLisbeth understood far better than the Bible or the hymn-book.", "She would\nscarcely listen to reading at all to-night.", "\"Nay, nay, shut the book,\"\nshe said.", "\"We mun talk.", "I want t' know what thee was cryin' about.", "Hast\ngot troubles o' thy own, like other folks?\"", "On the other side of the wall there were the two brothers so like each\nother in the midst of their unlikeness: Adam with knit brows, shaggy\nhair, and dark vigorous colour, absorbed in his \"figuring\"; Seth, with\nlarge rugged features, the close copy of his brother's, but with thin,\nwavy, brown hair and blue dreamy eyes, as often as not looking vaguely\nout of the window instead of at his book, although it was a newly bought\nbook--Wesley's abridgment of Madame Guyon's life, which was full of\nwonder and interest for him.", "Seth had said to Adam, \"Can I help thee\nwith anything in here to-night?", "I don't want to make a noise in the\nshop.\"", "\"No, lad,\" Adam answered, \"there's nothing but what I must do myself.", "Thee'st got thy new book to read.\"", "And often, when Seth was quite unconscious, Adam, as he paused after\ndrawing a line with his ruler, looked at his brother with a kind smile\ndawning in his eyes.", "He knew \"th' lad liked to sit full o' thoughts he\ncould give no account of; they'd never come t' anything, but they made\nhim happy,\" and in the last year or so, Adam had been getting more and\nmore indulgent to Seth.", "It was part of that growing tenderness which\ncame from the sorrow at work within him.", "For Adam, though you see him quite master of himself, working hard and\ndelighting in his work after his inborn inalienable nature, had not\noutlived his sorrow--had not felt it slip from him as a temporary\nburden, and leave him the same man again.", "Do any of us?", "God forbid.", "It\nwould be a poor result of all our anguish and our wrestling if we won\nnothing but our old selves at the end of it--if we could return to the\nsame blind loves, the same self-confident blame, the same light thoughts\nof human suffering, the same frivolous gossip over blighted human lives,\nthe same feeble sense of that Unknown towards which we have sent forth\nirrepressible cries in our loneliness.", "Let us rather be thankful that\nour sorrow lives in us as an indestructible force, only changing its\nform, as forces do, and passing from pain into sympathy--the one poor\nword which includes all our best insight and our best love.", "Not that\nthis transformation of pain into sympathy had completely taken place\nin Adam yet.", "There was still a great remnant of pain, and this he felt\nwould subsist as long as her pain was not a memory, but an existing\nthing, which he must think of as renewed with the light of every\nnew morning.", "But we get accustomed to mental as well as bodily pain,\nwithout, for all that, losing our sensibility to it.", "It becomes a habit\nof our lives, and we cease to imagine a condition of perfect ease\nas possible for us.", "Desire is chastened into submission, and we are\ncontented with our day when we have been able to bear our grief in\nsilence and act as if we were not suffering.", "For it is at such periods\nthat the sense of our lives having visible and invisible relations,\nbeyond any of which either our present or prospective self is the\ncentre, grows like a muscle that we are obliged to lean on and exert.", "That was Adam's state of mind in this second autumn of his sorrow.", "His\nwork, as you know, had always been part of his religion, and from very\nearly days he saw clearly that good carpentry was God's will--was that\nform of God's will that most immediately concerned him.", "But now there\nwas no margin of dreams for him beyond this daylight reality, no\nholiday-time in the working-day world, no moment in the distance when\nduty would take off her iron glove and breast-plate and clasp him gently\ninto rest.", "He conceived no picture of the future but one made up of\nhard-working days such as he lived through, with growing contentment and\nintensity of interest, every fresh week.", "Love, he thought, could never\nbe anything to him but a living memory--a limb lopped off, but not gone\nfrom consciousness.", "He did not know that the power of loving was all the\nwhile gaining new force within him; that the new sensibilities bought by\na deep experience were so many new fibres by which it was possible, nay,\nnecessary to him, that his nature should intertwine with another.", "Yet he\nwas aware that common affection and friendship were more precious to him\nthan they used to be--that he clung more to his mother and Seth, and\nhad an unspeakable satisfaction in the sight or imagination of any small\naddition to their happiness.", "The Poysers, too--hardly three or four days\npassed but he felt the need of seeing them and interchanging words and\nlooks of friendliness with them.", "He would have felt this, probably, even\nif Dinah had not been with them, but he had only said the simplest truth\nin telling Dinah that he put her above all other friends in the world.", "Could anything be more natural?", "For in the darkest moments of memory the\nthought of her always came as the first ray of returning comfort.", "The\nearly days of gloom at the Hall Farm had been gradually turned into soft\nmoonlight by her presence; and in the cottage, too, for she had come\nat every spare moment to soothe and cheer poor Lisbeth, who had been\nstricken with a fear that subdued even her querulousness at the sight of\nher darling Adam's grief-worn face.", "He had become used to watching her\nlight quiet movements, her pretty loving ways to the children, when he\nwent to the Hall Farm; to listen for her voice as for a recurrent music;\nto think everything she said and did was just right, and could not have\nbeen better.", "In spite of his wisdom, he could not find fault with her\nfor her overindulgence of the children, who had managed to convert Dinah\nthe preacher, before whom a circle of rough men had often trembled a\nlittle, into a convenient household slave--though Dinah herself was\nrather ashamed of this weakness, and had some inward conflict as to her\ndeparture from the precepts of Solomon.", "Yes, there was one thing that\nmight have been better; she might have loved Seth and consented to marry\nhim.", "He felt a little vexed, for his brother's sake, and he could not\nhelp thinking regretfully how Dinah, as Seth's wife, would have made\ntheir home as happy as it could be for them all--how she was the one\nbeing that would have soothed their mother's last days into peacefulness\nand rest.", "\"It's wonderful she doesn't love th' lad,\" Adam had said sometimes to\nhimself, \"for anybody 'ud think he was just cut out for her.", "But her\nheart's so taken up with other things.", "She's one o' those women that\nfeel no drawing towards having a husband and children o' their own.", "She\nthinks she should be filled up with her own life then, and she's been\nused so to living in other folks's cares, she can't bear the thought of\nher heart being shut up from 'em.", "I see how it is, well enough.", "She's\ncut out o' different stuff from most women: I saw that long ago.", "She's\nnever easy but when she's helping somebody, and marriage 'ud interfere\nwith her ways--that's true.", "I've no right to be contriving and thinking\nit 'ud be better if she'd have Seth, as if I was wiser than she is--or\nthan God either, for He made her what she is, and that's one o' the\ngreatest blessings I've ever had from His hands, and others besides me.\"", "This self-reproof had recurred strongly to Adam's mind when he gathered\nfrom Dinah's face that he had wounded her by referring to his wish\nthat she had accepted Seth, and so he had endeavoured to put into the\nstrongest words his confidence in her decision as right--his resignation\neven to her going away from them and ceasing to make part of their life\notherwise than by living in their thoughts, if that separation were\nchosen by herself.", "He felt sure she knew quite well enough how much\nhe cared to see her continually--to talk to her with the silent\nconsciousness of a mutual great remembrance.", "It was not possible she\nshould hear anything but self-renouncing affection and respect in\nhis assurance that he was contented for her to go away; and yet there\nremained an uneasy feeling in his mind that he had not said quite the\nright thing--that, somehow, Dinah had not understood him.", "Dinah must have risen a little before the sun the next morning, for she\nwas downstairs about five o'clock.", "So was Seth, for, through Lisbeth's\nobstinate refusal to have any woman-helper in the house, he had learned\nto make himself, as Adam said, \"very handy in the housework,\" that he\nmight save his mother from too great weariness; on which ground I hope\nyou will not think him unmanly, any more than you can have thought the\ngallant Colonel Bath unmanly when he made the gruel for his invalid\nsister.", "Adam, who had sat up late at his writing, was still asleep,\nand was not likely, Seth said, to be down till breakfast-time.", "Often as\nDinah had visited Lisbeth during the last eighteen months, she had never\nslept in the cottage since that night after Thias's death, when, you\nremember, Lisbeth praised her deft movements and even gave a modified\napproval to her porridge.", "But in that long interval Dinah had made great\nadvances in household cleverness, and this morning, since Seth was there\nto help, she was bent on bringing everything to a pitch of cleanliness\nand order that would have satisfied her Aunt Poyser.", "The cottage was far\nfrom that standard at present, for Lisbeth's rheumatism had forced her\nto give up her old habits of dilettante scouring and polishing.", "When the\nkitchen was to her mind, Dinah went into the new room, where Adam had\nbeen writing the night before, to see what sweeping and dusting were\nneeded there.", "She opened the window and let in the fresh morning air,\nand the smell of the sweet-brier, and the bright low-slanting rays of\nthe early sun, which made a glory about her pale face and pale auburn\nhair as she held the long brush, and swept, singing to herself in a very\nlow tone--like a sweet summer murmur that you have to listen for very\nclosely--one of Charles Wesley's hymns:\n\n Eternal Beam of Light Divine,\n Fountain of unexhausted love,\n In whom the Father's glories shine,\n Through earth beneath and heaven above;\n\n Jesus!", "the weary wanderer's rest,\n Give me thy easy yoke to bear;\n With steadfast patience arm my breast,\n With spotless love and holy fear.", "Speak to my warring passions, \"Peace!\"", "Say to my trembling heart, \"Be still!\"", "Thy power my strength and fortress is,\n For all things serve thy sovereign will.", "She laid by the brush and took up the duster; and if you had ever lived\nin Mrs. Poyser's household, you would know how the duster behaved in\nDinah's hand--how it went into every small corner, and on every ledge\nin and out of sight--how it went again and again round every bar of the\nchairs, and every leg, and under and over everything that lay on the\ntable, till it came to Adam's papers and rulers and the open desk near\nthem.", "Dinah dusted up to the very edge of these and then hesitated,\nlooking at them with a longing but timid eye.", "It was painful to see\nhow much dust there was among them.", "As she was looking in this way, she\nheard Seth's step just outside the open door, towards which her back\nwas turned, and said, raising her clear treble, \"Seth, is your brother\nwrathful when his papers are stirred?\"", "\"Yes, very, when they are not put back in the right places,\" said a deep\nstrong voice, not Seth's.", "It was as if Dinah had put her hands unawares on a vibrating chord.", "She was shaken with an intense thrill, and for the instant felt nothing\nelse; then she knew her cheeks were glowing, and dared not look round,\nbut stood still, distressed because she could not say good-morning in a\nfriendly way.", "Adam, finding that she did not look round so as to see\nthe smile on his face, was afraid she had thought him serious about his\nwrathfulness, and went up to her, so that she was obliged to look at\nhim.", "\"What!", "You think I'm a cross fellow at home, Dinah?\"", "he said, smilingly.", "\"Nay,\" said Dinah, looking up with timid eyes, \"not so.", "But you might\nbe put about by finding things meddled with; and even the man Moses, the\nmeekest of men, was wrathful sometimes.\"", "\"Come, then,\" said Adam, looking at her affectionately, \"I'll help you\nmove the things, and put 'em back again, and then they can't get wrong.", "You're getting to be your aunt's own niece, I see, for particularness.\"", "They began their little task together, but Dinah had not recovered\nherself sufficiently to think of any remark, and Adam looked at her\nuneasily.", "Dinah, he thought, had seemed to disapprove him somehow\nlately; she had not been so kind and open to him as she used to be.", "He wanted her to look at him, and be as pleased as he was himself with\ndoing this bit of playful work.", "But Dinah did not look at him--it was\neasy for her to avoid looking at the tall man--and when at last there\nwas no more dusting to be done and no further excuse for him to linger\nnear her, he could bear it no longer, and said, in rather a pleading\ntone, \"Dinah, you're not displeased with me for anything, are you?", "I've\nnot said or done anything to make you think ill of me?\"", "The question surprised her, and relieved her by giving a new course to\nher feeling.", "She looked up at him now, quite earnestly, almost with the\ntears coming, and said, \"Oh, no, Adam!", "how could you think so?\"", "\"I couldn't bear you not to feel as much a friend to me as I do to you,\"\nsaid Adam.", "\"And you don't know the value I set on the very thought of\nyou, Dinah.", "That was what I meant yesterday, when I said I'd be content\nfor you to go, if you thought right.", "I meant, the thought of you was\nworth so much to me, I should feel I ought to be thankful, and not\ngrumble, if you see right to go away.", "You know I do mind parting with\nyou, Dinah?\"", "\"Yes, dear friend,\" said Dinah, trembling, but trying to speak calmly,\n\"I know you have a brother's heart towards me, and we shall often be\nwith one another in spirit; but at this season I am in heaviness through\nmanifold temptations.", "You must not mark me.", "I feel called to leave my\nkindred for a while; but it is a trial--the flesh is weak.\"", "Adam saw that it pained her to be obliged to answer.", "\"I hurt you by talking about it, Dinah,\" he said.", "\"I'll say no more.", "Let's see if Seth's ready with breakfast now.\"", "That is a simple scene, reader.", "But it is almost certain that you, too,\nhave been in love--perhaps, even, more than once, though you may not\nchoose to say so to all your feminine friends.", "If so, you will no more\nthink the slight words, the timid looks, the tremulous touches, by which\ntwo human souls approach each other gradually, like two little quivering\nrain-streams, before they mingle into one--you will no more think these\nthings trivial than you will think the first-detected signs of coming\nspring trivial, though they be but a faint indescribable something\nin the air and in the song of the birds, and the tiniest perceptible\nbudding on the hedge-row branches.", "Those slight words and looks and\ntouches are part of the soul's language; and the finest language,\nI believe, is chiefly made up of unimposing words, such as \"light,\"\n\"sound,\" \"stars,\" \"music\"--words really not worth looking at, or\nhearing, in themselves, any more than \"chips\" or \"sawdust.\"", "It is only\nthat they happen to be the signs of something unspeakably great and\nbeautiful.", "I am of opinion that love is a great and beautiful thing too,\nand if you agree with me, the smallest signs of it will not be chips and\nsawdust to you: they will rather be like those little words, \"light\" and\n\"music,\" stirring the long-winding fibres of your memory and enriching\nyour present with your most precious past." ]

[ "In the years\nto come, if my aunt's health should fail, or she should otherwise need\nme, I shall return.\"", "The Poysers canna want thee so bad as I do.", "I don't want to make a noise in the\nshop.\"", "It becomes a habit\nof our lives, and we cease to imagine a condition of perfect ease\nas possible for us.", "He conceived no picture of the future but one made up of\nhard-working days such as he lived through, with growing contentment and\nintensity of interest, every fresh week.", "Could anything be more natural?", "But her\nheart's so taken up with other things.", "He felt sure she knew quite well enough how much\nhe cared to see her continually--to talk to her with the silent\nconsciousness of a mutual great remembrance.", "Dinah, he thought, had seemed to disapprove him somehow\nlately; she had not been so kind and open to him as she used to be.", "If so, you will no more\nthink the slight words, the timid looks, the tremulous touches, by which\ntwo human souls approach each other gradually, like two little quivering\nrain-streams, before they mingle into one--you will no more think these\nthings trivial than you will think the first-detected signs of coming\nspring trivial, though they be but a faint indescribable something\nin the air and in the song of the birds, and the tiniest perceptible\nbudding on the hedge-row branches." ]

[ "He felt sure she knew quite well enough how much\nhe cared to see her continually--to talk to her with the silent\nconsciousness of a mutual great remembrance.", "It was as if Dinah had put her hands unawares on a vibrating chord.", "In the years\nto come, if my aunt's health should fail, or she should otherwise need\nme, I shall return.\"", "\"Coom, child, thee't coom at last,\" she said, when Dinah went towards\nher.", "It is only\nthat they happen to be the signs of something unspeakably great and\nbeautiful.", "But it is almost certain that you, too,\nhave been in love--perhaps, even, more than once, though you may not\nchoose to say so to all your feminine friends.", "As long as ye can stir hand and foot the men think ye're\nhearty.", "A good solid\nbit o' work lasts: if it's only laying a floor down, somebody's the\nbetter for it being done well, besides the man as does it.\"", "They were both glad to talk of subjects that were not personal, and\nin this way they went on till they passed the bridge across the Willow\nBrook, when Adam turned round and said, \"Ah, here's Seth.", "And often, when Seth was quite unconscious, Adam, as he paused after\ndrawing a line with his ruler, looked at his brother with a kind smile\ndawning in his eyes." ]

[ "Thee'st got thy new book to read.\"", "And often, when Seth was quite unconscious, Adam, as he paused after\ndrawing a line with his ruler, looked at his brother with a kind smile\ndawning in his eyes.", "He knew \"th' lad liked to sit full o' thoughts he\ncould give no account of; they'd never come t' anything, but they made\nhim happy,\" and in the last year or so, Adam had been getting more and\nmore indulgent to Seth.", "It was part of that growing tenderness which\ncame from the sorrow at work within him.", "For Adam, though you see him quite master of himself, working hard and\ndelighting in his work after his inborn inalienable nature, had not\noutlived his sorrow--had not felt it slip from him as a temporary\nburden, and leave him the same man again.", "Do any of us?", "God forbid.", "It\nwould be a poor result of all our anguish and our wrestling if we won\nnothing but our old selves at the end of it--if we could return to the\nsame blind loves, the same self-confident blame, the same light thoughts\nof human suffering, the same frivolous gossip over blighted human lives,\nthe same feeble sense of that Unknown towards which we have sent forth\nirrepressible cries in our loneliness.", "Let us rather be thankful that\nour sorrow lives in us as an indestructible force, only changing its\nform, as forces do, and passing from pain into sympathy--the one poor\nword which includes all our best insight and our best love.", "Not that\nthis transformation of pain into sympathy had completely taken place\nin Adam yet.", "There was still a great remnant of pain, and this he felt\nwould subsist as long as her pain was not a memory, but an existing\nthing, which he must think of as renewed with the light of every\nnew morning." ]

[ "\n\nADAM did not ask Dinah to take his arm when they got out into the lane.", "He had never yet done so, often as they had walked together, for he had\nobserved that she never walked arm-in-arm with Seth, and he thought,\nperhaps, that kind of support was not agreeable to her.", "So they walked\napart, though side by side, and the close poke of her little black\nbonnet hid her face from him.", "\"You can't be happy, then, to make the Hall Farm your home, Dinah?\"", "Adam said, with the quiet interest of a brother, who has no anxiety for\nhimself in the matter.", "\"It's a pity, seeing they're so fond of you.\"", "\"You know, Adam, my heart is as their heart, so far as love for them\nand care for their welfare goes, but they are in no present need.", "Their\nsorrows are healed, and I feel that I am called back to my old work, in\nwhich I found a blessing that I have missed of late in the midst of too\nabundant worldly good.", "I know it is a vain thought to flee from the work\nthat God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing to our\nown souls, as if we could choose for ourselves where we shall find the\nfulness of the Divine Presence, instead of seeking it where alone it\nis to be found, in loving obedience.", "But now, I believe, I have a clear\nshowing that my work lies elsewhere--at least for a time.", "Adam saw that it pained her to be obliged to answer.", "\"I hurt you by talking about it, Dinah,\" he said.", "\"I'll say no more.", "Let's see if Seth's ready with breakfast now.\"", "That is a simple scene, reader.", "But it is almost certain that you, too,\nhave been in love--perhaps, even, more than once, though you may not\nchoose to say so to all your feminine friends.", "If so, you will no more\nthink the slight words, the timid looks, the tremulous touches, by which\ntwo human souls approach each other gradually, like two little quivering\nrain-streams, before they mingle into one--you will no more think these\nthings trivial than you will think the first-detected signs of coming\nspring trivial, though they be but a faint indescribable something\nin the air and in the song of the birds, and the tiniest perceptible\nbudding on the hedge-row branches.", "Those slight words and looks and\ntouches are part of the soul's language; and the finest language,\nI believe, is chiefly made up of unimposing words, such as \"light,\"\n\"sound,\" \"stars,\" \"music\"--words really not worth looking at, or\nhearing, in themselves, any more than \"chips\" or \"sawdust.\"", "It is only\nthat they happen to be the signs of something unspeakably great and\nbeautiful.", "I am of opinion that love is a great and beautiful thing too,\nand if you agree with me, the smallest signs of it will not be chips and\nsawdust to you: they will rather be like those little words, \"light\" and\n\"music,\" stirring the long-winding fibres of your memory and enriching\nyour present with your most precious past." ]

[ "\n\nLISBETH'S touch of rheumatism could not be made to appear serious enough\nto detain Dinah another night from the Hall Farm, now she had made up\nher mind to leave her aunt so soon, and at evening the friends must\npart.", "\"For a long while,\" Dinah had said, for she had told Lisbeth of\nher resolve.", "\"Then it'll be for all my life, an' I shall ne'er see thee again,\" said\nLisbeth.", "\"Long while!", "I'n got no long while t' live.", "An' I shall be\ntook bad an' die, an' thee canst ne'er come a-nigh me, an' I shall die\na-longing for thee.\"", "That had been the key-note of her wailing talk all day; for Adam was not\nin the house, and so she put no restraint on her complaining.", "She had\ntried poor Dinah by returning again and again to the question, why\nshe must go away; and refusing to accept reasons, which seemed to her\nnothing but whim and \"contrairiness\"; and still more, by regretting that\nshe \"couldna' ha' one o' the lads\" and be her daughter.", "\"Thee couldstna put up wi' Seth,\" she said.", "\"He isna cliver enough for\nthee, happen, but he'd ha' been very good t' thee--he's as handy as can\nbe at doin' things for me when I'm bad, an' he's as fond o' the Bible\nan' chappellin' as thee art thysen.", "But happen, thee'dst like a husband\nbetter as isna just the cut o' thysen: the runnin' brook isna athirst\nfor th' rain.", "Adam 'ud ha' done for thee--I know he would--an' he might\ncome t' like thee well enough, if thee'dst stop.", "But he's as stubborn\nas th' iron bar--there's no bending him no way but's own.", "But he'd be\na fine husband for anybody, be they who they will, so looked-on an' so\ncliver as he is.", "And he'd be rare an' lovin': it does me good on'y a\nlook o' the lad's eye when he means kind tow'rt me.\"", "Dinah tried to escape from Lisbeth's closest looks and questions by\nfinding little tasks of housework that kept her moving about, and as\nsoon as Seth came home in the evening she put on her bonnet to go.", "It\ntouched Dinah keenly to say the last good-bye, and still more to look\nround on her way across the fields and see the old woman still standing\nat the door, gazing after her till she must have been the faintest speck\nin the dim aged eyes.", "\"The God of love and peace be with them,\"\nDinah prayed, as she looked back from the last stile.", "\"Make them glad\naccording to the days wherein thou hast afflicted them, and the years\nwherein they have seen evil.", "It is thy will that I should part from\nthem; let me have no will but thine.\"", "Lisbeth turned into the house at last and sat down in the workshop near\nSeth, who was busying himself there with fitting some bits of turned\nwood he had brought from the village into a small work-box, which he\nmeant to give to Dinah before she went away.", "\"Thee't see her again o' Sunday afore she goes,\" were her first words.", "\"If thee wast good for anything, thee'dst make her come in again o'\nSunday night wi' thee, and see me once more.\"", "\"Nay, Mother,\" said Seth.", "\"Dinah 'ud be sure to come again if she saw\nright to come.", "I should have no need to persuade her.", "She only thinks it\n'ud be troubling thee for nought, just to come in to say good-bye over\nagain.\"", "\"She'd ne'er go away, I know, if Adam 'ud be fond on her an' marry her,\nbut everything's so contrairy,\" said Lisbeth, with a burst of vexation.", "Seth paused a moment and looked up, with a slight blush, at his mother's\nface.", "\"What!", "Has she said anything o' that sort to thee, Mother?\"", "he\nsaid, in a lower tone.", "\"Said?", "Nay, she'll say nothin'.", "It's on'y the men as have to wait till\nfolks say things afore they find 'em out.\"", "\"Well, but what makes thee think so, Mother?", "What's put it into thy\nhead?\"", "\"It's no matter what's put it into my head.", "My head's none so hollow as\nit must get in, an' nought to put it there.", "I know she's fond on him, as\nI know th' wind's comin' in at the door, an' that's anoof.", "An' he might\nbe willin' to marry her if he know'd she's fond on him, but he'll ne'er\nthink on't if somebody doesna put it into's head.\"", "His mother's suggestion about Dinah's feeling towards Adam was not quite\na new thought to Seth, but her last words alarmed him, lest she should\nherself undertake to open Adam's eyes.", "He was not sure about Dinah's\nfeeling, and he thought he was sure about Adam's.", "\"Nay, Mother, nay,\" he said, earnestly, \"thee mustna think o' speaking\no' such things to Adam.", "Thee'st no right to say what Dinah's feelings\nare if she hasna told thee, and it 'ud do nothing but mischief to say\nsuch things to Adam.", "He feels very grateful and affectionate toward\nDinah, but he's no thoughts towards her that 'ud incline him to make her\nhis wife, and I don't believe Dinah 'ud marry him either.", "I don't think\nshe'll marry at all.\"", "\"Eh,\" said Lisbeth, impatiently.", "\"Thee think'st so 'cause she wouldna\nha' thee.", "She'll ne'er marry thee; thee mightst as well like her t' ha'\nthy brother.\"", "Seth was hurt.", "\"Mother,\" he said, in a remonstrating tone, \"don't think\nthat of me.", "I should be as thankful t' have her for a sister as thee\nwouldst t' have her for a daughter.", "I've no more thoughts about myself\nin that thing, and I shall take it hard if ever thee say'st it again.\"", "\"Well, well, then thee shouldstna cross me wi' sayin' things arena as I\nsay they are.\"", "\"But, Mother,\" said Seth, \"thee'dst be doing Dinah a wrong by telling\nAdam what thee think'st about her.", "It 'ud do nothing but mischief,\nfor it 'ud make Adam uneasy if he doesna feel the same to her.", "And I'm\npretty sure he feels nothing o' the sort.\"", "\"Eh, donna tell me what thee't sure on; thee know'st nought about it.", "What's he allays goin' to the Poysers' for, if he didna want t' see her?", "He goes twice where he used t' go once.", "Happen he knowsna as he wants\nt' see her; he knowsna as I put salt in's broth, but he'd miss it pretty\nquick if it warna there.", "He'll ne'er think o' marrying if it isna put\ninto's head, an' if thee'dst any love for thy mother, thee'dst put him\nup to't an' not let her go away out o' my sight, when I might ha' her to\nmake a bit o' comfort for me afore I go to bed to my old man under the\nwhite thorn.\"", "\"Nay, Mother,\" said Seth, \"thee mustna think me unkind, but I should\nbe going against my conscience if I took upon me to say what Dinah's\nfeelings are.", "And besides that, I think I should give offence to Adam by\nspeaking to him at all about marrying; and I counsel thee not to do't.", "Thee may'st be quite deceived about Dinah.", "Nay, I'm pretty sure, by\nwords she said to me last Sabbath, as she's no mind to marry.\"", "\"Eh, thee't as contrairy as the rest on 'em.", "If it war summat I didna\nwant, it 'ud be done fast enough.\"", "Lisbeth rose from the bench at this, and went out of the workshop,\nleaving Seth in much anxiety lest she should disturb Adam's mind about\nDinah.", "He consoled himself after a time with reflecting that, since\nAdam's trouble, Lisbeth had been very timid about speaking to him on\nmatters of feeling, and that she would hardly dare to approach this\ntenderest of all subjects.", "Even if she did, he hoped Adam would not take\nmuch notice of what she said.", "Seth was right in believing that Lisbeth would be held in restraint by\ntimidity, and during the next three days, the intervals in which she had\nan opportunity of speaking to Adam were too rare and short to cause her\nany strong temptation.", "But in her long solitary hours she brooded over\nher regretful thoughts about Dinah, till they had grown very near that\npoint of unmanageable strength when thoughts are apt to take wing out\nof their secret nest in a startling manner.", "And on Sunday morning, when\nSeth went away to chapel at Treddleston, the dangerous opportunity came.", "Sunday morning was the happiest time in all the week to Lisbeth, for\nas there was no service at Hayslope church till the afternoon, Adam was\nalways at home, doing nothing but reading, an occupation in which she\ncould venture to interrupt him.", "Moreover, she had always a better dinner\nthan usual to prepare for her sons--very frequently for Adam and herself\nalone, Seth being often away the entire day--and the smell of the roast\nmeat before the clear fire in the clean kitchen, the clock ticking in\na peaceful Sunday manner, her darling Adam seated near her in his best\nclothes, doing nothing very important, so that she could go and stroke\nher hand across his hair if she liked, and see him look up at her and\nsmile, while Gyp, rather jealous, poked his muzzle up between them--all\nthese things made poor Lisbeth's earthly paradise.", "The book Adam most often read on a Sunday morning was his large pictured\nBible, and this morning it lay open before him on the round white deal\ntable in the kitchen; for he sat there in spite of the fire, because he\nknew his mother liked to have him with her, and it was the only day in\nthe week when he could indulge her in that way.", "You would have liked to\nsee Adam reading his Bible.", "He never opened it on a weekday, and so he\ncame to it as a holiday book, serving him for history, biography, and\npoetry.", "He held one hand thrust between his waistcoat buttons, and the\nother ready to turn the pages, and in the course of the morning you\nwould have seen many changes in his face.", "Sometimes his lips moved in\nsemi-articulation--it was when he came to a speech that he could fancy\nhimself uttering, such as Samuel's dying speech to the people; then his\neyebrows would be raised, and the corners of his mouth would quiver a\nlittle with sad sympathy--something, perhaps old Isaac's meeting with\nhis son, touched him closely; at other times, over the New Testament,\na very solemn look would come upon his face, and he would every now and\nthen shake his head in serious assent, or just lift up his hand and let\nit fall again.", "And on some mornings, when he read in the Apocrypha, of\nwhich he was very fond, the son of Sirach's keen-edged words would bring\na delighted smile, though he also enjoyed the freedom of occasionally\ndiffering from an Apocryphal writer.", "For Adam knew the Articles quite\nwell, as became a good churchman.", "Lisbeth, in the pauses of attending to her dinner, always sat opposite\nto him and watched him, till she could rest no longer without going\nup to him and giving him a caress, to call his attention to her.", "This\nmorning he was reading the Gospel according to St. Matthew, and Lisbeth\nhad been standing close by him for some minutes, stroking his hair,\nwhich was smoother than usual this morning, and looking down at the\nlarge page with silent wonderment at the mystery of letters.", "She was\nencouraged to continue this caress, because when she first went up\nto him, he had thrown himself back in his chair to look at her\naffectionately and say, \"Why, Mother, thee look'st rare and hearty this\nmorning.", "Eh, Gyp wants me t' look at him.", "He can't abide to think I love\nthee the best.\"", "Lisbeth said nothing, because she wanted to say so many\nthings.", "And now there was a new leaf to be turned over, and it was\na picture--that of the angel seated on the great stone that has been\nrolled away from the sepulchre.", "This picture had one strong association\nin Lisbeth's memory, for she had been reminded of it when she first\nsaw Dinah, and Adam had no sooner turned the page, and lifted the book\nsideways that they might look at the angel, than she said, \"That's\nher--that's Dinah.\"", "Adam smiled, and, looking more intently at the angel's face, said, \"It\nis a bit like her; but Dinah's prettier, I think.\"", "\"Well, then, if thee think'st her so pretty, why arn't fond on her?\"", "Adam looked up in surprise.", "\"Why, Mother, dost think I don't set store\nby Dinah?\"", "\"Nay,\" said Lisbeth, frightened at her own courage, yet feeling that\nshe had broken the ice, and the waters must flow, whatever mischief they\nmight do.", "\"What's th' use o' settin' store by things as are thirty mile\noff?", "If thee wast fond enough on her, thee wouldstna let her go away.\"", "\"But I've no right t' hinder her, if she thinks well,\" said Adam,\nlooking at his book as if he wanted to go on reading.", "He foresaw a\nseries of complaints tending to nothing.", "Lisbeth sat down again in the\nchair opposite to him, as she said:\n\n\"But she wouldna think well if thee wastna so contrairy.\"", "Lisbeth dared\nnot venture beyond a vague phrase yet.", "\"Contrairy, mother?\"", "Adam said, looking up again in some anxiety.", "\"What\nhave I done?", "What dost mean?\"", "\"Why, thee't never look at nothin', nor think o' nothin', but thy\nfigurin, an' thy work,\" said Lisbeth, half-crying.", "\"An' dost think thee\ncanst go on so all thy life, as if thee wast a man cut out o' timber?", "An' what wut do when thy mother's gone, an' nobody to take care on thee\nas thee gett'st a bit o' victual comfortable i' the mornin'?\"", "\"What hast got i' thy mind, Mother?\"", "said Adam, vexed at this\nwhimpering.", "\"I canna see what thee't driving at.", "Is there anything I\ncould do for thee as I don't do?\"", "\"Aye, an' that there is.", "Thee might'st do as I should ha' somebody wi'\nme to comfort me a bit, an' wait on me when I'm bad, an' be good to me.\"", "\"Well, Mother, whose fault is it there isna some tidy body i' th' house\nt' help thee?", "It isna by my wish as thee hast a stroke o' work to do.", "We\ncan afford it--I've told thee often enough.", "It 'ud be a deal better for\nus.\"", "\"Eh, what's the use o' talking o' tidy bodies, when thee mean'st one o'\nth' wenches out o' th' village, or somebody from Treddles'on as I ne'er\nset eyes on i' my life?", "I'd sooner make a shift an' get into my own\ncoffin afore I die, nor ha' them folks to put me in.\"", "Adam was silent, and tried to go on reading.", "That was the utmost\nseverity he could show towards his mother on a Sunday morning.", "But\nLisbeth had gone too far now to check herself, and after scarcely a\nminute's quietness she began again.", "\"Thee mightst know well enough who 'tis I'd like t' ha' wi' me.", "It isna\nmany folks I send for t' come an' see me.", "I reckon.", "An' thee'st had the\nfetchin' on her times enow.\"", "\"Thee mean'st Dinah, Mother, I know,\" said Adam.", "\"But it's no use\nsetting thy mind on what can't be.", "If Dinah 'ud be willing to stay at\nHayslope, it isn't likely she can come away from her aunt's house, where\nthey hold her like a daughter, and where she's more bound than she is to\nus.", "If it had been so that she could ha' married Seth, that 'ud ha' been\na great blessing to us, but we can't have things just as we like in this\nlife.", "Thee must try and make up thy mind to do without her.\"", "\"Nay, but I canna ma' up my mind, when she's just cut out for thee; an'\nnought shall ma' me believe as God didna make her an' send her there o'\npurpose for thee.", "What's it sinnify about her bein' a Methody!", "It 'ud\nhappen wear out on her wi' marryin'.\"", "Adam threw himself back in his chair and looked at his mother.", "He\nunderstood now what she had been aiming at from the beginning of the\nconversation.", "It was as unreasonable, impracticable a wish as she had\never urged, but he could not help being moved by so entirely new an\nidea.", "The chief point, however, was to chase away the notion from his\nmother's mind as quickly as possible.", "\"Mother,\" he said, gravely, \"thee't talking wild.", "Don't let me hear\nthee say such things again.", "It's no good talking o' what can never be.", "Dinah's not for marrying; she's fixed her heart on a different sort o'\nlife.\"", "\"Very like,\" said Lisbeth, impatiently, \"very like she's none for\nmarr'ing, when them as she'd be willin' t' marry wonna ax her.", "I\nshouldna ha' been for marr'ing thy feyther if he'd ne'er axed me; an'\nshe's as fond o' thee as e'er I war o' Thias, poor fellow.\"", "The blood rushed to Adam's face, and for a few moments he was not quite\nconscious where he was.", "His mother and the kitchen had vanished for him,\nand he saw nothing but Dinah's face turned up towards his.", "It seemed\nas if there were a resurrection of his dead joy.", "But he woke up very\nspeedily from that dream (the waking was chill and sad), for it would\nhave been very foolish in him to believe his mother's words--she could\nhave no ground for them.", "He was prompted to express his disbelief very\nstrongly--perhaps that he might call forth the proofs, if there were any\nto be offered.", "\"What dost say such things for, Mother, when thee'st got no foundation\nfor 'em?", "Thee know'st nothing as gives thee a right to say that.\"", "\"Then I knowna nought as gi'es me a right to say as the year's turned,\nfor all I feel it fust thing when I get up i' th' morning.", "She isna fond\no' Seth, I reckon, is she?", "She doesna want to marry HIM?", "But I can see\nas she doesna behave tow'rt thee as she daes tow'rt Seth.", "She makes no\nmore o' Seth's coming a-nigh her nor if he war Gyp, but she's all of a\ntremble when thee't a-sittin' down by her at breakfast an' a-looking at\nher.", "Thee think'st thy mother knows nought, but she war alive afore thee\nwast born.\"", "\"But thee canstna be sure as the trembling means love?\"", "said Adam\nanxiously.", "\"Eh, what else should it mane?", "It isna hate, I reckon.", "An' what should\nshe do but love thee?", "Thee't made to be loved--for where's there a\nstraighter cliverer man?", "An' what's it sinnify her bein' a Methody?", "It's\non'y the marigold i' th' parridge.\"", "Adam had thrust his hands in his pockets, and was looking down at the\nbook on the table, without seeing any of the letters.", "He was trembling\nlike a gold-seeker who sees the strong promise of gold but sees in the\nsame moment a sickening vision of disappointment.", "He could not trust his\nmother's insight; she had seen what she wished to see.", "And yet--and yet,\nnow the suggestion had been made to him, he remembered so many things,\nvery slight things, like the stirring of the water by an imperceptible\nbreeze, which seemed to him some confirmation of his mother's words.", "Lisbeth noticed that he was moved.", "She went on, \"An' thee't find out\nas thee't poorly aff when she's gone.", "Thee't fonder on her nor thee\nknow'st.", "Thy eyes follow her about, welly as Gyp's follow thee.\"", "Adam could sit still no longer.", "He rose, took down his hat, and went out\ninto the fields.", "The sunshine was on them: that early autumn sunshine which we should\nknow was not summer's, even if there were not the touches of yellow\non the lime and chestnut; the Sunday sunshine too, which has more than\nautumnal calmness for the working man; the morning sunshine, which still\nleaves the dew-crystals on the fine gossamer webs in the shadow of the\nbushy hedgerows.", "Adam needed the calm influence; he was amazed at the way in which\nthis new thought of Dinah's love had taken possession of him, with an\novermastering power that made all other feelings give way before the\nimpetuous desire to know that the thought was true.", "Strange, that till\nthat moment the possibility of their ever being lovers had never crossed\nhis mind, and yet now, all his longing suddenly went out towards that\npossibility.", "He had no more doubt or hesitation as to his own wishes\nthan the bird that flies towards the opening through which the daylight\ngleams and the breath of heaven enters.", "The autumnal Sunday sunshine soothed him, but not by preparing him with\nresignation to the disappointment if his mother--if he himself--proved\nto be mistaken about Dinah.", "It soothed him by gentle encouragement of\nhis hopes.", "Her love was so like that calm sunshine that they seemed to\nmake one presence to him, and he believed in them both alike.", "And Dinah\nwas so bound up with the sad memories of his first passion that he was\nnot forsaking them, but rather giving them a new sacredness by loving\nher.", "Nay, his love for her had grown out of that past: it was the noon\nof that morning.", "But Seth?", "Would the lad be hurt?", "Hardly; for he had seemed quite\ncontented of late, and there was no selfish jealousy in him; he had\nnever been jealous of his mother's fondness for Adam.", "But had he seen\nanything of what their mother talked about?", "Adam longed to know this,\nfor he thought he could trust Seth's observation better than his\nmother's.", "He must talk to Seth before he went to see Dinah, and, with\nthis intention in his mind, he walked back to the cottage and said to\nhis mother, \"Did Seth say anything to thee about when he was coming\nhome?", "Will he be back to dinner?\"", "\"Aye, lad, he'll be back for a wonder.", "He isna gone to Treddles'on.", "He's\ngone somewhere else a-preachin' and a-prayin'.\"", "\"Hast any notion which way he's gone?\"", "said Adam.", "\"Nay, but he aften goes to th' Common.", "Thee know'st more o's goings nor\nI do.\"", "Adam wanted to go and meet Seth, but he must content himself with\nwalking about the near fields and getting sight of him as soon as\npossible.", "That would not be for more than an hour to come, for Seth\nwould scarcely be at home much before their dinner-time, which was\ntwelve o'clock.", "But Adam could not sit down to his reading again, and he\nsauntered along by the brook and stood leaning against the stiles, with\neager intense eyes, which looked as if they saw something very vividly;\nbut it was not the brook or the willows, not the fields or the sky.", "Again and again his vision was interrupted by wonder at the strength of\nhis own feeling, at the strength and sweetness of this new love--almost\nlike the wonder a man feels at the added power he finds in himself for\nan art which he had laid aside for a space.", "How is it that the poets\nhave said so many fine things about our first love, so few about our\nlater love?", "Are their first poems their best?", "Or are not those the best\nwhich come from their fuller thought, their larger experience, their\ndeeper-rooted affections?", "The boy's flutelike voice has its own spring\ncharm; but the man should yield a richer deeper music.", "At last, there was Seth, visible at the farthest stile, and Adam\nhastened to meet him.", "Seth was surprised, and thought something unusual\nmust have happened, but when Adam came up, his face said plainly enough\nthat it was nothing alarming.", "\"Where hast been?\"", "said Adam, when they were side by side.", "\"I've been to the Common,\" said Seth.", "\"Dinah's been speaking the Word\nto a little company of hearers at Brimstone's, as they call him.", "They're\nfolks as never go to church hardly--them on the Common--but they'll go\nand hear Dinah a bit.", "She's been speaking with power this forenoon\nfrom the words, 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to\nrepentance.'", "And there was a little thing happened as was pretty to see.", "The women mostly bring their children with 'em, but to-day there was one\nstout curly headed fellow about three or four year old, that I never saw\nthere before.", "He was as naughty as could be at the beginning while I was\npraying, and while we was singing, but when we all sat down and Dinah\nbegan to speak, th' young un stood stock still all at once, and began to\nlook at her with's mouth open, and presently he ran away from's mother\nand went to Dinah, and pulled at her, like a little dog, for her to take\nnotice of him.", "So Dinah lifted him up and held th' lad on her lap, while\nshe went on speaking; and he was as good as could be till he went to\nsleep--and the mother cried to see him.\"", "\"It's a pity she shouldna be a mother herself,\" said Adam, \"so fond as\nthe children are of her.", "Dost think she's quite fixed against marrying,\nSeth?", "Dost think nothing 'ud turn her?\"", "There was something peculiar in his brother's tone, which made Seth\nsteal a glance at his face before he answered.", "\"It 'ud be wrong of me to say nothing 'ud turn her,\" he answered.", "\"But\nif thee mean'st it about myself, I've given up all thoughts as she can\never be my wife.", "She calls me her brother, and that's enough.\"", "\"But dost think she might ever get fond enough of anybody else to be\nwilling to marry 'em?\"", "said Adam rather shyly.", "\"Well,\" said Seth, after some hesitation, \"it's crossed my mind\nsometimes o' late as she might; but Dinah 'ud let no fondness for the\ncreature draw her out o' the path as she believed God had marked out for\nher.", "If she thought the leading was not from Him, she's not one to\nbe brought under the power of it.", "And she's allays seemed clear about\nthat--as her work was to minister t' others, and make no home for\nherself i' this world.\"", "\"But suppose,\" said Adam, earnestly, \"suppose there was a man as 'ud\nlet her do just the same and not interfere with her--she might do a good\ndeal o' what she does now, just as well when she was married as when\nshe was single.", "Other women of her sort have married--that's to say, not\njust like her, but women as preached and attended on the sick and needy.", "There's Mrs. Fletcher as she talks of.\"", "A new light had broken in on Seth.", "He turned round, and laying his\nhand on Adam's shoulder, said, \"Why, wouldst like her to marry THEE,\nBrother?\"", "Adam looked doubtfully at Seth's inquiring eyes and said, \"Wouldst be\nhurt if she was to be fonder o' me than o' thee?\"", "\"Nay,\" said Seth warmly, \"how canst think it?", "Have I felt thy trouble so\nlittle that I shouldna feel thy joy?\"", "There was silence a few moments as they walked on, and then Seth said,\n\"I'd no notion as thee'dst ever think of her for a wife.\"", "\"But is it o' any use to think of her?\"", "said Adam.", "\"What dost say?", "Mother's made me as I hardly know where I am, with what she's been\nsaying to me this forenoon.", "She says she's sure Dinah feels for me more\nthan common, and 'ud be willing t' have me.", "But I'm afraid she speaks\nwithout book.", "I want to know if thee'st seen anything.\"", "\"It's a nice point to speak about,\" said Seth, \"and I'm afraid o' being\nwrong; besides, we've no right t' intermeddle with people's feelings\nwhen they wouldn't tell 'em themselves.\"", "Seth paused.", "\"But thee mightst ask her,\" he said presently.", "\"She took no offence at\nme for asking, and thee'st more right than I had, only thee't not in the\nSociety.", "But Dinah doesn't hold wi' them as are for keeping the Society\nso strict to themselves.", "She doesn't mind about making folks enter the\nSociety, so as they're fit t' enter the kingdom o' God.", "Some o' the\nbrethren at Treddles'on are displeased with her for that.\"", "\"Where will she be the rest o' the day?\"", "said Adam.", "\"She said she shouldn't leave the farm again to-day,\" said Seth,\n\"because it's her last Sabbath there, and she's going t' read out o' the\nbig Bible wi' the children.\"", "Adam thought--but did not say--\"Then I'll go this afternoon; for if I\ngo to church, my thoughts 'ull be with her all the while.", "They must sing\nth' anthem without me to-day.\"" ]

[ "It is thy will that I should part from\nthem; let me have no will but thine.\"", "Lisbeth turned into the house at last and sat down in the workshop near\nSeth, who was busying himself there with fitting some bits of turned\nwood he had brought from the village into a small work-box, which he\nmeant to give to Dinah before she went away.", "\"Thee't see her again o' Sunday afore she goes,\" were her first words.", "\"But, Mother,\" said Seth, \"thee'dst be doing Dinah a wrong by telling\nAdam what thee think'st about her.", "\"Thee mightst know well enough who 'tis I'd like t' ha' wi' me.", "\"But thee canstna be sure as the trembling means love?\"", "Adam wanted to go and meet Seth, but he must content himself with\nwalking about the near fields and getting sight of him as soon as\npossible.", "That would not be for more than an hour to come, for Seth\nwould scarcely be at home much before their dinner-time, which was\ntwelve o'clock.", "If she thought the leading was not from Him, she's not one to\nbe brought under the power of it.", "\"But suppose,\" said Adam, earnestly, \"suppose there was a man as 'ud\nlet her do just the same and not interfere with her--she might do a good\ndeal o' what she does now, just as well when she was married as when\nshe was single." ]

[ "\"An' dost think thee\ncanst go on so all thy life, as if thee wast a man cut out o' timber?", "\"Nay, Mother,\" said Seth.", "\"What dost say such things for, Mother, when thee'st got no foundation\nfor 'em?", "\"Well, but what makes thee think so, Mother?", "\"The God of love and peace be with them,\"\nDinah prayed, as she looked back from the last stile.", "Adam 'ud ha' done for thee--I know he would--an' he might\ncome t' like thee well enough, if thee'dst stop.", "And I'm\npretty sure he feels nothing o' the sort.\"", "The blood rushed to Adam's face, and for a few moments he was not quite\nconscious where he was.", "Nay, his love for her had grown out of that past: it was the noon\nof that morning.", "They must sing\nth' anthem without me to-day.\"" ]

[ "\"Thee mightst know well enough who 'tis I'd like t' ha' wi' me.", "It isna\nmany folks I send for t' come an' see me.", "I reckon.", "An' thee'st had the\nfetchin' on her times enow.\"", "\"Thee mean'st Dinah, Mother, I know,\" said Adam.", "\"But it's no use\nsetting thy mind on what can't be.", "If Dinah 'ud be willing to stay at\nHayslope, it isn't likely she can come away from her aunt's house, where\nthey hold her like a daughter, and where she's more bound than she is to\nus.", "If it had been so that she could ha' married Seth, that 'ud ha' been\na great blessing to us, but we can't have things just as we like in this\nlife.", "Thee must try and make up thy mind to do without her.\"", "\"Nay, but I canna ma' up my mind, when she's just cut out for thee; an'\nnought shall ma' me believe as God didna make her an' send her there o'\npurpose for thee.", "What's it sinnify about her bein' a Methody!" ]

[ "\n\nLISBETH'S touch of rheumatism could not be made to appear serious enough\nto detain Dinah another night from the Hall Farm, now she had made up\nher mind to leave her aunt so soon, and at evening the friends must\npart.", "\"For a long while,\" Dinah had said, for she had told Lisbeth of\nher resolve.", "\"Then it'll be for all my life, an' I shall ne'er see thee again,\" said\nLisbeth.", "\"Long while!", "I'n got no long while t' live.", "An' I shall be\ntook bad an' die, an' thee canst ne'er come a-nigh me, an' I shall die\na-longing for thee.\"", "That had been the key-note of her wailing talk all day; for Adam was not\nin the house, and so she put no restraint on her complaining.", "She had\ntried poor Dinah by returning again and again to the question, why\nshe must go away; and refusing to accept reasons, which seemed to her\nnothing but whim and \"contrairiness\"; and still more, by regretting that\nshe \"couldna' ha' one o' the lads\" and be her daughter.", "\"Thee couldstna put up wi' Seth,\" she said.", "\"He isna cliver enough for\nthee, happen, but he'd ha' been very good t' thee--he's as handy as can\nbe at doin' things for me when I'm bad, an' he's as fond o' the Bible\nan' chappellin' as thee art thysen.", "\"But thee mightst ask her,\" he said presently.", "\"She took no offence at\nme for asking, and thee'st more right than I had, only thee't not in the\nSociety.", "But Dinah doesn't hold wi' them as are for keeping the Society\nso strict to themselves.", "She doesn't mind about making folks enter the\nSociety, so as they're fit t' enter the kingdom o' God.", "Some o' the\nbrethren at Treddles'on are displeased with her for that.\"", "\"Where will she be the rest o' the day?\"", "said Adam.", "\"She said she shouldn't leave the farm again to-day,\" said Seth,\n\"because it's her last Sabbath there, and she's going t' read out o' the\nbig Bible wi' the children.\"", "Adam thought--but did not say--\"Then I'll go this afternoon; for if I\ngo to church, my thoughts 'ull be with her all the while.", "They must sing\nth' anthem without me to-day.\"" ]

[ "\n\nIT was about three o'clock when Adam entered the farmyard and roused\nAlick and the dogs from their Sunday dozing.", "Alick said everybody was\ngone to church \"but th' young missis\"--so he called Dinah--but this\ndid not disappoint Adam, although the \"everybody\" was so liberal as\nto include Nancy the dairymaid, whose works of necessity were not\nunfrequently incompatible with church-going.", "There was perfect stillness about the house.", "The doors were all closed,\nand the very stones and tubs seemed quieter than usual.", "Adam heard the\nwater gently dripping from the pump--that was the only sound--and\nhe knocked at the house door rather softly, as was suitable in that\nstillness.", "The door opened, and Dinah stood before him, colouring deeply with the\ngreat surprise of seeing Adam at this hour, when she knew it was his\nregular practice to be at church.", "Yesterday he would have said to her\nwithout any difficulty, \"I came to see you, Dinah: I knew the rest were\nnot at home.\"", "But to-day something prevented him from saying that, and\nhe put out his hand to her in silence.", "Neither of them spoke, and yet\nboth wished they could speak, as Adam entered, and they sat down.", "Dinah\ntook the chair she had just left; it was at the corner of the table\nnear the window, and there was a book lying on the table, but it was not\nopen.", "She had been sitting perfectly still, looking at the small bit\nof clear fire in the bright grate.", "Adam sat down opposite her, in Mr.\nPoyser's three-cornered chair.", "\"Your mother is not ill again, I hope, Adam?\"", "Dinah said, recovering\nherself.", "\"Seth said she was well this morning.\"", "\"No, she's very hearty to-day,\" said Adam, happy in the signs of Dinah's\nfeeling at the sight of him, but shy.", "\"There's nobody at home, you see,\" Dinah said; \"but you'll wait.", "You've\nbeen hindered from going to church to-day, doubtless.\"", "\"Yes,\" Adam said, and then paused, before he added, \"I was thinking\nabout you: that was the reason.\"", "This confession was very awkward and sudden, Adam felt, for he thought\nDinah must understand all he meant.", "But the frankness of the words\ncaused her immediately to interpret them into a renewal of his brotherly\nregrets that she was going away, and she answered calmly, \"Do not be\ncareful and troubled for me, Adam.", "I have all things and abound at\nSnowfield.", "And my mind is at rest, for I am not seeking my own will in\ngoing.\"", "\"But if things were different, Dinah,\" said Adam, hesitatingly.", "\"If you\nknew things that perhaps you don't know now....\"\n\nDinah looked at him inquiringly, but instead of going on, he reached a\nchair and brought it near the corner of the table where she was sitting.", "She wondered, and was afraid--and the next moment her thoughts flew to\nthe past: was it something about those distant unhappy ones that she\ndidn't know?", "Adam looked at her.", "It was so sweet to look at her eyes, which had now\na self-forgetful questioning in them--for a moment he forgot that he\nwanted to say anything, or that it was necessary to tell her what he\nmeant.", "\"Dinah,\" he said suddenly, taking both her hands between his, \"I love\nyou with my whole heart and soul.", "I love you next to God who made me.\"", "Dinah's lips became pale, like her cheeks, and she trembled violently\nunder the shock of painful joy.", "Her hands were cold as death between\nAdam's.", "She could not draw them away, because he held them fast.", "\"Don't tell me you can't love me, Dinah.", "Don't tell me we must part and\npass our lives away from one another.\"", "The tears were trembling in Dinah's eyes, and they fell before she could\nanswer.", "But she spoke in a quiet low voice.", "\"Yes, dear Adam, we must submit to another Will.", "We must part.\"", "\"Not if you love me, Dinah--not if you love me,\" Adam said passionately.", "\"Tell me--tell me if you can love me better than a brother?\"", "Dinah was too entirely reliant on the Supreme guidance to attempt to\nachieve any end by a deceptive concealment.", "She was recovering now from\nthe first shock of emotion, and she looked at Adam with simple sincere\neyes as she said, \"Yes, Adam, my heart is drawn strongly towards you;\nand of my own will, if I had no clear showing to the contrary, I could\nfind my happiness in being near you and ministering to you continually.", "I fear I should forget to rejoice and weep with others; nay, I fear I\nshould forget the Divine presence, and seek no love but yours.\"", "Adam did not speak immediately.", "They sat looking at each other in\ndelicious silence--for the first sense of mutual love excludes other\nfeelings; it will have the soul all to itself.", "\"Then, Dinah,\" Adam said at last, \"how can there be anything contrary\nto what's right in our belonging to one another and spending our lives\ntogether?", "Who put this great love into our hearts?", "Can anything be\nholier than that?", "For we can help one another in everything as is good.", "I'd never think o' putting myself between you and God, and saying you\noughtn't to do this and you oughtn't to do that.", "You'd follow your\nconscience as much as you do now.\"", "\"Yes, Adam,\" Dinah said, \"I know marriage is a holy state for those who\nare truly called to it, and have no other drawing; but from my childhood\nupwards I have been led towards another path; all my peace and my joy\nhave come from having no life of my own, no wants, no wishes for myself,\nand living only in God and those of his creatures whose sorrows and joys\nhe has given me to know.", "Those have been very blessed years to me, and I\nfeel that if I was to listen to any voice that would draw me aside from\nthat path, I should be turning my back on the light that has shone upon\nme, and darkness and doubt would take hold of me.", "We could not bless\neach other, Adam, if there were doubts in my soul, and if I yearned,\nwhen it was too late, after that better part which had once been given\nme and I had put away from me.\"", "\"But if a new feeling has come into your mind, Dinah, and if you love me\nso as to be willing to be nearer to me than to other people, isn't that\na sign that it's right for you to change your life?", "Doesn't the love\nmake it right when nothing else would?\"", "\"Adam, my mind is full of questionings about that; for now, since you\ntell me of your strong love towards me, what was clear to me has become\ndark again.", "I felt before that my heart was too strongly drawn towards\nyou, and that your heart was not as mine; and the thought of you had\ntaken hold of me, so that my soul had lost its freedom, and was becoming\nenslaved to an earthly affection, which made me anxious and careful\nabout what should befall myself.", "For in all other affection I had been\ncontent with any small return, or with none; but my heart was beginning\nto hunger after an equal love from you.", "And I had no doubt that I must\nwrestle against that as a great temptation, and the command was clear\nthat I must go away.\"", "\"But now, dear, dear Dinah, now you know I love you better than you love\nme...it's all different now.", "You won't think o' going.", "You'll stay, and\nbe my dear wife, and I shall thank God for giving me my life as I never\nthanked him before.\"", "\"Adam, it's hard to me to turn a deaf ear...you know it's hard; but a\ngreat fear is upon me.", "It seems to me as if you were stretching out your\narms to me, and beckoning me to come and take my ease and live for my\nown delight, and Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, was standing looking towards\nme, and pointing to the sinful, and suffering, and afflicted.", "I have\nseen that again and again when I have been sitting in stillness and\ndarkness, and a great terror has come upon me lest I should become hard,\nand a lover of self, and no more bear willingly the Redeemer's cross.\"", "Dinah had closed her eyes, and a faint shudder went through her.", "\"Adam,\"\nshe went on, \"you wouldn't desire that we should seek a good through\nany unfaithfulness to the light that is in us; you wouldn't believe that\ncould be a good.", "We are of one mind in that.\"", "\"Yes, Dinah,\" said Adam sadly, \"I'll never be the man t' urge you\nagainst your conscience.", "But I can't give up the hope that you may come\nto see different.", "I don't believe your loving me could shut up your\nheart--it's only adding to what you've been before, not taking away from\nit.", "For it seems to me it's the same with love and happiness as with\nsorrow--the more we know of it the better we can feel what other\npeople's lives are or might be, and so we shall only be more tender to\n'em, and wishful to help 'em.", "The more knowledge a man has, the better\nhe'll do's work; and feeling's a sort o' knowledge.\"", "Dinah was silent; her eyes were fixed in contemplation of something\nvisible only to herself.", "Adam went on presently with his pleading, \"And\nyou can do almost as much as you do now.", "I won't ask you to go to church\nwith me of a Sunday.", "You shall go where you like among the people, and\nteach 'em; for though I like church best, I don't put my soul above\nyours, as if my words was better for you to follow than your own\nconscience.", "And you can help the sick just as much, and you'll have more\nmeans o' making 'em a bit comfortable; and you'll be among all your\nown friends as love you, and can help 'em and be a blessing to 'em till\ntheir dying day.", "Surely, Dinah, you'd be as near to God as if you was\nliving lonely and away from me.\"", "Dinah made no answer for some time.", "Adam was still holding her hands and\nlooking at her with almost trembling anxiety, when she turned her grave\nloving eyes on his and said, in rather a sad voice, \"Adam there is truth\nin what you say, and there's many of the brethren and sisters who have\ngreater strength than I have, and find their hearts enlarged by the\ncares of husband and kindred.", "But I have not faith that it would be so\nwith me, for since my affections have been set above measure on you, I\nhave had less peace and joy in God.", "I have felt as it were a division\nin my heart.", "And think how it is with me, Adam.", "That life I have led is\nlike a land I have trodden in blessedness since my childhood; and if\nI long for a moment to follow the voice which calls me to another land\nthat I know not, I cannot but fear that my soul might hereafter yearn\nfor that early blessedness which I had forsaken; and where doubt enters\nthere is not perfect love.", "I must wait for clearer guidance.", "I must go\nfrom you, and we must submit ourselves entirely to the Divine Will.", "We are sometimes required to lay our natural lawful affections on the\naltar.\"", "Adam dared not plead again, for Dinah's was not the voice of caprice or\ninsincerity.", "But it was very hard for him; his eyes got dim as he looked\nat her.", "\"But you may come to feel satisfied...to feel that you may come to me\nagain, and we may never part, Dinah?\"", "\"We must submit ourselves, Adam.", "With time, our duty will be made clear.", "It may be when I have entered on my former life, I shall find all these\nnew thoughts and wishes vanish, and become as things that were not.", "Then\nI shall know that my calling is not towards marriage.", "But we must wait.\"", "\"Dinah,\" said Adam mournfully, \"you can't love me so well as I love you,\nelse you'd have no doubts.", "But it's natural you shouldn't, for I'm not\nso good as you.", "I can't doubt it's right for me to love the best thing\nGod's ever given me to know.\"", "\"Nay, Adam.", "It seems to me that my love for you is not weak, for my\nheart waits on your words and looks, almost as a little child waits on\nthe help and tenderness of the strong on whom it depends.", "If the thought\nof you took slight hold of me, I should not fear that it would be an\nidol in the temple.", "But you will strengthen me--you will not hinder me\nin seeking to obey to the uttermost.\"", "\"Let us go out into the sunshine, Dinah, and walk together.", "I'll speak\nno word to disturb you.\"", "They went out and walked towards the fields, where they would meet the\nfamily coming from church.", "Adam said, \"Take my arm, Dinah,\" and she took\nit.", "That was the only change in their manner to each other since they\nwere last walking together.", "But no sadness in the prospect of her going\naway--in the uncertainty of the issue--could rob the sweetness from\nAdam's sense that Dinah loved him.", "He thought he would stay at the Hall\nFarm all that evening.", "He would be near her as long as he could.", "\"Hey-day!", "There's Adam along wi' Dinah,\" said Mr. Poyser, as he opened\nthe far gate into the Home Close.", "\"I couldna think how he happened away\nfrom church.", "Why,\" added good Martin, after a moment's pause, \"what dost\nthink has just jumped into my head?\"", "\"Summat as hadna far to jump, for it's just under our nose.", "You mean as\nAdam's fond o' Dinah.\"", "\"Aye!", "hast ever had any notion of it before?\"", "\"To be sure I have,\" said Mrs. Poyser, who always declined, if possible,\nto be taken by surprise.", "\"I'm not one o' those as can see the cat i' the\ndairy an' wonder what she's come after.\"", "\"Thee never saidst a word to me about it.\"", "\"Well, I aren't like a bird-clapper, forced to make a rattle when the\nwind blows on me.", "I can keep my own counsel when there's no good i'\nspeaking.\"", "\"But Dinah 'll ha' none o' him.", "Dost think she will?\"", "\"Nay,\" said Mrs. Poyser, not sufficiently on her guard against a\npossible surprise, \"she'll never marry anybody, if he isn't a Methodist\nand a cripple.\"", "\"It 'ud ha' been a pretty thing though for 'em t' marry,\" said Martin,\nturning his head on one side, as if in pleased contemplation of his new\nidea.", "\"Thee'dst ha' liked it too, wouldstna?\"", "\"Ah!", "I should.", "I should ha' been sure of her then, as she wouldn't\ngo away from me to Snowfield, welly thirty mile off, and me not got a\ncreatur to look to, only neighbours, as are no kin to me, an' most of\n'em women as I'd be ashamed to show my face, if my dairy things war like\ntheir'n.", "There may well be streaky butter i' the market.", "An' I should be\nglad to see the poor thing settled like a Christian woman, with a\nhouse of her own over her head; and we'd stock her well wi' linen and\nfeathers, for I love her next to my own children.", "An' she makes one feel\nsafer when she's i' the house, for she's like the driven snow: anybody\nmight sin for two as had her at their elbow.\"", "\"Dinah,\" said Tommy, running forward to meet her, \"mother says you'll\nnever marry anybody but a Methodist cripple.", "What a silly you must be!\"", "a comment which Tommy followed up by seizing Dinah with both arms, and\ndancing along by her side with incommodious fondness.", "\"Why, Adam, we missed you i' the singing to-day,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"How\nwas it?\"", "\"I wanted to see Dinah--she's going away so soon,\" said Adam.", "\"Ah, lad!", "Can you persuade her to stop somehow?", "Find her a good husband\nsomewhere i' the parish.", "If you'll do that, we'll forgive you for\nmissing church.", "But, anyway, she isna going before the harvest supper\no' Wednesday, and you must come then.", "There's Bartle Massey comin', an'\nhappen Craig.", "You'll be sure an' come, now, at seven?", "The missis wunna\nhave it a bit later.\"", "\"Aye,\" said Adam, \"I'll come if I can.", "But I can't often say what I'll\ndo beforehand, for the work often holds me longer than I expect.", "You'll\nstay till the end o' the week, Dinah?\"", "\"Yes, yes!\"", "said Mr. Poyser.", "\"We'll have no nay.\"", "\"She's no call to be in a hurry,\" observed Mrs. Poyser.", "\"Scarceness\no' victual 'ull keep: there's no need to be hasty wi' the cooking.", "An'\nscarceness is what there's the biggest stock of i' that country.\"", "Dinah smiled, but gave no promise to stay, and they talked of other\nthings through the rest of the walk, lingering in the sunshine to look\nat the great flock of geese grazing, at the new corn-ricks, and at the\nsurprising abundance of fruit on the old pear-tree; Nancy and Molly\nhaving already hastened home, side by side, each holding, carefully\nwrapped in her pocket-handkerchief, a prayer-book, in which she could\nread little beyond the large letters and the Amens.", "Surely all other leisure is hurry compared with a sunny walk through the\nfields from \"afternoon church\"--as such walks used to be in those old\nleisurely times, when the boat, gliding sleepily along the canal, was\nthe newest locomotive wonder; when Sunday books had most of them old\nbrown-leather covers, and opened with remarkable precision always in one\nplace.", "Leisure is gone--gone where the spinning-wheels are gone, and the\npack-horses, and the slow waggons, and the pedlars, who brought bargains\nto the door on sunny afternoons.", "Ingenious philosophers tell you,\nperhaps, that the great work of the steam-engine is to create leisure\nfor mankind.", "Do not believe them: it only creates a vacuum for eager\nthought to rush in.", "Even idleness is eager now--eager for amusement;\nprone to excursion-trains, art museums, periodical literature, and\nexciting novels; prone even to scientific theorizing and cursory peeps\nthrough microscopes.", "Old Leisure was quite a different personage.", "He\nonly read one newspaper, innocent of leaders, and was free from\nthat periodicity of sensations which we call post-time.", "He was a\ncontemplative, rather stout gentleman, of excellent digestion; of quiet\nperceptions, undiseased by hypothesis; happy in his inability to know\nthe causes of things, preferring the things themselves.", "He lived chiefly\nin the country, among pleasant seats and homesteads, and was fond of\nsauntering by the fruit-tree wall and scenting the apricots when they\nwere warmed by the morning sunshine, or of sheltering himself under\nthe orchard boughs at noon, when the summer pears were falling.", "He knew\nnothing of weekday services, and thought none the worse of the Sunday\nsermon if it allowed him to sleep from the text to the blessing; liking\nthe afternoon service best, because the prayers were the shortest,\nand not ashamed to say so; for he had an easy, jolly conscience,\nbroad-backed like himself, and able to carry a great deal of beer or\nport-wine, not being made squeamish by doubts and qualms and lofty\naspirations.", "Life was not a task to him, but a sinecure.", "He fingered the\nguineas in his pocket, and ate his dinners, and slept the sleep of the\nirresponsible, for had he not kept up his character by going to church\non the Sunday afternoons?", "Fine old Leisure!", "Do not be severe upon him, and judge him by our modern\nstandard.", "He never went to Exeter Hall, or heard a popular preacher, or\nread Tracts for the Times or Sartor Resartus." ]

[ "\"Your mother is not ill again, I hope, Adam?\"", "Can anything be\nholier than that?", "The more knowledge a man has, the better\nhe'll do's work; and feeling's a sort o' knowledge.\"", "I won't ask you to go to church\nwith me of a Sunday.", "But it's natural you shouldn't, for I'm not\nso good as you.", "\"Nay, Adam.", "He would be near her as long as he could.", "I should.", "\"I wanted to see Dinah--she's going away so soon,\" said Adam.", "Surely all other leisure is hurry compared with a sunny walk through the\nfields from \"afternoon church\"--as such walks used to be in those old\nleisurely times, when the boat, gliding sleepily along the canal, was\nthe newest locomotive wonder; when Sunday books had most of them old\nbrown-leather covers, and opened with remarkable precision always in one\nplace." ]

[ "\"Tell me--tell me if you can love me better than a brother?\"", "You'd follow your\nconscience as much as you do now.\"", "Yesterday he would have said to her\nwithout any difficulty, \"I came to see you, Dinah: I knew the rest were\nnot at home.\"", "Life was not a task to him, but a sinecure.", "\"Why, Adam, we missed you i' the singing to-day,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Dinah,\" said Adam mournfully, \"you can't love me so well as I love you,\nelse you'd have no doubts.", "The door opened, and Dinah stood before him, colouring deeply with the\ngreat surprise of seeing Adam at this hour, when she knew it was his\nregular practice to be at church.", "Adam went on presently with his pleading, \"And\nyou can do almost as much as you do now.", "We must part.\"", "There's Adam along wi' Dinah,\" said Mr. Poyser, as he opened\nthe far gate into the Home Close." ]

[ "But I have not faith that it would be so\nwith me, for since my affections have been set above measure on you, I\nhave had less peace and joy in God.", "I have felt as it were a division\nin my heart.", "And think how it is with me, Adam.", "That life I have led is\nlike a land I have trodden in blessedness since my childhood; and if\nI long for a moment to follow the voice which calls me to another land\nthat I know not, I cannot but fear that my soul might hereafter yearn\nfor that early blessedness which I had forsaken; and where doubt enters\nthere is not perfect love.", "I must wait for clearer guidance.", "I must go\nfrom you, and we must submit ourselves entirely to the Divine Will.", "We are sometimes required to lay our natural lawful affections on the\naltar.\"", "Adam dared not plead again, for Dinah's was not the voice of caprice or\ninsincerity.", "But it was very hard for him; his eyes got dim as he looked\nat her.", "\"But you may come to feel satisfied...to feel that you may come to me\nagain, and we may never part, Dinah?\"", "\"We must submit ourselves, Adam." ]

[ "\n\nIT was about three o'clock when Adam entered the farmyard and roused\nAlick and the dogs from their Sunday dozing.", "Alick said everybody was\ngone to church \"but th' young missis\"--so he called Dinah--but this\ndid not disappoint Adam, although the \"everybody\" was so liberal as\nto include Nancy the dairymaid, whose works of necessity were not\nunfrequently incompatible with church-going.", "There was perfect stillness about the house.", "The doors were all closed,\nand the very stones and tubs seemed quieter than usual.", "Adam heard the\nwater gently dripping from the pump--that was the only sound--and\nhe knocked at the house door rather softly, as was suitable in that\nstillness.", "The door opened, and Dinah stood before him, colouring deeply with the\ngreat surprise of seeing Adam at this hour, when she knew it was his\nregular practice to be at church.", "Yesterday he would have said to her\nwithout any difficulty, \"I came to see you, Dinah: I knew the rest were\nnot at home.\"", "But to-day something prevented him from saying that, and\nhe put out his hand to her in silence.", "Neither of them spoke, and yet\nboth wished they could speak, as Adam entered, and they sat down.", "Dinah\ntook the chair she had just left; it was at the corner of the table\nnear the window, and there was a book lying on the table, but it was not\nopen.", "Old Leisure was quite a different personage.", "He\nonly read one newspaper, innocent of leaders, and was free from\nthat periodicity of sensations which we call post-time.", "He was a\ncontemplative, rather stout gentleman, of excellent digestion; of quiet\nperceptions, undiseased by hypothesis; happy in his inability to know\nthe causes of things, preferring the things themselves.", "He lived chiefly\nin the country, among pleasant seats and homesteads, and was fond of\nsauntering by the fruit-tree wall and scenting the apricots when they\nwere warmed by the morning sunshine, or of sheltering himself under\nthe orchard boughs at noon, when the summer pears were falling.", "He knew\nnothing of weekday services, and thought none the worse of the Sunday\nsermon if it allowed him to sleep from the text to the blessing; liking\nthe afternoon service best, because the prayers were the shortest,\nand not ashamed to say so; for he had an easy, jolly conscience,\nbroad-backed like himself, and able to carry a great deal of beer or\nport-wine, not being made squeamish by doubts and qualms and lofty\naspirations.", "Life was not a task to him, but a sinecure.", "He fingered the\nguineas in his pocket, and ate his dinners, and slept the sleep of the\nirresponsible, for had he not kept up his character by going to church\non the Sunday afternoons?", "Fine old Leisure!", "Do not be severe upon him, and judge him by our modern\nstandard.", "He never went to Exeter Hall, or heard a popular preacher, or\nread Tracts for the Times or Sartor Resartus." ]

[ "\n\nAs Adam was going homeward, on Wednesday evening, in the six o'clock\nsunlight, he saw in the distance the last load of barley winding its way\ntowards the yard-gate of the Hall Farm, and heard the chant of \"Harvest\nHome!\"", "rising and sinking like a wave.", "Fainter and fainter, and more\nmusical through the growing distance, the falling dying sound still\nreached him, as he neared the Willow Brook.", "The low westering sun shone\nright on the shoulders of the old Binton Hills, turning the unconscious\nsheep into bright spots of light; shone on the windows of the cottage\ntoo, and made them a-flame with a glory beyond that of amber or\namethyst.", "It was enough to make Adam feel that he was in a great temple,\nand that the distant chant was a sacred song.", "\"It's wonderful,\" he thought, \"how that sound goes to one's heart almost\nlike a funeral bell, for all it tells one o' the joyfullest time o' the\nyear, and the time when men are mostly the thankfullest.", "I suppose it's\na bit hard to us to think anything's over and gone in our lives; and\nthere's a parting at the root of all our joys.", "It's like what I feel\nabout Dinah.", "I should never ha' come to know that her love 'ud be the\ngreatest o' blessings to me, if what I counted a blessing hadn't been\nwrenched and torn away from me, and left me with a greater need, so as I\ncould crave and hunger for a greater and a better comfort.\"", "He expected to see Dinah again this evening, and get leave to accompany\nher as far as Oakbourne; and then he would ask her to fix some time when\nhe might go to Snowfield, and learn whether the last best hope that had\nbeen born to him must be resigned like the rest.", "The work he had to do\nat home, besides putting on his best clothes, made it seven before he\nwas on his way again to the Hall Farm, and it was questionable whether,\nwith his longest and quickest strides, he should be there in time even\nfor the roast beef, which came after the plum pudding, for Mrs. Poyser's\nsupper would be punctual.", "Great was the clatter of knives and pewter plates and tin cans when Adam\nentered the house, but there was no hum of voices to this accompaniment:\nthe eating of excellent roast beef, provided free of expense, was too\nserious a business to those good farm-labourers to be performed with\na divided attention, even if they had had anything to say to each\nother--which they had not.", "And Mr. Poyser, at the head of the table, was\ntoo busy with his carving to listen to Bartle Massey's or Mr. Craig's\nready talk.", "\"Here, Adam,\" said Mrs. Poyser, who was standing and looking on to see\nthat Molly and Nancy did their duty as waiters, \"here's a place kept for\nyou between Mr. Massey and the boys.", "It's a poor tale you couldn't come\nto see the pudding when it was whole.\"", "Adam looked anxiously round for a fourth woman's figure, but Dinah\nwas not there.", "He was almost afraid of asking about her; besides, his\nattention was claimed by greetings, and there remained the hope that\nDinah was in the house, though perhaps disinclined to festivities on the\neve of her departure.", "It was a goodly sight--that table, with Martin Poyser's round\ngood-humoured face and large person at the head of it helping his\nservants to the fragrant roast beef and pleased when the empty plates\ncame again.", "Martin, though usually blest with a good appetite, really\nforgot to finish his own beef to-night--it was so pleasant to him to\nlook on in the intervals of carving and see how the others enjoyed their\nsupper; for were they not men who, on all the days of the year except\nChristmas Day and Sundays, ate their cold dinner, in a makeshift manner,\nunder the hedgerows, and drank their beer out of wooden bottles--with\nrelish certainly, but with their mouths towards the zenith, after a\nfashion more endurable to ducks than to human bipeds.", "Martin Poyser had\nsome faint conception of the flavour such men must find in hot roast\nbeef and fresh-drawn ale.", "He held his head on one side and screwed\nup his mouth, as he nudged Bartle Massey, and watched half-witted Tom\nTholer, otherwise known as \"Tom Saft,\" receiving his second plateful of\nbeef.", "A grin of delight broke over Tom's face as the plate was set down\nbefore him, between his knife and fork, which he held erect, as if\nthey had been sacred tapers.", "But the delight was too strong to continue\nsmouldering in a grin--it burst out the next instant in a long-drawn\n\"haw, haw!\"", "followed by a sudden collapse into utter gravity, as the\nknife and fork darted down on the prey.", "Martin Poyser's large person\nshook with his silent unctuous laugh.", "He turned towards Mrs. Poyser to\nsee if she too had been observant of Tom, and the eyes of husband and\nwife met in a glance of good-natured amusement.", "\"Tom Saft\" was a great favourite on the farm, where he played the part\nof the old jester, and made up for his practical deficiencies by his\nsuccess in repartee.", "His hits, I imagine, were those of the flail, which\nfalls quite at random, but nevertheless smashes an insect now and then.", "They were much quoted at sheep-shearing and haymaking times, but I\nrefrain from recording them here, lest Tom's wit should prove to be\nlike that of many other bygone jesters eminent in their day--rather of a\ntemporary nature, not dealing with the deeper and more lasting relations\nof things.", "Tom excepted, Martin Poyser had some pride in his servants and\nlabourers, thinking with satisfaction that they were the best worth\ntheir pay of any set on the estate.", "There was Kester Bale, for example\n(Beale, probably, if the truth were known, but he was called Bale, and\nwas not conscious of any claim to a fifth letter), the old man with the\nclose leather cap and the network of wrinkles on his sun-browned face.", "Was there any man in Loamshire who knew better the \"natur\" of all\nfarming work?", "He was one of those invaluable labourers who can not only\nturn their hand to everything, but excel in everything they turn their\nhand to.", "It is true Kester's knees were much bent outward by this time,\nand he walked with a perpetual curtsy, as if he were among the most\nreverent of men.", "And so he was; but I am obliged to admit that the\nobject of his reverence was his own skill, towards which he performed\nsome rather affecting acts of worship.", "He always thatched the ricks--for\nif anything were his forte more than another, it was thatching--and when\nthe last touch had been put to the last beehive rick, Kester, whose home\nlay at some distance from the farm, would take a walk to the rick-yard\nin his best clothes on a Sunday morning and stand in the lane, at a due\ndistance, to contemplate his own thatching, walking about to get each\nrick from the proper point of view.", "As he curtsied along, with his eyes\nupturned to the straw knobs imitative of golden globes at the summits\nof the beehive ricks, which indeed were gold of the best sort, you might\nhave imagined him to be engaged in some pagan act of adoration.", "Kester was an old bachelor and reputed to have stockings full of coin,\nconcerning which his master cracked a joke with him every pay-night:\nnot a new unseasoned joke, but a good old one, that had been tried\nmany times before and had worn well.", "\"Th' young measter's a merry mon,\"\nKester frequently remarked; for having begun his career by frightening\naway the crows under the last Martin Poyser but one, he could never\ncease to account the reigning Martin a young master.", "I am not ashamed\nof commemorating old Kester.", "You and I are indebted to the hard hands of\nsuch men--hands that have long ago mingled with the soil they tilled so\nfaithfully, thriftily making the best they could of the earth's fruits,\nand receiving the smallest share as their own wages.", "Then, at the end of the table, opposite his master, there was Alick, the\nshepherd and head-man, with the ruddy face and broad shoulders, not on\nthe best terms with old Kester; indeed, their intercourse was confined\nto an occasional snarl, for though they probably differed little\nconcerning hedging and ditching and the treatment of ewes, there was a\nprofound difference of opinion between them as to their own respective\nmerits.", "When Tityrus and Meliboeus happen to be on the same farm, they\nare not sentimentally polite to each other.", "Alick, indeed, was not by\nany means a honeyed man.", "His speech had usually something of a snarl\nin it, and his broad-shouldered aspect something of the bull-dog\nexpression--\"Don't you meddle with me, and I won't meddle with you.\"", "But\nhe was honest even to the splitting of an oat-grain rather than he\nwould take beyond his acknowledged share, and as \"close-fisted\" with\nhis master's property as if it had been his own--throwing very small\nhandfuls of damaged barley to the chickens, because a large handful\naffected his imagination painfully with a sense of profusion.", "Good-tempered Tim, the waggoner, who loved his horses, had his grudge\nagainst Alick in the matter of corn.", "They rarely spoke to each other,\nand never looked at each other, even over their dish of cold potatoes;\nbut then, as this was their usual mode of behaviour towards all mankind,\nit would be an unsafe conclusion that they had more than transient fits\nof unfriendliness.", "The bucolic character at Hayslope, you perceive,\nwas not of that entirely genial, merry, broad-grinning sort, apparently\nobserved in most districts visited by artists.", "The mild radiance of a\nsmile was a rare sight on a field-labourer's face, and there was seldom\nany gradation between bovine gravity and a laugh.", "Nor was every labourer\nso honest as our friend Alick.", "At this very table, among Mr. Poyser's\nmen, there is that big Ben Tholoway, a very powerful thresher, but\ndetected more than once in carrying away his master's corn in his\npockets--an action which, as Ben was not a philosopher, could hardly be\nascribed to absence of mind.", "However, his master had forgiven him, and\ncontinued to employ him, for the Tholoways had lived on the Common time\nout of mind, and had always worked for the Poysers.", "And on the whole, I\ndaresay, society was not much the worse because Ben had not six months\nof it at the treadmill, for his views of depredation were narrow, and\nthe House of Correction might have enlarged them.", "As it was, Ben ate his\nroast beef to-night with a serene sense of having stolen nothing more\nthan a few peas and beans as seed for his garden since the last harvest\nsupper, and felt warranted in thinking that Alick's suspicious eye, for\never upon him, was an injury to his innocence.", "But NOW the roast beef was finished and the cloth was drawn, leaving\na fair large deal table for the bright drinking-cans, and the foaming\nbrown jugs, and the bright brass candlesticks, pleasant to behold.", "NOW,\nthe great ceremony of the evening was to begin--the harvest-song,\nin which every man must join.", "He might be in tune, if he liked to be\nsingular, but he must not sit with closed lips.", "The movement was obliged\nto be in triple time; the rest was ad libitum.", "As to the origin of this song--whether it came in its actual state from\nthe brain of a single rhapsodist, or was gradually perfected by a school\nor succession of rhapsodists, I am ignorant.", "There is a stamp of\nunity, of individual genius upon it, which inclines me to the former\nhypothesis, though I am not blind to the consideration that this unity\nmay rather have arisen from that consensus of many minds which was a\ncondition of primitive thought, foreign to our modern consciousness.", "Some will perhaps think that they detect in the first quatrain\nan indication of a lost line, which later rhapsodists, failing in\nimaginative vigour, have supplied by the feeble device of iteration.", "Others, however, may rather maintain that this very iteration is an\noriginal felicity, to which none but the most prosaic minds can be\ninsensible.", "The ceremony connected with the song was a drinking ceremony.", "(That\nis perhaps a painful fact, but then, you know, we cannot reform our\nforefathers.)", "During the first and second quatrain, sung decidedly\nforte, no can was filled.", "Here's a health unto our master,\n The founder of the feast;\n Here's a health unto our master\n And to our mistress!", "And may his doings prosper,\n Whate'er he takes in hand,\n For we are all his servants,\n And are at his command.", "But now, immediately before the third quatrain or chorus, sung\nfortissimo, with emphatic raps of the table, which gave the effect of\ncymbals and drum together, Alick's can was filled, and he was bound to\nempty it before the chorus ceased.", "Then drink, boys, drink!", "And see ye do not spill,\n For if ye do, ye shall drink two,\n For 'tis our master's will.", "When Alick had gone successfully through this test of steady-handed\nmanliness, it was the turn of old Kester, at his right hand--and so on,\ntill every man had drunk his initiatory pint under the stimulus of the\nchorus.", "Tom Saft--the rogue--took care to spill a little by accident;\nbut Mrs. Poyser (too officiously, Tom thought) interfered to prevent the\nexaction of the penalty.", "To any listener outside the door it would have been the reverse of\nobvious why the \"Drink, boys, drink!\"", "should have such an immediate and\noften-repeated encore; but once entered, he would have seen that all\nfaces were at present sober, and most of them serious--it was the\nregular and respectable thing for those excellent farm-labourers to do,\nas much as for elegant ladies and gentlemen to smirk and bow over their\nwine-glasses.", "Bartle Massey, whose ears were rather sensitive, had\ngone out to see what sort of evening it was at an early stage in the\nceremony, and had not finished his contemplation until a silence of\nfive minutes declared that \"Drink, boys, drink!\"", "was not likely to\nbegin again for the next twelvemonth.", "Much to the regret of the boys\nand Totty: on them the stillness fell rather flat, after that glorious\nthumping of the table, towards which Totty, seated on her father's knee,\ncontributed with her small might and small fist.", "When Bartle re-entered, however, there appeared to be a general desire\nfor solo music after the choral.", "Nancy declared that Tim the waggoner\nknew a song and was \"allays singing like a lark i' the stable,\"\nwhereupon Mr. Poyser said encouragingly, \"Come, Tim, lad, let's hear\nit.\"", "Tim looked sheepish, tucked down his head, and said he couldn't\nsing, but this encouraging invitation of the master's was echoed all\nround the table.", "It was a conversational opportunity: everybody could\nsay, \"Come, Tim,\" except Alick, who never relaxed into the frivolity of\nunnecessary speech.", "At last, Tim's next neighbour, Ben Tholoway, began\nto give emphasis to his speech by nudges, at which Tim, growing rather\nsavage, said, \"Let me alooan, will ye?", "Else I'll ma' ye sing a toon ye\nwonna like.\"", "A good-tempered waggoner's patience has limits, and Tim was\nnot to be urged further.", "\"Well, then, David, ye're the lad to sing,\" said Ben, willing to show\nthat he was not discomfited by this check.", "\"Sing 'My loove's a roos\nwi'out a thorn.'\"", "The amatory David was a young man of an unconscious abstracted\nexpression, which was due probably to a squint of superior intensity\nrather than to any mental characteristic; for he was not indifferent to\nBen's invitation, but blushed and laughed and rubbed his sleeve over his\nmouth in a way that was regarded as a symptom of yielding.", "And for some\ntime the company appeared to be much in earnest about the desire to hear\nDavid's song.", "But in vain.", "The lyricism of the evening was in the cellar\nat present, and was not to be drawn from that retreat just yet.", "Meanwhile the conversation at the head of the table had taken a\npolitical turn.", "Mr. Craig was not above talking politics occasionally,\nthough he piqued himself rather on a wise insight than on specific\ninformation.", "He saw so far beyond the mere facts of a case that really\nit was superfluous to know them.", "\"I'm no reader o' the paper myself,\" he observed to-night, as he filled\nhis pipe, \"though I might read it fast enough if I liked, for there's\nMiss Lyddy has 'em and 's done with 'em i' no time.", "But there's Mills,\nnow, sits i' the chimney-corner and reads the paper pretty nigh\nfrom morning to night, and when he's got to th' end on't he's more\naddle-headed than he was at the beginning.", "He's full o' this peace now,\nas they talk on; he's been reading and reading, and thinks he's got to\nthe bottom on't.", "'Why, Lor' bless you, Mills,' says I, 'you see no more\ninto this thing nor you can see into the middle of a potato.", "I'll tell\nyou what it is: you think it'll be a fine thing for the country.", "And I'm\nnot again' it--mark my words--I'm not again' it.", "But it's my opinion as\nthere's them at the head o' this country as are worse enemies to us\nnor Bony and all the mounseers he's got at 's back; for as for the\nmounseers, you may skewer half-a-dozen of 'em at once as if they war\nfrogs.'\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Martin Poyser, listening with an air of much\nintelligence and edification, \"they ne'er ate a bit o' beef i' their\nlives.", "Mostly sallet, I reckon.\"", "\"And says I to Mills,\" continued Mr. Craig, \"'Will you try to make me\nbelieve as furriners like them can do us half th' harm them ministers\ndo with their bad government?", "If King George 'ud turn 'em all away and\ngovern by himself, he'd see everything righted.", "He might take on Billy\nPitt again if he liked; but I don't see myself what we want wi' anybody\nbesides King and Parliament.", "It's that nest o' ministers does the\nmischief, I tell you.'\"", "\"Ah, it's fine talking,\" observed Mrs. Poyser, who was now seated near\nher husband, with Totty on her lap--\"it's fine talking.", "It's hard work\nto tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.\"", "\"As for this peace,\" said Mr. Poyser, turning his head on one side in\na dubitative manner and giving a precautionary puff to his pipe between\neach sentence, \"I don't know.", "Th' war's a fine thing for the country,\nan' how'll you keep up prices wi'out it?", "An' them French are a wicked\nsort o' folks, by what I can make out.", "What can you do better nor fight\n'em?\"", "\"Ye're partly right there, Poyser,\" said Mr. Craig, \"but I'm not again'\nthe peace--to make a holiday for a bit.", "We can break it when we like,\nan' I'm in no fear o' Bony, for all they talk so much o' his cliverness.", "That's what I says to Mills this morning.", "Lor' bless you, he sees no\nmore through Bony!...why, I put him up to more in three minutes than he\ngets from's paper all the year round.", "Says I, 'Am I a gardener as knows\nhis business, or arn't I, Mills?", "Answer me that.'", "'To be sure y' are,\nCraig,' says he--he's not a bad fellow, Mills isn't, for a butler, but\nweak i' the head.", "'Well,' says I, 'you talk o' Bony's cliverness; would\nit be any use my being a first-rate gardener if I'd got nought but a\nquagmire to work on?'", "'No,' says he.", "'Well,' I says, 'that's just\nwhat it is wi' Bony.", "I'll not deny but he may be a bit cliver--he's\nno Frenchman born, as I understand--but what's he got at's back but\nmounseers?'\"", "Mr. Craig paused a moment with an emphatic stare after this triumphant\nspecimen of Socratic argument, and then added, thumping the table rather\nfiercely, \"Why, it's a sure thing--and there's them 'ull bear witness\nto't--as i' one regiment where there was one man a-missing, they put\nthe regimentals on a big monkey, and they fit him as the shell fits the\nwalnut, and you couldn't tell the monkey from the mounseers!\"", "\"Ah!", "Think o' that, now!\"", "said Mr. Poyser, impressed at once with the\npolitical bearings of the fact and with its striking interest as an\nanecdote in natural history.", "\"Come, Craig,\" said Adam, \"that's a little too strong.", "You don't believe\nthat.", "It's all nonsense about the French being such poor sticks.", "Mr.\nIrwine's seen 'em in their own country, and he says they've plenty o'\nfine fellows among 'em.", "And as for knowledge, and contrivances, and\nmanufactures, there's a many things as we're a fine sight behind 'em in.", "It's poor foolishness to run down your enemies.", "Why, Nelson and the\nrest of 'em 'ud have no merit i' beating 'em, if they were such offal as\nfolks pretend.\"", "Mr. Poyser looked doubtfully at Mr. Craig, puzzled by this opposition of\nauthorities.", "Mr. Irwine's testimony was not to be disputed; but, on the\nother hand, Craig was a knowing fellow, and his view was less startling.", "Martin had never \"heard tell\" of the French being good for much.", "Mr.\nCraig had found no answer but such as was implied in taking a long\ndraught of ale and then looking down fixedly at the proportions of his\nown leg, which he turned a little outward for that purpose, when Bartle\nMassey returned from the fireplace, where he had been smoking his\nfirst pipe in quiet, and broke the silence by saying, as he thrust his\nforefinger into the canister, \"Why, Adam, how happened you not to be at\nchurch on Sunday?", "Answer me that, you rascal.", "The anthem went limping\nwithout you.", "Are you going to disgrace your schoolmaster in his old\nage?\"", "\"No, Mr. Massey,\" said Adam.", "\"Mr. and Mrs. Poyser can tell you where I\nwas.", "I was in no bad company.\"", "\"She's gone, Adam--gone to Snowfield,\" said Mr. Poyser, reminded of\nDinah for the first time this evening.", "\"I thought you'd ha' persuaded\nher better.", "Nought 'ud hold her, but she must go yesterday forenoon.", "The\nmissis has hardly got over it.", "I thought she'd ha' no sperrit for th'\nharvest supper.\"", "Mrs. Poyser had thought of Dinah several times since Adam had come in,\nbut she had had \"no heart\" to mention the bad news.", "\"What!\"", "said Bartle, with an air of disgust.", "\"Was there a woman\nconcerned?", "Then I give you up, Adam.\"", "\"But it's a woman you'n spoke well on, Bartle,\" said Mr. Poyser.", "\"Come\nnow, you canna draw back; you said once as women wouldna ha' been a bad\ninvention if they'd all been like Dinah.\"", "\"I meant her voice, man--I meant her voice, that was all,\" said Bartle.", "\"I can bear to hear her speak without wanting to put wool in my ears.", "As\nfor other things, I daresay she's like the rest o' the women--thinks\ntwo and two 'll come to make five, if she cries and bothers enough about\nit.\"", "\"Aye, aye!\"", "said Mrs. Poyser; \"one 'ud think, an' hear some folks talk,\nas the men war 'cute enough to count the corns in a bag o' wheat wi'\nonly smelling at it.", "They can see through a barn-door, they can.", "Perhaps\nthat's the reason THEY can see so little o' this side on't.\"", "Martin Poyser shook with delighted laughter and winked at Adam, as much\nas to say the schoolmaster was in for it now.", "\"Ah!\"", "said Bartle sneeringly, \"the women are quick enough--they're quick\nenough.", "They know the rights of a story before they hear it, and can\ntell a man what his thoughts are before he knows 'em himself.\"", "\"Like enough,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"for the men are mostly so slow, their\nthoughts overrun 'em, an' they can only catch 'em by the tail.", "I can\ncount a stocking-top while a man's getting's tongue ready an' when he\nouts wi' his speech at last, there's little broth to be made on't.", "It's\nyour dead chicks take the longest hatchin'.", "Howiver, I'm not denyin' the\nwomen are foolish: God Almighty made 'em to match the men.\"", "\"Match!\"", "said Bartle.", "\"Aye, as vinegar matches one's teeth.", "If a man\nsays a word, his wife 'll match it with a contradiction; if he's a\nmind for hot meat, his wife 'll match it with cold bacon; if he laughs,\nshe'll match him with whimpering.", "She's such a match as the horse-fly\nis to th' horse: she's got the right venom to sting him with--the right\nvenom to sting him with.\"", "\"Yes,\" said Mrs. Poyser, \"I know what the men like--a poor soft, as 'ud\nsimper at 'em like the picture o' the sun, whether they did right or\nwrong, an' say thank you for a kick, an' pretend she didna know which\nend she stood uppermost, till her husband told her.", "That's what a man\nwants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure o' one fool as 'ull tell\nhim he's wise.", "But there's some men can do wi'out that--they think so\nmuch o' themselves a'ready.", "An' that's how it is there's old bachelors.\"", "\"Come, Craig,\" said Mr. Poyser jocosely, \"you mun get married pretty\nquick, else you'll be set down for an old bachelor; an' you see what the\nwomen 'ull think on you.\"", "\"Well,\" said Mr. Craig, willing to conciliate Mrs. Poyser and setting a\nhigh value on his own compliments, \"I like a cleverish woman--a woman o'\nsperrit--a managing woman.\"", "\"You're out there, Craig,\" said Bartle, dryly; \"you're out there.", "You\njudge o' your garden-stuff on a better plan than that.", "You pick the\nthings for what they can excel in--for what they can excel in.", "You don't\nvalue your peas for their roots, or your carrots for their flowers.", "Now,\nthat's the way you should choose women.", "Their cleverness 'll never come\nto much--never come to much--but they make excellent simpletons, ripe\nand strong-flavoured.\"", "\"What dost say to that?\"", "said Mr. Poyser, throwing himself back and\nlooking merrily at his wife.", "\"Say!\"", "answered Mrs. Poyser, with dangerous fire kindling in her\neye.", "\"Why, I say as some folks' tongues are like the clocks as run\non strikin', not to tell you the time o' the day, but because there's\nsummat wrong i' their own inside...\"\n\nMrs. Poyser would probably have brought her rejoinder to a further\nclimax, if every one's attention had not at this moment been called to\nthe other end of the table, where the lyricism, which had at first only\nmanifested itself by David's sotto voce performance of \"My love's a rose\nwithout a thorn,\" had gradually assumed a rather deafening and complex\ncharacter.", "Tim, thinking slightly of David's vocalization, was impelled\nto supersede that feeble buzz by a spirited commencement of \"Three Merry\nMowers,\" but David was not to be put down so easily, and showed himself\ncapable of a copious crescendo, which was rendering it doubtful whether\nthe rose would not predominate over the mowers, when old Kester, with\nan entirely unmoved and immovable aspect, suddenly set up a quavering\ntreble--as if he had been an alarum, and the time was come for him to go\noff.", "The company at Alick's end of the table took this form of vocal\nentertainment very much as a matter of course, being free from musical\nprejudices; but Bartle Massey laid down his pipe and put his fingers in\nhis ears; and Adam, who had been longing to go ever since he had heard\nDinah was not in the house, rose and said he must bid good-night.", "\"I'll go with you, lad,\" said Bartle; \"I'll go with you before my ears\nare split.\"", "\"I'll go round by the Common and see you home, if you like, Mr. Massey,\"\nsaid Adam.", "\"Aye, aye!\"", "said Bartle; \"then we can have a bit o' talk together.", "I\nnever get hold of you now.\"", "\"Eh!", "It's a pity but you'd sit it out,\" said Martin Poyser.", "\"They'll all\ngo soon, for th' missis niver lets 'em stay past ten.\"", "But Adam was resolute, so the good-nights were said, and the two friends\nturned out on their starlight walk together.", "\"There's that poor fool, Vixen, whimpering for me at home,\" said Bartle.", "\"I can never bring her here with me for fear she should be struck with\nMrs. Poyser's eye, and the poor bitch might go limping for ever after.\"", "\"I've never any need to drive Gyp back,\" said Adam, laughing.", "\"He always\nturns back of his own head when he finds out I'm coming here.\"", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Bartle.", "\"A terrible woman!--made of needles, made of\nneedles.", "But I stick to Martin--I shall always stick to Martin.", "And\nhe likes the needles, God help him!", "He's a cushion made on purpose for\n'em.\"", "\"But she's a downright good-natur'd woman, for all that,\" said Adam,\n\"and as true as the daylight.", "She's a bit cross wi' the dogs when they\noffer to come in th' house, but if they depended on her, she'd take care\nand have 'em well fed.", "If her tongue's keen, her heart's tender: I've\nseen that in times o' trouble.", "She's one o' those women as are better\nthan their word.\"", "\"Well, well,\" said Bartle, \"I don't say th' apple isn't sound at the\ncore; but it sets my teeth on edge--it sets my teeth on edge.\"" ]

[ "\"Here, Adam,\" said Mrs. Poyser, who was standing and looking on to see\nthat Molly and Nancy did their duty as waiters, \"here's a place kept for\nyou between Mr. Massey and the boys.", "When Tityrus and Meliboeus happen to be on the same farm, they\nare not sentimentally polite to each other.", "To any listener outside the door it would have been the reverse of\nobvious why the \"Drink, boys, drink!\"", "Bartle Massey, whose ears were rather sensitive, had\ngone out to see what sort of evening it was at an early stage in the\nceremony, and had not finished his contemplation until a silence of\nfive minutes declared that \"Drink, boys, drink!\"", "It's hard work\nto tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.\"", "Answer me that.'", "\"Come\nnow, you canna draw back; you said once as women wouldna ha' been a bad\ninvention if they'd all been like Dinah.\"", "She's such a match as the horse-fly\nis to th' horse: she's got the right venom to sting him with--the right\nvenom to sting him with.\"", "\"Aye, aye!\"", "But I stick to Martin--I shall always stick to Martin." ]

[ "'Well,' I says, 'that's just\nwhat it is wi' Bony.", "Kester was an old bachelor and reputed to have stockings full of coin,\nconcerning which his master cracked a joke with him every pay-night:\nnot a new unseasoned joke, but a good old one, that had been tried\nmany times before and had worn well.", "But there's Mills,\nnow, sits i' the chimney-corner and reads the paper pretty nigh\nfrom morning to night, and when he's got to th' end on't he's more\naddle-headed than he was at the beginning.", "Nought 'ud hold her, but she must go yesterday forenoon.", "When Alick had gone successfully through this test of steady-handed\nmanliness, it was the turn of old Kester, at his right hand--and so on,\ntill every man had drunk his initiatory pint under the stimulus of the\nchorus.", "\"Ah!", "Good-tempered Tim, the waggoner, who loved his horses, had his grudge\nagainst Alick in the matter of corn.", "Martin Poyser had\nsome faint conception of the flavour such men must find in hot roast\nbeef and fresh-drawn ale.", "should have such an immediate and\noften-repeated encore; but once entered, he would have seen that all\nfaces were at present sober, and most of them serious--it was the\nregular and respectable thing for those excellent farm-labourers to do,\nas much as for elegant ladies and gentlemen to smirk and bow over their\nwine-glasses.", "\"Tom Saft\" was a great favourite on the farm, where he played the part\nof the old jester, and made up for his practical deficiencies by his\nsuccess in repartee." ]

[ "If King George 'ud turn 'em all away and\ngovern by himself, he'd see everything righted.", "He might take on Billy\nPitt again if he liked; but I don't see myself what we want wi' anybody\nbesides King and Parliament.", "It's that nest o' ministers does the\nmischief, I tell you.'\"", "\"Ah, it's fine talking,\" observed Mrs. Poyser, who was now seated near\nher husband, with Totty on her lap--\"it's fine talking.", "It's hard work\nto tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.\"", "\"As for this peace,\" said Mr. Poyser, turning his head on one side in\na dubitative manner and giving a precautionary puff to his pipe between\neach sentence, \"I don't know.", "Th' war's a fine thing for the country,\nan' how'll you keep up prices wi'out it?", "An' them French are a wicked\nsort o' folks, by what I can make out.", "What can you do better nor fight\n'em?\"", "\"Ye're partly right there, Poyser,\" said Mr. Craig, \"but I'm not again'\nthe peace--to make a holiday for a bit.", "We can break it when we like,\nan' I'm in no fear o' Bony, for all they talk so much o' his cliverness." ]

[ "\n\nAs Adam was going homeward, on Wednesday evening, in the six o'clock\nsunlight, he saw in the distance the last load of barley winding its way\ntowards the yard-gate of the Hall Farm, and heard the chant of \"Harvest\nHome!\"", "rising and sinking like a wave.", "Fainter and fainter, and more\nmusical through the growing distance, the falling dying sound still\nreached him, as he neared the Willow Brook.", "The low westering sun shone\nright on the shoulders of the old Binton Hills, turning the unconscious\nsheep into bright spots of light; shone on the windows of the cottage\ntoo, and made them a-flame with a glory beyond that of amber or\namethyst.", "It was enough to make Adam feel that he was in a great temple,\nand that the distant chant was a sacred song.", "\"It's wonderful,\" he thought, \"how that sound goes to one's heart almost\nlike a funeral bell, for all it tells one o' the joyfullest time o' the\nyear, and the time when men are mostly the thankfullest.", "I suppose it's\na bit hard to us to think anything's over and gone in our lives; and\nthere's a parting at the root of all our joys.", "It's like what I feel\nabout Dinah.", "I should never ha' come to know that her love 'ud be the\ngreatest o' blessings to me, if what I counted a blessing hadn't been\nwrenched and torn away from me, and left me with a greater need, so as I\ncould crave and hunger for a greater and a better comfort.\"", "He expected to see Dinah again this evening, and get leave to accompany\nher as far as Oakbourne; and then he would ask her to fix some time when\nhe might go to Snowfield, and learn whether the last best hope that had\nbeen born to him must be resigned like the rest.", "\"Aye, aye,\" said Bartle.", "\"A terrible woman!--made of needles, made of\nneedles.", "But I stick to Martin--I shall always stick to Martin.", "And\nhe likes the needles, God help him!", "He's a cushion made on purpose for\n'em.\"", "\"But she's a downright good-natur'd woman, for all that,\" said Adam,\n\"and as true as the daylight.", "She's a bit cross wi' the dogs when they\noffer to come in th' house, but if they depended on her, she'd take care\nand have 'em well fed.", "If her tongue's keen, her heart's tender: I've\nseen that in times o' trouble.", "She's one o' those women as are better\nthan their word.\"", "\"Well, well,\" said Bartle, \"I don't say th' apple isn't sound at the\ncore; but it sets my teeth on edge--it sets my teeth on edge.\"" ]

[ "\n\nADAM understood Dinah's haste to go away, and drew hope rather than\ndiscouragement from it.", "She was fearful lest the strength of her feeling\ntowards him should hinder her from waiting and listening faithfully for\nthe ultimate guiding voice from within.", "\"I wish I'd asked her to write to me, though,\" he thought.", "\"And yet even\nthat might disturb her a bit, perhaps.", "She wants to be quite quiet\nin her old way for a while.", "And I've no right to be impatient and\ninterrupting her with my wishes.", "She's told me what her mind is,\nand she's not a woman to say one thing and mean another.", "I'll wait\npatiently.\"", "That was Adam's wise resolution, and it throve excellently for the first\ntwo or three weeks on the nourishment it got from the remembrance of\nDinah's confession that Sunday afternoon.", "There is a wonderful amount\nof sustenance in the first few words of love.", "But towards the middle\nof October the resolution began to dwindle perceptibly, and showed\ndangerous symptoms of exhaustion.", "The weeks were unusually long: Dinah\nmust surely have had more than enough time to make up her mind.", "Let a\nwoman say what she will after she has once told a man that she loves\nhim, he is a little too flushed and exalted with that first draught she\noffers him to care much about the taste of the second.", "He treads the\nearth with a very elastic step as he walks away from her, and makes\nlight of all difficulties.", "But that sort of glow dies out: memory gets\nsadly diluted with time, and is not strong enough to revive us.", "Adam\nwas no longer so confident as he had been.", "He began to fear that perhaps\nDinah's old life would have too strong a grasp upon her for any new\nfeeling to triumph.", "If she had not felt this, she would surely have\nwritten to him to give him some comfort; but it appeared that she held\nit right to discourage him.", "As Adam's confidence waned, his patience\nwaned with it, and he thought he must write himself.", "He must ask Dinah\nnot to leave him in painful doubt longer than was needful.", "He sat up\nlate one night to write her a letter, but the next morning he burnt it,\nafraid of its effect.", "It would be worse to have a discouraging answer\nby letter than from her own lips, for her presence reconciled him to her\nwill.", "You perceive how it was: Adam was hungering for the sight of Dinah, and\nwhen that sort of hunger reaches a certain stage, a lover is likely to\nstill it though he may have to put his future in pawn.", "But what harm could he do by going to Snowfield?", "Dinah could not be\ndispleased with him for it.", "She had not forbidden him to go.", "She must\nsurely expect that he would go before long.", "By the second Sunday in\nOctober this view of the case had become so clear to Adam that he was\nalready on his way to Snowfield, on horseback this time, for his hours\nwere precious now, and he had borrowed Jonathan Burge's good nag for the\njourney.", "What keen memories went along the road with him!", "He had often been to\nOakbourne and back since that first journey to Snowfield, but beyond\nOakbourne the greystone walls, the broken country, the meagre trees,\nseemed to be telling him afresh the story of that painful past which he\nknew so well by heart.", "But no story is the same to us after a lapse of\ntime--or rather, we who read it are no longer the same interpreters--and\nAdam this morning brought with him new thoughts through that grey\ncountry, thoughts which gave an altered significance to its story of the\npast.", "That is a base and selfish, even a blasphemous, spirit which rejoices\nand is thankful over the past evil that has blighted or crushed another,\nbecause it has been made a source of unforeseen good to ourselves.", "Adam\ncould never cease to mourn over that mystery of human sorrow which had\nbeen brought so close to him; he could never thank God for another's\nmisery.", "And if I were capable of that narrow-sighted joy in Adam's\nbehalf, I should still know he was not the man to feel it for himself.", "He would have shaken his head at such a sentiment and said, \"Evil's\nevil, and sorrow's sorrow, and you can't alter it's natur by wrapping\nit up in other words.", "Other folks were not created for my sake, that I\nshould think all square when things turn out well for me.\"", "But it is not ignoble to feel that the fuller life which a sad\nexperience has brought us is worth our own personal share of pain.", "Surely it is not possible to feel otherwise, any more than it would be\npossible for a man with cataract to regret the painful process by which\nhis dim blurred sight of men as trees walking had been exchanged for\nclear outline and effulgent day.", "The growth of higher feeling within\nus is like the growth of faculty, bringing with it a sense of added\nstrength.", "We can no more wish to return to a narrower sympathy than\na painter or a musician can wish to return to his cruder manner, or a\nphilosopher to his less complete formula.", "Something like this sense of enlarged being was in Adam's mind this\nSunday morning, as he rode along in vivid recollection of the past.", "His\nfeeling towards Dinah, the hope of passing his life with her, had been\nthe distant unseen point towards which that hard journey from Snowfield\neighteen months ago had been leading him.", "Tender and deep as his love\nfor Hetty had been--so deep that the roots of it would never be torn\naway--his love for Dinah was better and more precious to him, for it\nwas the outgrowth of that fuller life which had come to him from his\nacquaintance with deep sorrow.", "\"It's like as if it was a new strength to\nme,\" he said to himself, \"to love her and know as she loves me.", "I shall\nlook t' her to help me to see things right.", "For she's better than I\nam--there's less o' self in her, and pride.", "And it's a feeling as gives\nyou a sort o' liberty, as if you could walk more fearless, when you've\nmore trust in another than y' have in yourself.", "I've always been\nthinking I knew better than them as belonged to me, and that's a poor\nsort o' life, when you can't look to them nearest to you t' help you\nwith a bit better thought than what you've got inside you a'ready.\"", "It was more than two o'clock in the afternoon when Adam came in sight of\nthe grey town on the hill-side and looked searchingly towards the green\nvalley below, for the first glimpse of the old thatched roof near the\nugly red mill.", "The scene looked less harsh in the soft October sunshine\nthan it had in the eager time of early spring, and the one grand charm\nit possessed in common with all wide-stretching woodless regions--that\nit filled you with a new consciousness of the overarching sky--had a\nmilder, more soothing influence than usual, on this almost cloudless\nday.", "Adam's doubts and fears melted under this influence as the delicate\nweblike clouds had gradually melted away into the clear blue above him.", "He seemed to see Dinah's gentle face assuring him, with its looks alone,\nof all he longed to know.", "He did not expect Dinah to be at home at this hour, but he got down from\nhis horse and tied it at the little gate, that he might ask where she\nwas gone to-day.", "He had set his mind on following her and bringing her\nhome.", "She was gone to Sloman's End, a hamlet about three miles off, over\nthe hill, the old woman told him--had set off directly after morning\nchapel, to preach in a cottage there, as her habit was.", "Anybody at the\ntown would tell him the way to Sloman's End.", "So Adam got on his horse\nagain and rode to the town, putting up at the old inn and taking a\nhasty dinner there in the company of the too chatty landlord, from whose\nfriendly questions and reminiscences he was glad to escape as soon as\npossible and set out towards Sloman's End.", "With all his haste it was\nnearly four o'clock before he could set off, and he thought that as\nDinah had gone so early, she would perhaps already be near returning.", "The little, grey, desolate-looking hamlet, unscreened by sheltering\ntrees, lay in sight long before he reached it, and as he came near he\ncould hear the sound of voices singing a hymn.", "\"Perhaps that's the last\nhymn before they come away,\" Adam thought.", "\"I'll walk back a bit and\nturn again to meet her, farther off the village.\"", "He walked back till he\ngot nearly to the top of the hill again, and seated himself on a loose\nstone, against the low wall, to watch till he should see the little\nblack figure leaving the hamlet and winding up the hill.", "He chose\nthis spot, almost at the top of the hill, because it was away from all\neyes--no house, no cattle, not even a nibbling sheep near--no presence\nbut the still lights and shadows and the great embracing sky.", "She was much longer coming than he expected.", "He waited an hour at\nleast watching for her and thinking of her, while the afternoon shadows\nlengthened and the light grew softer.", "At last he saw the little black\nfigure coming from between the grey houses and gradually approaching the\nfoot of the hill.", "Slowly, Adam thought, but Dinah was really walking at\nher usual pace, with a light quiet step.", "Now she was beginning to wind\nalong the path up the hill, but Adam would not move yet; he would not\nmeet her too soon; he had set his heart on meeting her in this assured\nloneliness.", "And now he began to fear lest he should startle her too\nmuch.", "\"Yet,\" he thought, \"she's not one to be overstartled; she's always\nso calm and quiet, as if she was prepared for anything.\"", "What was she thinking of as she wound up the hill?", "Perhaps she had found\ncomplete repose without him, and had ceased to feel any need of his\nlove.", "On the verge of a decision we all tremble: hope pauses with\nfluttering wings.", "But now at last she was very near, and Adam rose from the stone wall.", "It happened that just as he walked forward, Dinah had paused and turned\nround to look back at the village--who does not pause and look back in\nmounting a hill?", "Adam was glad, for, with the fine instinct of a lover,\nhe felt that it would be best for her to hear his voice before she\nsaw him.", "He came within three paces of her and then said, \"Dinah!\"", "She\nstarted without looking round, as if she connected the sound with no\nplace.", "\"Dinah!\"", "Adam said again.", "He knew quite well what was in her\nmind.", "She was so accustomed to think of impressions as purely spiritual\nmonitions that she looked for no material visible accompaniment of the\nvoice.", "But this second time she looked round.", "What a look of yearning love it\nwas that the mild grey eyes turned on the strong dark-eyed man!", "She did\nnot start again at the sight of him; she said nothing, but moved towards\nhim so that his arm could clasp her round.", "And they walked on so in silence, while the warm tears fell.", "Adam was\ncontent, and said nothing.", "It was Dinah who spoke first.", "\"Adam,\" she said, \"it is the Divine Will.", "My soul is so knit to yours\nthat it is but a divided life I live without you.", "And this moment, now\nyou are with me, and I feel that our hearts are filled with the same\nlove.", "I have a fulness of strength to bear and do our heavenly Father's\nWill that I had lost before.\"", "Adam paused and looked into her sincere eyes.", "\"Then we'll never part any more, Dinah, till death parts us.\"", "And they kissed each other with a deep joy.", "What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they\nare joined for life--to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on\neach other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be\none with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the\nlast parting?" ]

[ "The weeks were unusually long: Dinah\nmust surely have had more than enough time to make up her mind.", "But that sort of glow dies out: memory gets\nsadly diluted with time, and is not strong enough to revive us.", "As Adam's confidence waned, his patience\nwaned with it, and he thought he must write himself.", "But what harm could he do by going to Snowfield?", "With all his haste it was\nnearly four o'clock before he could set off, and he thought that as\nDinah had gone so early, she would perhaps already be near returning.", "\"Perhaps that's the last\nhymn before they come away,\" Adam thought.", "He waited an hour at\nleast watching for her and thinking of her, while the afternoon shadows\nlengthened and the light grew softer.", "Slowly, Adam thought, but Dinah was really walking at\nher usual pace, with a light quiet step.", "But this second time she looked round.", "Adam paused and looked into her sincere eyes." ]

[ "But what harm could he do by going to Snowfield?", "He chose\nthis spot, almost at the top of the hill, because it was away from all\neyes--no house, no cattle, not even a nibbling sheep near--no presence\nbut the still lights and shadows and the great embracing sky.", "\"And yet even\nthat might disturb her a bit, perhaps.", "It would be worse to have a discouraging answer\nby letter than from her own lips, for her presence reconciled him to her\nwill.", "He knew quite well what was in her\nmind.", "As Adam's confidence waned, his patience\nwaned with it, and he thought he must write himself.", "On the verge of a decision we all tremble: hope pauses with\nfluttering wings.", "Adam was\ncontent, and said nothing.", "I shall\nlook t' her to help me to see things right.", "She did\nnot start again at the sight of him; she said nothing, but moved towards\nhim so that his arm could clasp her round." ]

[ "\"It's like as if it was a new strength to\nme,\" he said to himself, \"to love her and know as she loves me.", "I shall\nlook t' her to help me to see things right.", "For she's better than I\nam--there's less o' self in her, and pride.", "And it's a feeling as gives\nyou a sort o' liberty, as if you could walk more fearless, when you've\nmore trust in another than y' have in yourself.", "I've always been\nthinking I knew better than them as belonged to me, and that's a poor\nsort o' life, when you can't look to them nearest to you t' help you\nwith a bit better thought than what you've got inside you a'ready.\"", "It was more than two o'clock in the afternoon when Adam came in sight of\nthe grey town on the hill-side and looked searchingly towards the green\nvalley below, for the first glimpse of the old thatched roof near the\nugly red mill.", "The scene looked less harsh in the soft October sunshine\nthan it had in the eager time of early spring, and the one grand charm\nit possessed in common with all wide-stretching woodless regions--that\nit filled you with a new consciousness of the overarching sky--had a\nmilder, more soothing influence than usual, on this almost cloudless\nday.", "Adam's doubts and fears melted under this influence as the delicate\nweblike clouds had gradually melted away into the clear blue above him.", "He seemed to see Dinah's gentle face assuring him, with its looks alone,\nof all he longed to know.", "He did not expect Dinah to be at home at this hour, but he got down from\nhis horse and tied it at the little gate, that he might ask where she\nwas gone to-day.", "He had set his mind on following her and bringing her\nhome." ]

[ "\n\nADAM understood Dinah's haste to go away, and drew hope rather than\ndiscouragement from it.", "She was fearful lest the strength of her feeling\ntowards him should hinder her from waiting and listening faithfully for\nthe ultimate guiding voice from within.", "\"I wish I'd asked her to write to me, though,\" he thought.", "\"And yet even\nthat might disturb her a bit, perhaps.", "She wants to be quite quiet\nin her old way for a while.", "And I've no right to be impatient and\ninterrupting her with my wishes.", "She's told me what her mind is,\nand she's not a woman to say one thing and mean another.", "I'll wait\npatiently.\"", "That was Adam's wise resolution, and it throve excellently for the first\ntwo or three weeks on the nourishment it got from the remembrance of\nDinah's confession that Sunday afternoon.", "There is a wonderful amount\nof sustenance in the first few words of love.", "Adam was\ncontent, and said nothing.", "It was Dinah who spoke first.", "\"Adam,\" she said, \"it is the Divine Will.", "My soul is so knit to yours\nthat it is but a divided life I live without you.", "And this moment, now\nyou are with me, and I feel that our hearts are filled with the same\nlove.", "I have a fulness of strength to bear and do our heavenly Father's\nWill that I had lost before.\"", "Adam paused and looked into her sincere eyes.", "\"Then we'll never part any more, Dinah, till death parts us.\"", "And they kissed each other with a deep joy.", "What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they\nare joined for life--to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on\neach other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be\none with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the\nlast parting?" ]

[ "\n\nIN little more than a month after that meeting on the hill--on a rimy\nmorning in departing November--Adam and Dinah were married.", "It was an event much thought of in the village.", "All Mr. Burge's men had\na holiday, and all Mr. Poyser's, and most of those who had a holiday\nappeared in their best clothes at the wedding.", "I think there was hardly\nan inhabitant of Hayslope specially mentioned in this history and still\nresident in the parish on this November morning who was not either in\nchurch to see Adam and Dinah married, or near the church door to greet\nthem as they came forth.", "Mrs. Irwine and her daughters were waiting at\nthe churchyard gates in their carriage (for they had a carriage now) to\nshake hands with the bride and bridegroom and wish them well; and in the\nabsence of Miss Lydia Donnithorne at Bath, Mrs. Best, Mr. Mills, and\nMr. Craig had felt it incumbent on them to represent \"the family\" at the\nChase on the occasion.", "The churchyard walk was quite lined with familiar\nfaces, many of them faces that had first looked at Dinah when she\npreached on the Green.", "And no wonder they showed this eager interest on\nher marriage morning, for nothing like Dinah and the history which had\nbrought her and Adam Bede together had been known at Hayslope within the\nmemory of man.", "Bessy Cranage, in her neatest cap and frock, was crying, though she did\nnot exactly know why; for, as her cousin Wiry Ben, who stood near her,\njudiciously suggested, Dinah was not going away, and if Bessy was in low\nspirits, the best thing for her to do was to follow Dinah's example and\nmarry an honest fellow who was ready to have her.", "Next to Bessy, just\nwithin the church door, there were the Poyser children, peeping round\nthe corner of the pews to get a sight of the mysterious ceremony;\nTotty's face wearing an unusual air of anxiety at the idea of seeing\ncousin Dinah come back looking rather old, for in Totty's experience no\nmarried people were young.", "I envy them all the sight they had when the marriage was fairly ended\nand Adam led Dinah out of church.", "She was not in black this morning,\nfor her Aunt Poyser would by no means allow such a risk of incurring bad\nluck, and had herself made a present of the wedding dress, made all of\ngrey, though in the usual Quaker form, for on this point Dinah could not\ngive way.", "So the lily face looked out with sweet gravity from under\na grey Quaker bonnet, neither smiling nor blushing, but with lips\ntrembling a little under the weight of solemn feelings.", "Adam, as he\npressed her arm to his side, walked with his old erectness and his head\nthrown rather backward as if to face all the world better.", "But it was\nnot because he was particularly proud this morning, as is the wont of\nbridegrooms, for his happiness was of a kind that had little reference\nto men's opinion of it.", "There was a tinge of sadness in his deep joy;\nDinah knew it, and did not feel aggrieved.", "There were three other couples, following the bride and bridegroom:\nfirst, Martin Poyser, looking as cheery as a bright fire on this rimy\nmorning, led quiet Mary Burge, the bridesmaid; then came Seth serenely\nhappy, with Mrs. Poyser on his arm; and last of all Bartle Massey, with\nLisbeth--Lisbeth in a new gown and bonnet, too busy with her pride in\nher son and her delight in possessing the one daughter she had desired\nto devise a single pretext for complaint.", "Bartle Massey had consented to attend the wedding at Adam's earnest\nrequest, under protest against marriage in general and the marriage of a\nsensible man in particular.", "Nevertheless, Mr. Poyser had a joke against\nhim after the wedding dinner, to the effect that in the vestry he had\ngiven the bride one more kiss than was necessary.", "Behind this last couple came Mr. Irwine, glad at heart over this good\nmorning's work of joining Adam and Dinah.", "For he had seen Adam in the\nworst moments of his sorrow; and what better harvest from that painful\nseed-time could there be than this?", "The love that had brought hope and\ncomfort in the hour of despair, the love that had found its way to the\ndark prison cell and to poor Hetty's darker soul--this strong gentle\nlove was to be Adam's companion and helper till death.", "There was much shaking of hands mingled with \"God bless you's\" and other\ngood wishes to the four couples, at the churchyard gate, Mr. Poyser\nanswering for the rest with unwonted vivacity of tongue, for he had\nall the appropriate wedding-day jokes at his command.", "And the women, he\nobserved, could never do anything but put finger in eye at a wedding.", "Even Mrs. Poyser could not trust herself to speak as the neighbours\nshook hands with her, and Lisbeth began to cry in the face of the very\nfirst person who told her she was getting young again.", "Mr. Joshua Rann, having a slight touch of rheumatism, did not join\nin the ringing of the bells this morning, and, looking on with some\ncontempt at these informal greetings which required no official\nco-operation from the clerk, began to hum in his musical bass, \"Oh what\na joyful thing it is,\" by way of preluding a little to the effect he\nintended to produce in the wedding psalm next Sunday.", "\"That's a bit of good news to cheer Arthur,\" said Mr. Irwine to his\nmother, as they drove off.", "\"I shall write to him the first thing when we\nget home.\"" ]

[ "\n\nIN little more than a month after that meeting on the hill--on a rimy\nmorning in departing November--Adam and Dinah were married.", "Mrs. Irwine and her daughters were waiting at\nthe churchyard gates in their carriage (for they had a carriage now) to\nshake hands with the bride and bridegroom and wish them well; and in the\nabsence of Miss Lydia Donnithorne at Bath, Mrs. Best, Mr. Mills, and\nMr. Craig had felt it incumbent on them to represent \"the family\" at the\nChase on the occasion.", "She was not in black this morning,\nfor her Aunt Poyser would by no means allow such a risk of incurring bad\nluck, and had herself made a present of the wedding dress, made all of\ngrey, though in the usual Quaker form, for on this point Dinah could not\ngive way.", "Adam, as he\npressed her arm to his side, walked with his old erectness and his head\nthrown rather backward as if to face all the world better.", "But it was\nnot because he was particularly proud this morning, as is the wont of\nbridegrooms, for his happiness was of a kind that had little reference\nto men's opinion of it.", "There was a tinge of sadness in his deep joy;\nDinah knew it, and did not feel aggrieved.", "Nevertheless, Mr. Poyser had a joke against\nhim after the wedding dinner, to the effect that in the vestry he had\ngiven the bride one more kiss than was necessary.", "Behind this last couple came Mr. Irwine, glad at heart over this good\nmorning's work of joining Adam and Dinah.", "And the women, he\nobserved, could never do anything but put finger in eye at a wedding.", "Mr. Joshua Rann, having a slight touch of rheumatism, did not join\nin the ringing of the bells this morning, and, looking on with some\ncontempt at these informal greetings which required no official\nco-operation from the clerk, began to hum in his musical bass, \"Oh what\na joyful thing it is,\" by way of preluding a little to the effect he\nintended to produce in the wedding psalm next Sunday." ]

[ "There was much shaking of hands mingled with \"God bless you's\" and other\ngood wishes to the four couples, at the churchyard gate, Mr. Poyser\nanswering for the rest with unwonted vivacity of tongue, for he had\nall the appropriate wedding-day jokes at his command.", "\"That's a bit of good news to cheer Arthur,\" said Mr. Irwine to his\nmother, as they drove off.", "There was a tinge of sadness in his deep joy;\nDinah knew it, and did not feel aggrieved.", "The love that had brought hope and\ncomfort in the hour of despair, the love that had found its way to the\ndark prison cell and to poor Hetty's darker soul--this strong gentle\nlove was to be Adam's companion and helper till death.", "Mrs. Irwine and her daughters were waiting at\nthe churchyard gates in their carriage (for they had a carriage now) to\nshake hands with the bride and bridegroom and wish them well; and in the\nabsence of Miss Lydia Donnithorne at Bath, Mrs. Best, Mr. Mills, and\nMr. Craig had felt it incumbent on them to represent \"the family\" at the\nChase on the occasion.", "Nevertheless, Mr. Poyser had a joke against\nhim after the wedding dinner, to the effect that in the vestry he had\ngiven the bride one more kiss than was necessary.", "Adam, as he\npressed her arm to his side, walked with his old erectness and his head\nthrown rather backward as if to face all the world better.", "She was not in black this morning,\nfor her Aunt Poyser would by no means allow such a risk of incurring bad\nluck, and had herself made a present of the wedding dress, made all of\ngrey, though in the usual Quaker form, for on this point Dinah could not\ngive way.", "For he had seen Adam in the\nworst moments of his sorrow; and what better harvest from that painful\nseed-time could there be than this?", "\n\nIN little more than a month after that meeting on the hill--on a rimy\nmorning in departing November--Adam and Dinah were married." ]

[ "Next to Bessy, just\nwithin the church door, there were the Poyser children, peeping round\nthe corner of the pews to get a sight of the mysterious ceremony;\nTotty's face wearing an unusual air of anxiety at the idea of seeing\ncousin Dinah come back looking rather old, for in Totty's experience no\nmarried people were young.", "I envy them all the sight they had when the marriage was fairly ended\nand Adam led Dinah out of church.", "She was not in black this morning,\nfor her Aunt Poyser would by no means allow such a risk of incurring bad\nluck, and had herself made a present of the wedding dress, made all of\ngrey, though in the usual Quaker form, for on this point Dinah could not\ngive way.", "So the lily face looked out with sweet gravity from under\na grey Quaker bonnet, neither smiling nor blushing, but with lips\ntrembling a little under the weight of solemn feelings.", "Adam, as he\npressed her arm to his side, walked with his old erectness and his head\nthrown rather backward as if to face all the world better.", "But it was\nnot because he was particularly proud this morning, as is the wont of\nbridegrooms, for his happiness was of a kind that had little reference\nto men's opinion of it.", "There was a tinge of sadness in his deep joy;\nDinah knew it, and did not feel aggrieved.", "There were three other couples, following the bride and bridegroom:\nfirst, Martin Poyser, looking as cheery as a bright fire on this rimy\nmorning, led quiet Mary Burge, the bridesmaid; then came Seth serenely\nhappy, with Mrs. Poyser on his arm; and last of all Bartle Massey, with\nLisbeth--Lisbeth in a new gown and bonnet, too busy with her pride in\nher son and her delight in possessing the one daughter she had desired\nto devise a single pretext for complaint.", "Bartle Massey had consented to attend the wedding at Adam's earnest\nrequest, under protest against marriage in general and the marriage of a\nsensible man in particular.", "Nevertheless, Mr. Poyser had a joke against\nhim after the wedding dinner, to the effect that in the vestry he had\ngiven the bride one more kiss than was necessary.", "Behind this last couple came Mr. Irwine, glad at heart over this good\nmorning's work of joining Adam and Dinah." ]

[ "\n\nIN little more than a month after that meeting on the hill--on a rimy\nmorning in departing November--Adam and Dinah were married.", "It was an event much thought of in the village.", "All Mr. Burge's men had\na holiday, and all Mr. Poyser's, and most of those who had a holiday\nappeared in their best clothes at the wedding.", "I think there was hardly\nan inhabitant of Hayslope specially mentioned in this history and still\nresident in the parish on this November morning who was not either in\nchurch to see Adam and Dinah married, or near the church door to greet\nthem as they came forth.", "Mrs. Irwine and her daughters were waiting at\nthe churchyard gates in their carriage (for they had a carriage now) to\nshake hands with the bride and bridegroom and wish them well; and in the\nabsence of Miss Lydia Donnithorne at Bath, Mrs. Best, Mr. Mills, and\nMr. Craig had felt it incumbent on them to represent \"the family\" at the\nChase on the occasion.", "The churchyard walk was quite lined with familiar\nfaces, many of them faces that had first looked at Dinah when she\npreached on the Green.", "And no wonder they showed this eager interest on\nher marriage morning, for nothing like Dinah and the history which had\nbrought her and Adam Bede together had been known at Hayslope within the\nmemory of man.", "Bessy Cranage, in her neatest cap and frock, was crying, though she did\nnot exactly know why; for, as her cousin Wiry Ben, who stood near her,\njudiciously suggested, Dinah was not going away, and if Bessy was in low\nspirits, the best thing for her to do was to follow Dinah's example and\nmarry an honest fellow who was ready to have her.", "Next to Bessy, just\nwithin the church door, there were the Poyser children, peeping round\nthe corner of the pews to get a sight of the mysterious ceremony;\nTotty's face wearing an unusual air of anxiety at the idea of seeing\ncousin Dinah come back looking rather old, for in Totty's experience no\nmarried people were young.", "I envy them all the sight they had when the marriage was fairly ended\nand Adam led Dinah out of church.", "Nevertheless, Mr. Poyser had a joke against\nhim after the wedding dinner, to the effect that in the vestry he had\ngiven the bride one more kiss than was necessary.", "Behind this last couple came Mr. Irwine, glad at heart over this good\nmorning's work of joining Adam and Dinah.", "For he had seen Adam in the\nworst moments of his sorrow; and what better harvest from that painful\nseed-time could there be than this?", "The love that had brought hope and\ncomfort in the hour of despair, the love that had found its way to the\ndark prison cell and to poor Hetty's darker soul--this strong gentle\nlove was to be Adam's companion and helper till death.", "There was much shaking of hands mingled with \"God bless you's\" and other\ngood wishes to the four couples, at the churchyard gate, Mr. Poyser\nanswering for the rest with unwonted vivacity of tongue, for he had\nall the appropriate wedding-day jokes at his command.", "And the women, he\nobserved, could never do anything but put finger in eye at a wedding.", "Even Mrs. Poyser could not trust herself to speak as the neighbours\nshook hands with her, and Lisbeth began to cry in the face of the very\nfirst person who told her she was getting young again.", "Mr. Joshua Rann, having a slight touch of rheumatism, did not join\nin the ringing of the bells this morning, and, looking on with some\ncontempt at these informal greetings which required no official\nco-operation from the clerk, began to hum in his musical bass, \"Oh what\na joyful thing it is,\" by way of preluding a little to the effect he\nintended to produce in the wedding psalm next Sunday.", "\"That's a bit of good news to cheer Arthur,\" said Mr. Irwine to his\nmother, as they drove off.", "\"I shall write to him the first thing when we\nget home.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nMr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save\nupon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated\nat the breakfast table.", "I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the\nstick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.", "It was a\nfine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as\na \"Penang lawyer.\"", "Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly\nan inch across.", "\"To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the\nC.C.H.,\" was engraved upon it, with the date \"1884.\"", "It was just such a\nstick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified,\nsolid, and reassuring.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?\"", "Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of\nmy occupation.", "\"How did you know what I was doing?", "I believe you have eyes in the back\nof your head.\"", "\"I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of\nme,\" said he.", "\"But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's\nstick?", "Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no\nnotion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance.", "Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.\"", "\"I think,\" said I, following as far as I could the methods of my\ncompanion, \"that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderly medical man,\nwell-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their\nappreciation.\"", "\"Good!\"", "said Holmes.", "\"Excellent!\"", "\"I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country\npractitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot.\"", "\"Why so?\"", "\"Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one has been so\nknocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it.", "The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a\ngreat amount of walking with it.\"", "\"Perfectly sound!\"", "said Holmes.", "\"And then again, there is the 'friends of the C.C.H.'", "I should guess\nthat to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has\npossibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small\npresentation in return.\"", "\"Really, Watson, you excel yourself,\" said Holmes, pushing back his\nchair and lighting a cigarette.", "\"I am bound to say that in all the\naccounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small\nachievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities.", "It may\nbe that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of\nlight.", "Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of\nstimulating it.", "I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your\ndebt.\"", "He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave\nme keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my\nadmiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to\nhis methods.", "I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his\nsystem as to apply it in a way which earned his approval.", "He now took\nthe stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked\neyes.", "Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette,\nand carrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with a\nconvex lens.", "\"Interesting, though elementary,\" said he as he returned to his\nfavourite corner of the settee.", "\"There are certainly one or two\nindications upon the stick.", "It gives us the basis for several\ndeductions.\"", "\"Has anything escaped me?\"", "I asked with some self-importance.", "\"I trust\nthat there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?\"", "\"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were\nerroneous.", "When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that\nin noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.", "Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance.", "The man is certainly a\ncountry practitioner.", "And he walks a good deal.\"", "\"Then I was right.\"", "\"To that extent.\"", "\"But that was all.\"", "\"No, no, my dear Watson, not all--by no means all.", "I would suggest, for\nexample, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a\nhospital than from a hunt, and that when the initials 'C.C.'", "are placed\nbefore that hospital the words 'Charing Cross' very naturally suggest\nthemselves.\"", "\"You may be right.\"", "\"The probability lies in that direction.", "And if we take this as a\nworking hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our\nconstruction of this unknown visitor.\"", "\"Well, then, supposing that 'C.C.H.'", "does stand for 'Charing Cross\nHospital,' what further inferences may we draw?\"", "\"Do none suggest themselves?", "You know my methods.", "Apply them!\"", "\"I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man has practised\nin town before going to the country.\"", "\"I think that we might venture a little farther than this.", "Look at it\nin this light.", "On what occasion would it be most probable that such a\npresentation would be made?", "When would his friends unite to give him\na pledge of their good will?", "Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer\nwithdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start a practice\nfor himself.", "We know there has been a presentation.", "We believe there has\nbeen a change from a town hospital to a country practice.", "Is it, then,\nstretching our inference too far to say that the presentation was on the\noccasion of the change?\"", "\"It certainly seems probable.\"", "\"Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the staff of the\nhospital, since only a man well-established in a London practice could\nhold such a position, and such a one would not drift into the country.", "What was he, then?", "If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff he\ncould only have been a house-surgeon or a house-physician--little more\nthan a senior student.", "And he left five years ago--the date is on the\nstick.", "So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into\nthin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty,\namiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite\ndog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and\nsmaller than a mastiff.\"", "I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and\nblew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.", "\"As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you,\" said I, \"but\nat least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the\nman's age and professional career.\"", "From my small medical shelf I took\ndown the Medical Directory and turned up the name.", "There were several\nMortimers, but only one who could be our visitor.", "I read his record\naloud.", "\"Mortimer, James, M.R.C.S., 1882, Grimpen, Dartmoor, Devon.", "House-surgeon, from 1882 to 1884, at Charing Cross Hospital.", "Winner of the Jackson prize for Comparative Pathology,\n with essay entitled 'Is Disease a Reversion?'", "Corresponding\n member of the Swedish Pathological Society.", "Author of\n 'Some Freaks of Atavism' (Lancet 1882).", "'Do We Progress?'", "(Journal of Psychology, March, 1883).", "Medical Officer\n for the parishes of Grimpen, Thorsley, and High Barrow.\"", "\"No mention of that local hunt, Watson,\" said Holmes with a mischievous\nsmile, \"but a country doctor, as you very astutely observed.", "I think\nthat I am fairly justified in my inferences.", "As to the adjectives, I\nsaid, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded.", "It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who\nreceives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London\ncareer for the country, and only an absent-minded one who leaves his\nstick and not his visiting-card after waiting an hour in your room.\"", "\"And the dog?\"", "\"Has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind his master.", "Being a\nheavy stick the dog has held it tightly by the middle, and the marks of\nhis teeth are very plainly visible.", "The dog's jaw, as shown in the space\nbetween these marks, is too broad in my opinion for a terrier and not\nbroad enough for a mastiff.", "It may have been--yes, by Jove, it is a\ncurly-haired spaniel.\"", "He had risen and paced the room as he spoke.", "Now he halted in the recess\nof the window.", "There was such a ring of conviction in his voice that I\nglanced up in surprise.", "\"My dear fellow, how can you possibly be so sure of that?\"", "\"For the very simple reason that I see the dog himself on our very\ndoor-step, and there is the ring of its owner.", "Don't move, I beg you,\nWatson.", "He is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be\nof assistance to me.", "Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when\nyou hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you\nknow not whether for good or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man\nof science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime?", "Come in!\"", "The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected\na typical country practitioner.", "He was a very tall, thin man, with a\nlong nose like a beak, which jutted out between two keen, gray eyes,\nset closely together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of\ngold-rimmed glasses.", "He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly\nfashion, for his frock-coat was dingy and his trousers frayed.", "Though\nyoung, his long back was already bowed, and he walked with a forward\nthrust of his head and a general air of peering benevolence.", "As he\nentered his eyes fell upon the stick in Holmes's hand, and he ran\ntowards it with an exclamation of joy.", "\"I am so very glad,\" said he.", "\"I was not sure whether I had left it here or in the Shipping Office.", "I\nwould not lose that stick for the world.\"", "\"A presentation, I see,\" said Holmes.", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"From Charing Cross Hospital?\"", "\"From one or two friends there on the occasion of my marriage.\"", "\"Dear, dear, that's bad!\"", "said Holmes, shaking his head.", "Dr. Mortimer blinked through his glasses in mild astonishment.", "\"Why was\nit bad?\"", "\"Only that you have disarranged our little deductions.", "Your marriage,\nyou say?\"", "\"Yes, sir.", "I married, and so left the hospital, and with it all hopes of\na consulting practice.", "It was necessary to make a home of my own.\"", "\"Come, come, we are not so far wrong, after all,\" said Holmes.", "\"And now,\nDr. James Mortimer--\"\n\n\"Mister, sir, Mister--a humble M.R.C.S.\"", "\"And a man of precise mind, evidently.\"", "\"A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of shells on the shores\nof the great unknown ocean.", "I presume that it is Mr. Sherlock Holmes\nwhom I am addressing and not--\"\n\n\"No, this is my friend Dr.", "Watson.\"", "\"Glad to meet you, sir.", "I have heard your name mentioned in connection\nwith that of your friend.", "You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes.", "I\nhad hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked\nsupra-orbital development.", "Would you have any objection to my running my\nfinger along your parietal fissure?", "A cast of your skull, sir, until\nthe original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological\nmuseum.", "It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet\nyour skull.\"", "Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor into a chair.", "\"You are an\nenthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir, as I am in\nmine,\" said he.", "\"I observe from your forefinger that you make your own\ncigarettes.", "Have no hesitation in lighting one.\"", "The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up in the other\nwith surprising dexterity.", "He had long, quivering fingers as agile and\nrestless as the antennae of an insect.", "Holmes was silent, but his little darting glances showed me the interest\nwhich he took in our curious companion.", "\"I presume, sir,\" said he at\nlast, \"that it was not merely for the purpose of examining my skull that\nyou have done me the honour to call here last night and again today?\"", "\"No, sir, no; though I am happy to have had the opportunity of doing\nthat as well.", "I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am\nmyself an unpractical man and because I am suddenly confronted with a\nmost serious and extraordinary problem.", "Recognizing, as I do, that you\nare the second highest expert in Europe--\"\n\n\"Indeed, sir!", "May I inquire who has the honour to be the first?\"", "asked\nHolmes with some asperity.", "\"To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon\nmust always appeal strongly.\"", "\"Then had you not better consult him?\"", "\"I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind.", "But as a practical man\nof affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone.", "I trust, sir, that I\nhave not inadvertently--\"\n\n\"Just a little,\" said Holmes.", "\"I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do\nwisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the\nexact nature of the problem is in which you demand my assistance.\"", "\"I have in my pocket a manuscript,\" said Dr. James Mortimer.", "\"I observed it as you entered the room,\" said Holmes.", "\"It is an old manuscript.\"", "\"Early eighteenth century, unless it is a forgery.\"", "\"How can you say that, sir?\"", "\"You have presented an inch or two of it to my examination all the time\nthat you have been talking.", "It would be a poor expert who could not give\nthe date of a document within a decade or so.", "You may possibly have read\nmy little monograph upon the subject.", "I put that at 1730.\"", "\"The exact date is 1742.\"", "Dr. Mortimer drew it from his breast-pocket.", "\"This family paper was committed to my care by Sir Charles Baskerville,\nwhose sudden and tragic death some three months ago created so much\nexcitement in Devonshire.", "I may say that I was his personal friend as\nwell as his medical attendant.", "He was a strong-minded man, sir, shrewd,\npractical, and as unimaginative as I am myself.", "Yet he took this\ndocument very seriously, and his mind was prepared for just such an end\nas did eventually overtake him.\"", "Holmes stretched out his hand for the manuscript and flattened it upon\nhis knee.", "\"You will observe, Watson, the alternative use of the long s\nand the short.", "It is one of several indications which enabled me to fix\nthe date.\"", "I looked over his shoulder at the yellow paper and the faded script.", "At\nthe head was written: \"Baskerville Hall,\" and below in large, scrawling\nfigures: \"1742.\"", "\"It appears to be a statement of some sort.\"", "\"Yes, it is a statement of a certain legend which runs in the\nBaskerville family.\"", "\"But I understand that it is something more modern and practical upon\nwhich you wish to consult me?\"", "\"Most modern.", "A most practical, pressing matter, which must be decided\nwithin twenty-four hours.", "But the manuscript is short and is intimately\nconnected with the affair.", "With your permission I will read it to you.\"", "Holmes leaned back in his chair, placed his finger-tips together, and\nclosed his eyes, with an air of resignation.", "Dr. Mortimer turned the\nmanuscript to the light and read in a high, cracking voice the following\ncurious, old-world narrative:\n\n \"Of the origin of the Hound of the Baskervilles there\n have been many statements, yet as I come in a direct\n line from Hugo Baskerville, and as I had the story from\n my father, who also had it from his, I have set it down\n with all belief that it occurred even as is here set\n forth.", "And I would have you believe, my sons, that the\n same Justice which punishes sin may also most graciously\n forgive it, and that no ban is so heavy but that by prayer\n and repentance it may be removed.", "Learn then from this\n story not to fear the fruits of the past, but rather to\n be circumspect in the future, that those foul passions\n whereby our family has suffered so grievously may not\n again be loosed to our undoing.", "\"Know then that in the time of the Great Rebellion (the\n history of which by the learned Lord Clarendon I most\n earnestly commend to your attention) this Manor of\n Baskerville was held by Hugo of that name, nor can it be\n gainsaid that he was a most wild, profane, and godless\n man.", "This, in truth, his neighbours might have pardoned,\n seeing that saints have never flourished in those parts,\n but there was in him a certain wanton and cruel humour\n which made his name a by-word through the West.", "It\n chanced that this Hugo came to love (if, indeed, so dark\n a passion may be known under so bright a name) the daughter\n of a yeoman who held lands near the Baskerville estate.", "But the young maiden, being discreet and of good repute,\n would ever avoid him, for she feared his evil name.", "So\n it came to pass that one Michaelmas this Hugo, with five\n or six of his idle and wicked companions, stole down upon\n the farm and carried off the maiden, her father and\n brothers being from home, as he well knew.", "When they had\n brought her to the Hall the maiden was placed in an upper\n chamber, while Hugo and his friends sat down to a long\n carouse, as was their nightly custom.", "Now, the poor lass\n upstairs was like to have her wits turned at the singing\n and shouting and terrible oaths which came up to her from\n below, for they say that the words used by Hugo Baskerville,\n when he was in wine, were such as might blast the man who\n said them.", "At last in the stress of her fear she did that\n which might have daunted the bravest or most active man,\n for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and\n still covers) the south wall she came down from under the\n eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three\n leagues betwixt the Hall and her father's farm.", "\"It chanced that some little time later Hugo left his\n guests to carry food and drink--with other worse things,\n perchance--to his captive, and so found the cage empty\n and the bird escaped.", "Then, as it would seem, he became\n as one that hath a devil, for, rushing down the stairs\n into the dining-hall, he sprang upon the great table,\n flagons and trenchers flying before him, and he cried\n aloud before all the company that he would that very\n night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if\n he might but overtake the wench.", "And while the revellers\n stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or,\n it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that\n they should put the hounds upon her.", "Whereat Hugo ran\n from the house, crying to his grooms that they should\n saddle his mare and unkennel the pack, and giving the\n hounds a kerchief of the maid's, he swung them to the\n line, and so off full cry in the moonlight over the moor.", "\"Now, for some space the revellers stood agape, unable\n to understand all that had been done in such haste.", "But\n anon their bemused wits awoke to the nature of the deed\n which was like to be done upon the moorlands.", "Everything\n was now in an uproar, some calling for their pistols,\n some for their horses, and some for another flask of\n wine.", "But at length some sense came back to their crazed\n minds, and the whole of them, thirteen in number, took\n horse and started in pursuit.", "The moon shone clear above\n them, and they rode swiftly abreast, taking that course\n which the maid must needs have taken if she were to reach\n her own home.", "\"They had gone a mile or two when they passed one of the\n night shepherds upon the moorlands, and they cried to\n him to know if he had seen the hunt.", "And the man, as\n the story goes, was so crazed with fear that he could\n scarce speak, but at last he said that he had indeed seen\n the unhappy maiden, with the hounds upon her track.", "'But\n I have seen more than that,' said he, 'for Hugo Baskerville\n passed me upon his black mare, and there ran mute behind\n him such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever be at\n my heels.'", "So the drunken squires cursed the shepherd\n and rode onward.", "But soon their skins turned cold, for\n there came a galloping across the moor, and the black\n mare, dabbled with white froth, went past with trailing\n bridle and empty saddle.", "Then the revellers rode close\n together, for a great fear was on them, but they still\n followed over the moor, though each, had he been alone,\n would have been right glad to have turned his horse's\n head.", "Riding slowly in this fashion they came at last\n upon the hounds.", "These, though known for their valour\n and their breed, were whimpering in a cluster at the\n head of a deep dip or goyal, as we call it, upon the\n moor, some slinking away and some, with starting hackles\n and staring eyes, gazing down the narrow valley before them.", "\"The company had come to a halt, more sober men, as you\n may guess, than when they started.", "The most of them\n would by no means advance, but three of them, the boldest,\n or it may be the most drunken, rode forward down the goyal.", "Now, it opened into a broad space in which stood two of\n those great stones, still to be seen there, which were\n set by certain forgotten peoples in the days of old.", "The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there\n in the centre lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen,\n dead of fear and of fatigue.", "But it was not the sight\n of her body, nor yet was it that of the body of Hugo\n Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon\n the heads of these three dare-devil roysterers, but it\n was that, standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat,\n there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped\n like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal\n eye has rested upon.", "And even as they looked the thing\n tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as it\n turned its blazing eyes and dripping jaws upon them, the\n three shrieked with fear and rode for dear life, still\n screaming, across the moor.", "One, it is said, died that\n very night of what he had seen, and the other twain were\n but broken men for the rest of their days.", "\"Such is the tale, my sons, of the coming of the hound\n which is said to have plagued the family so sorely ever\n since.", "If I have set it down it is because that which\n is clearly known hath less terror than that which is but\n hinted at and guessed.", "Nor can it be denied that many\n of the family have been unhappy in their deaths, which\n have been sudden, bloody, and mysterious.", "Yet may we\n shelter ourselves in the infinite goodness of Providence,\n which would not forever punish the innocent beyond that\n third or fourth generation which is threatened in Holy\n Writ.", "To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend\n you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from\n crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of\n evil are exalted.", "\"[This from Hugo Baskerville to his sons Rodger and John,\n with instructions that they say nothing thereof to their\n sister Elizabeth.]\"", "When Dr. Mortimer had finished reading this singular narrative he pushed\nhis spectacles up on his forehead and stared across at Mr. Sherlock\nHolmes.", "The latter yawned and tossed the end of his cigarette into the\nfire.", "\"Well?\"", "said he.", "\"Do you not find it interesting?\"", "\"To a collector of fairy tales.\"", "Dr. Mortimer drew a folded newspaper out of his pocket.", "\"Now, Mr. Holmes, we will give you something a little more recent.", "This\nis the Devon County Chronicle of May 14th of this year.", "It is a short\naccount of the facts elicited at the death of Sir Charles Baskerville\nwhich occurred a few days before that date.\"", "My friend leaned a little forward and his expression became intent.", "Our\nvisitor readjusted his glasses and began:\n\n \"The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose\n name has been mentioned as the probable Liberal candidate\n for Mid-Devon at the next election, has cast a gloom over\n the county.", "Though Sir Charles had resided at Baskerville\n Hall for a comparatively short period his amiability of\n character and extreme generosity had won the affection\n and respect of all who had been brought into contact with\n him.", "In these days of nouveaux riches it is refreshing\n to find a case where the scion of an old county family\n which has fallen upon evil days is able to make his own\n fortune and to bring it back with him to restore the\n fallen grandeur of his line.", "Sir Charles, as is well known,\n made large sums of money in South African speculation.", "More wise than those who go on until the wheel turns\n against them, he realized his gains and returned to England\n with them.", "It is only two years since he took up his\n residence at Baskerville Hall, and it is common talk how\n large were those schemes of reconstruction and improvement\n which have been interrupted by his death.", "Being himself\n childless, it was his openly expressed desire that the\n whole countryside should, within his own lifetime, profit\n by his good fortune, and many will have personal reasons\n for bewailing his untimely end.", "His generous donations\n to local and county charities have been frequently\n chronicled in these columns.", "\"The circumstances connected with the death of Sir Charles\n cannot be said to have been entirely cleared up by the\n inquest, but at least enough has been done to dispose of\n those rumours to which local superstition has given rise.", "There is no reason whatever to suspect foul play, or to\n imagine that death could be from any but natural causes.", "Sir Charles was a widower, and a man who may be said to\n have been in some ways of an eccentric habit of mind.", "In spite of his considerable wealth he was simple in his\n personal tastes, and his indoor servants at Baskerville\n Hall consisted of a married couple named Barrymore, the\n husband acting as butler and the wife as housekeeper.", "Their evidence, corroborated by that of several friends,\n tends to show that Sir Charles's health has for some time\n been impaired, and points especially to some affection\n of the heart, manifesting itself in changes of colour,\n breathlessness, and acute attacks of nervous depression.", "Dr. James Mortimer, the friend and medical attendant of\n the deceased, has given evidence to the same effect.", "\"The facts of the case are simple.", "Sir Charles Baskerville\n was in the habit every night before going to bed of walking\n down the famous yew alley of Baskerville Hall.", "The evidence\n of the Barrymores shows that this had been his custom.", "On the fourth of May Sir Charles had declared his intention\n of starting next day for London, and had ordered Barrymore\n to prepare his luggage.", "That night he went out as usual\n for his nocturnal walk, in the course of which he was in\n the habit of smoking a cigar.", "He never returned.", "At\n twelve o'clock Barrymore, finding the hall door still open,\n became alarmed, and, lighting a lantern, went in search\n of his master.", "The day had been wet, and Sir Charles's\n footmarks were easily traced down the alley.", "Halfway down\n this walk there is a gate which leads out on to the moor.", "There were indications that Sir Charles had stood for some\n little time here.", "He then proceeded down the alley, and\n it was at the far end of it that his body was discovered.", "One fact which has not been explained is the statement\n of Barrymore that his master's footprints altered their\n character from the time that he passed the moor-gate, and\n that he appeared from thence onward to have been walking\n upon his toes.", "One Murphy, a gipsy horse-dealer, was on\n the moor at no great distance at the time, but he appears\n by his own confession to have been the worse for drink.", "He declares that he heard cries but is unable to state\n from what direction they came.", "No signs of violence were\n to be discovered upon Sir Charles's person, and though\n the doctor's evidence pointed to an almost incredible\n facial distortion--so great that Dr. Mortimer refused at\n first to believe that it was indeed his friend and patient\n who lay before him--it was explained that that is a symptom\n which is not unusual in cases of dyspnoea and death from\n cardiac exhaustion.", "This explanation was borne out by\n the post-mortem examination, which showed long-standing\n organic disease, and the coroner's jury returned a\n verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.", "It is\n well that this is so, for it is obviously of the utmost\n importance that Sir Charles's heir should settle at the\n Hall and continue the good work which has been so sadly\n interrupted.", "Had the prosaic finding of the coroner not\n finally put an end to the romantic stories which have been\n whispered in connection with the affair, it might have been\n difficult to find a tenant for Baskerville Hall.", "It is\n understood that the next of kin is Mr. Henry Baskerville,\n if he be still alive, the son of Sir Charles Baskerville's\n younger brother.", "The young man when last heard of was\n in America, and inquiries are being instituted with a\n view to informing him of his good fortune.\"", "Dr. Mortimer refolded his paper and replaced it in his pocket.", "\"Those\nare the public facts, Mr. Holmes, in connection with the death of Sir\nCharles Baskerville.\"", "\"I must thank you,\" said Sherlock Holmes, \"for calling my attention to a\ncase which certainly presents some features of interest.", "I had observed\nsome newspaper comment at the time, but I was exceedingly preoccupied\nby that little affair of the Vatican cameos, and in my anxiety to oblige\nthe Pope I lost touch with several interesting English cases.", "This\narticle, you say, contains all the public facts?\"", "\"It does.\"", "\"Then let me have the private ones.\"", "He leaned back, put his finger-tips\ntogether, and assumed his most impassive and judicial expression.", "\"In doing so,\" said Dr. Mortimer, who had begun to show signs of some\nstrong emotion, \"I am telling that which I have not confided to anyone.", "My motive for withholding it from the coroner's inquiry is that a man of\nscience shrinks from placing himself in the public position of seeming\nto indorse a popular superstition.", "I had the further motive that\nBaskerville Hall, as the paper says, would certainly remain untenanted\nif anything were done to increase its already rather grim reputation.", "For both these reasons I thought that I was justified in telling rather\nless than I knew, since no practical good could result from it, but with\nyou there is no reason why I should not be perfectly frank.", "\"The moor is very sparsely inhabited, and those who live near each other\nare thrown very much together.", "For this reason I saw a good deal of\nSir Charles Baskerville.", "With the exception of Mr. Frankland, of Lafter\nHall, and Mr. Stapleton, the naturalist, there are no other men of\neducation within many miles.", "Sir Charles was a retiring man, but the\nchance of his illness brought us together, and a community of interests\nin science kept us so.", "He had brought back much scientific information\nfrom South Africa, and many a charming evening we have spent together\ndiscussing the comparative anatomy of the Bushman and the Hottentot.", "\"Within the last few months it became increasingly plain to me that\nSir Charles's nervous system was strained to the breaking point.", "He had\ntaken this legend which I have read you exceedingly to heart--so much\nso that, although he would walk in his own grounds, nothing would induce\nhim to go out upon the moor at night.", "Incredible as it may appear to\nyou, Mr. Holmes, he was honestly convinced that a dreadful fate overhung\nhis family, and certainly the records which he was able to give of\nhis ancestors were not encouraging.", "The idea of some ghastly presence\nconstantly haunted him, and on more than one occasion he has asked me\nwhether I had on my medical journeys at night ever seen any strange\ncreature or heard the baying of a hound.", "The latter question he put\nto me several times, and always with a voice which vibrated with\nexcitement.", "\"I can well remember driving up to his house in the evening some three\nweeks before the fatal event.", "He chanced to be at his hall door.", "I had\ndescended from my gig and was standing in front of him, when I saw\nhis eyes fix themselves over my shoulder and stare past me with an\nexpression of the most dreadful horror.", "I whisked round and had just\ntime to catch a glimpse of something which I took to be a large black\ncalf passing at the head of the drive.", "So excited and alarmed was he\nthat I was compelled to go down to the spot where the animal had been\nand look around for it.", "It was gone, however, and the incident appeared\nto make the worst impression upon his mind.", "I stayed with him all the\nevening, and it was on that occasion, to explain the emotion which he\nhad shown, that he confided to my keeping that narrative which I read to\nyou when first I came.", "I mention this small episode because it assumes\nsome importance in view of the tragedy which followed, but I was\nconvinced at the time that the matter was entirely trivial and that his\nexcitement had no justification.", "\"It was at my advice that Sir Charles was about to go to London.", "His\nheart was, I knew, affected, and the constant anxiety in which he lived,\nhowever chimerical the cause of it might be, was evidently having a\nserious effect upon his health.", "I thought that a few months among the\ndistractions of town would send him back a new man.", "Mr. Stapleton, a\nmutual friend who was much concerned at his state of health, was of the\nsame opinion.", "At the last instant came this terrible catastrophe.", "\"On the night of Sir Charles's death Barrymore the butler, who made\nthe discovery, sent Perkins the groom on horseback to me, and as I was\nsitting up late I was able to reach Baskerville Hall within an hour of\nthe event.", "I checked and corroborated all the facts which were mentioned\nat the inquest.", "I followed the footsteps down the yew alley, I saw the\nspot at the moor-gate where he seemed to have waited, I remarked the\nchange in the shape of the prints after that point, I noted that there\nwere no other footsteps save those of Barrymore on the soft gravel, and\nfinally I carefully examined the body, which had not been touched until\nmy arrival.", "Sir Charles lay on his face, his arms out, his fingers dug\ninto the ground, and his features convulsed with some strong emotion to\nsuch an extent that I could hardly have sworn to his identity.", "There was\ncertainly no physical injury of any kind.", "But one false statement was\nmade by Barrymore at the inquest.", "He said that there were no traces\nupon the ground round the body.", "He did not observe any.", "But I did--some\nlittle distance off, but fresh and clear.\"", "\"Footprints?\"", "\"Footprints.\"", "\"A man's or a woman's?\"", "Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank\nalmost to a whisper as he answered.", "\"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!\"" ]

[ "\"Then I was right.\"", "You know my methods.", "On what occasion would it be most probable that such a\npresentation would be made?", "Corresponding\n member of the Swedish Pathological Society.", "It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who\nreceives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London\ncareer for the country, and only an absent-minded one who leaves his\nstick and not his visiting-card after waiting an hour in your room.\"", "He is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be\nof assistance to me.", "\"And now,\nDr. James Mortimer--\"\n\n\"Mister, sir, Mister--a humble M.R.C.S.\"", "It would be a poor expert who could not give\nthe date of a document within a decade or so.", "\"Do you not find it interesting?\"", "I mention this small episode because it assumes\nsome importance in view of the tragedy which followed, but I was\nconvinced at the time that the matter was entirely trivial and that his\nexcitement had no justification." ]

[ "Medical Officer\n for the parishes of Grimpen, Thorsley, and High Barrow.\"", "said he.", "But\n anon their bemused wits awoke to the nature of the deed\n which was like to be done upon the moorlands.", "You know my methods.", "'But\n I have seen more than that,' said he, 'for Hugo Baskerville\n passed me upon his black mare, and there ran mute behind\n him such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever be at\n my heels.'", "He never returned.", "You may possibly have read\nmy little monograph upon the subject.", "He declares that he heard cries but is unable to state\n from what direction they came.", "He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave\nme keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my\nadmiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to\nhis methods.", "For this reason I saw a good deal of\nSir Charles Baskerville." ]

[ "But as a practical man\nof affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone.", "I trust, sir, that I\nhave not inadvertently--\"\n\n\"Just a little,\" said Holmes.", "\"I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do\nwisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the\nexact nature of the problem is in which you demand my assistance.\"", "\"I have in my pocket a manuscript,\" said Dr. James Mortimer.", "\"I observed it as you entered the room,\" said Holmes.", "\"It is an old manuscript.\"", "\"Early eighteenth century, unless it is a forgery.\"", "\"How can you say that, sir?\"", "\"You have presented an inch or two of it to my examination all the time\nthat you have been talking.", "It would be a poor expert who could not give\nthe date of a document within a decade or so.", "You may possibly have read\nmy little monograph upon the subject." ]

[ "\n\n\nMr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save\nupon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated\nat the breakfast table.", "I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the\nstick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.", "It was a\nfine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as\na \"Penang lawyer.\"", "Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly\nan inch across.", "\"To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the\nC.C.H.,\" was engraved upon it, with the date \"1884.\"", "It was just such a\nstick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified,\nsolid, and reassuring.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?\"", "Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of\nmy occupation.", "\"How did you know what I was doing?", "I believe you have eyes in the back\nof your head.\"", "There was\ncertainly no physical injury of any kind.", "But one false statement was\nmade by Barrymore at the inquest.", "He said that there were no traces\nupon the ground round the body.", "He did not observe any.", "But I did--some\nlittle distance off, but fresh and clear.\"", "\"Footprints?\"", "\"Footprints.\"", "\"A man's or a woman's?\"", "Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank\nalmost to a whisper as he answered.", "\"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nI confess at these words a shudder passed through me.", "There was a thrill\nin the doctor's voice which showed that he was himself deeply moved by\nthat which he told us.", "Holmes leaned forward in his excitement and his\neyes had the hard, dry glitter which shot from them when he was keenly\ninterested.", "\"You saw this?\"", "\"As clearly as I see you.\"", "\"And you said nothing?\"", "\"What was the use?\"", "\"How was it that no one else saw it?\"", "\"The marks were some twenty yards from the body and no one gave them\na thought.", "I don't suppose I should have done so had I not known this\nlegend.\"", "\"There are many sheep-dogs on the moor?\"", "\"No doubt, but this was no sheep-dog.\"", "\"You say it was large?\"", "\"Enormous.\"", "\"But it had not approached the body?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"What sort of night was it?'", "\"Damp and raw.\"", "\"But not actually raining?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"What is the alley like?\"", "\"There are two lines of old yew hedge, twelve feet high and\nimpenetrable.", "The walk in the centre is about eight feet across.\"", "\"Is there anything between the hedges and the walk?\"", "\"Yes, there is a strip of grass about six feet broad on either side.\"", "\"I understand that the yew hedge is penetrated at one point by a gate?\"", "\"Yes, the wicket-gate which leads on to the moor.\"", "\"Is there any other opening?\"", "\"None.\"", "\"So that to reach the yew alley one either has to come down it from the\nhouse or else to enter it by the moor-gate?\"", "\"There is an exit through a summer-house at the far end.\"", "\"Had Sir Charles reached this?\"", "\"No; he lay about fifty yards from it.\"", "\"Now, tell me, Dr. Mortimer--and this is important--the marks which you\nsaw were on the path and not on the grass?\"", "\"No marks could show on the grass.\"", "\"Were they on the same side of the path as the moor-gate?\"", "\"Yes; they were on the edge of the path on the same side as the\nmoor-gate.\"", "\"You interest me exceedingly.", "Another point.", "Was the wicket-gate\nclosed?\"", "\"Closed and padlocked.\"", "\"How high was it?\"", "\"About four feet high.\"", "\"Then anyone could have got over it?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"And what marks did you see by the wicket-gate?\"", "\"None in particular.\"", "\"Good heaven!", "Did no one examine?\"", "\"Yes, I examined, myself.\"", "\"And found nothing?\"", "\"It was all very confused.", "Sir Charles had evidently stood there for\nfive or ten minutes.\"", "\"How do you know that?\"", "\"Because the ash had twice dropped from his cigar.\"", "\"Excellent!", "This is a colleague, Watson, after our own heart.", "But the\nmarks?\"", "\"He had left his own marks all over that small patch of gravel.", "I could\ndiscern no others.\"", "Sherlock Holmes struck his hand against his knee with an impatient\ngesture.", "\"If I had only been there!\"", "he cried.", "\"It is evidently a case of\nextraordinary interest, and one which presented immense opportunities to\nthe scientific expert.", "That gravel page upon which I might have read so\nmuch has been long ere this smudged by the rain and defaced by the clogs\nof curious peasants.", "Oh, Dr. Mortimer, Dr. Mortimer, to think that you\nshould not have called me in!", "You have indeed much to answer for.\"", "\"I could not call you in, Mr. Holmes, without disclosing these facts to\nthe world, and I have already given my reasons for not wishing to do so.", "Besides, besides--\"\n\n\"Why do you hesitate?\"", "\"There is a realm in which the most acute and most experienced of\ndetectives is helpless.\"", "\"You mean that the thing is supernatural?\"", "\"I did not positively say so.\"", "\"No, but you evidently think it.\"", "\"Since the tragedy, Mr. Holmes, there have come to my ears several\nincidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature.\"", "\"For example?\"", "\"I find that before the terrible event occurred several people had seen\na creature upon the moor which corresponds with this Baskerville demon,\nand which could not possibly be any animal known to science.", "They all\nagreed that it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral.", "I\nhave cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman,\none a farrier, and one a moorland farmer, who all tell the same story of\nthis dreadful apparition, exactly corresponding to the hell-hound of the\nlegend.", "I assure you that there is a reign of terror in the district,\nand that it is a hardy man who will cross the moor at night.\"", "\"And you, a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?\"", "\"I do not know what to believe.\"", "Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"I have hitherto confined my\ninvestigations to this world,\" said he.", "\"In a modest way I have combated\nevil, but to take on the Father of Evil himself would, perhaps, be too\nambitious a task.", "Yet you must admit that the footmark is material.\"", "\"The original hound was material enough to tug a man's throat out, and\nyet he was diabolical as well.\"", "\"I see that you have quite gone over to the supernaturalists.", "But now,\nDr. Mortimer, tell me this.", "If you hold these views, why have you come\nto consult me at all?", "You tell me in the same breath that it is useless\nto investigate Sir Charles's death, and that you desire me to do it.\"", "\"I did not say that I desired you to do it.\"", "\"Then, how can I assist you?\"", "\"By advising me as to what I should do with Sir Henry Baskerville, who\narrives at Waterloo Station\"--Dr. Mortimer looked at his watch--\"in\nexactly one hour and a quarter.\"", "\"He being the heir?\"", "\"Yes.", "On the death of Sir Charles we inquired for this young gentleman\nand found that he had been farming in Canada.", "From the accounts which\nhave reached us he is an excellent fellow in every way.", "I speak now not\nas a medical man but as a trustee and executor of Sir Charles's will.\"", "\"There is no other claimant, I presume?\"", "\"None.", "The only other kinsman whom we have been able to trace was Rodger\nBaskerville, the youngest of three brothers of whom poor Sir Charles was\nthe elder.", "The second brother, who died young, is the father of this lad\nHenry.", "The third, Rodger, was the black sheep of the family.", "He came of\nthe old masterful Baskerville strain and was the very image, they tell\nme, of the family picture of old Hugo.", "He made England too hot to hold\nhim, fled to Central America, and died there in 1876 of yellow fever.", "Henry is the last of the Baskervilles.", "In one hour and five minutes\nI meet him at Waterloo Station.", "I have had a wire that he arrived at\nSouthampton this morning.", "Now, Mr. Holmes, what would you advise me to\ndo with him?\"", "\"Why should he not go to the home of his fathers?\"", "\"It seems natural, does it not?", "And yet, consider that every Baskerville\nwho goes there meets with an evil fate.", "I feel sure that if Sir Charles\ncould have spoken with me before his death he would have warned me\nagainst bringing this, the last of the old race, and the heir to great\nwealth, to that deadly place.", "And yet it cannot be denied that the\nprosperity of the whole poor, bleak countryside depends upon his\npresence.", "All the good work which has been done by Sir Charles will\ncrash to the ground if there is no tenant of the Hall.", "I fear lest I\nshould be swayed too much by my own obvious interest in the matter, and\nthat is why I bring the case before you and ask for your advice.\"", "Holmes considered for a little time.", "\"Put into plain words, the matter is this,\" said he.", "\"In your opinion\nthere is a diabolical agency which makes Dartmoor an unsafe abode for a\nBaskerville--that is your opinion?\"", "\"At least I might go the length of saying that there is some evidence\nthat this may be so.\"", "\"Exactly.", "But surely, if your supernatural theory be correct, it could\nwork the young man evil in London as easily as in Devonshire.", "A devil\nwith merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable\na thing.\"", "\"You put the matter more flippantly, Mr. Holmes, than you would probably\ndo if you were brought into personal contact with these things.", "Your\nadvice, then, as I understand it, is that the young man will be as safe\nin Devonshire as in London.", "He comes in fifty minutes.", "What would you\nrecommend?\"", "\"I recommend, sir, that you take a cab, call off your spaniel who is\nscratching at my front door, and proceed to Waterloo to meet Sir Henry\nBaskerville.\"", "\"And then?\"", "\"And then you will say nothing to him at all until I have made up my\nmind about the matter.\"", "\"How long will it take you to make up your mind?\"", "\"Twenty-four hours.", "At ten o'clock tomorrow, Dr. Mortimer, I will be\nmuch obliged to you if you will call upon me here, and it will be\nof help to me in my plans for the future if you will bring Sir Henry\nBaskerville with you.\"", "\"I will do so, Mr.", "Holmes.\"", "He scribbled the appointment on his\nshirt-cuff and hurried off in his strange, peering, absent-minded\nfashion.", "Holmes stopped him at the head of the stair.", "\"Only one more question, Dr. Mortimer.", "You say that before Sir Charles\nBaskerville's death several people saw this apparition upon the moor?\"", "\"Three people did.\"", "\"Did any see it after?\"", "\"I have not heard of any.\"", "\"Thank you.", "Good-morning.\"", "Holmes returned to his seat with that quiet look of inward satisfaction\nwhich meant that he had a congenial task before him.", "\"Going out, Watson?\"", "\"Unless I can help you.\"", "\"No, my dear fellow, it is at the hour of action that I turn to you for\naid.", "But this is splendid, really unique from some points of view.", "When you pass Bradley's, would you ask him to send up a pound of the\nstrongest shag tobacco?", "Thank you.", "It would be as well if you could make\nit convenient not to return before evening.", "Then I should be very glad\nto compare impressions as to this most interesting problem which has\nbeen submitted to us this morning.\"", "I knew that seclusion and solitude were very necessary for my friend\nin those hours of intense mental concentration during which he weighed\nevery particle of evidence, constructed alternative theories, balanced\none against the other, and made up his mind as to which points were\nessential and which immaterial.", "I therefore spent the day at my club and\ndid not return to Baker Street until evening.", "It was nearly nine o'clock\nwhen I found myself in the sitting-room once more.", "My first impression as I opened the door was that a fire had broken out,\nfor the room was so filled with smoke that the light of the lamp upon\nthe table was blurred by it.", "As I entered, however, my fears were set at\nrest, for it was the acrid fumes of strong coarse tobacco which took me\nby the throat and set me coughing.", "Through the haze I had a vague vision\nof Holmes in his dressing-gown coiled up in an armchair with his black\nclay pipe between his lips.", "Several rolls of paper lay around him.", "\"Caught cold, Watson?\"", "said he.", "\"No, it's this poisonous atmosphere.\"", "\"I suppose it is pretty thick, now that you mention it.\"", "\"Thick!", "It is intolerable.\"", "\"Open the window, then!", "You have been at your club all day, I perceive.\"", "\"My dear Holmes!\"", "\"Am I right?\"", "\"Certainly, but how?\"", "He laughed at my bewildered expression.", "\"There is a delightful freshness\nabout you, Watson, which makes it a pleasure to exercise any small\npowers which I possess at your expense.", "A gentleman goes forth on a\nshowery and miry day.", "He returns immaculate in the evening with the\ngloss still on his hat and his boots.", "He has been a fixture therefore\nall day.", "He is not a man with intimate friends.", "Where, then, could he\nhave been?", "Is it not obvious?\"", "\"Well, it is rather obvious.\"", "\"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever\nobserves.", "Where do you think that I have been?\"", "\"A fixture also.\"", "\"On the contrary, I have been to Devonshire.\"", "\"In spirit?\"", "\"Exactly.", "My body has remained in this armchair and has, I regret\nto observe, consumed in my absence two large pots of coffee and an\nincredible amount of tobacco.", "After you left I sent down to Stamford's\nfor the Ordnance map of this portion of the moor, and my spirit has\nhovered over it all day.", "I flatter myself that I could find my way\nabout.\"", "\"A large-scale map, I presume?\"", "\"Very large.\"", "He unrolled one section and held it over his knee.", "\"Here you have the\nparticular district which concerns us.", "That is Baskerville Hall in the\nmiddle.\"", "\"With a wood round it?\"", "\"Exactly.", "I fancy the yew alley, though not marked under that name, must\nstretch along this line, with the moor, as you perceive, upon the right\nof it.", "This small clump of buildings here is the hamlet of Grimpen,\nwhere our friend Dr. Mortimer has his headquarters.", "Within a radius of\nfive miles there are, as you see, only a very few scattered dwellings.", "Here is Lafter Hall, which was mentioned in the narrative.", "There is\na house indicated here which may be the residence of the\nnaturalist--Stapleton, if I remember right, was his name.", "Here are two\nmoorland farmhouses, High Tor and Foulmire.", "Then fourteen miles away the\ngreat convict prison of Princetown.", "Between and around these scattered\npoints extends the desolate, lifeless moor.", "This, then, is the stage\nupon which tragedy has been played, and upon which we may help to play\nit again.\"", "\"It must be a wild place.\"", "\"Yes, the setting is a worthy one.", "If the devil did desire to have a\nhand in the affairs of men--\"\n\n\"Then you are yourself inclining to the supernatural explanation.\"", "\"The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?", "There are\ntwo questions waiting for us at the outset.", "The one is whether any crime\nhas been committed at all; the second is, what is the crime and how was\nit committed?", "Of course, if Dr. Mortimer's surmise should be correct,\nand we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature,\nthere is an end of our investigation.", "But we are bound to exhaust all\nother hypotheses before falling back upon this one.", "I think we'll shut\nthat window again, if you don't mind.", "It is a singular thing, but I find\nthat a concentrated atmosphere helps a concentration of thought.", "I have\nnot pushed it to the length of getting into a box to think, but that is\nthe logical outcome of my convictions.", "Have you turned the case over in\nyour mind?\"", "\"Yes, I have thought a good deal of it in the course of the day.\"", "\"What do you make of it?\"", "\"It is very bewildering.\"", "\"It has certainly a character of its own.", "There are points of\ndistinction about it.", "That change in the footprints, for example.", "What\ndo you make of that?\"", "\"Mortimer said that the man had walked on tiptoe down that portion of\nthe alley.\"", "\"He only repeated what some fool had said at the inquest.", "Why should a\nman walk on tiptoe down the alley?\"", "\"What then?\"", "\"He was running, Watson--running desperately, running for his life,\nrunning until he burst his heart--and fell dead upon his face.\"", "\"Running from what?\"", "\"There lies our problem.", "There are indications that the man was crazed\nwith fear before ever he began to run.\"", "\"How can you say that?\"", "\"I am presuming that the cause of his fears came to him across the moor.", "If that were so, and it seems most probable, only a man who had lost his\nwits would have run from the house instead of towards it.", "If the\ngipsy's evidence may be taken as true, he ran with cries for help in the\ndirection where help was least likely to be.", "Then, again, whom was he\nwaiting for that night, and why was he waiting for him in the yew alley\nrather than in his own house?\"", "\"You think that he was waiting for someone?\"", "\"The man was elderly and infirm.", "We can understand his taking an evening\nstroll, but the ground was damp and the night inclement.", "Is it natural\nthat he should stand for five or ten minutes, as Dr. Mortimer, with more\npractical sense than I should have given him credit for, deduced from\nthe cigar ash?\"", "\"But he went out every evening.\"", "\"I think it unlikely that he waited at the moor-gate every evening.", "On\nthe contrary, the evidence is that he avoided the moor.", "That night he\nwaited there.", "It was the night before he made his departure for London.", "The thing takes shape, Watson.", "It becomes coherent.", "Might I ask you to\nhand me my violin, and we will postpone all further thought upon this\nbusiness until we have had the advantage of meeting Dr. Mortimer and Sir\nHenry Baskerville in the morning.\"", "Our breakfast table was cleared early, and Holmes waited in his\ndressing-gown for the promised interview.", "Our clients were punctual to\ntheir appointment, for the clock had just struck ten when Dr. Mortimer\nwas shown up, followed by the young baronet.", "The latter was a small,\nalert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built,\nwith thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face.", "He wore a\nruddy-tinted tweed suit and had the weather-beaten appearance of one who\nhas spent most of his time in the open air, and yet there was something\nin his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing which indicated\nthe gentleman.", "\"This is Sir Henry Baskerville,\" said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"Why, yes,\" said he, \"and the strange thing is, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,\nthat if my friend here had not proposed coming round to you this morning\nI should have come on my own account.", "I understand that you think out\nlittle puzzles, and I've had one this morning which wants more thinking\nout than I am able to give it.\"", "\"Pray take a seat, Sir Henry.", "Do I understand you to say that you have\nyourself had some remarkable experience since you arrived in London?\"", "\"Nothing of much importance, Mr. Holmes.", "Only a joke, as like as not.", "It was this letter, if you can call it a letter, which reached me this\nmorning.\"", "He laid an envelope upon the table, and we all bent over it.", "It was of\ncommon quality, grayish in colour.", "The address, \"Sir Henry Baskerville,\nNorthumberland Hotel,\" was printed in rough characters; the post-mark\n\"Charing Cross,\" and the date of posting the preceding evening.", "\"Who knew that you were going to the Northumberland Hotel?\"", "asked\nHolmes, glancing keenly across at our visitor.", "\"No one could have known.", "We only decided after I met Dr.", "Mortimer.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer was no doubt already stopping there?\"", "\"No, I had been staying with a friend,\" said the doctor.", "\"There was no possible indication that we intended to go to this hotel.\"", "\"Hum!", "Someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements.\"", "Out\nof the envelope he took a half-sheet of foolscap paper folded into four.", "This he opened and spread flat upon the table.", "Across the middle of it\na single sentence had been formed by the expedient of pasting printed\nwords upon it.", "It ran:\n\n As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor.", "The word \"moor\" only was printed in ink.", "\"Now,\" said Sir Henry Baskerville, \"perhaps you will tell me, Mr.\nHolmes, what in thunder is the meaning of that, and who it is that takes\nso much interest in my affairs?\"", "\"What do you make of it, Dr. Mortimer?", "You must allow that there is\nnothing supernatural about this, at any rate?\"", "\"No, sir, but it might very well come from someone who was convinced\nthat the business is supernatural.\"", "\"What business?\"", "asked Sir Henry sharply.", "\"It seems to me that all you\ngentlemen know a great deal more than I do about my own affairs.\"", "\"You shall share our knowledge before you leave this room, Sir Henry.", "I\npromise you that,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"We will confine ourselves\nfor the present with your permission to this very interesting document,\nwhich must have been put together and posted yesterday evening.", "Have you\nyesterday's Times, Watson?\"", "\"It is here in the corner.\"", "\"Might I trouble you for it--the inside page, please, with the leading\narticles?\"", "He glanced swiftly over it, running his eyes up and down the\ncolumns.", "\"Capital article this on free trade.", "Permit me to give you an\nextract from it.", "'You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special\n trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a\n protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such\n legislation must in the long run keep away wealth from the\n country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the\n general conditions of life in this island.'", "\"What do you think of that, Watson?\"", "cried Holmes in high glee, rubbing\nhis hands together with satisfaction.", "\"Don't you think that is an\nadmirable sentiment?\"", "Dr. Mortimer looked at Holmes with an air of professional interest, and\nSir Henry Baskerville turned a pair of puzzled dark eyes upon me.", "\"I don't know much about the tariff and things of that kind,\" said he,\n\"but it seems to me we've got a bit off the trail so far as that note is\nconcerned.\"", "\"On the contrary, I think we are particularly hot upon the trail, Sir\nHenry.", "Watson here knows more about my methods than you do, but I fear\nthat even he has not quite grasped the significance of this sentence.\"", "\"No, I confess that I see no connection.\"", "\"And yet, my dear Watson, there is so very close a connection that\nthe one is extracted out of the other.", "'You,' 'your,' 'your,' 'life,'\n'reason,' 'value,' 'keep away,' 'from the.'", "Don't you see now whence\nthese words have been taken?\"", "\"By thunder, you're right!", "Well, if that isn't smart!\"", "cried Sir Henry.", "\"If any possible doubt remained it is settled by the fact that 'keep\naway' and 'from the' are cut out in one piece.\"", "\"Well, now--so it is!\"", "\"Really, Mr. Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined,\"\nsaid Dr. Mortimer, gazing at my friend in amazement.", "\"I could understand\nanyone saying that the words were from a newspaper; but that you should\nname which, and add that it came from the leading article, is really one\nof the most remarkable things which I have ever known.", "How did you do\nit?\"", "\"I presume, Doctor, that you could tell the skull of a negro from that\nof an Esquimau?\"", "\"Most certainly.\"", "\"But how?\"", "\"Because that is my special hobby.", "The differences are obvious.", "The\nsupra-orbital crest, the facial angle, the maxillary curve, the--\"\n\n\"But this is my special hobby, and the differences are equally obvious.", "There is as much difference to my eyes between the leaded bourgeois type\nof a Times article and the slovenly print of an evening half-penny paper\nas there could be between your negro and your Esquimau.", "The detection of\ntypes is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge to the special\nexpert in crime, though I confess that once when I was very young I\nconfused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News.", "But a Times\nleader is entirely distinctive, and these words could have been taken\nfrom nothing else.", "As it was done yesterday the strong probability was\nthat we should find the words in yesterday's issue.\"", "\"So far as I can follow you, then, Mr. Holmes,\" said Sir Henry\nBaskerville, \"someone cut out this message with a scissors--\"\n\n\"Nail-scissors,\" said Holmes.", "\"You can see that it was a very\nshort-bladed scissors, since the cutter had to take two snips over 'keep\naway.'\"", "\"That is so.", "Someone, then, cut out the message with a pair of\nshort-bladed scissors, pasted it with paste--\"\n\n\"Gum,\" said Holmes.", "\"With gum on to the paper.", "But I want to know why the word 'moor' should\nhave been written?\"", "\"Because he could not find it in print.", "The other words were all simple\nand might be found in any issue, but 'moor' would be less common.\"", "\"Why, of course, that would explain it.", "Have you read anything else in\nthis message, Mr.", "Holmes?\"", "\"There are one or two indications, and yet the utmost pains have been\ntaken to remove all clues.", "The address, you observe is printed in rough\ncharacters.", "But the Times is a paper which is seldom found in any hands\nbut those of the highly educated.", "We may take it, therefore, that\nthe letter was composed by an educated man who wished to pose as an\nuneducated one, and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that\nthat writing might be known, or come to be known, by you.", "Again, you\nwill observe that the words are not gummed on in an accurate line, but\nthat some are much higher than others.", "'Life,' for example is quite out\nof its proper place.", "That may point to carelessness or it may point to\nagitation and hurry upon the part of the cutter.", "On the whole I incline\nto the latter view, since the matter was evidently important, and it\nis unlikely that the composer of such a letter would be careless.", "If he\nwere in a hurry it opens up the interesting question why he should be\nin a hurry, since any letter posted up to early morning would reach\nSir Henry before he would leave his hotel.", "Did the composer fear an\ninterruption--and from whom?\"", "\"We are coming now rather into the region of guesswork,\" said Dr.\nMortimer.", "\"Say, rather, into the region where we balance probabilities and choose\nthe most likely.", "It is the scientific use of the imagination, but we\nhave always some material basis on which to start our speculation.", "Now,\nyou would call it a guess, no doubt, but I am almost certain that this\naddress has been written in a hotel.\"", "\"How in the world can you say that?\"", "\"If you examine it carefully you will see that both the pen and the ink\nhave given the writer trouble.", "The pen has spluttered twice in a single\nword and has run dry three times in a short address, showing that there\nwas very little ink in the bottle.", "Now, a private pen or ink-bottle is\nseldom allowed to be in such a state, and the combination of the two\nmust be quite rare.", "But you know the hotel ink and the hotel pen, where\nit is rare to get anything else.", "Yes, I have very little hesitation\nin saying that could we examine the waste-paper baskets of the hotels\naround Charing Cross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times\nleader we could lay our hands straight upon the person who sent this\nsingular message.", "Halloa!", "Halloa!", "What's this?\"", "He was carefully examining the foolscap, upon which the words were\npasted, holding it only an inch or two from his eyes.", "\"Well?\"", "\"Nothing,\" said he, throwing it down.", "\"It is a blank half-sheet of\npaper, without even a water-mark upon it.", "I think we have drawn as much\nas we can from this curious letter; and now, Sir Henry, has anything\nelse of interest happened to you since you have been in London?\"", "\"Why, no, Mr. Holmes.", "I think not.\"", "\"You have not observed anyone follow or watch you?\"", "\"I seem to have walked right into the thick of a dime novel,\" said our\nvisitor.", "\"Why in thunder should anyone follow or watch me?\"", "\"We are coming to that.", "You have nothing else to report to us before we\ngo into this matter?\"", "\"Well, it depends upon what you think worth reporting.\"", "\"I think anything out of the ordinary routine of life well worth\nreporting.\"", "Sir Henry smiled.", "\"I don't know much of British life yet, for I have\nspent nearly all my time in the States and in Canada.", "But I hope that to\nlose one of your boots is not part of the ordinary routine of life over\nhere.\"", "\"You have lost one of your boots?\"", "\"My dear sir,\" cried Dr. Mortimer, \"it is only mislaid.", "You will find\nit when you return to the hotel.", "What is the use of troubling Mr. Holmes\nwith trifles of this kind?\"", "\"Well, he asked me for anything outside the ordinary routine.\"", "\"Exactly,\" said Holmes, \"however foolish the incident may seem.", "You have\nlost one of your boots, you say?\"", "\"Well, mislaid it, anyhow.", "I put them both outside my door last night,\nand there was only one in the morning.", "I could get no sense out of the\nchap who cleans them.", "The worst of it is that I only bought the pair\nlast night in the Strand, and I have never had them on.\"", "\"If you have never worn them, why did you put them out to be cleaned?\"", "\"They were tan boots and had never been varnished.", "That was why I put\nthem out.\"", "\"Then I understand that on your arrival in London yesterday you went out\nat once and bought a pair of boots?\"", "\"I did a good deal of shopping.", "Dr. Mortimer here went round with me.", "You see, if I am to be squire down there I must dress the part, and\nit may be that I have got a little careless in my ways out West.", "Among\nother things I bought these brown boots--gave six dollars for them--and\nhad one stolen before ever I had them on my feet.\"", "\"It seems a singularly useless thing to steal,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"I confess that I share Dr. Mortimer's belief that it will not be long\nbefore the missing boot is found.\"", "\"And, now, gentlemen,\" said the baronet with decision, \"it seems to me\nthat I have spoken quite enough about the little that I know.", "It is time\nthat you kept your promise and gave me a full account of what we are all\ndriving at.\"", "\"Your request is a very reasonable one,\" Holmes answered.", "\"Dr. Mortimer,\nI think you could not do better than to tell your story as you told it\nto us.\"", "Thus encouraged, our scientific friend drew his papers from his pocket\nand presented the whole case as he had done upon the morning before.", "Sir Henry Baskerville listened with the deepest attention and with an\noccasional exclamation of surprise.", "\"Well, I seem to have come into an inheritance with a vengeance,\" said\nhe when the long narrative was finished.", "\"Of course, I've heard of the\nhound ever since I was in the nursery.", "It's the pet story of the family,\nthough I never thought of taking it seriously before.", "But as to my\nuncle's death--well, it all seems boiling up in my head, and I can't\nget it clear yet.", "You don't seem quite to have made up your mind whether\nit's a case for a policeman or a clergyman.\"", "\"Precisely.\"", "\"And now there's this affair of the letter to me at the hotel.", "I suppose\nthat fits into its place.\"", "\"It seems to show that someone knows more than we do about what goes on\nupon the moor,\" said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"And also,\" said Holmes, \"that someone is not ill-disposed towards you,\nsince they warn you of danger.\"", "\"Or it may be that they wish, for their own purposes, to scare me away.\"", "\"Well, of course, that is possible also.", "I am very much indebted to you,\nDr. Mortimer, for introducing me to a problem which presents several\ninteresting alternatives.", "But the practical point which we now have to\ndecide, Sir Henry, is whether it is or is not advisable for you to go to\nBaskerville Hall.\"", "\"Why should I not go?\"", "\"There seems to be danger.\"", "\"Do you mean danger from this family fiend or do you mean danger from\nhuman beings?\"", "\"Well, that is what we have to find out.\"", "\"Whichever it is, my answer is fixed.", "There is no devil in hell, Mr.\nHolmes, and there is no man upon earth who can prevent me from going to\nthe home of my own people, and you may take that to be my final answer.\"", "His dark brows knitted and his face flushed to a dusky red as he spoke.", "It was evident that the fiery temper of the Baskervilles was not extinct\nin this their last representative.", "\"Meanwhile,\" said he, \"I have hardly\nhad time to think over all that you have told me.", "It's a big thing for a\nman to have to understand and to decide at one sitting.", "I should like\nto have a quiet hour by myself to make up my mind.", "Now, look here, Mr.\nHolmes, it's half-past eleven now and I am going back right away to my\nhotel.", "Suppose you and your friend, Dr. Watson, come round and lunch\nwith us at two.", "I'll be able to tell you more clearly then how this\nthing strikes me.\"", "\"Is that convenient to you, Watson?\"", "\"Perfectly.\"", "\"Then you may expect us.", "Shall I have a cab called?\"", "\"I'd prefer to walk, for this affair has flurried me rather.\"", "\"I'll join you in a walk, with pleasure,\" said his companion.", "\"Then we meet again at two o'clock.", "Au revoir, and good-morning!\"", "We heard the steps of our visitors descend the stair and the bang of the\nfront door.", "In an instant Holmes had changed from the languid dreamer to\nthe man of action.", "\"Your hat and boots, Watson, quick!", "Not a moment to lose!\"", "He rushed\ninto his room in his dressing-gown and was back again in a few seconds\nin a frock-coat.", "We hurried together down the stairs and into the\nstreet.", "Dr. Mortimer and Baskerville were still visible about two\nhundred yards ahead of us in the direction of Oxford Street.", "\"Shall I run on and stop them?\"", "\"Not for the world, my dear Watson.", "I am perfectly satisfied with your\ncompany if you will tolerate mine.", "Our friends are wise, for it is\ncertainly a very fine morning for a walk.\"", "He quickened his pace until we had decreased the distance which divided\nus by about half.", "Then, still keeping a hundred yards behind, we\nfollowed into Oxford Street and so down Regent Street.", "Once our friends\nstopped and stared into a shop window, upon which Holmes did the\nsame.", "An instant afterwards he gave a little cry of satisfaction, and,\nfollowing the direction of his eager eyes, I saw that a hansom cab with\na man inside which had halted on the other side of the street was now\nproceeding slowly onward again.", "\"There's our man, Watson!", "Come along!", "We'll have a good look at him, if\nwe can do no more.\"", "At that instant I was aware of a bushy black beard and a pair of\npiercing eyes turned upon us through the side window of the cab.", "Instantly the trapdoor at the top flew up, something was screamed to\nthe driver, and the cab flew madly off down Regent Street.", "Holmes looked\neagerly round for another, but no empty one was in sight.", "Then he dashed\nin wild pursuit amid the stream of the traffic, but the start was too\ngreat, and already the cab was out of sight.", "\"There now!\"", "said Holmes bitterly as he emerged panting and white with\nvexation from the tide of vehicles.", "\"Was ever such bad luck and such\nbad management, too?", "Watson, Watson, if you are an honest man you will\nrecord this also and set it against my successes!\"", "\"Who was the man?\"", "\"I have not an idea.\"", "\"A spy?\"", "\"Well, it was evident from what we have heard that Baskerville has been\nvery closely shadowed by someone since he has been in town.", "How else\ncould it be known so quickly that it was the Northumberland Hotel which\nhe had chosen?", "If they had followed him the first day I argued that they\nwould follow him also the second.", "You may have observed that I twice\nstrolled over to the window while Dr. Mortimer was reading his legend.\"", "\"Yes, I remember.\"", "\"I was looking out for loiterers in the street, but I saw none.", "We\nare dealing with a clever man, Watson.", "This matter cuts very deep, and\nthough I have not finally made up my mind whether it is a benevolent or\na malevolent agency which is in touch with us, I am conscious always of\npower and design.", "When our friends left I at once followed them in the\nhopes of marking down their invisible attendant.", "So wily was he that he\nhad not trusted himself upon foot, but he had availed himself of a cab\nso that he could loiter behind or dash past them and so escape their\nnotice.", "His method had the additional advantage that if they were to\ntake a cab he was all ready to follow them.", "It has, however, one obvious\ndisadvantage.\"", "\"It puts him in the power of the cabman.\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"What a pity we did not get the number!\"", "\"My dear Watson, clumsy as I have been, you surely do not seriously\nimagine that I neglected to get the number?", "No.", "2704 is our man.", "But\nthat is no use to us for the moment.\"", "\"I fail to see how you could have done more.\"", "\"On observing the cab I should have instantly turned and walked in the\nother direction.", "I should then at my leisure have hired a second cab\nand followed the first at a respectful distance, or, better still, have\ndriven to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there.", "When our unknown\nhad followed Baskerville home we should have had the opportunity of\nplaying his own game upon himself and seeing where he made for.", "As\nit is, by an indiscreet eagerness, which was taken advantage of with\nextraordinary quickness and energy by our opponent, we have betrayed\nourselves and lost our man.\"", "We had been sauntering slowly down Regent Street during this\nconversation, and Dr. Mortimer, with his companion, had long vanished in\nfront of us.", "\"There is no object in our following them,\" said Holmes.", "\"The shadow has\ndeparted and will not return.", "We must see what further cards we have\nin our hands and play them with decision.", "Could you swear to that man's\nface within the cab?\"", "\"I could swear only to the beard.\"", "\"And so could I--from which I gather that in all probability it was\na false one.", "A clever man upon so delicate an errand has no use for a\nbeard save to conceal his features.", "Come in here, Watson!\"", "He turned into one of the district messenger offices, where he was\nwarmly greeted by the manager.", "\"Ah, Wilson, I see you have not forgotten the little case in which I had\nthe good fortune to help you?\"", "\"No, sir, indeed I have not.", "You saved my good name, and perhaps my\nlife.\"", "\"My dear fellow, you exaggerate.", "I have some recollection, Wilson, that\nyou had among your boys a lad named Cartwright, who showed some ability\nduring the investigation.\"", "\"Yes, sir, he is still with us.\"", "\"Could you ring him up?--thank you!", "And I should be glad to have change\nof this five-pound note.\"", "A lad of fourteen, with a bright, keen face, had obeyed the summons\nof the manager.", "He stood now gazing with great reverence at the famous\ndetective.", "\"Let me have the Hotel Directory,\" said Holmes.", "\"Thank you!", "Now,\nCartwright, there are the names of twenty-three hotels here, all in the\nimmediate neighbourhood of Charing Cross.", "Do you see?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"You will visit each of these in turn.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"You will begin in each case by giving the outside porter one shilling.", "Here are twenty-three shillings.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"You will tell him that you want to see the waste-paper of yesterday.", "You will say that an important telegram has miscarried and that you are\nlooking for it.", "You understand?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"But what you are really looking for is the centre page of the Times\nwith some holes cut in it with scissors.", "Here is a copy of the Times.", "It\nis this page.", "You could easily recognize it, could you not?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"In each case the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to whom\nalso you will give a shilling.", "Here are twenty-three shillings.", "You will\nthen learn in possibly twenty cases out of the twenty-three that the\nwaste of the day before has been burned or removed.", "In the three other\ncases you will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page\nof the Times among it.", "The odds are enormously against your finding\nit.", "There are ten shillings over in case of emergencies.", "Let me have a\nreport by wire at Baker Street before evening.", "And now, Watson, it only\nremains for us to find out by wire the identity of the cabman, No.", "2704,\nand then we will drop into one of the Bond Street picture galleries and\nfill in the time until we are due at the hotel.\"" ]

[ "\"Yes.\"", "But now,\nDr. Mortimer, tell me this.", "\"I suppose it is pretty thick, now that you mention it.\"", "\"Well, it depends upon what you think worth reporting.\"", "\"If you have never worn them, why did you put them out to be cleaned?\"", "That was why I put\nthem out.\"", "You see, if I am to be squire down there I must dress the part, and\nit may be that I have got a little careless in my ways out West.", "Then he dashed\nin wild pursuit amid the stream of the traffic, but the start was too\ngreat, and already the cab was out of sight.", "You will say that an important telegram has miscarried and that you are\nlooking for it.", "There are ten shillings over in case of emergencies." ]

[ "'You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special\n trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a\n protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such\n legislation must in the long run keep away wealth from the\n country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the\n general conditions of life in this island.'", "In the three other\ncases you will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page\nof the Times among it.", "I feel sure that if Sir Charles\ncould have spoken with me before his death he would have warned me\nagainst bringing this, the last of the old race, and the heir to great\nwealth, to that deadly place.", "\"Exactly.\"", "Holmes returned to his seat with that quiet look of inward satisfaction\nwhich meant that he had a congenial task before him.", "\"You will tell him that you want to see the waste-paper of yesterday.", "But as to my\nuncle's death--well, it all seems boiling up in my head, and I can't\nget it clear yet.", "Someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements.\"", "\"You have lost one of your boots?\"", "Yes, I have very little hesitation\nin saying that could we examine the waste-paper baskets of the hotels\naround Charing Cross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times\nleader we could lay our hands straight upon the person who sent this\nsingular message." ]

[ "asked\nHolmes, glancing keenly across at our visitor.", "\"No one could have known.", "We only decided after I met Dr.", "Mortimer.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer was no doubt already stopping there?\"", "\"No, I had been staying with a friend,\" said the doctor.", "\"There was no possible indication that we intended to go to this hotel.\"", "\"Hum!", "Someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements.\"", "Out\nof the envelope he took a half-sheet of foolscap paper folded into four.", "This he opened and spread flat upon the table." ]

[ "\n\n\nI confess at these words a shudder passed through me.", "There was a thrill\nin the doctor's voice which showed that he was himself deeply moved by\nthat which he told us.", "Holmes leaned forward in his excitement and his\neyes had the hard, dry glitter which shot from them when he was keenly\ninterested.", "\"You saw this?\"", "\"As clearly as I see you.\"", "\"And you said nothing?\"", "\"What was the use?\"", "\"How was it that no one else saw it?\"", "\"The marks were some twenty yards from the body and no one gave them\na thought.", "I don't suppose I should have done so had I not known this\nlegend.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"In each case the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to whom\nalso you will give a shilling.", "Here are twenty-three shillings.", "You will\nthen learn in possibly twenty cases out of the twenty-three that the\nwaste of the day before has been burned or removed.", "In the three other\ncases you will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page\nof the Times among it.", "The odds are enormously against your finding\nit.", "There are ten shillings over in case of emergencies.", "Let me have a\nreport by wire at Baker Street before evening.", "And now, Watson, it only\nremains for us to find out by wire the identity of the cabman, No.", "2704,\nand then we will drop into one of the Bond Street picture galleries and\nfill in the time until we are due at the hotel.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nSherlock Holmes had, in a very remarkable degree, the power of detaching\nhis mind at will.", "For two hours the strange business in which we had\nbeen involved appeared to be forgotten, and he was entirely absorbed in\nthe pictures of the modern Belgian masters.", "He would talk of nothing\nbut art, of which he had the crudest ideas, from our leaving the gallery\nuntil we found ourselves at the Northumberland Hotel.", "\"Sir Henry Baskerville is upstairs expecting you,\" said the clerk.", "\"He\nasked me to show you up at once when you came.\"", "\"Have you any objection to my looking at your register?\"", "said Holmes.", "\"Not in the least.\"", "The book showed that two names had been added after that of Baskerville.", "One was Theophilus Johnson and family, of Newcastle; the other Mrs.\nOldmore and maid, of High Lodge, Alton.", "\"Surely that must be the same Johnson whom I used to know,\" said Holmes\nto the porter.", "\"A lawyer, is he not, gray-headed, and walks with a\nlimp?\"", "\"No, sir, this is Mr. Johnson, the coal-owner, a very active gentleman,\nnot older than yourself.\"", "\"Surely you are mistaken about his trade?\"", "\"No, sir!", "he has used this hotel for many years, and he is very well\nknown to us.\"", "\"Ah, that settles it.", "Mrs. Oldmore, too; I seem to remember the name.", "Excuse my curiosity, but often in calling upon one friend one finds\nanother.\"", "\"She is an invalid lady, sir.", "Her husband was once mayor of Gloucester.", "She always comes to us when she is in town.\"", "\"Thank you; I am afraid I cannot claim her acquaintance.", "We have\nestablished a most important fact by these questions, Watson,\" he\ncontinued in a low voice as we went upstairs together.", "\"We know now that\nthe people who are so interested in our friend have not settled down\nin his own hotel.", "That means that while they are, as we have seen, very\nanxious to watch him, they are equally anxious that he should not see\nthem.", "Now, this is a most suggestive fact.\"", "\"What does it suggest?\"", "\"It suggests--halloa, my dear fellow, what on earth is the matter?\"", "As we came round the top of the stairs we had run up against Sir Henry\nBaskerville himself.", "His face was flushed with anger, and he held an old\nand dusty boot in one of his hands.", "So furious was he that he was hardly\narticulate, and when he did speak it was in a much broader and more\nWestern dialect than any which we had heard from him in the morning.", "\"Seems to me they are playing me for a sucker in this hotel,\" he cried.", "\"They'll find they've started in to monkey with the wrong man unless\nthey are careful.", "By thunder, if that chap can't find my missing boot\nthere will be trouble.", "I can take a joke with the best, Mr. Holmes, but\nthey've got a bit over the mark this time.\"", "\"Still looking for your boot?\"", "\"Yes, sir, and mean to find it.\"", "\"But, surely, you said that it was a new brown boot?\"", "\"So it was, sir.", "And now it's an old black one.\"", "\"What!", "you don't mean to say--?\"", "\"That's just what I do mean to say.", "I only had three pairs in the\nworld--the new brown, the old black, and the patent leathers, which I am\nwearing.", "Last night they took one of my brown ones, and today they have\nsneaked one of the black.", "Well, have you got it?", "Speak out, man, and\ndon't stand staring!\"", "An agitated German waiter had appeared upon the scene.", "\"No, sir; I have made inquiry all over the hotel, but I can hear no word\nof it.\"", "\"Well, either that boot comes back before sundown or I'll see the\nmanager and tell him that I go right straight out of this hotel.\"", "\"It shall be found, sir--I promise you that if you will have a little\npatience it will be found.\"", "\"Mind it is, for it's the last thing of mine that I'll lose in this den\nof thieves.", "Well, well, Mr. Holmes, you'll excuse my troubling you about\nsuch a trifle--\"\n\n\"I think it's well worth troubling about.\"", "\"Why, you look very serious over it.\"", "\"How do you explain it?\"", "\"I just don't attempt to explain it.", "It seems the very maddest, queerest\nthing that ever happened to me.\"", "\"The queerest perhaps--\" said Holmes thoughtfully.", "\"What do you make of it yourself?\"", "\"Well, I don't profess to understand it yet.", "This case of yours is very\ncomplex, Sir Henry.", "When taken in conjunction with your uncle's death\nI am not sure that of all the five hundred cases of capital importance\nwhich I have handled there is one which cuts so deep.", "But we hold\nseveral threads in our hands, and the odds are that one or other of them\nguides us to the truth.", "We may waste time in following the wrong one,\nbut sooner or later we must come upon the right.\"", "We had a pleasant luncheon in which little was said of the business\nwhich had brought us together.", "It was in the private sitting-room to\nwhich we afterwards repaired that Holmes asked Baskerville what were his\nintentions.", "\"To go to Baskerville Hall.\"", "\"And when?\"", "\"At the end of the week.\"", "\"On the whole,\" said Holmes, \"I think that your decision is a wise one.", "I have ample evidence that you are being dogged in London, and amid the\nmillions of this great city it is difficult to discover who these people\nare or what their object can be.", "If their intentions are evil they might\ndo you a mischief, and we should be powerless to prevent it.", "You did not\nknow, Dr. Mortimer, that you were followed this morning from my house?\"", "Dr. Mortimer started violently.", "\"Followed!", "By whom?\"", "\"That, unfortunately, is what I cannot tell you.", "Have you among your\nneighbours or acquaintances on Dartmoor any man with a black, full\nbeard?\"", "\"No--or, let me see--why, yes.", "Barrymore, Sir Charles's butler, is a man\nwith a full, black beard.\"", "\"Ha!", "Where is Barrymore?\"", "\"He is in charge of the Hall.\"", "\"We had best ascertain if he is really there, or if by any possibility\nhe might be in London.\"", "\"How can you do that?\"", "\"Give me a telegraph form.", "'Is all ready for Sir Henry?'", "That will\ndo.", "Address to Mr. Barrymore, Baskerville Hall.", "What is the nearest\ntelegraph-office?", "Grimpen.", "Very good, we will send a second wire to the\npostmaster, Grimpen: 'Telegram to Mr. Barrymore to be delivered into\nhis own hand.", "If absent, please return wire to Sir Henry Baskerville,\nNorthumberland Hotel.'", "That should let us know before evening whether\nBarrymore is at his post in Devonshire or not.\"", "\"That's so,\" said Baskerville.", "\"By the way, Dr. Mortimer, who is this\nBarrymore, anyhow?\"", "\"He is the son of the old caretaker, who is dead.", "They have looked after\nthe Hall for four generations now.", "So far as I know, he and his wife are\nas respectable a couple as any in the county.\"", "\"At the same time,\" said Baskerville, \"it's clear enough that so long as\nthere are none of the family at the Hall these people have a mighty fine\nhome and nothing to do.\"", "\"That is true.\"", "\"Did Barrymore profit at all by Sir Charles's will?\"", "asked Holmes.", "\"He and his wife had five hundred pounds each.\"", "\"Ha!", "Did they know that they would receive this?\"", "\"Yes; Sir Charles was very fond of talking about the provisions of his\nwill.\"", "\"That is very interesting.\"", "\"I hope,\" said Dr. Mortimer, \"that you do not look with suspicious eyes\nupon everyone who received a legacy from Sir Charles, for I also had a\nthousand pounds left to me.\"", "\"Indeed!", "And anyone else?\"", "\"There were many insignificant sums to individuals, and a large number\nof public charities.", "The residue all went to Sir Henry.\"", "\"And how much was the residue?\"", "\"Seven hundred and forty thousand pounds.\"", "Holmes raised his eyebrows in surprise.", "\"I had no idea that so gigantic\na sum was involved,\" said he.", "\"Sir Charles had the reputation of being rich, but we did not know how\nvery rich he was until we came to examine his securities.", "The total\nvalue of the estate was close on to a million.\"", "\"Dear me!", "It is a stake for which a man might well play a desperate\ngame.", "And one more question, Dr. Mortimer.", "Supposing that anything\nhappened to our young friend here--you will forgive the unpleasant\nhypothesis!--who would inherit the estate?\"", "\"Since Rodger Baskerville, Sir Charles's younger brother died unmarried,\nthe estate would descend to the Desmonds, who are distant cousins.", "James\nDesmond is an elderly clergyman in Westmoreland.\"", "\"Thank you.", "These details are all of great interest.", "Have you met Mr.\nJames Desmond?\"", "\"Yes; he once came down to visit Sir Charles.", "He is a man of venerable\nappearance and of saintly life.", "I remember that he refused to accept any\nsettlement from Sir Charles, though he pressed it upon him.\"", "\"And this man of simple tastes would be the heir to Sir Charles's\nthousands.\"", "\"He would be the heir to the estate because that is entailed.", "He would\nalso be the heir to the money unless it were willed otherwise by the\npresent owner, who can, of course, do what he likes with it.\"", "\"And have you made your will, Sir Henry?\"", "\"No, Mr. Holmes, I have not.", "I've had no time, for it was only yesterday\nthat I learned how matters stood.", "But in any case I feel that the money\nshould go with the title and estate.", "That was my poor uncle's idea.", "How\nis the owner going to restore the glories of the Baskervilles if he has\nnot money enough to keep up the property?", "House, land, and dollars must\ngo together.\"", "\"Quite so.", "Well, Sir Henry, I am of one mind with you as to the\nadvisability of your going down to Devonshire without delay.", "There is\nonly one provision which I must make.", "You certainly must not go alone.\"", "\"Dr. Mortimer returns with me.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles\naway from yours.", "With all the goodwill in the world he may be unable to\nhelp you.", "No, Sir Henry, you must take with you someone, a trusty man,\nwho will be always by your side.\"", "\"Is it possible that you could come yourself, Mr.", "Holmes?\"", "\"If matters came to a crisis I should endeavour to be present in person;\nbut you can understand that, with my extensive consulting practice\nand with the constant appeals which reach me from many quarters, it is\nimpossible for me to be absent from London for an indefinite time.", "At\nthe present instant one of the most revered names in England is being\nbesmirched by a blackmailer, and only I can stop a disastrous scandal.", "You will see how impossible it is for me to go to Dartmoor.\"", "\"Whom would you recommend, then?\"", "Holmes laid his hand upon my arm.", "\"If my friend would undertake it there\nis no man who is better worth having at your side when you are in a\ntight place.", "No one can say so more confidently than I.\"", "The proposition took me completely by surprise, but before I had time to\nanswer, Baskerville seized me by the hand and wrung it heartily.", "\"Well, now, that is real kind of you, Dr. Watson,\" said he.", "\"You see how\nit is with me, and you know just as much about the matter as I do.", "If\nyou will come down to Baskerville Hall and see me through I'll never\nforget it.\"", "The promise of adventure had always a fascination for me, and I was\ncomplimented by the words of Holmes and by the eagerness with which the\nbaronet hailed me as a companion.", "\"I will come, with pleasure,\" said I.", "\"I do not know how I could employ\nmy time better.\"", "\"And you will report very carefully to me,\" said Holmes.", "\"When a crisis\ncomes, as it will do, I will direct how you shall act.", "I suppose that by\nSaturday all might be ready?\"", "\"Would that suit Dr.", "Watson?\"", "\"Perfectly.\"", "\"Then on Saturday, unless you hear to the contrary, we shall meet at the\nten-thirty train from Paddington.\"", "We had risen to depart when Baskerville gave a cry, of triumph, and\ndiving into one of the corners of the room he drew a brown boot from\nunder a cabinet.", "\"My missing boot!\"", "he cried.", "\"May all our difficulties vanish as easily!\"", "said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"But it is a very singular thing,\" Dr. Mortimer remarked.", "\"I searched\nthis room carefully before lunch.\"", "\"And so did I,\" said Baskerville.", "\"Every inch of it.\"", "\"There was certainly no boot in it then.\"", "\"In that case the waiter must have placed it there while we were\nlunching.\"", "The German was sent for but professed to know nothing of the matter,\nnor could any inquiry clear it up.", "Another item had been added to that\nconstant and apparently purposeless series of small mysteries which had\nsucceeded each other so rapidly.", "Setting aside the whole grim story of\nSir Charles's death, we had a line of inexplicable incidents all within\nthe limits of two days, which included the receipt of the printed\nletter, the black-bearded spy in the hansom, the loss of the new brown\nboot, the loss of the old black boot, and now the return of the new\nbrown boot.", "Holmes sat in silence in the cab as we drove back to Baker\nStreet, and I knew from his drawn brows and keen face that his mind,\nlike my own, was busy in endeavouring to frame some scheme into which\nall these strange and apparently disconnected episodes could be fitted.", "All afternoon and late into the evening he sat lost in tobacco and\nthought.", "Just before dinner two telegrams were handed in.", "The first ran:\n\nHave just heard that Barrymore is at the Hall.", "BASKERVILLE.", "The second:\n\nVisited twenty-three hotels as directed, but sorry, to report unable to\ntrace cut sheet of Times.", "CARTWRIGHT.", "\"There go two of my threads, Watson.", "There is nothing more stimulating\nthan a case where everything goes against you.", "We must cast round for\nanother scent.\"", "\"We have still the cabman who drove the spy.\"", "\"Exactly.", "I have wired to get his name and address from the Official\nRegistry.", "I should not be surprised if this were an answer to my\nquestion.\"", "The ring at the bell proved to be something even more satisfactory\nthan an answer, however, for the door opened and a rough-looking fellow\nentered who was evidently the man himself.", "\"I got a message from the head office that a gent at this address had\nbeen inquiring for No.", "2704,\" said he.", "\"I've driven my cab this seven\nyears and never a word of complaint.", "I came here straight from the Yard\nto ask you to your face what you had against me.\"", "\"I have nothing in the world against you, my good man,\" said Holmes.", "\"On the contrary, I have half a sovereign for you if you will give me a\nclear answer to my questions.\"", "\"Well, I've had a good day and no mistake,\" said the cabman with a grin.", "\"What was it you wanted to ask, sir?\"", "\"First of all your name and address, in case I want you again.\"", "\"John Clayton, 3 Turpey Street, the Borough.", "My cab is out of Shipley's\nYard, near Waterloo Station.\"", "Sherlock Holmes made a note of it.", "\"Now, Clayton, tell me all about the fare who came and watched this\nhouse at ten o'clock this morning and afterwards followed the two\ngentlemen down Regent Street.\"", "The man looked surprised and a little embarrassed.", "\"Why, there's no good\nmy telling you things, for you seem to know as much as I do already,\"\nsaid he.", "\"The truth is that the gentleman told me that he was a\ndetective and that I was to say nothing about him to anyone.\"", "\"My good fellow; this is a very serious business, and you may find\nyourself in a pretty bad position if you try to hide anything from me.", "You say that your fare told you that he was a detective?\"", "\"Yes, he did.\"", "\"When did he say this?\"", "\"When he left me.\"", "\"Did he say anything more?\"", "\"He mentioned his name.\"", "Holmes cast a swift glance of triumph at me.", "\"Oh, he mentioned his name,\ndid he?", "That was imprudent.", "What was the name that he mentioned?\"", "\"His name,\" said the cabman, \"was Mr. Sherlock Holmes.\"", "Never have I seen my friend more completely taken aback than by the\ncabman's reply.", "For an instant he sat in silent amazement.", "Then he burst\ninto a hearty laugh.", "\"A touch, Watson--an undeniable touch!\"", "said he.", "\"I feel a foil as quick\nand supple as my own.", "He got home upon me very prettily that time.", "So\nhis name was Sherlock Holmes, was it?\"", "\"Yes, sir, that was the gentleman's name.\"", "\"Excellent!", "Tell me where you picked him up and all that occurred.\"", "\"He hailed me at half-past nine in Trafalgar Square.", "He said that he was\na detective, and he offered me two guineas if I would do exactly what he\nwanted all day and ask no questions.", "I was glad enough to agree.", "First\nwe drove down to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there until two\ngentlemen came out and took a cab from the rank.", "We followed their cab\nuntil it pulled up somewhere near here.\"", "\"This very door,\" said Holmes.", "\"Well, I couldn't be sure of that, but I dare say my fare knew all about\nit.", "We pulled up halfway down the street and waited an hour and a half.", "Then the two gentlemen passed us, walking, and we followed down Baker\nStreet and along--\"\n\n\"I know,\" said Holmes.", "\"Until we got three-quarters down Regent Street.", "Then my gentleman threw\nup the trap, and he cried that I should drive right away to Waterloo\nStation as hard as I could go.", "I whipped up the mare and we were there\nunder the ten minutes.", "Then he paid up his two guineas, like a good one,\nand away he went into the station.", "Only just as he was leaving he turned\nround and he said: 'It might interest you to know that you have been\ndriving Mr. Sherlock Holmes.'", "That's how I come to know the name.\"", "\"I see.", "And you saw no more of him?\"", "\"Not after he went into the station.\"", "\"And how would you describe Mr. Sherlock Holmes?\"", "The cabman scratched his head.", "\"Well, he wasn't altogether such an easy\ngentleman to describe.", "I'd put him at forty years of age, and he was\nof a middle height, two or three inches shorter than you, sir.", "He was\ndressed like a toff, and he had a black beard, cut square at the end,\nand a pale face.", "I don't know as I could say more than that.\"", "\"Colour of his eyes?\"", "\"No, I can't say that.\"", "\"Nothing more that you can remember?\"", "\"No, sir; nothing.\"", "\"Well, then, here is your half-sovereign.", "There's another one waiting\nfor you if you can bring any more information.", "Good-night!\"", "\"Good-night, sir, and thank you!\"", "John Clayton departed chuckling, and Holmes turned to me with a shrug of\nhis shoulders and a rueful smile.", "\"Snap goes our third thread, and we end where we began,\" said he.", "\"The\ncunning rascal!", "He knew our number, knew that Sir Henry Baskerville had\nconsulted me, spotted who I was in Regent Street, conjectured that I had\ngot the number of the cab and would lay my hands on the driver, and so\nsent back this audacious message.", "I tell you, Watson, this time we have\ngot a foeman who is worthy of our steel.", "I've been checkmated in London.", "I can only wish you better luck in Devonshire.", "But I'm not easy in my\nmind about it.\"", "\"About what?\"", "\"About sending you.", "It's an ugly business, Watson, an ugly dangerous\nbusiness, and the more I see of it the less I like it.", "Yes, my dear\nfellow, you may laugh, but I give you my word that I shall be very glad\nto have you back safe and sound in Baker Street once more.\"" ]

[ "Now, this is a most suggestive fact.\"", "Dr. Mortimer started violently.", "By whom?\"", "\"He is in charge of the Hall.\"", "'Is all ready for Sir Henry?'", "Grimpen.", "\"If my friend would undertake it there\nis no man who is better worth having at your side when you are in a\ntight place.", "No one can say so more confidently than I.\"", "\"Perfectly.\"", "\"Now, Clayton, tell me all about the fare who came and watched this\nhouse at ten o'clock this morning and afterwards followed the two\ngentlemen down Regent Street.\"" ]

[ "\"What!", "The cabman scratched his head.", "I don't know as I could say more than that.\"", "\"Seems to me they are playing me for a sucker in this hotel,\" he cried.", "You certainly must not go alone.\"", "\"Ha!", "\"At the same time,\" said Baskerville, \"it's clear enough that so long as\nthere are none of the family at the Hall these people have a mighty fine\nhome and nothing to do.\"", "And one more question, Dr. Mortimer.", "Barrymore, Sir Charles's butler, is a man\nwith a full, black beard.\"", "But I'm not easy in my\nmind about it.\"" ]

[ "I've had no time, for it was only yesterday\nthat I learned how matters stood.", "But in any case I feel that the money\nshould go with the title and estate.", "That was my poor uncle's idea.", "How\nis the owner going to restore the glories of the Baskervilles if he has\nnot money enough to keep up the property?", "House, land, and dollars must\ngo together.\"", "\"Quite so.", "Well, Sir Henry, I am of one mind with you as to the\nadvisability of your going down to Devonshire without delay.", "There is\nonly one provision which I must make.", "You certainly must not go alone.\"", "\"Dr. Mortimer returns with me.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles\naway from yours." ]

[ "\n\n\nSherlock Holmes had, in a very remarkable degree, the power of detaching\nhis mind at will.", "For two hours the strange business in which we had\nbeen involved appeared to be forgotten, and he was entirely absorbed in\nthe pictures of the modern Belgian masters.", "He would talk of nothing\nbut art, of which he had the crudest ideas, from our leaving the gallery\nuntil we found ourselves at the Northumberland Hotel.", "\"Sir Henry Baskerville is upstairs expecting you,\" said the clerk.", "\"He\nasked me to show you up at once when you came.\"", "\"Have you any objection to my looking at your register?\"", "said Holmes.", "\"Not in the least.\"", "The book showed that two names had been added after that of Baskerville.", "One was Theophilus Johnson and family, of Newcastle; the other Mrs.\nOldmore and maid, of High Lodge, Alton.", "\"The\ncunning rascal!", "He knew our number, knew that Sir Henry Baskerville had\nconsulted me, spotted who I was in Regent Street, conjectured that I had\ngot the number of the cab and would lay my hands on the driver, and so\nsent back this audacious message.", "I tell you, Watson, this time we have\ngot a foeman who is worthy of our steel.", "I've been checkmated in London.", "I can only wish you better luck in Devonshire.", "But I'm not easy in my\nmind about it.\"", "\"About what?\"", "\"About sending you.", "It's an ugly business, Watson, an ugly dangerous\nbusiness, and the more I see of it the less I like it.", "Yes, my dear\nfellow, you may laugh, but I give you my word that I shall be very glad\nto have you back safe and sound in Baker Street once more.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nSir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed\nday, and we started as arranged for Devonshire.", "Mr. Sherlock Holmes\ndrove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions\nand advice.", "\"I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions,\nWatson,\" said he; \"I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest\npossible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing.\"", "\"What sort of facts?\"", "I asked.", "\"Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the\ncase, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his\nneighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles.", "I have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results\nhave, I fear, been negative.", "One thing only appears to be certain, and\nthat is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly\ngentleman of a very amiable disposition, so that this persecution does\nnot arise from him.", "I really think that we may eliminate him entirely\nfrom our calculations.", "There remain the people who will actually\nsurround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor.\"", "\"Would it not be well in the first place to get rid of this Barrymore\ncouple?\"", "\"By no means.", "You could not make a greater mistake.", "If they are innocent\nit would be a cruel injustice, and if they are guilty we should be\ngiving up all chance of bringing it home to them.", "No, no, we will\npreserve them upon our list of suspects.", "Then there is a groom at the\nHall, if I remember right.", "There are two moorland farmers.", "There is our\nfriend Dr. Mortimer, whom I believe to be entirely honest, and there is\nhis wife, of whom we know nothing.", "There is this naturalist, Stapleton,\nand there is his sister, who is said to be a young lady of attractions.", "There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown factor,\nand there are one or two other neighbours.", "These are the folk who must\nbe your very special study.\"", "\"I will do my best.\"", "\"You have arms, I suppose?\"", "\"Yes, I thought it as well to take them.\"", "\"Most certainly.", "Keep your revolver near you night and day, and never\nrelax your precautions.\"", "Our friends had already secured a first-class carriage and were waiting\nfor us upon the platform.", "\"No, we have no news of any kind,\" said Dr. Mortimer in answer to my\nfriend's questions.", "\"I can swear to one thing, and that is that we\nhave not been shadowed during the last two days.", "We have never gone\nout without keeping a sharp watch, and no one could have escaped our\nnotice.\"", "\"You have always kept together, I presume?\"", "\"Except yesterday afternoon.", "I usually give up one day to pure amusement\nwhen I come to town, so I spent it at the Museum of the College of\nSurgeons.\"", "\"And I went to look at the folk in the park,\" said Baskerville.", "\"But we had no trouble of any kind.\"", "\"It was imprudent, all the same,\" said Holmes, shaking his head and\nlooking very grave.", "\"I beg, Sir Henry, that you will not go about alone.", "Some great misfortune will befall you if you do.", "Did you get your other\nboot?\"", "\"No, sir, it is gone forever.\"", "\"Indeed.", "That is very interesting.", "Well, good-bye,\" he added as the\ntrain began to glide down the platform.", "\"Bear in mind, Sir Henry, one of\nthe phrases in that queer old legend which Dr. Mortimer has read to us,\nand avoid the moor in those hours of darkness when the powers of evil\nare exalted.\"", "I looked back at the platform when we had left it far behind and saw the\ntall, austere figure of Holmes standing motionless and gazing after us.", "The journey was a swift and pleasant one, and I spent it in making the\nmore intimate acquaintance of my two companions and in playing with\nDr. Mortimer's spaniel.", "In a very few hours the brown earth had\nbecome ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and red cows grazed in\nwell-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more luxuriant vegetation\nspoke of a richer, if a damper, climate.", "Young Baskerville stared\neagerly out of the window and cried aloud with delight as he recognized\nthe familiar features of the Devon scenery.", "\"I've been over a good part of the world since I left it, Dr. Watson,\"\nsaid he; \"but I have never seen a place to compare with it.\"", "\"I never saw a Devonshire man who did not swear by his county,\" I\nremarked.", "\"It depends upon the breed of men quite as much as on the county,\" said\nDr. Mortimer.", "\"A glance at our friend here reveals the rounded head of\nthe Celt, which carries inside it the Celtic enthusiasm and power\nof attachment.", "Poor Sir Charles's head was of a very rare type, half\nGaelic, half Ivernian in its characteristics.", "But you were very young\nwhen you last saw Baskerville Hall, were you not?\"", "\"I was a boy in my teens at the time of my father's death and had never\nseen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage on the South Coast.", "Thence I went straight to a friend in America.", "I tell you it is all as\nnew to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I'm as keen as possible to see the\nmoor.\"", "\"Are you?", "Then your wish is easily granted, for there is your first\nsight of the moor,\" said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage\nwindow.", "Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there\nrose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged\nsummit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in\na dream.", "Baskerville sat for a long time, his eyes fixed upon it, and I\nread upon his eager face how much it meant to him, this first sight of\nthat strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway so long\nand left their mark so deep.", "There he sat, with his tweed suit and his\nAmerican accent, in the corner of a prosaic railway-carriage, and yet as\nI looked at his dark and expressive face I felt more than ever how\ntrue a descendant he was of that long line of high-blooded, fiery,\nand masterful men.", "There were pride, valour, and strength in his thick\nbrows, his sensitive nostrils, and his large hazel eyes.", "If on that\nforbidding moor a difficult and dangerous quest should lie before us,\nthis was at least a comrade for whom one might venture to take a risk\nwith the certainty that he would bravely share it.", "The train pulled up at a small wayside station and we all descended.", "Outside, beyond the low, white fence, a wagonette with a pair of cobs\nwas waiting.", "Our coming was evidently a great event, for station-master\nand porters clustered round us to carry out our luggage.", "It was a sweet,\nsimple country spot, but I was surprised to observe that by the gate\nthere stood two soldierly men in dark uniforms who leaned upon their\nshort rifles and glanced keenly at us as we passed.", "The coachman, a\nhard-faced, gnarled little fellow, saluted Sir Henry Baskerville, and in\na few minutes we were flying swiftly down the broad, white road.", "Rolling\npasture lands curved upward on either side of us, and old gabled houses\npeeped out from amid the thick green foliage, but behind the peaceful\nand sunlit countryside there rose ever, dark against the evening sky,\nthe long, gloomy curve of the moor, broken by the jagged and sinister\nhills.", "The wagonette swung round into a side road, and we curved upward through\ndeep lanes worn by centuries of wheels, high banks on either side, heavy\nwith dripping moss and fleshy hart's-tongue ferns.", "Bronzing bracken and\nmottled bramble gleamed in the light of the sinking sun.", "Still steadily\nrising, we passed over a narrow granite bridge and skirted a noisy\nstream which gushed swiftly down, foaming and roaring amid the gray\nboulders.", "Both road and stream wound up through a valley dense with\nscrub oak and fir.", "At every turn Baskerville gave an exclamation of\ndelight, looking eagerly about him and asking countless questions.", "To\nhis eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon\nthe countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year.", "Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we\npassed.", "The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of\nrotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw\nbefore the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.", "\"Halloa!\"", "cried Dr. Mortimer, \"what is this?\"", "A steep curve of heath-clad land, an outlying spur of the moor, lay in\nfront of us.", "On the summit, hard and clear like an equestrian statue\nupon its pedestal, was a mounted soldier, dark and stern, his rifle\npoised ready over his forearm.", "He was watching the road along which we\ntravelled.", "\"What is this, Perkins?\"", "asked Dr. Mortimer.", "Our driver half turned in his seat.", "\"There's a convict escaped from\nPrincetown, sir.", "He's been out three days now, and the warders watch\nevery road and every station, but they've had no sight of him yet.", "The\nfarmers about here don't like it, sir, and that's a fact.\"", "\"Well, I understand that they get five pounds if they can give\ninformation.\"", "\"Yes, sir, but the chance of five pounds is but a poor thing compared\nto the chance of having your throat cut.", "You see, it isn't like any\nordinary convict.", "This is a man that would stick at nothing.\"", "\"Who is he, then?\"", "\"It is Selden, the Notting Hill murderer.\"", "I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an\ninterest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the\nwanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin.", "The\ncommutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his\ncomplete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct.", "Our wagonette had topped\na rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled\nwith gnarled and craggy cairns and tors.", "A cold wind swept down from\nit and set us shivering.", "Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was\nlurking this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow like a wild beast, his\nheart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him out.", "It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren\nwaste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky.", "Even Baskerville fell\nsilent and pulled his overcoat more closely around him.", "We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us.", "We looked back on\nit now, the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of\ngold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad\ntangle of the woodlands.", "The road in front of us grew bleaker and wilder\nover huge russet and olive slopes, sprinkled with giant boulders.", "Now\nand then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone,\nwith no creeper to break its harsh outline.", "Suddenly we looked down into\na cuplike depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been\ntwisted and bent by the fury of years of storm.", "Two high, narrow towers\nrose over the trees.", "The driver pointed with his whip.", "\"Baskerville Hall,\" said he.", "Its master had risen and was staring with flushed cheeks and shining\neyes.", "A few minutes later we had reached the lodge-gates, a maze of\nfantastic tracery in wrought iron, with weather-bitten pillars on either\nside, blotched with lichens, and surmounted by the boars' heads of the\nBaskervilles.", "The lodge was a ruin of black granite and bared ribs of\nrafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed, the first\nfruit of Sir Charles's South African gold.", "Through the gateway we passed into the avenue, where the wheels were\nagain hushed amid the leaves, and the old trees shot their branches in a\nsombre tunnel over our heads.", "Baskerville shuddered as he looked up\nthe long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the\nfarther end.", "\"Was it here?\"", "he asked in a low voice.", "\"No, no, the yew alley is on the other side.\"", "The young heir glanced round with a gloomy face.", "\"It's no wonder my uncle felt as if trouble were coming on him in such a\nplace as this,\" said he.", "\"It's enough to scare any man.", "I'll have a row\nof electric lamps up here inside of six months, and you won't know it\nagain, with a thousand candle-power Swan and Edison right here in front\nof the hall door.\"", "The avenue opened into a broad expanse of turf, and the house lay before\nus.", "In the fading light I could see that the centre was a heavy block\nof building from which a porch projected.", "The whole front was draped in\nivy, with a patch clipped bare here and there where a window or a coat\nof arms broke through the dark veil.", "From this central block rose the\ntwin towers, ancient, crenelated, and pierced with many loopholes.", "To\nright and left of the turrets were more modern wings of black granite.", "A dull light shone through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high\nchimneys which rose from the steep, high-angled roof there sprang a\nsingle black column of smoke.", "\"Welcome, Sir Henry!", "Welcome to Baskerville Hall!\"", "A tall man had stepped from the shadow of the porch to open the door of\nthe wagonette.", "The figure of a woman was silhouetted against the yellow\nlight of the hall.", "She came out and helped the man to hand down our\nbags.", "\"You don't mind my driving straight home, Sir Henry?\"", "said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"My wife is expecting me.\"", "\"Surely you will stay and have some dinner?\"", "\"No, I must go.", "I shall probably find some work awaiting me.", "I would\nstay to show you over the house, but Barrymore will be a better guide\nthan I. Good-bye, and never hesitate night or day to send for me if I\ncan be of service.\"", "The wheels died away down the drive while Sir Henry and I turned\ninto the hall, and the door clanged heavily behind us.", "It was a fine\napartment in which we found ourselves, large, lofty, and heavily\nraftered with huge baulks of age-blackened oak.", "In the great\nold-fashioned fireplace behind the high iron dogs a log-fire crackled\nand snapped.", "Sir Henry and I held out our hands to it, for we were numb\nfrom our long drive.", "Then we gazed round us at the high, thin window\nof old stained glass, the oak panelling, the stags' heads, the coats\nof arms upon the walls, all dim and sombre in the subdued light of the\ncentral lamp.", "\"It's just as I imagined it,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"Is it not the very\npicture of an old family home?", "To think that this should be the same\nhall in which for five hundred years my people have lived.", "It strikes me\nsolemn to think of it.\"", "I saw his dark face lit up with a boyish enthusiasm as he gazed about\nhim.", "The light beat upon him where he stood, but long shadows trailed\ndown the walls and hung like a black canopy above him.", "Barrymore had\nreturned from taking our luggage to our rooms.", "He stood in front of\nus now with the subdued manner of a well-trained servant.", "He was a\nremarkable-looking man, tall, handsome, with a square black beard and\npale, distinguished features.", "\"Would you wish dinner to be served at once, sir?\"", "\"Is it ready?\"", "\"In a very few minutes, sir.", "You will find hot water in your rooms.", "My\nwife and I will be happy, Sir Henry, to stay with you until you have\nmade your fresh arrangements, but you will understand that under the new\nconditions this house will require a considerable staff.\"", "\"What new conditions?\"", "\"I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we\nwere able to look after his wants.", "You would, naturally, wish to have\nmore company, and so you will need changes in your household.\"", "\"Do you mean that your wife and you wish to leave?\"", "\"Only when it is quite convenient to you, sir.\"", "\"But your family have been with us for several generations, have they\nnot?", "I should be sorry to begin my life here by breaking an old family\nconnection.\"", "I seemed to discern some signs of emotion upon the butler's white face.", "\"I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife.", "But to tell the truth, sir,\nwe were both very much attached to Sir Charles, and his death gave us\na shock and made these surroundings very painful to us.", "I fear that we\nshall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall.\"", "\"But what do you intend to do?\"", "\"I have no doubt, sir, that we shall succeed in establishing ourselves\nin some business.", "Sir Charles's generosity has given us the means to do\nso.", "And now, sir, perhaps I had best show you to your rooms.\"", "A square balustraded gallery ran round the top of the old hall,\napproached by a double stair.", "From this central point two long corridors\nextended the whole length of the building, from which all the bedrooms\nopened.", "My own was in the same wing as Baskerville's and almost next\ndoor to it.", "These rooms appeared to be much more modern than the\ncentral part of the house, and the bright paper and numerous candles\ndid something to remove the sombre impression which our arrival had left\nupon my mind.", "But the dining-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow\nand gloom.", "It was a long chamber with a step separating the dais where\nthe family sat from the lower portion reserved for their dependents.", "At one end a minstrel's gallery overlooked it.", "Black beams shot across\nabove our heads, with a smoke-darkened ceiling beyond them.", "With rows of\nflaring torches to light it up, and the colour and rude hilarity of\nan old-time banquet, it might have softened; but now, when two\nblack-clothed gentlemen sat in the little circle of light thrown by a\nshaded lamp, one's voice became hushed and one's spirit subdued.", "A\ndim line of ancestors, in every variety of dress, from the Elizabethan\nknight to the buck of the Regency, stared down upon us and daunted us by\ntheir silent company.", "We talked little, and I for one was glad when the\nmeal was over and we were able to retire into the modern billiard-room\nand smoke a cigarette.", "\"My word, it isn't a very cheerful place,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"I suppose\none can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present.", "I don't wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone\nin such a house as this.", "However, if it suits you, we will retire early\ntonight, and perhaps things may seem more cheerful in the morning.\"", "I drew aside my curtains before I went to bed and looked out from my\nwindow.", "It opened upon the grassy space which lay in front of the hall\ndoor.", "Beyond, two copses of trees moaned and swung in a rising wind.", "A\nhalf moon broke through the rifts of racing clouds.", "In its cold light I\nsaw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, low curve\nof the melancholy moor.", "I closed the curtain, feeling that my last\nimpression was in keeping with the rest.", "And yet it was not quite the last.", "I found myself weary and yet wakeful,\ntossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would\nnot come.", "Far away a chiming clock struck out the quarters of the\nhours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house.", "And then\nsuddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my\nears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.", "It was the sob of a woman, the\nmuffled, strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow.", "I sat up in bed and listened intently.", "The noise could not have been\nfar away and was certainly in the house.", "For half an hour I waited with\nevery nerve on the alert, but there came no other sound save the chiming\nclock and the rustle of the ivy on the wall." ]

[ "\n\n\nSir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed\nday, and we started as arranged for Devonshire.", "\"You have always kept together, I presume?\"", "\"And I went to look at the folk in the park,\" said Baskerville.", "In a very few hours the brown earth had\nbecome ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and red cows grazed in\nwell-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more luxuriant vegetation\nspoke of a richer, if a damper, climate.", "\"A glance at our friend here reveals the rounded head of\nthe Celt, which carries inside it the Celtic enthusiasm and power\nof attachment.", "Both road and stream wound up through a valley dense with\nscrub oak and fir.", "Baskerville shuddered as he looked up\nthe long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the\nfarther end.", "\"I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we\nwere able to look after his wants.", "\"I suppose\none can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present.", "I found myself weary and yet wakeful,\ntossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would\nnot come." ]

[ "\"No, sir, it is gone forever.\"", "My\nwife and I will be happy, Sir Henry, to stay with you until you have\nmade your fresh arrangements, but you will understand that under the new\nconditions this house will require a considerable staff.\"", "\"You have arms, I suppose?\"", "But the dining-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow\nand gloom.", "I don't wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone\nin such a house as this.", "\"I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we\nwere able to look after his wants.", "There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown factor,\nand there are one or two other neighbours.", "\"It's enough to scare any man.", "There is this naturalist, Stapleton,\nand there is his sister, who is said to be a young lady of attractions.", "Then there is a groom at the\nHall, if I remember right." ]

[ "The\ncommutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his\ncomplete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct.", "Our wagonette had topped\na rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled\nwith gnarled and craggy cairns and tors.", "A cold wind swept down from\nit and set us shivering.", "Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was\nlurking this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow like a wild beast, his\nheart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him out.", "It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren\nwaste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky.", "Even Baskerville fell\nsilent and pulled his overcoat more closely around him.", "We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us.", "We looked back on\nit now, the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of\ngold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad\ntangle of the woodlands.", "The road in front of us grew bleaker and wilder\nover huge russet and olive slopes, sprinkled with giant boulders.", "Now\nand then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone,\nwith no creeper to break its harsh outline.", "Suddenly we looked down into\na cuplike depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been\ntwisted and bent by the fury of years of storm." ]

[ "\n\n\nSir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed\nday, and we started as arranged for Devonshire.", "Mr. Sherlock Holmes\ndrove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions\nand advice.", "\"I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions,\nWatson,\" said he; \"I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest\npossible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing.\"", "\"What sort of facts?\"", "I asked.", "\"Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the\ncase, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his\nneighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles.", "I have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results\nhave, I fear, been negative.", "One thing only appears to be certain, and\nthat is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly\ngentleman of a very amiable disposition, so that this persecution does\nnot arise from him.", "I really think that we may eliminate him entirely\nfrom our calculations.", "There remain the people who will actually\nsurround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor.\"", "In its cold light I\nsaw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, low curve\nof the melancholy moor.", "I closed the curtain, feeling that my last\nimpression was in keeping with the rest.", "And yet it was not quite the last.", "I found myself weary and yet wakeful,\ntossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would\nnot come.", "Far away a chiming clock struck out the quarters of the\nhours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house.", "And then\nsuddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my\nears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.", "It was the sob of a woman, the\nmuffled, strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow.", "I sat up in bed and listened intently.", "The noise could not have been\nfar away and was certainly in the house.", "For half an hour I waited with\nevery nerve on the alert, but there came no other sound save the chiming\nclock and the rustle of the ivy on the wall." ]

[ "\n\n\nThe fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from\nour minds the grim and gray impression which had been left upon both of\nus by our first experience of Baskerville Hall.", "As Sir Henry and I sat\nat breakfast the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows,\nthrowing watery patches of colour from the coats of arms which covered\nthem.", "The dark panelling glowed like bronze in the golden rays, and it\nwas hard to realize that this was indeed the chamber which had struck\nsuch a gloom into our souls upon the evening before.", "\"I guess it is ourselves and not the house that we have to blame!\"", "said\nthe baronet.", "\"We were tired with our journey and chilled by our drive,\nso we took a gray view of the place.", "Now we are fresh and well, so it is\nall cheerful once more.\"", "\"And yet it was not entirely a question of imagination,\" I answered.", "\"Did you, for example, happen to hear someone, a woman I think, sobbing\nin the night?\"", "\"That is curious, for I did when I was half asleep fancy that I heard\nsomething of the sort.", "I waited quite a time, but there was no more of\nit, so I concluded that it was all a dream.\"", "\"I heard it distinctly, and I am sure that it was really the sob of a\nwoman.\"", "\"We must ask about this right away.\"", "He rang the bell and asked\nBarrymore whether he could account for our experience.", "It seemed to me\nthat the pallid features of the butler turned a shade paler still as he\nlistened to his master's question.", "\"There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry,\" he answered.", "\"One is\nthe scullery-maid, who sleeps in the other wing.", "The other is my wife,\nand I can answer for it that the sound could not have come from her.\"", "And yet he lied as he said it, for it chanced that after breakfast I met\nMrs. Barrymore in the long corridor with the sun full upon her face.", "She\nwas a large, impassive, heavy-featured woman with a stern set expression\nof mouth.", "But her telltale eyes were red and glanced at me from between\nswollen lids.", "It was she, then, who wept in the night, and if she did so\nher husband must know it.", "Yet he had taken the obvious risk of discovery\nin declaring that it was not so.", "Why had he done this?", "And why did she\nweep so bitterly?", "Already round this pale-faced, handsome, black-bearded\nman there was gathering an atmosphere of mystery and of gloom.", "It was he\nwho had been the first to discover the body of Sir Charles, and we had\nonly his word for all the circumstances which led up to the old man's\ndeath.", "Was it possible that it was Barrymore, after all, whom we had\nseen in the cab in Regent Street?", "The beard might well have been the\nsame.", "The cabman had described a somewhat shorter man, but such an\nimpression might easily have been erroneous.", "How could I settle the\npoint forever?", "Obviously the first thing to do was to see the Grimpen\npostmaster and find whether the test telegram had really been placed in\nBarrymore's own hands.", "Be the answer what it might, I should at least\nhave something to report to Sherlock Holmes.", "Sir Henry had numerous papers to examine after breakfast, so that the\ntime was propitious for my excursion.", "It was a pleasant walk of four\nmiles along the edge of the moor, leading me at last to a small gray\nhamlet, in which two larger buildings, which proved to be the inn and\nthe house of Dr. Mortimer, stood high above the rest.", "The postmaster,\nwho was also the village grocer, had a clear recollection of the\ntelegram.", "\"Certainly, sir,\" said he, \"I had the telegram delivered to Mr.\nBarrymore exactly as directed.\"", "\"Who delivered it?\"", "\"My boy here.", "James, you delivered that telegram to Mr. Barrymore at the\nHall last week, did you not?\"", "\"Yes, father, I delivered it.\"", "\"Into his own hands?\"", "I asked.", "\"Well, he was up in the loft at the time, so that I could not put it\ninto his own hands, but I gave it into Mrs. Barrymore's hands, and she\npromised to deliver it at once.\"", "\"Did you see Mr.", "Barrymore?\"", "\"No, sir; I tell you he was in the loft.\"", "\"If you didn't see him, how do you know he was in the loft?\"", "\"Well, surely his own wife ought to know where he is,\" said the\npostmaster testily.", "\"Didn't he get the telegram?", "If there is any mistake\nit is for Mr. Barrymore himself to complain.\"", "It seemed hopeless to pursue the inquiry any farther, but it was clear\nthat in spite of Holmes's ruse we had no proof that Barrymore had not\nbeen in London all the time.", "Suppose that it were so--suppose that the\nsame man had been the last who had seen Sir Charles alive, and the first\nto dog the new heir when he returned to England.", "What then?", "Was he the\nagent of others or had he some sinister design of his own?", "What interest\ncould he have in persecuting the Baskerville family?", "I thought of the\nstrange warning clipped out of the leading article of the Times.", "Was\nthat his work or was it possibly the doing of someone who was bent upon\ncounteracting his schemes?", "The only conceivable motive was that which\nhad been suggested by Sir Henry, that if the family could be scared away\na comfortable and permanent home would be secured for the Barrymores.", "But surely such an explanation as that would be quite inadequate to\naccount for the deep and subtle scheming which seemed to be weaving an\ninvisible net round the young baronet.", "Holmes himself had said that\nno more complex case had come to him in all the long series of his\nsensational investigations.", "I prayed, as I walked back along the gray,\nlonely road, that my friend might soon be freed from his preoccupations\nand able to come down to take this heavy burden of responsibility from\nmy shoulders.", "Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running feet\nbehind me and by a voice which called me by name.", "I turned, expecting to\nsee Dr. Mortimer, but to my surprise it was a stranger who was pursuing\nme.", "He was a small, slim, clean-shaven, prim-faced man, flaxen-haired\nand leanjawed, between thirty and forty years of age, dressed in a gray\nsuit and wearing a straw hat.", "A tin box for botanical specimens hung\nover his shoulder and he carried a green butterfly-net in one of his\nhands.", "\"You will, I am sure, excuse my presumption, Dr. Watson,\" said he as he\ncame panting up to where I stood.", "\"Here on the moor we are homely folk\nand do not wait for formal introductions.", "You may possibly have heard\nmy name from our mutual friend, Mortimer.", "I am Stapleton, of Merripit\nHouse.\"", "\"Your net and box would have told me as much,\" said I, \"for I knew that\nMr. Stapleton was a naturalist.", "But how did you know me?\"", "\"I have been calling on Mortimer, and he pointed you out to me from\nthe window of his surgery as you passed.", "As our road lay the same way I\nthought that I would overtake you and introduce myself.", "I trust that Sir\nHenry is none the worse for his journey?\"", "\"He is very well, thank you.\"", "\"We were all rather afraid that after the sad death of Sir Charles the\nnew baronet might refuse to live here.", "It is asking much of a wealthy\nman to come down and bury himself in a place of this kind, but I need\nnot tell you that it means a very great deal to the countryside.", "Sir\nHenry has, I suppose, no superstitious fears in the matter?\"", "\"I do not think that it is likely.\"", "\"Of course you know the legend of the fiend dog which haunts the\nfamily?\"", "\"I have heard it.\"", "\"It is extraordinary how credulous the peasants are about here!", "Any\nnumber of them are ready to swear that they have seen such a creature\nupon the moor.\"", "He spoke with a smile, but I seemed to read in his eyes\nthat he took the matter more seriously.", "\"The story took a great hold\nupon the imagination of Sir Charles, and I have no doubt that it led to\nhis tragic end.\"", "\"But how?\"", "\"His nerves were so worked up that the appearance of any dog might have\nhad a fatal effect upon his diseased heart.", "I fancy that he really\ndid see something of the kind upon that last night in the yew alley.", "I\nfeared that some disaster might occur, for I was very fond of the old\nman, and I knew that his heart was weak.\"", "\"How did you know that?\"", "\"My friend Mortimer told me.\"", "\"You think, then, that some dog pursued Sir Charles, and that he died of\nfright in consequence?\"", "\"Have you any better explanation?\"", "\"I have not come to any conclusion.\"", "\"Has Mr. Sherlock Holmes?\"", "The words took away my breath for an instant but a glance at the placid\nface and steadfast eyes of my companion showed that no surprise was\nintended.", "\"It is useless for us to pretend that we do not know you, Dr. Watson,\"\nsaid he.", "\"The records of your detective have reached us here, and you\ncould not celebrate him without being known yourself.", "When Mortimer told\nme your name he could not deny your identity.", "If you are here, then it\nfollows that Mr. Sherlock Holmes is interesting himself in the matter,\nand I am naturally curious to know what view he may take.\"", "\"I am afraid that I cannot answer that question.\"", "\"May I ask if he is going to honour us with a visit himself?\"", "\"He cannot leave town at present.", "He has other cases which engage his\nattention.\"", "\"What a pity!", "He might throw some light on that which is so dark to us.", "But as to your own researches, if there is any possible way in which I\ncan be of service to you I trust that you will command me.", "If I had\nany indication of the nature of your suspicions or how you propose to\ninvestigate the case, I might perhaps even now give you some aid or\nadvice.\"", "\"I assure you that I am simply here upon a visit to my friend, Sir\nHenry, and that I need no help of any kind.\"", "\"Excellent!\"", "said Stapleton.", "\"You are perfectly right to be wary and\ndiscreet.", "I am justly reproved for what I feel was an unjustifiable\nintrusion, and I promise you that I will not mention the matter again.\"", "We had come to a point where a narrow grassy path struck off from the\nroad and wound away across the moor.", "A steep, boulder-sprinkled hill lay\nupon the right which had in bygone days been cut into a granite quarry.", "The face which was turned towards us formed a dark cliff, with ferns and\nbrambles growing in its niches.", "From over a distant rise there floated a\ngray plume of smoke.", "\"A moderate walk along this moor-path brings us to Merripit House,\"\nsaid he.", "\"Perhaps you will spare an hour that I may have the pleasure of\nintroducing you to my sister.\"", "My first thought was that I should be by Sir Henry's side.", "But then I\nremembered the pile of papers and bills with which his study table was\nlittered.", "It was certain that I could not help with those.", "And Holmes\nhad expressly said that I should study the neighbours upon the moor.", "I\naccepted Stapleton's invitation, and we turned together down the path.", "\"It is a wonderful place, the moor,\" said he, looking round over the\nundulating downs, long green rollers, with crests of jagged granite\nfoaming up into fantastic surges.", "\"You never tire of the moor.", "You\ncannot think the wonderful secrets which it contains.", "It is so vast, and\nso barren, and so mysterious.\"", "\"You know it well, then?\"", "\"I have only been here two years.", "The residents would call me a\nnewcomer.", "We came shortly after Sir Charles settled.", "But my tastes led\nme to explore every part of the country round, and I should think that\nthere are few men who know it better than I do.\"", "\"Is it hard to know?\"", "\"Very hard.", "You see, for example, this great plain to the north here\nwith the queer hills breaking out of it.", "Do you observe anything\nremarkable about that?\"", "\"It would be a rare place for a gallop.\"", "\"You would naturally think so and the thought has cost several their\nlives before now.", "You notice those bright green spots scattered thickly\nover it?\"", "\"Yes, they seem more fertile than the rest.\"", "Stapleton laughed.", "\"That is the great Grimpen Mire,\" said he.", "\"A false\nstep yonder means death to man or beast.", "Only yesterday I saw one of the\nmoor ponies wander into it.", "He never came out.", "I saw his head for quite\na long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last.", "Even in dry seasons it is a danger to cross it, but after these autumn\nrains it is an awful place.", "And yet I can find my way to the very heart\nof it and return alive.", "By George, there is another of those miserable\nponies!\"", "Something brown was rolling and tossing among the green sedges.", "Then a\nlong, agonized, writhing neck shot upward and a dreadful cry echoed\nover the moor.", "It turned me cold with horror, but my companion's nerves\nseemed to be stronger than mine.", "\"It's gone!\"", "said he.", "\"The mire has him.", "Two in two days, and many more,\nperhaps, for they get in the way of going there in the dry weather and\nnever know the difference until the mire has them in its clutches.", "It's\na bad place, the great Grimpen Mire.\"", "\"And you say you can penetrate it?\"", "\"Yes, there are one or two paths which a very active man can take.", "I\nhave found them out.\"", "\"But why should you wish to go into so horrible a place?\"", "\"Well, you see the hills beyond?", "They are really islands cut off on all\nsides by the impassable mire, which has crawled round them in the course\nof years.", "That is where the rare plants and the butterflies are, if you\nhave the wit to reach them.\"", "\"I shall try my luck some day.\"", "He looked at me with a surprised face.", "\"For God's sake put such an idea\nout of your mind,\" said he.", "\"Your blood would be upon my head.", "I assure\nyou that there would not be the least chance of your coming back alive.", "It is only by remembering certain complex landmarks that I am able to do\nit.\"", "\"Halloa!\"", "I cried.", "\"What is that?\"", "A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor.", "It filled the\nwhole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came.", "From a\ndull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a\nmelancholy, throbbing murmur once again.", "Stapleton looked at me with a\ncurious expression in his face.", "\"Queer place, the moor!\"", "said he.", "\"But what is it?\"", "\"The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its\nprey.", "I've heard it once or twice before, but never quite so loud.\"", "I looked round, with a chill of fear in my heart, at the huge swelling\nplain, mottled with the green patches of rushes.", "Nothing stirred over\nthe vast expanse save a pair of ravens, which croaked loudly from a tor\nbehind us.", "\"You are an educated man.", "You don't believe such nonsense as that?\"", "said\nI.", "\"What do you think is the cause of so strange a sound?\"", "\"Bogs make queer noises sometimes.", "It's the mud settling, or the water\nrising, or something.\"", "\"No, no, that was a living voice.\"", "\"Well, perhaps it was.", "Did you ever hear a bittern booming?\"", "\"No, I never did.\"", "\"It's a very rare bird--practically extinct--in England now, but all\nthings are possible upon the moor.", "Yes, I should not be surprised to\nlearn that what we have heard is the cry of the last of the bitterns.\"", "\"It's the weirdest, strangest thing that ever I heard in my life.\"", "\"Yes, it's rather an uncanny place altogether.", "Look at the hillside\nyonder.", "What do you make of those?\"", "The whole steep slope was covered with gray circular rings of stone, a\nscore of them at least.", "\"What are they?", "Sheep-pens?\"", "\"No, they are the homes of our worthy ancestors.", "Prehistoric man lived\nthickly on the moor, and as no one in particular has lived there since,\nwe find all his little arrangements exactly as he left them.", "These are\nhis wigwams with the roofs off.", "You can even see his hearth and his\ncouch if you have the curiosity to go inside.", "\"But it is quite a town.", "When was it inhabited?\"", "\"Neolithic man--no date.\"", "\"What did he do?\"", "\"He grazed his cattle on these slopes, and he learned to dig for tin\nwhen the bronze sword began to supersede the stone axe.", "Look at the\ngreat trench in the opposite hill.", "That is his mark.", "Yes, you will find\nsome very singular points about the moor, Dr. Watson.", "Oh, excuse me an\ninstant!", "It is surely Cyclopides.\"", "A small fly or moth had fluttered across our path, and in an instant\nStapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy and speed in pursuit of\nit.", "To my dismay the creature flew straight for the great mire, and my\nacquaintance never paused for an instant, bounding from tuft to tuft\nbehind it, his green net waving in the air.", "His gray clothes and jerky,\nzigzag, irregular progress made him not unlike some huge moth himself.", "I was standing watching his pursuit with a mixture of admiration for his\nextraordinary activity and fear lest he should lose his footing in the\ntreacherous mire, when I heard the sound of steps and, turning round,\nfound a woman near me upon the path.", "She had come from the direction in\nwhich the plume of smoke indicated the position of Merripit House, but\nthe dip of the moor had hid her until she was quite close.", "I could not doubt that this was the Miss Stapleton of whom I had\nbeen told, since ladies of any sort must be few upon the moor, and I\nremembered that I had heard someone describe her as being a beauty.", "The\nwoman who approached me was certainly that, and of a most uncommon type.", "There could not have been a greater contrast between brother and sister,\nfor Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and gray eyes, while\nshe was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England--slim,\nelegant, and tall.", "She had a proud, finely cut face, so regular that it\nmight have seemed impassive were it not for the sensitive mouth and the\nbeautiful dark, eager eyes.", "With her perfect figure and elegant dress\nshe was, indeed, a strange apparition upon a lonely moorland path.", "Her\neyes were on her brother as I turned, and then she quickened her pace\ntowards me.", "I had raised my hat and was about to make some explanatory\nremark when her own words turned all my thoughts into a new channel.", "\"Go back!\"", "she said.", "\"Go straight back to London, instantly.\"", "I could only stare at her in stupid surprise.", "Her eyes blazed at me, and\nshe tapped the ground impatiently with her foot.", "\"Why should I go back?\"", "I asked.", "\"I cannot explain.\"", "She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp\nin her utterance.", "\"But for God's sake do what I ask you.", "Go back and\nnever set foot upon the moor again.\"", "\"But I have only just come.\"", "\"Man, man!\"", "she cried.", "\"Can you not tell when a warning is for your own\ngood?", "Go back to London!", "Start tonight!", "Get away from this place at all\ncosts!", "Hush, my brother is coming!", "Not a word of what I have said.", "Would\nyou mind getting that orchid for me among the mare's-tails yonder?", "We\nare very rich in orchids on the moor, though, of course, you are rather\nlate to see the beauties of the place.\"", "Stapleton had abandoned the chase and came back to us breathing hard and\nflushed with his exertions.", "\"Halloa, Beryl!\"", "said he, and it seemed to me that the tone of his\ngreeting was not altogether a cordial one.", "\"Well, Jack, you are very hot.\"", "\"Yes, I was chasing a Cyclopides.", "He is very rare and seldom found in\nthe late autumn.", "What a pity that I should have missed him!\"", "He spoke\nunconcernedly, but his small light eyes glanced incessantly from the\ngirl to me.", "\"You have introduced yourselves, I can see.\"", "\"Yes.", "I was telling Sir Henry that it was rather late for him to see the\ntrue beauties of the moor.\"", "\"Why, who do you think this is?\"", "\"I imagine that it must be Sir Henry Baskerville.\"", "\"No, no,\" said I.", "\"Only a humble commoner, but his friend.", "My name is\nDr.", "Watson.\"", "A flush of vexation passed over her expressive face.", "\"We have been\ntalking at cross purposes,\" said she.", "\"Why, you had not very much time for talk,\" her brother remarked with\nthe same questioning eyes.", "\"I talked as if Dr. Watson were a resident instead of being merely a\nvisitor,\" said she.", "\"It cannot much matter to him whether it is early\nor late for the orchids.", "But you will come on, will you not, and see\nMerripit House?\"", "A short walk brought us to it, a bleak moorland house, once the farm\nof some grazier in the old prosperous days, but now put into repair and\nturned into a modern dwelling.", "An orchard surrounded it, but the trees,\nas is usual upon the moor, were stunted and nipped, and the effect of\nthe whole place was mean and melancholy.", "We were admitted by a strange,\nwizened, rusty-coated old manservant, who seemed in keeping with\nthe house.", "Inside, however, there were large rooms furnished with an\nelegance in which I seemed to recognize the taste of the lady.", "As I\nlooked from their windows at the interminable granite-flecked moor\nrolling unbroken to the farthest horizon I could not but marvel at what\ncould have brought this highly educated man and this beautiful woman to\nlive in such a place.", "\"Queer spot to choose, is it not?\"", "said he as if in answer to my\nthought.", "\"And yet we manage to make ourselves fairly happy, do we not,\nBeryl?\"", "\"Quite happy,\" said she, but there was no ring of conviction in her\nwords.", "\"I had a school,\" said Stapleton.", "\"It was in the north country.", "The work\nto a man of my temperament was mechanical and uninteresting, but the\nprivilege of living with youth, of helping to mould those young minds,\nand of impressing them with one's own character and ideals was very dear\nto me.", "However, the fates were against us.", "A serious epidemic broke out\nin the school and three of the boys died.", "It never recovered from the\nblow, and much of my capital was irretrievably swallowed up.", "And yet,\nif it were not for the loss of the charming companionship of the boys,\nI could rejoice over my own misfortune, for, with my strong tastes\nfor botany and zoology, I find an unlimited field of work here, and my\nsister is as devoted to Nature as I am.", "All this, Dr. Watson, has been\nbrought upon your head by your expression as you surveyed the moor out\nof our window.\"", "\"It certainly did cross my mind that it might be a little dull--less for\nyou, perhaps, than for your sister.\"", "\"No, no, I am never dull,\" said she quickly.", "\"We have books, we have our studies, and we have interesting neighbours.", "Dr. Mortimer is a most learned man in his own line.", "Poor Sir Charles was\nalso an admirable companion.", "We knew him well and miss him more than\nI can tell.", "Do you think that I should intrude if I were to call this\nafternoon and make the acquaintance of Sir Henry?\"", "\"I am sure that he would be delighted.\"", "\"Then perhaps you would mention that I propose to do so.", "We may in\nour humble way do something to make things more easy for him until he\nbecomes accustomed to his new surroundings.", "Will you come upstairs, Dr.\nWatson, and inspect my collection of Lepidoptera?", "I think it is the most\ncomplete one in the south-west of England.", "By the time that you have\nlooked through them lunch will be almost ready.\"", "But I was eager to get back to my charge.", "The melancholy of the moor,\nthe death of the unfortunate pony, the weird sound which had been\nassociated with the grim legend of the Baskervilles, all these things\ntinged my thoughts with sadness.", "Then on the top of these more or less\nvague impressions there had come the definite and distinct warning of\nMiss Stapleton, delivered with such intense earnestness that I could\nnot doubt that some grave and deep reason lay behind it.", "I resisted\nall pressure to stay for lunch, and I set off at once upon my return\njourney, taking the grass-grown path by which we had come.", "It seems, however, that there must have been some short cut for those\nwho knew it, for before I had reached the road I was astounded to see\nMiss Stapleton sitting upon a rock by the side of the track.", "Her face\nwas beautifully flushed with her exertions and she held her hand to her\nside.", "\"I have run all the way in order to cut you off, Dr. Watson,\" said she.", "\"I had not even time to put on my hat.", "I must not stop, or my brother\nmay miss me.", "I wanted to say to you how sorry I am about the stupid\nmistake I made in thinking that you were Sir Henry.", "Please forget the\nwords I said, which have no application whatever to you.\"", "\"But I can't forget them, Miss Stapleton,\" said I.", "\"I am Sir Henry's\nfriend, and his welfare is a very close concern of mine.", "Tell me why it\nwas that you were so eager that Sir Henry should return to London.\"", "\"A woman's whim, Dr. Watson.", "When you know me better you will understand\nthat I cannot always give reasons for what I say or do.\"", "\"No, no.", "I remember the thrill in your voice.", "I remember the look in\nyour eyes.", "Please, please, be frank with me, Miss Stapleton, for ever\nsince I have been here I have been conscious of shadows all round me.", "Life has become like that great Grimpen Mire, with little green patches\neverywhere into which one may sink and with no guide to point the track.", "Tell me then what it was that you meant, and I will promise to convey\nyour warning to Sir Henry.\"", "An expression of irresolution passed for an instant over her face, but\nher eyes had hardened again when she answered me.", "\"You make too much of it, Dr. Watson,\" said she.", "\"My brother and I\nwere very much shocked by the death of Sir Charles.", "We knew him very\nintimately, for his favourite walk was over the moor to our house.", "He\nwas deeply impressed with the curse which hung over the family, and when\nthis tragedy came I naturally felt that there must be some grounds\nfor the fears which he had expressed.", "I was distressed therefore when\nanother member of the family came down to live here, and I felt that he\nshould be warned of the danger which he will run.", "That was all which I\nintended to convey.", "\"But what is the danger?\"", "\"You know the story of the hound?\"", "\"I do not believe in such nonsense.\"", "\"But I do.", "If you have any influence with Sir Henry, take him away from\na place which has always been fatal to his family.", "The world is wide.", "Why should he wish to live at the place of danger?\"", "\"Because it is the place of danger.", "That is Sir Henry's nature.", "I fear\nthat unless you can give me some more definite information than this it\nwould be impossible to get him to move.\"", "\"I cannot say anything definite, for I do not know anything definite.\"", "\"I would ask you one more question, Miss Stapleton.", "If you meant no\nmore than this when you first spoke to me, why should you not wish your\nbrother to overhear what you said?", "There is nothing to which he, or\nanyone else, could object.\"", "\"My brother is very anxious to have the Hall inhabited, for he thinks it\nis for the good of the poor folk upon the moor.", "He would be very angry\nif he knew that I have said anything which might induce Sir Henry to\ngo away.", "But I have done my duty now and I will say no more.", "I must go\nback, or he will miss me and suspect that I have seen you.", "Good-bye!\"", "She turned and had disappeared in a few minutes among the scattered\nboulders, while I, with my soul full of vague fears, pursued my way to\nBaskerville Hall.", "From this point onward I will follow the course of events by\ntranscribing my own letters to Mr. Sherlock Holmes which lie before me\non the table.", "One page is missing, but otherwise they are exactly\nas written and show my feelings and suspicions of the moment more\naccurately than my memory, clear as it is upon these tragic events, can\npossibly do.", "Baskerville Hall, October 13th.", "MY DEAR HOLMES: My previous letters\nand telegrams have kept you pretty well up to date as to all that has\noccurred in this most God-forsaken corner of the world.", "The longer one\nstays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul,\nits vastness, and also its grim charm.", "When you are once out upon its\nbosom you have left all traces of modern England behind you, but, on the\nother hand, you are conscious everywhere of the homes and the work of\nthe prehistoric people.", "On all sides of you as you walk are the houses\nof these forgotten folk, with their graves and the huge monoliths which\nare supposed to have marked their temples.", "As you look at their gray\nstone huts against the scarred hillsides you leave your own age behind\nyou, and if you were to see a skin-clad, hairy man crawl out from the\nlow door fitting a flint-tipped arrow on to the string of his bow, you\nwould feel that his presence there was more natural than your own.", "The\nstrange thing is that they should have lived so thickly on what must\nalways have been most unfruitful soil.", "I am no antiquarian, but I could\nimagine that they were some unwarlike and harried race who were forced\nto accept that which none other would occupy.", "All this, however, is foreign to the mission on which you sent me and\nwill probably be very uninteresting to your severely practical mind.", "I can still remember your complete indifference as to whether the sun\nmoved round the earth or the earth round the sun.", "Let me, therefore,\nreturn to the facts concerning Sir Henry Baskerville.", "If you have not had any report within the last few days it is because\nup to today there was nothing of importance to relate.", "Then a very\nsurprising circumstance occurred, which I shall tell you in due course.", "But, first of all, I must keep you in touch with some of the other\nfactors in the situation.", "One of these, concerning which I have said little, is the escaped\nconvict upon the moor.", "There is strong reason now to believe that he\nhas got right away, which is a considerable relief to the lonely\nhouseholders of this district.", "A fortnight has passed since his flight,\nduring which he has not been seen and nothing has been heard of him.", "It\nis surely inconceivable that he could have held out upon the moor during\nall that time.", "Of course, so far as his concealment goes there is\nno difficulty at all.", "Any one of these stone huts would give him a\nhiding-place.", "But there is nothing to eat unless he were to catch and\nslaughter one of the moor sheep.", "We think, therefore, that he has gone,\nand the outlying farmers sleep the better in consequence.", "We are four able-bodied men in this household, so that we could take\ngood care of ourselves, but I confess that I have had uneasy moments\nwhen I have thought of the Stapletons.", "They live miles from any help.", "There are one maid, an old manservant, the sister, and the brother, the\nlatter not a very strong man.", "They would be helpless in the hands of a\ndesperate fellow like this Notting Hill criminal if he could once effect\nan entrance.", "Both Sir Henry and I were concerned at their situation, and\nit was suggested that Perkins the groom should go over to sleep there,\nbut Stapleton would not hear of it.", "The fact is that our friend, the baronet, begins to display a\nconsiderable interest in our fair neighbour.", "It is not to be wondered\nat, for time hangs heavily in this lonely spot to an active man like\nhim, and she is a very fascinating and beautiful woman.", "There is\nsomething tropical and exotic about her which forms a singular contrast\nto her cool and unemotional brother.", "Yet he also gives the idea of\nhidden fires.", "He has certainly a very marked influence over her, for\nI have seen her continually glance at him as she talked as if seeking\napprobation for what she said.", "I trust that he is kind to her.", "There is\na dry glitter in his eyes and a firm set of his thin lips, which goes\nwith a positive and possibly a harsh nature.", "You would find him an\ninteresting study.", "He came over to call upon Baskerville on that first day, and the very\nnext morning he took us both to show us the spot where the legend of the\nwicked Hugo is supposed to have had its origin.", "It was an excursion of\nsome miles across the moor to a place which is so dismal that it might\nhave suggested the story.", "We found a short valley between rugged tors\nwhich led to an open, grassy space flecked over with the white cotton\ngrass.", "In the middle of it rose two great stones, worn and sharpened at\nthe upper end until they looked like the huge corroding fangs of some\nmonstrous beast.", "In every way it corresponded with the scene of the old\ntragedy.", "Sir Henry was much interested and asked Stapleton more\nthan once whether he did really believe in the possibility of the\ninterference of the supernatural in the affairs of men.", "He spoke\nlightly, but it was evident that he was very much in earnest.", "Stapleton\nwas guarded in his replies, but it was easy to see that he said less\nthan he might, and that he would not express his whole opinion out of\nconsideration for the feelings of the baronet.", "He told us of similar\ncases, where families had suffered from some evil influence, and he left\nus with the impression that he shared the popular view upon the matter.", "On our way back we stayed for lunch at Merripit House, and it was there\nthat Sir Henry made the acquaintance of Miss Stapleton.", "From the first\nmoment that he saw her he appeared to be strongly attracted by her, and\nI am much mistaken if the feeling was not mutual.", "He referred to her\nagain and again on our walk home, and since then hardly a day has passed\nthat we have not seen something of the brother and sister.", "They dine\nhere tonight, and there is some talk of our going to them next week.", "One\nwould imagine that such a match would be very welcome to Stapleton, and\nyet I have more than once caught a look of the strongest disapprobation\nin his face when Sir Henry has been paying some attention to his sister.", "He is much attached to her, no doubt, and would lead a lonely life\nwithout her, but it would seem the height of selfishness if he were to\nstand in the way of her making so brilliant a marriage.", "Yet I am certain\nthat he does not wish their intimacy to ripen into love, and I have\nseveral times observed that he has taken pains to prevent them from\nbeing tete-a-tete.", "By the way, your instructions to me never to allow\nSir Henry to go out alone will become very much more onerous if a love\naffair were to be added to our other difficulties.", "My popularity would\nsoon suffer if I were to carry out your orders to the letter.", "The other day--Thursday, to be more exact--Dr. Mortimer lunched with us.", "He has been excavating a barrow at Long Down and has got a prehistoric\nskull which fills him with great joy.", "Never was there such a\nsingle-minded enthusiast as he!", "The Stapletons came in afterwards, and\nthe good doctor took us all to the yew alley at Sir Henry's request to\nshow us exactly how everything occurred upon that fatal night.", "It is\na long, dismal walk, the yew alley, between two high walls of clipped\nhedge, with a narrow band of grass upon either side.", "At the far end is\nan old tumble-down summer-house.", "Halfway down is the moor-gate, where\nthe old gentleman left his cigar-ash.", "It is a white wooden gate with\na latch.", "Beyond it lies the wide moor.", "I remembered your theory of the\naffair and tried to picture all that had occurred.", "As the old man stood\nthere he saw something coming across the moor, something which terrified\nhim so that he lost his wits and ran and ran until he died of sheer\nhorror and exhaustion.", "There was the long, gloomy tunnel down which\nhe fled.", "And from what?", "A sheep-dog of the moor?", "Or a spectral hound,\nblack, silent, and monstrous?", "Was there a human agency in the matter?", "Did the pale, watchful Barrymore know more than he cared to say?", "It was\nall dim and vague, but always there is the dark shadow of crime behind\nit.", "One other neighbour I have met since I wrote last.", "This is Mr.\nFrankland, of Lafter Hall, who lives some four miles to the south of us.", "He is an elderly man, red-faced, white-haired, and choleric.", "His passion\nis for the British law, and he has spent a large fortune in litigation.", "He fights for the mere pleasure of fighting and is equally ready to take\nup either side of a question, so that it is no wonder that he has found\nit a costly amusement.", "Sometimes he will shut up a right of way and defy\nthe parish to make him open it.", "At others he will with his own hands\ntear down some other man's gate and declare that a path has existed\nthere from time immemorial, defying the owner to prosecute him for\ntrespass.", "He is learned in old manorial and communal rights, and he\napplies his knowledge sometimes in favour of the villagers of Fernworthy\nand sometimes against them, so that he is periodically either carried in\ntriumph down the village street or else burned in effigy, according to\nhis latest exploit.", "He is said to have about seven lawsuits upon his\nhands at present, which will probably swallow up the remainder of his\nfortune and so draw his sting and leave him harmless for the future.", "Apart from the law he seems a kindly, good-natured person, and I\nonly mention him because you were particular that I should send some\ndescription of the people who surround us.", "He is curiously employed\nat present, for, being an amateur astronomer, he has an excellent\ntelescope, with which he lies upon the roof of his own house and sweeps\nthe moor all day in the hope of catching a glimpse of the escaped\nconvict.", "If he would confine his energies to this all would be well, but\nthere are rumours that he intends to prosecute Dr. Mortimer for opening\na grave without the consent of the next of kin because he dug up the\nNeolithic skull in the barrow on Long Down.", "He helps to keep our lives\nfrom being monotonous and gives a little comic relief where it is badly\nneeded.", "And now, having brought you up to date in the escaped convict, the\nStapletons, Dr. Mortimer, and Frankland, of Lafter Hall, let me end on\nthat which is most important and tell you more about the Barrymores, and\nespecially about the surprising development of last night.", "First of all about the test telegram, which you sent from London in\norder to make sure that Barrymore was really here.", "I have already\nexplained that the testimony of the postmaster shows that the test was\nworthless and that we have no proof one way or the other.", "I told Sir\nHenry how the matter stood, and he at once, in his downright fashion,\nhad Barrymore up and asked him whether he had received the telegram\nhimself.", "Barrymore said that he had.", "\"Did the boy deliver it into your own hands?\"", "asked Sir Henry.", "Barrymore looked surprised, and considered for a little time.", "\"No,\" said he, \"I was in the box-room at the time, and my wife brought\nit up to me.\"", "\"Did you answer it yourself?\"", "\"No; I told my wife what to answer and she went down to write it.\"", "In the evening he recurred to the subject of his own accord.", "\"I could not quite understand the object of your questions this morning,\nSir Henry,\" said he.", "\"I trust that they do not mean that I have done\nanything to forfeit your confidence?\"", "Sir Henry had to assure him that it was not so and pacify him by giving\nhim a considerable part of his old wardrobe, the London outfit having\nnow all arrived.", "Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me.", "She is a heavy, solid person, very\nlimited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical.", "You\ncould hardly conceive a less emotional subject.", "Yet I have told you how,\non the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then\nI have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face.", "Some deep\nsorrow gnaws ever at her heart.", "Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty\nmemory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a\ndomestic tyrant.", "I have always felt that there was something singular\nand questionable in this man's character, but the adventure of last\nnight brings all my suspicions to a head.", "And yet it may seem a small matter in itself.", "You are aware that I am\nnot a very sound sleeper, and since I have been on guard in this house\nmy slumbers have been lighter than ever.", "Last night, about two in the\nmorning, I was aroused by a stealthy step passing my room.", "I rose,\nopened my door, and peeped out.", "A long black shadow was trailing down\nthe corridor.", "It was thrown by a man who walked softly down the passage\nwith a candle held in his hand.", "He was in shirt and trousers, with no\ncovering to his feet.", "I could merely see the outline, but his height\ntold me that it was Barrymore.", "He walked very slowly and circumspectly,\nand there was something indescribably guilty and furtive in his whole\nappearance.", "I have told you that the corridor is broken by the balcony which runs\nround the hall, but that it is resumed upon the farther side.", "I waited\nuntil he had passed out of sight and then I followed him.", "When I came\nround the balcony he had reached the end of the farther corridor, and\nI could see from the glimmer of light through an open door that he\nhad entered one of the rooms.", "Now, all these rooms are unfurnished and\nunoccupied so that his expedition became more mysterious than ever.", "The\nlight shone steadily as if he were standing motionless.", "I crept down\nthe passage as noiselessly as I could and peeped round the corner of the\ndoor.", "Barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the\nglass.", "His profile was half turned towards me, and his face seemed to be\nrigid with expectation as he stared out into the blackness of the moor.", "For some minutes he stood watching intently.", "Then he gave a deep groan\nand with an impatient gesture he put out the light.", "Instantly I made my\nway back to my room, and very shortly came the stealthy steps passing\nonce more upon their return journey.", "Long afterwards when I had fallen\ninto a light sleep I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but I could\nnot tell whence the sound came.", "What it all means I cannot guess, but\nthere is some secret business going on in this house of gloom which\nsooner or later we shall get to the bottom of.", "I do not trouble you with\nmy theories, for you asked me to furnish you only with facts.", "I have\nhad a long talk with Sir Henry this morning, and we have made a plan of\ncampaign founded upon my observations of last night.", "I will not speak\nabout it just now, but it should make my next report interesting\nreading.", "Baskerville Hall, Oct. 15th.", "MY DEAR HOLMES: If I was compelled to\nleave you without much news during the early days of my mission you must\nacknowledge that I am making up for lost time, and that events are now\ncrowding thick and fast upon us.", "In my last report I ended upon my top\nnote with Barrymore at the window, and now I have quite a budget already\nwhich will, unless I am much mistaken, considerably surprise you.", "Things\nhave taken a turn which I could not have anticipated.", "In some ways they\nhave within the last forty-eight hours become much clearer and in some\nways they have become more complicated.", "But I will tell you all and you\nshall judge for yourself.", "Before breakfast on the morning following my adventure I went down the\ncorridor and examined the room in which Barrymore had been on the night\nbefore.", "The western window through which he had stared so intently has,\nI noticed, one peculiarity above all other windows in the house--it\ncommands the nearest outlook on to the moor.", "There is an opening between\ntwo trees which enables one from this point of view to look right down\nupon it, while from all the other windows it is only a distant glimpse\nwhich can be obtained.", "It follows, therefore, that Barrymore, since\nonly this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out for\nsomething or somebody upon the moor.", "The night was very dark, so that I\ncan hardly imagine how he could have hoped to see anyone.", "It had struck\nme that it was possible that some love intrigue was on foot.", "That would\nhave accounted for his stealthy movements and also for the uneasiness\nof his wife.", "The man is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped\nto steal the heart of a country girl, so that this theory seemed to\nhave something to support it.", "That opening of the door which I had heard\nafter I had returned to my room might mean that he had gone out to keep\nsome clandestine appointment.", "So I reasoned with myself in the morning,\nand I tell you the direction of my suspicions, however much the result\nmay have shown that they were unfounded.", "But whatever the true explanation of Barrymore's movements might be,\nI felt that the responsibility of keeping them to myself until I could\nexplain them was more than I could bear.", "I had an interview with the\nbaronet in his study after breakfast, and I told him all that I had\nseen.", "He was less surprised than I had expected.", "\"I knew that Barrymore walked about nights, and I had a mind to speak\nto him about it,\" said he.", "\"Two or three times I have heard his steps in\nthe passage, coming and going, just about the hour you name.\"", "\"Perhaps then he pays a visit every night to that particular window,\" I\nsuggested.", "\"Perhaps he does.", "If so, we should be able to shadow him and see what\nit is that he is after.", "I wonder what your friend Holmes would do if he\nwere here.\"", "\"I believe that he would do exactly what you now suggest,\" said I.", "\"He\nwould follow Barrymore and see what he did.\"", "\"Then we shall do it together.\"", "\"But surely he would hear us.\"", "\"The man is rather deaf, and in any case we must take our chance of\nthat.", "We'll sit up in my room tonight and wait until he passes.\"", "Sir\nHenry rubbed his hands with pleasure, and it was evident that he hailed\nthe adventure as a relief to his somewhat quiet life upon the moor.", "The baronet has been in communication with the architect who prepared\nthe plans for Sir Charles, and with a contractor from London, so that we\nmay expect great changes to begin here soon.", "There have been decorators\nand furnishers up from Plymouth, and it is evident that our friend\nhas large ideas and means to spare no pains or expense to restore the\ngrandeur of his family.", "When the house is renovated and refurnished, all\nthat he will need will be a wife to make it complete.", "Between ourselves\nthere are pretty clear signs that this will not be wanting if the lady\nis willing, for I have seldom seen a man more infatuated with a woman\nthan he is with our beautiful neighbour, Miss Stapleton.", "And yet the\ncourse of true love does not run quite as smoothly as one would under\nthe circumstances expect.", "Today, for example, its surface was broken\nby a very unexpected ripple, which has caused our friend considerable\nperplexity and annoyance.", "After the conversation which I have quoted about Barrymore, Sir Henry\nput on his hat and prepared to go out.", "As a matter of course I did the\nsame.", "\"What, are you coming, Watson?\"", "he asked, looking at me in a curious\nway.", "\"That depends on whether you are going on the moor,\" said I.", "\"Yes, I am.\"", "\"Well, you know what my instructions are.", "I am sorry to intrude, but\nyou heard how earnestly Holmes insisted that I should not leave you, and\nespecially that you should not go alone upon the moor.\"", "Sir Henry put his hand upon my shoulder with a pleasant smile.", "\"My dear fellow,\" said he, \"Holmes, with all his wisdom, did not foresee\nsome things which have happened since I have been on the moor.", "You\nunderstand me?", "I am sure that you are the last man in the world who\nwould wish to be a spoil-sport.", "I must go out alone.\"", "It put me in a most awkward position.", "I was at a loss what to say or\nwhat to do, and before I had made up my mind he picked up his cane and\nwas gone.", "But when I came to think the matter over my conscience reproached me\nbitterly for having on any pretext allowed him to go out of my sight.", "I imagined what my feelings would be if I had to return to you and to\nconfess that some misfortune had occurred through my disregard for your\ninstructions.", "I assure you my cheeks flushed at the very thought.", "It\nmight not even now be too late to overtake him, so I set off at once in\nthe direction of Merripit House.", "I hurried along the road at the top of my speed without seeing anything\nof Sir Henry, until I came to the point where the moor path branches\noff.", "There, fearing that perhaps I had come in the wrong direction after\nall, I mounted a hill from which I could command a view--the same hill\nwhich is cut into the dark quarry.", "Thence I saw him at once.", "He was on\nthe moor path about a quarter of a mile off, and a lady was by his side\nwho could only be Miss Stapleton.", "It was clear that there was already\nan understanding between them and that they had met by appointment.", "They\nwere walking slowly along in deep conversation, and I saw her making\nquick little movements of her hands as if she were very earnest in what\nshe was saying, while he listened intently, and once or twice shook his\nhead in strong dissent.", "I stood among the rocks watching them, very much\npuzzled as to what I should do next.", "To follow them and break into their\nintimate conversation seemed to be an outrage, and yet my clear duty was\nnever for an instant to let him out of my sight.", "To act the spy upon a\nfriend was a hateful task.", "Still, I could see no better course than to\nobserve him from the hill, and to clear my conscience by confessing to\nhim afterwards what I had done.", "It is true that if any sudden danger had\nthreatened him I was too far away to be of use, and yet I am sure that\nyou will agree with me that the position was very difficult, and that\nthere was nothing more which I could do.", "Our friend, Sir Henry, and the lady had halted on the path and were\nstanding deeply absorbed in their conversation, when I was suddenly\naware that I was not the only witness of their interview.", "A wisp of\ngreen floating in the air caught my eye, and another glance showed me\nthat it was carried on a stick by a man who was moving among the broken\nground.", "It was Stapleton with his butterfly-net.", "He was very much closer\nto the pair than I was, and he appeared to be moving in their direction.", "At this instant Sir Henry suddenly drew Miss Stapleton to his side.", "His\narm was round her, but it seemed to me that she was straining away from\nhim with her face averted.", "He stooped his head to hers, and she raised\none hand as if in protest.", "Next moment I saw them spring apart and turn\nhurriedly round.", "Stapleton was the cause of the interruption.", "He was\nrunning wildly towards them, his absurd net dangling behind him.", "He\ngesticulated and almost danced with excitement in front of the lovers.", "What the scene meant I could not imagine, but it seemed to me that\nStapleton was abusing Sir Henry, who offered explanations, which became\nmore angry as the other refused to accept them.", "The lady stood by in\nhaughty silence.", "Finally Stapleton turned upon his heel and beckoned in\na peremptory way to his sister, who, after an irresolute glance at Sir\nHenry, walked off by the side of her brother.", "The naturalist's angry\ngestures showed that the lady was included in his displeasure.", "The\nbaronet stood for a minute looking after them, and then he walked slowly\nback the way that he had come, his head hanging, the very picture of\ndejection.", "What all this meant I could not imagine, but I was deeply ashamed to\nhave witnessed so intimate a scene without my friend's knowledge.", "I ran\ndown the hill therefore and met the baronet at the bottom.", "His face was\nflushed with anger and his brows were wrinkled, like one who is at his\nwit's ends what to do.", "\"Halloa, Watson!", "Where have you dropped from?\"", "said he.", "\"You don't mean\nto say that you came after me in spite of all?\"", "I explained everything to him: how I had found it impossible to remain\nbehind, how I had followed him, and how I had witnessed all that\nhad occurred.", "For an instant his eyes blazed at me, but my frankness\ndisarmed his anger, and he broke at last into a rather rueful laugh.", "\"You would have thought the middle of that prairie a fairly safe\nplace for a man to be private,\" said he, \"but, by thunder, the whole\ncountryside seems to have been out to see me do my wooing--and a mighty\npoor wooing at that!", "Where had you engaged a seat?\"", "\"I was on that hill.\"", "\"Quite in the back row, eh?", "But her brother was well up to the front.", "Did you see him come out on us?\"", "\"Yes, I did.\"", "\"Did he ever strike you as being crazy--this brother of hers?\"", "\"I can't say that he ever did.\"", "\"I dare say not.", "I always thought him sane enough until today, but you\ncan take it from me that either he or I ought to be in a straitjacket.", "What's the matter with me, anyhow?", "You've lived near me for some weeks,\nWatson.", "Tell me straight, now!", "Is there anything that would prevent me\nfrom making a good husband to a woman that I loved?\"", "\"I should say not.\"", "\"He can't object to my worldly position, so it must be myself that he\nhas this down on.", "What has he against me?", "I never hurt man or woman in\nmy life that I know of.", "And yet he would not so much as let me touch the\ntips of her fingers.\"", "\"Did he say so?\"", "\"That, and a deal more.", "I tell you, Watson, I've only known her these\nfew weeks, but from the first I just felt that she was made for me,\nand she, too--she was happy when she was with me, and that I'll swear.", "There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words.", "But he\nhas never let us get together and it was only today for the first time\nthat I saw a chance of having a few words with her alone.", "She was glad\nto meet me, but when she did it was not love that she would talk about,\nand she wouldn't have let me talk about it either if she could have\nstopped it.", "She kept coming back to it that this was a place of danger,\nand that she would never be happy until I had left it.", "I told her that\nsince I had seen her I was in no hurry to leave it, and that if she\nreally wanted me to go, the only way to work it was for her to arrange\nto go with me.", "With that I offered in as many words to marry her, but\nbefore she could answer, down came this brother of hers, running at us\nwith a face on him like a madman.", "He was just white with rage, and those\nlight eyes of his were blazing with fury.", "What was I doing with the\nlady?", "How dared I offer her attentions which were distasteful to her?", "Did I think that because I was a baronet I could do what I liked?", "If he\nhad not been her brother I should have known better how to answer him.", "As it was I told him that my feelings towards his sister were such as\nI was not ashamed of, and that I hoped that she might honour me by\nbecoming my wife.", "That seemed to make the matter no better, so then I\nlost my temper too, and I answered him rather more hotly than I should\nperhaps, considering that she was standing by.", "So it ended by his going\noff with her, as you saw, and here am I as badly puzzled a man as any\nin this county.", "Just tell me what it all means, Watson, and I'll owe you\nmore than ever I can hope to pay.\"", "I tried one or two explanations, but, indeed, I was completely puzzled\nmyself.", "Our friend's title, his fortune, his age, his character, and his\nappearance are all in his favour, and I know nothing against him unless\nit be this dark fate which runs in his family.", "That his advances should\nbe rejected so brusquely without any reference to the lady's own wishes\nand that the lady should accept the situation without protest is very\namazing.", "However, our conjectures were set at rest by a visit from\nStapleton himself that very afternoon.", "He had come to offer apologies\nfor his rudeness of the morning, and after a long private interview with\nSir Henry in his study the upshot of their conversation was that the\nbreach is quite healed, and that we are to dine at Merripit House next\nFriday as a sign of it.", "\"I don't say now that he isn't a crazy man,\" said Sir Henry; \"I can't\nforget the look in his eyes when he ran at me this morning, but I must\nallow that no man could make a more handsome apology than he has done.\"", "\"Did he give any explanation of his conduct?\"", "\"His sister is everything in his life, he says.", "That is natural enough,\nand I am glad that he should understand her value.", "They have always been\ntogether, and according to his account he has been a very lonely man\nwith only her as a companion, so that the thought of losing her was\nreally terrible to him.", "He had not understood, he said, that I was\nbecoming attached to her, but when he saw with his own eyes that it was\nreally so, and that she might be taken away from him, it gave him such a\nshock that for a time he was not responsible for what he said or did.", "He was very sorry for all that had passed, and he recognized how foolish\nand how selfish it was that he should imagine that he could hold a\nbeautiful woman like his sister to himself for her whole life.", "If she\nhad to leave him he had rather it was to a neighbour like myself than to\nanyone else.", "But in any case it was a blow to him and it would take him\nsome time before he could prepare himself to meet it.", "He would withdraw\nall opposition upon his part if I would promise for three months to let\nthe matter rest and to be content with cultivating the lady's friendship\nduring that time without claiming her love.", "This I promised, and so the\nmatter rests.\"", "So there is one of our small mysteries cleared up.", "It is something to\nhave touched bottom anywhere in this bog in which we are floundering.", "We know now why Stapleton looked with disfavour upon his sister's\nsuitor--even when that suitor was so eligible a one as Sir Henry.", "And\nnow I pass on to another thread which I have extricated out of the\ntangled skein, the mystery of the sobs in the night, of the tear-stained\nface of Mrs. Barrymore, of the secret journey of the butler to the\nwestern lattice window.", "Congratulate me, my dear Holmes, and tell me\nthat I have not disappointed you as an agent--that you do not regret\nthe confidence which you showed in me when you sent me down.", "All these\nthings have by one night's work been thoroughly cleared.", "I have said \"by one night's work,\" but, in truth, it was by two nights'\nwork, for on the first we drew entirely blank.", "I sat up with Sir Henry\nin his rooms until nearly three o'clock in the morning, but no sound of\nany sort did we hear except the chiming clock upon the stairs.", "It was\na most melancholy vigil and ended by each of us falling asleep in our\nchairs.", "Fortunately we were not discouraged, and we determined to try\nagain.", "The next night we lowered the lamp and sat smoking cigarettes\nwithout making the least sound.", "It was incredible how slowly the hours\ncrawled by, and yet we were helped through it by the same sort of\npatient interest which the hunter must feel as he watches the trap into\nwhich he hopes the game may wander.", "One struck, and two, and we had\nalmost for the second time given it up in despair when in an instant we\nboth sat bolt upright in our chairs with all our weary senses keenly on\nthe alert once more.", "We had heard the creak of a step in the passage.", "Very stealthily we heard it pass along until it died away in the\ndistance.", "Then the baronet gently opened his door and we set out in\npursuit.", "Already our man had gone round the gallery and the corridor was\nall in darkness.", "Softly we stole along until we had come into the other\nwing.", "We were just in time to catch a glimpse of the tall, black-bearded\nfigure, his shoulders rounded as he tiptoed down the passage.", "Then he\npassed through the same door as before, and the light of the candle\nframed it in the darkness and shot one single yellow beam across the\ngloom of the corridor.", "We shuffled cautiously towards it, trying every\nplank before we dared to put our whole weight upon it.", "We had taken the\nprecaution of leaving our boots behind us, but, even so, the old boards\nsnapped and creaked beneath our tread.", "Sometimes it seemed impossible\nthat he should fail to hear our approach.", "However, the man is\nfortunately rather deaf, and he was entirely preoccupied in that which\nhe was doing.", "When at last we reached the door and peeped through we\nfound him crouching at the window, candle in hand, his white, intent\nface pressed against the pane, exactly as I had seen him two nights\nbefore.", "We had arranged no plan of campaign, but the baronet is a man to whom\nthe most direct way is always the most natural.", "He walked into the room,\nand as he did so Barrymore sprang up from the window with a sharp hiss\nof his breath and stood, livid and trembling, before us.", "His dark eyes,\nglaring out of the white mask of his face, were full of horror and\nastonishment as he gazed from Sir Henry to me.", "\"What are you doing here, Barrymore?\"", "\"Nothing, sir.\"", "His agitation was so great that he could hardly speak,\nand the shadows sprang up and down from the shaking of his candle.", "\"It\nwas the window, sir.", "I go round at night to see that they are fastened.\"", "\"On the second floor?\"", "\"Yes, sir, all the windows.\"", "\"Look here, Barrymore,\" said Sir Henry sternly, \"we have made up our\nminds to have the truth out of you, so it will save you trouble to tell\nit sooner rather than later.", "Come, now!", "No lies!", "What were you doing at\nthat window?\"", "The fellow looked at us in a helpless way, and he wrung his hands\ntogether like one who is in the last extremity of doubt and misery.", "\"I was doing no harm, sir.", "I was holding a candle to the window.\"", "\"And why were you holding a candle to the window?\"", "\"Don't ask me, Sir Henry--don't ask me!", "I give you my word, sir, that it\nis not my secret, and that I cannot tell it.", "If it concerned no one but\nmyself I would not try to keep it from you.\"", "A sudden idea occurred to me, and I took the candle from the trembling\nhand of the butler.", "\"He must have been holding it as a signal,\" said I.", "\"Let us see if\nthere is any answer.\"", "I held it as he had done, and stared out into the\ndarkness of the night.", "Vaguely I could discern the black bank of the\ntrees and the lighter expanse of the moor, for the moon was behind the\nclouds.", "And then I gave a cry of exultation, for a tiny pinpoint of\nyellow light had suddenly transfixed the dark veil, and glowed steadily\nin the centre of the black square framed by the window.", "\"There it is!\"", "I cried.", "\"No, no, sir, it is nothing--nothing at all!\"", "the butler broke in; \"I\nassure you, sir--\"\n\n\"Move your light across the window, Watson!\"", "cried the baronet.", "\"See,\nthe other moves also!", "Now, you rascal, do you deny that it is a signal?", "Come, speak up!", "Who is your confederate out yonder, and what is this\nconspiracy that is going on?\"", "The man's face became openly defiant.", "\"It is my business, and not yours.", "I will not tell.\"", "\"Then you leave my employment right away.\"", "\"Very good, sir.", "If I must I must.\"", "\"And you go in disgrace.", "By thunder, you may well be ashamed of\nyourself.", "Your family has lived with mine for over a hundred years under\nthis roof, and here I find you deep in some dark plot against me.\"", "\"No, no, sir; no, not against you!\"", "It was a woman's voice, and Mrs.\nBarrymore, paler and more horror-struck than her husband, was standing\nat the door.", "Her bulky figure in a shawl and skirt might have been comic\nwere it not for the intensity of feeling upon her face.", "\"We have to go, Eliza.", "This is the end of it.", "You can pack our things,\"\nsaid the butler.", "\"Oh, John, John, have I brought you to this?", "It is my doing, Sir\nHenry--all mine.", "He has done nothing except for my sake and because I\nasked him.\"", "\"Speak out, then!", "What does it mean?\"", "\"My unhappy brother is starving on the moor.", "We cannot let him perish at\nour very gates.", "The light is a signal to him that food is ready for him,\nand his light out yonder is to show the spot to which to bring it.\"", "\"Then your brother is--\"\n\n\"The escaped convict, sir--Selden, the criminal.\"", "\"That's the truth, sir,\" said Barrymore.", "\"I said that it was not my\nsecret and that I could not tell it to you.", "But now you have heard it,\nand you will see that if there was a plot it was not against you.\"", "This, then, was the explanation of the stealthy expeditions at night\nand the light at the window.", "Sir Henry and I both stared at the woman in\namazement.", "Was it possible that this stolidly respectable person was of\nthe same blood as one of the most notorious criminals in the country?", "\"Yes, sir, my name was Selden, and he is my younger brother.", "We humoured\nhim too much when he was a lad and gave him his own way in everything\nuntil he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and\nthat he could do what he liked in it.", "Then as he grew older he met\nwicked companions, and the devil entered into him until he broke my\nmother's heart and dragged our name in the dirt.", "From crime to crime\nhe sank lower and lower until it is only the mercy of God which has\nsnatched him from the scaffold; but to me, sir, he was always the little\ncurly-headed boy that I had nursed and played with as an elder sister\nwould.", "That was why he broke prison, sir.", "He knew that I was here and\nthat we could not refuse to help him.", "When he dragged himself here one\nnight, weary and starving, with the warders hard at his heels, what\ncould we do?", "We took him in and fed him and cared for him.", "Then you\nreturned, sir, and my brother thought he would be safer on the moor than\nanywhere else until the hue and cry was over, so he lay in hiding there.", "But every second night we made sure if he was still there by putting a\nlight in the window, and if there was an answer my husband took out some\nbread and meat to him.", "Every day we hoped that he was gone, but as long\nas he was there we could not desert him.", "That is the whole truth, as I\nam an honest Christian woman and you will see that if there is blame in\nthe matter it does not lie with my husband but with me, for whose sake\nhe has done all that he has.\"", "The woman's words came with an intense earnestness which carried\nconviction with them.", "\"Is this true, Barrymore?\"", "\"Yes, Sir Henry.", "Every word of it.\"", "\"Well, I cannot blame you for standing by your own wife.", "Forget what\nI have said.", "Go to your room, you two, and we shall talk further about\nthis matter in the morning.\"", "When they were gone we looked out of the window again.", "Sir Henry had\nflung it open, and the cold night wind beat in upon our faces.", "Far away\nin the black distance there still glowed that one tiny point of yellow\nlight.", "\"I wonder he dares,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"It may be so placed as to be only visible from here.\"", "\"Very likely.", "How far do you think it is?\"", "\"Out by the Cleft Tor, I think.\"", "\"Not more than a mile or two off.\"", "\"Hardly that.\"", "\"Well, it cannot be far if Barrymore had to carry out the food to it.", "And he is waiting, this villain, beside that candle.", "By thunder, Watson,\nI am going out to take that man!\"", "The same thought had crossed my own mind.", "It was not as if the\nBarrymores had taken us into their confidence.", "Their secret had been\nforced from them.", "The man was a danger to the community, an unmitigated\nscoundrel for whom there was neither pity nor excuse.", "We were only doing\nour duty in taking this chance of putting him back where he could do no\nharm.", "With his brutal and violent nature, others would have to pay the\nprice if we held our hands.", "Any night, for example, our neighbours the\nStapletons might be attacked by him, and it may have been the thought of\nthis which made Sir Henry so keen upon the adventure.", "\"I will come,\" said I.", "\"Then get your revolver and put on your boots.", "The sooner we start the\nbetter, as the fellow may put out his light and be off.\"", "In five minutes we were outside the door, starting upon our expedition.", "We hurried through the dark shrubbery, amid the dull moaning of the\nautumn wind and the rustle of the falling leaves.", "The night air was\nheavy with the smell of damp and decay.", "Now and again the moon peeped\nout for an instant, but clouds were driving over the face of the sky,\nand just as we came out on the moor a thin rain began to fall.", "The light\nstill burned steadily in front.", "\"Are you armed?\"", "I asked.", "\"I have a hunting-crop.\"", "\"We must close in on him rapidly, for he is said to be a desperate\nfellow.", "We shall take him by surprise and have him at our mercy before\nhe can resist.\"", "\"I say, Watson,\" said the baronet, \"what would Holmes say to this?", "How\nabout that hour of darkness in which the power of evil is exalted?\"", "As if in answer to his words there rose suddenly out of the vast gloom\nof the moor that strange cry which I had already heard upon the borders\nof the great Grimpen Mire.", "It came with the wind through the silence\nof the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad\nmoan in which it died away.", "Again and again it sounded, the whole air\nthrobbing with it, strident, wild, and menacing.", "The baronet caught my\nsleeve and his face glimmered white through the darkness.", "\"My God, what's that, Watson?\"", "\"I don't know.", "It's a sound they have on the moor.", "I heard it once\nbefore.\"", "It died away, and an absolute silence closed in upon us.", "We stood\nstraining our ears, but nothing came.", "\"Watson,\" said the baronet, \"it was the cry of a hound.\"", "My blood ran cold in my veins, for there was a break in his voice which\ntold of the sudden horror which had seized him.", "\"What do they call this sound?\"", "he asked.", "\"Who?\"", "\"The folk on the countryside.\"", "\"Oh, they are ignorant people.", "Why should you mind what they call it?\"", "\"Tell me, Watson.", "What do they say of it?\"", "I hesitated but could not escape the question.", "\"They say it is the cry of the Hound of the Baskervilles.\"", "He groaned and was silent for a few moments.", "\"A hound it was,\" he said at last, \"but it seemed to come from miles\naway, over yonder, I think.\"", "\"It was hard to say whence it came.\"", "\"It rose and fell with the wind.", "Isn't that the direction of the great\nGrimpen Mire?\"", "\"Yes, it is.\"", "\"Well, it was up there.", "Come now, Watson, didn't you think yourself that\nit was the cry of a hound?", "I am not a child.", "You need not fear to speak\nthe truth.\"", "\"Stapleton was with me when I heard it last.", "He said that it might be\nthe calling of a strange bird.\"", "\"No, no, it was a hound.", "My God, can there be some truth in all these\nstories?", "Is it possible that I am really in danger from so dark a cause?", "You don't believe it, do you, Watson?\"", "\"No, no.\"", "\"And yet it was one thing to laugh about it in London, and it is another\nto stand out here in the darkness of the moor and to hear such a cry as\nthat.", "And my uncle!", "There was the footprint of the hound beside him as\nhe lay.", "It all fits together.", "I don't think that I am a coward, Watson,\nbut that sound seemed to freeze my very blood.", "Feel my hand!\"", "It was as cold as a block of marble.", "\"You'll be all right tomorrow.\"", "\"I don't think I'll get that cry out of my head.", "What do you advise that\nwe do now?\"", "\"Shall we turn back?\"", "\"No, by thunder; we have come out to get our man, and we will do it.", "We\nafter the convict, and a hell-hound, as likely as not, after us.", "Come\non!", "We'll see it through if all the fiends of the pit were loose upon\nthe moor.\"", "We stumbled slowly along in the darkness, with the black loom of the\ncraggy hills around us, and the yellow speck of light burning steadily\nin front.", "There is nothing so deceptive as the distance of a light upon\na pitch-dark night, and sometimes the glimmer seemed to be far away upon\nthe horizon and sometimes it might have been within a few yards of us.", "But at last we could see whence it came, and then we knew that we were\nindeed very close.", "A guttering candle was stuck in a crevice of the\nrocks which flanked it on each side so as to keep the wind from it\nand also to prevent it from being visible, save in the direction of\nBaskerville Hall.", "A boulder of granite concealed our approach, and\ncrouching behind it we gazed over it at the signal light.", "It was strange\nto see this single candle burning there in the middle of the moor, with\nno sign of life near it--just the one straight yellow flame and the\ngleam of the rock on each side of it.", "\"What shall we do now?\"", "whispered Sir Henry.", "\"Wait here.", "He must be near his light.", "Let us see if we can get a\nglimpse of him.\"", "The words were hardly out of my mouth when we both saw him.", "Over the\nrocks, in the crevice of which the candle burned, there was thrust out\nan evil yellow face, a terrible animal face, all seamed and scored with\nvile passions.", "Foul with mire, with a bristling beard, and hung with\nmatted hair, it might well have belonged to one of those old savages\nwho dwelt in the burrows on the hillsides.", "The light beneath him was\nreflected in his small, cunning eyes which peered fiercely to right and\nleft through the darkness like a crafty and savage animal who has heard\nthe steps of the hunters.", "Something had evidently aroused his suspicions.", "It may have been that\nBarrymore had some private signal which we had neglected to give, or\nthe fellow may have had some other reason for thinking that all was not\nwell, but I could read his fears upon his wicked face.", "Any instant he\nmight dash out the light and vanish in the darkness.", "I sprang forward\ntherefore, and Sir Henry did the same.", "At the same moment the convict\nscreamed out a curse at us and hurled a rock which splintered up against\nthe boulder which had sheltered us.", "I caught one glimpse of his short,\nsquat, strongly built figure as he sprang to his feet and turned to run.", "At the same moment by a lucky chance the moon broke through the clouds.", "We rushed over the brow of the hill, and there was our man running with\ngreat speed down the other side, springing over the stones in his way\nwith the activity of a mountain goat.", "A lucky long shot of my revolver\nmight have crippled him, but I had brought it only to defend myself if\nattacked and not to shoot an unarmed man who was running away.", "We were both swift runners and in fairly good training, but we soon\nfound that we had no chance of overtaking him.", "We saw him for a long\ntime in the moonlight until he was only a small speck moving swiftly\namong the boulders upon the side of a distant hill.", "We ran and ran until\nwe were completely blown, but the space between us grew ever wider.", "Finally we stopped and sat panting on two rocks, while we watched him\ndisappearing in the distance.", "And it was at this moment that there occurred a most strange and\nunexpected thing.", "We had risen from our rocks and were turning to go\nhome, having abandoned the hopeless chase.", "The moon was low upon the\nright, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the\nlower curve of its silver disc.", "There, outlined as black as an ebony\nstatue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the\ntor.", "Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes.", "I assure you that\nI have never in my life seen anything more clearly.", "As far as I could\njudge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man.", "He stood with his legs\na little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were\nbrooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay\nbefore him.", "He might have been the very spirit of that terrible place.", "It was not the convict.", "This man was far from the place where the\nlatter had disappeared.", "Besides, he was a much taller man.", "With a cry\nof surprise I pointed him out to the baronet, but in the instant during\nwhich I had turned to grasp his arm the man was gone.", "There was the\nsharp pinnacle of granite still cutting the lower edge of the moon, but\nits peak bore no trace of that silent and motionless figure.", "I wished to go in that direction and to search the tor, but it was some\ndistance away.", "The baronet's nerves were still quivering from that cry,\nwhich recalled the dark story of his family, and he was not in the mood\nfor fresh adventures.", "He had not seen this lonely man upon the tor and\ncould not feel the thrill which his strange presence and his commanding\nattitude had given to me.", "\"A warder, no doubt,\" said he.", "\"The moor\nhas been thick with them since this fellow escaped.\"", "Well, perhaps his\nexplanation may be the right one, but I should like to have some further\nproof of it.", "Today we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where\nthey should look for their missing man, but it is hard lines that\nwe have not actually had the triumph of bringing him back as our\nown prisoner.", "Such are the adventures of last night, and you must\nacknowledge, my dear Holmes, that I have done you very well in\nthe matter of a report.", "Much of what I tell you is no doubt quite\nirrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have\nall the facts and leave you to select for yourself those which will\nbe of most service to you in helping you to your conclusions.", "We are\ncertainly making some progress.", "So far as the Barrymores go we have\nfound the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation\nvery much.", "But the moor with its mysteries and its strange inhabitants\nremains as inscrutable as ever.", "Perhaps in my next I may be able to\nthrow some light upon this also.", "Best of all would it be if you could\ncome down to us.", "In any case you will hear from me again in the course\nof the next few days." ]

[ "\"We must ask about this right away.\"", "What a pity that I should have missed him!\"", "He was in shirt and trousers, with no\ncovering to his feet.", "\"Perhaps then he pays a visit every night to that particular window,\" I\nsuggested.", "\"Perhaps he does.", "Our friend, Sir Henry, and the lady had halted on the path and were\nstanding deeply absorbed in their conversation, when I was suddenly\naware that I was not the only witness of their interview.", "We know now why Stapleton looked with disfavour upon his sister's\nsuitor--even when that suitor was so eligible a one as Sir Henry.", "The baronet caught my\nsleeve and his face glimmered white through the darkness.", "\"You'll be all right tomorrow.\"", "There was the\nsharp pinnacle of granite still cutting the lower edge of the moon, but\nits peak bore no trace of that silent and motionless figure." ]

[ "Yet I have told you how,\non the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then\nI have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face.", "\"It's the weirdest, strangest thing that ever I heard in my life.\"", "Was\nthat his work or was it possibly the doing of someone who was bent upon\ncounteracting his schemes?", "I asked.", "\"A woman's whim, Dr. Watson.", "\"My brother is very anxious to have the Hall inhabited, for he thinks it\nis for the good of the poor folk upon the moor.", "\"I was doing no harm, sir.", "Both Sir Henry and I were concerned at their situation, and\nit was suggested that Perkins the groom should go over to sleep there,\nbut Stapleton would not hear of it.", "Then on the top of these more or less\nvague impressions there had come the definite and distinct warning of\nMiss Stapleton, delivered with such intense earnestness that I could\nnot doubt that some grave and deep reason lay behind it.", "At the same moment by a lucky chance the moon broke through the clouds." ]

[ "He helps to keep our lives\nfrom being monotonous and gives a little comic relief where it is badly\nneeded.", "And now, having brought you up to date in the escaped convict, the\nStapletons, Dr. Mortimer, and Frankland, of Lafter Hall, let me end on\nthat which is most important and tell you more about the Barrymores, and\nespecially about the surprising development of last night.", "First of all about the test telegram, which you sent from London in\norder to make sure that Barrymore was really here.", "I have already\nexplained that the testimony of the postmaster shows that the test was\nworthless and that we have no proof one way or the other.", "I told Sir\nHenry how the matter stood, and he at once, in his downright fashion,\nhad Barrymore up and asked him whether he had received the telegram\nhimself.", "Barrymore said that he had.", "\"Did the boy deliver it into your own hands?\"", "asked Sir Henry.", "Barrymore looked surprised, and considered for a little time.", "\"No,\" said he, \"I was in the box-room at the time, and my wife brought\nit up to me.\"", "\"Did you answer it yourself?\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nThe fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from\nour minds the grim and gray impression which had been left upon both of\nus by our first experience of Baskerville Hall.", "As Sir Henry and I sat\nat breakfast the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows,\nthrowing watery patches of colour from the coats of arms which covered\nthem.", "The dark panelling glowed like bronze in the golden rays, and it\nwas hard to realize that this was indeed the chamber which had struck\nsuch a gloom into our souls upon the evening before.", "\"I guess it is ourselves and not the house that we have to blame!\"", "said\nthe baronet.", "\"We were tired with our journey and chilled by our drive,\nso we took a gray view of the place.", "Now we are fresh and well, so it is\nall cheerful once more.\"", "\"And yet it was not entirely a question of imagination,\" I answered.", "\"Did you, for example, happen to hear someone, a woman I think, sobbing\nin the night?\"", "\"That is curious, for I did when I was half asleep fancy that I heard\nsomething of the sort.", "Well, perhaps his\nexplanation may be the right one, but I should like to have some further\nproof of it.", "Today we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where\nthey should look for their missing man, but it is hard lines that\nwe have not actually had the triumph of bringing him back as our\nown prisoner.", "Such are the adventures of last night, and you must\nacknowledge, my dear Holmes, that I have done you very well in\nthe matter of a report.", "Much of what I tell you is no doubt quite\nirrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have\nall the facts and leave you to select for yourself those which will\nbe of most service to you in helping you to your conclusions.", "We are\ncertainly making some progress.", "So far as the Barrymores go we have\nfound the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation\nvery much.", "But the moor with its mysteries and its strange inhabitants\nremains as inscrutable as ever.", "Perhaps in my next I may be able to\nthrow some light upon this also.", "Best of all would it be if you could\ncome down to us.", "In any case you will hear from me again in the course\nof the next few days." ]

[ "\n\n\nSo far I have been able to quote from the reports which I have forwarded\nduring these early days to Sherlock Holmes.", "Now, however, I have arrived\nat a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method\nand to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which\nI kept at the time.", "A few extracts from the latter will carry me on to\nthose scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory.", "I\nproceed, then, from the morning which followed our abortive chase of the\nconvict and our other strange experiences upon the moor.", "October 16th.", "A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain.", "The house\nis banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the\ndreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the\nhills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon\ntheir wet faces.", "It is melancholy outside and in.", "The baronet is in a\nblack reaction after the excitements of the night.", "I am conscious myself\nof a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger--ever present\ndanger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it.", "And have I not cause for such a feeling?", "Consider the long sequence of\nincidents which have all pointed to some sinister influence which is\nat work around us.", "There is the death of the last occupant of the Hall,\nfulfilling so exactly the conditions of the family legend, and there\nare the repeated reports from peasants of the appearance of a strange\ncreature upon the moor.", "Twice I have with my own ears heard the sound\nwhich resembled the distant baying of a hound.", "It is incredible,\nimpossible, that it should really be outside the ordinary laws of\nnature.", "A spectral hound which leaves material footmarks and fills the\nair with its howling is surely not to be thought of.", "Stapleton may\nfall in with such a superstition, and Mortimer also, but if I have one\nquality upon earth it is common sense, and nothing will persuade me to\nbelieve in such a thing.", "To do so would be to descend to the level of\nthese poor peasants, who are not content with a mere fiend dog but must\nneeds describe him with hell-fire shooting from his mouth and eyes.", "Holmes would not listen to such fancies, and I am his agent.", "But facts\nare facts, and I have twice heard this crying upon the moor.", "Suppose\nthat there were really some huge hound loose upon it; that would go far\nto explain everything.", "But where could such a hound lie concealed, where\ndid it get its food, where did it come from, how was it that no one\nsaw it by day?", "It must be confessed that the natural explanation offers\nalmost as many difficulties as the other.", "And always, apart from the\nhound, there is the fact of the human agency in London, the man in the\ncab, and the letter which warned Sir Henry against the moor.", "This at\nleast was real, but it might have been the work of a protecting friend\nas easily as of an enemy.", "Where is that friend or enemy now?", "Has he\nremained in London, or has he followed us down here?", "Could he--could he\nbe the stranger whom I saw upon the tor?", "It is true that I have had only the one glance at him, and yet there are\nsome things to which I am ready to swear.", "He is no one whom I have seen\ndown here, and I have now met all the neighbours.", "The figure was far\ntaller than that of Stapleton, far thinner than that of Frankland.", "Barrymore it might possibly have been, but we had left him behind us,\nand I am certain that he could not have followed us.", "A stranger then is\nstill dogging us, just as a stranger dogged us in London.", "We have never\nshaken him off.", "If I could lay my hands upon that man, then at last we\nmight find ourselves at the end of all our difficulties.", "To this one\npurpose I must now devote all my energies.", "My first impulse was to tell Sir Henry all my plans.", "My second and\nwisest one is to play my own game and speak as little as possible to\nanyone.", "He is silent and distrait.", "His nerves have been strangely shaken\nby that sound upon the moor.", "I will say nothing to add to his anxieties,\nbut I will take my own steps to attain my own end.", "We had a small scene this morning after breakfast.", "Barrymore asked leave\nto speak with Sir Henry, and they were closeted in his study some little\ntime.", "Sitting in the billiard-room I more than once heard the sound of\nvoices raised, and I had a pretty good idea what the point was which was\nunder discussion.", "After a time the baronet opened his door and called\nfor me.", "\"Barrymore considers that he has a grievance,\" he said.", "\"He\nthinks that it was unfair on our part to hunt his brother-in-law down\nwhen he, of his own free will, had told us the secret.\"", "The butler was standing very pale but very collected before us.", "\"I may have spoken too warmly, sir,\" said he, \"and if I have, I am sure\nthat I beg your pardon.", "At the same time, I was very much surprised when\nI heard you two gentlemen come back this morning and learned that you\nhad been chasing Selden.", "The poor fellow has enough to fight against\nwithout my putting more upon his track.\"", "\"If you had told us of your own free will it would have been a different\nthing,\" said the baronet, \"you only told us, or rather your wife only\ntold us, when it was forced from you and you could not help yourself.\"", "\"I didn't think you would have taken advantage of it, Sir Henry--indeed\nI didn't.\"", "\"The man is a public danger.", "There are lonely houses scattered over the\nmoor, and he is a fellow who would stick at nothing.", "You only want to\nget a glimpse of his face to see that.", "Look at Mr. Stapleton's house,\nfor example, with no one but himself to defend it.", "There's no safety for\nanyone until he is under lock and key.\"", "\"He'll break into no house, sir.", "I give you my solemn word upon that.", "But he will never trouble anyone in this country again.", "I assure you,\nSir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have\nbeen made and he will be on his way to South America.", "For God's sake,\nsir, I beg of you not to let the police know that he is still on the\nmoor.", "They have given up the chase there, and he can lie quiet until the\nship is ready for him.", "You can't tell on him without getting my wife and\nme into trouble.", "I beg you, sir, to say nothing to the police.\"", "\"What do you say, Watson?\"", "I shrugged my shoulders.", "\"If he were safely out of the country it would\nrelieve the tax-payer of a burden.\"", "\"But how about the chance of his holding someone up before he goes?\"", "\"He would not do anything so mad, sir.", "We have provided him with all\nthat he can want.", "To commit a crime would be to show where he was\nhiding.\"", "\"That is true,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"Well, Barrymore--\"\n\n\"God bless you, sir, and thank you from my heart!", "It would have killed\nmy poor wife had he been taken again.\"", "\"I guess we are aiding and abetting a felony, Watson?", "But, after what\nwe have heard I don't feel as if I could give the man up, so there is an\nend of it.", "All right, Barrymore, you can go.\"", "With a few broken words of gratitude the man turned, but he hesitated\nand then came back.", "\"You've been so kind to us, sir, that I should like to do the best I\ncan for you in return.", "I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should\nhave said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it\nout.", "I've never breathed a word about it yet to mortal man.", "It's about\npoor Sir Charles's death.\"", "The baronet and I were both upon our feet.", "\"Do you know how he died?\"", "\"No, sir, I don't know that.\"", "\"What then?\"", "\"I know why he was at the gate at that hour.", "It was to meet a woman.\"", "\"To meet a woman!", "He?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"And the woman's name?\"", "\"I can't give you the name, sir, but I can give you the initials.", "Her\ninitials were L. L.\"\n\n\"How do you know this, Barrymore?\"", "\"Well, Sir Henry, your uncle had a letter that morning.", "He had usually a\ngreat many letters, for he was a public man and well known for his kind\nheart, so that everyone who was in trouble was glad to turn to him.", "But\nthat morning, as it chanced, there was only this one letter, so I took\nthe more notice of it.", "It was from Coombe Tracey, and it was addressed\nin a woman's hand.\"", "\"Well?\"", "\"Well, sir, I thought no more of the matter, and never would have done\nhad it not been for my wife.", "Only a few weeks ago she was cleaning out\nSir Charles's study--it had never been touched since his death--and she\nfound the ashes of a burned letter in the back of the grate.", "The greater\npart of it was charred to pieces, but one little slip, the end of a\npage, hung together, and the writing could still be read, though it was\ngray on a black ground.", "It seemed to us to be a postscript at the end\nof the letter and it said: 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn\nthis letter, and be at the gate by ten o clock.", "Beneath it were signed\nthe initials L. L.\"\n\n\"Have you got that slip?\"", "\"No, sir, it crumbled all to bits after we moved it.\"", "\"Had Sir Charles received any other letters in the same writing?\"", "\"Well, sir, I took no particular notice of his letters.", "I should not\nhave noticed this one, only it happened to come alone.\"", "\"And you have no idea who L. L.", "is?\"", "\"No, sir.", "No more than you have.", "But I expect if we could lay our hands\nupon that lady we should know more about Sir Charles's death.\"", "\"I cannot understand, Barrymore, how you came to conceal this important\ninformation.\"", "\"Well, sir, it was immediately after that our own trouble came to us.", "And then again, sir, we were both of us very fond of Sir Charles, as we\nwell might be considering all that he has done for us.", "To rake this\nup couldn't help our poor master, and it's well to go carefully when\nthere's a lady in the case.", "Even the best of us--\"\n\n\"You thought it might injure his reputation?\"", "\"Well, sir, I thought no good could come of it.", "But now you have been\nkind to us, and I feel as if it would be treating you unfairly not to\ntell you all that I know about the matter.\"", "\"Very good, Barrymore; you can go.\"", "When the butler had left us Sir\nHenry turned to me.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you think of this new light?\"", "\"It seems to leave the darkness rather blacker than before.\"", "\"So I think.", "But if we can only trace L. L. it should clear up the whole\nbusiness.", "We have gained that much.", "We know that there is someone who\nhas the facts if we can only find her.", "What do you think we should do?\"", "\"Let Holmes know all about it at once.", "It will give him the clue for\nwhich he has been seeking.", "I am much mistaken if it does not bring him\ndown.\"", "I went at once to my room and drew up my report of the morning's\nconversation for Holmes.", "It was evident to me that he had been very busy\nof late, for the notes which I had from Baker Street were few and short,\nwith no comments upon the information which I had supplied and hardly\nany reference to my mission.", "No doubt his blackmailing case is absorbing\nall his faculties.", "And yet this new factor must surely arrest his\nattention and renew his interest.", "I wish that he were here.", "October 17th.", "All day today the rain poured down, rustling on the ivy\nand dripping from the eaves.", "I thought of the convict out upon the\nbleak, cold, shelterless moor.", "Poor devil!", "Whatever his crimes, he has\nsuffered something to atone for them.", "And then I thought of that other\none--the face in the cab, the figure against the moon.", "Was he also out\nin that deluged--the unseen watcher, the man of darkness?", "In the evening\nI put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of\ndark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling\nabout my ears.", "God help those who wander into the great mire now, for\neven the firm uplands are becoming a morass.", "I found the black tor upon\nwhich I had seen the solitary watcher, and from its craggy summit I\nlooked out myself across the melancholy downs.", "Rain squalls drifted\nacross their russet face, and the heavy, slate-coloured clouds hung\nlow over the landscape, trailing in gray wreaths down the sides of the\nfantastic hills.", "In the distant hollow on the left, half hidden by the\nmist, the two thin towers of Baskerville Hall rose above the trees.", "They\nwere the only signs of human life which I could see, save only those\nprehistoric huts which lay thickly upon the slopes of the hills.", "Nowhere\nwas there any trace of that lonely man whom I had seen on the same spot\ntwo nights before.", "As I walked back I was overtaken by Dr. Mortimer driving in his dog-cart\nover a rough moorland track which led from the outlying farmhouse of\nFoulmire.", "He has been very attentive to us, and hardly a day has passed\nthat he has not called at the Hall to see how we were getting on.", "He\ninsisted upon my climbing into his dog-cart, and he gave me a lift\nhomeward.", "I found him much troubled over the disappearance of his little\nspaniel.", "It had wandered on to the moor and had never come back.", "I\ngave him such consolation as I might, but I thought of the pony on the\nGrimpen Mire, and I do not fancy that he will see his little dog again.", "\"By the way, Mortimer,\" said I as we jolted along the rough road, \"I\nsuppose there are few people living within driving distance of this whom\nyou do not know?\"", "\"Hardly any, I think.\"", "\"Can you, then, tell me the name of any woman whose initials are L.", "L.?\"", "He thought for a few minutes.", "\"No,\" said he.", "\"There are a few gipsies and labouring folk for whom\nI can't answer, but among the farmers or gentry there is no one whose\ninitials are those.", "Wait a bit though,\" he added after a pause.", "\"There\nis Laura Lyons--her initials are L. L.--but she lives in Coombe Tracey.\"", "\"Who is she?\"", "I asked.", "\"She is Frankland's daughter.\"", "\"What!", "Old Frankland the crank?\"", "\"Exactly.", "She married an artist named Lyons, who came sketching on the\nmoor.", "He proved to be a blackguard and deserted her.", "The fault from what\nI hear may not have been entirely on one side.", "Her father refused to\nhave anything to do with her because she had married without his consent\nand perhaps for one or two other reasons as well.", "So, between the old\nsinner and the young one the girl has had a pretty bad time.\"", "\"How does she live?\"", "\"I fancy old Frankland allows her a pittance, but it cannot be more,\nfor his own affairs are considerably involved.", "Whatever she may have\ndeserved one could not allow her to go hopelessly to the bad.", "Her story\ngot about, and several of the people here did something to enable her\nto earn an honest living.", "Stapleton did for one, and Sir Charles for\nanother.", "I gave a trifle myself.", "It was to set her up in a typewriting\nbusiness.\"", "He wanted to know the object of my inquiries, but I managed to satisfy\nhis curiosity without telling him too much, for there is no reason why\nwe should take anyone into our confidence.", "Tomorrow morning I shall\nfind my way to Coombe Tracey, and if I can see this Mrs. Laura Lyons, of\nequivocal reputation, a long step will have been made towards clearing\none incident in this chain of mysteries.", "I am certainly developing the\nwisdom of the serpent, for when Mortimer pressed his questions to an\ninconvenient extent I asked him casually to what type Frankland's skull\nbelonged, and so heard nothing but craniology for the rest of our drive.", "I have not lived for years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing.", "I have only one other incident to record upon this tempestuous and\nmelancholy day.", "This was my conversation with Barrymore just now, which\ngives me one more strong card which I can play in due time.", "Mortimer had stayed to dinner, and he and the baronet played ecarte\nafterwards.", "The butler brought me my coffee into the library, and I took\nthe chance to ask him a few questions.", "\"Well,\" said I, \"has this precious relation of yours departed, or is he\nstill lurking out yonder?\"", "\"I don't know, sir.", "I hope to heaven that he has gone, for he has\nbrought nothing but trouble here!", "I've not heard of him since I left out\nfood for him last, and that was three days ago.\"", "\"Did you see him then?\"", "\"No, sir, but the food was gone when next I went that way.\"", "\"Then he was certainly there?\"", "\"So you would think, sir, unless it was the other man who took it.\"", "I sat with my coffee-cup halfway to my lips and stared at Barrymore.", "\"You know that there is another man then?\"", "\"Yes, sir; there is another man upon the moor.\"", "\"Have you seen him?\"", "\"No, sir.\"", "\"How do you know of him then?\"", "\"Selden told me of him, sir, a week ago or more.", "He's in hiding, too,\nbut he's not a convict as far as I can make out.", "I don't like it, Dr.\nWatson--I tell you straight, sir, that I don't like it.\"", "He spoke with a\nsudden passion of earnestness.", "\"Now, listen to me, Barrymore!", "I have no interest in this matter but\nthat of your master.", "I have come here with no object except to help him.", "Tell me, frankly, what it is that you don't like.\"", "Barrymore hesitated for a moment, as if he regretted his outburst or\nfound it difficult to express his own feelings in words.", "\"It's all these goings-on, sir,\" he cried at last, waving his hand\ntowards the rain-lashed window which faced the moor.", "\"There's foul play\nsomewhere, and there's black villainy brewing, to that I'll swear!", "Very glad I should be, sir, to see Sir Henry on his way back to London\nagain!\"", "\"But what is it that alarms you?\"", "\"Look at Sir Charles's death!", "That was bad enough, for all that the\ncoroner said.", "Look at the noises on the moor at night.", "There's not a\nman would cross it after sundown if he was paid for it.", "Look at this\nstranger hiding out yonder, and watching and waiting!", "What's he waiting\nfor?", "What does it mean?", "It means no good to anyone of the name of\nBaskerville, and very glad I shall be to be quit of it all on the day\nthat Sir Henry's new servants are ready to take over the Hall.\"", "\"But about this stranger,\" said I.", "\"Can you tell me anything about\nhim?", "What did Selden say?", "Did he find out where he hid, or what he was\ndoing?\"", "\"He saw him once or twice, but he is a deep one and gives nothing away.", "At first he thought that he was the police, but soon he found that he\nhad some lay of his own.", "A kind of gentleman he was, as far as he could\nsee, but what he was doing he could not make out.\"", "\"And where did he say that he lived?\"", "\"Among the old houses on the hillside--the stone huts where the old folk\nused to live.\"", "\"But how about his food?\"", "\"Selden found out that he has got a lad who works for him and brings all\nhe needs.", "I dare say he goes to Coombe Tracey for what he wants.\"", "\"Very good, Barrymore.", "We may talk further of this some other time.\"", "When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked\nthrough a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline\nof the wind-swept trees.", "It is a wild night indoors, and what must it\nbe in a stone hut upon the moor.", "What passion of hatred can it be which\nleads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time!", "And what deep and\nearnest purpose can he have which calls for such a trial!", "There, in that\nhut upon the moor, seems to lie the very centre of that problem which\nhas vexed me so sorely.", "I swear that another day shall not have passed\nbefore I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the\nmystery.", "The extract from my private diary which forms the last chapter has\nbrought my narrative up to the eighteenth of October, a time when these\nstrange events began to move swiftly towards their terrible conclusion.", "The incidents of the next few days are indelibly graven upon my\nrecollection, and I can tell them without reference to the notes made\nat the time.", "I start them from the day which succeeded that upon which\nI had established two facts of great importance, the one that Mrs. Laura\nLyons of Coombe Tracey had written to Sir Charles Baskerville and made\nan appointment with him at the very place and hour that he met his\ndeath, the other that the lurking man upon the moor was to be found\namong the stone huts upon the hillside.", "With these two facts in my\npossession I felt that either my intelligence or my courage must be\ndeficient if I could not throw some further light upon these dark\nplaces.", "I had no opportunity to tell the baronet what I had learned about Mrs.\nLyons upon the evening before, for Dr. Mortimer remained with him at\ncards until it was very late.", "At breakfast, however, I informed him\nabout my discovery and asked him whether he would care to accompany\nme to Coombe Tracey.", "At first he was very eager to come, but on second\nthoughts it seemed to both of us that if I went alone the results might\nbe better.", "The more formal we made the visit the less information we\nmight obtain.", "I left Sir Henry behind, therefore, not without some\nprickings of conscience, and drove off upon my new quest.", "When I reached Coombe Tracey I told Perkins to put up the horses, and\nI made inquiries for the lady whom I had come to interrogate.", "I had no\ndifficulty in finding her rooms, which were central and well appointed.", "A maid showed me in without ceremony, and as I entered the sitting-room\na lady, who was sitting before a Remington typewriter, sprang up with a\npleasant smile of welcome.", "Her face fell, however, when she saw that\nI was a stranger, and she sat down again and asked me the object of my\nvisit.", "The first impression left by Mrs. Lyons was one of extreme beauty.", "Her\neyes and hair were of the same rich hazel colour, and her cheeks, though\nconsiderably freckled, were flushed with the exquisite bloom of the\nbrunette, the dainty pink which lurks at the heart of the sulphur rose.", "Admiration was, I repeat, the first impression.", "But the second was\ncriticism.", "There was something subtly wrong with the face, some\ncoarseness of expression, some hardness, perhaps, of eye, some looseness\nof lip which marred its perfect beauty.", "But these, of course, are\nafterthoughts.", "At the moment I was simply conscious that I was in\nthe presence of a very handsome woman, and that she was asking me the\nreasons for my visit.", "I had not quite understood until that instant how\ndelicate my mission was.", "\"I have the pleasure,\" said I, \"of knowing your father.\"", "It was a clumsy introduction, and the lady made me feel it.", "\"There\nis nothing in common between my father and me,\" she said.", "\"I owe him\nnothing, and his friends are not mine.", "If it were not for the late Sir\nCharles Baskerville and some other kind hearts I might have starved for\nall that my father cared.\"", "\"It was about the late Sir Charles Baskerville that I have come here to\nsee you.\"", "The freckles started out on the lady's face.", "\"What can I tell you about him?\"", "she asked, and her fingers played\nnervously over the stops of her typewriter.", "\"You knew him, did you not?\"", "\"I have already said that I owe a great deal to his kindness.", "If I am\nable to support myself it is largely due to the interest which he took\nin my unhappy situation.\"", "\"Did you correspond with him?\"", "The lady looked quickly up with an angry gleam in her hazel eyes.", "\"What is the object of these questions?\"", "she asked sharply.", "\"The object is to avoid a public scandal.", "It is better that I should ask\nthem here than that the matter should pass outside our control.\"", "She was silent and her face was still very pale.", "At last she looked up\nwith something reckless and defiant in her manner.", "\"Well, I'll answer,\" she said.", "\"What are your questions?\"", "\"Did you correspond with Sir Charles?\"", "\"I certainly wrote to him once or twice to acknowledge his delicacy and\nhis generosity.\"", "\"Have you the dates of those letters?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"Have you ever met him?\"", "\"Yes, once or twice, when he came into Coombe Tracey.", "He was a very\nretiring man, and he preferred to do good by stealth.\"", "\"But if you saw him so seldom and wrote so seldom, how did he know\nenough about your affairs to be able to help you, as you say that he has\ndone?\"", "She met my difficulty with the utmost readiness.", "\"There were several gentlemen who knew my sad history and united to\nhelp me.", "One was Mr. Stapleton, a neighbour and intimate friend of Sir\nCharles's.", "He was exceedingly kind, and it was through him that Sir\nCharles learned about my affairs.\"", "I knew already that Sir Charles Baskerville had made Stapleton his\nalmoner upon several occasions, so the lady's statement bore the impress\nof truth upon it.", "\"Did you ever write to Sir Charles asking him to meet you?\"", "I continued.", "Mrs. Lyons flushed with anger again.", "\"Really, sir, this is a very\nextraordinary question.\"", "\"I am sorry, madam, but I must repeat it.\"", "\"Then I answer, certainly not.\"", "\"Not on the very day of Sir Charles's death?\"", "The flush had faded in an instant, and a deathly face was before me.", "Her\ndry lips could not speak the \"No\" which I saw rather than heard.", "\"Surely your memory deceives you,\" said I.", "\"I could even quote a passage\nof your letter.", "It ran 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn\nthis letter, and be at the gate by ten o'clock.'\"", "I thought that she had fainted, but she recovered herself by a supreme\neffort.", "\"Is there no such thing as a gentleman?\"", "she gasped.", "\"You do Sir Charles an injustice.", "He did burn the letter.", "But sometimes\na letter may be legible even when burned.", "You acknowledge now that you\nwrote it?\"", "\"Yes, I did write it,\" she cried, pouring out her soul in a torrent of\nwords.", "\"I did write it.", "Why should I deny it?", "I have no reason to be\nashamed of it.", "I wished him to help me.", "I believed that if I had an\ninterview I could gain his help, so I asked him to meet me.\"", "\"But why at such an hour?\"", "\"Because I had only just learned that he was going to London next day\nand might be away for months.", "There were reasons why I could not get\nthere earlier.\"", "\"But why a rendezvous in the garden instead of a visit to the house?\"", "\"Do you think a woman could go alone at that hour to a bachelor's\nhouse?\"", "\"Well, what happened when you did get there?\"", "\"I never went.\"", "\"Mrs.", "Lyons!\"", "\"No, I swear it to you on all I hold sacred.", "I never went.", "Something\nintervened to prevent my going.\"", "\"What was that?\"", "\"That is a private matter.", "I cannot tell it.\"", "\"You acknowledge then that you made an appointment with Sir Charles at\nthe very hour and place at which he met his death, but you deny that you\nkept the appointment.\"", "\"That is the truth.\"", "Again and again I cross-questioned her, but I could never get past that\npoint.", "\"Mrs. Lyons,\" said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive\ninterview, \"you are taking a very great responsibility and putting\nyourself in a very false position by not making an absolutely clean\nbreast of all that you know.", "If I have to call in the aid of the police\nyou will find how seriously you are compromised.", "If your position is\ninnocent, why did you in the first instance deny having written to Sir\nCharles upon that date?\"", "\"Because I feared that some false conclusion might be drawn from it and\nthat I might find myself involved in a scandal.\"", "\"And why were you so pressing that Sir Charles should destroy your\nletter?\"", "\"If you have read the letter you will know.\"", "\"I did not say that I had read all the letter.\"", "\"You quoted some of it.\"", "\"I quoted the postscript.", "The letter had, as I said, been burned and it\nwas not all legible.", "I ask you once again why it was that you were so\npressing that Sir Charles should destroy this letter which he received\non the day of his death.\"", "\"The matter is a very private one.\"", "\"The more reason why you should avoid a public investigation.\"", "\"I will tell you, then.", "If you have heard anything of my unhappy history\nyou will know that I made a rash marriage and had reason to regret it.\"", "\"I have heard so much.\"", "\"My life has been one incessant persecution from a husband whom I abhor.", "The law is upon his side, and every day I am faced by the possibility\nthat he may force me to live with him.", "At the time that I wrote this\nletter to Sir Charles I had learned that there was a prospect of\nmy regaining my freedom if certain expenses could be met.", "It meant\neverything to me--peace of mind, happiness, self-respect--everything.", "I\nknew Sir Charles's generosity, and I thought that if he heard the story\nfrom my own lips he would help me.\"", "\"Then how is it that you did not go?\"", "\"Because I received help in the interval from another source.\"", "\"Why then, did you not write to Sir Charles and explain this?\"", "\"So I should have done had I not seen his death in the paper next\nmorning.\"", "The woman's story hung coherently together, and all my questions were\nunable to shake it.", "I could only check it by finding if she had, indeed,\ninstituted divorce proceedings against her husband at or about the time\nof the tragedy.", "It was unlikely that she would dare to say that she had not been to\nBaskerville Hall if she really had been, for a trap would be necessary\nto take her there, and could not have returned to Coombe Tracey until\nthe early hours of the morning.", "Such an excursion could not be kept\nsecret.", "The probability was, therefore, that she was telling the truth,\nor, at least, a part of the truth.", "I came away baffled and disheartened.", "Once again I had reached that dead wall which seemed to be built across\nevery path by which I tried to get at the object of my mission.", "And yet\nthe more I thought of the lady's face and of her manner the more I felt\nthat something was being held back from me.", "Why should she turn so pale?", "Why should she fight against every admission until it was forced from\nher?", "Why should she have been so reticent at the time of the tragedy?", "Surely the explanation of all this could not be as innocent as she\nwould have me believe.", "For the moment I could proceed no farther in that\ndirection, but must turn back to that other clue which was to be sought\nfor among the stone huts upon the moor.", "And that was a most vague direction.", "I realized it as I drove back\nand noted how hill after hill showed traces of the ancient people.", "Barrymore's only indication had been that the stranger lived in one of\nthese abandoned huts, and many hundreds of them are scattered throughout\nthe length and breadth of the moor.", "But I had my own experience for a\nguide since it had shown me the man himself standing upon the summit of\nthe Black Tor.", "That, then, should be the centre of my search.", "From there\nI should explore every hut upon the moor until I lighted upon the right\none.", "If this man were inside it I should find out from his own lips, at\nthe point of my revolver if necessary, who he was and why he had dogged\nus so long.", "He might slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street,\nbut it would puzzle him to do so upon the lonely moor.", "On the other\nhand, if I should find the hut and its tenant should not be within it I\nmust remain there, however long the vigil, until he returned.", "Holmes had\nmissed him in London.", "It would indeed be a triumph for me if I could run\nhim to earth where my master had failed.", "Luck had been against us again and again in this inquiry, but now at\nlast it came to my aid.", "And the messenger of good fortune was none other\nthan Mr. Frankland, who was standing, gray-whiskered and red-faced,\noutside the gate of his garden, which opened on to the highroad along\nwhich I travelled.", "\"Good-day, Dr. Watson,\" cried he with unwonted good humour, \"you must\nreally give your horses a rest and come in to have a glass of wine and\nto congratulate me.\"", "My feelings towards him were very far from being friendly after what I\nhad heard of his treatment of his daughter, but I was anxious to send\nPerkins and the wagonette home, and the opportunity was a good one.", "I\nalighted and sent a message to Sir Henry that I should walk over in time\nfor dinner.", "Then I followed Frankland into his dining-room.", "\"It is a great day for me, sir--one of the red-letter days of my life,\"\nhe cried with many chuckles.", "\"I have brought off a double event.", "I mean\nto teach them in these parts that law is law, and that there is a man\nhere who does not fear to invoke it.", "I have established a right of way\nthrough the centre of old Middleton's park, slap across it, sir, within\na hundred yards of his own front door.", "What do you think of that?", "We'll\nteach these magnates that they cannot ride roughshod over the rights\nof the commoners, confound them!", "And I've closed the wood where the\nFernworthy folk used to picnic.", "These infernal people seem to think that\nthere are no rights of property, and that they can swarm where they like\nwith their papers and their bottles.", "Both cases decided, Dr. Watson, and\nboth in my favour.", "I haven't had such a day since I had Sir John Morland\nfor trespass because he shot in his own warren.\"", "\"How on earth did you do that?\"", "\"Look it up in the books, sir.", "It will repay reading--Frankland v.\nMorland, Court of Queen's Bench.", "It cost me 200 pounds, but I got my\nverdict.\"", "\"Did it do you any good?\"", "\"None, sir, none.", "I am proud to say that I had no interest in the\nmatter.", "I act entirely from a sense of public duty.", "I have no doubt, for\nexample, that the Fernworthy people will burn me in effigy tonight.", "I told the police last time they did it that they should stop these\ndisgraceful exhibitions.", "The County Constabulary is in a scandalous\nstate, sir, and it has not afforded me the protection to which I am\nentitled.", "The case of Frankland v. Regina will bring the matter before\nthe attention of the public.", "I told them that they would have occasion\nto regret their treatment of me, and already my words have come true.\"", "\"How so?\"", "I asked.", "The old man put on a very knowing expression.", "\"Because I could tell them\nwhat they are dying to know; but nothing would induce me to help the\nrascals in any way.\"", "I had been casting round for some excuse by which I could get away\nfrom his gossip, but now I began to wish to hear more of it.", "I had seen\nenough of the contrary nature of the old sinner to understand that any\nstrong sign of interest would be the surest way to stop his confidences.", "\"Some poaching case, no doubt?\"", "said I with an indifferent manner.", "\"Ha, ha, my boy, a very much more important matter than that!", "What about\nthe convict on the moor?\"", "I stared.", "\"You don't mean that you know where he is?\"", "said I.", "\"I may not know exactly where he is, but I am quite sure that I could\nhelp the police to lay their hands on him.", "Has it never struck you that\nthe way to catch that man was to find out where he got his food and so\ntrace it to him?\"", "He certainly seemed to be getting uncomfortably near the truth.", "\"No\ndoubt,\" said I; \"but how do you know that he is anywhere upon the moor?\"", "\"I know it because I have seen with my own eyes the messenger who takes\nhim his food.\"", "My heart sank for Barrymore.", "It was a serious thing to be in the power\nof this spiteful old busybody.", "But his next remark took a weight from my\nmind.", "\"You'll be surprised to hear that his food is taken to him by a child.", "I see him every day through my telescope upon the roof.", "He passes along\nthe same path at the same hour, and to whom should he be going except to\nthe convict?\"", "Here was luck indeed!", "And yet I suppressed all appearance of interest.", "A\nchild!", "Barrymore had said that our unknown was supplied by a boy.", "It was\non his track, and not upon the convict's, that Frankland had stumbled.", "If I could get his knowledge it might save me a long and weary hunt.", "But\nincredulity and indifference were evidently my strongest cards.", "\"I should say that it was much more likely that it was the son of one of\nthe moorland shepherds taking out his father's dinner.\"", "The least appearance of opposition struck fire out of the old autocrat.", "His eyes looked malignantly at me, and his gray whiskers bristled like\nthose of an angry cat.", "\"Indeed, sir!\"", "said he, pointing out over the wide-stretching moor.", "\"Do\nyou see that Black Tor over yonder?", "Well, do you see the low hill beyond\nwith the thornbush upon it?", "It is the stoniest part of the whole moor.", "Is that a place where a shepherd would be likely to take his station?", "Your suggestion, sir, is a most absurd one.\"", "I meekly answered that I had spoken without knowing all the facts.", "My\nsubmission pleased him and led him to further confidences.", "\"You may be sure, sir, that I have very good grounds before I come to an\nopinion.", "I have seen the boy again and again with his bundle.", "Every\nday, and sometimes twice a day, I have been able--but wait a moment,\nDr. Watson.", "Do my eyes deceive me, or is there at the present moment\nsomething moving upon that hillside?\"", "It was several miles off, but I could distinctly see a small dark dot\nagainst the dull green and gray.", "\"Come, sir, come!\"", "cried Frankland, rushing upstairs.", "\"You will see with\nyour own eyes and judge for yourself.\"", "The telescope, a formidable instrument mounted upon a tripod, stood upon\nthe flat leads of the house.", "Frankland clapped his eye to it and gave a\ncry of satisfaction.", "\"Quick, Dr. Watson, quick, before he passes over the hill!\"", "There he was, sure enough, a small urchin with a little bundle upon his\nshoulder, toiling slowly up the hill.", "When he reached the crest I saw\nthe ragged uncouth figure outlined for an instant against the cold blue\nsky.", "He looked round him with a furtive and stealthy air, as one who\ndreads pursuit.", "Then he vanished over the hill.", "\"Well!", "Am I right?\"", "\"Certainly, there is a boy who seems to have some secret errand.\"", "\"And what the errand is even a county constable could guess.", "But not\none word shall they have from me, and I bind you to secrecy also, Dr.\nWatson.", "Not a word!", "You understand!\"", "\"Just as you wish.\"", "\"They have treated me shamefully--shamefully.", "When the facts come out in\nFrankland v. Regina I venture to think that a thrill of indignation will\nrun through the country.", "Nothing would induce me to help the police in\nany way.", "For all they cared it might have been me, instead of my effigy,\nwhich these rascals burned at the stake.", "Surely you are not going!", "You\nwill help me to empty the decanter in honour of this great occasion!\"", "But I resisted all his solicitations and succeeded in dissuading him\nfrom his announced intention of walking home with me.", "I kept the road\nas long as his eye was on me, and then I struck off across the moor and\nmade for the stony hill over which the boy had disappeared.", "Everything\nwas working in my favour, and I swore that it should not be through lack\nof energy or perseverance that I should miss the chance which fortune\nhad thrown in my way.", "The sun was already sinking when I reached the summit of the hill, and\nthe long slopes beneath me were all golden-green on one side and gray\nshadow on the other.", "A haze lay low upon the farthest sky-line, out of\nwhich jutted the fantastic shapes of Belliver and Vixen Tor.", "Over the\nwide expanse there was no sound and no movement.", "One great gray bird, a\ngull or curlew, soared aloft in the blue heaven.", "He and I seemed to be\nthe only living things between the huge arch of the sky and the desert\nbeneath it.", "The barren scene, the sense of loneliness, and the mystery\nand urgency of my task all struck a chill into my heart.", "The boy was\nnowhere to be seen.", "But down beneath me in a cleft of the hills there\nwas a circle of the old stone huts, and in the middle of them there\nwas one which retained sufficient roof to act as a screen against the\nweather.", "My heart leaped within me as I saw it.", "This must be the burrow\nwhere the stranger lurked.", "At last my foot was on the threshold of his\nhiding place--his secret was within my grasp.", "As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton would do when\nwith poised net he drew near the settled butterfly, I satisfied myself\nthat the place had indeed been used as a habitation.", "A vague pathway\namong the boulders led to the dilapidated opening which served as a\ndoor.", "All was silent within.", "The unknown might be lurking there, or\nhe might be prowling on the moor.", "My nerves tingled with the sense of\nadventure.", "Throwing aside my cigarette, I closed my hand upon the butt\nof my revolver and, walking swiftly up to the door, I looked in.", "The\nplace was empty.", "But there were ample signs that I had not come upon a false scent.", "This\nwas certainly where the man lived.", "Some blankets rolled in a waterproof\nlay upon that very stone slab upon which Neolithic man had once\nslumbered.", "The ashes of a fire were heaped in a rude grate.", "Beside it\nlay some cooking utensils and a bucket half-full of water.", "A litter of\nempty tins showed that the place had been occupied for some time, and I\nsaw, as my eyes became accustomed to the checkered light, a pannikin and\na half-full bottle of spirits standing in the corner.", "In the middle of\nthe hut a flat stone served the purpose of a table, and upon this stood\na small cloth bundle--the same, no doubt, which I had seen through the\ntelescope upon the shoulder of the boy.", "It contained a loaf of bread,\na tinned tongue, and two tins of preserved peaches.", "As I set it down\nagain, after having examined it, my heart leaped to see that beneath it\nthere lay a sheet of paper with writing upon it.", "I raised it, and this\nwas what I read, roughly scrawled in pencil: \"Dr. Watson has gone to\nCoombe Tracey.\"", "For a minute I stood there with the paper in my hands thinking out the\nmeaning of this curt message.", "It was I, then, and not Sir Henry, who was\nbeing dogged by this secret man.", "He had not followed me himself, but\nhe had set an agent--the boy, perhaps--upon my track, and this was his\nreport.", "Possibly I had taken no step since I had been upon the moor\nwhich had not been observed and reported.", "Always there was this feeling\nof an unseen force, a fine net drawn round us with infinite skill and\ndelicacy, holding us so lightly that it was only at some supreme moment\nthat one realized that one was indeed entangled in its meshes.", "If there was one report there might be others, so I looked round the hut\nin search of them.", "There was no trace, however, of anything of the kind,\nnor could I discover any sign which might indicate the character or\nintentions of the man who lived in this singular place, save that he\nmust be of Spartan habits and cared little for the comforts of life.", "When I thought of the heavy rains and looked at the gaping roof I\nunderstood how strong and immutable must be the purpose which had kept\nhim in that inhospitable abode.", "Was he our malignant enemy, or was he by\nchance our guardian angel?", "I swore that I would not leave the hut until\nI knew.", "Outside the sun was sinking low and the west was blazing with scarlet\nand gold.", "Its reflection was shot back in ruddy patches by the distant\npools which lay amid the great Grimpen Mire.", "There were the two towers\nof Baskerville Hall, and there a distant blur of smoke which marked the\nvillage of Grimpen.", "Between the two, behind the hill, was the house\nof the Stapletons.", "All was sweet and mellow and peaceful in the golden\nevening light, and yet as I looked at them my soul shared none of the\npeace of Nature but quivered at the vagueness and the terror of that\ninterview which every instant was bringing nearer.", "With tingling nerves\nbut a fixed purpose, I sat in the dark recess of the hut and waited with\nsombre patience for the coming of its tenant.", "And then at last I heard him.", "Far away came the sharp clink of a boot\nstriking upon a stone.", "Then another and yet another, coming nearer and\nnearer.", "I shrank back into the darkest corner and cocked the pistol in\nmy pocket, determined not to discover myself until I had an opportunity\nof seeing something of the stranger.", "There was a long pause which showed\nthat he had stopped.", "Then once more the footsteps approached and a\nshadow fell across the opening of the hut.", "\"It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,\" said a well-known voice.", "\"I\nreally think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.\"" ]

[ "A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain.", "The house\nis banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the\ndreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the\nhills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon\ntheir wet faces.", "I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should\nhave said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it\nout.", "That was bad enough, for all that the\ncoroner said.", "When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked\nthrough a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline\nof the wind-swept trees.", "I am proud to say that I had no interest in the\nmatter.", "A\nchild!", "It is the stoniest part of the whole moor.", "\"And what the errand is even a county constable could guess.", "He and I seemed to be\nthe only living things between the huge arch of the sky and the desert\nbeneath it." ]

[ "\"And you have no idea who L. L.", "I start them from the day which succeeded that upon which\nI had established two facts of great importance, the one that Mrs. Laura\nLyons of Coombe Tracey had written to Sir Charles Baskerville and made\nan appointment with him at the very place and hour that he met his\ndeath, the other that the lurking man upon the moor was to be found\namong the stone huts upon the hillside.", "\"What then?\"", "Over the\nwide expanse there was no sound and no movement.", "The greater\npart of it was charred to pieces, but one little slip, the end of a\npage, hung together, and the writing could still be read, though it was\ngray on a black ground.", "\"What can I tell you about him?\"", "What about\nthe convict on the moor?\"", "The freckles started out on the lady's face.", "\"What!", "\"Yes, sir.\"" ]

[ "It was a clumsy introduction, and the lady made me feel it.", "\"There\nis nothing in common between my father and me,\" she said.", "\"I owe him\nnothing, and his friends are not mine.", "If it were not for the late Sir\nCharles Baskerville and some other kind hearts I might have starved for\nall that my father cared.\"", "\"It was about the late Sir Charles Baskerville that I have come here to\nsee you.\"", "The freckles started out on the lady's face.", "\"What can I tell you about him?\"", "she asked, and her fingers played\nnervously over the stops of her typewriter.", "\"You knew him, did you not?\"", "\"I have already said that I owe a great deal to his kindness.", "If I am\nable to support myself it is largely due to the interest which he took\nin my unhappy situation.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nSo far I have been able to quote from the reports which I have forwarded\nduring these early days to Sherlock Holmes.", "Now, however, I have arrived\nat a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method\nand to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which\nI kept at the time.", "A few extracts from the latter will carry me on to\nthose scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory.", "I\nproceed, then, from the morning which followed our abortive chase of the\nconvict and our other strange experiences upon the moor.", "October 16th.", "A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain.", "The house\nis banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the\ndreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the\nhills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon\ntheir wet faces.", "It is melancholy outside and in.", "The baronet is in a\nblack reaction after the excitements of the night.", "I am conscious myself\nof a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger--ever present\ndanger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it.", "All was sweet and mellow and peaceful in the golden\nevening light, and yet as I looked at them my soul shared none of the\npeace of Nature but quivered at the vagueness and the terror of that\ninterview which every instant was bringing nearer.", "With tingling nerves\nbut a fixed purpose, I sat in the dark recess of the hut and waited with\nsombre patience for the coming of its tenant.", "And then at last I heard him.", "Far away came the sharp clink of a boot\nstriking upon a stone.", "Then another and yet another, coming nearer and\nnearer.", "I shrank back into the darkest corner and cocked the pistol in\nmy pocket, determined not to discover myself until I had an opportunity\nof seeing something of the stranger.", "There was a long pause which showed\nthat he had stopped.", "Then once more the footsteps approached and a\nshadow fell across the opening of the hut.", "\"It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,\" said a well-known voice.", "\"I\nreally think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nFor a moment or two I sat breathless, hardly able to believe my ears.", "Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight\nof responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul.", "That\ncold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the\nworld.", "\"Holmes!\"", "I cried--\"Holmes!\"", "\"Come out,\" said he, \"and please be careful with the revolver.\"", "I stooped under the rude lintel, and there he sat upon a stone outside,\nhis gray eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished\nfeatures.", "He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face\nbronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind.", "In his tweed suit and\ncloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had\ncontrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one\nof his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen\nas perfect as if he were in Baker Street.", "\"I never was more glad to see anyone in my life,\" said I as I wrung him\nby the hand.", "\"Or more astonished, eh?\"", "\"Well, I must confess to it.\"", "\"The surprise was not all on one side, I assure you.", "I had no idea that\nyou had found my occasional retreat, still less that you were inside it,\nuntil I was within twenty paces of the door.\"", "\"My footprint, I presume?\"", "\"No, Watson, I fear that I could not undertake to recognize your\nfootprint amid all the footprints of the world.", "If you seriously desire\nto deceive me you must change your tobacconist; for when I see the stub\nof a cigarette marked Bradley, Oxford Street, I know that my friend\nWatson is in the neighbourhood.", "You will see it there beside the path.", "You threw it down, no doubt, at that supreme moment when you charged\ninto the empty hut.\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"I thought as much--and knowing your admirable tenacity I was convinced\nthat you were sitting in ambush, a weapon within reach, waiting for the\ntenant to return.", "So you actually thought that I was the criminal?\"", "\"I did not know who you were, but I was determined to find out.\"", "\"Excellent, Watson!", "And how did you localize me?", "You saw me, perhaps, on\nthe night of the convict hunt, when I was so imprudent as to allow the\nmoon to rise behind me?\"", "\"Yes, I saw you then.\"", "\"And have no doubt searched all the huts until you came to this one?\"", "\"No, your boy had been observed, and that gave me a guide where to\nlook.\"", "\"The old gentleman with the telescope, no doubt.", "I could not make it out\nwhen first I saw the light flashing upon the lens.\"", "He rose and peeped\ninto the hut.", "\"Ha, I see that Cartwright has brought up some supplies.", "What's this paper?", "So you have been to Coombe Tracey, have you?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"To see Mrs. Laura Lyons?\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"Well done!", "Our researches have evidently been running on parallel\nlines, and when we unite our results I expect we shall have a fairly\nfull knowledge of the case.\"", "\"Well, I am glad from my heart that you are here, for indeed the\nresponsibility and the mystery were both becoming too much for my\nnerves.", "But how in the name of wonder did you come here, and what have\nyou been doing?", "I thought that you were in Baker Street working out that\ncase of blackmailing.\"", "\"That was what I wished you to think.\"", "\"Then you use me, and yet do not trust me!\"", "I cried with some\nbitterness.", "\"I think that I have deserved better at your hands, Holmes.\"", "\"My dear fellow, you have been invaluable to me in this as in many other\ncases, and I beg that you will forgive me if I have seemed to play a\ntrick upon you.", "In truth, it was partly for your own sake that I did it,\nand it was my appreciation of the danger which you ran which led me to\ncome down and examine the matter for myself.", "Had I been with Sir Henry\nand you it is confident that my point of view would have been the\nsame as yours, and my presence would have warned our very formidable\nopponents to be on their guard.", "As it is, I have been able to get about\nas I could not possibly have done had I been living in the Hall, and\nI remain an unknown factor in the business, ready to throw in all my\nweight at a critical moment.\"", "\"But why keep me in the dark?\"", "\"For you to know could not have helped us and might possibly have led\nto my discovery.", "You would have wished to tell me something, or in your\nkindness you would have brought me out some comfort or other, and so an\nunnecessary risk would be run.", "I brought Cartwright down with me--you\nremember the little chap at the express office--and he has seen after\nmy simple wants: a loaf of bread and a clean collar.", "What does man want\nmore?", "He has given me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of\nfeet, and both have been invaluable.\"", "\"Then my reports have all been wasted!\"", "--My voice trembled as I recalled\nthe pains and the pride with which I had composed them.", "Holmes took a bundle of papers from his pocket.", "\"Here are your reports, my dear fellow, and very well thumbed, I assure\nyou.", "I made excellent arrangements, and they are only delayed one day\nupon their way.", "I must compliment you exceedingly upon the zeal and\nthe intelligence which you have shown over an extraordinarily difficult\ncase.\"", "I was still rather raw over the deception which had been practised upon\nme, but the warmth of Holmes's praise drove my anger from my mind.", "I\nfelt also in my heart that he was right in what he said and that it was\nreally best for our purpose that I should not have known that he was\nupon the moor.", "\"That's better,\" said he, seeing the shadow rise from my face.", "\"And\nnow tell me the result of your visit to Mrs. Laura Lyons--it was not\ndifficult for me to guess that it was to see her that you had gone, for\nI am already aware that she is the one person in Coombe Tracey who might\nbe of service to us in the matter.", "In fact, if you had not gone today it\nis exceedingly probable that I should have gone tomorrow.\"", "The sun had set and dusk was settling over the moor.", "The air had turned\nchill and we withdrew into the hut for warmth.", "There, sitting together\nin the twilight, I told Holmes of my conversation with the lady.", "So\ninterested was he that I had to repeat some of it twice before he was\nsatisfied.", "\"This is most important,\" said he when I had concluded.", "\"It fills up a\ngap which I had been unable to bridge in this most complex affair.", "You\nare aware, perhaps, that a close intimacy exists between this lady and\nthe man Stapleton?\"", "\"I did not know of a close intimacy.\"", "\"There can be no doubt about the matter.", "They meet, they write, there\nis a complete understanding between them.", "Now, this puts a very powerful\nweapon into our hands.", "If I could only use it to detach his wife--\"\n\n\"His wife?\"", "\"I am giving you some information now, in return for all that you have\ngiven me.", "The lady who has passed here as Miss Stapleton is in reality\nhis wife.\"", "\"Good heavens, Holmes!", "Are you sure of what you say?", "How could he have\npermitted Sir Henry to fall in love with her?\"", "\"Sir Henry's falling in love could do no harm to anyone except Sir\nHenry.", "He took particular care that Sir Henry did not make love to her,\nas you have yourself observed.", "I repeat that the lady is his wife and\nnot his sister.\"", "\"But why this elaborate deception?\"", "\"Because he foresaw that she would be very much more useful to him in\nthe character of a free woman.\"", "All my unspoken instincts, my vague suspicions, suddenly took shape and\ncentred upon the naturalist.", "In that impassive colourless man, with his\nstraw hat and his butterfly-net, I seemed to see something terrible--a\ncreature of infinite patience and craft, with a smiling face and a\nmurderous heart.", "\"It is he, then, who is our enemy--it is he who dogged us in London?\"", "\"So I read the riddle.\"", "\"And the warning--it must have come from her!\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "The shape of some monstrous villainy, half seen, half guessed, loomed\nthrough the darkness which had girt me so long.", "\"But are you sure of this, Holmes?", "How do you know that the woman is his\nwife?\"", "\"Because he so far forgot himself as to tell you a true piece of\nautobiography upon the occasion when he first met you, and I dare say\nhe has many a time regretted it since.", "He was once a schoolmaster in\nthe north of England.", "Now, there is no one more easy to trace than a\nschoolmaster.", "There are scholastic agencies by which one may identify\nany man who has been in the profession.", "A little investigation showed me\nthat a school had come to grief under atrocious circumstances, and that\nthe man who had owned it--the name was different--had disappeared with\nhis wife.", "The descriptions agreed.", "When I learned that the missing man\nwas devoted to entomology the identification was complete.\"", "The darkness was rising, but much was still hidden by the shadows.", "\"If this woman is in truth his wife, where does Mrs. Laura Lyons come\nin?\"", "I asked.", "\"That is one of the points upon which your own researches have shed a\nlight.", "Your interview with the lady has cleared the situation very\nmuch.", "I did not know about a projected divorce between herself and her\nhusband.", "In that case, regarding Stapleton as an unmarried man, she\ncounted no doubt upon becoming his wife.\"", "\"And when she is undeceived?\"", "\"Why, then we may find the lady of service.", "It must be our first duty\nto see her--both of us--tomorrow.", "Don't you think, Watson, that you are\naway from your charge rather long?", "Your place should be at Baskerville\nHall.\"", "The last red streaks had faded away in the west and night had settled\nupon the moor.", "A few faint stars were gleaming in a violet sky.", "\"One last question, Holmes,\" I said as I rose.", "\"Surely there is no need\nof secrecy between you and me.", "What is the meaning of it all?", "What is he\nafter?\"", "Holmes's voice sank as he answered:\n\n\"It is murder, Watson--refined, cold-blooded, deliberate murder.", "Do not\nask me for particulars.", "My nets are closing upon him, even as his are\nupon Sir Henry, and with your help he is already almost at my mercy.", "There is but one danger which can threaten us.", "It is that he should\nstrike before we are ready to do so.", "Another day--two at the most--and\nI have my case complete, but until then guard your charge as closely\nas ever a fond mother watched her ailing child.", "Your mission today has\njustified itself, and yet I could almost wish that you had not left his\nside.", "Hark!\"", "A terrible scream--a prolonged yell of horror and anguish--burst out of\nthe silence of the moor.", "That frightful cry turned the blood to ice in\nmy veins.", "\"Oh, my God!\"", "I gasped.", "\"What is it?", "What does it mean?\"", "Holmes had sprung to his feet, and I saw his dark, athletic outline at\nthe door of the hut, his shoulders stooping, his head thrust forward,\nhis face peering into the darkness.", "\"Hush!\"", "he whispered.", "\"Hush!\"", "The cry had been loud on account of its vehemence, but it had pealed out\nfrom somewhere far off on the shadowy plain.", "Now it burst upon our ears,\nnearer, louder, more urgent than before.", "\"Where is it?\"", "Holmes whispered; and I knew from the thrill of his voice\nthat he, the man of iron, was shaken to the soul.", "\"Where is it, Watson?\"", "\"There, I think.\"", "I pointed into the darkness.", "\"No, there!\"", "Again the agonized cry swept through the silent night, louder and much\nnearer than ever.", "And a new sound mingled with it, a deep, muttered\nrumble, musical and yet menacing, rising and falling like the low,\nconstant murmur of the sea.", "\"The hound!\"", "cried Holmes.", "\"Come, Watson, come!", "Great heavens, if we are\ntoo late!\"", "He had started running swiftly over the moor, and I had followed at his\nheels.", "But now from somewhere among the broken ground immediately in\nfront of us there came one last despairing yell, and then a dull, heavy\nthud.", "We halted and listened.", "Not another sound broke the heavy silence\nof the windless night.", "I saw Holmes put his hand to his forehead like a man distracted.", "He\nstamped his feet upon the ground.", "\"He has beaten us, Watson.", "We are too late.\"", "\"No, no, surely not!\"", "\"Fool that I was to hold my hand.", "And you, Watson, see what comes of\nabandoning your charge!", "But, by Heaven, if the worst has happened we'll\navenge him!\"", "Blindly we ran through the gloom, blundering against boulders, forcing\nour way through gorse bushes, panting up hills and rushing down slopes,\nheading always in the direction whence those dreadful sounds had come.", "At every rise Holmes looked eagerly round him, but the shadows were\nthick upon the moor, and nothing moved upon its dreary face.", "\"Can you see anything?\"", "\"Nothing.\"", "\"But, hark, what is that?\"", "A low moan had fallen upon our ears.", "There it was again upon our left!", "On that side a ridge of rocks ended in a sheer cliff which overlooked\na stone-strewn slope.", "On its jagged face was spread-eagled some dark,\nirregular object.", "As we ran towards it the vague outline hardened into\na definite shape.", "It was a prostrate man face downward upon the ground,\nthe head doubled under him at a horrible angle, the shoulders rounded\nand the body hunched together as if in the act of throwing a somersault.", "So grotesque was the attitude that I could not for the instant realize\nthat that moan had been the passing of his soul.", "Not a whisper, not a\nrustle, rose now from the dark figure over which we stooped.", "Holmes laid\nhis hand upon him and held it up again with an exclamation of horror.", "The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers\nand upon the ghastly pool which widened slowly from the crushed skull\nof the victim.", "And it shone upon something else which turned our hearts\nsick and faint within us--the body of Sir Henry Baskerville!", "There was no chance of either of us forgetting that peculiar ruddy tweed\nsuit--the very one which he had worn on the first morning that we had\nseen him in Baker Street.", "We caught the one clear glimpse of it, and\nthen the match flickered and went out, even as the hope had gone out\nof our souls.", "Holmes groaned, and his face glimmered white through the\ndarkness.", "\"The brute!", "The brute!\"", "I cried with clenched hands.", "\"Oh Holmes, I shall\nnever forgive myself for having left him to his fate.\"", "\"I am more to blame than you, Watson.", "In order to have my case well\nrounded and complete, I have thrown away the life of my client.", "It is\nthe greatest blow which has befallen me in my career.", "But how could I\nknow--how could I know--that he would risk his life alone upon the moor\nin the face of all my warnings?\"", "\"That we should have heard his screams--my God, those screams!--and yet\nhave been unable to save him!", "Where is this brute of a hound which drove\nhim to his death?", "It may be lurking among these rocks at this instant.", "And Stapleton, where is he?", "He shall answer for this deed.\"", "\"He shall.", "I will see to that.", "Uncle and nephew have been murdered--the\none frightened to death by the very sight of a beast which he thought\nto be supernatural, the other driven to his end in his wild flight to\nescape from it.", "But now we have to prove the connection between the\nman and the beast.", "Save from what we heard, we cannot even swear to the\nexistence of the latter, since Sir Henry has evidently died from the\nfall.", "But, by heavens, cunning as he is, the fellow shall be in my power\nbefore another day is past!\"", "We stood with bitter hearts on either side of the mangled body,\noverwhelmed by this sudden and irrevocable disaster which had brought\nall our long and weary labours to so piteous an end.", "Then as the moon\nrose we climbed to the top of the rocks over which our poor friend had\nfallen, and from the summit we gazed out over the shadowy moor, half\nsilver and half gloom.", "Far away, miles off, in the direction of Grimpen,\na single steady yellow light was shining.", "It could only come from the\nlonely abode of the Stapletons.", "With a bitter curse I shook my fist at\nit as I gazed.", "\"Why should we not seize him at once?\"", "\"Our case is not complete.", "The fellow is wary and cunning to the last\ndegree.", "It is not what we know, but what we can prove.", "If we make one\nfalse move the villain may escape us yet.\"", "\"What can we do?\"", "\"There will be plenty for us to do tomorrow.", "Tonight we can only perform\nthe last offices to our poor friend.\"", "Together we made our way down the precipitous slope and approached the\nbody, black and clear against the silvered stones.", "The agony of those\ncontorted limbs struck me with a spasm of pain and blurred my eyes with\ntears.", "\"We must send for help, Holmes!", "We cannot carry him all the way to the\nHall.", "Good heavens, are you mad?\"", "He had uttered a cry and bent over the body.", "Now he was dancing and\nlaughing and wringing my hand.", "Could this be my stern, self-contained\nfriend?", "These were hidden fires, indeed!", "\"A beard!", "A beard!", "The man has a beard!\"", "\"A beard?\"", "\"It is not the baronet--it is--why, it is my neighbour, the convict!\"", "With feverish haste we had turned the body over, and that dripping beard\nwas pointing up to the cold, clear moon.", "There could be no doubt about\nthe beetling forehead, the sunken animal eyes.", "It was indeed the same\nface which had glared upon me in the light of the candle from over the\nrock--the face of Selden, the criminal.", "Then in an instant it was all clear to me.", "I remembered how the baronet\nhad told me that he had handed his old wardrobe to Barrymore.", "Barrymore\nhad passed it on in order to help Selden in his escape.", "Boots, shirt,\ncap--it was all Sir Henry's.", "The tragedy was still black enough, but\nthis man had at least deserved death by the laws of his country.", "I told\nHolmes how the matter stood, my heart bubbling over with thankfulness\nand joy.", "\"Then the clothes have been the poor devil's death,\" said he.", "\"It is\nclear enough that the hound has been laid on from some article of\nSir Henry's--the boot which was abstracted in the hotel, in all\nprobability--and so ran this man down.", "There is one very singular thing,\nhowever: How came Selden, in the darkness, to know that the hound was on\nhis trail?\"", "\"He heard him.\"", "\"To hear a hound upon the moor would not work a hard man like this\nconvict into such a paroxysm of terror that he would risk recapture\nby screaming wildly for help.", "By his cries he must have run a long way\nafter he knew the animal was on his track.", "How did he know?\"", "\"A greater mystery to me is why this hound, presuming that all our\nconjectures are correct--\"\n\n\"I presume nothing.\"", "\"Well, then, why this hound should be loose tonight.", "I suppose that it\ndoes not always run loose upon the moor.", "Stapleton would not let it go\nunless he had reason to think that Sir Henry would be there.\"", "\"My difficulty is the more formidable of the two, for I think that we\nshall very shortly get an explanation of yours, while mine may remain\nforever a mystery.", "The question now is, what shall we do with this poor\nwretch's body?", "We cannot leave it here to the foxes and the ravens.\"", "\"I suggest that we put it in one of the huts until we can communicate\nwith the police.\"", "\"Exactly.", "I have no doubt that you and I could carry it so far.", "Halloa,\nWatson, what's this?", "It's the man himself, by all that's wonderful and\naudacious!", "Not a word to show your suspicions--not a word, or my plans\ncrumble to the ground.\"", "A figure was approaching us over the moor, and I saw the dull red glow\nof a cigar.", "The moon shone upon him, and I could distinguish the dapper\nshape and jaunty walk of the naturalist.", "He stopped when he saw us, and\nthen came on again.", "\"Why, Dr. Watson, that's not you, is it?", "You are the last man that I\nshould have expected to see out on the moor at this time of night.", "But,\ndear me, what's this?", "Somebody hurt?", "Not--don't tell me that it is our\nfriend Sir Henry!\"", "He hurried past me and stooped over the dead man.", "I\nheard a sharp intake of his breath and the cigar fell from his fingers.", "\"Who--who's this?\"", "he stammered.", "\"It is Selden, the man who escaped from Princetown.\"", "Stapleton turned a ghastly face upon us, but by a supreme effort he had\novercome his amazement and his disappointment.", "He looked sharply from\nHolmes to me.", "\"Dear me!", "What a very shocking affair!", "How did he die?\"", "\"He appears to have broken his neck by falling over these rocks.", "My\nfriend and I were strolling on the moor when we heard a cry.\"", "\"I heard a cry also.", "That was what brought me out.", "I was uneasy about\nSir Henry.\"", "\"Why about Sir Henry in particular?\"", "I could not help asking.", "\"Because I had suggested that he should come over.", "When he did not come\nI was surprised, and I naturally became alarmed for his safety when I\nheard cries upon the moor.", "By the way\"--his eyes darted again from my\nface to Holmes's--\"did you hear anything else besides a cry?\"", "\"No,\" said Holmes; \"did you?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"What do you mean, then?\"", "\"Oh, you know the stories that the peasants tell about a phantom\nhound, and so on.", "It is said to be heard at night upon the moor.", "I was\nwondering if there were any evidence of such a sound tonight.\"", "\"We heard nothing of the kind,\" said I.", "\"And what is your theory of this poor fellow's death?\"", "\"I have no doubt that anxiety and exposure have driven him off his head.", "He has rushed about the moor in a crazy state and eventually fallen over\nhere and broken his neck.\"", "\"That seems the most reasonable theory,\" said Stapleton, and he gave a\nsigh which I took to indicate his relief.", "\"What do you think about it,\nMr. Sherlock Holmes?\"", "My friend bowed his compliments.", "\"You are quick at identification,\" said\nhe.", "\"We have been expecting you in these parts since Dr. Watson came down.", "You are in time to see a tragedy.\"", "\"Yes, indeed.", "I have no doubt that my friend's explanation will cover\nthe facts.", "I will take an unpleasant remembrance back to London with me\ntomorrow.\"", "\"Oh, you return tomorrow?\"", "\"That is my intention.\"", "\"I hope your visit has cast some light upon those occurrences which have\npuzzled us?\"", "Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"One cannot always have the success for which one hopes.", "An investigator\nneeds facts and not legends or rumours.", "It has not been a satisfactory\ncase.\"", "My friend spoke in his frankest and most unconcerned manner.", "Stapleton\nstill looked hard at him.", "Then he turned to me.", "\"I would suggest carrying this poor fellow to my house, but it would\ngive my sister such a fright that I do not feel justified in doing it.", "I think that if we put something over his face he will be safe until\nmorning.\"", "And so it was arranged.", "Resisting Stapleton's offer of hospitality,\nHolmes and I set off to Baskerville Hall, leaving the naturalist to\nreturn alone.", "Looking back we saw the figure moving slowly away over the\nbroad moor, and behind him that one black smudge on the silvered slope\nwhich showed where the man was lying who had come so horribly to his\nend.", "\"We're at close grips at last,\" said Holmes as we walked together across\nthe moor.", "\"What a nerve the fellow has!", "How he pulled himself together\nin the face of what must have been a paralyzing shock when he found that\nthe wrong man had fallen a victim to his plot.", "I told you in London,\nWatson, and I tell you now again, that we have never had a foeman more\nworthy of our steel.\"", "\"I am sorry that he has seen you.\"", "\"And so was I at first.", "But there was no getting out of it.\"", "\"What effect do you think it will have upon his plans now that he knows\nyou are here?\"", "\"It may cause him to be more cautious, or it may drive him to desperate\nmeasures at once.", "Like most clever criminals, he may be too confident in\nhis own cleverness and imagine that he has completely deceived us.\"", "\"Why should we not arrest him at once?\"", "\"My dear Watson, you were born to be a man of action.", "Your instinct is\nalways to do something energetic.", "But supposing, for argument's sake,\nthat we had him arrested tonight, what on earth the better off should\nwe be for that?", "We could prove nothing against him.", "There's the devilish\ncunning of it!", "If he were acting through a human agent we could get some\nevidence, but if we were to drag this great dog to the light of day it\nwould not help us in putting a rope round the neck of its master.\"", "\"Surely we have a case.\"", "\"Not a shadow of one--only surmise and conjecture.", "We should be laughed\nout of court if we came with such a story and such evidence.\"", "\"There is Sir Charles's death.\"", "\"Found dead without a mark upon him.", "You and I know that he died of\nsheer fright, and we know also what frightened him, but how are we to\nget twelve stolid jurymen to know it?", "What signs are there of a hound?", "Where are the marks of its fangs?", "Of course we know that a hound does\nnot bite a dead body and that Sir Charles was dead before ever the\nbrute overtook him.", "But we have to prove all this, and we are not in a\nposition to do it.\"", "\"Well, then, tonight?\"", "\"We are not much better off tonight.", "Again, there was no direct\nconnection between the hound and the man's death.", "We never saw the\nhound.", "We heard it, but we could not prove that it was running upon this\nman's trail.", "There is a complete absence of motive.", "No, my dear fellow;\nwe must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we have no case at present,\nand that it is worth our while to run any risk in order to establish\none.\"", "\"And how do you propose to do so?\"", "\"I have great hopes of what Mrs. Laura Lyons may do for us when the\nposition of affairs is made clear to her.", "And I have my own plan as\nwell.", "Sufficient for tomorrow is the evil thereof; but I hope before the\nday is past to have the upper hand at last.\"", "I could draw nothing further from him, and he walked, lost in thought,\nas far as the Baskerville gates.", "\"Are you coming up?\"", "\"Yes; I see no reason for further concealment.", "But one last word,\nWatson.", "Say nothing of the hound to Sir Henry.", "Let him think that\nSelden's death was as Stapleton would have us believe.", "He will have a\nbetter nerve for the ordeal which he will have to undergo tomorrow,\nwhen he is engaged, if I remember your report aright, to dine with these\npeople.\"", "\"And so am I.\"", "\"Then you must excuse yourself and he must go alone.", "That will be easily\narranged.", "And now, if we are too late for dinner, I think that we are\nboth ready for our suppers.\"", "Sir Henry was more pleased than surprised to see Sherlock Holmes, for he\nhad for some days been expecting that recent events would bring him down\nfrom London.", "He did raise his eyebrows, however, when he found that my\nfriend had neither any luggage nor any explanations for its absence.", "Between us we soon supplied his wants, and then over a belated supper\nwe explained to the baronet as much of our experience as it seemed\ndesirable that he should know.", "But first I had the unpleasant duty of\nbreaking the news to Barrymore and his wife.", "To him it may have been an\nunmitigated relief, but she wept bitterly in her apron.", "To all the world\nhe was the man of violence, half animal and half demon; but to her he\nalways remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood, the child who\nhad clung to her hand.", "Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to\nmourn him.", "\"I've been moping in the house all day since Watson went off in the\nmorning,\" said the baronet.", "\"I guess I should have some credit, for I\nhave kept my promise.", "If I hadn't sworn not to go about alone I might\nhave had a more lively evening, for I had a message from Stapleton\nasking me over there.\"", "\"I have no doubt that you would have had a more lively evening,\" said\nHolmes drily.", "\"By the way, I don't suppose you appreciate that we have\nbeen mourning over you as having broken your neck?\"", "Sir Henry opened his eyes.", "\"How was that?\"", "\"This poor wretch was dressed in your clothes.", "I fear your servant who\ngave them to him may get into trouble with the police.\"", "\"That is unlikely.", "There was no mark on any of them, as far as I know.\"", "\"That's lucky for him--in fact, it's lucky for all of you, since you are\nall on the wrong side of the law in this matter.", "I am not sure that as\na conscientious detective my first duty is not to arrest the whole\nhousehold.", "Watson's reports are most incriminating documents.\"", "\"But how about the case?\"", "asked the baronet.", "\"Have you made anything out\nof the tangle?", "I don't know that Watson and I are much the wiser since\nwe came down.\"", "\"I think that I shall be in a position to make the situation rather more\nclear to you before long.", "It has been an exceedingly difficult and most\ncomplicated business.", "There are several points upon which we still want\nlight--but it is coming all the same.\"", "\"We've had one experience, as Watson has no doubt told you.", "We heard the\nhound on the moor, so I can swear that it is not all empty superstition.", "I had something to do with dogs when I was out West, and I know one when\nI hear one.", "If you can muzzle that one and put him on a chain I'll be\nready to swear you are the greatest detective of all time.\"", "\"I think I will muzzle him and chain him all right if you will give me\nyour help.\"", "\"Whatever you tell me to do I will do.\"", "\"Very good; and I will ask you also to do it blindly, without always\nasking the reason.\"", "\"Just as you like.\"", "\"If you will do this I think the chances are that our little problem\nwill soon be solved.", "I have no doubt--\"\n\nHe stopped suddenly and stared fixedly up over my head into the air.", "The\nlamp beat upon his face, and so intent was it and so still that it might\nhave been that of a clear-cut classical statue, a personification of\nalertness and expectation.", "\"What is it?\"", "we both cried.", "I could see as he looked down that he was repressing some internal\nemotion.", "His features were still composed, but his eyes shone with\namused exultation.", "\"Excuse the admiration of a connoisseur,\" said he as he waved his hand\ntowards the line of portraits which covered the opposite wall.", "\"Watson\nwon't allow that I know anything of art but that is mere jealousy\nbecause our views upon the subject differ.", "Now, these are a really very\nfine series of portraits.\"", "\"Well, I'm glad to hear you say so,\" said Sir Henry, glancing with some\nsurprise at my friend.", "\"I don't pretend to know much about these things,\nand I'd be a better judge of a horse or a steer than of a picture.", "I\ndidn't know that you found time for such things.\"", "\"I know what is good when I see it, and I see it now.", "That's a Kneller,\nI'll swear, that lady in the blue silk over yonder, and the stout\ngentleman with the wig ought to be a Reynolds.", "They are all family\nportraits, I presume?\"", "\"Every one.\"", "\"Do you know the names?\"", "\"Barrymore has been coaching me in them, and I think I can say my\nlessons fairly well.\"", "\"Who is the gentleman with the telescope?\"", "\"That is Rear-Admiral Baskerville, who served under Rodney in the West\nIndies.", "The man with the blue coat and the roll of paper is Sir William\nBaskerville, who was Chairman of Committees of the House of Commons\nunder Pitt.\"", "\"And this Cavalier opposite to me--the one with the black velvet and the\nlace?\"", "\"Ah, you have a right to know about him.", "That is the cause of all the\nmischief, the wicked Hugo, who started the Hound of the Baskervilles.", "We're not likely to forget him.\"", "I gazed with interest and some surprise upon the portrait.", "\"Dear me!\"", "said Holmes, \"he seems a quiet, meek-mannered man enough, but\nI dare say that there was a lurking devil in his eyes.", "I had pictured\nhim as a more robust and ruffianly person.\"", "\"There's no doubt about the authenticity, for the name and the date,\n1647, are on the back of the canvas.\"", "Holmes said little more, but the picture of the old roysterer seemed to\nhave a fascination for him, and his eyes were continually fixed upon it\nduring supper.", "It was not until later, when Sir Henry had gone to his\nroom, that I was able to follow the trend of his thoughts.", "He led me\nback into the banqueting-hall, his bedroom candle in his hand, and he\nheld it up against the time-stained portrait on the wall.", "\"Do you see anything there?\"", "I looked at the broad plumed hat, the curling love-locks, the white lace\ncollar, and the straight, severe face which was framed between them.", "It\nwas not a brutal countenance, but it was prim, hard, and stern, with a\nfirm-set, thin-lipped mouth, and a coldly intolerant eye.", "\"Is it like anyone you know?\"", "\"There is something of Sir Henry about the jaw.\"", "\"Just a suggestion, perhaps.", "But wait an instant!\"", "He stood upon a\nchair, and, holding up the light in his left hand, he curved his right\narm over the broad hat and round the long ringlets.", "\"Good heavens!\"", "I cried in amazement.", "The face of Stapleton had sprung out of the canvas.", "\"Ha, you see it now.", "My eyes have been trained to examine faces and not\ntheir trimmings.", "It is the first quality of a criminal investigator that\nhe should see through a disguise.\"", "\"But this is marvellous.", "It might be his portrait.\"", "\"Yes, it is an interesting instance of a throwback, which appears to be\nboth physical and spiritual.", "A study of family portraits is enough\nto convert a man to the doctrine of reincarnation.", "The fellow is a\nBaskerville--that is evident.\"", "\"With designs upon the succession.\"", "\"Exactly.", "This chance of the picture has supplied us with one of our\nmost obvious missing links.", "We have him, Watson, we have him, and I dare\nswear that before tomorrow night he will be fluttering in our net as\nhelpless as one of his own butterflies.", "A pin, a cork, and a card, and\nwe add him to the Baker Street collection!\"", "He burst into one of his\nrare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture.", "I have not\nheard him laugh often, and it has always boded ill to somebody.", "I was up betimes in the morning, but Holmes was afoot earlier still, for\nI saw him as I dressed, coming up the drive.", "\"Yes, we should have a full day today,\" he remarked, and he rubbed his\nhands with the joy of action.", "\"The nets are all in place, and the drag\nis about to begin.", "We'll know before the day is out whether we have\ncaught our big, leanjawed pike, or whether he has got through the\nmeshes.\"", "\"Have you been on the moor already?\"", "\"I have sent a report from Grimpen to Princetown as to the death of\nSelden.", "I think I can promise that none of you will be troubled in the\nmatter.", "And I have also communicated with my faithful Cartwright, who\nwould certainly have pined away at the door of my hut, as a dog does at\nhis master's grave, if I had not set his mind at rest about my safety.\"", "\"What is the next move?\"", "\"To see Sir Henry.", "Ah, here he is!\"", "\"Good-morning, Holmes,\" said the baronet.", "\"You look like a general who\nis planning a battle with his chief of the staff.\"", "\"That is the exact situation.", "Watson was asking for orders.\"", "\"And so do I.\"", "\"Very good.", "You are engaged, as I understand, to dine with our friends\nthe Stapletons tonight.\"", "\"I hope that you will come also.", "They are very hospitable people, and I\nam sure that they would be very glad to see you.\"", "\"I fear that Watson and I must go to London.\"", "\"To London?\"", "\"Yes, I think that we should be more useful there at the present\njuncture.\"", "The baronet's face perceptibly lengthened.", "\"I hoped that you were going to see me through this business.", "The Hall\nand the moor are not very pleasant places when one is alone.\"", "\"My dear fellow, you must trust me implicitly and do exactly what I tell\nyou.", "You can tell your friends that we should have been happy to have\ncome with you, but that urgent business required us to be in town.", "We\nhope very soon to return to Devonshire.", "Will you remember to give them\nthat message?\"", "\"If you insist upon it.\"", "\"There is no alternative, I assure you.\"", "I saw by the baronet's clouded brow that he was deeply hurt by what he\nregarded as our desertion.", "\"When do you desire to go?\"", "he asked coldly.", "\"Immediately after breakfast.", "We will drive in to Coombe Tracey, but\nWatson will leave his things as a pledge that he will come back to you.", "Watson, you will send a note to Stapleton to tell him that you regret\nthat you cannot come.\"", "\"I have a good mind to go to London with you,\" said the baronet.", "\"Why\nshould I stay here alone?\"", "\"Because it is your post of duty.", "Because you gave me your word that you\nwould do as you were told, and I tell you to stay.\"", "\"All right, then, I'll stay.\"", "\"One more direction!", "I wish you to drive to Merripit House.", "Send back\nyour trap, however, and let them know that you intend to walk home.\"", "\"To walk across the moor?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"But that is the very thing which you have so often cautioned me not to\ndo.\"", "\"This time you may do it with safety.", "If I had not every confidence in\nyour nerve and courage I would not suggest it, but it is essential that\nyou should do it.\"", "\"Then I will do it.\"", "\"And as you value your life do not go across the moor in any direction\nsave along the straight path which leads from Merripit House to the\nGrimpen Road, and is your natural way home.\"", "\"I will do just what you say.\"", "\"Very good.", "I should be glad to get away as soon after breakfast as\npossible, so as to reach London in the afternoon.\"", "I was much astounded by this programme, though I remembered that Holmes\nhad said to Stapleton on the night before that his visit would terminate\nnext day.", "It had not crossed my mind however, that he would wish me to\ngo with him, nor could I understand how we could both be absent at a\nmoment which he himself declared to be critical.", "There was nothing for\nit, however, but implicit obedience; so we bade good-bye to our rueful\nfriend, and a couple of hours afterwards we were at the station of\nCoombe Tracey and had dispatched the trap upon its return journey.", "A\nsmall boy was waiting upon the platform.", "\"Any orders, sir?\"", "\"You will take this train to town, Cartwright.", "The moment you arrive you\nwill send a wire to Sir Henry Baskerville, in my name, to say that if he\nfinds the pocketbook which I have dropped he is to send it by registered\npost to Baker Street.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"And ask at the station office if there is a message for me.\"", "The boy returned with a telegram, which Holmes handed to me.", "It ran:\n\nWire received.", "Coming down with unsigned warrant.", "Arrive five-forty.", "Lestrade.", "\"That is in answer to mine of this morning.", "He is the best of the\nprofessionals, I think, and we may need his assistance.", "Now, Watson, I\nthink that we cannot employ our time better than by calling upon your\nacquaintance, Mrs. Laura Lyons.\"", "His plan of campaign was beginning to be evident.", "He would use the\nbaronet in order to convince the Stapletons that we were really gone,\nwhile we should actually return at the instant when we were likely to\nbe needed.", "That telegram from London, if mentioned by Sir Henry to the\nStapletons, must remove the last suspicions from their minds.", "Already I\nseemed to see our nets drawing closer around that leanjawed pike.", "Mrs. Laura Lyons was in her office, and Sherlock Holmes opened his\ninterview with a frankness and directness which considerably amazed her.", "\"I am investigating the circumstances which attended the death of the\nlate Sir Charles Baskerville,\" said he.", "\"My friend here, Dr. Watson,\nhas informed me of what you have communicated, and also of what you have\nwithheld in connection with that matter.\"", "\"What have I withheld?\"", "she asked defiantly.", "\"You have confessed that you asked Sir Charles to be at the gate at ten\no'clock.", "We know that that was the place and hour of his death.", "You have\nwithheld what the connection is between these events.\"", "\"There is no connection.\"", "\"In that case the coincidence must indeed be an extraordinary one.", "But\nI think that we shall succeed in establishing a connection, after all.", "I\nwish to be perfectly frank with you, Mrs. Lyons.", "We regard this case as\none of murder, and the evidence may implicate not only your friend Mr.\nStapleton but his wife as well.\"", "The lady sprang from her chair.", "\"His wife!\"", "she cried.", "\"The fact is no longer a secret.", "The person who has passed for his\nsister is really his wife.\"", "Mrs. Lyons had resumed her seat.", "Her hands were grasping the arms of her\nchair, and I saw that the pink nails had turned white with the pressure\nof her grip.", "\"His wife!\"", "she said again.", "\"His wife!", "He is not a married man.\"", "Sherlock Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"Prove it to me!", "Prove it to me!", "And if you can do so--!\"", "The fierce flash of her eyes said more than any words.", "\"I have come prepared to do so,\" said Holmes, drawing several papers\nfrom his pocket.", "\"Here is a photograph of the couple taken in York four\nyears ago.", "It is indorsed 'Mr.", "and Mrs. Vandeleur,' but you will have no\ndifficulty in recognizing him, and her also, if you know her by sight.", "Here are three written descriptions by trustworthy witnesses of Mr. and\nMrs. Vandeleur, who at that time kept St. Oliver's private school.", "Read\nthem and see if you can doubt the identity of these people.\"", "She glanced at them, and then looked up at us with the set, rigid face\nof a desperate woman.", "\"Mr. Holmes,\" she said, \"this man had offered me marriage on condition\nthat I could get a divorce from my husband.", "He has lied to me, the\nvillain, in every conceivable way.", "Not one word of truth has he ever\ntold me.", "And why--why?", "I imagined that all was for my own sake.", "But now\nI see that I was never anything but a tool in his hands.", "Why should I\npreserve faith with him who never kept any with me?", "Why should I try to\nshield him from the consequences of his own wicked acts?", "Ask me what you\nlike, and there is nothing which I shall hold back.", "One thing I swear\nto you, and that is that when I wrote the letter I never dreamed of any\nharm to the old gentleman, who had been my kindest friend.\"", "\"I entirely believe you, madam,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"The recital of\nthese events must be very painful to you, and perhaps it will make it\neasier if I tell you what occurred, and you can check me if I make any\nmaterial mistake.", "The sending of this letter was suggested to you by\nStapleton?\"", "\"He dictated it.\"", "\"I presume that the reason he gave was that you would receive help from\nSir Charles for the legal expenses connected with your divorce?\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"And then after you had sent the letter he dissuaded you from keeping\nthe appointment?\"", "\"He told me that it would hurt his self-respect that any other man\nshould find the money for such an object, and that though he was a poor\nman himself he would devote his last penny to removing the obstacles\nwhich divided us.\"", "\"He appears to be a very consistent character.", "And then you heard\nnothing until you read the reports of the death in the paper?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"And he made you swear to say nothing about your appointment with Sir\nCharles?\"", "\"He did.", "He said that the death was a very mysterious one, and that I\nshould certainly be suspected if the facts came out.", "He frightened me\ninto remaining silent.\"", "\"Quite so.", "But you had your suspicions?\"", "She hesitated and looked down.", "\"I knew him,\" she said.", "\"But if he had kept faith with me I should\nalways have done so with him.\"", "\"I think that on the whole you have had a fortunate escape,\" said\nSherlock Holmes.", "\"You have had him in your power and he knew it, and yet\nyou are alive.", "You have been walking for some months very near to the\nedge of a precipice.", "We must wish you good-morning now, Mrs. Lyons, and\nit is probable that you will very shortly hear from us again.\"", "\"Our case becomes rounded off, and difficulty after difficulty thins\naway in front of us,\" said Holmes as we stood waiting for the arrival of\nthe express from town.", "\"I shall soon be in the position of being able\nto put into a single connected narrative one of the most singular\nand sensational crimes of modern times.", "Students of criminology will\nremember the analogous incidents in Godno, in Little Russia, in the year\n'66, and of course there are the Anderson murders in North Carolina, but\nthis case possesses some features which are entirely its own.", "Even now\nwe have no clear case against this very wily man.", "But I shall be very\nmuch surprised if it is not clear enough before we go to bed this\nnight.\"", "The London express came roaring into the station, and a small, wiry\nbulldog of a man had sprung from a first-class carriage.", "We all three\nshook hands, and I saw at once from the reverential way in which\nLestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since\nthe days when they had first worked together.", "I could well remember\nthe scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the\npractical man.", "\"Anything good?\"", "he asked.", "\"The biggest thing for years,\" said Holmes.", "\"We have two hours before\nwe need think of starting.", "I think we might employ it in getting some\ndinner and then, Lestrade, we will take the London fog out of your\nthroat by giving you a breath of the pure night air of Dartmoor.", "Never\nbeen there?", "Ah, well, I don't suppose you will forget your first visit.\"" ]

[ "As it is, I have been able to get about\nas I could not possibly have done had I been living in the Hall, and\nI remain an unknown factor in the business, ready to throw in all my\nweight at a critical moment.\"", "He has given me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of\nfeet, and both have been invaluable.\"", "And a new sound mingled with it, a deep, muttered\nrumble, musical and yet menacing, rising and falling like the low,\nconstant murmur of the sea.", "I cried with clenched hands.", "\"Our case is not complete.", "\"Well, then, why this hound should be loose tonight.", "I was uneasy about\nSir Henry.\"", "No, my dear fellow;\nwe must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we have no case at present,\nand that it is worth our while to run any risk in order to establish\none.\"", "\"His wife!\"", "Sherlock Holmes shrugged his shoulders." ]

[ "It may be lurking among these rocks at this instant.", "I could well remember\nthe scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the\npractical man.", "He burst into one of his\nrare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture.", "\"Oh, you return tomorrow?\"", "Now it burst upon our ears,\nnearer, louder, more urgent than before.", "\"Exactly.", "\"I have great hopes of what Mrs. Laura Lyons may do for us when the\nposition of affairs is made clear to her.", "\"This time you may do it with safety.", "\"What have I withheld?\"", "The boy returned with a telegram, which Holmes handed to me." ]

[ "\"That is my intention.\"", "\"I hope your visit has cast some light upon those occurrences which have\npuzzled us?\"", "Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"One cannot always have the success for which one hopes.", "An investigator\nneeds facts and not legends or rumours.", "It has not been a satisfactory\ncase.\"", "My friend spoke in his frankest and most unconcerned manner.", "Stapleton\nstill looked hard at him.", "Then he turned to me.", "\"I would suggest carrying this poor fellow to my house, but it would\ngive my sister such a fright that I do not feel justified in doing it.", "I think that if we put something over his face he will be safe until\nmorning.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nFor a moment or two I sat breathless, hardly able to believe my ears.", "Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight\nof responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul.", "That\ncold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the\nworld.", "\"Holmes!\"", "I cried--\"Holmes!\"", "\"Come out,\" said he, \"and please be careful with the revolver.\"", "I stooped under the rude lintel, and there he sat upon a stone outside,\nhis gray eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished\nfeatures.", "He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face\nbronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind.", "In his tweed suit and\ncloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had\ncontrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one\nof his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen\nas perfect as if he were in Baker Street.", "\"I never was more glad to see anyone in my life,\" said I as I wrung him\nby the hand.", "The London express came roaring into the station, and a small, wiry\nbulldog of a man had sprung from a first-class carriage.", "We all three\nshook hands, and I saw at once from the reverential way in which\nLestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since\nthe days when they had first worked together.", "I could well remember\nthe scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the\npractical man.", "\"Anything good?\"", "he asked.", "\"The biggest thing for years,\" said Holmes.", "\"We have two hours before\nwe need think of starting.", "I think we might employ it in getting some\ndinner and then, Lestrade, we will take the London fog out of your\nthroat by giving you a breath of the pure night air of Dartmoor.", "Never\nbeen there?", "Ah, well, I don't suppose you will forget your first visit.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nOne of Sherlock Holmes's defects--if, indeed, one may call it a\ndefect--was that he was exceedingly loath to communicate his full plans\nto any other person until the instant of their fulfilment.", "Partly it\ncame no doubt from his own masterful nature, which loved to dominate and\nsurprise those who were around him.", "Partly also from his professional\ncaution, which urged him never to take any chances.", "The result, however,\nwas very trying for those who were acting as his agents and assistants.", "I had often suffered under it, but never more so than during that long\ndrive in the darkness.", "The great ordeal was in front of us; at last we\nwere about to make our final effort, and yet Holmes had said nothing,\nand I could only surmise what his course of action would be.", "My nerves\nthrilled with anticipation when at last the cold wind upon our faces and\nthe dark, void spaces on either side of the narrow road told me that we\nwere back upon the moor once again.", "Every stride of the horses and every\nturn of the wheels was taking us nearer to our supreme adventure.", "Our conversation was hampered by the presence of the driver of the hired\nwagonette, so that we were forced to talk of trivial matters when our\nnerves were tense with emotion and anticipation.", "It was a relief to me,\nafter that unnatural restraint, when we at last passed Frankland's\nhouse and knew that we were drawing near to the Hall and to the scene\nof action.", "We did not drive up to the door but got down near the gate of\nthe avenue.", "The wagonette was paid off and ordered to return to Coombe\nTracey forthwith, while we started to walk to Merripit House.", "\"Are you armed, Lestrade?\"", "The little detective smiled.", "\"As long as I have my trousers I have a\nhip-pocket, and as long as I have my hip-pocket I have something in it.\"", "\"Good!", "My friend and I are also ready for emergencies.\"", "\"You're mighty close about this affair, Mr. Holmes.", "What's the game\nnow?\"", "\"A waiting game.\"", "\"My word, it does not seem a very cheerful place,\" said the detective\nwith a shiver, glancing round him at the gloomy slopes of the hill and\nat the huge lake of fog which lay over the Grimpen Mire.", "\"I see the\nlights of a house ahead of us.\"", "\"That is Merripit House and the end of our journey.", "I must request you\nto walk on tiptoe and not to talk above a whisper.\"", "We moved cautiously along the track as if we were bound for the house,\nbut Holmes halted us when we were about two hundred yards from it.", "\"This will do,\" said he.", "\"These rocks upon the right make an admirable\nscreen.\"", "\"We are to wait here?\"", "\"Yes, we shall make our little ambush here.", "Get into this hollow,\nLestrade.", "You have been inside the house, have you not, Watson?", "Can you\ntell the position of the rooms?", "What are those latticed windows at this\nend?\"", "\"I think they are the kitchen windows.\"", "\"And the one beyond, which shines so brightly?\"", "\"That is certainly the dining-room.\"", "\"The blinds are up.", "You know the lie of the land best.", "Creep forward\nquietly and see what they are doing--but for heaven's sake don't let\nthem know that they are watched!\"", "I tiptoed down the path and stooped behind the low wall which surrounded\nthe stunted orchard.", "Creeping in its shadow I reached a point whence I\ncould look straight through the uncurtained window.", "There were only two men in the room, Sir Henry and Stapleton.", "They sat\nwith their profiles towards me on either side of the round table.", "Both\nof them were smoking cigars, and coffee and wine were in front of them.", "Stapleton was talking with animation, but the baronet looked pale and\ndistrait.", "Perhaps the thought of that lonely walk across the ill-omened\nmoor was weighing heavily upon his mind.", "As I watched them Stapleton rose and left the room, while Sir Henry\nfilled his glass again and leaned back in his chair, puffing at his\ncigar.", "I heard the creak of a door and the crisp sound of boots upon\ngravel.", "The steps passed along the path on the other side of the wall\nunder which I crouched.", "Looking over, I saw the naturalist pause at the\ndoor of an out-house in the corner of the orchard.", "A key turned in\na lock, and as he passed in there was a curious scuffling noise from\nwithin.", "He was only a minute or so inside, and then I heard the key turn\nonce more and he passed me and reentered the house.", "I saw him rejoin his\nguest, and I crept quietly back to where my companions were waiting to\ntell them what I had seen.", "\"You say, Watson, that the lady is not there?\"", "Holmes asked when I had\nfinished my report.", "\"No.\"", "\"Where can she be, then, since there is no light in any other room\nexcept the kitchen?\"", "\"I cannot think where she is.\"", "I have said that over the great Grimpen Mire there hung a dense, white\nfog.", "It was drifting slowly in our direction and banked itself up like a\nwall on that side of us, low but thick and well defined.", "The moon shone\non it, and it looked like a great shimmering ice-field, with the heads\nof the distant tors as rocks borne upon its surface.", "Holmes's face\nwas turned towards it, and he muttered impatiently as he watched its\nsluggish drift.", "\"It's moving towards us, Watson.\"", "\"Is that serious?\"", "\"Very serious, indeed--the one thing upon earth which could have\ndisarranged my plans.", "He can't be very long, now.", "It is already ten\no'clock.", "Our success and even his life may depend upon his coming out\nbefore the fog is over the path.\"", "The night was clear and fine above us.", "The stars shone cold and bright,\nwhile a half-moon bathed the whole scene in a soft, uncertain light.", "Before us lay the dark bulk of the house, its serrated roof and\nbristling chimneys hard outlined against the silver-spangled sky.", "Broad\nbars of golden light from the lower windows stretched across the orchard\nand the moor.", "One of them was suddenly shut off.", "The servants had left\nthe kitchen.", "There only remained the lamp in the dining-room where the\ntwo men, the murderous host and the unconscious guest, still chatted\nover their cigars.", "Every minute that white woolly plain which covered one-half of the moor\nwas drifting closer and closer to the house.", "Already the first thin\nwisps of it were curling across the golden square of the lighted window.", "The farther wall of the orchard was already invisible, and the trees\nwere standing out of a swirl of white vapour.", "As we watched it the\nfog-wreaths came crawling round both corners of the house and rolled\nslowly into one dense bank on which the upper floor and the roof\nfloated like a strange ship upon a shadowy sea.", "Holmes struck his hand\npassionately upon the rock in front of us and stamped his feet in his\nimpatience.", "\"If he isn't out in a quarter of an hour the path will be covered.", "In\nhalf an hour we won't be able to see our hands in front of us.\"", "\"Shall we move farther back upon higher ground?\"", "\"Yes, I think it would be as well.\"", "So as the fog-bank flowed onward we fell back before it until we were\nhalf a mile from the house, and still that dense white sea, with the\nmoon silvering its upper edge, swept slowly and inexorably on.", "\"We are going too far,\" said Holmes.", "\"We dare not take the chance of his\nbeing overtaken before he can reach us.", "At all costs we must hold our\nground where we are.\"", "He dropped on his knees and clapped his ear to the\nground.", "\"Thank God, I think that I hear him coming.\"", "A sound of quick steps broke the silence of the moor.", "Crouching among\nthe stones we stared intently at the silver-tipped bank in front of us.", "The steps grew louder, and through the fog, as through a curtain, there\nstepped the man whom we were awaiting.", "He looked round him in surprise\nas he emerged into the clear, starlit night.", "Then he came swiftly along\nthe path, passed close to where we lay, and went on up the long slope\nbehind us.", "As he walked he glanced continually over either shoulder,\nlike a man who is ill at ease.", "\"Hist!\"", "cried Holmes, and I heard the sharp click of a cocking pistol.", "\"Look out!", "It's coming!\"", "There was a thin, crisp, continuous patter from somewhere in the heart\nof that crawling bank.", "The cloud was within fifty yards of where we lay,\nand we glared at it, all three, uncertain what horror was about to break\nfrom the heart of it.", "I was at Holmes's elbow, and I glanced for an\ninstant at his face.", "It was pale and exultant, his eyes shining brightly\nin the moonlight.", "But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed\nstare, and his lips parted in amazement.", "At the same instant Lestrade\ngave a yell of terror and threw himself face downward upon the ground.", "I sprang to my feet, my inert hand grasping my pistol, my mind paralyzed\nby the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from the shadows of\nthe fog.", "A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a\nhound as mortal eyes have ever seen.", "Fire burst from its open mouth, its\neyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap\nwere outlined in flickering flame.", "Never in the delirious dream of\na disordered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more\nhellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face which broke\nupon us out of the wall of fog.", "With long bounds the huge black creature was leaping down the track,\nfollowing hard upon the footsteps of our friend.", "So paralyzed were we by\nthe apparition that we allowed him to pass before we had recovered our\nnerve.", "Then Holmes and I both fired together, and the creature gave a\nhideous howl, which showed that one at least had hit him.", "He did not\npause, however, but bounded onward.", "Far away on the path we saw Sir\nHenry looking back, his face white in the moonlight, his hands raised in\nhorror, glaring helplessly at the frightful thing which was hunting him\ndown.", "But that cry of pain from the hound had blown all our fears to the\nwinds.", "If he was vulnerable he was mortal, and if we could wound him we\ncould kill him.", "Never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran that night.", "I\nam reckoned fleet of foot, but he outpaced me as much as I outpaced the\nlittle professional.", "In front of us as we flew up the track we heard\nscream after scream from Sir Henry and the deep roar of the hound.", "I was\nin time to see the beast spring upon its victim, hurl him to the ground,\nand worry at his throat.", "But the next instant Holmes had emptied five\nbarrels of his revolver into the creature's flank.", "With a last howl of\nagony and a vicious snap in the air, it rolled upon its back, four feet\npawing furiously, and then fell limp upon its side.", "I stooped, panting,\nand pressed my pistol to the dreadful, shimmering head, but it was\nuseless to press the trigger.", "The giant hound was dead.", "Sir Henry lay insensible where he had fallen.", "We tore away his collar,\nand Holmes breathed a prayer of gratitude when we saw that there was\nno sign of a wound and that the rescue had been in time.", "Already our\nfriend's eyelids shivered and he made a feeble effort to move.", "Lestrade\nthrust his brandy-flask between the baronet's teeth, and two frightened\neyes were looking up at us.", "\"My God!\"", "he whispered.", "\"What was it?", "What, in heaven's name, was it?\"", "\"It's dead, whatever it is,\" said Holmes.", "\"We've laid the family ghost\nonce and forever.\"", "In mere size and strength it was a terrible creature which was lying\nstretched before us.", "It was not a pure bloodhound and it was not a pure\nmastiff; but it appeared to be a combination of the two--gaunt, savage,\nand as large as a small lioness.", "Even now in the stillness of death,\nthe huge jaws seemed to be dripping with a bluish flame and the small,\ndeep-set, cruel eyes were ringed with fire.", "I placed my hand upon the\nglowing muzzle, and as I held them up my own fingers smouldered and\ngleamed in the darkness.", "\"Phosphorus,\" I said.", "\"A cunning preparation of it,\" said Holmes, sniffing at the dead animal.", "\"There is no smell which might have interfered with his power of scent.", "We owe you a deep apology, Sir Henry, for having exposed you to this\nfright.", "I was prepared for a hound, but not for such a creature as this.", "And the fog gave us little time to receive him.\"", "\"You have saved my life.\"", "\"Having first endangered it.", "Are you strong enough to stand?\"", "\"Give me another mouthful of that brandy and I shall be ready for\nanything.", "So!", "Now, if you will help me up.", "What do you propose to do?\"", "\"To leave you here.", "You are not fit for further adventures tonight.", "If\nyou will wait, one or other of us will go back with you to the Hall.\"", "He tried to stagger to his feet; but he was still ghastly pale and\ntrembling in every limb.", "We helped him to a rock, where he sat shivering\nwith his face buried in his hands.", "\"We must leave you now,\" said Holmes.", "\"The rest of our work must be\ndone, and every moment is of importance.", "We have our case, and now we\nonly want our man.", "\"It's a thousand to one against our finding him at the house,\" he\ncontinued as we retraced our steps swiftly down the path.", "\"Those shots\nmust have told him that the game was up.\"", "\"We were some distance off, and this fog may have deadened them.\"", "\"He followed the hound to call him off--of that you may be certain.", "No,\nno, he's gone by this time!", "But we'll search the house and make sure.\"", "The front door was open, so we rushed in and hurried from room to\nroom to the amazement of a doddering old manservant, who met us in the\npassage.", "There was no light save in the dining-room, but Holmes caught\nup the lamp and left no corner of the house unexplored.", "No sign could we\nsee of the man whom we were chasing.", "On the upper floor, however, one of\nthe bedroom doors was locked.", "\"There's someone in here,\" cried Lestrade.", "\"I can hear a movement.", "Open\nthis door!\"", "A faint moaning and rustling came from within.", "Holmes struck the door\njust over the lock with the flat of his foot and it flew open.", "Pistol in\nhand, we all three rushed into the room.", "But there was no sign within it of that desperate and defiant villain\nwhom we expected to see.", "Instead we were faced by an object so strange\nand so unexpected that we stood for a moment staring at it in amazement.", "The room had been fashioned into a small museum, and the walls were\nlined by a number of glass-topped cases full of that collection of\nbutterflies and moths the formation of which had been the relaxation of\nthis complex and dangerous man.", "In the centre of this room there was an\nupright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the\nold worm-eaten baulk of timber which spanned the roof.", "To this post a\nfigure was tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been\nused to secure it that one could not for the moment tell whether it\nwas that of a man or a woman.", "One towel passed round the throat and was\nsecured at the back of the pillar.", "Another covered the lower part of\nthe face, and over it two dark eyes--eyes full of grief and shame and a\ndreadful questioning--stared back at us.", "In a minute we had torn off\nthe gag, unswathed the bonds, and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in\nfront of us.", "As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear\nred weal of a whiplash across her neck.", "\"The brute!\"", "cried Holmes.", "\"Here, Lestrade, your brandy-bottle!", "Put her\nin the chair!", "She has fainted from ill-usage and exhaustion.\"", "She opened her eyes again.", "\"Is he safe?\"", "she asked.", "\"Has he escaped?\"", "\"He cannot escape us, madam.\"", "\"No, no, I did not mean my husband.", "Sir Henry?", "Is he safe?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"And the hound?\"", "\"It is dead.\"", "She gave a long sigh of satisfaction.", "\"Thank God!", "Thank God!", "Oh, this villain!", "See how he has treated me!\"", "She shot her arms out from her sleeves, and we saw with horror that they\nwere all mottled with bruises.", "\"But this is nothing--nothing!", "It is my\nmind and soul that he has tortured and defiled.", "I could endure it all,\nill-usage, solitude, a life of deception, everything, as long as I could\nstill cling to the hope that I had his love, but now I know that in\nthis also I have been his dupe and his tool.\"", "She broke into passionate\nsobbing as she spoke.", "\"You bear him no good will, madam,\" said Holmes.", "\"Tell us then where we\nshall find him.", "If you have ever aided him in evil, help us now and so\natone.\"", "\"There is but one place where he can have fled,\" she answered.", "\"There is\nan old tin mine on an island in the heart of the mire.", "It was there that\nhe kept his hound and there also he had made preparations so that he\nmight have a refuge.", "That is where he would fly.\"", "The fog-bank lay like white wool against the window.", "Holmes held the\nlamp towards it.", "\"See,\" said he.", "\"No one could find his way into the Grimpen Mire\ntonight.\"", "She laughed and clapped her hands.", "Her eyes and teeth gleamed with\nfierce merriment.", "\"He may find his way in, but never out,\" she cried.", "\"How can he see the\nguiding wands tonight?", "We planted them together, he and I, to mark the\npathway through the mire.", "Oh, if I could only have plucked them out\ntoday.", "Then indeed you would have had him at your mercy!\"", "It was evident to us that all pursuit was in vain until the fog had\nlifted.", "Meanwhile we left Lestrade in possession of the house while\nHolmes and I went back with the baronet to Baskerville Hall.", "The story\nof the Stapletons could no longer be withheld from him, but he took\nthe blow bravely when he learned the truth about the woman whom he had\nloved.", "But the shock of the night's adventures had shattered his nerves,\nand before morning he lay delirious in a high fever under the care of\nDr. Mortimer.", "The two of them were destined to travel together round the\nworld before Sir Henry had become once more the hale, hearty man that he\nhad been before he became master of that ill-omened estate.", "And now I come rapidly to the conclusion of this singular narrative, in\nwhich I have tried to make the reader share those dark fears and vague\nsurmises which clouded our lives so long and ended in so tragic a\nmanner.", "On the morning after the death of the hound the fog had lifted\nand we were guided by Mrs. Stapleton to the point where they had found\na pathway through the bog.", "It helped us to realize the horror of this\nwoman's life when we saw the eagerness and joy with which she laid us\non her husband's track.", "We left her standing upon the thin peninsula of\nfirm, peaty soil which tapered out into the widespread bog.", "From the\nend of it a small wand planted here and there showed where the path\nzigzagged from tuft to tuft of rushes among those green-scummed pits\nand foul quagmires which barred the way to the stranger.", "Rank reeds and\nlush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay and a heavy miasmatic\nvapour onto our faces, while a false step plunged us more than once\nthigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft\nundulations around our feet.", "Its tenacious grip plucked at our heels as\nwe walked, and when we sank into it it was as if some malignant hand was\ntugging us down into those obscene depths, so grim and purposeful was\nthe clutch in which it held us.", "Once only we saw a trace that someone\nhad passed that perilous way before us.", "From amid a tuft of cotton grass\nwhich bore it up out of the slime some dark thing was projecting.", "Holmes\nsank to his waist as he stepped from the path to seize it, and had we\nnot been there to drag him out he could never have set his foot\nupon firm land again.", "He held an old black boot in the air.", "\"Meyers,\nToronto,\" was printed on the leather inside.", "\"It is worth a mud bath,\" said he.", "\"It is our friend Sir Henry's missing\nboot.\"", "\"Thrown there by Stapleton in his flight.\"", "\"Exactly.", "He retained it in his hand after using it to set the hound\nupon the track.", "He fled when he knew the game was up, still clutching\nit.", "And he hurled it away at this point of his flight.", "We know at least\nthat he came so far in safety.\"", "But more than that we were never destined to know, though there was much\nwhich we might surmise.", "There was no chance of finding footsteps in the\nmire, for the rising mud oozed swiftly in upon them, but as we at last\nreached firmer ground beyond the morass we all looked eagerly for them.", "But no slightest sign of them ever met our eyes.", "If the earth told a\ntrue story, then Stapleton never reached that island of refuge towards\nwhich he struggled through the fog upon that last night.", "Somewhere in\nthe heart of the great Grimpen Mire, down in the foul slime of the\nhuge morass which had sucked him in, this cold and cruel-hearted man is\nforever buried.", "Many traces we found of him in the bog-girt island where he had hid his\nsavage ally.", "A huge driving-wheel and a shaft half-filled with rubbish\nshowed the position of an abandoned mine.", "Beside it were the crumbling\nremains of the cottages of the miners, driven away no doubt by the foul\nreek of the surrounding swamp.", "In one of these a staple and chain with\na quantity of gnawed bones showed where the animal had been confined.", "A skeleton with a tangle of brown hair adhering to it lay among the\ndebris.", "\"A dog!\"", "said Holmes.", "\"By Jove, a curly-haired spaniel.", "Poor Mortimer\nwill never see his pet again.", "Well, I do not know that this place\ncontains any secret which we have not already fathomed.", "He could hide\nhis hound, but he could not hush its voice, and hence came those cries\nwhich even in daylight were not pleasant to hear.", "On an emergency he\ncould keep the hound in the out-house at Merripit, but it was always a\nrisk, and it was only on the supreme day, which he regarded as the end\nof all his efforts, that he dared do it.", "This paste in the tin is no\ndoubt the luminous mixture with which the creature was daubed.", "It was\nsuggested, of course, by the story of the family hell-hound, and by the\ndesire to frighten old Sir Charles to death.", "No wonder the poor devil of\na convict ran and screamed, even as our friend did, and as we ourselves\nmight have done, when he saw such a creature bounding through the\ndarkness of the moor upon his track.", "It was a cunning device, for, apart\nfrom the chance of driving your victim to his death, what peasant would\nventure to inquire too closely into such a creature should he get sight\nof it, as many have done, upon the moor?", "I said it in London, Watson,\nand I say it again now, that never yet have we helped to hunt down a\nmore dangerous man than he who is lying yonder\"--he swept his long arm\ntowards the huge mottled expanse of green-splotched bog which stretched\naway until it merged into the russet slopes of the moor.", "It was the end of November, and Holmes and I sat, upon a raw and foggy\nnight, on either side of a blazing fire in our sitting-room in Baker\nStreet.", "Since the tragic upshot of our visit to Devonshire he had been\nengaged in two affairs of the utmost importance, in the first of which\nhe had exposed the atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood in connection\nwith the famous card scandal of the Nonpareil Club, while in the second\nhe had defended the unfortunate Mme.", "Montpensier from the charge\nof murder which hung over her in connection with the death of her\nstep-daughter, Mlle.", "Carere, the young lady who, as it will be\nremembered, was found six months later alive and married in New York.", "My friend was in excellent spirits over the success which had attended\na succession of difficult and important cases, so that I was able to\ninduce him to discuss the details of the Baskerville mystery.", "I had\nwaited patiently for the opportunity for I was aware that he would never\npermit cases to overlap, and that his clear and logical mind would not\nbe drawn from its present work to dwell upon memories of the past.", "Sir\nHenry and Dr. Mortimer were, however, in London, on their way to that\nlong voyage which had been recommended for the restoration of his\nshattered nerves.", "They had called upon us that very afternoon, so that\nit was natural that the subject should come up for discussion.", "\"The whole course of events,\" said Holmes, \"from the point of view of\nthe man who called himself Stapleton was simple and direct, although\nto us, who had no means in the beginning of knowing the motives of\nhis actions and could only learn part of the facts, it all appeared\nexceedingly complex.", "I have had the advantage of two conversations with\nMrs. Stapleton, and the case has now been so entirely cleared up that I\nam not aware that there is anything which has remained a secret to us.", "You will find a few notes upon the matter under the heading B in my\nindexed list of cases.\"", "\"Perhaps you would kindly give me a sketch of the course of events from\nmemory.\"", "\"Certainly, though I cannot guarantee that I carry all the facts in my\nmind.", "Intense mental concentration has a curious way of blotting out\nwhat has passed.", "The barrister who has his case at his fingers' ends and\nis able to argue with an expert upon his own subject finds that a week\nor two of the courts will drive it all out of his head once more.", "So\neach of my cases displaces the last, and Mlle.", "Carere has blurred my\nrecollection of Baskerville Hall.", "Tomorrow some other little problem may\nbe submitted to my notice which will in turn dispossess the fair French\nlady and the infamous Upwood.", "So far as the case of the hound goes,\nhowever, I will give you the course of events as nearly as I can, and\nyou will suggest anything which I may have forgotten.", "\"My inquiries show beyond all question that the family portrait did not\nlie, and that this fellow was indeed a Baskerville.", "He was a son of that\nRodger Baskerville, the younger brother of Sir Charles, who fled with\na sinister reputation to South America, where he was said to have died\nunmarried.", "He did, as a matter of fact, marry, and had one child, this\nfellow, whose real name is the same as his father's.", "He married Beryl\nGarcia, one of the beauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a\nconsiderable sum of public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur and\nfled to England, where he established a school in the east of Yorkshire.", "His reason for attempting this special line of business was that he had\nstruck up an acquaintance with a consumptive tutor upon the voyage\nhome, and that he had used this man's ability to make the undertaking a\nsuccess.", "Fraser, the tutor, died however, and the school which had begun\nwell sank from disrepute into infamy.", "The Vandeleurs found it convenient\nto change their name to Stapleton, and he brought the remains of his\nfortune, his schemes for the future, and his taste for entomology to\nthe south of England.", "I learned at the British Museum that he was a\nrecognized authority upon the subject, and that the name of Vandeleur\nhas been permanently attached to a certain moth which he had, in his\nYorkshire days, been the first to describe.", "\"We now come to that portion of his life which has proved to be of such\nintense interest to us.", "The fellow had evidently made inquiry and found\nthat only two lives intervened between him and a valuable estate.", "When\nhe went to Devonshire his plans were, I believe, exceedingly hazy, but\nthat he meant mischief from the first is evident from the way in which\nhe took his wife with him in the character of his sister.", "The idea of\nusing her as a decoy was clearly already in his mind, though he may not\nhave been certain how the details of his plot were to be arranged.", "He\nmeant in the end to have the estate, and he was ready to use any tool\nor run any risk for that end.", "His first act was to establish himself as\nnear to his ancestral home as he could, and his second was to cultivate\na friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and with the neighbours.", "\"The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and so prepared\nthe way for his own death.", "Stapleton, as I will continue to call him,\nknew that the old man's heart was weak and that a shock would kill him.", "So much he had learned from Dr. Mortimer.", "He had heard also that Sir\nCharles was superstitious and had taken this grim legend very seriously.", "His ingenious mind instantly suggested a way by which the baronet could\nbe done to death, and yet it would be hardly possible to bring home the\nguilt to the real murderer.", "\"Having conceived the idea he proceeded to carry it out with\nconsiderable finesse.", "An ordinary schemer would have been content\nto work with a savage hound.", "The use of artificial means to make the\ncreature diabolical was a flash of genius upon his part.", "The dog he\nbought in London from Ross and Mangles, the dealers in Fulham Road.", "It\nwas the strongest and most savage in their possession.", "He brought it\ndown by the North Devon line and walked a great distance over the moor\nso as to get it home without exciting any remarks.", "He had already on his\ninsect hunts learned to penetrate the Grimpen Mire, and so had found a\nsafe hiding-place for the creature.", "Here he kennelled it and waited his\nchance.", "\"But it was some time coming.", "The old gentleman could not be decoyed\noutside of his grounds at night.", "Several times Stapleton lurked about\nwith his hound, but without avail.", "It was during these fruitless quests\nthat he, or rather his ally, was seen by peasants, and that the legend\nof the demon dog received a new confirmation.", "He had hoped that his wife\nmight lure Sir Charles to his ruin, but here she proved unexpectedly\nindependent.", "She would not endeavour to entangle the old gentleman in\na sentimental attachment which might deliver him over to his enemy.", "Threats and even, I am sorry to say, blows refused to move her.", "She\nwould have nothing to do with it, and for a time Stapleton was at a\ndeadlock.", "\"He found a way out of his difficulties through the chance that Sir\nCharles, who had conceived a friendship for him, made him the minister\nof his charity in the case of this unfortunate woman, Mrs. Laura Lyons.", "By representing himself as a single man he acquired complete influence\nover her, and he gave her to understand that in the event of her\nobtaining a divorce from her husband he would marry her.", "His plans were\nsuddenly brought to a head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about\nto leave the Hall on the advice of Dr. Mortimer, with whose opinion he\nhimself pretended to coincide.", "He must act at once, or his victim might\nget beyond his power.", "He therefore put pressure upon Mrs. Lyons to\nwrite this letter, imploring the old man to give her an interview on\nthe evening before his departure for London.", "He then, by a specious\nargument, prevented her from going, and so had the chance for which he\nhad waited.", "\"Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was in time to get\nhis hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and to bring the beast\nround to the gate at which he had reason to expect that he would find\nthe old gentleman waiting.", "The dog, incited by its master, sprang over\nthe wicket-gate and pursued the unfortunate baronet, who fled screaming\ndown the yew alley.", "In that gloomy tunnel it must indeed have been a\ndreadful sight to see that huge black creature, with its flaming jaws\nand blazing eyes, bounding after its victim.", "He fell dead at the end\nof the alley from heart disease and terror.", "The hound had kept upon the\ngrassy border while the baronet had run down the path, so that no track\nbut the man's was visible.", "On seeing him lying still the creature had\nprobably approached to sniff at him, but finding him dead had turned\naway again.", "It was then that it left the print which was actually\nobserved by Dr. Mortimer.", "The hound was called off and hurried away to\nits lair in the Grimpen Mire, and a mystery was left which puzzled\nthe authorities, alarmed the countryside, and finally brought the case\nwithin the scope of our observation.", "\"So much for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville.", "You perceive the\ndevilish cunning of it, for really it would be almost impossible to make\na case against the real murderer.", "His only accomplice was one who could\nnever give him away, and the grotesque, inconceivable nature of\nthe device only served to make it more effective.", "Both of the women\nconcerned in the case, Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons, were left\nwith a strong suspicion against Stapleton.", "Mrs. Stapleton knew that he\nhad designs upon the old man, and also of the existence of the hound.", "Mrs. Lyons knew neither of these things, but had been impressed by the\ndeath occurring at the time of an uncancelled appointment which was only\nknown to him.", "However, both of them were under his influence, and he had\nnothing to fear from them.", "The first half of his task was successfully\naccomplished but the more difficult still remained.", "\"It is possible that Stapleton did not know of the existence of an heir\nin Canada.", "In any case he would very soon learn it from his friend Dr.\nMortimer, and he was told by the latter all details about the arrival of\nHenry Baskerville.", "Stapleton's first idea was that this young stranger\nfrom Canada might possibly be done to death in London without coming\ndown to Devonshire at all.", "He distrusted his wife ever since she had\nrefused to help him in laying a trap for the old man, and he dared not\nleave her long out of his sight for fear he should lose his influence\nover her.", "It was for this reason that he took her to London with him.", "They lodged, I find, at the Mexborough Private Hotel, in Craven Street,\nwhich was actually one of those called upon by my agent in search\nof evidence.", "Here he kept his wife imprisoned in her room while\nhe, disguised in a beard, followed Dr. Mortimer to Baker Street and\nafterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel.", "His wife had\nsome inkling of his plans; but she had such a fear of her husband--a\nfear founded upon brutal ill-treatment--that she dare not write to warn\nthe man whom she knew to be in danger.", "If the letter should fall into\nStapleton's hands her own life would not be safe.", "Eventually, as we\nknow, she adopted the expedient of cutting out the words which would\nform the message, and addressing the letter in a disguised hand.", "It\nreached the baronet, and gave him the first warning of his danger.", "\"It was very essential for Stapleton to get some article of Sir Henry's\nattire so that, in case he was driven to use the dog, he might always\nhave the means of setting him upon his track.", "With characteristic\npromptness and audacity he set about this at once, and we cannot doubt\nthat the boots or chamber-maid of the hotel was well bribed to help him\nin his design.", "By chance, however, the first boot which was procured for\nhim was a new one and, therefore, useless for his purpose.", "He then had\nit returned and obtained another--a most instructive incident, since it\nproved conclusively to my mind that we were dealing with a real hound,\nas no other supposition could explain this anxiety to obtain an old\nboot and this indifference to a new one.", "The more outre and grotesque an\nincident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very\npoint which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and\nscientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it.", "\"Then we had the visit from our friends next morning, shadowed always\nby Stapleton in the cab.", "From his knowledge of our rooms and of my\nappearance, as well as from his general conduct, I am inclined to think\nthat Stapleton's career of crime has been by no means limited to this\nsingle Baskerville affair.", "It is suggestive that during the last three\nyears there have been four considerable burglaries in the west country,\nfor none of which was any criminal ever arrested.", "The last of these, at\nFolkestone Court, in May, was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistolling\nof the page, who surprised the masked and solitary burglar.", "I cannot\ndoubt that Stapleton recruited his waning resources in this fashion, and\nthat for years he has been a desperate and dangerous man.", "\"We had an example of his readiness of resource that morning when he got\naway from us so successfully, and also of his audacity in sending back\nmy own name to me through the cabman.", "From that moment he understood\nthat I had taken over the case in London, and that therefore there was\nno chance for him there.", "He returned to Dartmoor and awaited the arrival\nof the baronet.\"", "\"One moment!\"", "said I.", "\"You have, no doubt, described the sequence\nof events correctly, but there is one point which you have left\nunexplained.", "What became of the hound when its master was in London?\"", "\"I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of\nimportance.", "There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant,\nthough it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by\nsharing all his plans with him.", "There was an old manservant at Merripit\nHouse, whose name was Anthony.", "His connection with the Stapletons can\nbe traced for several years, as far back as the school-mastering days,\nso that he must have been aware that his master and mistress were really\nhusband and wife.", "This man has disappeared and has escaped from the\ncountry.", "It is suggestive that Anthony is not a common name in England,\nwhile Antonio is so in all Spanish or Spanish-American countries.", "The\nman, like Mrs. Stapleton herself, spoke good English, but with a curious\nlisping accent.", "I have myself seen this old man cross the Grimpen\nMire by the path which Stapleton had marked out.", "It is very probable,\ntherefore, that in the absence of his master it was he who cared for the\nhound, though he may never have known the purpose for which the beast\nwas used.", "\"The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither they were soon\nfollowed by Sir Henry and you.", "One word now as to how I stood myself at\nthat time.", "It may possibly recur to your memory that when I examined\nthe paper upon which the printed words were fastened I made a close\ninspection for the water-mark.", "In doing so I held it within a few inches\nof my eyes, and was conscious of a faint smell of the scent known as\nwhite jessamine.", "There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very\nnecessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each\nother, and cases have more than once within my own experience depended\nupon their prompt recognition.", "The scent suggested the presence of a\nlady, and already my thoughts began to turn towards the Stapletons.", "Thus\nI had made certain of the hound, and had guessed at the criminal before\never we went to the west country.", "\"It was my game to watch Stapleton.", "It was evident, however, that I\ncould not do this if I were with you, since he would be keenly on his\nguard.", "I deceived everybody, therefore, yourself included, and I came\ndown secretly when I was supposed to be in London.", "My hardships were\nnot so great as you imagined, though such trifling details must never\ninterfere with the investigation of a case.", "I stayed for the most\npart at Coombe Tracey, and only used the hut upon the moor when it was\nnecessary to be near the scene of action.", "Cartwright had come down with\nme, and in his disguise as a country boy he was of great assistance\nto me.", "I was dependent upon him for food and clean linen.", "When I was\nwatching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watching you, so that I\nwas able to keep my hand upon all the strings.", "\"I have already told you that your reports reached me rapidly, being\nforwarded instantly from Baker Street to Coombe Tracey.", "They were of\ngreat service to me, and especially that one incidentally truthful piece\nof biography of Stapleton's.", "I was able to establish the identity of\nthe man and the woman and knew at last exactly how I stood.", "The case\nhad been considerably complicated through the incident of the escaped\nconvict and the relations between him and the Barrymores.", "This also you\ncleared up in a very effective way, though I had already come to the\nsame conclusions from my own observations.", "\"By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had a complete\nknowledge of the whole business, but I had not a case which could go to\na jury.", "Even Stapleton's attempt upon Sir Henry that night which ended\nin the death of the unfortunate convict did not help us much in proving\nmurder against our man.", "There seemed to be no alternative but to\ncatch him red-handed, and to do so we had to use Sir Henry, alone and\napparently unprotected, as a bait.", "We did so, and at the cost of a\nsevere shock to our client we succeeded in completing our case and\ndriving Stapleton to his destruction.", "That Sir Henry should have been\nexposed to this is, I must confess, a reproach to my management of the\ncase, but we had no means of foreseeing the terrible and paralyzing\nspectacle which the beast presented, nor could we predict the fog which\nenabled him to burst upon us at such short notice.", "We succeeded in our\nobject at a cost which both the specialist and Dr. Mortimer assure me\nwill be a temporary one.", "A long journey may enable our friend to recover\nnot only from his shattered nerves but also from his wounded feelings.", "His love for the lady was deep and sincere, and to him the saddest part\nof all this black business was that he should have been deceived by her.", "\"It only remains to indicate the part which she had played throughout.", "There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised an influence over her\nwhich may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both,\nsince they are by no means incompatible emotions.", "It was, at least,\nabsolutely effective.", "At his command she consented to pass as his\nsister, though he found the limits of his power over her when he\nendeavoured to make her the direct accessory to murder.", "She was ready to\nwarn Sir Henry so far as she could without implicating her husband, and\nagain and again she tried to do so.", "Stapleton himself seems to have been\ncapable of jealousy, and when he saw the baronet paying court to the\nlady, even though it was part of his own plan, still he could not help\ninterrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the fiery soul\nwhich his self-contained manner so cleverly concealed.", "By encouraging\nthe intimacy he made it certain that Sir Henry would frequently come\nto Merripit House and that he would sooner or later get the opportunity\nwhich he desired.", "On the day of the crisis, however, his wife turned\nsuddenly against him.", "She had learned something of the death of the\nconvict, and she knew that the hound was being kept in the outhouse on\nthe evening that Sir Henry was coming to dinner.", "She taxed her husband\nwith his intended crime, and a furious scene followed in which he showed\nher for the first time that she had a rival in his love.", "Her fidelity\nturned in an instant to bitter hatred, and he saw that she would betray\nhim.", "He tied her up, therefore, that she might have no chance of warning\nSir Henry, and he hoped, no doubt, that when the whole countryside put\ndown the baronet's death to the curse of his family, as they certainly\nwould do, he could win his wife back to accept an accomplished fact and\nto keep silent upon what she knew.", "In this I fancy that in any case\nhe made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, his doom\nwould none the less have been sealed.", "A woman of Spanish blood does\nnot condone such an injury so lightly.", "And now, my dear Watson, without\nreferring to my notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of\nthis curious case.", "I do not know that anything essential has been left\nunexplained.\"", "\"He could not hope to frighten Sir Henry to death as he had done the old\nuncle with his bogie hound.\"", "\"The beast was savage and half-starved.", "If its appearance did not\nfrighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze the resistance\nwhich might be offered.\"", "\"No doubt.", "There only remains one difficulty.", "If Stapleton came into the\nsuccession, how could he explain the fact that he, the heir, had been\nliving unannounced under another name so close to the property?", "How\ncould he claim it without causing suspicion and inquiry?\"", "\"It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when\nyou expect me to solve it.", "The past and the present are within the field\nof my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question\nto answer.", "Mrs. Stapleton has heard her husband discuss the problem on\nseveral occasions.", "There were three possible courses.", "He might claim the\nproperty from South America, establish his identity before the British\nauthorities there and so obtain the fortune without ever coming to\nEngland at all, or he might adopt an elaborate disguise during the\nshort time that he need be in London; or, again, he might furnish an\naccomplice with the proofs and papers, putting him in as heir, and\nretaining a claim upon some proportion of his income.", "We cannot doubt\nfrom what we know of him that he would have found some way out of the\ndifficulty.", "And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe\nwork, and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more\npleasant channels.", "I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.'", "Have you heard the\nDe Reszkes?", "Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we\ncan stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?\"" ]

[ "My friend and I are also ready for emergencies.\"", "What's the game\nnow?\"", "There only remained the lamp in the dining-room where the\ntwo men, the murderous host and the unconscious guest, still chatted\nover their cigars.", "\"To leave you here.", "On the upper floor, however, one of\nthe bedroom doors was locked.", "\"My inquiries show beyond all question that the family portrait did not\nlie, and that this fellow was indeed a Baskerville.", "His first act was to establish himself as\nnear to his ancestral home as he could, and his second was to cultivate\na friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and with the neighbours.", "On seeing him lying still the creature had\nprobably approached to sniff at him, but finding him dead had turned\naway again.", "In this I fancy that in any case\nhe made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, his doom\nwould none the less have been sealed.", "There only remains one difficulty." ]

[ "The servants had left\nthe kitchen.", "He can't be very long, now.", "\"No doubt.", "\"How can he see the\nguiding wands tonight?", "There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant,\nthough it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by\nsharing all his plans with him.", "Both of the women\nconcerned in the case, Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons, were left\nwith a strong suspicion against Stapleton.", "\"Yes, we shall make our little ambush here.", "\"One moment!\"", "The hound had kept upon the\ngrassy border while the baronet had run down the path, so that no track\nbut the man's was visible.", "And he hurled it away at this point of his flight." ]

[ "\"See,\" said he.", "\"No one could find his way into the Grimpen Mire\ntonight.\"", "She laughed and clapped her hands.", "Her eyes and teeth gleamed with\nfierce merriment.", "\"He may find his way in, but never out,\" she cried.", "\"How can he see the\nguiding wands tonight?", "We planted them together, he and I, to mark the\npathway through the mire.", "Oh, if I could only have plucked them out\ntoday.", "Then indeed you would have had him at your mercy!\"", "It was evident to us that all pursuit was in vain until the fog had\nlifted.", "Meanwhile we left Lestrade in possession of the house while\nHolmes and I went back with the baronet to Baskerville Hall." ]

[ "\n\n\nOne of Sherlock Holmes's defects--if, indeed, one may call it a\ndefect--was that he was exceedingly loath to communicate his full plans\nto any other person until the instant of their fulfilment.", "Partly it\ncame no doubt from his own masterful nature, which loved to dominate and\nsurprise those who were around him.", "Partly also from his professional\ncaution, which urged him never to take any chances.", "The result, however,\nwas very trying for those who were acting as his agents and assistants.", "I had often suffered under it, but never more so than during that long\ndrive in the darkness.", "The great ordeal was in front of us; at last we\nwere about to make our final effort, and yet Holmes had said nothing,\nand I could only surmise what his course of action would be.", "My nerves\nthrilled with anticipation when at last the cold wind upon our faces and\nthe dark, void spaces on either side of the narrow road told me that we\nwere back upon the moor once again.", "Every stride of the horses and every\nturn of the wheels was taking us nearer to our supreme adventure.", "Our conversation was hampered by the presence of the driver of the hired\nwagonette, so that we were forced to talk of trivial matters when our\nnerves were tense with emotion and anticipation.", "It was a relief to me,\nafter that unnatural restraint, when we at last passed Frankland's\nhouse and knew that we were drawing near to the Hall and to the scene\nof action.", "\"It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when\nyou expect me to solve it.", "The past and the present are within the field\nof my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question\nto answer.", "Mrs. Stapleton has heard her husband discuss the problem on\nseveral occasions.", "There were three possible courses.", "He might claim the\nproperty from South America, establish his identity before the British\nauthorities there and so obtain the fortune without ever coming to\nEngland at all, or he might adopt an elaborate disguise during the\nshort time that he need be in London; or, again, he might furnish an\naccomplice with the proofs and papers, putting him in as heir, and\nretaining a claim upon some proportion of his income.", "We cannot doubt\nfrom what we know of him that he would have found some way out of the\ndifficulty.", "And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe\nwork, and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more\npleasant channels.", "I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.'", "Have you heard the\nDe Reszkes?", "Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we\ncan stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nMr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save\nupon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated\nat the breakfast table.", "I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the\nstick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.", "It was a\nfine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as\na \"Penang lawyer.\"", "Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly\nan inch across.", "\"To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the\nC.C.H.,\" was engraved upon it, with the date \"1884.\"", "It was just such a\nstick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified,\nsolid, and reassuring.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?\"", "Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of\nmy occupation.", "\"How did you know what I was doing?", "I believe you have eyes in the back\nof your head.\"", "\"I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of\nme,\" said he.", "\"But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's\nstick?", "Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no\nnotion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance.", "Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.\"", "\"I think,\" said I, following as far as I could the methods of my\ncompanion, \"that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderly medical man,\nwell-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their\nappreciation.\"", "\"Good!\"", "said Holmes.", "\"Excellent!\"", "\"I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country\npractitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot.\"", "\"Why so?\"", "\"Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one has been so\nknocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it.", "The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a\ngreat amount of walking with it.\"", "\"Perfectly sound!\"", "said Holmes.", "\"And then again, there is the 'friends of the C.C.H.'", "I should guess\nthat to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has\npossibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small\npresentation in return.\"", "\"Really, Watson, you excel yourself,\" said Holmes, pushing back his\nchair and lighting a cigarette.", "\"I am bound to say that in all the\naccounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small\nachievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities.", "It may\nbe that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of\nlight.", "Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of\nstimulating it.", "I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your\ndebt.\"", "He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave\nme keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my\nadmiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to\nhis methods.", "I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his\nsystem as to apply it in a way which earned his approval.", "He now took\nthe stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked\neyes.", "Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette,\nand carrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with a\nconvex lens.", "\"Interesting, though elementary,\" said he as he returned to his\nfavourite corner of the settee.", "\"There are certainly one or two\nindications upon the stick.", "It gives us the basis for several\ndeductions.\"", "\"Has anything escaped me?\"", "I asked with some self-importance.", "\"I trust\nthat there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?\"", "\"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were\nerroneous.", "When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that\nin noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.", "Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance.", "The man is certainly a\ncountry practitioner.", "And he walks a good deal.\"", "\"Then I was right.\"", "\"To that extent.\"", "\"But that was all.\"", "\"No, no, my dear Watson, not all--by no means all.", "I would suggest, for\nexample, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a\nhospital than from a hunt, and that when the initials 'C.C.'", "are placed\nbefore that hospital the words 'Charing Cross' very naturally suggest\nthemselves.\"", "\"You may be right.\"", "\"The probability lies in that direction.", "And if we take this as a\nworking hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our\nconstruction of this unknown visitor.\"", "\"Well, then, supposing that 'C.C.H.'", "does stand for 'Charing Cross\nHospital,' what further inferences may we draw?\"", "\"Do none suggest themselves?", "You know my methods.", "Apply them!\"", "\"I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man has practised\nin town before going to the country.\"", "\"I think that we might venture a little farther than this.", "Look at it\nin this light.", "On what occasion would it be most probable that such a\npresentation would be made?", "When would his friends unite to give him\na pledge of their good will?", "Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer\nwithdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start a practice\nfor himself.", "We know there has been a presentation.", "We believe there has\nbeen a change from a town hospital to a country practice.", "Is it, then,\nstretching our inference too far to say that the presentation was on the\noccasion of the change?\"", "\"It certainly seems probable.\"", "\"Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the staff of the\nhospital, since only a man well-established in a London practice could\nhold such a position, and such a one would not drift into the country.", "What was he, then?", "If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff he\ncould only have been a house-surgeon or a house-physician--little more\nthan a senior student.", "And he left five years ago--the date is on the\nstick.", "So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into\nthin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty,\namiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite\ndog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and\nsmaller than a mastiff.\"", "I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and\nblew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.", "\"As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you,\" said I, \"but\nat least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the\nman's age and professional career.\"", "From my small medical shelf I took\ndown the Medical Directory and turned up the name.", "There were several\nMortimers, but only one who could be our visitor.", "I read his record\naloud.", "\"Mortimer, James, M.R.C.S., 1882, Grimpen, Dartmoor, Devon.", "House-surgeon, from 1882 to 1884, at Charing Cross Hospital.", "Winner of the Jackson prize for Comparative Pathology,\n with essay entitled 'Is Disease a Reversion?'", "Corresponding\n member of the Swedish Pathological Society.", "Author of\n 'Some Freaks of Atavism' (Lancet 1882).", "'Do We Progress?'", "(Journal of Psychology, March, 1883).", "Medical Officer\n for the parishes of Grimpen, Thorsley, and High Barrow.\"", "\"No mention of that local hunt, Watson,\" said Holmes with a mischievous\nsmile, \"but a country doctor, as you very astutely observed.", "I think\nthat I am fairly justified in my inferences.", "As to the adjectives, I\nsaid, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded.", "It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who\nreceives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London\ncareer for the country, and only an absent-minded one who leaves his\nstick and not his visiting-card after waiting an hour in your room.\"", "\"And the dog?\"", "\"Has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind his master.", "Being a\nheavy stick the dog has held it tightly by the middle, and the marks of\nhis teeth are very plainly visible.", "The dog's jaw, as shown in the space\nbetween these marks, is too broad in my opinion for a terrier and not\nbroad enough for a mastiff.", "It may have been--yes, by Jove, it is a\ncurly-haired spaniel.\"", "He had risen and paced the room as he spoke.", "Now he halted in the recess\nof the window.", "There was such a ring of conviction in his voice that I\nglanced up in surprise.", "\"My dear fellow, how can you possibly be so sure of that?\"", "\"For the very simple reason that I see the dog himself on our very\ndoor-step, and there is the ring of its owner.", "Don't move, I beg you,\nWatson.", "He is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be\nof assistance to me.", "Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when\nyou hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you\nknow not whether for good or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man\nof science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime?", "Come in!\"", "The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected\na typical country practitioner.", "He was a very tall, thin man, with a\nlong nose like a beak, which jutted out between two keen, gray eyes,\nset closely together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of\ngold-rimmed glasses.", "He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly\nfashion, for his frock-coat was dingy and his trousers frayed.", "Though\nyoung, his long back was already bowed, and he walked with a forward\nthrust of his head and a general air of peering benevolence.", "As he\nentered his eyes fell upon the stick in Holmes's hand, and he ran\ntowards it with an exclamation of joy.", "\"I am so very glad,\" said he.", "\"I was not sure whether I had left it here or in the Shipping Office.", "I\nwould not lose that stick for the world.\"", "\"A presentation, I see,\" said Holmes.", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"From Charing Cross Hospital?\"", "\"From one or two friends there on the occasion of my marriage.\"", "\"Dear, dear, that's bad!\"", "said Holmes, shaking his head.", "Dr. Mortimer blinked through his glasses in mild astonishment.", "\"Why was\nit bad?\"", "\"Only that you have disarranged our little deductions.", "Your marriage,\nyou say?\"", "\"Yes, sir.", "I married, and so left the hospital, and with it all hopes of\na consulting practice.", "It was necessary to make a home of my own.\"", "\"Come, come, we are not so far wrong, after all,\" said Holmes.", "\"And now,\nDr. James Mortimer--\"\n\n\"Mister, sir, Mister--a humble M.R.C.S.\"", "\"And a man of precise mind, evidently.\"", "\"A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of shells on the shores\nof the great unknown ocean.", "I presume that it is Mr. Sherlock Holmes\nwhom I am addressing and not--\"\n\n\"No, this is my friend Dr.", "Watson.\"", "\"Glad to meet you, sir.", "I have heard your name mentioned in connection\nwith that of your friend.", "You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes.", "I\nhad hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked\nsupra-orbital development.", "Would you have any objection to my running my\nfinger along your parietal fissure?", "A cast of your skull, sir, until\nthe original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological\nmuseum.", "It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet\nyour skull.\"", "Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor into a chair.", "\"You are an\nenthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir, as I am in\nmine,\" said he.", "\"I observe from your forefinger that you make your own\ncigarettes.", "Have no hesitation in lighting one.\"", "The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up in the other\nwith surprising dexterity.", "He had long, quivering fingers as agile and\nrestless as the antennae of an insect.", "Holmes was silent, but his little darting glances showed me the interest\nwhich he took in our curious companion.", "\"I presume, sir,\" said he at\nlast, \"that it was not merely for the purpose of examining my skull that\nyou have done me the honour to call here last night and again today?\"", "\"No, sir, no; though I am happy to have had the opportunity of doing\nthat as well.", "I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am\nmyself an unpractical man and because I am suddenly confronted with a\nmost serious and extraordinary problem.", "Recognizing, as I do, that you\nare the second highest expert in Europe--\"\n\n\"Indeed, sir!", "May I inquire who has the honour to be the first?\"", "asked\nHolmes with some asperity.", "\"To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon\nmust always appeal strongly.\"", "\"Then had you not better consult him?\"", "\"I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind.", "But as a practical man\nof affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone.", "I trust, sir, that I\nhave not inadvertently--\"\n\n\"Just a little,\" said Holmes.", "\"I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do\nwisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the\nexact nature of the problem is in which you demand my assistance.\"" ]

[ "Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no\nnotion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance.", "\"Perfectly sound!\"", "\"I am bound to say that in all the\naccounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small\nachievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities.", "\"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were\nerroneous.", "And he walks a good deal.\"", "If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff he\ncould only have been a house-surgeon or a house-physician--little more\nthan a senior student.", "The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected\na typical country practitioner.", "Holmes was silent, but his little darting glances showed me the interest\nwhich he took in our curious companion.", "asked\nHolmes with some asperity.", "But as a practical man\nof affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone." ]

[ "does stand for 'Charing Cross\nHospital,' what further inferences may we draw?\"", "We know there has been a presentation.", "I would suggest, for\nexample, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a\nhospital than from a hunt, and that when the initials 'C.C.'", "\"Do none suggest themselves?", "And he walks a good deal.\"", "I married, and so left the hospital, and with it all hopes of\na consulting practice.", "I asked with some self-importance.", "He now took\nthe stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked\neyes.", "I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his\nsystem as to apply it in a way which earned his approval.", "\"How did you know what I was doing?" ]

[ "So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into\nthin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty,\namiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite\ndog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and\nsmaller than a mastiff.\"", "I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and\nblew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.", "\"As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you,\" said I, \"but\nat least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the\nman's age and professional career.\"", "From my small medical shelf I took\ndown the Medical Directory and turned up the name.", "There were several\nMortimers, but only one who could be our visitor.", "I read his record\naloud.", "\"Mortimer, James, M.R.C.S., 1882, Grimpen, Dartmoor, Devon.", "House-surgeon, from 1882 to 1884, at Charing Cross Hospital.", "Winner of the Jackson prize for Comparative Pathology,\n with essay entitled 'Is Disease a Reversion?'", "Corresponding\n member of the Swedish Pathological Society.", "Author of\n 'Some Freaks of Atavism' (Lancet 1882)." ]

[ "\n\n\nMr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save\nupon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated\nat the breakfast table.", "I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the\nstick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.", "It was a\nfine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as\na \"Penang lawyer.\"", "Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly\nan inch across.", "\"To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the\nC.C.H.,\" was engraved upon it, with the date \"1884.\"", "It was just such a\nstick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified,\nsolid, and reassuring.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?\"", "Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of\nmy occupation.", "\"How did you know what I was doing?", "I believe you have eyes in the back\nof your head.\"", "I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am\nmyself an unpractical man and because I am suddenly confronted with a\nmost serious and extraordinary problem.", "Recognizing, as I do, that you\nare the second highest expert in Europe--\"\n\n\"Indeed, sir!", "May I inquire who has the honour to be the first?\"", "asked\nHolmes with some asperity.", "\"To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon\nmust always appeal strongly.\"", "\"Then had you not better consult him?\"", "\"I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind.", "But as a practical man\nof affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone.", "I trust, sir, that I\nhave not inadvertently--\"\n\n\"Just a little,\" said Holmes.", "\"I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do\nwisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the\nexact nature of the problem is in which you demand my assistance.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\n\"I have in my pocket a manuscript,\" said Dr. James Mortimer.", "\"I observed it as you entered the room,\" said Holmes.", "\"It is an old manuscript.\"", "\"Early eighteenth century, unless it is a forgery.\"", "\"How can you say that, sir?\"", "\"You have presented an inch or two of it to my examination all the time\nthat you have been talking.", "It would be a poor expert who could not give\nthe date of a document within a decade or so.", "You may possibly have read\nmy little monograph upon the subject.", "I put that at 1730.\"", "\"The exact date is 1742.\"", "Dr. Mortimer drew it from his breast-pocket.", "\"This family paper was committed to my care by Sir Charles Baskerville,\nwhose sudden and tragic death some three months ago created so much\nexcitement in Devonshire.", "I may say that I was his personal friend as\nwell as his medical attendant.", "He was a strong-minded man, sir, shrewd,\npractical, and as unimaginative as I am myself.", "Yet he took this\ndocument very seriously, and his mind was prepared for just such an end\nas did eventually overtake him.\"", "Holmes stretched out his hand for the manuscript and flattened it upon\nhis knee.", "\"You will observe, Watson, the alternative use of the long s\nand the short.", "It is one of several indications which enabled me to fix\nthe date.\"", "I looked over his shoulder at the yellow paper and the faded script.", "At\nthe head was written: \"Baskerville Hall,\" and below in large, scrawling\nfigures: \"1742.\"", "\"It appears to be a statement of some sort.\"", "\"Yes, it is a statement of a certain legend which runs in the\nBaskerville family.\"", "\"But I understand that it is something more modern and practical upon\nwhich you wish to consult me?\"", "\"Most modern.", "A most practical, pressing matter, which must be decided\nwithin twenty-four hours.", "But the manuscript is short and is intimately\nconnected with the affair.", "With your permission I will read it to you.\"", "Holmes leaned back in his chair, placed his finger-tips together, and\nclosed his eyes, with an air of resignation.", "Dr. Mortimer turned the\nmanuscript to the light and read in a high, cracking voice the following\ncurious, old-world narrative:\n\n \"Of the origin of the Hound of the Baskervilles there\n have been many statements, yet as I come in a direct\n line from Hugo Baskerville, and as I had the story from\n my father, who also had it from his, I have set it down\n with all belief that it occurred even as is here set\n forth.", "And I would have you believe, my sons, that the\n same Justice which punishes sin may also most graciously\n forgive it, and that no ban is so heavy but that by prayer\n and repentance it may be removed.", "Learn then from this\n story not to fear the fruits of the past, but rather to\n be circumspect in the future, that those foul passions\n whereby our family has suffered so grievously may not\n again be loosed to our undoing.", "\"Know then that in the time of the Great Rebellion (the\n history of which by the learned Lord Clarendon I most\n earnestly commend to your attention) this Manor of\n Baskerville was held by Hugo of that name, nor can it be\n gainsaid that he was a most wild, profane, and godless\n man.", "This, in truth, his neighbours might have pardoned,\n seeing that saints have never flourished in those parts,\n but there was in him a certain wanton and cruel humour\n which made his name a by-word through the West.", "It\n chanced that this Hugo came to love (if, indeed, so dark\n a passion may be known under so bright a name) the daughter\n of a yeoman who held lands near the Baskerville estate.", "But the young maiden, being discreet and of good repute,\n would ever avoid him, for she feared his evil name.", "So\n it came to pass that one Michaelmas this Hugo, with five\n or six of his idle and wicked companions, stole down upon\n the farm and carried off the maiden, her father and\n brothers being from home, as he well knew.", "When they had\n brought her to the Hall the maiden was placed in an upper\n chamber, while Hugo and his friends sat down to a long\n carouse, as was their nightly custom.", "Now, the poor lass\n upstairs was like to have her wits turned at the singing\n and shouting and terrible oaths which came up to her from\n below, for they say that the words used by Hugo Baskerville,\n when he was in wine, were such as might blast the man who\n said them.", "At last in the stress of her fear she did that\n which might have daunted the bravest or most active man,\n for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and\n still covers) the south wall she came down from under the\n eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three\n leagues betwixt the Hall and her father's farm.", "\"It chanced that some little time later Hugo left his\n guests to carry food and drink--with other worse things,\n perchance--to his captive, and so found the cage empty\n and the bird escaped.", "Then, as it would seem, he became\n as one that hath a devil, for, rushing down the stairs\n into the dining-hall, he sprang upon the great table,\n flagons and trenchers flying before him, and he cried\n aloud before all the company that he would that very\n night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if\n he might but overtake the wench.", "And while the revellers\n stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or,\n it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that\n they should put the hounds upon her.", "Whereat Hugo ran\n from the house, crying to his grooms that they should\n saddle his mare and unkennel the pack, and giving the\n hounds a kerchief of the maid's, he swung them to the\n line, and so off full cry in the moonlight over the moor.", "\"Now, for some space the revellers stood agape, unable\n to understand all that had been done in such haste.", "But\n anon their bemused wits awoke to the nature of the deed\n which was like to be done upon the moorlands.", "Everything\n was now in an uproar, some calling for their pistols,\n some for their horses, and some for another flask of\n wine.", "But at length some sense came back to their crazed\n minds, and the whole of them, thirteen in number, took\n horse and started in pursuit.", "The moon shone clear above\n them, and they rode swiftly abreast, taking that course\n which the maid must needs have taken if she were to reach\n her own home.", "\"They had gone a mile or two when they passed one of the\n night shepherds upon the moorlands, and they cried to\n him to know if he had seen the hunt.", "And the man, as\n the story goes, was so crazed with fear that he could\n scarce speak, but at last he said that he had indeed seen\n the unhappy maiden, with the hounds upon her track.", "'But\n I have seen more than that,' said he, 'for Hugo Baskerville\n passed me upon his black mare, and there ran mute behind\n him such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever be at\n my heels.'", "So the drunken squires cursed the shepherd\n and rode onward.", "But soon their skins turned cold, for\n there came a galloping across the moor, and the black\n mare, dabbled with white froth, went past with trailing\n bridle and empty saddle.", "Then the revellers rode close\n together, for a great fear was on them, but they still\n followed over the moor, though each, had he been alone,\n would have been right glad to have turned his horse's\n head.", "Riding slowly in this fashion they came at last\n upon the hounds.", "These, though known for their valour\n and their breed, were whimpering in a cluster at the\n head of a deep dip or goyal, as we call it, upon the\n moor, some slinking away and some, with starting hackles\n and staring eyes, gazing down the narrow valley before them.", "\"The company had come to a halt, more sober men, as you\n may guess, than when they started.", "The most of them\n would by no means advance, but three of them, the boldest,\n or it may be the most drunken, rode forward down the goyal.", "Now, it opened into a broad space in which stood two of\n those great stones, still to be seen there, which were\n set by certain forgotten peoples in the days of old.", "The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there\n in the centre lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen,\n dead of fear and of fatigue.", "But it was not the sight\n of her body, nor yet was it that of the body of Hugo\n Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon\n the heads of these three dare-devil roysterers, but it\n was that, standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat,\n there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped\n like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal\n eye has rested upon.", "And even as they looked the thing\n tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as it\n turned its blazing eyes and dripping jaws upon them, the\n three shrieked with fear and rode for dear life, still\n screaming, across the moor.", "One, it is said, died that\n very night of what he had seen, and the other twain were\n but broken men for the rest of their days.", "\"Such is the tale, my sons, of the coming of the hound\n which is said to have plagued the family so sorely ever\n since.", "If I have set it down it is because that which\n is clearly known hath less terror than that which is but\n hinted at and guessed.", "Nor can it be denied that many\n of the family have been unhappy in their deaths, which\n have been sudden, bloody, and mysterious.", "Yet may we\n shelter ourselves in the infinite goodness of Providence,\n which would not forever punish the innocent beyond that\n third or fourth generation which is threatened in Holy\n Writ.", "To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend\n you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from\n crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of\n evil are exalted.", "\"[This from Hugo Baskerville to his sons Rodger and John,\n with instructions that they say nothing thereof to their\n sister Elizabeth.]\"", "When Dr. Mortimer had finished reading this singular narrative he pushed\nhis spectacles up on his forehead and stared across at Mr. Sherlock\nHolmes.", "The latter yawned and tossed the end of his cigarette into the\nfire.", "\"Well?\"", "said he.", "\"Do you not find it interesting?\"", "\"To a collector of fairy tales.\"", "Dr. Mortimer drew a folded newspaper out of his pocket.", "\"Now, Mr. Holmes, we will give you something a little more recent.", "This\nis the Devon County Chronicle of May 14th of this year.", "It is a short\naccount of the facts elicited at the death of Sir Charles Baskerville\nwhich occurred a few days before that date.\"", "My friend leaned a little forward and his expression became intent.", "Our\nvisitor readjusted his glasses and began:\n\n \"The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose\n name has been mentioned as the probable Liberal candidate\n for Mid-Devon at the next election, has cast a gloom over\n the county.", "Though Sir Charles had resided at Baskerville\n Hall for a comparatively short period his amiability of\n character and extreme generosity had won the affection\n and respect of all who had been brought into contact with\n him.", "In these days of nouveaux riches it is refreshing\n to find a case where the scion of an old county family\n which has fallen upon evil days is able to make his own\n fortune and to bring it back with him to restore the\n fallen grandeur of his line.", "Sir Charles, as is well known,\n made large sums of money in South African speculation.", "More wise than those who go on until the wheel turns\n against them, he realized his gains and returned to England\n with them.", "It is only two years since he took up his\n residence at Baskerville Hall, and it is common talk how\n large were those schemes of reconstruction and improvement\n which have been interrupted by his death.", "Being himself\n childless, it was his openly expressed desire that the\n whole countryside should, within his own lifetime, profit\n by his good fortune, and many will have personal reasons\n for bewailing his untimely end.", "His generous donations\n to local and county charities have been frequently\n chronicled in these columns.", "\"The circumstances connected with the death of Sir Charles\n cannot be said to have been entirely cleared up by the\n inquest, but at least enough has been done to dispose of\n those rumours to which local superstition has given rise.", "There is no reason whatever to suspect foul play, or to\n imagine that death could be from any but natural causes.", "Sir Charles was a widower, and a man who may be said to\n have been in some ways of an eccentric habit of mind.", "In spite of his considerable wealth he was simple in his\n personal tastes, and his indoor servants at Baskerville\n Hall consisted of a married couple named Barrymore, the\n husband acting as butler and the wife as housekeeper.", "Their evidence, corroborated by that of several friends,\n tends to show that Sir Charles's health has for some time\n been impaired, and points especially to some affection\n of the heart, manifesting itself in changes of colour,\n breathlessness, and acute attacks of nervous depression.", "Dr. James Mortimer, the friend and medical attendant of\n the deceased, has given evidence to the same effect.", "\"The facts of the case are simple.", "Sir Charles Baskerville\n was in the habit every night before going to bed of walking\n down the famous yew alley of Baskerville Hall.", "The evidence\n of the Barrymores shows that this had been his custom.", "On the fourth of May Sir Charles had declared his intention\n of starting next day for London, and had ordered Barrymore\n to prepare his luggage.", "That night he went out as usual\n for his nocturnal walk, in the course of which he was in\n the habit of smoking a cigar.", "He never returned.", "At\n twelve o'clock Barrymore, finding the hall door still open,\n became alarmed, and, lighting a lantern, went in search\n of his master.", "The day had been wet, and Sir Charles's\n footmarks were easily traced down the alley.", "Halfway down\n this walk there is a gate which leads out on to the moor.", "There were indications that Sir Charles had stood for some\n little time here.", "He then proceeded down the alley, and\n it was at the far end of it that his body was discovered.", "One fact which has not been explained is the statement\n of Barrymore that his master's footprints altered their\n character from the time that he passed the moor-gate, and\n that he appeared from thence onward to have been walking\n upon his toes.", "One Murphy, a gipsy horse-dealer, was on\n the moor at no great distance at the time, but he appears\n by his own confession to have been the worse for drink.", "He declares that he heard cries but is unable to state\n from what direction they came.", "No signs of violence were\n to be discovered upon Sir Charles's person, and though\n the doctor's evidence pointed to an almost incredible\n facial distortion--so great that Dr. Mortimer refused at\n first to believe that it was indeed his friend and patient\n who lay before him--it was explained that that is a symptom\n which is not unusual in cases of dyspnoea and death from\n cardiac exhaustion.", "This explanation was borne out by\n the post-mortem examination, which showed long-standing\n organic disease, and the coroner's jury returned a\n verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.", "It is\n well that this is so, for it is obviously of the utmost\n importance that Sir Charles's heir should settle at the\n Hall and continue the good work which has been so sadly\n interrupted.", "Had the prosaic finding of the coroner not\n finally put an end to the romantic stories which have been\n whispered in connection with the affair, it might have been\n difficult to find a tenant for Baskerville Hall.", "It is\n understood that the next of kin is Mr. Henry Baskerville,\n if he be still alive, the son of Sir Charles Baskerville's\n younger brother.", "The young man when last heard of was\n in America, and inquiries are being instituted with a\n view to informing him of his good fortune.\"", "Dr. Mortimer refolded his paper and replaced it in his pocket.", "\"Those\nare the public facts, Mr. Holmes, in connection with the death of Sir\nCharles Baskerville.\"", "\"I must thank you,\" said Sherlock Holmes, \"for calling my attention to a\ncase which certainly presents some features of interest.", "I had observed\nsome newspaper comment at the time, but I was exceedingly preoccupied\nby that little affair of the Vatican cameos, and in my anxiety to oblige\nthe Pope I lost touch with several interesting English cases.", "This\narticle, you say, contains all the public facts?\"", "\"It does.\"", "\"Then let me have the private ones.\"", "He leaned back, put his finger-tips\ntogether, and assumed his most impassive and judicial expression.", "\"In doing so,\" said Dr. Mortimer, who had begun to show signs of some\nstrong emotion, \"I am telling that which I have not confided to anyone.", "My motive for withholding it from the coroner's inquiry is that a man of\nscience shrinks from placing himself in the public position of seeming\nto indorse a popular superstition.", "I had the further motive that\nBaskerville Hall, as the paper says, would certainly remain untenanted\nif anything were done to increase its already rather grim reputation.", "For both these reasons I thought that I was justified in telling rather\nless than I knew, since no practical good could result from it, but with\nyou there is no reason why I should not be perfectly frank.", "\"The moor is very sparsely inhabited, and those who live near each other\nare thrown very much together.", "For this reason I saw a good deal of\nSir Charles Baskerville.", "With the exception of Mr. Frankland, of Lafter\nHall, and Mr. Stapleton, the naturalist, there are no other men of\neducation within many miles.", "Sir Charles was a retiring man, but the\nchance of his illness brought us together, and a community of interests\nin science kept us so.", "He had brought back much scientific information\nfrom South Africa, and many a charming evening we have spent together\ndiscussing the comparative anatomy of the Bushman and the Hottentot.", "\"Within the last few months it became increasingly plain to me that\nSir Charles's nervous system was strained to the breaking point.", "He had\ntaken this legend which I have read you exceedingly to heart--so much\nso that, although he would walk in his own grounds, nothing would induce\nhim to go out upon the moor at night.", "Incredible as it may appear to\nyou, Mr. Holmes, he was honestly convinced that a dreadful fate overhung\nhis family, and certainly the records which he was able to give of\nhis ancestors were not encouraging.", "The idea of some ghastly presence\nconstantly haunted him, and on more than one occasion he has asked me\nwhether I had on my medical journeys at night ever seen any strange\ncreature or heard the baying of a hound.", "The latter question he put\nto me several times, and always with a voice which vibrated with\nexcitement.", "\"I can well remember driving up to his house in the evening some three\nweeks before the fatal event.", "He chanced to be at his hall door.", "I had\ndescended from my gig and was standing in front of him, when I saw\nhis eyes fix themselves over my shoulder and stare past me with an\nexpression of the most dreadful horror.", "I whisked round and had just\ntime to catch a glimpse of something which I took to be a large black\ncalf passing at the head of the drive.", "So excited and alarmed was he\nthat I was compelled to go down to the spot where the animal had been\nand look around for it.", "It was gone, however, and the incident appeared\nto make the worst impression upon his mind.", "I stayed with him all the\nevening, and it was on that occasion, to explain the emotion which he\nhad shown, that he confided to my keeping that narrative which I read to\nyou when first I came.", "I mention this small episode because it assumes\nsome importance in view of the tragedy which followed, but I was\nconvinced at the time that the matter was entirely trivial and that his\nexcitement had no justification.", "\"It was at my advice that Sir Charles was about to go to London.", "His\nheart was, I knew, affected, and the constant anxiety in which he lived,\nhowever chimerical the cause of it might be, was evidently having a\nserious effect upon his health.", "I thought that a few months among the\ndistractions of town would send him back a new man.", "Mr. Stapleton, a\nmutual friend who was much concerned at his state of health, was of the\nsame opinion.", "At the last instant came this terrible catastrophe.", "\"On the night of Sir Charles's death Barrymore the butler, who made\nthe discovery, sent Perkins the groom on horseback to me, and as I was\nsitting up late I was able to reach Baskerville Hall within an hour of\nthe event.", "I checked and corroborated all the facts which were mentioned\nat the inquest.", "I followed the footsteps down the yew alley, I saw the\nspot at the moor-gate where he seemed to have waited, I remarked the\nchange in the shape of the prints after that point, I noted that there\nwere no other footsteps save those of Barrymore on the soft gravel, and\nfinally I carefully examined the body, which had not been touched until\nmy arrival.", "Sir Charles lay on his face, his arms out, his fingers dug\ninto the ground, and his features convulsed with some strong emotion to\nsuch an extent that I could hardly have sworn to his identity.", "There was\ncertainly no physical injury of any kind.", "But one false statement was\nmade by Barrymore at the inquest.", "He said that there were no traces\nupon the ground round the body.", "He did not observe any.", "But I did--some\nlittle distance off, but fresh and clear.\"", "\"Footprints?\"", "\"Footprints.\"", "\"A man's or a woman's?\"", "Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank\nalmost to a whisper as he answered.", "\"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!\"" ]

[ "\"The exact date is 1742.\"", "\"Most modern.", "Everything\n was now in an uproar, some calling for their pistols,\n some for their horses, and some for another flask of\n wine.", "\"Now, Mr. Holmes, we will give you something a little more recent.", "In these days of nouveaux riches it is refreshing\n to find a case where the scion of an old county family\n which has fallen upon evil days is able to make his own\n fortune and to bring it back with him to restore the\n fallen grandeur of his line.", "Their evidence, corroborated by that of several friends,\n tends to show that Sir Charles's health has for some time\n been impaired, and points especially to some affection\n of the heart, manifesting itself in changes of colour,\n breathlessness, and acute attacks of nervous depression.", "\"The facts of the case are simple.", "\"I must thank you,\" said Sherlock Holmes, \"for calling my attention to a\ncase which certainly presents some features of interest.", "I mention this small episode because it assumes\nsome importance in view of the tragedy which followed, but I was\nconvinced at the time that the matter was entirely trivial and that his\nexcitement had no justification.", "At the last instant came this terrible catastrophe." ]

[ "\"Such is the tale, my sons, of the coming of the hound\n which is said to have plagued the family so sorely ever\n since.", "But I did--some\nlittle distance off, but fresh and clear.\"", "He was a strong-minded man, sir, shrewd,\npractical, and as unimaginative as I am myself.", "The latter question he put\nto me several times, and always with a voice which vibrated with\nexcitement.", "This\narticle, you say, contains all the public facts?\"", "On the fourth of May Sir Charles had declared his intention\n of starting next day for London, and had ordered Barrymore\n to prepare his luggage.", "Dr. Mortimer refolded his paper and replaced it in his pocket.", "And while the revellers\n stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or,\n it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that\n they should put the hounds upon her.", "Sir Charles, as is well known,\n made large sums of money in South African speculation.", "said he." ]

[ "\"Now, Mr. Holmes, we will give you something a little more recent.", "This\nis the Devon County Chronicle of May 14th of this year.", "It is a short\naccount of the facts elicited at the death of Sir Charles Baskerville\nwhich occurred a few days before that date.\"", "My friend leaned a little forward and his expression became intent.", "Our\nvisitor readjusted his glasses and began:\n\n \"The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose\n name has been mentioned as the probable Liberal candidate\n for Mid-Devon at the next election, has cast a gloom over\n the county.", "Though Sir Charles had resided at Baskerville\n Hall for a comparatively short period his amiability of\n character and extreme generosity had won the affection\n and respect of all who had been brought into contact with\n him.", "In these days of nouveaux riches it is refreshing\n to find a case where the scion of an old county family\n which has fallen upon evil days is able to make his own\n fortune and to bring it back with him to restore the\n fallen grandeur of his line.", "Sir Charles, as is well known,\n made large sums of money in South African speculation.", "More wise than those who go on until the wheel turns\n against them, he realized his gains and returned to England\n with them.", "It is only two years since he took up his\n residence at Baskerville Hall, and it is common talk how\n large were those schemes of reconstruction and improvement\n which have been interrupted by his death.", "Being himself\n childless, it was his openly expressed desire that the\n whole countryside should, within his own lifetime, profit\n by his good fortune, and many will have personal reasons\n for bewailing his untimely end." ]

[ "\n\n\n\"I have in my pocket a manuscript,\" said Dr. James Mortimer.", "\"I observed it as you entered the room,\" said Holmes.", "\"It is an old manuscript.\"", "\"Early eighteenth century, unless it is a forgery.\"", "\"How can you say that, sir?\"", "\"You have presented an inch or two of it to my examination all the time\nthat you have been talking.", "It would be a poor expert who could not give\nthe date of a document within a decade or so.", "You may possibly have read\nmy little monograph upon the subject.", "I put that at 1730.\"", "\"The exact date is 1742.\"", "There was\ncertainly no physical injury of any kind.", "But one false statement was\nmade by Barrymore at the inquest.", "He said that there were no traces\nupon the ground round the body.", "He did not observe any.", "But I did--some\nlittle distance off, but fresh and clear.\"", "\"Footprints?\"", "\"Footprints.\"", "\"A man's or a woman's?\"", "Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank\nalmost to a whisper as he answered.", "\"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nI confess at these words a shudder passed through me.", "There was a thrill\nin the doctor's voice which showed that he was himself deeply moved by\nthat which he told us.", "Holmes leaned forward in his excitement and his\neyes had the hard, dry glitter which shot from them when he was keenly\ninterested.", "\"You saw this?\"", "\"As clearly as I see you.\"", "\"And you said nothing?\"", "\"What was the use?\"", "\"How was it that no one else saw it?\"", "\"The marks were some twenty yards from the body and no one gave them\na thought.", "I don't suppose I should have done so had I not known this\nlegend.\"", "\"There are many sheep-dogs on the moor?\"", "\"No doubt, but this was no sheep-dog.\"", "\"You say it was large?\"", "\"Enormous.\"", "\"But it had not approached the body?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"What sort of night was it?'", "\"Damp and raw.\"", "\"But not actually raining?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"What is the alley like?\"", "\"There are two lines of old yew hedge, twelve feet high and\nimpenetrable.", "The walk in the centre is about eight feet across.\"", "\"Is there anything between the hedges and the walk?\"", "\"Yes, there is a strip of grass about six feet broad on either side.\"", "\"I understand that the yew hedge is penetrated at one point by a gate?\"", "\"Yes, the wicket-gate which leads on to the moor.\"", "\"Is there any other opening?\"", "\"None.\"", "\"So that to reach the yew alley one either has to come down it from the\nhouse or else to enter it by the moor-gate?\"", "\"There is an exit through a summer-house at the far end.\"", "\"Had Sir Charles reached this?\"", "\"No; he lay about fifty yards from it.\"", "\"Now, tell me, Dr. Mortimer--and this is important--the marks which you\nsaw were on the path and not on the grass?\"", "\"No marks could show on the grass.\"", "\"Were they on the same side of the path as the moor-gate?\"", "\"Yes; they were on the edge of the path on the same side as the\nmoor-gate.\"", "\"You interest me exceedingly.", "Another point.", "Was the wicket-gate\nclosed?\"", "\"Closed and padlocked.\"", "\"How high was it?\"", "\"About four feet high.\"", "\"Then anyone could have got over it?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"And what marks did you see by the wicket-gate?\"", "\"None in particular.\"", "\"Good heaven!", "Did no one examine?\"", "\"Yes, I examined, myself.\"", "\"And found nothing?\"", "\"It was all very confused.", "Sir Charles had evidently stood there for\nfive or ten minutes.\"", "\"How do you know that?\"", "\"Because the ash had twice dropped from his cigar.\"", "\"Excellent!", "This is a colleague, Watson, after our own heart.", "But the\nmarks?\"", "\"He had left his own marks all over that small patch of gravel.", "I could\ndiscern no others.\"", "Sherlock Holmes struck his hand against his knee with an impatient\ngesture.", "\"If I had only been there!\"", "he cried.", "\"It is evidently a case of\nextraordinary interest, and one which presented immense opportunities to\nthe scientific expert.", "That gravel page upon which I might have read so\nmuch has been long ere this smudged by the rain and defaced by the clogs\nof curious peasants.", "Oh, Dr. Mortimer, Dr. Mortimer, to think that you\nshould not have called me in!", "You have indeed much to answer for.\"", "\"I could not call you in, Mr. Holmes, without disclosing these facts to\nthe world, and I have already given my reasons for not wishing to do so.", "Besides, besides--\"\n\n\"Why do you hesitate?\"", "\"There is a realm in which the most acute and most experienced of\ndetectives is helpless.\"", "\"You mean that the thing is supernatural?\"", "\"I did not positively say so.\"", "\"No, but you evidently think it.\"", "\"Since the tragedy, Mr. Holmes, there have come to my ears several\nincidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature.\"", "\"For example?\"", "\"I find that before the terrible event occurred several people had seen\na creature upon the moor which corresponds with this Baskerville demon,\nand which could not possibly be any animal known to science.", "They all\nagreed that it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral.", "I\nhave cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman,\none a farrier, and one a moorland farmer, who all tell the same story of\nthis dreadful apparition, exactly corresponding to the hell-hound of the\nlegend.", "I assure you that there is a reign of terror in the district,\nand that it is a hardy man who will cross the moor at night.\"", "\"And you, a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?\"", "\"I do not know what to believe.\"", "Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"I have hitherto confined my\ninvestigations to this world,\" said he.", "\"In a modest way I have combated\nevil, but to take on the Father of Evil himself would, perhaps, be too\nambitious a task.", "Yet you must admit that the footmark is material.\"", "\"The original hound was material enough to tug a man's throat out, and\nyet he was diabolical as well.\"", "\"I see that you have quite gone over to the supernaturalists.", "But now,\nDr. Mortimer, tell me this.", "If you hold these views, why have you come\nto consult me at all?", "You tell me in the same breath that it is useless\nto investigate Sir Charles's death, and that you desire me to do it.\"", "\"I did not say that I desired you to do it.\"", "\"Then, how can I assist you?\"", "\"By advising me as to what I should do with Sir Henry Baskerville, who\narrives at Waterloo Station\"--Dr. Mortimer looked at his watch--\"in\nexactly one hour and a quarter.\"", "\"He being the heir?\"", "\"Yes.", "On the death of Sir Charles we inquired for this young gentleman\nand found that he had been farming in Canada.", "From the accounts which\nhave reached us he is an excellent fellow in every way.", "I speak now not\nas a medical man but as a trustee and executor of Sir Charles's will.\"", "\"There is no other claimant, I presume?\"", "\"None.", "The only other kinsman whom we have been able to trace was Rodger\nBaskerville, the youngest of three brothers of whom poor Sir Charles was\nthe elder.", "The second brother, who died young, is the father of this lad\nHenry.", "The third, Rodger, was the black sheep of the family.", "He came of\nthe old masterful Baskerville strain and was the very image, they tell\nme, of the family picture of old Hugo.", "He made England too hot to hold\nhim, fled to Central America, and died there in 1876 of yellow fever.", "Henry is the last of the Baskervilles.", "In one hour and five minutes\nI meet him at Waterloo Station.", "I have had a wire that he arrived at\nSouthampton this morning.", "Now, Mr. Holmes, what would you advise me to\ndo with him?\"", "\"Why should he not go to the home of his fathers?\"", "\"It seems natural, does it not?", "And yet, consider that every Baskerville\nwho goes there meets with an evil fate.", "I feel sure that if Sir Charles\ncould have spoken with me before his death he would have warned me\nagainst bringing this, the last of the old race, and the heir to great\nwealth, to that deadly place.", "And yet it cannot be denied that the\nprosperity of the whole poor, bleak countryside depends upon his\npresence.", "All the good work which has been done by Sir Charles will\ncrash to the ground if there is no tenant of the Hall.", "I fear lest I\nshould be swayed too much by my own obvious interest in the matter, and\nthat is why I bring the case before you and ask for your advice.\"", "Holmes considered for a little time.", "\"Put into plain words, the matter is this,\" said he.", "\"In your opinion\nthere is a diabolical agency which makes Dartmoor an unsafe abode for a\nBaskerville--that is your opinion?\"", "\"At least I might go the length of saying that there is some evidence\nthat this may be so.\"", "\"Exactly.", "But surely, if your supernatural theory be correct, it could\nwork the young man evil in London as easily as in Devonshire.", "A devil\nwith merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable\na thing.\"", "\"You put the matter more flippantly, Mr. Holmes, than you would probably\ndo if you were brought into personal contact with these things.", "Your\nadvice, then, as I understand it, is that the young man will be as safe\nin Devonshire as in London.", "He comes in fifty minutes.", "What would you\nrecommend?\"", "\"I recommend, sir, that you take a cab, call off your spaniel who is\nscratching at my front door, and proceed to Waterloo to meet Sir Henry\nBaskerville.\"", "\"And then?\"", "\"And then you will say nothing to him at all until I have made up my\nmind about the matter.\"", "\"How long will it take you to make up your mind?\"", "\"Twenty-four hours.", "At ten o'clock tomorrow, Dr. Mortimer, I will be\nmuch obliged to you if you will call upon me here, and it will be\nof help to me in my plans for the future if you will bring Sir Henry\nBaskerville with you.\"", "\"I will do so, Mr.", "Holmes.\"", "He scribbled the appointment on his\nshirt-cuff and hurried off in his strange, peering, absent-minded\nfashion.", "Holmes stopped him at the head of the stair.", "\"Only one more question, Dr. Mortimer.", "You say that before Sir Charles\nBaskerville's death several people saw this apparition upon the moor?\"", "\"Three people did.\"", "\"Did any see it after?\"", "\"I have not heard of any.\"", "\"Thank you.", "Good-morning.\"", "Holmes returned to his seat with that quiet look of inward satisfaction\nwhich meant that he had a congenial task before him.", "\"Going out, Watson?\"", "\"Unless I can help you.\"", "\"No, my dear fellow, it is at the hour of action that I turn to you for\naid.", "But this is splendid, really unique from some points of view.", "When you pass Bradley's, would you ask him to send up a pound of the\nstrongest shag tobacco?", "Thank you.", "It would be as well if you could make\nit convenient not to return before evening.", "Then I should be very glad\nto compare impressions as to this most interesting problem which has\nbeen submitted to us this morning.\"", "I knew that seclusion and solitude were very necessary for my friend\nin those hours of intense mental concentration during which he weighed\nevery particle of evidence, constructed alternative theories, balanced\none against the other, and made up his mind as to which points were\nessential and which immaterial.", "I therefore spent the day at my club and\ndid not return to Baker Street until evening.", "It was nearly nine o'clock\nwhen I found myself in the sitting-room once more.", "My first impression as I opened the door was that a fire had broken out,\nfor the room was so filled with smoke that the light of the lamp upon\nthe table was blurred by it.", "As I entered, however, my fears were set at\nrest, for it was the acrid fumes of strong coarse tobacco which took me\nby the throat and set me coughing.", "Through the haze I had a vague vision\nof Holmes in his dressing-gown coiled up in an armchair with his black\nclay pipe between his lips.", "Several rolls of paper lay around him.", "\"Caught cold, Watson?\"", "said he.", "\"No, it's this poisonous atmosphere.\"", "\"I suppose it is pretty thick, now that you mention it.\"", "\"Thick!", "It is intolerable.\"", "\"Open the window, then!", "You have been at your club all day, I perceive.\"", "\"My dear Holmes!\"", "\"Am I right?\"", "\"Certainly, but how?\"", "He laughed at my bewildered expression.", "\"There is a delightful freshness\nabout you, Watson, which makes it a pleasure to exercise any small\npowers which I possess at your expense.", "A gentleman goes forth on a\nshowery and miry day.", "He returns immaculate in the evening with the\ngloss still on his hat and his boots.", "He has been a fixture therefore\nall day.", "He is not a man with intimate friends.", "Where, then, could he\nhave been?", "Is it not obvious?\"", "\"Well, it is rather obvious.\"", "\"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever\nobserves.", "Where do you think that I have been?\"", "\"A fixture also.\"", "\"On the contrary, I have been to Devonshire.\"", "\"In spirit?\"", "\"Exactly.", "My body has remained in this armchair and has, I regret\nto observe, consumed in my absence two large pots of coffee and an\nincredible amount of tobacco.", "After you left I sent down to Stamford's\nfor the Ordnance map of this portion of the moor, and my spirit has\nhovered over it all day.", "I flatter myself that I could find my way\nabout.\"", "\"A large-scale map, I presume?\"", "\"Very large.\"", "He unrolled one section and held it over his knee.", "\"Here you have the\nparticular district which concerns us.", "That is Baskerville Hall in the\nmiddle.\"", "\"With a wood round it?\"", "\"Exactly.", "I fancy the yew alley, though not marked under that name, must\nstretch along this line, with the moor, as you perceive, upon the right\nof it.", "This small clump of buildings here is the hamlet of Grimpen,\nwhere our friend Dr. Mortimer has his headquarters.", "Within a radius of\nfive miles there are, as you see, only a very few scattered dwellings.", "Here is Lafter Hall, which was mentioned in the narrative.", "There is\na house indicated here which may be the residence of the\nnaturalist--Stapleton, if I remember right, was his name.", "Here are two\nmoorland farmhouses, High Tor and Foulmire.", "Then fourteen miles away the\ngreat convict prison of Princetown.", "Between and around these scattered\npoints extends the desolate, lifeless moor.", "This, then, is the stage\nupon which tragedy has been played, and upon which we may help to play\nit again.\"", "\"It must be a wild place.\"", "\"Yes, the setting is a worthy one.", "If the devil did desire to have a\nhand in the affairs of men--\"\n\n\"Then you are yourself inclining to the supernatural explanation.\"", "\"The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?", "There are\ntwo questions waiting for us at the outset.", "The one is whether any crime\nhas been committed at all; the second is, what is the crime and how was\nit committed?", "Of course, if Dr. Mortimer's surmise should be correct,\nand we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature,\nthere is an end of our investigation.", "But we are bound to exhaust all\nother hypotheses before falling back upon this one.", "I think we'll shut\nthat window again, if you don't mind.", "It is a singular thing, but I find\nthat a concentrated atmosphere helps a concentration of thought.", "I have\nnot pushed it to the length of getting into a box to think, but that is\nthe logical outcome of my convictions.", "Have you turned the case over in\nyour mind?\"", "\"Yes, I have thought a good deal of it in the course of the day.\"", "\"What do you make of it?\"", "\"It is very bewildering.\"", "\"It has certainly a character of its own.", "There are points of\ndistinction about it.", "That change in the footprints, for example.", "What\ndo you make of that?\"", "\"Mortimer said that the man had walked on tiptoe down that portion of\nthe alley.\"", "\"He only repeated what some fool had said at the inquest.", "Why should a\nman walk on tiptoe down the alley?\"", "\"What then?\"", "\"He was running, Watson--running desperately, running for his life,\nrunning until he burst his heart--and fell dead upon his face.\"", "\"Running from what?\"", "\"There lies our problem.", "There are indications that the man was crazed\nwith fear before ever he began to run.\"", "\"How can you say that?\"", "\"I am presuming that the cause of his fears came to him across the moor.", "If that were so, and it seems most probable, only a man who had lost his\nwits would have run from the house instead of towards it.", "If the\ngipsy's evidence may be taken as true, he ran with cries for help in the\ndirection where help was least likely to be.", "Then, again, whom was he\nwaiting for that night, and why was he waiting for him in the yew alley\nrather than in his own house?\"", "\"You think that he was waiting for someone?\"", "\"The man was elderly and infirm.", "We can understand his taking an evening\nstroll, but the ground was damp and the night inclement.", "Is it natural\nthat he should stand for five or ten minutes, as Dr. Mortimer, with more\npractical sense than I should have given him credit for, deduced from\nthe cigar ash?\"", "\"But he went out every evening.\"", "\"I think it unlikely that he waited at the moor-gate every evening.", "On\nthe contrary, the evidence is that he avoided the moor.", "That night he\nwaited there.", "It was the night before he made his departure for London.", "The thing takes shape, Watson.", "It becomes coherent.", "Might I ask you to\nhand me my violin, and we will postpone all further thought upon this\nbusiness until we have had the advantage of meeting Dr. Mortimer and Sir\nHenry Baskerville in the morning.\"" ]

[ "\"What sort of night was it?'", "\"Damp and raw.\"", "\"For example?\"", "I speak now not\nas a medical man but as a trustee and executor of Sir Charles's will.\"", "\"Why should he not go to the home of his fathers?\"", "\"Did any see it after?\"", "\"With a wood round it?\"", "There are\ntwo questions waiting for us at the outset.", "I have\nnot pushed it to the length of getting into a box to think, but that is\nthe logical outcome of my convictions.", "\"Running from what?\"" ]

[ "\"There is a delightful freshness\nabout you, Watson, which makes it a pleasure to exercise any small\npowers which I possess at your expense.", "\"Very large.\"", "\"And you, a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?\"", "When you pass Bradley's, would you ask him to send up a pound of the\nstrongest shag tobacco?", "\"Yes, the wicket-gate which leads on to the moor.\"", "Of course, if Dr. Mortimer's surmise should be correct,\nand we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature,\nthere is an end of our investigation.", "I feel sure that if Sir Charles\ncould have spoken with me before his death he would have warned me\nagainst bringing this, the last of the old race, and the heir to great\nwealth, to that deadly place.", "The one is whether any crime\nhas been committed at all; the second is, what is the crime and how was\nit committed?", "It would be as well if you could make\nit convenient not to return before evening.", "\"About four feet high.\"" ]

[ "\"At least I might go the length of saying that there is some evidence\nthat this may be so.\"", "\"Exactly.", "But surely, if your supernatural theory be correct, it could\nwork the young man evil in London as easily as in Devonshire.", "A devil\nwith merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable\na thing.\"", "\"You put the matter more flippantly, Mr. Holmes, than you would probably\ndo if you were brought into personal contact with these things.", "Your\nadvice, then, as I understand it, is that the young man will be as safe\nin Devonshire as in London.", "He comes in fifty minutes.", "What would you\nrecommend?\"", "\"I recommend, sir, that you take a cab, call off your spaniel who is\nscratching at my front door, and proceed to Waterloo to meet Sir Henry\nBaskerville.\"", "\"And then?\"", "\"And then you will say nothing to him at all until I have made up my\nmind about the matter.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nI confess at these words a shudder passed through me.", "There was a thrill\nin the doctor's voice which showed that he was himself deeply moved by\nthat which he told us.", "Holmes leaned forward in his excitement and his\neyes had the hard, dry glitter which shot from them when he was keenly\ninterested.", "\"You saw this?\"", "\"As clearly as I see you.\"", "\"And you said nothing?\"", "\"What was the use?\"", "\"How was it that no one else saw it?\"", "\"The marks were some twenty yards from the body and no one gave them\na thought.", "I don't suppose I should have done so had I not known this\nlegend.\"", "We can understand his taking an evening\nstroll, but the ground was damp and the night inclement.", "Is it natural\nthat he should stand for five or ten minutes, as Dr. Mortimer, with more\npractical sense than I should have given him credit for, deduced from\nthe cigar ash?\"", "\"But he went out every evening.\"", "\"I think it unlikely that he waited at the moor-gate every evening.", "On\nthe contrary, the evidence is that he avoided the moor.", "That night he\nwaited there.", "It was the night before he made his departure for London.", "The thing takes shape, Watson.", "It becomes coherent.", "Might I ask you to\nhand me my violin, and we will postpone all further thought upon this\nbusiness until we have had the advantage of meeting Dr. Mortimer and Sir\nHenry Baskerville in the morning.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nOur breakfast table was cleared early, and Holmes waited in his\ndressing-gown for the promised interview.", "Our clients were punctual to\ntheir appointment, for the clock had just struck ten when Dr. Mortimer\nwas shown up, followed by the young baronet.", "The latter was a small,\nalert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built,\nwith thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face.", "He wore a\nruddy-tinted tweed suit and had the weather-beaten appearance of one who\nhas spent most of his time in the open air, and yet there was something\nin his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing which indicated\nthe gentleman.", "\"This is Sir Henry Baskerville,\" said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"Why, yes,\" said he, \"and the strange thing is, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,\nthat if my friend here had not proposed coming round to you this morning\nI should have come on my own account.", "I understand that you think out\nlittle puzzles, and I've had one this morning which wants more thinking\nout than I am able to give it.\"", "\"Pray take a seat, Sir Henry.", "Do I understand you to say that you have\nyourself had some remarkable experience since you arrived in London?\"", "\"Nothing of much importance, Mr. Holmes.", "Only a joke, as like as not.", "It was this letter, if you can call it a letter, which reached me this\nmorning.\"", "He laid an envelope upon the table, and we all bent over it.", "It was of\ncommon quality, grayish in colour.", "The address, \"Sir Henry Baskerville,\nNorthumberland Hotel,\" was printed in rough characters; the post-mark\n\"Charing Cross,\" and the date of posting the preceding evening.", "\"Who knew that you were going to the Northumberland Hotel?\"", "asked\nHolmes, glancing keenly across at our visitor.", "\"No one could have known.", "We only decided after I met Dr.", "Mortimer.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer was no doubt already stopping there?\"", "\"No, I had been staying with a friend,\" said the doctor.", "\"There was no possible indication that we intended to go to this hotel.\"", "\"Hum!", "Someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements.\"", "Out\nof the envelope he took a half-sheet of foolscap paper folded into four.", "This he opened and spread flat upon the table.", "Across the middle of it\na single sentence had been formed by the expedient of pasting printed\nwords upon it.", "It ran:\n\n As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor.", "The word \"moor\" only was printed in ink.", "\"Now,\" said Sir Henry Baskerville, \"perhaps you will tell me, Mr.\nHolmes, what in thunder is the meaning of that, and who it is that takes\nso much interest in my affairs?\"", "\"What do you make of it, Dr. Mortimer?", "You must allow that there is\nnothing supernatural about this, at any rate?\"", "\"No, sir, but it might very well come from someone who was convinced\nthat the business is supernatural.\"", "\"What business?\"", "asked Sir Henry sharply.", "\"It seems to me that all you\ngentlemen know a great deal more than I do about my own affairs.\"", "\"You shall share our knowledge before you leave this room, Sir Henry.", "I\npromise you that,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"We will confine ourselves\nfor the present with your permission to this very interesting document,\nwhich must have been put together and posted yesterday evening.", "Have you\nyesterday's Times, Watson?\"", "\"It is here in the corner.\"", "\"Might I trouble you for it--the inside page, please, with the leading\narticles?\"", "He glanced swiftly over it, running his eyes up and down the\ncolumns.", "\"Capital article this on free trade.", "Permit me to give you an\nextract from it.", "'You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special\n trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a\n protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such\n legislation must in the long run keep away wealth from the\n country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the\n general conditions of life in this island.'", "\"What do you think of that, Watson?\"", "cried Holmes in high glee, rubbing\nhis hands together with satisfaction.", "\"Don't you think that is an\nadmirable sentiment?\"", "Dr. Mortimer looked at Holmes with an air of professional interest, and\nSir Henry Baskerville turned a pair of puzzled dark eyes upon me.", "\"I don't know much about the tariff and things of that kind,\" said he,\n\"but it seems to me we've got a bit off the trail so far as that note is\nconcerned.\"", "\"On the contrary, I think we are particularly hot upon the trail, Sir\nHenry.", "Watson here knows more about my methods than you do, but I fear\nthat even he has not quite grasped the significance of this sentence.\"", "\"No, I confess that I see no connection.\"", "\"And yet, my dear Watson, there is so very close a connection that\nthe one is extracted out of the other.", "'You,' 'your,' 'your,' 'life,'\n'reason,' 'value,' 'keep away,' 'from the.'", "Don't you see now whence\nthese words have been taken?\"", "\"By thunder, you're right!", "Well, if that isn't smart!\"", "cried Sir Henry.", "\"If any possible doubt remained it is settled by the fact that 'keep\naway' and 'from the' are cut out in one piece.\"", "\"Well, now--so it is!\"", "\"Really, Mr. Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined,\"\nsaid Dr. Mortimer, gazing at my friend in amazement.", "\"I could understand\nanyone saying that the words were from a newspaper; but that you should\nname which, and add that it came from the leading article, is really one\nof the most remarkable things which I have ever known.", "How did you do\nit?\"", "\"I presume, Doctor, that you could tell the skull of a negro from that\nof an Esquimau?\"", "\"Most certainly.\"", "\"But how?\"", "\"Because that is my special hobby.", "The differences are obvious.", "The\nsupra-orbital crest, the facial angle, the maxillary curve, the--\"\n\n\"But this is my special hobby, and the differences are equally obvious.", "There is as much difference to my eyes between the leaded bourgeois type\nof a Times article and the slovenly print of an evening half-penny paper\nas there could be between your negro and your Esquimau.", "The detection of\ntypes is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge to the special\nexpert in crime, though I confess that once when I was very young I\nconfused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News.", "But a Times\nleader is entirely distinctive, and these words could have been taken\nfrom nothing else.", "As it was done yesterday the strong probability was\nthat we should find the words in yesterday's issue.\"", "\"So far as I can follow you, then, Mr. Holmes,\" said Sir Henry\nBaskerville, \"someone cut out this message with a scissors--\"\n\n\"Nail-scissors,\" said Holmes.", "\"You can see that it was a very\nshort-bladed scissors, since the cutter had to take two snips over 'keep\naway.'\"", "\"That is so.", "Someone, then, cut out the message with a pair of\nshort-bladed scissors, pasted it with paste--\"\n\n\"Gum,\" said Holmes.", "\"With gum on to the paper.", "But I want to know why the word 'moor' should\nhave been written?\"", "\"Because he could not find it in print.", "The other words were all simple\nand might be found in any issue, but 'moor' would be less common.\"", "\"Why, of course, that would explain it.", "Have you read anything else in\nthis message, Mr.", "Holmes?\"", "\"There are one or two indications, and yet the utmost pains have been\ntaken to remove all clues.", "The address, you observe is printed in rough\ncharacters.", "But the Times is a paper which is seldom found in any hands\nbut those of the highly educated.", "We may take it, therefore, that\nthe letter was composed by an educated man who wished to pose as an\nuneducated one, and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that\nthat writing might be known, or come to be known, by you.", "Again, you\nwill observe that the words are not gummed on in an accurate line, but\nthat some are much higher than others.", "'Life,' for example is quite out\nof its proper place.", "That may point to carelessness or it may point to\nagitation and hurry upon the part of the cutter.", "On the whole I incline\nto the latter view, since the matter was evidently important, and it\nis unlikely that the composer of such a letter would be careless.", "If he\nwere in a hurry it opens up the interesting question why he should be\nin a hurry, since any letter posted up to early morning would reach\nSir Henry before he would leave his hotel.", "Did the composer fear an\ninterruption--and from whom?\"", "\"We are coming now rather into the region of guesswork,\" said Dr.\nMortimer.", "\"Say, rather, into the region where we balance probabilities and choose\nthe most likely.", "It is the scientific use of the imagination, but we\nhave always some material basis on which to start our speculation.", "Now,\nyou would call it a guess, no doubt, but I am almost certain that this\naddress has been written in a hotel.\"", "\"How in the world can you say that?\"", "\"If you examine it carefully you will see that both the pen and the ink\nhave given the writer trouble.", "The pen has spluttered twice in a single\nword and has run dry three times in a short address, showing that there\nwas very little ink in the bottle.", "Now, a private pen or ink-bottle is\nseldom allowed to be in such a state, and the combination of the two\nmust be quite rare.", "But you know the hotel ink and the hotel pen, where\nit is rare to get anything else.", "Yes, I have very little hesitation\nin saying that could we examine the waste-paper baskets of the hotels\naround Charing Cross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times\nleader we could lay our hands straight upon the person who sent this\nsingular message.", "Halloa!", "Halloa!", "What's this?\"", "He was carefully examining the foolscap, upon which the words were\npasted, holding it only an inch or two from his eyes.", "\"Well?\"", "\"Nothing,\" said he, throwing it down.", "\"It is a blank half-sheet of\npaper, without even a water-mark upon it.", "I think we have drawn as much\nas we can from this curious letter; and now, Sir Henry, has anything\nelse of interest happened to you since you have been in London?\"", "\"Why, no, Mr. Holmes.", "I think not.\"", "\"You have not observed anyone follow or watch you?\"", "\"I seem to have walked right into the thick of a dime novel,\" said our\nvisitor.", "\"Why in thunder should anyone follow or watch me?\"", "\"We are coming to that.", "You have nothing else to report to us before we\ngo into this matter?\"", "\"Well, it depends upon what you think worth reporting.\"", "\"I think anything out of the ordinary routine of life well worth\nreporting.\"", "Sir Henry smiled.", "\"I don't know much of British life yet, for I have\nspent nearly all my time in the States and in Canada.", "But I hope that to\nlose one of your boots is not part of the ordinary routine of life over\nhere.\"", "\"You have lost one of your boots?\"", "\"My dear sir,\" cried Dr. Mortimer, \"it is only mislaid.", "You will find\nit when you return to the hotel.", "What is the use of troubling Mr. Holmes\nwith trifles of this kind?\"", "\"Well, he asked me for anything outside the ordinary routine.\"", "\"Exactly,\" said Holmes, \"however foolish the incident may seem.", "You have\nlost one of your boots, you say?\"", "\"Well, mislaid it, anyhow.", "I put them both outside my door last night,\nand there was only one in the morning.", "I could get no sense out of the\nchap who cleans them.", "The worst of it is that I only bought the pair\nlast night in the Strand, and I have never had them on.\"", "\"If you have never worn them, why did you put them out to be cleaned?\"", "\"They were tan boots and had never been varnished.", "That was why I put\nthem out.\"", "\"Then I understand that on your arrival in London yesterday you went out\nat once and bought a pair of boots?\"", "\"I did a good deal of shopping.", "Dr. Mortimer here went round with me.", "You see, if I am to be squire down there I must dress the part, and\nit may be that I have got a little careless in my ways out West.", "Among\nother things I bought these brown boots--gave six dollars for them--and\nhad one stolen before ever I had them on my feet.\"", "\"It seems a singularly useless thing to steal,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"I confess that I share Dr. Mortimer's belief that it will not be long\nbefore the missing boot is found.\"", "\"And, now, gentlemen,\" said the baronet with decision, \"it seems to me\nthat I have spoken quite enough about the little that I know.", "It is time\nthat you kept your promise and gave me a full account of what we are all\ndriving at.\"", "\"Your request is a very reasonable one,\" Holmes answered.", "\"Dr. Mortimer,\nI think you could not do better than to tell your story as you told it\nto us.\"", "Thus encouraged, our scientific friend drew his papers from his pocket\nand presented the whole case as he had done upon the morning before.", "Sir Henry Baskerville listened with the deepest attention and with an\noccasional exclamation of surprise.", "\"Well, I seem to have come into an inheritance with a vengeance,\" said\nhe when the long narrative was finished.", "\"Of course, I've heard of the\nhound ever since I was in the nursery.", "It's the pet story of the family,\nthough I never thought of taking it seriously before.", "But as to my\nuncle's death--well, it all seems boiling up in my head, and I can't\nget it clear yet.", "You don't seem quite to have made up your mind whether\nit's a case for a policeman or a clergyman.\"", "\"Precisely.\"", "\"And now there's this affair of the letter to me at the hotel.", "I suppose\nthat fits into its place.\"", "\"It seems to show that someone knows more than we do about what goes on\nupon the moor,\" said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"And also,\" said Holmes, \"that someone is not ill-disposed towards you,\nsince they warn you of danger.\"", "\"Or it may be that they wish, for their own purposes, to scare me away.\"", "\"Well, of course, that is possible also.", "I am very much indebted to you,\nDr. Mortimer, for introducing me to a problem which presents several\ninteresting alternatives.", "But the practical point which we now have to\ndecide, Sir Henry, is whether it is or is not advisable for you to go to\nBaskerville Hall.\"", "\"Why should I not go?\"", "\"There seems to be danger.\"", "\"Do you mean danger from this family fiend or do you mean danger from\nhuman beings?\"", "\"Well, that is what we have to find out.\"", "\"Whichever it is, my answer is fixed.", "There is no devil in hell, Mr.\nHolmes, and there is no man upon earth who can prevent me from going to\nthe home of my own people, and you may take that to be my final answer.\"", "His dark brows knitted and his face flushed to a dusky red as he spoke.", "It was evident that the fiery temper of the Baskervilles was not extinct\nin this their last representative.", "\"Meanwhile,\" said he, \"I have hardly\nhad time to think over all that you have told me.", "It's a big thing for a\nman to have to understand and to decide at one sitting.", "I should like\nto have a quiet hour by myself to make up my mind.", "Now, look here, Mr.\nHolmes, it's half-past eleven now and I am going back right away to my\nhotel.", "Suppose you and your friend, Dr. Watson, come round and lunch\nwith us at two.", "I'll be able to tell you more clearly then how this\nthing strikes me.\"", "\"Is that convenient to you, Watson?\"", "\"Perfectly.\"", "\"Then you may expect us.", "Shall I have a cab called?\"", "\"I'd prefer to walk, for this affair has flurried me rather.\"", "\"I'll join you in a walk, with pleasure,\" said his companion.", "\"Then we meet again at two o'clock.", "Au revoir, and good-morning!\"", "We heard the steps of our visitors descend the stair and the bang of the\nfront door.", "In an instant Holmes had changed from the languid dreamer to\nthe man of action.", "\"Your hat and boots, Watson, quick!", "Not a moment to lose!\"", "He rushed\ninto his room in his dressing-gown and was back again in a few seconds\nin a frock-coat.", "We hurried together down the stairs and into the\nstreet.", "Dr. Mortimer and Baskerville were still visible about two\nhundred yards ahead of us in the direction of Oxford Street.", "\"Shall I run on and stop them?\"", "\"Not for the world, my dear Watson.", "I am perfectly satisfied with your\ncompany if you will tolerate mine.", "Our friends are wise, for it is\ncertainly a very fine morning for a walk.\"", "He quickened his pace until we had decreased the distance which divided\nus by about half.", "Then, still keeping a hundred yards behind, we\nfollowed into Oxford Street and so down Regent Street.", "Once our friends\nstopped and stared into a shop window, upon which Holmes did the\nsame.", "An instant afterwards he gave a little cry of satisfaction, and,\nfollowing the direction of his eager eyes, I saw that a hansom cab with\na man inside which had halted on the other side of the street was now\nproceeding slowly onward again.", "\"There's our man, Watson!", "Come along!", "We'll have a good look at him, if\nwe can do no more.\"", "At that instant I was aware of a bushy black beard and a pair of\npiercing eyes turned upon us through the side window of the cab.", "Instantly the trapdoor at the top flew up, something was screamed to\nthe driver, and the cab flew madly off down Regent Street.", "Holmes looked\neagerly round for another, but no empty one was in sight.", "Then he dashed\nin wild pursuit amid the stream of the traffic, but the start was too\ngreat, and already the cab was out of sight.", "\"There now!\"", "said Holmes bitterly as he emerged panting and white with\nvexation from the tide of vehicles.", "\"Was ever such bad luck and such\nbad management, too?", "Watson, Watson, if you are an honest man you will\nrecord this also and set it against my successes!\"", "\"Who was the man?\"", "\"I have not an idea.\"", "\"A spy?\"", "\"Well, it was evident from what we have heard that Baskerville has been\nvery closely shadowed by someone since he has been in town.", "How else\ncould it be known so quickly that it was the Northumberland Hotel which\nhe had chosen?", "If they had followed him the first day I argued that they\nwould follow him also the second.", "You may have observed that I twice\nstrolled over to the window while Dr. Mortimer was reading his legend.\"", "\"Yes, I remember.\"", "\"I was looking out for loiterers in the street, but I saw none.", "We\nare dealing with a clever man, Watson.", "This matter cuts very deep, and\nthough I have not finally made up my mind whether it is a benevolent or\na malevolent agency which is in touch with us, I am conscious always of\npower and design.", "When our friends left I at once followed them in the\nhopes of marking down their invisible attendant.", "So wily was he that he\nhad not trusted himself upon foot, but he had availed himself of a cab\nso that he could loiter behind or dash past them and so escape their\nnotice.", "His method had the additional advantage that if they were to\ntake a cab he was all ready to follow them.", "It has, however, one obvious\ndisadvantage.\"", "\"It puts him in the power of the cabman.\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"What a pity we did not get the number!\"", "\"My dear Watson, clumsy as I have been, you surely do not seriously\nimagine that I neglected to get the number?", "No.", "2704 is our man.", "But\nthat is no use to us for the moment.\"", "\"I fail to see how you could have done more.\"", "\"On observing the cab I should have instantly turned and walked in the\nother direction.", "I should then at my leisure have hired a second cab\nand followed the first at a respectful distance, or, better still, have\ndriven to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there.", "When our unknown\nhad followed Baskerville home we should have had the opportunity of\nplaying his own game upon himself and seeing where he made for.", "As\nit is, by an indiscreet eagerness, which was taken advantage of with\nextraordinary quickness and energy by our opponent, we have betrayed\nourselves and lost our man.\"", "We had been sauntering slowly down Regent Street during this\nconversation, and Dr. Mortimer, with his companion, had long vanished in\nfront of us.", "\"There is no object in our following them,\" said Holmes.", "\"The shadow has\ndeparted and will not return.", "We must see what further cards we have\nin our hands and play them with decision.", "Could you swear to that man's\nface within the cab?\"", "\"I could swear only to the beard.\"", "\"And so could I--from which I gather that in all probability it was\na false one.", "A clever man upon so delicate an errand has no use for a\nbeard save to conceal his features.", "Come in here, Watson!\"", "He turned into one of the district messenger offices, where he was\nwarmly greeted by the manager.", "\"Ah, Wilson, I see you have not forgotten the little case in which I had\nthe good fortune to help you?\"", "\"No, sir, indeed I have not.", "You saved my good name, and perhaps my\nlife.\"", "\"My dear fellow, you exaggerate.", "I have some recollection, Wilson, that\nyou had among your boys a lad named Cartwright, who showed some ability\nduring the investigation.\"", "\"Yes, sir, he is still with us.\"", "\"Could you ring him up?--thank you!", "And I should be glad to have change\nof this five-pound note.\"", "A lad of fourteen, with a bright, keen face, had obeyed the summons\nof the manager.", "He stood now gazing with great reverence at the famous\ndetective.", "\"Let me have the Hotel Directory,\" said Holmes.", "\"Thank you!", "Now,\nCartwright, there are the names of twenty-three hotels here, all in the\nimmediate neighbourhood of Charing Cross.", "Do you see?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"You will visit each of these in turn.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"You will begin in each case by giving the outside porter one shilling.", "Here are twenty-three shillings.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"You will tell him that you want to see the waste-paper of yesterday.", "You will say that an important telegram has miscarried and that you are\nlooking for it.", "You understand?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"But what you are really looking for is the centre page of the Times\nwith some holes cut in it with scissors.", "Here is a copy of the Times.", "It\nis this page.", "You could easily recognize it, could you not?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"In each case the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to whom\nalso you will give a shilling.", "Here are twenty-three shillings.", "You will\nthen learn in possibly twenty cases out of the twenty-three that the\nwaste of the day before has been burned or removed.", "In the three other\ncases you will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page\nof the Times among it.", "The odds are enormously against your finding\nit.", "There are ten shillings over in case of emergencies.", "Let me have a\nreport by wire at Baker Street before evening.", "And now, Watson, it only\nremains for us to find out by wire the identity of the cabman, No.", "2704,\nand then we will drop into one of the Bond Street picture galleries and\nfill in the time until we are due at the hotel.\"" ]

[ "The word \"moor\" only was printed in ink.", "\"Well, now--so it is!\"", "\"But how?\"", "Halloa!", "That was why I put\nthem out.\"", "\"Why should I not go?\"", "Then he dashed\nin wild pursuit amid the stream of the traffic, but the start was too\ngreat, and already the cab was out of sight.", "When our unknown\nhad followed Baskerville home we should have had the opportunity of\nplaying his own game upon himself and seeing where he made for.", "\"You will visit each of these in turn.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"" ]

[ "\"Because that is my special hobby.", "\"You will tell him that you want to see the waste-paper of yesterday.", "\"Now,\" said Sir Henry Baskerville, \"perhaps you will tell me, Mr.\nHolmes, what in thunder is the meaning of that, and who it is that takes\nso much interest in my affairs?\"", "Halloa!", "In an instant Holmes had changed from the languid dreamer to\nthe man of action.", "\"No, I confess that I see no connection.\"", "Dr. Mortimer here went round with me.", "\"Is that convenient to you, Watson?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "Then, still keeping a hundred yards behind, we\nfollowed into Oxford Street and so down Regent Street." ]

[ "That was why I put\nthem out.\"", "\"Then I understand that on your arrival in London yesterday you went out\nat once and bought a pair of boots?\"", "\"I did a good deal of shopping.", "Dr. Mortimer here went round with me.", "You see, if I am to be squire down there I must dress the part, and\nit may be that I have got a little careless in my ways out West.", "Among\nother things I bought these brown boots--gave six dollars for them--and\nhad one stolen before ever I had them on my feet.\"", "\"It seems a singularly useless thing to steal,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"I confess that I share Dr. Mortimer's belief that it will not be long\nbefore the missing boot is found.\"", "\"And, now, gentlemen,\" said the baronet with decision, \"it seems to me\nthat I have spoken quite enough about the little that I know.", "It is time\nthat you kept your promise and gave me a full account of what we are all\ndriving at.\"", "\"Your request is a very reasonable one,\" Holmes answered." ]

[ "\n\n\nOur breakfast table was cleared early, and Holmes waited in his\ndressing-gown for the promised interview.", "Our clients were punctual to\ntheir appointment, for the clock had just struck ten when Dr. Mortimer\nwas shown up, followed by the young baronet.", "The latter was a small,\nalert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built,\nwith thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face.", "He wore a\nruddy-tinted tweed suit and had the weather-beaten appearance of one who\nhas spent most of his time in the open air, and yet there was something\nin his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing which indicated\nthe gentleman.", "\"This is Sir Henry Baskerville,\" said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"Why, yes,\" said he, \"and the strange thing is, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,\nthat if my friend here had not proposed coming round to you this morning\nI should have come on my own account.", "I understand that you think out\nlittle puzzles, and I've had one this morning which wants more thinking\nout than I am able to give it.\"", "\"Pray take a seat, Sir Henry.", "Do I understand you to say that you have\nyourself had some remarkable experience since you arrived in London?\"", "\"Nothing of much importance, Mr. Holmes.", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"In each case the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to whom\nalso you will give a shilling.", "Here are twenty-three shillings.", "You will\nthen learn in possibly twenty cases out of the twenty-three that the\nwaste of the day before has been burned or removed.", "In the three other\ncases you will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page\nof the Times among it.", "The odds are enormously against your finding\nit.", "There are ten shillings over in case of emergencies.", "Let me have a\nreport by wire at Baker Street before evening.", "And now, Watson, it only\nremains for us to find out by wire the identity of the cabman, No.", "2704,\nand then we will drop into one of the Bond Street picture galleries and\nfill in the time until we are due at the hotel.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nSherlock Holmes had, in a very remarkable degree, the power of detaching\nhis mind at will.", "For two hours the strange business in which we had\nbeen involved appeared to be forgotten, and he was entirely absorbed in\nthe pictures of the modern Belgian masters.", "He would talk of nothing\nbut art, of which he had the crudest ideas, from our leaving the gallery\nuntil we found ourselves at the Northumberland Hotel.", "\"Sir Henry Baskerville is upstairs expecting you,\" said the clerk.", "\"He\nasked me to show you up at once when you came.\"", "\"Have you any objection to my looking at your register?\"", "said Holmes.", "\"Not in the least.\"", "The book showed that two names had been added after that of Baskerville.", "One was Theophilus Johnson and family, of Newcastle; the other Mrs.\nOldmore and maid, of High Lodge, Alton.", "\"Surely that must be the same Johnson whom I used to know,\" said Holmes\nto the porter.", "\"A lawyer, is he not, gray-headed, and walks with a\nlimp?\"", "\"No, sir, this is Mr. Johnson, the coal-owner, a very active gentleman,\nnot older than yourself.\"", "\"Surely you are mistaken about his trade?\"", "\"No, sir!", "he has used this hotel for many years, and he is very well\nknown to us.\"", "\"Ah, that settles it.", "Mrs. Oldmore, too; I seem to remember the name.", "Excuse my curiosity, but often in calling upon one friend one finds\nanother.\"", "\"She is an invalid lady, sir.", "Her husband was once mayor of Gloucester.", "She always comes to us when she is in town.\"", "\"Thank you; I am afraid I cannot claim her acquaintance.", "We have\nestablished a most important fact by these questions, Watson,\" he\ncontinued in a low voice as we went upstairs together.", "\"We know now that\nthe people who are so interested in our friend have not settled down\nin his own hotel.", "That means that while they are, as we have seen, very\nanxious to watch him, they are equally anxious that he should not see\nthem.", "Now, this is a most suggestive fact.\"", "\"What does it suggest?\"", "\"It suggests--halloa, my dear fellow, what on earth is the matter?\"", "As we came round the top of the stairs we had run up against Sir Henry\nBaskerville himself.", "His face was flushed with anger, and he held an old\nand dusty boot in one of his hands.", "So furious was he that he was hardly\narticulate, and when he did speak it was in a much broader and more\nWestern dialect than any which we had heard from him in the morning.", "\"Seems to me they are playing me for a sucker in this hotel,\" he cried.", "\"They'll find they've started in to monkey with the wrong man unless\nthey are careful.", "By thunder, if that chap can't find my missing boot\nthere will be trouble.", "I can take a joke with the best, Mr. Holmes, but\nthey've got a bit over the mark this time.\"", "\"Still looking for your boot?\"", "\"Yes, sir, and mean to find it.\"", "\"But, surely, you said that it was a new brown boot?\"", "\"So it was, sir.", "And now it's an old black one.\"", "\"What!", "you don't mean to say--?\"", "\"That's just what I do mean to say.", "I only had three pairs in the\nworld--the new brown, the old black, and the patent leathers, which I am\nwearing.", "Last night they took one of my brown ones, and today they have\nsneaked one of the black.", "Well, have you got it?", "Speak out, man, and\ndon't stand staring!\"", "An agitated German waiter had appeared upon the scene.", "\"No, sir; I have made inquiry all over the hotel, but I can hear no word\nof it.\"", "\"Well, either that boot comes back before sundown or I'll see the\nmanager and tell him that I go right straight out of this hotel.\"", "\"It shall be found, sir--I promise you that if you will have a little\npatience it will be found.\"", "\"Mind it is, for it's the last thing of mine that I'll lose in this den\nof thieves.", "Well, well, Mr. Holmes, you'll excuse my troubling you about\nsuch a trifle--\"\n\n\"I think it's well worth troubling about.\"", "\"Why, you look very serious over it.\"", "\"How do you explain it?\"", "\"I just don't attempt to explain it.", "It seems the very maddest, queerest\nthing that ever happened to me.\"", "\"The queerest perhaps--\" said Holmes thoughtfully.", "\"What do you make of it yourself?\"", "\"Well, I don't profess to understand it yet.", "This case of yours is very\ncomplex, Sir Henry.", "When taken in conjunction with your uncle's death\nI am not sure that of all the five hundred cases of capital importance\nwhich I have handled there is one which cuts so deep.", "But we hold\nseveral threads in our hands, and the odds are that one or other of them\nguides us to the truth.", "We may waste time in following the wrong one,\nbut sooner or later we must come upon the right.\"", "We had a pleasant luncheon in which little was said of the business\nwhich had brought us together.", "It was in the private sitting-room to\nwhich we afterwards repaired that Holmes asked Baskerville what were his\nintentions.", "\"To go to Baskerville Hall.\"", "\"And when?\"", "\"At the end of the week.\"", "\"On the whole,\" said Holmes, \"I think that your decision is a wise one.", "I have ample evidence that you are being dogged in London, and amid the\nmillions of this great city it is difficult to discover who these people\nare or what their object can be.", "If their intentions are evil they might\ndo you a mischief, and we should be powerless to prevent it.", "You did not\nknow, Dr. Mortimer, that you were followed this morning from my house?\"", "Dr. Mortimer started violently.", "\"Followed!", "By whom?\"", "\"That, unfortunately, is what I cannot tell you.", "Have you among your\nneighbours or acquaintances on Dartmoor any man with a black, full\nbeard?\"", "\"No--or, let me see--why, yes.", "Barrymore, Sir Charles's butler, is a man\nwith a full, black beard.\"", "\"Ha!", "Where is Barrymore?\"", "\"He is in charge of the Hall.\"", "\"We had best ascertain if he is really there, or if by any possibility\nhe might be in London.\"", "\"How can you do that?\"", "\"Give me a telegraph form.", "'Is all ready for Sir Henry?'", "That will\ndo.", "Address to Mr. Barrymore, Baskerville Hall.", "What is the nearest\ntelegraph-office?", "Grimpen.", "Very good, we will send a second wire to the\npostmaster, Grimpen: 'Telegram to Mr. Barrymore to be delivered into\nhis own hand.", "If absent, please return wire to Sir Henry Baskerville,\nNorthumberland Hotel.'", "That should let us know before evening whether\nBarrymore is at his post in Devonshire or not.\"", "\"That's so,\" said Baskerville.", "\"By the way, Dr. Mortimer, who is this\nBarrymore, anyhow?\"", "\"He is the son of the old caretaker, who is dead.", "They have looked after\nthe Hall for four generations now.", "So far as I know, he and his wife are\nas respectable a couple as any in the county.\"", "\"At the same time,\" said Baskerville, \"it's clear enough that so long as\nthere are none of the family at the Hall these people have a mighty fine\nhome and nothing to do.\"", "\"That is true.\"", "\"Did Barrymore profit at all by Sir Charles's will?\"", "asked Holmes.", "\"He and his wife had five hundred pounds each.\"", "\"Ha!", "Did they know that they would receive this?\"", "\"Yes; Sir Charles was very fond of talking about the provisions of his\nwill.\"", "\"That is very interesting.\"", "\"I hope,\" said Dr. Mortimer, \"that you do not look with suspicious eyes\nupon everyone who received a legacy from Sir Charles, for I also had a\nthousand pounds left to me.\"", "\"Indeed!", "And anyone else?\"", "\"There were many insignificant sums to individuals, and a large number\nof public charities.", "The residue all went to Sir Henry.\"", "\"And how much was the residue?\"", "\"Seven hundred and forty thousand pounds.\"", "Holmes raised his eyebrows in surprise.", "\"I had no idea that so gigantic\na sum was involved,\" said he.", "\"Sir Charles had the reputation of being rich, but we did not know how\nvery rich he was until we came to examine his securities.", "The total\nvalue of the estate was close on to a million.\"", "\"Dear me!", "It is a stake for which a man might well play a desperate\ngame.", "And one more question, Dr. Mortimer.", "Supposing that anything\nhappened to our young friend here--you will forgive the unpleasant\nhypothesis!--who would inherit the estate?\"", "\"Since Rodger Baskerville, Sir Charles's younger brother died unmarried,\nthe estate would descend to the Desmonds, who are distant cousins.", "James\nDesmond is an elderly clergyman in Westmoreland.\"", "\"Thank you.", "These details are all of great interest.", "Have you met Mr.\nJames Desmond?\"", "\"Yes; he once came down to visit Sir Charles.", "He is a man of venerable\nappearance and of saintly life.", "I remember that he refused to accept any\nsettlement from Sir Charles, though he pressed it upon him.\"", "\"And this man of simple tastes would be the heir to Sir Charles's\nthousands.\"", "\"He would be the heir to the estate because that is entailed.", "He would\nalso be the heir to the money unless it were willed otherwise by the\npresent owner, who can, of course, do what he likes with it.\"", "\"And have you made your will, Sir Henry?\"", "\"No, Mr. Holmes, I have not.", "I've had no time, for it was only yesterday\nthat I learned how matters stood.", "But in any case I feel that the money\nshould go with the title and estate.", "That was my poor uncle's idea.", "How\nis the owner going to restore the glories of the Baskervilles if he has\nnot money enough to keep up the property?", "House, land, and dollars must\ngo together.\"", "\"Quite so.", "Well, Sir Henry, I am of one mind with you as to the\nadvisability of your going down to Devonshire without delay.", "There is\nonly one provision which I must make.", "You certainly must not go alone.\"", "\"Dr. Mortimer returns with me.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles\naway from yours.", "With all the goodwill in the world he may be unable to\nhelp you.", "No, Sir Henry, you must take with you someone, a trusty man,\nwho will be always by your side.\"", "\"Is it possible that you could come yourself, Mr.", "Holmes?\"", "\"If matters came to a crisis I should endeavour to be present in person;\nbut you can understand that, with my extensive consulting practice\nand with the constant appeals which reach me from many quarters, it is\nimpossible for me to be absent from London for an indefinite time.", "At\nthe present instant one of the most revered names in England is being\nbesmirched by a blackmailer, and only I can stop a disastrous scandal.", "You will see how impossible it is for me to go to Dartmoor.\"", "\"Whom would you recommend, then?\"", "Holmes laid his hand upon my arm.", "\"If my friend would undertake it there\nis no man who is better worth having at your side when you are in a\ntight place.", "No one can say so more confidently than I.\"", "The proposition took me completely by surprise, but before I had time to\nanswer, Baskerville seized me by the hand and wrung it heartily.", "\"Well, now, that is real kind of you, Dr. Watson,\" said he.", "\"You see how\nit is with me, and you know just as much about the matter as I do.", "If\nyou will come down to Baskerville Hall and see me through I'll never\nforget it.\"", "The promise of adventure had always a fascination for me, and I was\ncomplimented by the words of Holmes and by the eagerness with which the\nbaronet hailed me as a companion.", "\"I will come, with pleasure,\" said I.", "\"I do not know how I could employ\nmy time better.\"", "\"And you will report very carefully to me,\" said Holmes.", "\"When a crisis\ncomes, as it will do, I will direct how you shall act.", "I suppose that by\nSaturday all might be ready?\"", "\"Would that suit Dr.", "Watson?\"", "\"Perfectly.\"", "\"Then on Saturday, unless you hear to the contrary, we shall meet at the\nten-thirty train from Paddington.\"", "We had risen to depart when Baskerville gave a cry, of triumph, and\ndiving into one of the corners of the room he drew a brown boot from\nunder a cabinet.", "\"My missing boot!\"", "he cried.", "\"May all our difficulties vanish as easily!\"", "said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"But it is a very singular thing,\" Dr. Mortimer remarked.", "\"I searched\nthis room carefully before lunch.\"", "\"And so did I,\" said Baskerville.", "\"Every inch of it.\"", "\"There was certainly no boot in it then.\"", "\"In that case the waiter must have placed it there while we were\nlunching.\"", "The German was sent for but professed to know nothing of the matter,\nnor could any inquiry clear it up.", "Another item had been added to that\nconstant and apparently purposeless series of small mysteries which had\nsucceeded each other so rapidly.", "Setting aside the whole grim story of\nSir Charles's death, we had a line of inexplicable incidents all within\nthe limits of two days, which included the receipt of the printed\nletter, the black-bearded spy in the hansom, the loss of the new brown\nboot, the loss of the old black boot, and now the return of the new\nbrown boot.", "Holmes sat in silence in the cab as we drove back to Baker\nStreet, and I knew from his drawn brows and keen face that his mind,\nlike my own, was busy in endeavouring to frame some scheme into which\nall these strange and apparently disconnected episodes could be fitted.", "All afternoon and late into the evening he sat lost in tobacco and\nthought.", "Just before dinner two telegrams were handed in.", "The first ran:\n\nHave just heard that Barrymore is at the Hall.", "BASKERVILLE.", "The second:\n\nVisited twenty-three hotels as directed, but sorry, to report unable to\ntrace cut sheet of Times.", "CARTWRIGHT.", "\"There go two of my threads, Watson.", "There is nothing more stimulating\nthan a case where everything goes against you.", "We must cast round for\nanother scent.\"", "\"We have still the cabman who drove the spy.\"", "\"Exactly.", "I have wired to get his name and address from the Official\nRegistry.", "I should not be surprised if this were an answer to my\nquestion.\"", "The ring at the bell proved to be something even more satisfactory\nthan an answer, however, for the door opened and a rough-looking fellow\nentered who was evidently the man himself.", "\"I got a message from the head office that a gent at this address had\nbeen inquiring for No.", "2704,\" said he.", "\"I've driven my cab this seven\nyears and never a word of complaint.", "I came here straight from the Yard\nto ask you to your face what you had against me.\"", "\"I have nothing in the world against you, my good man,\" said Holmes.", "\"On the contrary, I have half a sovereign for you if you will give me a\nclear answer to my questions.\"", "\"Well, I've had a good day and no mistake,\" said the cabman with a grin.", "\"What was it you wanted to ask, sir?\"", "\"First of all your name and address, in case I want you again.\"", "\"John Clayton, 3 Turpey Street, the Borough.", "My cab is out of Shipley's\nYard, near Waterloo Station.\"", "Sherlock Holmes made a note of it.", "\"Now, Clayton, tell me all about the fare who came and watched this\nhouse at ten o'clock this morning and afterwards followed the two\ngentlemen down Regent Street.\"", "The man looked surprised and a little embarrassed.", "\"Why, there's no good\nmy telling you things, for you seem to know as much as I do already,\"\nsaid he.", "\"The truth is that the gentleman told me that he was a\ndetective and that I was to say nothing about him to anyone.\"", "\"My good fellow; this is a very serious business, and you may find\nyourself in a pretty bad position if you try to hide anything from me.", "You say that your fare told you that he was a detective?\"", "\"Yes, he did.\"", "\"When did he say this?\"", "\"When he left me.\"", "\"Did he say anything more?\"", "\"He mentioned his name.\"", "Holmes cast a swift glance of triumph at me.", "\"Oh, he mentioned his name,\ndid he?", "That was imprudent.", "What was the name that he mentioned?\"", "\"His name,\" said the cabman, \"was Mr. Sherlock Holmes.\"", "Never have I seen my friend more completely taken aback than by the\ncabman's reply.", "For an instant he sat in silent amazement.", "Then he burst\ninto a hearty laugh.", "\"A touch, Watson--an undeniable touch!\"", "said he.", "\"I feel a foil as quick\nand supple as my own.", "He got home upon me very prettily that time.", "So\nhis name was Sherlock Holmes, was it?\"", "\"Yes, sir, that was the gentleman's name.\"", "\"Excellent!", "Tell me where you picked him up and all that occurred.\"", "\"He hailed me at half-past nine in Trafalgar Square.", "He said that he was\na detective, and he offered me two guineas if I would do exactly what he\nwanted all day and ask no questions.", "I was glad enough to agree.", "First\nwe drove down to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there until two\ngentlemen came out and took a cab from the rank.", "We followed their cab\nuntil it pulled up somewhere near here.\"", "\"This very door,\" said Holmes.", "\"Well, I couldn't be sure of that, but I dare say my fare knew all about\nit.", "We pulled up halfway down the street and waited an hour and a half.", "Then the two gentlemen passed us, walking, and we followed down Baker\nStreet and along--\"\n\n\"I know,\" said Holmes.", "\"Until we got three-quarters down Regent Street.", "Then my gentleman threw\nup the trap, and he cried that I should drive right away to Waterloo\nStation as hard as I could go.", "I whipped up the mare and we were there\nunder the ten minutes.", "Then he paid up his two guineas, like a good one,\nand away he went into the station.", "Only just as he was leaving he turned\nround and he said: 'It might interest you to know that you have been\ndriving Mr. Sherlock Holmes.'", "That's how I come to know the name.\"", "\"I see.", "And you saw no more of him?\"", "\"Not after he went into the station.\"", "\"And how would you describe Mr. Sherlock Holmes?\"", "The cabman scratched his head.", "\"Well, he wasn't altogether such an easy\ngentleman to describe.", "I'd put him at forty years of age, and he was\nof a middle height, two or three inches shorter than you, sir.", "He was\ndressed like a toff, and he had a black beard, cut square at the end,\nand a pale face.", "I don't know as I could say more than that.\"", "\"Colour of his eyes?\"", "\"No, I can't say that.\"", "\"Nothing more that you can remember?\"", "\"No, sir; nothing.\"", "\"Well, then, here is your half-sovereign.", "There's another one waiting\nfor you if you can bring any more information.", "Good-night!\"", "\"Good-night, sir, and thank you!\"", "John Clayton departed chuckling, and Holmes turned to me with a shrug of\nhis shoulders and a rueful smile.", "\"Snap goes our third thread, and we end where we began,\" said he.", "\"The\ncunning rascal!", "He knew our number, knew that Sir Henry Baskerville had\nconsulted me, spotted who I was in Regent Street, conjectured that I had\ngot the number of the cab and would lay my hands on the driver, and so\nsent back this audacious message.", "I tell you, Watson, this time we have\ngot a foeman who is worthy of our steel.", "I've been checkmated in London.", "I can only wish you better luck in Devonshire.", "But I'm not easy in my\nmind about it.\"", "\"About what?\"", "\"About sending you.", "It's an ugly business, Watson, an ugly dangerous\nbusiness, and the more I see of it the less I like it.", "Yes, my dear\nfellow, you may laugh, but I give you my word that I shall be very glad\nto have you back safe and sound in Baker Street once more.\"" ]

[ "I only had three pairs in the\nworld--the new brown, the old black, and the patent leathers, which I am\nwearing.", "\"How do you explain it?\"", "\"And this man of simple tastes would be the heir to Sir Charles's\nthousands.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles\naway from yours.", "If\nyou will come down to Baskerville Hall and see me through I'll never\nforget it.\"", "\"Every inch of it.\"", "\"My good fellow; this is a very serious business, and you may find\nyourself in a pretty bad position if you try to hide anything from me.", "\"Well, I couldn't be sure of that, but I dare say my fare knew all about\nit.", "\"Well, then, here is your half-sovereign.", "There's another one waiting\nfor you if you can bring any more information." ]

[ "We may waste time in following the wrong one,\nbut sooner or later we must come upon the right.\"", "There is\nonly one provision which I must make.", "said he.", "\"And you will report very carefully to me,\" said Holmes.", "\"I feel a foil as quick\nand supple as my own.", "\"And this man of simple tastes would be the heir to Sir Charles's\nthousands.\"", "\"Surely you are mistaken about his trade?\"", "\"When he left me.\"", "It seems the very maddest, queerest\nthing that ever happened to me.\"", "Sherlock Holmes made a note of it." ]

[ "I've had no time, for it was only yesterday\nthat I learned how matters stood.", "But in any case I feel that the money\nshould go with the title and estate.", "That was my poor uncle's idea.", "How\nis the owner going to restore the glories of the Baskervilles if he has\nnot money enough to keep up the property?", "House, land, and dollars must\ngo together.\"", "\"Quite so.", "Well, Sir Henry, I am of one mind with you as to the\nadvisability of your going down to Devonshire without delay.", "There is\nonly one provision which I must make.", "You certainly must not go alone.\"", "\"Dr. Mortimer returns with me.\"", "\"But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles\naway from yours." ]

[ "\n\n\nSherlock Holmes had, in a very remarkable degree, the power of detaching\nhis mind at will.", "For two hours the strange business in which we had\nbeen involved appeared to be forgotten, and he was entirely absorbed in\nthe pictures of the modern Belgian masters.", "He would talk of nothing\nbut art, of which he had the crudest ideas, from our leaving the gallery\nuntil we found ourselves at the Northumberland Hotel.", "\"Sir Henry Baskerville is upstairs expecting you,\" said the clerk.", "\"He\nasked me to show you up at once when you came.\"", "\"Have you any objection to my looking at your register?\"", "said Holmes.", "\"Not in the least.\"", "The book showed that two names had been added after that of Baskerville.", "One was Theophilus Johnson and family, of Newcastle; the other Mrs.\nOldmore and maid, of High Lodge, Alton.", "\"The\ncunning rascal!", "He knew our number, knew that Sir Henry Baskerville had\nconsulted me, spotted who I was in Regent Street, conjectured that I had\ngot the number of the cab and would lay my hands on the driver, and so\nsent back this audacious message.", "I tell you, Watson, this time we have\ngot a foeman who is worthy of our steel.", "I've been checkmated in London.", "I can only wish you better luck in Devonshire.", "But I'm not easy in my\nmind about it.\"", "\"About what?\"", "\"About sending you.", "It's an ugly business, Watson, an ugly dangerous\nbusiness, and the more I see of it the less I like it.", "Yes, my dear\nfellow, you may laugh, but I give you my word that I shall be very glad\nto have you back safe and sound in Baker Street once more.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nSir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed\nday, and we started as arranged for Devonshire.", "Mr. Sherlock Holmes\ndrove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions\nand advice.", "\"I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions,\nWatson,\" said he; \"I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest\npossible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing.\"", "\"What sort of facts?\"", "I asked.", "\"Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the\ncase, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his\nneighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles.", "I have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results\nhave, I fear, been negative.", "One thing only appears to be certain, and\nthat is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly\ngentleman of a very amiable disposition, so that this persecution does\nnot arise from him.", "I really think that we may eliminate him entirely\nfrom our calculations.", "There remain the people who will actually\nsurround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor.\"", "\"Would it not be well in the first place to get rid of this Barrymore\ncouple?\"", "\"By no means.", "You could not make a greater mistake.", "If they are innocent\nit would be a cruel injustice, and if they are guilty we should be\ngiving up all chance of bringing it home to them.", "No, no, we will\npreserve them upon our list of suspects.", "Then there is a groom at the\nHall, if I remember right.", "There are two moorland farmers.", "There is our\nfriend Dr. Mortimer, whom I believe to be entirely honest, and there is\nhis wife, of whom we know nothing.", "There is this naturalist, Stapleton,\nand there is his sister, who is said to be a young lady of attractions.", "There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown factor,\nand there are one or two other neighbours.", "These are the folk who must\nbe your very special study.\"", "\"I will do my best.\"", "\"You have arms, I suppose?\"", "\"Yes, I thought it as well to take them.\"", "\"Most certainly.", "Keep your revolver near you night and day, and never\nrelax your precautions.\"", "Our friends had already secured a first-class carriage and were waiting\nfor us upon the platform.", "\"No, we have no news of any kind,\" said Dr. Mortimer in answer to my\nfriend's questions.", "\"I can swear to one thing, and that is that we\nhave not been shadowed during the last two days.", "We have never gone\nout without keeping a sharp watch, and no one could have escaped our\nnotice.\"", "\"You have always kept together, I presume?\"", "\"Except yesterday afternoon.", "I usually give up one day to pure amusement\nwhen I come to town, so I spent it at the Museum of the College of\nSurgeons.\"", "\"And I went to look at the folk in the park,\" said Baskerville.", "\"But we had no trouble of any kind.\"", "\"It was imprudent, all the same,\" said Holmes, shaking his head and\nlooking very grave.", "\"I beg, Sir Henry, that you will not go about alone.", "Some great misfortune will befall you if you do.", "Did you get your other\nboot?\"", "\"No, sir, it is gone forever.\"", "\"Indeed.", "That is very interesting.", "Well, good-bye,\" he added as the\ntrain began to glide down the platform.", "\"Bear in mind, Sir Henry, one of\nthe phrases in that queer old legend which Dr. Mortimer has read to us,\nand avoid the moor in those hours of darkness when the powers of evil\nare exalted.\"", "I looked back at the platform when we had left it far behind and saw the\ntall, austere figure of Holmes standing motionless and gazing after us.", "The journey was a swift and pleasant one, and I spent it in making the\nmore intimate acquaintance of my two companions and in playing with\nDr. Mortimer's spaniel.", "In a very few hours the brown earth had\nbecome ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and red cows grazed in\nwell-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more luxuriant vegetation\nspoke of a richer, if a damper, climate.", "Young Baskerville stared\neagerly out of the window and cried aloud with delight as he recognized\nthe familiar features of the Devon scenery.", "\"I've been over a good part of the world since I left it, Dr. Watson,\"\nsaid he; \"but I have never seen a place to compare with it.\"", "\"I never saw a Devonshire man who did not swear by his county,\" I\nremarked.", "\"It depends upon the breed of men quite as much as on the county,\" said\nDr. Mortimer.", "\"A glance at our friend here reveals the rounded head of\nthe Celt, which carries inside it the Celtic enthusiasm and power\nof attachment.", "Poor Sir Charles's head was of a very rare type, half\nGaelic, half Ivernian in its characteristics.", "But you were very young\nwhen you last saw Baskerville Hall, were you not?\"", "\"I was a boy in my teens at the time of my father's death and had never\nseen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage on the South Coast.", "Thence I went straight to a friend in America.", "I tell you it is all as\nnew to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I'm as keen as possible to see the\nmoor.\"", "\"Are you?", "Then your wish is easily granted, for there is your first\nsight of the moor,\" said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage\nwindow.", "Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there\nrose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged\nsummit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in\na dream.", "Baskerville sat for a long time, his eyes fixed upon it, and I\nread upon his eager face how much it meant to him, this first sight of\nthat strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway so long\nand left their mark so deep.", "There he sat, with his tweed suit and his\nAmerican accent, in the corner of a prosaic railway-carriage, and yet as\nI looked at his dark and expressive face I felt more than ever how\ntrue a descendant he was of that long line of high-blooded, fiery,\nand masterful men.", "There were pride, valour, and strength in his thick\nbrows, his sensitive nostrils, and his large hazel eyes.", "If on that\nforbidding moor a difficult and dangerous quest should lie before us,\nthis was at least a comrade for whom one might venture to take a risk\nwith the certainty that he would bravely share it.", "The train pulled up at a small wayside station and we all descended.", "Outside, beyond the low, white fence, a wagonette with a pair of cobs\nwas waiting.", "Our coming was evidently a great event, for station-master\nand porters clustered round us to carry out our luggage.", "It was a sweet,\nsimple country spot, but I was surprised to observe that by the gate\nthere stood two soldierly men in dark uniforms who leaned upon their\nshort rifles and glanced keenly at us as we passed.", "The coachman, a\nhard-faced, gnarled little fellow, saluted Sir Henry Baskerville, and in\na few minutes we were flying swiftly down the broad, white road.", "Rolling\npasture lands curved upward on either side of us, and old gabled houses\npeeped out from amid the thick green foliage, but behind the peaceful\nand sunlit countryside there rose ever, dark against the evening sky,\nthe long, gloomy curve of the moor, broken by the jagged and sinister\nhills.", "The wagonette swung round into a side road, and we curved upward through\ndeep lanes worn by centuries of wheels, high banks on either side, heavy\nwith dripping moss and fleshy hart's-tongue ferns.", "Bronzing bracken and\nmottled bramble gleamed in the light of the sinking sun.", "Still steadily\nrising, we passed over a narrow granite bridge and skirted a noisy\nstream which gushed swiftly down, foaming and roaring amid the gray\nboulders.", "Both road and stream wound up through a valley dense with\nscrub oak and fir.", "At every turn Baskerville gave an exclamation of\ndelight, looking eagerly about him and asking countless questions.", "To\nhis eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon\nthe countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year.", "Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we\npassed.", "The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of\nrotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw\nbefore the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.", "\"Halloa!\"", "cried Dr. Mortimer, \"what is this?\"", "A steep curve of heath-clad land, an outlying spur of the moor, lay in\nfront of us.", "On the summit, hard and clear like an equestrian statue\nupon its pedestal, was a mounted soldier, dark and stern, his rifle\npoised ready over his forearm.", "He was watching the road along which we\ntravelled.", "\"What is this, Perkins?\"", "asked Dr. Mortimer.", "Our driver half turned in his seat.", "\"There's a convict escaped from\nPrincetown, sir.", "He's been out three days now, and the warders watch\nevery road and every station, but they've had no sight of him yet.", "The\nfarmers about here don't like it, sir, and that's a fact.\"", "\"Well, I understand that they get five pounds if they can give\ninformation.\"", "\"Yes, sir, but the chance of five pounds is but a poor thing compared\nto the chance of having your throat cut.", "You see, it isn't like any\nordinary convict.", "This is a man that would stick at nothing.\"", "\"Who is he, then?\"", "\"It is Selden, the Notting Hill murderer.\"", "I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an\ninterest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the\nwanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin.", "The\ncommutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his\ncomplete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct.", "Our wagonette had topped\na rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled\nwith gnarled and craggy cairns and tors.", "A cold wind swept down from\nit and set us shivering.", "Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was\nlurking this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow like a wild beast, his\nheart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him out.", "It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren\nwaste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky.", "Even Baskerville fell\nsilent and pulled his overcoat more closely around him.", "We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us.", "We looked back on\nit now, the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of\ngold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad\ntangle of the woodlands.", "The road in front of us grew bleaker and wilder\nover huge russet and olive slopes, sprinkled with giant boulders.", "Now\nand then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone,\nwith no creeper to break its harsh outline.", "Suddenly we looked down into\na cuplike depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been\ntwisted and bent by the fury of years of storm.", "Two high, narrow towers\nrose over the trees.", "The driver pointed with his whip.", "\"Baskerville Hall,\" said he.", "Its master had risen and was staring with flushed cheeks and shining\neyes.", "A few minutes later we had reached the lodge-gates, a maze of\nfantastic tracery in wrought iron, with weather-bitten pillars on either\nside, blotched with lichens, and surmounted by the boars' heads of the\nBaskervilles.", "The lodge was a ruin of black granite and bared ribs of\nrafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed, the first\nfruit of Sir Charles's South African gold.", "Through the gateway we passed into the avenue, where the wheels were\nagain hushed amid the leaves, and the old trees shot their branches in a\nsombre tunnel over our heads.", "Baskerville shuddered as he looked up\nthe long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the\nfarther end.", "\"Was it here?\"", "he asked in a low voice.", "\"No, no, the yew alley is on the other side.\"", "The young heir glanced round with a gloomy face.", "\"It's no wonder my uncle felt as if trouble were coming on him in such a\nplace as this,\" said he.", "\"It's enough to scare any man.", "I'll have a row\nof electric lamps up here inside of six months, and you won't know it\nagain, with a thousand candle-power Swan and Edison right here in front\nof the hall door.\"", "The avenue opened into a broad expanse of turf, and the house lay before\nus.", "In the fading light I could see that the centre was a heavy block\nof building from which a porch projected.", "The whole front was draped in\nivy, with a patch clipped bare here and there where a window or a coat\nof arms broke through the dark veil.", "From this central block rose the\ntwin towers, ancient, crenelated, and pierced with many loopholes.", "To\nright and left of the turrets were more modern wings of black granite.", "A dull light shone through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high\nchimneys which rose from the steep, high-angled roof there sprang a\nsingle black column of smoke.", "\"Welcome, Sir Henry!", "Welcome to Baskerville Hall!\"", "A tall man had stepped from the shadow of the porch to open the door of\nthe wagonette.", "The figure of a woman was silhouetted against the yellow\nlight of the hall.", "She came out and helped the man to hand down our\nbags.", "\"You don't mind my driving straight home, Sir Henry?\"", "said Dr. Mortimer.", "\"My wife is expecting me.\"", "\"Surely you will stay and have some dinner?\"", "\"No, I must go.", "I shall probably find some work awaiting me.", "I would\nstay to show you over the house, but Barrymore will be a better guide\nthan I. Good-bye, and never hesitate night or day to send for me if I\ncan be of service.\"", "The wheels died away down the drive while Sir Henry and I turned\ninto the hall, and the door clanged heavily behind us.", "It was a fine\napartment in which we found ourselves, large, lofty, and heavily\nraftered with huge baulks of age-blackened oak.", "In the great\nold-fashioned fireplace behind the high iron dogs a log-fire crackled\nand snapped.", "Sir Henry and I held out our hands to it, for we were numb\nfrom our long drive.", "Then we gazed round us at the high, thin window\nof old stained glass, the oak panelling, the stags' heads, the coats\nof arms upon the walls, all dim and sombre in the subdued light of the\ncentral lamp.", "\"It's just as I imagined it,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"Is it not the very\npicture of an old family home?", "To think that this should be the same\nhall in which for five hundred years my people have lived.", "It strikes me\nsolemn to think of it.\"", "I saw his dark face lit up with a boyish enthusiasm as he gazed about\nhim.", "The light beat upon him where he stood, but long shadows trailed\ndown the walls and hung like a black canopy above him.", "Barrymore had\nreturned from taking our luggage to our rooms.", "He stood in front of\nus now with the subdued manner of a well-trained servant.", "He was a\nremarkable-looking man, tall, handsome, with a square black beard and\npale, distinguished features.", "\"Would you wish dinner to be served at once, sir?\"", "\"Is it ready?\"", "\"In a very few minutes, sir.", "You will find hot water in your rooms.", "My\nwife and I will be happy, Sir Henry, to stay with you until you have\nmade your fresh arrangements, but you will understand that under the new\nconditions this house will require a considerable staff.\"", "\"What new conditions?\"", "\"I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we\nwere able to look after his wants.", "You would, naturally, wish to have\nmore company, and so you will need changes in your household.\"", "\"Do you mean that your wife and you wish to leave?\"", "\"Only when it is quite convenient to you, sir.\"", "\"But your family have been with us for several generations, have they\nnot?", "I should be sorry to begin my life here by breaking an old family\nconnection.\"", "I seemed to discern some signs of emotion upon the butler's white face.", "\"I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife.", "But to tell the truth, sir,\nwe were both very much attached to Sir Charles, and his death gave us\na shock and made these surroundings very painful to us.", "I fear that we\nshall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall.\"", "\"But what do you intend to do?\"", "\"I have no doubt, sir, that we shall succeed in establishing ourselves\nin some business.", "Sir Charles's generosity has given us the means to do\nso.", "And now, sir, perhaps I had best show you to your rooms.\"", "A square balustraded gallery ran round the top of the old hall,\napproached by a double stair.", "From this central point two long corridors\nextended the whole length of the building, from which all the bedrooms\nopened.", "My own was in the same wing as Baskerville's and almost next\ndoor to it.", "These rooms appeared to be much more modern than the\ncentral part of the house, and the bright paper and numerous candles\ndid something to remove the sombre impression which our arrival had left\nupon my mind.", "But the dining-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow\nand gloom.", "It was a long chamber with a step separating the dais where\nthe family sat from the lower portion reserved for their dependents.", "At one end a minstrel's gallery overlooked it.", "Black beams shot across\nabove our heads, with a smoke-darkened ceiling beyond them.", "With rows of\nflaring torches to light it up, and the colour and rude hilarity of\nan old-time banquet, it might have softened; but now, when two\nblack-clothed gentlemen sat in the little circle of light thrown by a\nshaded lamp, one's voice became hushed and one's spirit subdued.", "A\ndim line of ancestors, in every variety of dress, from the Elizabethan\nknight to the buck of the Regency, stared down upon us and daunted us by\ntheir silent company.", "We talked little, and I for one was glad when the\nmeal was over and we were able to retire into the modern billiard-room\nand smoke a cigarette.", "\"My word, it isn't a very cheerful place,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"I suppose\none can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present.", "I don't wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone\nin such a house as this.", "However, if it suits you, we will retire early\ntonight, and perhaps things may seem more cheerful in the morning.\"", "I drew aside my curtains before I went to bed and looked out from my\nwindow.", "It opened upon the grassy space which lay in front of the hall\ndoor.", "Beyond, two copses of trees moaned and swung in a rising wind.", "A\nhalf moon broke through the rifts of racing clouds.", "In its cold light I\nsaw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, low curve\nof the melancholy moor.", "I closed the curtain, feeling that my last\nimpression was in keeping with the rest.", "And yet it was not quite the last.", "I found myself weary and yet wakeful,\ntossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would\nnot come.", "Far away a chiming clock struck out the quarters of the\nhours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house.", "And then\nsuddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my\nears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.", "It was the sob of a woman, the\nmuffled, strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow.", "I sat up in bed and listened intently.", "The noise could not have been\nfar away and was certainly in the house.", "For half an hour I waited with\nevery nerve on the alert, but there came no other sound save the chiming\nclock and the rustle of the ivy on the wall." ]

[ "\"And I went to look at the folk in the park,\" said Baskerville.", "In a very few hours the brown earth had\nbecome ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and red cows grazed in\nwell-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more luxuriant vegetation\nspoke of a richer, if a damper, climate.", "To\nright and left of the turrets were more modern wings of black granite.", "A dull light shone through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high\nchimneys which rose from the steep, high-angled roof there sprang a\nsingle black column of smoke.", "\"You don't mind my driving straight home, Sir Henry?\"", "Then we gazed round us at the high, thin window\nof old stained glass, the oak panelling, the stags' heads, the coats\nof arms upon the walls, all dim and sombre in the subdued light of the\ncentral lamp.", "\"In a very few minutes, sir.", "You will find hot water in your rooms.", "You would, naturally, wish to have\nmore company, and so you will need changes in your household.\"", "\"I suppose\none can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present." ]

[ "\"Welcome, Sir Henry!", "Our wagonette had topped\na rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled\nwith gnarled and craggy cairns and tors.", "Young Baskerville stared\neagerly out of the window and cried aloud with delight as he recognized\nthe familiar features of the Devon scenery.", "At one end a minstrel's gallery overlooked it.", "The lodge was a ruin of black granite and bared ribs of\nrafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed, the first\nfruit of Sir Charles's South African gold.", "\"But your family have been with us for several generations, have they\nnot?", "\"No, no, the yew alley is on the other side.\"", "I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an\ninterest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the\nwanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin.", "\"I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we\nwere able to look after his wants.", "The driver pointed with his whip." ]

[ "The\ncommutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his\ncomplete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct.", "Our wagonette had topped\na rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled\nwith gnarled and craggy cairns and tors.", "A cold wind swept down from\nit and set us shivering.", "Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was\nlurking this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow like a wild beast, his\nheart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him out.", "It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren\nwaste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky.", "Even Baskerville fell\nsilent and pulled his overcoat more closely around him.", "We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us.", "We looked back on\nit now, the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of\ngold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad\ntangle of the woodlands.", "The road in front of us grew bleaker and wilder\nover huge russet and olive slopes, sprinkled with giant boulders.", "Now\nand then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone,\nwith no creeper to break its harsh outline.", "Suddenly we looked down into\na cuplike depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been\ntwisted and bent by the fury of years of storm." ]

[ "\n\n\nSir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed\nday, and we started as arranged for Devonshire.", "Mr. Sherlock Holmes\ndrove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions\nand advice.", "\"I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions,\nWatson,\" said he; \"I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest\npossible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing.\"", "\"What sort of facts?\"", "I asked.", "\"Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the\ncase, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his\nneighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles.", "I have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results\nhave, I fear, been negative.", "One thing only appears to be certain, and\nthat is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly\ngentleman of a very amiable disposition, so that this persecution does\nnot arise from him.", "I really think that we may eliminate him entirely\nfrom our calculations.", "There remain the people who will actually\nsurround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor.\"", "In its cold light I\nsaw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, low curve\nof the melancholy moor.", "I closed the curtain, feeling that my last\nimpression was in keeping with the rest.", "And yet it was not quite the last.", "I found myself weary and yet wakeful,\ntossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would\nnot come.", "Far away a chiming clock struck out the quarters of the\nhours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house.", "And then\nsuddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my\nears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.", "It was the sob of a woman, the\nmuffled, strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow.", "I sat up in bed and listened intently.", "The noise could not have been\nfar away and was certainly in the house.", "For half an hour I waited with\nevery nerve on the alert, but there came no other sound save the chiming\nclock and the rustle of the ivy on the wall." ]

[ "\n\n\nThe fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from\nour minds the grim and gray impression which had been left upon both of\nus by our first experience of Baskerville Hall.", "As Sir Henry and I sat\nat breakfast the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows,\nthrowing watery patches of colour from the coats of arms which covered\nthem.", "The dark panelling glowed like bronze in the golden rays, and it\nwas hard to realize that this was indeed the chamber which had struck\nsuch a gloom into our souls upon the evening before.", "\"I guess it is ourselves and not the house that we have to blame!\"", "said\nthe baronet.", "\"We were tired with our journey and chilled by our drive,\nso we took a gray view of the place.", "Now we are fresh and well, so it is\nall cheerful once more.\"", "\"And yet it was not entirely a question of imagination,\" I answered.", "\"Did you, for example, happen to hear someone, a woman I think, sobbing\nin the night?\"", "\"That is curious, for I did when I was half asleep fancy that I heard\nsomething of the sort.", "I waited quite a time, but there was no more of\nit, so I concluded that it was all a dream.\"", "\"I heard it distinctly, and I am sure that it was really the sob of a\nwoman.\"", "\"We must ask about this right away.\"", "He rang the bell and asked\nBarrymore whether he could account for our experience.", "It seemed to me\nthat the pallid features of the butler turned a shade paler still as he\nlistened to his master's question.", "\"There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry,\" he answered.", "\"One is\nthe scullery-maid, who sleeps in the other wing.", "The other is my wife,\nand I can answer for it that the sound could not have come from her.\"", "And yet he lied as he said it, for it chanced that after breakfast I met\nMrs. Barrymore in the long corridor with the sun full upon her face.", "She\nwas a large, impassive, heavy-featured woman with a stern set expression\nof mouth.", "But her telltale eyes were red and glanced at me from between\nswollen lids.", "It was she, then, who wept in the night, and if she did so\nher husband must know it.", "Yet he had taken the obvious risk of discovery\nin declaring that it was not so.", "Why had he done this?", "And why did she\nweep so bitterly?", "Already round this pale-faced, handsome, black-bearded\nman there was gathering an atmosphere of mystery and of gloom.", "It was he\nwho had been the first to discover the body of Sir Charles, and we had\nonly his word for all the circumstances which led up to the old man's\ndeath.", "Was it possible that it was Barrymore, after all, whom we had\nseen in the cab in Regent Street?", "The beard might well have been the\nsame.", "The cabman had described a somewhat shorter man, but such an\nimpression might easily have been erroneous.", "How could I settle the\npoint forever?", "Obviously the first thing to do was to see the Grimpen\npostmaster and find whether the test telegram had really been placed in\nBarrymore's own hands.", "Be the answer what it might, I should at least\nhave something to report to Sherlock Holmes.", "Sir Henry had numerous papers to examine after breakfast, so that the\ntime was propitious for my excursion.", "It was a pleasant walk of four\nmiles along the edge of the moor, leading me at last to a small gray\nhamlet, in which two larger buildings, which proved to be the inn and\nthe house of Dr. Mortimer, stood high above the rest.", "The postmaster,\nwho was also the village grocer, had a clear recollection of the\ntelegram.", "\"Certainly, sir,\" said he, \"I had the telegram delivered to Mr.\nBarrymore exactly as directed.\"", "\"Who delivered it?\"", "\"My boy here.", "James, you delivered that telegram to Mr. Barrymore at the\nHall last week, did you not?\"", "\"Yes, father, I delivered it.\"", "\"Into his own hands?\"", "I asked.", "\"Well, he was up in the loft at the time, so that I could not put it\ninto his own hands, but I gave it into Mrs. Barrymore's hands, and she\npromised to deliver it at once.\"", "\"Did you see Mr.", "Barrymore?\"", "\"No, sir; I tell you he was in the loft.\"", "\"If you didn't see him, how do you know he was in the loft?\"", "\"Well, surely his own wife ought to know where he is,\" said the\npostmaster testily.", "\"Didn't he get the telegram?", "If there is any mistake\nit is for Mr. Barrymore himself to complain.\"", "It seemed hopeless to pursue the inquiry any farther, but it was clear\nthat in spite of Holmes's ruse we had no proof that Barrymore had not\nbeen in London all the time.", "Suppose that it were so--suppose that the\nsame man had been the last who had seen Sir Charles alive, and the first\nto dog the new heir when he returned to England.", "What then?", "Was he the\nagent of others or had he some sinister design of his own?", "What interest\ncould he have in persecuting the Baskerville family?", "I thought of the\nstrange warning clipped out of the leading article of the Times.", "Was\nthat his work or was it possibly the doing of someone who was bent upon\ncounteracting his schemes?", "The only conceivable motive was that which\nhad been suggested by Sir Henry, that if the family could be scared away\na comfortable and permanent home would be secured for the Barrymores.", "But surely such an explanation as that would be quite inadequate to\naccount for the deep and subtle scheming which seemed to be weaving an\ninvisible net round the young baronet.", "Holmes himself had said that\nno more complex case had come to him in all the long series of his\nsensational investigations.", "I prayed, as I walked back along the gray,\nlonely road, that my friend might soon be freed from his preoccupations\nand able to come down to take this heavy burden of responsibility from\nmy shoulders.", "Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running feet\nbehind me and by a voice which called me by name.", "I turned, expecting to\nsee Dr. Mortimer, but to my surprise it was a stranger who was pursuing\nme.", "He was a small, slim, clean-shaven, prim-faced man, flaxen-haired\nand leanjawed, between thirty and forty years of age, dressed in a gray\nsuit and wearing a straw hat.", "A tin box for botanical specimens hung\nover his shoulder and he carried a green butterfly-net in one of his\nhands.", "\"You will, I am sure, excuse my presumption, Dr. Watson,\" said he as he\ncame panting up to where I stood.", "\"Here on the moor we are homely folk\nand do not wait for formal introductions.", "You may possibly have heard\nmy name from our mutual friend, Mortimer.", "I am Stapleton, of Merripit\nHouse.\"", "\"Your net and box would have told me as much,\" said I, \"for I knew that\nMr. Stapleton was a naturalist.", "But how did you know me?\"", "\"I have been calling on Mortimer, and he pointed you out to me from\nthe window of his surgery as you passed.", "As our road lay the same way I\nthought that I would overtake you and introduce myself.", "I trust that Sir\nHenry is none the worse for his journey?\"", "\"He is very well, thank you.\"", "\"We were all rather afraid that after the sad death of Sir Charles the\nnew baronet might refuse to live here.", "It is asking much of a wealthy\nman to come down and bury himself in a place of this kind, but I need\nnot tell you that it means a very great deal to the countryside.", "Sir\nHenry has, I suppose, no superstitious fears in the matter?\"", "\"I do not think that it is likely.\"", "\"Of course you know the legend of the fiend dog which haunts the\nfamily?\"", "\"I have heard it.\"", "\"It is extraordinary how credulous the peasants are about here!", "Any\nnumber of them are ready to swear that they have seen such a creature\nupon the moor.\"", "He spoke with a smile, but I seemed to read in his eyes\nthat he took the matter more seriously.", "\"The story took a great hold\nupon the imagination of Sir Charles, and I have no doubt that it led to\nhis tragic end.\"", "\"But how?\"", "\"His nerves were so worked up that the appearance of any dog might have\nhad a fatal effect upon his diseased heart.", "I fancy that he really\ndid see something of the kind upon that last night in the yew alley.", "I\nfeared that some disaster might occur, for I was very fond of the old\nman, and I knew that his heart was weak.\"", "\"How did you know that?\"", "\"My friend Mortimer told me.\"", "\"You think, then, that some dog pursued Sir Charles, and that he died of\nfright in consequence?\"", "\"Have you any better explanation?\"", "\"I have not come to any conclusion.\"", "\"Has Mr. Sherlock Holmes?\"", "The words took away my breath for an instant but a glance at the placid\nface and steadfast eyes of my companion showed that no surprise was\nintended.", "\"It is useless for us to pretend that we do not know you, Dr. Watson,\"\nsaid he.", "\"The records of your detective have reached us here, and you\ncould not celebrate him without being known yourself.", "When Mortimer told\nme your name he could not deny your identity.", "If you are here, then it\nfollows that Mr. Sherlock Holmes is interesting himself in the matter,\nand I am naturally curious to know what view he may take.\"", "\"I am afraid that I cannot answer that question.\"", "\"May I ask if he is going to honour us with a visit himself?\"", "\"He cannot leave town at present.", "He has other cases which engage his\nattention.\"", "\"What a pity!", "He might throw some light on that which is so dark to us.", "But as to your own researches, if there is any possible way in which I\ncan be of service to you I trust that you will command me.", "If I had\nany indication of the nature of your suspicions or how you propose to\ninvestigate the case, I might perhaps even now give you some aid or\nadvice.\"", "\"I assure you that I am simply here upon a visit to my friend, Sir\nHenry, and that I need no help of any kind.\"", "\"Excellent!\"", "said Stapleton.", "\"You are perfectly right to be wary and\ndiscreet.", "I am justly reproved for what I feel was an unjustifiable\nintrusion, and I promise you that I will not mention the matter again.\"", "We had come to a point where a narrow grassy path struck off from the\nroad and wound away across the moor.", "A steep, boulder-sprinkled hill lay\nupon the right which had in bygone days been cut into a granite quarry.", "The face which was turned towards us formed a dark cliff, with ferns and\nbrambles growing in its niches.", "From over a distant rise there floated a\ngray plume of smoke.", "\"A moderate walk along this moor-path brings us to Merripit House,\"\nsaid he.", "\"Perhaps you will spare an hour that I may have the pleasure of\nintroducing you to my sister.\"", "My first thought was that I should be by Sir Henry's side.", "But then I\nremembered the pile of papers and bills with which his study table was\nlittered.", "It was certain that I could not help with those.", "And Holmes\nhad expressly said that I should study the neighbours upon the moor.", "I\naccepted Stapleton's invitation, and we turned together down the path.", "\"It is a wonderful place, the moor,\" said he, looking round over the\nundulating downs, long green rollers, with crests of jagged granite\nfoaming up into fantastic surges.", "\"You never tire of the moor.", "You\ncannot think the wonderful secrets which it contains.", "It is so vast, and\nso barren, and so mysterious.\"", "\"You know it well, then?\"", "\"I have only been here two years.", "The residents would call me a\nnewcomer.", "We came shortly after Sir Charles settled.", "But my tastes led\nme to explore every part of the country round, and I should think that\nthere are few men who know it better than I do.\"", "\"Is it hard to know?\"", "\"Very hard.", "You see, for example, this great plain to the north here\nwith the queer hills breaking out of it.", "Do you observe anything\nremarkable about that?\"", "\"It would be a rare place for a gallop.\"", "\"You would naturally think so and the thought has cost several their\nlives before now.", "You notice those bright green spots scattered thickly\nover it?\"", "\"Yes, they seem more fertile than the rest.\"", "Stapleton laughed.", "\"That is the great Grimpen Mire,\" said he.", "\"A false\nstep yonder means death to man or beast.", "Only yesterday I saw one of the\nmoor ponies wander into it.", "He never came out.", "I saw his head for quite\na long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last.", "Even in dry seasons it is a danger to cross it, but after these autumn\nrains it is an awful place.", "And yet I can find my way to the very heart\nof it and return alive.", "By George, there is another of those miserable\nponies!\"", "Something brown was rolling and tossing among the green sedges.", "Then a\nlong, agonized, writhing neck shot upward and a dreadful cry echoed\nover the moor.", "It turned me cold with horror, but my companion's nerves\nseemed to be stronger than mine.", "\"It's gone!\"", "said he.", "\"The mire has him.", "Two in two days, and many more,\nperhaps, for they get in the way of going there in the dry weather and\nnever know the difference until the mire has them in its clutches.", "It's\na bad place, the great Grimpen Mire.\"", "\"And you say you can penetrate it?\"", "\"Yes, there are one or two paths which a very active man can take.", "I\nhave found them out.\"", "\"But why should you wish to go into so horrible a place?\"", "\"Well, you see the hills beyond?", "They are really islands cut off on all\nsides by the impassable mire, which has crawled round them in the course\nof years.", "That is where the rare plants and the butterflies are, if you\nhave the wit to reach them.\"", "\"I shall try my luck some day.\"", "He looked at me with a surprised face.", "\"For God's sake put such an idea\nout of your mind,\" said he.", "\"Your blood would be upon my head.", "I assure\nyou that there would not be the least chance of your coming back alive.", "It is only by remembering certain complex landmarks that I am able to do\nit.\"", "\"Halloa!\"", "I cried.", "\"What is that?\"", "A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor.", "It filled the\nwhole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came.", "From a\ndull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a\nmelancholy, throbbing murmur once again.", "Stapleton looked at me with a\ncurious expression in his face.", "\"Queer place, the moor!\"", "said he.", "\"But what is it?\"", "\"The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its\nprey.", "I've heard it once or twice before, but never quite so loud.\"", "I looked round, with a chill of fear in my heart, at the huge swelling\nplain, mottled with the green patches of rushes.", "Nothing stirred over\nthe vast expanse save a pair of ravens, which croaked loudly from a tor\nbehind us.", "\"You are an educated man.", "You don't believe such nonsense as that?\"", "said\nI.", "\"What do you think is the cause of so strange a sound?\"", "\"Bogs make queer noises sometimes.", "It's the mud settling, or the water\nrising, or something.\"", "\"No, no, that was a living voice.\"", "\"Well, perhaps it was.", "Did you ever hear a bittern booming?\"", "\"No, I never did.\"", "\"It's a very rare bird--practically extinct--in England now, but all\nthings are possible upon the moor.", "Yes, I should not be surprised to\nlearn that what we have heard is the cry of the last of the bitterns.\"", "\"It's the weirdest, strangest thing that ever I heard in my life.\"", "\"Yes, it's rather an uncanny place altogether.", "Look at the hillside\nyonder.", "What do you make of those?\"", "The whole steep slope was covered with gray circular rings of stone, a\nscore of them at least.", "\"What are they?", "Sheep-pens?\"", "\"No, they are the homes of our worthy ancestors.", "Prehistoric man lived\nthickly on the moor, and as no one in particular has lived there since,\nwe find all his little arrangements exactly as he left them.", "These are\nhis wigwams with the roofs off.", "You can even see his hearth and his\ncouch if you have the curiosity to go inside.", "\"But it is quite a town.", "When was it inhabited?\"", "\"Neolithic man--no date.\"", "\"What did he do?\"", "\"He grazed his cattle on these slopes, and he learned to dig for tin\nwhen the bronze sword began to supersede the stone axe.", "Look at the\ngreat trench in the opposite hill.", "That is his mark.", "Yes, you will find\nsome very singular points about the moor, Dr. Watson.", "Oh, excuse me an\ninstant!", "It is surely Cyclopides.\"", "A small fly or moth had fluttered across our path, and in an instant\nStapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy and speed in pursuit of\nit.", "To my dismay the creature flew straight for the great mire, and my\nacquaintance never paused for an instant, bounding from tuft to tuft\nbehind it, his green net waving in the air.", "His gray clothes and jerky,\nzigzag, irregular progress made him not unlike some huge moth himself.", "I was standing watching his pursuit with a mixture of admiration for his\nextraordinary activity and fear lest he should lose his footing in the\ntreacherous mire, when I heard the sound of steps and, turning round,\nfound a woman near me upon the path.", "She had come from the direction in\nwhich the plume of smoke indicated the position of Merripit House, but\nthe dip of the moor had hid her until she was quite close.", "I could not doubt that this was the Miss Stapleton of whom I had\nbeen told, since ladies of any sort must be few upon the moor, and I\nremembered that I had heard someone describe her as being a beauty.", "The\nwoman who approached me was certainly that, and of a most uncommon type.", "There could not have been a greater contrast between brother and sister,\nfor Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and gray eyes, while\nshe was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England--slim,\nelegant, and tall.", "She had a proud, finely cut face, so regular that it\nmight have seemed impassive were it not for the sensitive mouth and the\nbeautiful dark, eager eyes.", "With her perfect figure and elegant dress\nshe was, indeed, a strange apparition upon a lonely moorland path.", "Her\neyes were on her brother as I turned, and then she quickened her pace\ntowards me.", "I had raised my hat and was about to make some explanatory\nremark when her own words turned all my thoughts into a new channel.", "\"Go back!\"", "she said.", "\"Go straight back to London, instantly.\"", "I could only stare at her in stupid surprise.", "Her eyes blazed at me, and\nshe tapped the ground impatiently with her foot.", "\"Why should I go back?\"", "I asked.", "\"I cannot explain.\"", "She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp\nin her utterance.", "\"But for God's sake do what I ask you.", "Go back and\nnever set foot upon the moor again.\"", "\"But I have only just come.\"", "\"Man, man!\"", "she cried.", "\"Can you not tell when a warning is for your own\ngood?", "Go back to London!", "Start tonight!", "Get away from this place at all\ncosts!", "Hush, my brother is coming!", "Not a word of what I have said.", "Would\nyou mind getting that orchid for me among the mare's-tails yonder?", "We\nare very rich in orchids on the moor, though, of course, you are rather\nlate to see the beauties of the place.\"", "Stapleton had abandoned the chase and came back to us breathing hard and\nflushed with his exertions.", "\"Halloa, Beryl!\"", "said he, and it seemed to me that the tone of his\ngreeting was not altogether a cordial one.", "\"Well, Jack, you are very hot.\"", "\"Yes, I was chasing a Cyclopides.", "He is very rare and seldom found in\nthe late autumn.", "What a pity that I should have missed him!\"", "He spoke\nunconcernedly, but his small light eyes glanced incessantly from the\ngirl to me.", "\"You have introduced yourselves, I can see.\"", "\"Yes.", "I was telling Sir Henry that it was rather late for him to see the\ntrue beauties of the moor.\"", "\"Why, who do you think this is?\"", "\"I imagine that it must be Sir Henry Baskerville.\"", "\"No, no,\" said I.", "\"Only a humble commoner, but his friend.", "My name is\nDr.", "Watson.\"", "A flush of vexation passed over her expressive face.", "\"We have been\ntalking at cross purposes,\" said she.", "\"Why, you had not very much time for talk,\" her brother remarked with\nthe same questioning eyes.", "\"I talked as if Dr. Watson were a resident instead of being merely a\nvisitor,\" said she.", "\"It cannot much matter to him whether it is early\nor late for the orchids.", "But you will come on, will you not, and see\nMerripit House?\"", "A short walk brought us to it, a bleak moorland house, once the farm\nof some grazier in the old prosperous days, but now put into repair and\nturned into a modern dwelling.", "An orchard surrounded it, but the trees,\nas is usual upon the moor, were stunted and nipped, and the effect of\nthe whole place was mean and melancholy.", "We were admitted by a strange,\nwizened, rusty-coated old manservant, who seemed in keeping with\nthe house.", "Inside, however, there were large rooms furnished with an\nelegance in which I seemed to recognize the taste of the lady.", "As I\nlooked from their windows at the interminable granite-flecked moor\nrolling unbroken to the farthest horizon I could not but marvel at what\ncould have brought this highly educated man and this beautiful woman to\nlive in such a place.", "\"Queer spot to choose, is it not?\"", "said he as if in answer to my\nthought.", "\"And yet we manage to make ourselves fairly happy, do we not,\nBeryl?\"", "\"Quite happy,\" said she, but there was no ring of conviction in her\nwords.", "\"I had a school,\" said Stapleton.", "\"It was in the north country.", "The work\nto a man of my temperament was mechanical and uninteresting, but the\nprivilege of living with youth, of helping to mould those young minds,\nand of impressing them with one's own character and ideals was very dear\nto me.", "However, the fates were against us.", "A serious epidemic broke out\nin the school and three of the boys died.", "It never recovered from the\nblow, and much of my capital was irretrievably swallowed up.", "And yet,\nif it were not for the loss of the charming companionship of the boys,\nI could rejoice over my own misfortune, for, with my strong tastes\nfor botany and zoology, I find an unlimited field of work here, and my\nsister is as devoted to Nature as I am.", "All this, Dr. Watson, has been\nbrought upon your head by your expression as you surveyed the moor out\nof our window.\"", "\"It certainly did cross my mind that it might be a little dull--less for\nyou, perhaps, than for your sister.\"", "\"No, no, I am never dull,\" said she quickly.", "\"We have books, we have our studies, and we have interesting neighbours.", "Dr. Mortimer is a most learned man in his own line.", "Poor Sir Charles was\nalso an admirable companion.", "We knew him well and miss him more than\nI can tell.", "Do you think that I should intrude if I were to call this\nafternoon and make the acquaintance of Sir Henry?\"", "\"I am sure that he would be delighted.\"", "\"Then perhaps you would mention that I propose to do so.", "We may in\nour humble way do something to make things more easy for him until he\nbecomes accustomed to his new surroundings.", "Will you come upstairs, Dr.\nWatson, and inspect my collection of Lepidoptera?", "I think it is the most\ncomplete one in the south-west of England.", "By the time that you have\nlooked through them lunch will be almost ready.\"", "But I was eager to get back to my charge.", "The melancholy of the moor,\nthe death of the unfortunate pony, the weird sound which had been\nassociated with the grim legend of the Baskervilles, all these things\ntinged my thoughts with sadness.", "Then on the top of these more or less\nvague impressions there had come the definite and distinct warning of\nMiss Stapleton, delivered with such intense earnestness that I could\nnot doubt that some grave and deep reason lay behind it.", "I resisted\nall pressure to stay for lunch, and I set off at once upon my return\njourney, taking the grass-grown path by which we had come.", "It seems, however, that there must have been some short cut for those\nwho knew it, for before I had reached the road I was astounded to see\nMiss Stapleton sitting upon a rock by the side of the track.", "Her face\nwas beautifully flushed with her exertions and she held her hand to her\nside.", "\"I have run all the way in order to cut you off, Dr. Watson,\" said she.", "\"I had not even time to put on my hat.", "I must not stop, or my brother\nmay miss me.", "I wanted to say to you how sorry I am about the stupid\nmistake I made in thinking that you were Sir Henry.", "Please forget the\nwords I said, which have no application whatever to you.\"", "\"But I can't forget them, Miss Stapleton,\" said I.", "\"I am Sir Henry's\nfriend, and his welfare is a very close concern of mine.", "Tell me why it\nwas that you were so eager that Sir Henry should return to London.\"", "\"A woman's whim, Dr. Watson.", "When you know me better you will understand\nthat I cannot always give reasons for what I say or do.\"", "\"No, no.", "I remember the thrill in your voice.", "I remember the look in\nyour eyes.", "Please, please, be frank with me, Miss Stapleton, for ever\nsince I have been here I have been conscious of shadows all round me.", "Life has become like that great Grimpen Mire, with little green patches\neverywhere into which one may sink and with no guide to point the track.", "Tell me then what it was that you meant, and I will promise to convey\nyour warning to Sir Henry.\"", "An expression of irresolution passed for an instant over her face, but\nher eyes had hardened again when she answered me.", "\"You make too much of it, Dr. Watson,\" said she.", "\"My brother and I\nwere very much shocked by the death of Sir Charles.", "We knew him very\nintimately, for his favourite walk was over the moor to our house.", "He\nwas deeply impressed with the curse which hung over the family, and when\nthis tragedy came I naturally felt that there must be some grounds\nfor the fears which he had expressed.", "I was distressed therefore when\nanother member of the family came down to live here, and I felt that he\nshould be warned of the danger which he will run.", "That was all which I\nintended to convey.", "\"But what is the danger?\"", "\"You know the story of the hound?\"", "\"I do not believe in such nonsense.\"", "\"But I do.", "If you have any influence with Sir Henry, take him away from\na place which has always been fatal to his family.", "The world is wide.", "Why should he wish to live at the place of danger?\"", "\"Because it is the place of danger.", "That is Sir Henry's nature.", "I fear\nthat unless you can give me some more definite information than this it\nwould be impossible to get him to move.\"", "\"I cannot say anything definite, for I do not know anything definite.\"", "\"I would ask you one more question, Miss Stapleton.", "If you meant no\nmore than this when you first spoke to me, why should you not wish your\nbrother to overhear what you said?", "There is nothing to which he, or\nanyone else, could object.\"", "\"My brother is very anxious to have the Hall inhabited, for he thinks it\nis for the good of the poor folk upon the moor.", "He would be very angry\nif he knew that I have said anything which might induce Sir Henry to\ngo away.", "But I have done my duty now and I will say no more.", "I must go\nback, or he will miss me and suspect that I have seen you.", "Good-bye!\"", "She turned and had disappeared in a few minutes among the scattered\nboulders, while I, with my soul full of vague fears, pursued my way to\nBaskerville Hall." ]

[ "\n\n\nThe fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from\nour minds the grim and gray impression which had been left upon both of\nus by our first experience of Baskerville Hall.", "\"We must ask about this right away.\"", "Holmes himself had said that\nno more complex case had come to him in all the long series of his\nsensational investigations.", "When Mortimer told\nme your name he could not deny your identity.", "He might throw some light on that which is so dark to us.", "\"Perhaps you will spare an hour that I may have the pleasure of\nintroducing you to my sister.\"", "Even in dry seasons it is a danger to cross it, but after these autumn\nrains it is an awful place.", "\"I cannot explain.\"", "I wanted to say to you how sorry I am about the stupid\nmistake I made in thinking that you were Sir Henry.", "\"A woman's whim, Dr. Watson." ]

[ "\"A false\nstep yonder means death to man or beast.", "But then I\nremembered the pile of papers and bills with which his study table was\nlittered.", "Stapleton laughed.", "\"It's the weirdest, strangest thing that ever I heard in my life.\"", "\"It was in the north country.", "A tin box for botanical specimens hung\nover his shoulder and he carried a green butterfly-net in one of his\nhands.", "\"There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry,\" he answered.", "There could not have been a greater contrast between brother and sister,\nfor Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and gray eyes, while\nshe was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England--slim,\nelegant, and tall.", "\"Of course you know the legend of the fiend dog which haunts the\nfamily?\"", "I looked round, with a chill of fear in my heart, at the huge swelling\nplain, mottled with the green patches of rushes." ]

[ "\"Halloa!\"", "I cried.", "\"What is that?\"", "A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor.", "It filled the\nwhole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came.", "From a\ndull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a\nmelancholy, throbbing murmur once again.", "Stapleton looked at me with a\ncurious expression in his face.", "\"Queer place, the moor!\"", "said he.", "\"But what is it?\"", "\"The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its\nprey." ]

[ "\n\n\nThe fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from\nour minds the grim and gray impression which had been left upon both of\nus by our first experience of Baskerville Hall.", "As Sir Henry and I sat\nat breakfast the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows,\nthrowing watery patches of colour from the coats of arms which covered\nthem.", "The dark panelling glowed like bronze in the golden rays, and it\nwas hard to realize that this was indeed the chamber which had struck\nsuch a gloom into our souls upon the evening before.", "\"I guess it is ourselves and not the house that we have to blame!\"", "said\nthe baronet.", "\"We were tired with our journey and chilled by our drive,\nso we took a gray view of the place.", "Now we are fresh and well, so it is\nall cheerful once more.\"", "\"And yet it was not entirely a question of imagination,\" I answered.", "\"Did you, for example, happen to hear someone, a woman I think, sobbing\nin the night?\"", "\"That is curious, for I did when I was half asleep fancy that I heard\nsomething of the sort.", "\"I cannot say anything definite, for I do not know anything definite.\"", "\"I would ask you one more question, Miss Stapleton.", "If you meant no\nmore than this when you first spoke to me, why should you not wish your\nbrother to overhear what you said?", "There is nothing to which he, or\nanyone else, could object.\"", "\"My brother is very anxious to have the Hall inhabited, for he thinks it\nis for the good of the poor folk upon the moor.", "He would be very angry\nif he knew that I have said anything which might induce Sir Henry to\ngo away.", "But I have done my duty now and I will say no more.", "I must go\nback, or he will miss me and suspect that I have seen you.", "Good-bye!\"", "She turned and had disappeared in a few minutes among the scattered\nboulders, while I, with my soul full of vague fears, pursued my way to\nBaskerville Hall." ]

[ "\n\n\nFrom this point onward I will follow the course of events by\ntranscribing my own letters to Mr. Sherlock Holmes which lie before me\non the table.", "One page is missing, but otherwise they are exactly\nas written and show my feelings and suspicions of the moment more\naccurately than my memory, clear as it is upon these tragic events, can\npossibly do.", "Baskerville Hall, October 13th.", "MY DEAR HOLMES: My previous letters\nand telegrams have kept you pretty well up to date as to all that has\noccurred in this most God-forsaken corner of the world.", "The longer one\nstays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul,\nits vastness, and also its grim charm.", "When you are once out upon its\nbosom you have left all traces of modern England behind you, but, on the\nother hand, you are conscious everywhere of the homes and the work of\nthe prehistoric people.", "On all sides of you as you walk are the houses\nof these forgotten folk, with their graves and the huge monoliths which\nare supposed to have marked their temples.", "As you look at their gray\nstone huts against the scarred hillsides you leave your own age behind\nyou, and if you were to see a skin-clad, hairy man crawl out from the\nlow door fitting a flint-tipped arrow on to the string of his bow, you\nwould feel that his presence there was more natural than your own.", "The\nstrange thing is that they should have lived so thickly on what must\nalways have been most unfruitful soil.", "I am no antiquarian, but I could\nimagine that they were some unwarlike and harried race who were forced\nto accept that which none other would occupy.", "All this, however, is foreign to the mission on which you sent me and\nwill probably be very uninteresting to your severely practical mind.", "I can still remember your complete indifference as to whether the sun\nmoved round the earth or the earth round the sun.", "Let me, therefore,\nreturn to the facts concerning Sir Henry Baskerville.", "If you have not had any report within the last few days it is because\nup to today there was nothing of importance to relate.", "Then a very\nsurprising circumstance occurred, which I shall tell you in due course.", "But, first of all, I must keep you in touch with some of the other\nfactors in the situation.", "One of these, concerning which I have said little, is the escaped\nconvict upon the moor.", "There is strong reason now to believe that he\nhas got right away, which is a considerable relief to the lonely\nhouseholders of this district.", "A fortnight has passed since his flight,\nduring which he has not been seen and nothing has been heard of him.", "It\nis surely inconceivable that he could have held out upon the moor during\nall that time.", "Of course, so far as his concealment goes there is\nno difficulty at all.", "Any one of these stone huts would give him a\nhiding-place.", "But there is nothing to eat unless he were to catch and\nslaughter one of the moor sheep.", "We think, therefore, that he has gone,\nand the outlying farmers sleep the better in consequence.", "We are four able-bodied men in this household, so that we could take\ngood care of ourselves, but I confess that I have had uneasy moments\nwhen I have thought of the Stapletons.", "They live miles from any help.", "There are one maid, an old manservant, the sister, and the brother, the\nlatter not a very strong man.", "They would be helpless in the hands of a\ndesperate fellow like this Notting Hill criminal if he could once effect\nan entrance.", "Both Sir Henry and I were concerned at their situation, and\nit was suggested that Perkins the groom should go over to sleep there,\nbut Stapleton would not hear of it.", "The fact is that our friend, the baronet, begins to display a\nconsiderable interest in our fair neighbour.", "It is not to be wondered\nat, for time hangs heavily in this lonely spot to an active man like\nhim, and she is a very fascinating and beautiful woman.", "There is\nsomething tropical and exotic about her which forms a singular contrast\nto her cool and unemotional brother.", "Yet he also gives the idea of\nhidden fires.", "He has certainly a very marked influence over her, for\nI have seen her continually glance at him as she talked as if seeking\napprobation for what she said.", "I trust that he is kind to her.", "There is\na dry glitter in his eyes and a firm set of his thin lips, which goes\nwith a positive and possibly a harsh nature.", "You would find him an\ninteresting study.", "He came over to call upon Baskerville on that first day, and the very\nnext morning he took us both to show us the spot where the legend of the\nwicked Hugo is supposed to have had its origin.", "It was an excursion of\nsome miles across the moor to a place which is so dismal that it might\nhave suggested the story.", "We found a short valley between rugged tors\nwhich led to an open, grassy space flecked over with the white cotton\ngrass.", "In the middle of it rose two great stones, worn and sharpened at\nthe upper end until they looked like the huge corroding fangs of some\nmonstrous beast.", "In every way it corresponded with the scene of the old\ntragedy.", "Sir Henry was much interested and asked Stapleton more\nthan once whether he did really believe in the possibility of the\ninterference of the supernatural in the affairs of men.", "He spoke\nlightly, but it was evident that he was very much in earnest.", "Stapleton\nwas guarded in his replies, but it was easy to see that he said less\nthan he might, and that he would not express his whole opinion out of\nconsideration for the feelings of the baronet.", "He told us of similar\ncases, where families had suffered from some evil influence, and he left\nus with the impression that he shared the popular view upon the matter.", "On our way back we stayed for lunch at Merripit House, and it was there\nthat Sir Henry made the acquaintance of Miss Stapleton.", "From the first\nmoment that he saw her he appeared to be strongly attracted by her, and\nI am much mistaken if the feeling was not mutual.", "He referred to her\nagain and again on our walk home, and since then hardly a day has passed\nthat we have not seen something of the brother and sister.", "They dine\nhere tonight, and there is some talk of our going to them next week.", "One\nwould imagine that such a match would be very welcome to Stapleton, and\nyet I have more than once caught a look of the strongest disapprobation\nin his face when Sir Henry has been paying some attention to his sister.", "He is much attached to her, no doubt, and would lead a lonely life\nwithout her, but it would seem the height of selfishness if he were to\nstand in the way of her making so brilliant a marriage.", "Yet I am certain\nthat he does not wish their intimacy to ripen into love, and I have\nseveral times observed that he has taken pains to prevent them from\nbeing tete-a-tete.", "By the way, your instructions to me never to allow\nSir Henry to go out alone will become very much more onerous if a love\naffair were to be added to our other difficulties.", "My popularity would\nsoon suffer if I were to carry out your orders to the letter.", "The other day--Thursday, to be more exact--Dr. Mortimer lunched with us.", "He has been excavating a barrow at Long Down and has got a prehistoric\nskull which fills him with great joy.", "Never was there such a\nsingle-minded enthusiast as he!", "The Stapletons came in afterwards, and\nthe good doctor took us all to the yew alley at Sir Henry's request to\nshow us exactly how everything occurred upon that fatal night.", "It is\na long, dismal walk, the yew alley, between two high walls of clipped\nhedge, with a narrow band of grass upon either side.", "At the far end is\nan old tumble-down summer-house.", "Halfway down is the moor-gate, where\nthe old gentleman left his cigar-ash.", "It is a white wooden gate with\na latch.", "Beyond it lies the wide moor.", "I remembered your theory of the\naffair and tried to picture all that had occurred.", "As the old man stood\nthere he saw something coming across the moor, something which terrified\nhim so that he lost his wits and ran and ran until he died of sheer\nhorror and exhaustion.", "There was the long, gloomy tunnel down which\nhe fled.", "And from what?", "A sheep-dog of the moor?", "Or a spectral hound,\nblack, silent, and monstrous?", "Was there a human agency in the matter?", "Did the pale, watchful Barrymore know more than he cared to say?", "It was\nall dim and vague, but always there is the dark shadow of crime behind\nit.", "One other neighbour I have met since I wrote last.", "This is Mr.\nFrankland, of Lafter Hall, who lives some four miles to the south of us.", "He is an elderly man, red-faced, white-haired, and choleric.", "His passion\nis for the British law, and he has spent a large fortune in litigation.", "He fights for the mere pleasure of fighting and is equally ready to take\nup either side of a question, so that it is no wonder that he has found\nit a costly amusement.", "Sometimes he will shut up a right of way and defy\nthe parish to make him open it.", "At others he will with his own hands\ntear down some other man's gate and declare that a path has existed\nthere from time immemorial, defying the owner to prosecute him for\ntrespass.", "He is learned in old manorial and communal rights, and he\napplies his knowledge sometimes in favour of the villagers of Fernworthy\nand sometimes against them, so that he is periodically either carried in\ntriumph down the village street or else burned in effigy, according to\nhis latest exploit.", "He is said to have about seven lawsuits upon his\nhands at present, which will probably swallow up the remainder of his\nfortune and so draw his sting and leave him harmless for the future.", "Apart from the law he seems a kindly, good-natured person, and I\nonly mention him because you were particular that I should send some\ndescription of the people who surround us.", "He is curiously employed\nat present, for, being an amateur astronomer, he has an excellent\ntelescope, with which he lies upon the roof of his own house and sweeps\nthe moor all day in the hope of catching a glimpse of the escaped\nconvict.", "If he would confine his energies to this all would be well, but\nthere are rumours that he intends to prosecute Dr. Mortimer for opening\na grave without the consent of the next of kin because he dug up the\nNeolithic skull in the barrow on Long Down.", "He helps to keep our lives\nfrom being monotonous and gives a little comic relief where it is badly\nneeded.", "And now, having brought you up to date in the escaped convict, the\nStapletons, Dr. Mortimer, and Frankland, of Lafter Hall, let me end on\nthat which is most important and tell you more about the Barrymores, and\nespecially about the surprising development of last night.", "First of all about the test telegram, which you sent from London in\norder to make sure that Barrymore was really here.", "I have already\nexplained that the testimony of the postmaster shows that the test was\nworthless and that we have no proof one way or the other.", "I told Sir\nHenry how the matter stood, and he at once, in his downright fashion,\nhad Barrymore up and asked him whether he had received the telegram\nhimself.", "Barrymore said that he had.", "\"Did the boy deliver it into your own hands?\"", "asked Sir Henry.", "Barrymore looked surprised, and considered for a little time.", "\"No,\" said he, \"I was in the box-room at the time, and my wife brought\nit up to me.\"", "\"Did you answer it yourself?\"", "\"No; I told my wife what to answer and she went down to write it.\"", "In the evening he recurred to the subject of his own accord.", "\"I could not quite understand the object of your questions this morning,\nSir Henry,\" said he.", "\"I trust that they do not mean that I have done\nanything to forfeit your confidence?\"", "Sir Henry had to assure him that it was not so and pacify him by giving\nhim a considerable part of his old wardrobe, the London outfit having\nnow all arrived.", "Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me.", "She is a heavy, solid person, very\nlimited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical.", "You\ncould hardly conceive a less emotional subject.", "Yet I have told you how,\non the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then\nI have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face.", "Some deep\nsorrow gnaws ever at her heart.", "Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty\nmemory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a\ndomestic tyrant.", "I have always felt that there was something singular\nand questionable in this man's character, but the adventure of last\nnight brings all my suspicions to a head.", "And yet it may seem a small matter in itself.", "You are aware that I am\nnot a very sound sleeper, and since I have been on guard in this house\nmy slumbers have been lighter than ever.", "Last night, about two in the\nmorning, I was aroused by a stealthy step passing my room.", "I rose,\nopened my door, and peeped out.", "A long black shadow was trailing down\nthe corridor.", "It was thrown by a man who walked softly down the passage\nwith a candle held in his hand.", "He was in shirt and trousers, with no\ncovering to his feet.", "I could merely see the outline, but his height\ntold me that it was Barrymore.", "He walked very slowly and circumspectly,\nand there was something indescribably guilty and furtive in his whole\nappearance.", "I have told you that the corridor is broken by the balcony which runs\nround the hall, but that it is resumed upon the farther side.", "I waited\nuntil he had passed out of sight and then I followed him.", "When I came\nround the balcony he had reached the end of the farther corridor, and\nI could see from the glimmer of light through an open door that he\nhad entered one of the rooms.", "Now, all these rooms are unfurnished and\nunoccupied so that his expedition became more mysterious than ever.", "The\nlight shone steadily as if he were standing motionless.", "I crept down\nthe passage as noiselessly as I could and peeped round the corner of the\ndoor.", "Barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the\nglass.", "His profile was half turned towards me, and his face seemed to be\nrigid with expectation as he stared out into the blackness of the moor.", "For some minutes he stood watching intently.", "Then he gave a deep groan\nand with an impatient gesture he put out the light.", "Instantly I made my\nway back to my room, and very shortly came the stealthy steps passing\nonce more upon their return journey.", "Long afterwards when I had fallen\ninto a light sleep I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but I could\nnot tell whence the sound came.", "What it all means I cannot guess, but\nthere is some secret business going on in this house of gloom which\nsooner or later we shall get to the bottom of.", "I do not trouble you with\nmy theories, for you asked me to furnish you only with facts.", "I have\nhad a long talk with Sir Henry this morning, and we have made a plan of\ncampaign founded upon my observations of last night.", "I will not speak\nabout it just now, but it should make my next report interesting\nreading." ]

[ "Baskerville Hall, October 13th.", "I can still remember your complete indifference as to whether the sun\nmoved round the earth or the earth round the sun.", "He is much attached to her, no doubt, and would lead a lonely life\nwithout her, but it would seem the height of selfishness if he were to\nstand in the way of her making so brilliant a marriage.", "My popularity would\nsoon suffer if I were to carry out your orders to the letter.", "As the old man stood\nthere he saw something coming across the moor, something which terrified\nhim so that he lost his wits and ran and ran until he died of sheer\nhorror and exhaustion.", "It was\nall dim and vague, but always there is the dark shadow of crime behind\nit.", "He helps to keep our lives\nfrom being monotonous and gives a little comic relief where it is badly\nneeded.", "I told Sir\nHenry how the matter stood, and he at once, in his downright fashion,\nhad Barrymore up and asked him whether he had received the telegram\nhimself.", "Some deep\nsorrow gnaws ever at her heart.", "Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty\nmemory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a\ndomestic tyrant." ]

[ "But there is nothing to eat unless he were to catch and\nslaughter one of the moor sheep.", "Baskerville Hall, October 13th.", "And from what?", "My popularity would\nsoon suffer if I were to carry out your orders to the letter.", "I remembered your theory of the\naffair and tried to picture all that had occurred.", "Last night, about two in the\nmorning, I was aroused by a stealthy step passing my room.", "There was the long, gloomy tunnel down which\nhe fled.", "\"Did the boy deliver it into your own hands?\"", "Some deep\nsorrow gnaws ever at her heart.", "Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me." ]

[ "Halfway down is the moor-gate, where\nthe old gentleman left his cigar-ash.", "It is a white wooden gate with\na latch.", "Beyond it lies the wide moor.", "I remembered your theory of the\naffair and tried to picture all that had occurred.", "As the old man stood\nthere he saw something coming across the moor, something which terrified\nhim so that he lost his wits and ran and ran until he died of sheer\nhorror and exhaustion.", "There was the long, gloomy tunnel down which\nhe fled.", "And from what?", "A sheep-dog of the moor?", "Or a spectral hound,\nblack, silent, and monstrous?", "Was there a human agency in the matter?", "Did the pale, watchful Barrymore know more than he cared to say?" ]

[ "\n\n\nFrom this point onward I will follow the course of events by\ntranscribing my own letters to Mr. Sherlock Holmes which lie before me\non the table.", "One page is missing, but otherwise they are exactly\nas written and show my feelings and suspicions of the moment more\naccurately than my memory, clear as it is upon these tragic events, can\npossibly do.", "Baskerville Hall, October 13th.", "MY DEAR HOLMES: My previous letters\nand telegrams have kept you pretty well up to date as to all that has\noccurred in this most God-forsaken corner of the world.", "The longer one\nstays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul,\nits vastness, and also its grim charm.", "When you are once out upon its\nbosom you have left all traces of modern England behind you, but, on the\nother hand, you are conscious everywhere of the homes and the work of\nthe prehistoric people.", "On all sides of you as you walk are the houses\nof these forgotten folk, with their graves and the huge monoliths which\nare supposed to have marked their temples.", "As you look at their gray\nstone huts against the scarred hillsides you leave your own age behind\nyou, and if you were to see a skin-clad, hairy man crawl out from the\nlow door fitting a flint-tipped arrow on to the string of his bow, you\nwould feel that his presence there was more natural than your own.", "The\nstrange thing is that they should have lived so thickly on what must\nalways have been most unfruitful soil.", "I am no antiquarian, but I could\nimagine that they were some unwarlike and harried race who were forced\nto accept that which none other would occupy.", "Barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the\nglass.", "His profile was half turned towards me, and his face seemed to be\nrigid with expectation as he stared out into the blackness of the moor.", "For some minutes he stood watching intently.", "Then he gave a deep groan\nand with an impatient gesture he put out the light.", "Instantly I made my\nway back to my room, and very shortly came the stealthy steps passing\nonce more upon their return journey.", "Long afterwards when I had fallen\ninto a light sleep I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but I could\nnot tell whence the sound came.", "What it all means I cannot guess, but\nthere is some secret business going on in this house of gloom which\nsooner or later we shall get to the bottom of.", "I do not trouble you with\nmy theories, for you asked me to furnish you only with facts.", "I have\nhad a long talk with Sir Henry this morning, and we have made a plan of\ncampaign founded upon my observations of last night.", "I will not speak\nabout it just now, but it should make my next report interesting\nreading." ]

[ "\n\n\nBaskerville Hall, Oct. 15th.", "MY DEAR HOLMES: If I was compelled to\nleave you without much news during the early days of my mission you must\nacknowledge that I am making up for lost time, and that events are now\ncrowding thick and fast upon us.", "In my last report I ended upon my top\nnote with Barrymore at the window, and now I have quite a budget already\nwhich will, unless I am much mistaken, considerably surprise you.", "Things\nhave taken a turn which I could not have anticipated.", "In some ways they\nhave within the last forty-eight hours become much clearer and in some\nways they have become more complicated.", "But I will tell you all and you\nshall judge for yourself.", "Before breakfast on the morning following my adventure I went down the\ncorridor and examined the room in which Barrymore had been on the night\nbefore.", "The western window through which he had stared so intently has,\nI noticed, one peculiarity above all other windows in the house--it\ncommands the nearest outlook on to the moor.", "There is an opening between\ntwo trees which enables one from this point of view to look right down\nupon it, while from all the other windows it is only a distant glimpse\nwhich can be obtained.", "It follows, therefore, that Barrymore, since\nonly this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out for\nsomething or somebody upon the moor.", "The night was very dark, so that I\ncan hardly imagine how he could have hoped to see anyone.", "It had struck\nme that it was possible that some love intrigue was on foot.", "That would\nhave accounted for his stealthy movements and also for the uneasiness\nof his wife.", "The man is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped\nto steal the heart of a country girl, so that this theory seemed to\nhave something to support it.", "That opening of the door which I had heard\nafter I had returned to my room might mean that he had gone out to keep\nsome clandestine appointment.", "So I reasoned with myself in the morning,\nand I tell you the direction of my suspicions, however much the result\nmay have shown that they were unfounded.", "But whatever the true explanation of Barrymore's movements might be,\nI felt that the responsibility of keeping them to myself until I could\nexplain them was more than I could bear.", "I had an interview with the\nbaronet in his study after breakfast, and I told him all that I had\nseen.", "He was less surprised than I had expected.", "\"I knew that Barrymore walked about nights, and I had a mind to speak\nto him about it,\" said he.", "\"Two or three times I have heard his steps in\nthe passage, coming and going, just about the hour you name.\"", "\"Perhaps then he pays a visit every night to that particular window,\" I\nsuggested.", "\"Perhaps he does.", "If so, we should be able to shadow him and see what\nit is that he is after.", "I wonder what your friend Holmes would do if he\nwere here.\"", "\"I believe that he would do exactly what you now suggest,\" said I.", "\"He\nwould follow Barrymore and see what he did.\"", "\"Then we shall do it together.\"", "\"But surely he would hear us.\"", "\"The man is rather deaf, and in any case we must take our chance of\nthat.", "We'll sit up in my room tonight and wait until he passes.\"", "Sir\nHenry rubbed his hands with pleasure, and it was evident that he hailed\nthe adventure as a relief to his somewhat quiet life upon the moor.", "The baronet has been in communication with the architect who prepared\nthe plans for Sir Charles, and with a contractor from London, so that we\nmay expect great changes to begin here soon.", "There have been decorators\nand furnishers up from Plymouth, and it is evident that our friend\nhas large ideas and means to spare no pains or expense to restore the\ngrandeur of his family.", "When the house is renovated and refurnished, all\nthat he will need will be a wife to make it complete.", "Between ourselves\nthere are pretty clear signs that this will not be wanting if the lady\nis willing, for I have seldom seen a man more infatuated with a woman\nthan he is with our beautiful neighbour, Miss Stapleton.", "And yet the\ncourse of true love does not run quite as smoothly as one would under\nthe circumstances expect.", "Today, for example, its surface was broken\nby a very unexpected ripple, which has caused our friend considerable\nperplexity and annoyance.", "After the conversation which I have quoted about Barrymore, Sir Henry\nput on his hat and prepared to go out.", "As a matter of course I did the\nsame.", "\"What, are you coming, Watson?\"", "he asked, looking at me in a curious\nway.", "\"That depends on whether you are going on the moor,\" said I.", "\"Yes, I am.\"", "\"Well, you know what my instructions are.", "I am sorry to intrude, but\nyou heard how earnestly Holmes insisted that I should not leave you, and\nespecially that you should not go alone upon the moor.\"", "Sir Henry put his hand upon my shoulder with a pleasant smile.", "\"My dear fellow,\" said he, \"Holmes, with all his wisdom, did not foresee\nsome things which have happened since I have been on the moor.", "You\nunderstand me?", "I am sure that you are the last man in the world who\nwould wish to be a spoil-sport.", "I must go out alone.\"", "It put me in a most awkward position.", "I was at a loss what to say or\nwhat to do, and before I had made up my mind he picked up his cane and\nwas gone.", "But when I came to think the matter over my conscience reproached me\nbitterly for having on any pretext allowed him to go out of my sight.", "I imagined what my feelings would be if I had to return to you and to\nconfess that some misfortune had occurred through my disregard for your\ninstructions.", "I assure you my cheeks flushed at the very thought.", "It\nmight not even now be too late to overtake him, so I set off at once in\nthe direction of Merripit House.", "I hurried along the road at the top of my speed without seeing anything\nof Sir Henry, until I came to the point where the moor path branches\noff.", "There, fearing that perhaps I had come in the wrong direction after\nall, I mounted a hill from which I could command a view--the same hill\nwhich is cut into the dark quarry.", "Thence I saw him at once.", "He was on\nthe moor path about a quarter of a mile off, and a lady was by his side\nwho could only be Miss Stapleton.", "It was clear that there was already\nan understanding between them and that they had met by appointment.", "They\nwere walking slowly along in deep conversation, and I saw her making\nquick little movements of her hands as if she were very earnest in what\nshe was saying, while he listened intently, and once or twice shook his\nhead in strong dissent.", "I stood among the rocks watching them, very much\npuzzled as to what I should do next.", "To follow them and break into their\nintimate conversation seemed to be an outrage, and yet my clear duty was\nnever for an instant to let him out of my sight.", "To act the spy upon a\nfriend was a hateful task.", "Still, I could see no better course than to\nobserve him from the hill, and to clear my conscience by confessing to\nhim afterwards what I had done.", "It is true that if any sudden danger had\nthreatened him I was too far away to be of use, and yet I am sure that\nyou will agree with me that the position was very difficult, and that\nthere was nothing more which I could do.", "Our friend, Sir Henry, and the lady had halted on the path and were\nstanding deeply absorbed in their conversation, when I was suddenly\naware that I was not the only witness of their interview.", "A wisp of\ngreen floating in the air caught my eye, and another glance showed me\nthat it was carried on a stick by a man who was moving among the broken\nground.", "It was Stapleton with his butterfly-net.", "He was very much closer\nto the pair than I was, and he appeared to be moving in their direction.", "At this instant Sir Henry suddenly drew Miss Stapleton to his side.", "His\narm was round her, but it seemed to me that she was straining away from\nhim with her face averted.", "He stooped his head to hers, and she raised\none hand as if in protest.", "Next moment I saw them spring apart and turn\nhurriedly round.", "Stapleton was the cause of the interruption.", "He was\nrunning wildly towards them, his absurd net dangling behind him.", "He\ngesticulated and almost danced with excitement in front of the lovers.", "What the scene meant I could not imagine, but it seemed to me that\nStapleton was abusing Sir Henry, who offered explanations, which became\nmore angry as the other refused to accept them.", "The lady stood by in\nhaughty silence.", "Finally Stapleton turned upon his heel and beckoned in\na peremptory way to his sister, who, after an irresolute glance at Sir\nHenry, walked off by the side of her brother.", "The naturalist's angry\ngestures showed that the lady was included in his displeasure.", "The\nbaronet stood for a minute looking after them, and then he walked slowly\nback the way that he had come, his head hanging, the very picture of\ndejection.", "What all this meant I could not imagine, but I was deeply ashamed to\nhave witnessed so intimate a scene without my friend's knowledge.", "I ran\ndown the hill therefore and met the baronet at the bottom.", "His face was\nflushed with anger and his brows were wrinkled, like one who is at his\nwit's ends what to do.", "\"Halloa, Watson!", "Where have you dropped from?\"", "said he.", "\"You don't mean\nto say that you came after me in spite of all?\"", "I explained everything to him: how I had found it impossible to remain\nbehind, how I had followed him, and how I had witnessed all that\nhad occurred.", "For an instant his eyes blazed at me, but my frankness\ndisarmed his anger, and he broke at last into a rather rueful laugh.", "\"You would have thought the middle of that prairie a fairly safe\nplace for a man to be private,\" said he, \"but, by thunder, the whole\ncountryside seems to have been out to see me do my wooing--and a mighty\npoor wooing at that!", "Where had you engaged a seat?\"", "\"I was on that hill.\"", "\"Quite in the back row, eh?", "But her brother was well up to the front.", "Did you see him come out on us?\"", "\"Yes, I did.\"", "\"Did he ever strike you as being crazy--this brother of hers?\"", "\"I can't say that he ever did.\"", "\"I dare say not.", "I always thought him sane enough until today, but you\ncan take it from me that either he or I ought to be in a straitjacket.", "What's the matter with me, anyhow?", "You've lived near me for some weeks,\nWatson.", "Tell me straight, now!", "Is there anything that would prevent me\nfrom making a good husband to a woman that I loved?\"", "\"I should say not.\"", "\"He can't object to my worldly position, so it must be myself that he\nhas this down on.", "What has he against me?", "I never hurt man or woman in\nmy life that I know of.", "And yet he would not so much as let me touch the\ntips of her fingers.\"", "\"Did he say so?\"", "\"That, and a deal more.", "I tell you, Watson, I've only known her these\nfew weeks, but from the first I just felt that she was made for me,\nand she, too--she was happy when she was with me, and that I'll swear.", "There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words.", "But he\nhas never let us get together and it was only today for the first time\nthat I saw a chance of having a few words with her alone.", "She was glad\nto meet me, but when she did it was not love that she would talk about,\nand she wouldn't have let me talk about it either if she could have\nstopped it.", "She kept coming back to it that this was a place of danger,\nand that she would never be happy until I had left it.", "I told her that\nsince I had seen her I was in no hurry to leave it, and that if she\nreally wanted me to go, the only way to work it was for her to arrange\nto go with me.", "With that I offered in as many words to marry her, but\nbefore she could answer, down came this brother of hers, running at us\nwith a face on him like a madman.", "He was just white with rage, and those\nlight eyes of his were blazing with fury.", "What was I doing with the\nlady?", "How dared I offer her attentions which were distasteful to her?", "Did I think that because I was a baronet I could do what I liked?", "If he\nhad not been her brother I should have known better how to answer him.", "As it was I told him that my feelings towards his sister were such as\nI was not ashamed of, and that I hoped that she might honour me by\nbecoming my wife.", "That seemed to make the matter no better, so then I\nlost my temper too, and I answered him rather more hotly than I should\nperhaps, considering that she was standing by.", "So it ended by his going\noff with her, as you saw, and here am I as badly puzzled a man as any\nin this county.", "Just tell me what it all means, Watson, and I'll owe you\nmore than ever I can hope to pay.\"", "I tried one or two explanations, but, indeed, I was completely puzzled\nmyself.", "Our friend's title, his fortune, his age, his character, and his\nappearance are all in his favour, and I know nothing against him unless\nit be this dark fate which runs in his family.", "That his advances should\nbe rejected so brusquely without any reference to the lady's own wishes\nand that the lady should accept the situation without protest is very\namazing.", "However, our conjectures were set at rest by a visit from\nStapleton himself that very afternoon.", "He had come to offer apologies\nfor his rudeness of the morning, and after a long private interview with\nSir Henry in his study the upshot of their conversation was that the\nbreach is quite healed, and that we are to dine at Merripit House next\nFriday as a sign of it.", "\"I don't say now that he isn't a crazy man,\" said Sir Henry; \"I can't\nforget the look in his eyes when he ran at me this morning, but I must\nallow that no man could make a more handsome apology than he has done.\"", "\"Did he give any explanation of his conduct?\"", "\"His sister is everything in his life, he says.", "That is natural enough,\nand I am glad that he should understand her value.", "They have always been\ntogether, and according to his account he has been a very lonely man\nwith only her as a companion, so that the thought of losing her was\nreally terrible to him.", "He had not understood, he said, that I was\nbecoming attached to her, but when he saw with his own eyes that it was\nreally so, and that she might be taken away from him, it gave him such a\nshock that for a time he was not responsible for what he said or did.", "He was very sorry for all that had passed, and he recognized how foolish\nand how selfish it was that he should imagine that he could hold a\nbeautiful woman like his sister to himself for her whole life.", "If she\nhad to leave him he had rather it was to a neighbour like myself than to\nanyone else.", "But in any case it was a blow to him and it would take him\nsome time before he could prepare himself to meet it.", "He would withdraw\nall opposition upon his part if I would promise for three months to let\nthe matter rest and to be content with cultivating the lady's friendship\nduring that time without claiming her love.", "This I promised, and so the\nmatter rests.\"", "So there is one of our small mysteries cleared up.", "It is something to\nhave touched bottom anywhere in this bog in which we are floundering.", "We know now why Stapleton looked with disfavour upon his sister's\nsuitor--even when that suitor was so eligible a one as Sir Henry.", "And\nnow I pass on to another thread which I have extricated out of the\ntangled skein, the mystery of the sobs in the night, of the tear-stained\nface of Mrs. Barrymore, of the secret journey of the butler to the\nwestern lattice window.", "Congratulate me, my dear Holmes, and tell me\nthat I have not disappointed you as an agent--that you do not regret\nthe confidence which you showed in me when you sent me down.", "All these\nthings have by one night's work been thoroughly cleared.", "I have said \"by one night's work,\" but, in truth, it was by two nights'\nwork, for on the first we drew entirely blank.", "I sat up with Sir Henry\nin his rooms until nearly three o'clock in the morning, but no sound of\nany sort did we hear except the chiming clock upon the stairs.", "It was\na most melancholy vigil and ended by each of us falling asleep in our\nchairs.", "Fortunately we were not discouraged, and we determined to try\nagain.", "The next night we lowered the lamp and sat smoking cigarettes\nwithout making the least sound.", "It was incredible how slowly the hours\ncrawled by, and yet we were helped through it by the same sort of\npatient interest which the hunter must feel as he watches the trap into\nwhich he hopes the game may wander.", "One struck, and two, and we had\nalmost for the second time given it up in despair when in an instant we\nboth sat bolt upright in our chairs with all our weary senses keenly on\nthe alert once more.", "We had heard the creak of a step in the passage.", "Very stealthily we heard it pass along until it died away in the\ndistance.", "Then the baronet gently opened his door and we set out in\npursuit.", "Already our man had gone round the gallery and the corridor was\nall in darkness.", "Softly we stole along until we had come into the other\nwing.", "We were just in time to catch a glimpse of the tall, black-bearded\nfigure, his shoulders rounded as he tiptoed down the passage.", "Then he\npassed through the same door as before, and the light of the candle\nframed it in the darkness and shot one single yellow beam across the\ngloom of the corridor.", "We shuffled cautiously towards it, trying every\nplank before we dared to put our whole weight upon it.", "We had taken the\nprecaution of leaving our boots behind us, but, even so, the old boards\nsnapped and creaked beneath our tread.", "Sometimes it seemed impossible\nthat he should fail to hear our approach.", "However, the man is\nfortunately rather deaf, and he was entirely preoccupied in that which\nhe was doing.", "When at last we reached the door and peeped through we\nfound him crouching at the window, candle in hand, his white, intent\nface pressed against the pane, exactly as I had seen him two nights\nbefore.", "We had arranged no plan of campaign, but the baronet is a man to whom\nthe most direct way is always the most natural.", "He walked into the room,\nand as he did so Barrymore sprang up from the window with a sharp hiss\nof his breath and stood, livid and trembling, before us.", "His dark eyes,\nglaring out of the white mask of his face, were full of horror and\nastonishment as he gazed from Sir Henry to me.", "\"What are you doing here, Barrymore?\"", "\"Nothing, sir.\"", "His agitation was so great that he could hardly speak,\nand the shadows sprang up and down from the shaking of his candle.", "\"It\nwas the window, sir.", "I go round at night to see that they are fastened.\"", "\"On the second floor?\"", "\"Yes, sir, all the windows.\"", "\"Look here, Barrymore,\" said Sir Henry sternly, \"we have made up our\nminds to have the truth out of you, so it will save you trouble to tell\nit sooner rather than later.", "Come, now!", "No lies!", "What were you doing at\nthat window?\"", "The fellow looked at us in a helpless way, and he wrung his hands\ntogether like one who is in the last extremity of doubt and misery.", "\"I was doing no harm, sir.", "I was holding a candle to the window.\"", "\"And why were you holding a candle to the window?\"", "\"Don't ask me, Sir Henry--don't ask me!", "I give you my word, sir, that it\nis not my secret, and that I cannot tell it.", "If it concerned no one but\nmyself I would not try to keep it from you.\"", "A sudden idea occurred to me, and I took the candle from the trembling\nhand of the butler.", "\"He must have been holding it as a signal,\" said I.", "\"Let us see if\nthere is any answer.\"", "I held it as he had done, and stared out into the\ndarkness of the night.", "Vaguely I could discern the black bank of the\ntrees and the lighter expanse of the moor, for the moon was behind the\nclouds.", "And then I gave a cry of exultation, for a tiny pinpoint of\nyellow light had suddenly transfixed the dark veil, and glowed steadily\nin the centre of the black square framed by the window.", "\"There it is!\"", "I cried.", "\"No, no, sir, it is nothing--nothing at all!\"", "the butler broke in; \"I\nassure you, sir--\"\n\n\"Move your light across the window, Watson!\"", "cried the baronet.", "\"See,\nthe other moves also!", "Now, you rascal, do you deny that it is a signal?", "Come, speak up!", "Who is your confederate out yonder, and what is this\nconspiracy that is going on?\"", "The man's face became openly defiant.", "\"It is my business, and not yours.", "I will not tell.\"", "\"Then you leave my employment right away.\"", "\"Very good, sir.", "If I must I must.\"", "\"And you go in disgrace.", "By thunder, you may well be ashamed of\nyourself.", "Your family has lived with mine for over a hundred years under\nthis roof, and here I find you deep in some dark plot against me.\"", "\"No, no, sir; no, not against you!\"", "It was a woman's voice, and Mrs.\nBarrymore, paler and more horror-struck than her husband, was standing\nat the door.", "Her bulky figure in a shawl and skirt might have been comic\nwere it not for the intensity of feeling upon her face.", "\"We have to go, Eliza.", "This is the end of it.", "You can pack our things,\"\nsaid the butler.", "\"Oh, John, John, have I brought you to this?", "It is my doing, Sir\nHenry--all mine.", "He has done nothing except for my sake and because I\nasked him.\"", "\"Speak out, then!", "What does it mean?\"", "\"My unhappy brother is starving on the moor.", "We cannot let him perish at\nour very gates.", "The light is a signal to him that food is ready for him,\nand his light out yonder is to show the spot to which to bring it.\"", "\"Then your brother is--\"\n\n\"The escaped convict, sir--Selden, the criminal.\"", "\"That's the truth, sir,\" said Barrymore.", "\"I said that it was not my\nsecret and that I could not tell it to you.", "But now you have heard it,\nand you will see that if there was a plot it was not against you.\"", "This, then, was the explanation of the stealthy expeditions at night\nand the light at the window.", "Sir Henry and I both stared at the woman in\namazement.", "Was it possible that this stolidly respectable person was of\nthe same blood as one of the most notorious criminals in the country?", "\"Yes, sir, my name was Selden, and he is my younger brother.", "We humoured\nhim too much when he was a lad and gave him his own way in everything\nuntil he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and\nthat he could do what he liked in it.", "Then as he grew older he met\nwicked companions, and the devil entered into him until he broke my\nmother's heart and dragged our name in the dirt.", "From crime to crime\nhe sank lower and lower until it is only the mercy of God which has\nsnatched him from the scaffold; but to me, sir, he was always the little\ncurly-headed boy that I had nursed and played with as an elder sister\nwould.", "That was why he broke prison, sir.", "He knew that I was here and\nthat we could not refuse to help him.", "When he dragged himself here one\nnight, weary and starving, with the warders hard at his heels, what\ncould we do?", "We took him in and fed him and cared for him.", "Then you\nreturned, sir, and my brother thought he would be safer on the moor than\nanywhere else until the hue and cry was over, so he lay in hiding there.", "But every second night we made sure if he was still there by putting a\nlight in the window, and if there was an answer my husband took out some\nbread and meat to him.", "Every day we hoped that he was gone, but as long\nas he was there we could not desert him.", "That is the whole truth, as I\nam an honest Christian woman and you will see that if there is blame in\nthe matter it does not lie with my husband but with me, for whose sake\nhe has done all that he has.\"", "The woman's words came with an intense earnestness which carried\nconviction with them.", "\"Is this true, Barrymore?\"", "\"Yes, Sir Henry.", "Every word of it.\"", "\"Well, I cannot blame you for standing by your own wife.", "Forget what\nI have said.", "Go to your room, you two, and we shall talk further about\nthis matter in the morning.\"", "When they were gone we looked out of the window again.", "Sir Henry had\nflung it open, and the cold night wind beat in upon our faces.", "Far away\nin the black distance there still glowed that one tiny point of yellow\nlight.", "\"I wonder he dares,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"It may be so placed as to be only visible from here.\"", "\"Very likely.", "How far do you think it is?\"", "\"Out by the Cleft Tor, I think.\"", "\"Not more than a mile or two off.\"", "\"Hardly that.\"", "\"Well, it cannot be far if Barrymore had to carry out the food to it.", "And he is waiting, this villain, beside that candle.", "By thunder, Watson,\nI am going out to take that man!\"", "The same thought had crossed my own mind.", "It was not as if the\nBarrymores had taken us into their confidence.", "Their secret had been\nforced from them.", "The man was a danger to the community, an unmitigated\nscoundrel for whom there was neither pity nor excuse.", "We were only doing\nour duty in taking this chance of putting him back where he could do no\nharm.", "With his brutal and violent nature, others would have to pay the\nprice if we held our hands.", "Any night, for example, our neighbours the\nStapletons might be attacked by him, and it may have been the thought of\nthis which made Sir Henry so keen upon the adventure.", "\"I will come,\" said I.", "\"Then get your revolver and put on your boots.", "The sooner we start the\nbetter, as the fellow may put out his light and be off.\"", "In five minutes we were outside the door, starting upon our expedition.", "We hurried through the dark shrubbery, amid the dull moaning of the\nautumn wind and the rustle of the falling leaves.", "The night air was\nheavy with the smell of damp and decay.", "Now and again the moon peeped\nout for an instant, but clouds were driving over the face of the sky,\nand just as we came out on the moor a thin rain began to fall.", "The light\nstill burned steadily in front.", "\"Are you armed?\"", "I asked.", "\"I have a hunting-crop.\"", "\"We must close in on him rapidly, for he is said to be a desperate\nfellow.", "We shall take him by surprise and have him at our mercy before\nhe can resist.\"", "\"I say, Watson,\" said the baronet, \"what would Holmes say to this?", "How\nabout that hour of darkness in which the power of evil is exalted?\"", "As if in answer to his words there rose suddenly out of the vast gloom\nof the moor that strange cry which I had already heard upon the borders\nof the great Grimpen Mire.", "It came with the wind through the silence\nof the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad\nmoan in which it died away.", "Again and again it sounded, the whole air\nthrobbing with it, strident, wild, and menacing.", "The baronet caught my\nsleeve and his face glimmered white through the darkness.", "\"My God, what's that, Watson?\"", "\"I don't know.", "It's a sound they have on the moor.", "I heard it once\nbefore.\"", "It died away, and an absolute silence closed in upon us.", "We stood\nstraining our ears, but nothing came.", "\"Watson,\" said the baronet, \"it was the cry of a hound.\"", "My blood ran cold in my veins, for there was a break in his voice which\ntold of the sudden horror which had seized him.", "\"What do they call this sound?\"", "he asked.", "\"Who?\"", "\"The folk on the countryside.\"", "\"Oh, they are ignorant people.", "Why should you mind what they call it?\"", "\"Tell me, Watson.", "What do they say of it?\"", "I hesitated but could not escape the question.", "\"They say it is the cry of the Hound of the Baskervilles.\"", "He groaned and was silent for a few moments.", "\"A hound it was,\" he said at last, \"but it seemed to come from miles\naway, over yonder, I think.\"", "\"It was hard to say whence it came.\"", "\"It rose and fell with the wind.", "Isn't that the direction of the great\nGrimpen Mire?\"", "\"Yes, it is.\"", "\"Well, it was up there.", "Come now, Watson, didn't you think yourself that\nit was the cry of a hound?", "I am not a child.", "You need not fear to speak\nthe truth.\"", "\"Stapleton was with me when I heard it last.", "He said that it might be\nthe calling of a strange bird.\"", "\"No, no, it was a hound.", "My God, can there be some truth in all these\nstories?", "Is it possible that I am really in danger from so dark a cause?", "You don't believe it, do you, Watson?\"", "\"No, no.\"", "\"And yet it was one thing to laugh about it in London, and it is another\nto stand out here in the darkness of the moor and to hear such a cry as\nthat.", "And my uncle!", "There was the footprint of the hound beside him as\nhe lay.", "It all fits together.", "I don't think that I am a coward, Watson,\nbut that sound seemed to freeze my very blood.", "Feel my hand!\"", "It was as cold as a block of marble.", "\"You'll be all right tomorrow.\"", "\"I don't think I'll get that cry out of my head.", "What do you advise that\nwe do now?\"", "\"Shall we turn back?\"", "\"No, by thunder; we have come out to get our man, and we will do it.", "We\nafter the convict, and a hell-hound, as likely as not, after us.", "Come\non!", "We'll see it through if all the fiends of the pit were loose upon\nthe moor.\"", "We stumbled slowly along in the darkness, with the black loom of the\ncraggy hills around us, and the yellow speck of light burning steadily\nin front.", "There is nothing so deceptive as the distance of a light upon\na pitch-dark night, and sometimes the glimmer seemed to be far away upon\nthe horizon and sometimes it might have been within a few yards of us.", "But at last we could see whence it came, and then we knew that we were\nindeed very close.", "A guttering candle was stuck in a crevice of the\nrocks which flanked it on each side so as to keep the wind from it\nand also to prevent it from being visible, save in the direction of\nBaskerville Hall.", "A boulder of granite concealed our approach, and\ncrouching behind it we gazed over it at the signal light.", "It was strange\nto see this single candle burning there in the middle of the moor, with\nno sign of life near it--just the one straight yellow flame and the\ngleam of the rock on each side of it.", "\"What shall we do now?\"", "whispered Sir Henry.", "\"Wait here.", "He must be near his light.", "Let us see if we can get a\nglimpse of him.\"", "The words were hardly out of my mouth when we both saw him.", "Over the\nrocks, in the crevice of which the candle burned, there was thrust out\nan evil yellow face, a terrible animal face, all seamed and scored with\nvile passions.", "Foul with mire, with a bristling beard, and hung with\nmatted hair, it might well have belonged to one of those old savages\nwho dwelt in the burrows on the hillsides.", "The light beneath him was\nreflected in his small, cunning eyes which peered fiercely to right and\nleft through the darkness like a crafty and savage animal who has heard\nthe steps of the hunters.", "Something had evidently aroused his suspicions.", "It may have been that\nBarrymore had some private signal which we had neglected to give, or\nthe fellow may have had some other reason for thinking that all was not\nwell, but I could read his fears upon his wicked face.", "Any instant he\nmight dash out the light and vanish in the darkness.", "I sprang forward\ntherefore, and Sir Henry did the same.", "At the same moment the convict\nscreamed out a curse at us and hurled a rock which splintered up against\nthe boulder which had sheltered us.", "I caught one glimpse of his short,\nsquat, strongly built figure as he sprang to his feet and turned to run.", "At the same moment by a lucky chance the moon broke through the clouds.", "We rushed over the brow of the hill, and there was our man running with\ngreat speed down the other side, springing over the stones in his way\nwith the activity of a mountain goat.", "A lucky long shot of my revolver\nmight have crippled him, but I had brought it only to defend myself if\nattacked and not to shoot an unarmed man who was running away.", "We were both swift runners and in fairly good training, but we soon\nfound that we had no chance of overtaking him.", "We saw him for a long\ntime in the moonlight until he was only a small speck moving swiftly\namong the boulders upon the side of a distant hill.", "We ran and ran until\nwe were completely blown, but the space between us grew ever wider.", "Finally we stopped and sat panting on two rocks, while we watched him\ndisappearing in the distance.", "And it was at this moment that there occurred a most strange and\nunexpected thing.", "We had risen from our rocks and were turning to go\nhome, having abandoned the hopeless chase.", "The moon was low upon the\nright, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the\nlower curve of its silver disc.", "There, outlined as black as an ebony\nstatue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the\ntor.", "Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes.", "I assure you that\nI have never in my life seen anything more clearly.", "As far as I could\njudge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man.", "He stood with his legs\na little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were\nbrooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay\nbefore him.", "He might have been the very spirit of that terrible place.", "It was not the convict.", "This man was far from the place where the\nlatter had disappeared.", "Besides, he was a much taller man.", "With a cry\nof surprise I pointed him out to the baronet, but in the instant during\nwhich I had turned to grasp his arm the man was gone.", "There was the\nsharp pinnacle of granite still cutting the lower edge of the moon, but\nits peak bore no trace of that silent and motionless figure.", "I wished to go in that direction and to search the tor, but it was some\ndistance away.", "The baronet's nerves were still quivering from that cry,\nwhich recalled the dark story of his family, and he was not in the mood\nfor fresh adventures.", "He had not seen this lonely man upon the tor and\ncould not feel the thrill which his strange presence and his commanding\nattitude had given to me.", "\"A warder, no doubt,\" said he.", "\"The moor\nhas been thick with them since this fellow escaped.\"", "Well, perhaps his\nexplanation may be the right one, but I should like to have some further\nproof of it.", "Today we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where\nthey should look for their missing man, but it is hard lines that\nwe have not actually had the triumph of bringing him back as our\nown prisoner.", "Such are the adventures of last night, and you must\nacknowledge, my dear Holmes, that I have done you very well in\nthe matter of a report.", "Much of what I tell you is no doubt quite\nirrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have\nall the facts and leave you to select for yourself those which will\nbe of most service to you in helping you to your conclusions.", "We are\ncertainly making some progress.", "So far as the Barrymores go we have\nfound the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation\nvery much.", "But the moor with its mysteries and its strange inhabitants\nremains as inscrutable as ever.", "Perhaps in my next I may be able to\nthrow some light upon this also.", "Best of all would it be if you could\ncome down to us.", "In any case you will hear from me again in the course\nof the next few days." ]

[ "Things\nhave taken a turn which I could not have anticipated.", "When the house is renovated and refurnished, all\nthat he will need will be a wife to make it complete.", "There, fearing that perhaps I had come in the wrong direction after\nall, I mounted a hill from which I could command a view--the same hill\nwhich is cut into the dark quarry.", "I have said \"by one night's work,\" but, in truth, it was by two nights'\nwork, for on the first we drew entirely blank.", "The next night we lowered the lamp and sat smoking cigarettes\nwithout making the least sound.", "We were just in time to catch a glimpse of the tall, black-bearded\nfigure, his shoulders rounded as he tiptoed down the passage.", "Far away\nin the black distance there still glowed that one tiny point of yellow\nlight.", "We hurried through the dark shrubbery, amid the dull moaning of the\nautumn wind and the rustle of the falling leaves.", "It was strange\nto see this single candle burning there in the middle of the moor, with\nno sign of life near it--just the one straight yellow flame and the\ngleam of the rock on each side of it.", "\"The moor\nhas been thick with them since this fellow escaped.\"" ]

[ "The night was very dark, so that I\ncan hardly imagine how he could have hoped to see anyone.", "Feel my hand!\"", "\"Shall we turn back?\"", "\n\n\nBaskerville Hall, Oct. 15th.", "The baronet's nerves were still quivering from that cry,\nwhich recalled the dark story of his family, and he was not in the mood\nfor fresh adventures.", "All these\nthings have by one night's work been thoroughly cleared.", "A wisp of\ngreen floating in the air caught my eye, and another glance showed me\nthat it was carried on a stick by a man who was moving among the broken\nground.", "\"Then your brother is--\"\n\n\"The escaped convict, sir--Selden, the criminal.\"", "Our friend's title, his fortune, his age, his character, and his\nappearance are all in his favour, and I know nothing against him unless\nit be this dark fate which runs in his family.", "\"It rose and fell with the wind." ]

[ "I held it as he had done, and stared out into the\ndarkness of the night.", "Vaguely I could discern the black bank of the\ntrees and the lighter expanse of the moor, for the moon was behind the\nclouds.", "And then I gave a cry of exultation, for a tiny pinpoint of\nyellow light had suddenly transfixed the dark veil, and glowed steadily\nin the centre of the black square framed by the window.", "\"There it is!\"", "I cried.", "\"No, no, sir, it is nothing--nothing at all!\"", "the butler broke in; \"I\nassure you, sir--\"\n\n\"Move your light across the window, Watson!\"", "cried the baronet.", "\"See,\nthe other moves also!", "Now, you rascal, do you deny that it is a signal?", "Come, speak up!" ]

[ "\n\n\nBaskerville Hall, Oct. 15th.", "MY DEAR HOLMES: If I was compelled to\nleave you without much news during the early days of my mission you must\nacknowledge that I am making up for lost time, and that events are now\ncrowding thick and fast upon us.", "In my last report I ended upon my top\nnote with Barrymore at the window, and now I have quite a budget already\nwhich will, unless I am much mistaken, considerably surprise you.", "Things\nhave taken a turn which I could not have anticipated.", "In some ways they\nhave within the last forty-eight hours become much clearer and in some\nways they have become more complicated.", "But I will tell you all and you\nshall judge for yourself.", "Before breakfast on the morning following my adventure I went down the\ncorridor and examined the room in which Barrymore had been on the night\nbefore.", "The western window through which he had stared so intently has,\nI noticed, one peculiarity above all other windows in the house--it\ncommands the nearest outlook on to the moor.", "There is an opening between\ntwo trees which enables one from this point of view to look right down\nupon it, while from all the other windows it is only a distant glimpse\nwhich can be obtained.", "It follows, therefore, that Barrymore, since\nonly this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out for\nsomething or somebody upon the moor.", "Well, perhaps his\nexplanation may be the right one, but I should like to have some further\nproof of it.", "Today we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where\nthey should look for their missing man, but it is hard lines that\nwe have not actually had the triumph of bringing him back as our\nown prisoner.", "Such are the adventures of last night, and you must\nacknowledge, my dear Holmes, that I have done you very well in\nthe matter of a report.", "Much of what I tell you is no doubt quite\nirrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have\nall the facts and leave you to select for yourself those which will\nbe of most service to you in helping you to your conclusions.", "We are\ncertainly making some progress.", "So far as the Barrymores go we have\nfound the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation\nvery much.", "But the moor with its mysteries and its strange inhabitants\nremains as inscrutable as ever.", "Perhaps in my next I may be able to\nthrow some light upon this also.", "Best of all would it be if you could\ncome down to us.", "In any case you will hear from me again in the course\nof the next few days." ]

[ "\n\n\nSo far I have been able to quote from the reports which I have forwarded\nduring these early days to Sherlock Holmes.", "Now, however, I have arrived\nat a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method\nand to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which\nI kept at the time.", "A few extracts from the latter will carry me on to\nthose scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory.", "I\nproceed, then, from the morning which followed our abortive chase of the\nconvict and our other strange experiences upon the moor.", "October 16th.", "A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain.", "The house\nis banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the\ndreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the\nhills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon\ntheir wet faces.", "It is melancholy outside and in.", "The baronet is in a\nblack reaction after the excitements of the night.", "I am conscious myself\nof a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger--ever present\ndanger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it.", "And have I not cause for such a feeling?", "Consider the long sequence of\nincidents which have all pointed to some sinister influence which is\nat work around us.", "There is the death of the last occupant of the Hall,\nfulfilling so exactly the conditions of the family legend, and there\nare the repeated reports from peasants of the appearance of a strange\ncreature upon the moor.", "Twice I have with my own ears heard the sound\nwhich resembled the distant baying of a hound.", "It is incredible,\nimpossible, that it should really be outside the ordinary laws of\nnature.", "A spectral hound which leaves material footmarks and fills the\nair with its howling is surely not to be thought of.", "Stapleton may\nfall in with such a superstition, and Mortimer also, but if I have one\nquality upon earth it is common sense, and nothing will persuade me to\nbelieve in such a thing.", "To do so would be to descend to the level of\nthese poor peasants, who are not content with a mere fiend dog but must\nneeds describe him with hell-fire shooting from his mouth and eyes.", "Holmes would not listen to such fancies, and I am his agent.", "But facts\nare facts, and I have twice heard this crying upon the moor.", "Suppose\nthat there were really some huge hound loose upon it; that would go far\nto explain everything.", "But where could such a hound lie concealed, where\ndid it get its food, where did it come from, how was it that no one\nsaw it by day?", "It must be confessed that the natural explanation offers\nalmost as many difficulties as the other.", "And always, apart from the\nhound, there is the fact of the human agency in London, the man in the\ncab, and the letter which warned Sir Henry against the moor.", "This at\nleast was real, but it might have been the work of a protecting friend\nas easily as of an enemy.", "Where is that friend or enemy now?", "Has he\nremained in London, or has he followed us down here?", "Could he--could he\nbe the stranger whom I saw upon the tor?", "It is true that I have had only the one glance at him, and yet there are\nsome things to which I am ready to swear.", "He is no one whom I have seen\ndown here, and I have now met all the neighbours.", "The figure was far\ntaller than that of Stapleton, far thinner than that of Frankland.", "Barrymore it might possibly have been, but we had left him behind us,\nand I am certain that he could not have followed us.", "A stranger then is\nstill dogging us, just as a stranger dogged us in London.", "We have never\nshaken him off.", "If I could lay my hands upon that man, then at last we\nmight find ourselves at the end of all our difficulties.", "To this one\npurpose I must now devote all my energies.", "My first impulse was to tell Sir Henry all my plans.", "My second and\nwisest one is to play my own game and speak as little as possible to\nanyone.", "He is silent and distrait.", "His nerves have been strangely shaken\nby that sound upon the moor.", "I will say nothing to add to his anxieties,\nbut I will take my own steps to attain my own end.", "We had a small scene this morning after breakfast.", "Barrymore asked leave\nto speak with Sir Henry, and they were closeted in his study some little\ntime.", "Sitting in the billiard-room I more than once heard the sound of\nvoices raised, and I had a pretty good idea what the point was which was\nunder discussion.", "After a time the baronet opened his door and called\nfor me.", "\"Barrymore considers that he has a grievance,\" he said.", "\"He\nthinks that it was unfair on our part to hunt his brother-in-law down\nwhen he, of his own free will, had told us the secret.\"", "The butler was standing very pale but very collected before us.", "\"I may have spoken too warmly, sir,\" said he, \"and if I have, I am sure\nthat I beg your pardon.", "At the same time, I was very much surprised when\nI heard you two gentlemen come back this morning and learned that you\nhad been chasing Selden.", "The poor fellow has enough to fight against\nwithout my putting more upon his track.\"", "\"If you had told us of your own free will it would have been a different\nthing,\" said the baronet, \"you only told us, or rather your wife only\ntold us, when it was forced from you and you could not help yourself.\"", "\"I didn't think you would have taken advantage of it, Sir Henry--indeed\nI didn't.\"", "\"The man is a public danger.", "There are lonely houses scattered over the\nmoor, and he is a fellow who would stick at nothing.", "You only want to\nget a glimpse of his face to see that.", "Look at Mr. Stapleton's house,\nfor example, with no one but himself to defend it.", "There's no safety for\nanyone until he is under lock and key.\"", "\"He'll break into no house, sir.", "I give you my solemn word upon that.", "But he will never trouble anyone in this country again.", "I assure you,\nSir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have\nbeen made and he will be on his way to South America.", "For God's sake,\nsir, I beg of you not to let the police know that he is still on the\nmoor.", "They have given up the chase there, and he can lie quiet until the\nship is ready for him.", "You can't tell on him without getting my wife and\nme into trouble.", "I beg you, sir, to say nothing to the police.\"", "\"What do you say, Watson?\"", "I shrugged my shoulders.", "\"If he were safely out of the country it would\nrelieve the tax-payer of a burden.\"", "\"But how about the chance of his holding someone up before he goes?\"", "\"He would not do anything so mad, sir.", "We have provided him with all\nthat he can want.", "To commit a crime would be to show where he was\nhiding.\"", "\"That is true,\" said Sir Henry.", "\"Well, Barrymore--\"\n\n\"God bless you, sir, and thank you from my heart!", "It would have killed\nmy poor wife had he been taken again.\"", "\"I guess we are aiding and abetting a felony, Watson?", "But, after what\nwe have heard I don't feel as if I could give the man up, so there is an\nend of it.", "All right, Barrymore, you can go.\"", "With a few broken words of gratitude the man turned, but he hesitated\nand then came back.", "\"You've been so kind to us, sir, that I should like to do the best I\ncan for you in return.", "I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should\nhave said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it\nout.", "I've never breathed a word about it yet to mortal man.", "It's about\npoor Sir Charles's death.\"", "The baronet and I were both upon our feet.", "\"Do you know how he died?\"", "\"No, sir, I don't know that.\"", "\"What then?\"", "\"I know why he was at the gate at that hour.", "It was to meet a woman.\"", "\"To meet a woman!", "He?\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"And the woman's name?\"", "\"I can't give you the name, sir, but I can give you the initials.", "Her\ninitials were L. L.\"\n\n\"How do you know this, Barrymore?\"", "\"Well, Sir Henry, your uncle had a letter that morning.", "He had usually a\ngreat many letters, for he was a public man and well known for his kind\nheart, so that everyone who was in trouble was glad to turn to him.", "But\nthat morning, as it chanced, there was only this one letter, so I took\nthe more notice of it.", "It was from Coombe Tracey, and it was addressed\nin a woman's hand.\"", "\"Well?\"", "\"Well, sir, I thought no more of the matter, and never would have done\nhad it not been for my wife.", "Only a few weeks ago she was cleaning out\nSir Charles's study--it had never been touched since his death--and she\nfound the ashes of a burned letter in the back of the grate.", "The greater\npart of it was charred to pieces, but one little slip, the end of a\npage, hung together, and the writing could still be read, though it was\ngray on a black ground.", "It seemed to us to be a postscript at the end\nof the letter and it said: 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn\nthis letter, and be at the gate by ten o clock.", "Beneath it were signed\nthe initials L. L.\"\n\n\"Have you got that slip?\"", "\"No, sir, it crumbled all to bits after we moved it.\"", "\"Had Sir Charles received any other letters in the same writing?\"", "\"Well, sir, I took no particular notice of his letters.", "I should not\nhave noticed this one, only it happened to come alone.\"", "\"And you have no idea who L. L.", "is?\"", "\"No, sir.", "No more than you have.", "But I expect if we could lay our hands\nupon that lady we should know more about Sir Charles's death.\"", "\"I cannot understand, Barrymore, how you came to conceal this important\ninformation.\"", "\"Well, sir, it was immediately after that our own trouble came to us.", "And then again, sir, we were both of us very fond of Sir Charles, as we\nwell might be considering all that he has done for us.", "To rake this\nup couldn't help our poor master, and it's well to go carefully when\nthere's a lady in the case.", "Even the best of us--\"\n\n\"You thought it might injure his reputation?\"", "\"Well, sir, I thought no good could come of it.", "But now you have been\nkind to us, and I feel as if it would be treating you unfairly not to\ntell you all that I know about the matter.\"", "\"Very good, Barrymore; you can go.\"", "When the butler had left us Sir\nHenry turned to me.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you think of this new light?\"", "\"It seems to leave the darkness rather blacker than before.\"", "\"So I think.", "But if we can only trace L. L. it should clear up the whole\nbusiness.", "We have gained that much.", "We know that there is someone who\nhas the facts if we can only find her.", "What do you think we should do?\"", "\"Let Holmes know all about it at once.", "It will give him the clue for\nwhich he has been seeking.", "I am much mistaken if it does not bring him\ndown.\"", "I went at once to my room and drew up my report of the morning's\nconversation for Holmes.", "It was evident to me that he had been very busy\nof late, for the notes which I had from Baker Street were few and short,\nwith no comments upon the information which I had supplied and hardly\nany reference to my mission.", "No doubt his blackmailing case is absorbing\nall his faculties.", "And yet this new factor must surely arrest his\nattention and renew his interest.", "I wish that he were here.", "October 17th.", "All day today the rain poured down, rustling on the ivy\nand dripping from the eaves.", "I thought of the convict out upon the\nbleak, cold, shelterless moor.", "Poor devil!", "Whatever his crimes, he has\nsuffered something to atone for them.", "And then I thought of that other\none--the face in the cab, the figure against the moon.", "Was he also out\nin that deluged--the unseen watcher, the man of darkness?", "In the evening\nI put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of\ndark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling\nabout my ears.", "God help those who wander into the great mire now, for\neven the firm uplands are becoming a morass.", "I found the black tor upon\nwhich I had seen the solitary watcher, and from its craggy summit I\nlooked out myself across the melancholy downs.", "Rain squalls drifted\nacross their russet face, and the heavy, slate-coloured clouds hung\nlow over the landscape, trailing in gray wreaths down the sides of the\nfantastic hills.", "In the distant hollow on the left, half hidden by the\nmist, the two thin towers of Baskerville Hall rose above the trees.", "They\nwere the only signs of human life which I could see, save only those\nprehistoric huts which lay thickly upon the slopes of the hills.", "Nowhere\nwas there any trace of that lonely man whom I had seen on the same spot\ntwo nights before.", "As I walked back I was overtaken by Dr. Mortimer driving in his dog-cart\nover a rough moorland track which led from the outlying farmhouse of\nFoulmire.", "He has been very attentive to us, and hardly a day has passed\nthat he has not called at the Hall to see how we were getting on.", "He\ninsisted upon my climbing into his dog-cart, and he gave me a lift\nhomeward.", "I found him much troubled over the disappearance of his little\nspaniel.", "It had wandered on to the moor and had never come back.", "I\ngave him such consolation as I might, but I thought of the pony on the\nGrimpen Mire, and I do not fancy that he will see his little dog again.", "\"By the way, Mortimer,\" said I as we jolted along the rough road, \"I\nsuppose there are few people living within driving distance of this whom\nyou do not know?\"", "\"Hardly any, I think.\"", "\"Can you, then, tell me the name of any woman whose initials are L.", "L.?\"", "He thought for a few minutes.", "\"No,\" said he.", "\"There are a few gipsies and labouring folk for whom\nI can't answer, but among the farmers or gentry there is no one whose\ninitials are those.", "Wait a bit though,\" he added after a pause.", "\"There\nis Laura Lyons--her initials are L. L.--but she lives in Coombe Tracey.\"", "\"Who is she?\"", "I asked.", "\"She is Frankland's daughter.\"", "\"What!", "Old Frankland the crank?\"", "\"Exactly.", "She married an artist named Lyons, who came sketching on the\nmoor.", "He proved to be a blackguard and deserted her.", "The fault from what\nI hear may not have been entirely on one side.", "Her father refused to\nhave anything to do with her because she had married without his consent\nand perhaps for one or two other reasons as well.", "So, between the old\nsinner and the young one the girl has had a pretty bad time.\"", "\"How does she live?\"", "\"I fancy old Frankland allows her a pittance, but it cannot be more,\nfor his own affairs are considerably involved.", "Whatever she may have\ndeserved one could not allow her to go hopelessly to the bad.", "Her story\ngot about, and several of the people here did something to enable her\nto earn an honest living.", "Stapleton did for one, and Sir Charles for\nanother.", "I gave a trifle myself.", "It was to set her up in a typewriting\nbusiness.\"", "He wanted to know the object of my inquiries, but I managed to satisfy\nhis curiosity without telling him too much, for there is no reason why\nwe should take anyone into our confidence.", "Tomorrow morning I shall\nfind my way to Coombe Tracey, and if I can see this Mrs. Laura Lyons, of\nequivocal reputation, a long step will have been made towards clearing\none incident in this chain of mysteries.", "I am certainly developing the\nwisdom of the serpent, for when Mortimer pressed his questions to an\ninconvenient extent I asked him casually to what type Frankland's skull\nbelonged, and so heard nothing but craniology for the rest of our drive.", "I have not lived for years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing.", "I have only one other incident to record upon this tempestuous and\nmelancholy day.", "This was my conversation with Barrymore just now, which\ngives me one more strong card which I can play in due time.", "Mortimer had stayed to dinner, and he and the baronet played ecarte\nafterwards.", "The butler brought me my coffee into the library, and I took\nthe chance to ask him a few questions.", "\"Well,\" said I, \"has this precious relation of yours departed, or is he\nstill lurking out yonder?\"", "\"I don't know, sir.", "I hope to heaven that he has gone, for he has\nbrought nothing but trouble here!", "I've not heard of him since I left out\nfood for him last, and that was three days ago.\"", "\"Did you see him then?\"", "\"No, sir, but the food was gone when next I went that way.\"", "\"Then he was certainly there?\"", "\"So you would think, sir, unless it was the other man who took it.\"", "I sat with my coffee-cup halfway to my lips and stared at Barrymore.", "\"You know that there is another man then?\"", "\"Yes, sir; there is another man upon the moor.\"", "\"Have you seen him?\"", "\"No, sir.\"", "\"How do you know of him then?\"", "\"Selden told me of him, sir, a week ago or more.", "He's in hiding, too,\nbut he's not a convict as far as I can make out.", "I don't like it, Dr.\nWatson--I tell you straight, sir, that I don't like it.\"", "He spoke with a\nsudden passion of earnestness.", "\"Now, listen to me, Barrymore!", "I have no interest in this matter but\nthat of your master.", "I have come here with no object except to help him.", "Tell me, frankly, what it is that you don't like.\"", "Barrymore hesitated for a moment, as if he regretted his outburst or\nfound it difficult to express his own feelings in words.", "\"It's all these goings-on, sir,\" he cried at last, waving his hand\ntowards the rain-lashed window which faced the moor.", "\"There's foul play\nsomewhere, and there's black villainy brewing, to that I'll swear!", "Very glad I should be, sir, to see Sir Henry on his way back to London\nagain!\"", "\"But what is it that alarms you?\"", "\"Look at Sir Charles's death!", "That was bad enough, for all that the\ncoroner said.", "Look at the noises on the moor at night.", "There's not a\nman would cross it after sundown if he was paid for it.", "Look at this\nstranger hiding out yonder, and watching and waiting!", "What's he waiting\nfor?", "What does it mean?", "It means no good to anyone of the name of\nBaskerville, and very glad I shall be to be quit of it all on the day\nthat Sir Henry's new servants are ready to take over the Hall.\"", "\"But about this stranger,\" said I.", "\"Can you tell me anything about\nhim?", "What did Selden say?", "Did he find out where he hid, or what he was\ndoing?\"", "\"He saw him once or twice, but he is a deep one and gives nothing away.", "At first he thought that he was the police, but soon he found that he\nhad some lay of his own.", "A kind of gentleman he was, as far as he could\nsee, but what he was doing he could not make out.\"", "\"And where did he say that he lived?\"", "\"Among the old houses on the hillside--the stone huts where the old folk\nused to live.\"", "\"But how about his food?\"", "\"Selden found out that he has got a lad who works for him and brings all\nhe needs.", "I dare say he goes to Coombe Tracey for what he wants.\"", "\"Very good, Barrymore.", "We may talk further of this some other time.\"", "When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked\nthrough a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline\nof the wind-swept trees.", "It is a wild night indoors, and what must it\nbe in a stone hut upon the moor.", "What passion of hatred can it be which\nleads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time!", "And what deep and\nearnest purpose can he have which calls for such a trial!", "There, in that\nhut upon the moor, seems to lie the very centre of that problem which\nhas vexed me so sorely.", "I swear that another day shall not have passed\nbefore I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the\nmystery." ]

[ "It is melancholy outside and in.", "After a time the baronet opened his door and called\nfor me.", "\"Do you know how he died?\"", "\"What then?\"", "\"Well, sir, I thought no more of the matter, and never would have done\nhad it not been for my wife.", "Was he also out\nin that deluged--the unseen watcher, the man of darkness?", "It had wandered on to the moor and had never come back.", "It was to set her up in a typewriting\nbusiness.\"", "I have no interest in this matter but\nthat of your master.", "What passion of hatred can it be which\nleads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time!" ]

[ "And then I thought of that other\none--the face in the cab, the figure against the moon.", "Poor devil!", "It seemed to us to be a postscript at the end\nof the letter and it said: 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn\nthis letter, and be at the gate by ten o clock.", "And always, apart from the\nhound, there is the fact of the human agency in London, the man in the\ncab, and the letter which warned Sir Henry against the moor.", "I assure you,\nSir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have\nbeen made and he will be on his way to South America.", "He thought for a few minutes.", "There's no safety for\nanyone until he is under lock and key.\"", "Mortimer had stayed to dinner, and he and the baronet played ecarte\nafterwards.", "To rake this\nup couldn't help our poor master, and it's well to go carefully when\nthere's a lady in the case.", "The house\nis banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the\ndreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the\nhills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon\ntheir wet faces." ]

[ "Even the best of us--\"\n\n\"You thought it might injure his reputation?\"", "\"Well, sir, I thought no good could come of it.", "But now you have been\nkind to us, and I feel as if it would be treating you unfairly not to\ntell you all that I know about the matter.\"", "\"Very good, Barrymore; you can go.\"", "When the butler had left us Sir\nHenry turned to me.", "\"Well, Watson, what do you think of this new light?\"", "\"It seems to leave the darkness rather blacker than before.\"", "\"So I think.", "But if we can only trace L. L. it should clear up the whole\nbusiness.", "We have gained that much.", "We know that there is someone who\nhas the facts if we can only find her." ]

[ "\n\n\nSo far I have been able to quote from the reports which I have forwarded\nduring these early days to Sherlock Holmes.", "Now, however, I have arrived\nat a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method\nand to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which\nI kept at the time.", "A few extracts from the latter will carry me on to\nthose scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory.", "I\nproceed, then, from the morning which followed our abortive chase of the\nconvict and our other strange experiences upon the moor.", "October 16th.", "A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain.", "The house\nis banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the\ndreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the\nhills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon\ntheir wet faces.", "It is melancholy outside and in.", "The baronet is in a\nblack reaction after the excitements of the night.", "I am conscious myself\nof a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger--ever present\ndanger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it.", "\"Selden found out that he has got a lad who works for him and brings all\nhe needs.", "I dare say he goes to Coombe Tracey for what he wants.\"", "\"Very good, Barrymore.", "We may talk further of this some other time.\"", "When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked\nthrough a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline\nof the wind-swept trees.", "It is a wild night indoors, and what must it\nbe in a stone hut upon the moor.", "What passion of hatred can it be which\nleads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time!", "And what deep and\nearnest purpose can he have which calls for such a trial!", "There, in that\nhut upon the moor, seems to lie the very centre of that problem which\nhas vexed me so sorely.", "I swear that another day shall not have passed\nbefore I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the\nmystery." ]

[ "\n\n\nThe extract from my private diary which forms the last chapter has\nbrought my narrative up to the eighteenth of October, a time when these\nstrange events began to move swiftly towards their terrible conclusion.", "The incidents of the next few days are indelibly graven upon my\nrecollection, and I can tell them without reference to the notes made\nat the time.", "I start them from the day which succeeded that upon which\nI had established two facts of great importance, the one that Mrs. Laura\nLyons of Coombe Tracey had written to Sir Charles Baskerville and made\nan appointment with him at the very place and hour that he met his\ndeath, the other that the lurking man upon the moor was to be found\namong the stone huts upon the hillside.", "With these two facts in my\npossession I felt that either my intelligence or my courage must be\ndeficient if I could not throw some further light upon these dark\nplaces.", "I had no opportunity to tell the baronet what I had learned about Mrs.\nLyons upon the evening before, for Dr. Mortimer remained with him at\ncards until it was very late.", "At breakfast, however, I informed him\nabout my discovery and asked him whether he would care to accompany\nme to Coombe Tracey.", "At first he was very eager to come, but on second\nthoughts it seemed to both of us that if I went alone the results might\nbe better.", "The more formal we made the visit the less information we\nmight obtain.", "I left Sir Henry behind, therefore, not without some\nprickings of conscience, and drove off upon my new quest.", "When I reached Coombe Tracey I told Perkins to put up the horses, and\nI made inquiries for the lady whom I had come to interrogate.", "I had no\ndifficulty in finding her rooms, which were central and well appointed.", "A maid showed me in without ceremony, and as I entered the sitting-room\na lady, who was sitting before a Remington typewriter, sprang up with a\npleasant smile of welcome.", "Her face fell, however, when she saw that\nI was a stranger, and she sat down again and asked me the object of my\nvisit.", "The first impression left by Mrs. Lyons was one of extreme beauty.", "Her\neyes and hair were of the same rich hazel colour, and her cheeks, though\nconsiderably freckled, were flushed with the exquisite bloom of the\nbrunette, the dainty pink which lurks at the heart of the sulphur rose.", "Admiration was, I repeat, the first impression.", "But the second was\ncriticism.", "There was something subtly wrong with the face, some\ncoarseness of expression, some hardness, perhaps, of eye, some looseness\nof lip which marred its perfect beauty.", "But these, of course, are\nafterthoughts.", "At the moment I was simply conscious that I was in\nthe presence of a very handsome woman, and that she was asking me the\nreasons for my visit.", "I had not quite understood until that instant how\ndelicate my mission was.", "\"I have the pleasure,\" said I, \"of knowing your father.\"", "It was a clumsy introduction, and the lady made me feel it.", "\"There\nis nothing in common between my father and me,\" she said.", "\"I owe him\nnothing, and his friends are not mine.", "If it were not for the late Sir\nCharles Baskerville and some other kind hearts I might have starved for\nall that my father cared.\"", "\"It was about the late Sir Charles Baskerville that I have come here to\nsee you.\"", "The freckles started out on the lady's face.", "\"What can I tell you about him?\"", "she asked, and her fingers played\nnervously over the stops of her typewriter.", "\"You knew him, did you not?\"", "\"I have already said that I owe a great deal to his kindness.", "If I am\nable to support myself it is largely due to the interest which he took\nin my unhappy situation.\"", "\"Did you correspond with him?\"", "The lady looked quickly up with an angry gleam in her hazel eyes.", "\"What is the object of these questions?\"", "she asked sharply.", "\"The object is to avoid a public scandal.", "It is better that I should ask\nthem here than that the matter should pass outside our control.\"", "She was silent and her face was still very pale.", "At last she looked up\nwith something reckless and defiant in her manner.", "\"Well, I'll answer,\" she said.", "\"What are your questions?\"", "\"Did you correspond with Sir Charles?\"", "\"I certainly wrote to him once or twice to acknowledge his delicacy and\nhis generosity.\"", "\"Have you the dates of those letters?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"Have you ever met him?\"", "\"Yes, once or twice, when he came into Coombe Tracey.", "He was a very\nretiring man, and he preferred to do good by stealth.\"", "\"But if you saw him so seldom and wrote so seldom, how did he know\nenough about your affairs to be able to help you, as you say that he has\ndone?\"", "She met my difficulty with the utmost readiness.", "\"There were several gentlemen who knew my sad history and united to\nhelp me.", "One was Mr. Stapleton, a neighbour and intimate friend of Sir\nCharles's.", "He was exceedingly kind, and it was through him that Sir\nCharles learned about my affairs.\"", "I knew already that Sir Charles Baskerville had made Stapleton his\nalmoner upon several occasions, so the lady's statement bore the impress\nof truth upon it.", "\"Did you ever write to Sir Charles asking him to meet you?\"", "I continued.", "Mrs. Lyons flushed with anger again.", "\"Really, sir, this is a very\nextraordinary question.\"", "\"I am sorry, madam, but I must repeat it.\"", "\"Then I answer, certainly not.\"", "\"Not on the very day of Sir Charles's death?\"", "The flush had faded in an instant, and a deathly face was before me.", "Her\ndry lips could not speak the \"No\" which I saw rather than heard.", "\"Surely your memory deceives you,\" said I.", "\"I could even quote a passage\nof your letter.", "It ran 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn\nthis letter, and be at the gate by ten o'clock.'\"", "I thought that she had fainted, but she recovered herself by a supreme\neffort.", "\"Is there no such thing as a gentleman?\"", "she gasped.", "\"You do Sir Charles an injustice.", "He did burn the letter.", "But sometimes\na letter may be legible even when burned.", "You acknowledge now that you\nwrote it?\"", "\"Yes, I did write it,\" she cried, pouring out her soul in a torrent of\nwords.", "\"I did write it.", "Why should I deny it?", "I have no reason to be\nashamed of it.", "I wished him to help me.", "I believed that if I had an\ninterview I could gain his help, so I asked him to meet me.\"", "\"But why at such an hour?\"", "\"Because I had only just learned that he was going to London next day\nand might be away for months.", "There were reasons why I could not get\nthere earlier.\"", "\"But why a rendezvous in the garden instead of a visit to the house?\"", "\"Do you think a woman could go alone at that hour to a bachelor's\nhouse?\"", "\"Well, what happened when you did get there?\"", "\"I never went.\"", "\"Mrs.", "Lyons!\"", "\"No, I swear it to you on all I hold sacred.", "I never went.", "Something\nintervened to prevent my going.\"", "\"What was that?\"", "\"That is a private matter.", "I cannot tell it.\"", "\"You acknowledge then that you made an appointment with Sir Charles at\nthe very hour and place at which he met his death, but you deny that you\nkept the appointment.\"", "\"That is the truth.\"", "Again and again I cross-questioned her, but I could never get past that\npoint.", "\"Mrs. Lyons,\" said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive\ninterview, \"you are taking a very great responsibility and putting\nyourself in a very false position by not making an absolutely clean\nbreast of all that you know.", "If I have to call in the aid of the police\nyou will find how seriously you are compromised.", "If your position is\ninnocent, why did you in the first instance deny having written to Sir\nCharles upon that date?\"", "\"Because I feared that some false conclusion might be drawn from it and\nthat I might find myself involved in a scandal.\"", "\"And why were you so pressing that Sir Charles should destroy your\nletter?\"", "\"If you have read the letter you will know.\"", "\"I did not say that I had read all the letter.\"", "\"You quoted some of it.\"", "\"I quoted the postscript.", "The letter had, as I said, been burned and it\nwas not all legible.", "I ask you once again why it was that you were so\npressing that Sir Charles should destroy this letter which he received\non the day of his death.\"", "\"The matter is a very private one.\"", "\"The more reason why you should avoid a public investigation.\"", "\"I will tell you, then.", "If you have heard anything of my unhappy history\nyou will know that I made a rash marriage and had reason to regret it.\"", "\"I have heard so much.\"", "\"My life has been one incessant persecution from a husband whom I abhor.", "The law is upon his side, and every day I am faced by the possibility\nthat he may force me to live with him.", "At the time that I wrote this\nletter to Sir Charles I had learned that there was a prospect of\nmy regaining my freedom if certain expenses could be met.", "It meant\neverything to me--peace of mind, happiness, self-respect--everything.", "I\nknew Sir Charles's generosity, and I thought that if he heard the story\nfrom my own lips he would help me.\"", "\"Then how is it that you did not go?\"", "\"Because I received help in the interval from another source.\"", "\"Why then, did you not write to Sir Charles and explain this?\"", "\"So I should have done had I not seen his death in the paper next\nmorning.\"", "The woman's story hung coherently together, and all my questions were\nunable to shake it.", "I could only check it by finding if she had, indeed,\ninstituted divorce proceedings against her husband at or about the time\nof the tragedy.", "It was unlikely that she would dare to say that she had not been to\nBaskerville Hall if she really had been, for a trap would be necessary\nto take her there, and could not have returned to Coombe Tracey until\nthe early hours of the morning.", "Such an excursion could not be kept\nsecret.", "The probability was, therefore, that she was telling the truth,\nor, at least, a part of the truth.", "I came away baffled and disheartened.", "Once again I had reached that dead wall which seemed to be built across\nevery path by which I tried to get at the object of my mission.", "And yet\nthe more I thought of the lady's face and of her manner the more I felt\nthat something was being held back from me.", "Why should she turn so pale?", "Why should she fight against every admission until it was forced from\nher?", "Why should she have been so reticent at the time of the tragedy?", "Surely the explanation of all this could not be as innocent as she\nwould have me believe.", "For the moment I could proceed no farther in that\ndirection, but must turn back to that other clue which was to be sought\nfor among the stone huts upon the moor.", "And that was a most vague direction.", "I realized it as I drove back\nand noted how hill after hill showed traces of the ancient people.", "Barrymore's only indication had been that the stranger lived in one of\nthese abandoned huts, and many hundreds of them are scattered throughout\nthe length and breadth of the moor.", "But I had my own experience for a\nguide since it had shown me the man himself standing upon the summit of\nthe Black Tor.", "That, then, should be the centre of my search.", "From there\nI should explore every hut upon the moor until I lighted upon the right\none.", "If this man were inside it I should find out from his own lips, at\nthe point of my revolver if necessary, who he was and why he had dogged\nus so long.", "He might slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street,\nbut it would puzzle him to do so upon the lonely moor.", "On the other\nhand, if I should find the hut and its tenant should not be within it I\nmust remain there, however long the vigil, until he returned.", "Holmes had\nmissed him in London.", "It would indeed be a triumph for me if I could run\nhim to earth where my master had failed.", "Luck had been against us again and again in this inquiry, but now at\nlast it came to my aid.", "And the messenger of good fortune was none other\nthan Mr. Frankland, who was standing, gray-whiskered and red-faced,\noutside the gate of his garden, which opened on to the highroad along\nwhich I travelled.", "\"Good-day, Dr. Watson,\" cried he with unwonted good humour, \"you must\nreally give your horses a rest and come in to have a glass of wine and\nto congratulate me.\"", "My feelings towards him were very far from being friendly after what I\nhad heard of his treatment of his daughter, but I was anxious to send\nPerkins and the wagonette home, and the opportunity was a good one.", "I\nalighted and sent a message to Sir Henry that I should walk over in time\nfor dinner.", "Then I followed Frankland into his dining-room.", "\"It is a great day for me, sir--one of the red-letter days of my life,\"\nhe cried with many chuckles.", "\"I have brought off a double event.", "I mean\nto teach them in these parts that law is law, and that there is a man\nhere who does not fear to invoke it.", "I have established a right of way\nthrough the centre of old Middleton's park, slap across it, sir, within\na hundred yards of his own front door.", "What do you think of that?", "We'll\nteach these magnates that they cannot ride roughshod over the rights\nof the commoners, confound them!", "And I've closed the wood where the\nFernworthy folk used to picnic.", "These infernal people seem to think that\nthere are no rights of property, and that they can swarm where they like\nwith their papers and their bottles.", "Both cases decided, Dr. Watson, and\nboth in my favour.", "I haven't had such a day since I had Sir John Morland\nfor trespass because he shot in his own warren.\"", "\"How on earth did you do that?\"", "\"Look it up in the books, sir.", "It will repay reading--Frankland v.\nMorland, Court of Queen's Bench.", "It cost me 200 pounds, but I got my\nverdict.\"", "\"Did it do you any good?\"", "\"None, sir, none.", "I am proud to say that I had no interest in the\nmatter.", "I act entirely from a sense of public duty.", "I have no doubt, for\nexample, that the Fernworthy people will burn me in effigy tonight.", "I told the police last time they did it that they should stop these\ndisgraceful exhibitions.", "The County Constabulary is in a scandalous\nstate, sir, and it has not afforded me the protection to which I am\nentitled.", "The case of Frankland v. Regina will bring the matter before\nthe attention of the public.", "I told them that they would have occasion\nto regret their treatment of me, and already my words have come true.\"", "\"How so?\"", "I asked.", "The old man put on a very knowing expression.", "\"Because I could tell them\nwhat they are dying to know; but nothing would induce me to help the\nrascals in any way.\"", "I had been casting round for some excuse by which I could get away\nfrom his gossip, but now I began to wish to hear more of it.", "I had seen\nenough of the contrary nature of the old sinner to understand that any\nstrong sign of interest would be the surest way to stop his confidences.", "\"Some poaching case, no doubt?\"", "said I with an indifferent manner.", "\"Ha, ha, my boy, a very much more important matter than that!", "What about\nthe convict on the moor?\"", "I stared.", "\"You don't mean that you know where he is?\"", "said I.", "\"I may not know exactly where he is, but I am quite sure that I could\nhelp the police to lay their hands on him.", "Has it never struck you that\nthe way to catch that man was to find out where he got his food and so\ntrace it to him?\"", "He certainly seemed to be getting uncomfortably near the truth.", "\"No\ndoubt,\" said I; \"but how do you know that he is anywhere upon the moor?\"", "\"I know it because I have seen with my own eyes the messenger who takes\nhim his food.\"", "My heart sank for Barrymore.", "It was a serious thing to be in the power\nof this spiteful old busybody.", "But his next remark took a weight from my\nmind.", "\"You'll be surprised to hear that his food is taken to him by a child.", "I see him every day through my telescope upon the roof.", "He passes along\nthe same path at the same hour, and to whom should he be going except to\nthe convict?\"", "Here was luck indeed!", "And yet I suppressed all appearance of interest.", "A\nchild!", "Barrymore had said that our unknown was supplied by a boy.", "It was\non his track, and not upon the convict's, that Frankland had stumbled.", "If I could get his knowledge it might save me a long and weary hunt.", "But\nincredulity and indifference were evidently my strongest cards.", "\"I should say that it was much more likely that it was the son of one of\nthe moorland shepherds taking out his father's dinner.\"", "The least appearance of opposition struck fire out of the old autocrat.", "His eyes looked malignantly at me, and his gray whiskers bristled like\nthose of an angry cat.", "\"Indeed, sir!\"", "said he, pointing out over the wide-stretching moor.", "\"Do\nyou see that Black Tor over yonder?", "Well, do you see the low hill beyond\nwith the thornbush upon it?", "It is the stoniest part of the whole moor.", "Is that a place where a shepherd would be likely to take his station?", "Your suggestion, sir, is a most absurd one.\"", "I meekly answered that I had spoken without knowing all the facts.", "My\nsubmission pleased him and led him to further confidences.", "\"You may be sure, sir, that I have very good grounds before I come to an\nopinion.", "I have seen the boy again and again with his bundle.", "Every\nday, and sometimes twice a day, I have been able--but wait a moment,\nDr. Watson.", "Do my eyes deceive me, or is there at the present moment\nsomething moving upon that hillside?\"", "It was several miles off, but I could distinctly see a small dark dot\nagainst the dull green and gray.", "\"Come, sir, come!\"", "cried Frankland, rushing upstairs.", "\"You will see with\nyour own eyes and judge for yourself.\"", "The telescope, a formidable instrument mounted upon a tripod, stood upon\nthe flat leads of the house.", "Frankland clapped his eye to it and gave a\ncry of satisfaction.", "\"Quick, Dr. Watson, quick, before he passes over the hill!\"", "There he was, sure enough, a small urchin with a little bundle upon his\nshoulder, toiling slowly up the hill.", "When he reached the crest I saw\nthe ragged uncouth figure outlined for an instant against the cold blue\nsky.", "He looked round him with a furtive and stealthy air, as one who\ndreads pursuit.", "Then he vanished over the hill.", "\"Well!", "Am I right?\"", "\"Certainly, there is a boy who seems to have some secret errand.\"", "\"And what the errand is even a county constable could guess.", "But not\none word shall they have from me, and I bind you to secrecy also, Dr.\nWatson.", "Not a word!", "You understand!\"", "\"Just as you wish.\"", "\"They have treated me shamefully--shamefully.", "When the facts come out in\nFrankland v. Regina I venture to think that a thrill of indignation will\nrun through the country.", "Nothing would induce me to help the police in\nany way.", "For all they cared it might have been me, instead of my effigy,\nwhich these rascals burned at the stake.", "Surely you are not going!", "You\nwill help me to empty the decanter in honour of this great occasion!\"", "But I resisted all his solicitations and succeeded in dissuading him\nfrom his announced intention of walking home with me.", "I kept the road\nas long as his eye was on me, and then I struck off across the moor and\nmade for the stony hill over which the boy had disappeared.", "Everything\nwas working in my favour, and I swore that it should not be through lack\nof energy or perseverance that I should miss the chance which fortune\nhad thrown in my way.", "The sun was already sinking when I reached the summit of the hill, and\nthe long slopes beneath me were all golden-green on one side and gray\nshadow on the other.", "A haze lay low upon the farthest sky-line, out of\nwhich jutted the fantastic shapes of Belliver and Vixen Tor.", "Over the\nwide expanse there was no sound and no movement.", "One great gray bird, a\ngull or curlew, soared aloft in the blue heaven.", "He and I seemed to be\nthe only living things between the huge arch of the sky and the desert\nbeneath it.", "The barren scene, the sense of loneliness, and the mystery\nand urgency of my task all struck a chill into my heart.", "The boy was\nnowhere to be seen.", "But down beneath me in a cleft of the hills there\nwas a circle of the old stone huts, and in the middle of them there\nwas one which retained sufficient roof to act as a screen against the\nweather.", "My heart leaped within me as I saw it.", "This must be the burrow\nwhere the stranger lurked.", "At last my foot was on the threshold of his\nhiding place--his secret was within my grasp.", "As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton would do when\nwith poised net he drew near the settled butterfly, I satisfied myself\nthat the place had indeed been used as a habitation.", "A vague pathway\namong the boulders led to the dilapidated opening which served as a\ndoor.", "All was silent within.", "The unknown might be lurking there, or\nhe might be prowling on the moor.", "My nerves tingled with the sense of\nadventure.", "Throwing aside my cigarette, I closed my hand upon the butt\nof my revolver and, walking swiftly up to the door, I looked in.", "The\nplace was empty.", "But there were ample signs that I had not come upon a false scent.", "This\nwas certainly where the man lived.", "Some blankets rolled in a waterproof\nlay upon that very stone slab upon which Neolithic man had once\nslumbered.", "The ashes of a fire were heaped in a rude grate.", "Beside it\nlay some cooking utensils and a bucket half-full of water.", "A litter of\nempty tins showed that the place had been occupied for some time, and I\nsaw, as my eyes became accustomed to the checkered light, a pannikin and\na half-full bottle of spirits standing in the corner.", "In the middle of\nthe hut a flat stone served the purpose of a table, and upon this stood\na small cloth bundle--the same, no doubt, which I had seen through the\ntelescope upon the shoulder of the boy.", "It contained a loaf of bread,\na tinned tongue, and two tins of preserved peaches.", "As I set it down\nagain, after having examined it, my heart leaped to see that beneath it\nthere lay a sheet of paper with writing upon it.", "I raised it, and this\nwas what I read, roughly scrawled in pencil: \"Dr. Watson has gone to\nCoombe Tracey.\"", "For a minute I stood there with the paper in my hands thinking out the\nmeaning of this curt message.", "It was I, then, and not Sir Henry, who was\nbeing dogged by this secret man.", "He had not followed me himself, but\nhe had set an agent--the boy, perhaps--upon my track, and this was his\nreport.", "Possibly I had taken no step since I had been upon the moor\nwhich had not been observed and reported.", "Always there was this feeling\nof an unseen force, a fine net drawn round us with infinite skill and\ndelicacy, holding us so lightly that it was only at some supreme moment\nthat one realized that one was indeed entangled in its meshes.", "If there was one report there might be others, so I looked round the hut\nin search of them.", "There was no trace, however, of anything of the kind,\nnor could I discover any sign which might indicate the character or\nintentions of the man who lived in this singular place, save that he\nmust be of Spartan habits and cared little for the comforts of life.", "When I thought of the heavy rains and looked at the gaping roof I\nunderstood how strong and immutable must be the purpose which had kept\nhim in that inhospitable abode.", "Was he our malignant enemy, or was he by\nchance our guardian angel?", "I swore that I would not leave the hut until\nI knew.", "Outside the sun was sinking low and the west was blazing with scarlet\nand gold.", "Its reflection was shot back in ruddy patches by the distant\npools which lay amid the great Grimpen Mire.", "There were the two towers\nof Baskerville Hall, and there a distant blur of smoke which marked the\nvillage of Grimpen.", "Between the two, behind the hill, was the house\nof the Stapletons.", "All was sweet and mellow and peaceful in the golden\nevening light, and yet as I looked at them my soul shared none of the\npeace of Nature but quivered at the vagueness and the terror of that\ninterview which every instant was bringing nearer.", "With tingling nerves\nbut a fixed purpose, I sat in the dark recess of the hut and waited with\nsombre patience for the coming of its tenant.", "And then at last I heard him.", "Far away came the sharp clink of a boot\nstriking upon a stone.", "Then another and yet another, coming nearer and\nnearer.", "I shrank back into the darkest corner and cocked the pistol in\nmy pocket, determined not to discover myself until I had an opportunity\nof seeing something of the stranger.", "There was a long pause which showed\nthat he had stopped.", "Then once more the footsteps approached and a\nshadow fell across the opening of the hut.", "\"It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,\" said a well-known voice.", "\"I\nreally think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.\"" ]

[ "But these, of course, are\nafterthoughts.", "\"Is there no such thing as a gentleman?\"", "I wished him to help me.", "\"Mrs. Lyons,\" said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive\ninterview, \"you are taking a very great responsibility and putting\nyourself in a very false position by not making an absolutely clean\nbreast of all that you know.", "\"None, sir, none.", "I told the police last time they did it that they should stop these\ndisgraceful exhibitions.", "\"Well!", "\"Just as you wish.\"", "Nothing would induce me to help the police in\nany way.", "For all they cared it might have been me, instead of my effigy,\nwhich these rascals burned at the stake." ]

[ "As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton would do when\nwith poised net he drew near the settled butterfly, I satisfied myself\nthat the place had indeed been used as a habitation.", "When I thought of the heavy rains and looked at the gaping roof I\nunderstood how strong and immutable must be the purpose which had kept\nhim in that inhospitable abode.", "Admiration was, I repeat, the first impression.", "Why should she fight against every admission until it was forced from\nher?", "But the second was\ncriticism.", "Barrymore's only indication had been that the stranger lived in one of\nthese abandoned huts, and many hundreds of them are scattered throughout\nthe length and breadth of the moor.", "What about\nthe convict on the moor?\"", "\"I owe him\nnothing, and his friends are not mine.", "But\nincredulity and indifference were evidently my strongest cards.", "For all they cared it might have been me, instead of my effigy,\nwhich these rascals burned at the stake." ]

[ "It would indeed be a triumph for me if I could run\nhim to earth where my master had failed.", "Luck had been against us again and again in this inquiry, but now at\nlast it came to my aid.", "And the messenger of good fortune was none other\nthan Mr. Frankland, who was standing, gray-whiskered and red-faced,\noutside the gate of his garden, which opened on to the highroad along\nwhich I travelled.", "\"Good-day, Dr. Watson,\" cried he with unwonted good humour, \"you must\nreally give your horses a rest and come in to have a glass of wine and\nto congratulate me.\"", "My feelings towards him were very far from being friendly after what I\nhad heard of his treatment of his daughter, but I was anxious to send\nPerkins and the wagonette home, and the opportunity was a good one.", "I\nalighted and sent a message to Sir Henry that I should walk over in time\nfor dinner.", "Then I followed Frankland into his dining-room.", "\"It is a great day for me, sir--one of the red-letter days of my life,\"\nhe cried with many chuckles.", "\"I have brought off a double event.", "I mean\nto teach them in these parts that law is law, and that there is a man\nhere who does not fear to invoke it.", "I have established a right of way\nthrough the centre of old Middleton's park, slap across it, sir, within\na hundred yards of his own front door." ]

[ "\n\n\nThe extract from my private diary which forms the last chapter has\nbrought my narrative up to the eighteenth of October, a time when these\nstrange events began to move swiftly towards their terrible conclusion.", "The incidents of the next few days are indelibly graven upon my\nrecollection, and I can tell them without reference to the notes made\nat the time.", "I start them from the day which succeeded that upon which\nI had established two facts of great importance, the one that Mrs. Laura\nLyons of Coombe Tracey had written to Sir Charles Baskerville and made\nan appointment with him at the very place and hour that he met his\ndeath, the other that the lurking man upon the moor was to be found\namong the stone huts upon the hillside.", "With these two facts in my\npossession I felt that either my intelligence or my courage must be\ndeficient if I could not throw some further light upon these dark\nplaces.", "I had no opportunity to tell the baronet what I had learned about Mrs.\nLyons upon the evening before, for Dr. Mortimer remained with him at\ncards until it was very late.", "At breakfast, however, I informed him\nabout my discovery and asked him whether he would care to accompany\nme to Coombe Tracey.", "At first he was very eager to come, but on second\nthoughts it seemed to both of us that if I went alone the results might\nbe better.", "The more formal we made the visit the less information we\nmight obtain.", "I left Sir Henry behind, therefore, not without some\nprickings of conscience, and drove off upon my new quest.", "When I reached Coombe Tracey I told Perkins to put up the horses, and\nI made inquiries for the lady whom I had come to interrogate.", "All was sweet and mellow and peaceful in the golden\nevening light, and yet as I looked at them my soul shared none of the\npeace of Nature but quivered at the vagueness and the terror of that\ninterview which every instant was bringing nearer.", "With tingling nerves\nbut a fixed purpose, I sat in the dark recess of the hut and waited with\nsombre patience for the coming of its tenant.", "And then at last I heard him.", "Far away came the sharp clink of a boot\nstriking upon a stone.", "Then another and yet another, coming nearer and\nnearer.", "I shrank back into the darkest corner and cocked the pistol in\nmy pocket, determined not to discover myself until I had an opportunity\nof seeing something of the stranger.", "There was a long pause which showed\nthat he had stopped.", "Then once more the footsteps approached and a\nshadow fell across the opening of the hut.", "\"It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,\" said a well-known voice.", "\"I\nreally think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nFor a moment or two I sat breathless, hardly able to believe my ears.", "Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight\nof responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul.", "That\ncold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the\nworld.", "\"Holmes!\"", "I cried--\"Holmes!\"", "\"Come out,\" said he, \"and please be careful with the revolver.\"", "I stooped under the rude lintel, and there he sat upon a stone outside,\nhis gray eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished\nfeatures.", "He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face\nbronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind.", "In his tweed suit and\ncloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had\ncontrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one\nof his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen\nas perfect as if he were in Baker Street.", "\"I never was more glad to see anyone in my life,\" said I as I wrung him\nby the hand.", "\"Or more astonished, eh?\"", "\"Well, I must confess to it.\"", "\"The surprise was not all on one side, I assure you.", "I had no idea that\nyou had found my occasional retreat, still less that you were inside it,\nuntil I was within twenty paces of the door.\"", "\"My footprint, I presume?\"", "\"No, Watson, I fear that I could not undertake to recognize your\nfootprint amid all the footprints of the world.", "If you seriously desire\nto deceive me you must change your tobacconist; for when I see the stub\nof a cigarette marked Bradley, Oxford Street, I know that my friend\nWatson is in the neighbourhood.", "You will see it there beside the path.", "You threw it down, no doubt, at that supreme moment when you charged\ninto the empty hut.\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"I thought as much--and knowing your admirable tenacity I was convinced\nthat you were sitting in ambush, a weapon within reach, waiting for the\ntenant to return.", "So you actually thought that I was the criminal?\"", "\"I did not know who you were, but I was determined to find out.\"", "\"Excellent, Watson!", "And how did you localize me?", "You saw me, perhaps, on\nthe night of the convict hunt, when I was so imprudent as to allow the\nmoon to rise behind me?\"", "\"Yes, I saw you then.\"", "\"And have no doubt searched all the huts until you came to this one?\"", "\"No, your boy had been observed, and that gave me a guide where to\nlook.\"", "\"The old gentleman with the telescope, no doubt.", "I could not make it out\nwhen first I saw the light flashing upon the lens.\"", "He rose and peeped\ninto the hut.", "\"Ha, I see that Cartwright has brought up some supplies.", "What's this paper?", "So you have been to Coombe Tracey, have you?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"To see Mrs. Laura Lyons?\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"Well done!", "Our researches have evidently been running on parallel\nlines, and when we unite our results I expect we shall have a fairly\nfull knowledge of the case.\"", "\"Well, I am glad from my heart that you are here, for indeed the\nresponsibility and the mystery were both becoming too much for my\nnerves.", "But how in the name of wonder did you come here, and what have\nyou been doing?", "I thought that you were in Baker Street working out that\ncase of blackmailing.\"", "\"That was what I wished you to think.\"", "\"Then you use me, and yet do not trust me!\"", "I cried with some\nbitterness.", "\"I think that I have deserved better at your hands, Holmes.\"", "\"My dear fellow, you have been invaluable to me in this as in many other\ncases, and I beg that you will forgive me if I have seemed to play a\ntrick upon you.", "In truth, it was partly for your own sake that I did it,\nand it was my appreciation of the danger which you ran which led me to\ncome down and examine the matter for myself.", "Had I been with Sir Henry\nand you it is confident that my point of view would have been the\nsame as yours, and my presence would have warned our very formidable\nopponents to be on their guard.", "As it is, I have been able to get about\nas I could not possibly have done had I been living in the Hall, and\nI remain an unknown factor in the business, ready to throw in all my\nweight at a critical moment.\"", "\"But why keep me in the dark?\"", "\"For you to know could not have helped us and might possibly have led\nto my discovery.", "You would have wished to tell me something, or in your\nkindness you would have brought me out some comfort or other, and so an\nunnecessary risk would be run.", "I brought Cartwright down with me--you\nremember the little chap at the express office--and he has seen after\nmy simple wants: a loaf of bread and a clean collar.", "What does man want\nmore?", "He has given me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of\nfeet, and both have been invaluable.\"", "\"Then my reports have all been wasted!\"", "--My voice trembled as I recalled\nthe pains and the pride with which I had composed them.", "Holmes took a bundle of papers from his pocket.", "\"Here are your reports, my dear fellow, and very well thumbed, I assure\nyou.", "I made excellent arrangements, and they are only delayed one day\nupon their way.", "I must compliment you exceedingly upon the zeal and\nthe intelligence which you have shown over an extraordinarily difficult\ncase.\"", "I was still rather raw over the deception which had been practised upon\nme, but the warmth of Holmes's praise drove my anger from my mind.", "I\nfelt also in my heart that he was right in what he said and that it was\nreally best for our purpose that I should not have known that he was\nupon the moor.", "\"That's better,\" said he, seeing the shadow rise from my face.", "\"And\nnow tell me the result of your visit to Mrs. Laura Lyons--it was not\ndifficult for me to guess that it was to see her that you had gone, for\nI am already aware that she is the one person in Coombe Tracey who might\nbe of service to us in the matter.", "In fact, if you had not gone today it\nis exceedingly probable that I should have gone tomorrow.\"", "The sun had set and dusk was settling over the moor.", "The air had turned\nchill and we withdrew into the hut for warmth.", "There, sitting together\nin the twilight, I told Holmes of my conversation with the lady.", "So\ninterested was he that I had to repeat some of it twice before he was\nsatisfied.", "\"This is most important,\" said he when I had concluded.", "\"It fills up a\ngap which I had been unable to bridge in this most complex affair.", "You\nare aware, perhaps, that a close intimacy exists between this lady and\nthe man Stapleton?\"", "\"I did not know of a close intimacy.\"", "\"There can be no doubt about the matter.", "They meet, they write, there\nis a complete understanding between them.", "Now, this puts a very powerful\nweapon into our hands.", "If I could only use it to detach his wife--\"\n\n\"His wife?\"", "\"I am giving you some information now, in return for all that you have\ngiven me.", "The lady who has passed here as Miss Stapleton is in reality\nhis wife.\"", "\"Good heavens, Holmes!", "Are you sure of what you say?", "How could he have\npermitted Sir Henry to fall in love with her?\"", "\"Sir Henry's falling in love could do no harm to anyone except Sir\nHenry.", "He took particular care that Sir Henry did not make love to her,\nas you have yourself observed.", "I repeat that the lady is his wife and\nnot his sister.\"", "\"But why this elaborate deception?\"", "\"Because he foresaw that she would be very much more useful to him in\nthe character of a free woman.\"", "All my unspoken instincts, my vague suspicions, suddenly took shape and\ncentred upon the naturalist.", "In that impassive colourless man, with his\nstraw hat and his butterfly-net, I seemed to see something terrible--a\ncreature of infinite patience and craft, with a smiling face and a\nmurderous heart.", "\"It is he, then, who is our enemy--it is he who dogged us in London?\"", "\"So I read the riddle.\"", "\"And the warning--it must have come from her!\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "The shape of some monstrous villainy, half seen, half guessed, loomed\nthrough the darkness which had girt me so long.", "\"But are you sure of this, Holmes?", "How do you know that the woman is his\nwife?\"", "\"Because he so far forgot himself as to tell you a true piece of\nautobiography upon the occasion when he first met you, and I dare say\nhe has many a time regretted it since.", "He was once a schoolmaster in\nthe north of England.", "Now, there is no one more easy to trace than a\nschoolmaster.", "There are scholastic agencies by which one may identify\nany man who has been in the profession.", "A little investigation showed me\nthat a school had come to grief under atrocious circumstances, and that\nthe man who had owned it--the name was different--had disappeared with\nhis wife.", "The descriptions agreed.", "When I learned that the missing man\nwas devoted to entomology the identification was complete.\"", "The darkness was rising, but much was still hidden by the shadows.", "\"If this woman is in truth his wife, where does Mrs. Laura Lyons come\nin?\"", "I asked.", "\"That is one of the points upon which your own researches have shed a\nlight.", "Your interview with the lady has cleared the situation very\nmuch.", "I did not know about a projected divorce between herself and her\nhusband.", "In that case, regarding Stapleton as an unmarried man, she\ncounted no doubt upon becoming his wife.\"", "\"And when she is undeceived?\"", "\"Why, then we may find the lady of service.", "It must be our first duty\nto see her--both of us--tomorrow.", "Don't you think, Watson, that you are\naway from your charge rather long?", "Your place should be at Baskerville\nHall.\"", "The last red streaks had faded away in the west and night had settled\nupon the moor.", "A few faint stars were gleaming in a violet sky.", "\"One last question, Holmes,\" I said as I rose.", "\"Surely there is no need\nof secrecy between you and me.", "What is the meaning of it all?", "What is he\nafter?\"", "Holmes's voice sank as he answered:\n\n\"It is murder, Watson--refined, cold-blooded, deliberate murder.", "Do not\nask me for particulars.", "My nets are closing upon him, even as his are\nupon Sir Henry, and with your help he is already almost at my mercy.", "There is but one danger which can threaten us.", "It is that he should\nstrike before we are ready to do so.", "Another day--two at the most--and\nI have my case complete, but until then guard your charge as closely\nas ever a fond mother watched her ailing child.", "Your mission today has\njustified itself, and yet I could almost wish that you had not left his\nside.", "Hark!\"", "A terrible scream--a prolonged yell of horror and anguish--burst out of\nthe silence of the moor.", "That frightful cry turned the blood to ice in\nmy veins.", "\"Oh, my God!\"", "I gasped.", "\"What is it?", "What does it mean?\"", "Holmes had sprung to his feet, and I saw his dark, athletic outline at\nthe door of the hut, his shoulders stooping, his head thrust forward,\nhis face peering into the darkness.", "\"Hush!\"", "he whispered.", "\"Hush!\"", "The cry had been loud on account of its vehemence, but it had pealed out\nfrom somewhere far off on the shadowy plain.", "Now it burst upon our ears,\nnearer, louder, more urgent than before.", "\"Where is it?\"", "Holmes whispered; and I knew from the thrill of his voice\nthat he, the man of iron, was shaken to the soul.", "\"Where is it, Watson?\"", "\"There, I think.\"", "I pointed into the darkness.", "\"No, there!\"", "Again the agonized cry swept through the silent night, louder and much\nnearer than ever.", "And a new sound mingled with it, a deep, muttered\nrumble, musical and yet menacing, rising and falling like the low,\nconstant murmur of the sea.", "\"The hound!\"", "cried Holmes.", "\"Come, Watson, come!", "Great heavens, if we are\ntoo late!\"", "He had started running swiftly over the moor, and I had followed at his\nheels.", "But now from somewhere among the broken ground immediately in\nfront of us there came one last despairing yell, and then a dull, heavy\nthud.", "We halted and listened.", "Not another sound broke the heavy silence\nof the windless night.", "I saw Holmes put his hand to his forehead like a man distracted.", "He\nstamped his feet upon the ground.", "\"He has beaten us, Watson.", "We are too late.\"", "\"No, no, surely not!\"", "\"Fool that I was to hold my hand.", "And you, Watson, see what comes of\nabandoning your charge!", "But, by Heaven, if the worst has happened we'll\navenge him!\"", "Blindly we ran through the gloom, blundering against boulders, forcing\nour way through gorse bushes, panting up hills and rushing down slopes,\nheading always in the direction whence those dreadful sounds had come.", "At every rise Holmes looked eagerly round him, but the shadows were\nthick upon the moor, and nothing moved upon its dreary face.", "\"Can you see anything?\"", "\"Nothing.\"", "\"But, hark, what is that?\"", "A low moan had fallen upon our ears.", "There it was again upon our left!", "On that side a ridge of rocks ended in a sheer cliff which overlooked\na stone-strewn slope.", "On its jagged face was spread-eagled some dark,\nirregular object.", "As we ran towards it the vague outline hardened into\na definite shape.", "It was a prostrate man face downward upon the ground,\nthe head doubled under him at a horrible angle, the shoulders rounded\nand the body hunched together as if in the act of throwing a somersault.", "So grotesque was the attitude that I could not for the instant realize\nthat that moan had been the passing of his soul.", "Not a whisper, not a\nrustle, rose now from the dark figure over which we stooped.", "Holmes laid\nhis hand upon him and held it up again with an exclamation of horror.", "The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers\nand upon the ghastly pool which widened slowly from the crushed skull\nof the victim.", "And it shone upon something else which turned our hearts\nsick and faint within us--the body of Sir Henry Baskerville!", "There was no chance of either of us forgetting that peculiar ruddy tweed\nsuit--the very one which he had worn on the first morning that we had\nseen him in Baker Street.", "We caught the one clear glimpse of it, and\nthen the match flickered and went out, even as the hope had gone out\nof our souls.", "Holmes groaned, and his face glimmered white through the\ndarkness.", "\"The brute!", "The brute!\"", "I cried with clenched hands.", "\"Oh Holmes, I shall\nnever forgive myself for having left him to his fate.\"", "\"I am more to blame than you, Watson.", "In order to have my case well\nrounded and complete, I have thrown away the life of my client.", "It is\nthe greatest blow which has befallen me in my career.", "But how could I\nknow--how could I know--that he would risk his life alone upon the moor\nin the face of all my warnings?\"", "\"That we should have heard his screams--my God, those screams!--and yet\nhave been unable to save him!", "Where is this brute of a hound which drove\nhim to his death?", "It may be lurking among these rocks at this instant.", "And Stapleton, where is he?", "He shall answer for this deed.\"", "\"He shall.", "I will see to that.", "Uncle and nephew have been murdered--the\none frightened to death by the very sight of a beast which he thought\nto be supernatural, the other driven to his end in his wild flight to\nescape from it.", "But now we have to prove the connection between the\nman and the beast.", "Save from what we heard, we cannot even swear to the\nexistence of the latter, since Sir Henry has evidently died from the\nfall.", "But, by heavens, cunning as he is, the fellow shall be in my power\nbefore another day is past!\"", "We stood with bitter hearts on either side of the mangled body,\noverwhelmed by this sudden and irrevocable disaster which had brought\nall our long and weary labours to so piteous an end.", "Then as the moon\nrose we climbed to the top of the rocks over which our poor friend had\nfallen, and from the summit we gazed out over the shadowy moor, half\nsilver and half gloom.", "Far away, miles off, in the direction of Grimpen,\na single steady yellow light was shining.", "It could only come from the\nlonely abode of the Stapletons.", "With a bitter curse I shook my fist at\nit as I gazed.", "\"Why should we not seize him at once?\"", "\"Our case is not complete.", "The fellow is wary and cunning to the last\ndegree.", "It is not what we know, but what we can prove.", "If we make one\nfalse move the villain may escape us yet.\"", "\"What can we do?\"", "\"There will be plenty for us to do tomorrow.", "Tonight we can only perform\nthe last offices to our poor friend.\"", "Together we made our way down the precipitous slope and approached the\nbody, black and clear against the silvered stones.", "The agony of those\ncontorted limbs struck me with a spasm of pain and blurred my eyes with\ntears.", "\"We must send for help, Holmes!", "We cannot carry him all the way to the\nHall.", "Good heavens, are you mad?\"", "He had uttered a cry and bent over the body.", "Now he was dancing and\nlaughing and wringing my hand.", "Could this be my stern, self-contained\nfriend?", "These were hidden fires, indeed!", "\"A beard!", "A beard!", "The man has a beard!\"", "\"A beard?\"", "\"It is not the baronet--it is--why, it is my neighbour, the convict!\"", "With feverish haste we had turned the body over, and that dripping beard\nwas pointing up to the cold, clear moon.", "There could be no doubt about\nthe beetling forehead, the sunken animal eyes.", "It was indeed the same\nface which had glared upon me in the light of the candle from over the\nrock--the face of Selden, the criminal.", "Then in an instant it was all clear to me.", "I remembered how the baronet\nhad told me that he had handed his old wardrobe to Barrymore.", "Barrymore\nhad passed it on in order to help Selden in his escape.", "Boots, shirt,\ncap--it was all Sir Henry's.", "The tragedy was still black enough, but\nthis man had at least deserved death by the laws of his country.", "I told\nHolmes how the matter stood, my heart bubbling over with thankfulness\nand joy.", "\"Then the clothes have been the poor devil's death,\" said he.", "\"It is\nclear enough that the hound has been laid on from some article of\nSir Henry's--the boot which was abstracted in the hotel, in all\nprobability--and so ran this man down.", "There is one very singular thing,\nhowever: How came Selden, in the darkness, to know that the hound was on\nhis trail?\"", "\"He heard him.\"", "\"To hear a hound upon the moor would not work a hard man like this\nconvict into such a paroxysm of terror that he would risk recapture\nby screaming wildly for help.", "By his cries he must have run a long way\nafter he knew the animal was on his track.", "How did he know?\"", "\"A greater mystery to me is why this hound, presuming that all our\nconjectures are correct--\"\n\n\"I presume nothing.\"", "\"Well, then, why this hound should be loose tonight.", "I suppose that it\ndoes not always run loose upon the moor.", "Stapleton would not let it go\nunless he had reason to think that Sir Henry would be there.\"", "\"My difficulty is the more formidable of the two, for I think that we\nshall very shortly get an explanation of yours, while mine may remain\nforever a mystery.", "The question now is, what shall we do with this poor\nwretch's body?", "We cannot leave it here to the foxes and the ravens.\"", "\"I suggest that we put it in one of the huts until we can communicate\nwith the police.\"", "\"Exactly.", "I have no doubt that you and I could carry it so far.", "Halloa,\nWatson, what's this?", "It's the man himself, by all that's wonderful and\naudacious!", "Not a word to show your suspicions--not a word, or my plans\ncrumble to the ground.\"", "A figure was approaching us over the moor, and I saw the dull red glow\nof a cigar.", "The moon shone upon him, and I could distinguish the dapper\nshape and jaunty walk of the naturalist.", "He stopped when he saw us, and\nthen came on again.", "\"Why, Dr. Watson, that's not you, is it?", "You are the last man that I\nshould have expected to see out on the moor at this time of night.", "But,\ndear me, what's this?", "Somebody hurt?", "Not--don't tell me that it is our\nfriend Sir Henry!\"", "He hurried past me and stooped over the dead man.", "I\nheard a sharp intake of his breath and the cigar fell from his fingers.", "\"Who--who's this?\"", "he stammered.", "\"It is Selden, the man who escaped from Princetown.\"", "Stapleton turned a ghastly face upon us, but by a supreme effort he had\novercome his amazement and his disappointment.", "He looked sharply from\nHolmes to me.", "\"Dear me!", "What a very shocking affair!", "How did he die?\"", "\"He appears to have broken his neck by falling over these rocks.", "My\nfriend and I were strolling on the moor when we heard a cry.\"", "\"I heard a cry also.", "That was what brought me out.", "I was uneasy about\nSir Henry.\"", "\"Why about Sir Henry in particular?\"", "I could not help asking.", "\"Because I had suggested that he should come over.", "When he did not come\nI was surprised, and I naturally became alarmed for his safety when I\nheard cries upon the moor.", "By the way\"--his eyes darted again from my\nface to Holmes's--\"did you hear anything else besides a cry?\"", "\"No,\" said Holmes; \"did you?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"What do you mean, then?\"", "\"Oh, you know the stories that the peasants tell about a phantom\nhound, and so on.", "It is said to be heard at night upon the moor.", "I was\nwondering if there were any evidence of such a sound tonight.\"", "\"We heard nothing of the kind,\" said I.", "\"And what is your theory of this poor fellow's death?\"", "\"I have no doubt that anxiety and exposure have driven him off his head.", "He has rushed about the moor in a crazy state and eventually fallen over\nhere and broken his neck.\"", "\"That seems the most reasonable theory,\" said Stapleton, and he gave a\nsigh which I took to indicate his relief.", "\"What do you think about it,\nMr. Sherlock Holmes?\"", "My friend bowed his compliments.", "\"You are quick at identification,\" said\nhe.", "\"We have been expecting you in these parts since Dr. Watson came down.", "You are in time to see a tragedy.\"", "\"Yes, indeed.", "I have no doubt that my friend's explanation will cover\nthe facts.", "I will take an unpleasant remembrance back to London with me\ntomorrow.\"", "\"Oh, you return tomorrow?\"", "\"That is my intention.\"", "\"I hope your visit has cast some light upon those occurrences which have\npuzzled us?\"", "Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"One cannot always have the success for which one hopes.", "An investigator\nneeds facts and not legends or rumours.", "It has not been a satisfactory\ncase.\"", "My friend spoke in his frankest and most unconcerned manner.", "Stapleton\nstill looked hard at him.", "Then he turned to me.", "\"I would suggest carrying this poor fellow to my house, but it would\ngive my sister such a fright that I do not feel justified in doing it.", "I think that if we put something over his face he will be safe until\nmorning.\"", "And so it was arranged.", "Resisting Stapleton's offer of hospitality,\nHolmes and I set off to Baskerville Hall, leaving the naturalist to\nreturn alone.", "Looking back we saw the figure moving slowly away over the\nbroad moor, and behind him that one black smudge on the silvered slope\nwhich showed where the man was lying who had come so horribly to his\nend." ]

[ "\"No, your boy had been observed, and that gave me a guide where to\nlook.\"", "cried Holmes.", "He\nstamped his feet upon the ground.", "\"Nothing.\"", "\"Why should we not seize him at once?\"", "Then in an instant it was all clear to me.", "You are the last man that I\nshould have expected to see out on the moor at this time of night.", "\"It is Selden, the man who escaped from Princetown.\"", "I was uneasy about\nSir Henry.\"", "By the way\"--his eyes darted again from my\nface to Holmes's--\"did you hear anything else besides a cry?\"" ]

[ "Your place should be at Baskerville\nHall.\"", "\"Why should we not seize him at once?\"", "He was once a schoolmaster in\nthe north of England.", "I repeat that the lady is his wife and\nnot his sister.\"", "He had started running swiftly over the moor, and I had followed at his\nheels.", "\"And the warning--it must have come from her!\"", "He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face\nbronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind.", "The darkness was rising, but much was still hidden by the shadows.", "Good heavens, are you mad?\"", "Where is this brute of a hound which drove\nhim to his death?" ]

[ "But now from somewhere among the broken ground immediately in\nfront of us there came one last despairing yell, and then a dull, heavy\nthud.", "We halted and listened.", "Not another sound broke the heavy silence\nof the windless night.", "I saw Holmes put his hand to his forehead like a man distracted.", "He\nstamped his feet upon the ground.", "\"He has beaten us, Watson.", "We are too late.\"", "\"No, no, surely not!\"", "\"Fool that I was to hold my hand.", "And you, Watson, see what comes of\nabandoning your charge!", "But, by Heaven, if the worst has happened we'll\navenge him!\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nFor a moment or two I sat breathless, hardly able to believe my ears.", "Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight\nof responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul.", "That\ncold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the\nworld.", "\"Holmes!\"", "I cried--\"Holmes!\"", "\"Come out,\" said he, \"and please be careful with the revolver.\"", "I stooped under the rude lintel, and there he sat upon a stone outside,\nhis gray eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished\nfeatures.", "He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face\nbronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind.", "In his tweed suit and\ncloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had\ncontrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one\nof his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen\nas perfect as if he were in Baker Street.", "\"I never was more glad to see anyone in my life,\" said I as I wrung him\nby the hand.", "An investigator\nneeds facts and not legends or rumours.", "It has not been a satisfactory\ncase.\"", "My friend spoke in his frankest and most unconcerned manner.", "Stapleton\nstill looked hard at him.", "Then he turned to me.", "\"I would suggest carrying this poor fellow to my house, but it would\ngive my sister such a fright that I do not feel justified in doing it.", "I think that if we put something over his face he will be safe until\nmorning.\"", "And so it was arranged.", "Resisting Stapleton's offer of hospitality,\nHolmes and I set off to Baskerville Hall, leaving the naturalist to\nreturn alone.", "Looking back we saw the figure moving slowly away over the\nbroad moor, and behind him that one black smudge on the silvered slope\nwhich showed where the man was lying who had come so horribly to his\nend." ]

[ "\n\n\n\"We're at close grips at last,\" said Holmes as we walked together across\nthe moor.", "\"What a nerve the fellow has!", "How he pulled himself together\nin the face of what must have been a paralyzing shock when he found that\nthe wrong man had fallen a victim to his plot.", "I told you in London,\nWatson, and I tell you now again, that we have never had a foeman more\nworthy of our steel.\"", "\"I am sorry that he has seen you.\"", "\"And so was I at first.", "But there was no getting out of it.\"", "\"What effect do you think it will have upon his plans now that he knows\nyou are here?\"", "\"It may cause him to be more cautious, or it may drive him to desperate\nmeasures at once.", "Like most clever criminals, he may be too confident in\nhis own cleverness and imagine that he has completely deceived us.\"", "\"Why should we not arrest him at once?\"", "\"My dear Watson, you were born to be a man of action.", "Your instinct is\nalways to do something energetic.", "But supposing, for argument's sake,\nthat we had him arrested tonight, what on earth the better off should\nwe be for that?", "We could prove nothing against him.", "There's the devilish\ncunning of it!", "If he were acting through a human agent we could get some\nevidence, but if we were to drag this great dog to the light of day it\nwould not help us in putting a rope round the neck of its master.\"", "\"Surely we have a case.\"", "\"Not a shadow of one--only surmise and conjecture.", "We should be laughed\nout of court if we came with such a story and such evidence.\"", "\"There is Sir Charles's death.\"", "\"Found dead without a mark upon him.", "You and I know that he died of\nsheer fright, and we know also what frightened him, but how are we to\nget twelve stolid jurymen to know it?", "What signs are there of a hound?", "Where are the marks of its fangs?", "Of course we know that a hound does\nnot bite a dead body and that Sir Charles was dead before ever the\nbrute overtook him.", "But we have to prove all this, and we are not in a\nposition to do it.\"", "\"Well, then, tonight?\"", "\"We are not much better off tonight.", "Again, there was no direct\nconnection between the hound and the man's death.", "We never saw the\nhound.", "We heard it, but we could not prove that it was running upon this\nman's trail.", "There is a complete absence of motive.", "No, my dear fellow;\nwe must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we have no case at present,\nand that it is worth our while to run any risk in order to establish\none.\"", "\"And how do you propose to do so?\"", "\"I have great hopes of what Mrs. Laura Lyons may do for us when the\nposition of affairs is made clear to her.", "And I have my own plan as\nwell.", "Sufficient for tomorrow is the evil thereof; but I hope before the\nday is past to have the upper hand at last.\"", "I could draw nothing further from him, and he walked, lost in thought,\nas far as the Baskerville gates.", "\"Are you coming up?\"", "\"Yes; I see no reason for further concealment.", "But one last word,\nWatson.", "Say nothing of the hound to Sir Henry.", "Let him think that\nSelden's death was as Stapleton would have us believe.", "He will have a\nbetter nerve for the ordeal which he will have to undergo tomorrow,\nwhen he is engaged, if I remember your report aright, to dine with these\npeople.\"", "\"And so am I.\"", "\"Then you must excuse yourself and he must go alone.", "That will be easily\narranged.", "And now, if we are too late for dinner, I think that we are\nboth ready for our suppers.\"", "Sir Henry was more pleased than surprised to see Sherlock Holmes, for he\nhad for some days been expecting that recent events would bring him down\nfrom London.", "He did raise his eyebrows, however, when he found that my\nfriend had neither any luggage nor any explanations for its absence.", "Between us we soon supplied his wants, and then over a belated supper\nwe explained to the baronet as much of our experience as it seemed\ndesirable that he should know.", "But first I had the unpleasant duty of\nbreaking the news to Barrymore and his wife.", "To him it may have been an\nunmitigated relief, but she wept bitterly in her apron.", "To all the world\nhe was the man of violence, half animal and half demon; but to her he\nalways remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood, the child who\nhad clung to her hand.", "Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to\nmourn him.", "\"I've been moping in the house all day since Watson went off in the\nmorning,\" said the baronet.", "\"I guess I should have some credit, for I\nhave kept my promise.", "If I hadn't sworn not to go about alone I might\nhave had a more lively evening, for I had a message from Stapleton\nasking me over there.\"", "\"I have no doubt that you would have had a more lively evening,\" said\nHolmes drily.", "\"By the way, I don't suppose you appreciate that we have\nbeen mourning over you as having broken your neck?\"", "Sir Henry opened his eyes.", "\"How was that?\"", "\"This poor wretch was dressed in your clothes.", "I fear your servant who\ngave them to him may get into trouble with the police.\"", "\"That is unlikely.", "There was no mark on any of them, as far as I know.\"", "\"That's lucky for him--in fact, it's lucky for all of you, since you are\nall on the wrong side of the law in this matter.", "I am not sure that as\na conscientious detective my first duty is not to arrest the whole\nhousehold.", "Watson's reports are most incriminating documents.\"", "\"But how about the case?\"", "asked the baronet.", "\"Have you made anything out\nof the tangle?", "I don't know that Watson and I are much the wiser since\nwe came down.\"", "\"I think that I shall be in a position to make the situation rather more\nclear to you before long.", "It has been an exceedingly difficult and most\ncomplicated business.", "There are several points upon which we still want\nlight--but it is coming all the same.\"", "\"We've had one experience, as Watson has no doubt told you.", "We heard the\nhound on the moor, so I can swear that it is not all empty superstition.", "I had something to do with dogs when I was out West, and I know one when\nI hear one.", "If you can muzzle that one and put him on a chain I'll be\nready to swear you are the greatest detective of all time.\"", "\"I think I will muzzle him and chain him all right if you will give me\nyour help.\"", "\"Whatever you tell me to do I will do.\"", "\"Very good; and I will ask you also to do it blindly, without always\nasking the reason.\"", "\"Just as you like.\"", "\"If you will do this I think the chances are that our little problem\nwill soon be solved.", "I have no doubt--\"\n\nHe stopped suddenly and stared fixedly up over my head into the air.", "The\nlamp beat upon his face, and so intent was it and so still that it might\nhave been that of a clear-cut classical statue, a personification of\nalertness and expectation.", "\"What is it?\"", "we both cried.", "I could see as he looked down that he was repressing some internal\nemotion.", "His features were still composed, but his eyes shone with\namused exultation.", "\"Excuse the admiration of a connoisseur,\" said he as he waved his hand\ntowards the line of portraits which covered the opposite wall.", "\"Watson\nwon't allow that I know anything of art but that is mere jealousy\nbecause our views upon the subject differ.", "Now, these are a really very\nfine series of portraits.\"", "\"Well, I'm glad to hear you say so,\" said Sir Henry, glancing with some\nsurprise at my friend.", "\"I don't pretend to know much about these things,\nand I'd be a better judge of a horse or a steer than of a picture.", "I\ndidn't know that you found time for such things.\"", "\"I know what is good when I see it, and I see it now.", "That's a Kneller,\nI'll swear, that lady in the blue silk over yonder, and the stout\ngentleman with the wig ought to be a Reynolds.", "They are all family\nportraits, I presume?\"", "\"Every one.\"", "\"Do you know the names?\"", "\"Barrymore has been coaching me in them, and I think I can say my\nlessons fairly well.\"", "\"Who is the gentleman with the telescope?\"", "\"That is Rear-Admiral Baskerville, who served under Rodney in the West\nIndies.", "The man with the blue coat and the roll of paper is Sir William\nBaskerville, who was Chairman of Committees of the House of Commons\nunder Pitt.\"", "\"And this Cavalier opposite to me--the one with the black velvet and the\nlace?\"", "\"Ah, you have a right to know about him.", "That is the cause of all the\nmischief, the wicked Hugo, who started the Hound of the Baskervilles.", "We're not likely to forget him.\"", "I gazed with interest and some surprise upon the portrait.", "\"Dear me!\"", "said Holmes, \"he seems a quiet, meek-mannered man enough, but\nI dare say that there was a lurking devil in his eyes.", "I had pictured\nhim as a more robust and ruffianly person.\"", "\"There's no doubt about the authenticity, for the name and the date,\n1647, are on the back of the canvas.\"", "Holmes said little more, but the picture of the old roysterer seemed to\nhave a fascination for him, and his eyes were continually fixed upon it\nduring supper.", "It was not until later, when Sir Henry had gone to his\nroom, that I was able to follow the trend of his thoughts.", "He led me\nback into the banqueting-hall, his bedroom candle in his hand, and he\nheld it up against the time-stained portrait on the wall.", "\"Do you see anything there?\"", "I looked at the broad plumed hat, the curling love-locks, the white lace\ncollar, and the straight, severe face which was framed between them.", "It\nwas not a brutal countenance, but it was prim, hard, and stern, with a\nfirm-set, thin-lipped mouth, and a coldly intolerant eye.", "\"Is it like anyone you know?\"", "\"There is something of Sir Henry about the jaw.\"", "\"Just a suggestion, perhaps.", "But wait an instant!\"", "He stood upon a\nchair, and, holding up the light in his left hand, he curved his right\narm over the broad hat and round the long ringlets.", "\"Good heavens!\"", "I cried in amazement.", "The face of Stapleton had sprung out of the canvas.", "\"Ha, you see it now.", "My eyes have been trained to examine faces and not\ntheir trimmings.", "It is the first quality of a criminal investigator that\nhe should see through a disguise.\"", "\"But this is marvellous.", "It might be his portrait.\"", "\"Yes, it is an interesting instance of a throwback, which appears to be\nboth physical and spiritual.", "A study of family portraits is enough\nto convert a man to the doctrine of reincarnation.", "The fellow is a\nBaskerville--that is evident.\"", "\"With designs upon the succession.\"", "\"Exactly.", "This chance of the picture has supplied us with one of our\nmost obvious missing links.", "We have him, Watson, we have him, and I dare\nswear that before tomorrow night he will be fluttering in our net as\nhelpless as one of his own butterflies.", "A pin, a cork, and a card, and\nwe add him to the Baker Street collection!\"", "He burst into one of his\nrare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture.", "I have not\nheard him laugh often, and it has always boded ill to somebody.", "I was up betimes in the morning, but Holmes was afoot earlier still, for\nI saw him as I dressed, coming up the drive.", "\"Yes, we should have a full day today,\" he remarked, and he rubbed his\nhands with the joy of action.", "\"The nets are all in place, and the drag\nis about to begin.", "We'll know before the day is out whether we have\ncaught our big, leanjawed pike, or whether he has got through the\nmeshes.\"", "\"Have you been on the moor already?\"", "\"I have sent a report from Grimpen to Princetown as to the death of\nSelden.", "I think I can promise that none of you will be troubled in the\nmatter.", "And I have also communicated with my faithful Cartwright, who\nwould certainly have pined away at the door of my hut, as a dog does at\nhis master's grave, if I had not set his mind at rest about my safety.\"", "\"What is the next move?\"", "\"To see Sir Henry.", "Ah, here he is!\"", "\"Good-morning, Holmes,\" said the baronet.", "\"You look like a general who\nis planning a battle with his chief of the staff.\"", "\"That is the exact situation.", "Watson was asking for orders.\"", "\"And so do I.\"", "\"Very good.", "You are engaged, as I understand, to dine with our friends\nthe Stapletons tonight.\"", "\"I hope that you will come also.", "They are very hospitable people, and I\nam sure that they would be very glad to see you.\"", "\"I fear that Watson and I must go to London.\"", "\"To London?\"", "\"Yes, I think that we should be more useful there at the present\njuncture.\"", "The baronet's face perceptibly lengthened.", "\"I hoped that you were going to see me through this business.", "The Hall\nand the moor are not very pleasant places when one is alone.\"", "\"My dear fellow, you must trust me implicitly and do exactly what I tell\nyou.", "You can tell your friends that we should have been happy to have\ncome with you, but that urgent business required us to be in town.", "We\nhope very soon to return to Devonshire.", "Will you remember to give them\nthat message?\"", "\"If you insist upon it.\"", "\"There is no alternative, I assure you.\"", "I saw by the baronet's clouded brow that he was deeply hurt by what he\nregarded as our desertion.", "\"When do you desire to go?\"", "he asked coldly.", "\"Immediately after breakfast.", "We will drive in to Coombe Tracey, but\nWatson will leave his things as a pledge that he will come back to you.", "Watson, you will send a note to Stapleton to tell him that you regret\nthat you cannot come.\"", "\"I have a good mind to go to London with you,\" said the baronet.", "\"Why\nshould I stay here alone?\"", "\"Because it is your post of duty.", "Because you gave me your word that you\nwould do as you were told, and I tell you to stay.\"", "\"All right, then, I'll stay.\"", "\"One more direction!", "I wish you to drive to Merripit House.", "Send back\nyour trap, however, and let them know that you intend to walk home.\"", "\"To walk across the moor?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"But that is the very thing which you have so often cautioned me not to\ndo.\"", "\"This time you may do it with safety.", "If I had not every confidence in\nyour nerve and courage I would not suggest it, but it is essential that\nyou should do it.\"", "\"Then I will do it.\"", "\"And as you value your life do not go across the moor in any direction\nsave along the straight path which leads from Merripit House to the\nGrimpen Road, and is your natural way home.\"", "\"I will do just what you say.\"", "\"Very good.", "I should be glad to get away as soon after breakfast as\npossible, so as to reach London in the afternoon.\"", "I was much astounded by this programme, though I remembered that Holmes\nhad said to Stapleton on the night before that his visit would terminate\nnext day.", "It had not crossed my mind however, that he would wish me to\ngo with him, nor could I understand how we could both be absent at a\nmoment which he himself declared to be critical.", "There was nothing for\nit, however, but implicit obedience; so we bade good-bye to our rueful\nfriend, and a couple of hours afterwards we were at the station of\nCoombe Tracey and had dispatched the trap upon its return journey.", "A\nsmall boy was waiting upon the platform.", "\"Any orders, sir?\"", "\"You will take this train to town, Cartwright.", "The moment you arrive you\nwill send a wire to Sir Henry Baskerville, in my name, to say that if he\nfinds the pocketbook which I have dropped he is to send it by registered\npost to Baker Street.\"", "\"Yes, sir.\"", "\"And ask at the station office if there is a message for me.\"", "The boy returned with a telegram, which Holmes handed to me.", "It ran:\n\nWire received.", "Coming down with unsigned warrant.", "Arrive five-forty.", "Lestrade.", "\"That is in answer to mine of this morning.", "He is the best of the\nprofessionals, I think, and we may need his assistance.", "Now, Watson, I\nthink that we cannot employ our time better than by calling upon your\nacquaintance, Mrs. Laura Lyons.\"", "His plan of campaign was beginning to be evident.", "He would use the\nbaronet in order to convince the Stapletons that we were really gone,\nwhile we should actually return at the instant when we were likely to\nbe needed.", "That telegram from London, if mentioned by Sir Henry to the\nStapletons, must remove the last suspicions from their minds.", "Already I\nseemed to see our nets drawing closer around that leanjawed pike.", "Mrs. Laura Lyons was in her office, and Sherlock Holmes opened his\ninterview with a frankness and directness which considerably amazed her.", "\"I am investigating the circumstances which attended the death of the\nlate Sir Charles Baskerville,\" said he.", "\"My friend here, Dr. Watson,\nhas informed me of what you have communicated, and also of what you have\nwithheld in connection with that matter.\"", "\"What have I withheld?\"", "she asked defiantly.", "\"You have confessed that you asked Sir Charles to be at the gate at ten\no'clock.", "We know that that was the place and hour of his death.", "You have\nwithheld what the connection is between these events.\"", "\"There is no connection.\"", "\"In that case the coincidence must indeed be an extraordinary one.", "But\nI think that we shall succeed in establishing a connection, after all.", "I\nwish to be perfectly frank with you, Mrs. Lyons.", "We regard this case as\none of murder, and the evidence may implicate not only your friend Mr.\nStapleton but his wife as well.\"", "The lady sprang from her chair.", "\"His wife!\"", "she cried.", "\"The fact is no longer a secret.", "The person who has passed for his\nsister is really his wife.\"", "Mrs. Lyons had resumed her seat.", "Her hands were grasping the arms of her\nchair, and I saw that the pink nails had turned white with the pressure\nof her grip.", "\"His wife!\"", "she said again.", "\"His wife!", "He is not a married man.\"", "Sherlock Holmes shrugged his shoulders.", "\"Prove it to me!", "Prove it to me!", "And if you can do so--!\"", "The fierce flash of her eyes said more than any words.", "\"I have come prepared to do so,\" said Holmes, drawing several papers\nfrom his pocket.", "\"Here is a photograph of the couple taken in York four\nyears ago.", "It is indorsed 'Mr.", "and Mrs. Vandeleur,' but you will have no\ndifficulty in recognizing him, and her also, if you know her by sight.", "Here are three written descriptions by trustworthy witnesses of Mr. and\nMrs. Vandeleur, who at that time kept St. Oliver's private school.", "Read\nthem and see if you can doubt the identity of these people.\"", "She glanced at them, and then looked up at us with the set, rigid face\nof a desperate woman.", "\"Mr. Holmes,\" she said, \"this man had offered me marriage on condition\nthat I could get a divorce from my husband.", "He has lied to me, the\nvillain, in every conceivable way.", "Not one word of truth has he ever\ntold me.", "And why--why?", "I imagined that all was for my own sake.", "But now\nI see that I was never anything but a tool in his hands.", "Why should I\npreserve faith with him who never kept any with me?", "Why should I try to\nshield him from the consequences of his own wicked acts?", "Ask me what you\nlike, and there is nothing which I shall hold back.", "One thing I swear\nto you, and that is that when I wrote the letter I never dreamed of any\nharm to the old gentleman, who had been my kindest friend.\"", "\"I entirely believe you, madam,\" said Sherlock Holmes.", "\"The recital of\nthese events must be very painful to you, and perhaps it will make it\neasier if I tell you what occurred, and you can check me if I make any\nmaterial mistake.", "The sending of this letter was suggested to you by\nStapleton?\"", "\"He dictated it.\"", "\"I presume that the reason he gave was that you would receive help from\nSir Charles for the legal expenses connected with your divorce?\"", "\"Exactly.\"", "\"And then after you had sent the letter he dissuaded you from keeping\nthe appointment?\"", "\"He told me that it would hurt his self-respect that any other man\nshould find the money for such an object, and that though he was a poor\nman himself he would devote his last penny to removing the obstacles\nwhich divided us.\"", "\"He appears to be a very consistent character.", "And then you heard\nnothing until you read the reports of the death in the paper?\"", "\"No.\"", "\"And he made you swear to say nothing about your appointment with Sir\nCharles?\"", "\"He did.", "He said that the death was a very mysterious one, and that I\nshould certainly be suspected if the facts came out.", "He frightened me\ninto remaining silent.\"", "\"Quite so.", "But you had your suspicions?\"", "She hesitated and looked down.", "\"I knew him,\" she said.", "\"But if he had kept faith with me I should\nalways have done so with him.\"", "\"I think that on the whole you have had a fortunate escape,\" said\nSherlock Holmes.", "\"You have had him in your power and he knew it, and yet\nyou are alive.", "You have been walking for some months very near to the\nedge of a precipice.", "We must wish you good-morning now, Mrs. Lyons, and\nit is probable that you will very shortly hear from us again.\"", "\"Our case becomes rounded off, and difficulty after difficulty thins\naway in front of us,\" said Holmes as we stood waiting for the arrival of\nthe express from town.", "\"I shall soon be in the position of being able\nto put into a single connected narrative one of the most singular\nand sensational crimes of modern times.", "Students of criminology will\nremember the analogous incidents in Godno, in Little Russia, in the year\n'66, and of course there are the Anderson murders in North Carolina, but\nthis case possesses some features which are entirely its own.", "Even now\nwe have no clear case against this very wily man.", "But I shall be very\nmuch surprised if it is not clear enough before we go to bed this\nnight.\"", "The London express came roaring into the station, and a small, wiry\nbulldog of a man had sprung from a first-class carriage.", "We all three\nshook hands, and I saw at once from the reverential way in which\nLestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since\nthe days when they had first worked together.", "I could well remember\nthe scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the\npractical man.", "\"Anything good?\"", "he asked.", "\"The biggest thing for years,\" said Holmes.", "\"We have two hours before\nwe need think of starting.", "I think we might employ it in getting some\ndinner and then, Lestrade, we will take the London fog out of your\nthroat by giving you a breath of the pure night air of Dartmoor.", "Never\nbeen there?", "Ah, well, I don't suppose you will forget your first visit.\"" ]

[ "Like most clever criminals, he may be too confident in\nhis own cleverness and imagine that he has completely deceived us.\"", "There's the devilish\ncunning of it!", "No, my dear fellow;\nwe must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we have no case at present,\nand that it is worth our while to run any risk in order to establish\none.\"", "There are several points upon which we still want\nlight--but it is coming all the same.\"", "The man with the blue coat and the roll of paper is Sir William\nBaskerville, who was Chairman of Committees of the House of Commons\nunder Pitt.\"", "He burst into one of his\nrare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture.", "\"I hoped that you were going to see me through this business.", "We will drive in to Coombe Tracey, but\nWatson will leave his things as a pledge that he will come back to you.", "\"And then after you had sent the letter he dissuaded you from keeping\nthe appointment?\"", "Even now\nwe have no clear case against this very wily man." ]

[ "We know that that was the place and hour of his death.", "\"I guess I should have some credit, for I\nhave kept my promise.", "\"Yes, it is an interesting instance of a throwback, which appears to be\nboth physical and spiritual.", "Ask me what you\nlike, and there is nothing which I shall hold back.", "It has been an exceedingly difficult and most\ncomplicated business.", "If he were acting through a human agent we could get some\nevidence, but if we were to drag this great dog to the light of day it\nwould not help us in putting a rope round the neck of its master.\"", "\"I have great hopes of what Mrs. Laura Lyons may do for us when the\nposition of affairs is made clear to her.", "His plan of campaign was beginning to be evident.", "The baronet's face perceptibly lengthened.", "He is not a married man.\"" ]

[ "We'll know before the day is out whether we have\ncaught our big, leanjawed pike, or whether he has got through the\nmeshes.\"", "\"Have you been on the moor already?\"", "\"I have sent a report from Grimpen to Princetown as to the death of\nSelden.", "I think I can promise that none of you will be troubled in the\nmatter.", "And I have also communicated with my faithful Cartwright, who\nwould certainly have pined away at the door of my hut, as a dog does at\nhis master's grave, if I had not set his mind at rest about my safety.\"", "\"What is the next move?\"", "\"To see Sir Henry.", "Ah, here he is!\"", "\"Good-morning, Holmes,\" said the baronet.", "\"You look like a general who\nis planning a battle with his chief of the staff.\"", "\"That is the exact situation." ]

[ "\n\n\n\"We're at close grips at last,\" said Holmes as we walked together across\nthe moor.", "\"What a nerve the fellow has!", "How he pulled himself together\nin the face of what must have been a paralyzing shock when he found that\nthe wrong man had fallen a victim to his plot.", "I told you in London,\nWatson, and I tell you now again, that we have never had a foeman more\nworthy of our steel.\"", "\"I am sorry that he has seen you.\"", "\"And so was I at first.", "But there was no getting out of it.\"", "\"What effect do you think it will have upon his plans now that he knows\nyou are here?\"", "\"It may cause him to be more cautious, or it may drive him to desperate\nmeasures at once.", "Like most clever criminals, he may be too confident in\nhis own cleverness and imagine that he has completely deceived us.\"", "The London express came roaring into the station, and a small, wiry\nbulldog of a man had sprung from a first-class carriage.", "We all three\nshook hands, and I saw at once from the reverential way in which\nLestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since\nthe days when they had first worked together.", "I could well remember\nthe scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the\npractical man.", "\"Anything good?\"", "he asked.", "\"The biggest thing for years,\" said Holmes.", "\"We have two hours before\nwe need think of starting.", "I think we might employ it in getting some\ndinner and then, Lestrade, we will take the London fog out of your\nthroat by giving you a breath of the pure night air of Dartmoor.", "Never\nbeen there?", "Ah, well, I don't suppose you will forget your first visit.\"" ]

[ "\n\n\nOne of Sherlock Holmes's defects--if, indeed, one may call it a\ndefect--was that he was exceedingly loath to communicate his full plans\nto any other person until the instant of their fulfilment.", "Partly it\ncame no doubt from his own masterful nature, which loved to dominate and\nsurprise those who were around him.", "Partly also from his professional\ncaution, which urged him never to take any chances.", "The result, however,\nwas very trying for those who were acting as his agents and assistants.", "I had often suffered under it, but never more so than during that long\ndrive in the darkness.", "The great ordeal was in front of us; at last we\nwere about to make our final effort, and yet Holmes had said nothing,\nand I could only surmise what his course of action would be.", "My nerves\nthrilled with anticipation when at last the cold wind upon our faces and\nthe dark, void spaces on either side of the narrow road told me that we\nwere back upon the moor once again.", "Every stride of the horses and every\nturn of the wheels was taking us nearer to our supreme adventure.", "Our conversation was hampered by the presence of the driver of the hired\nwagonette, so that we were forced to talk of trivial matters when our\nnerves were tense with emotion and anticipation.", "It was a relief to me,\nafter that unnatural restraint, when we at last passed Frankland's\nhouse and knew that we were drawing near to the Hall and to the scene\nof action.", "We did not drive up to the door but got down near the gate of\nthe avenue.", "The wagonette was paid off and ordered to return to Coombe\nTracey forthwith, while we started to walk to Merripit House.", "\"Are you armed, Lestrade?\"", "The little detective smiled.", "\"As long as I have my trousers I have a\nhip-pocket, and as long as I have my hip-pocket I have something in it.\"", "\"Good!", "My friend and I are also ready for emergencies.\"", "\"You're mighty close about this affair, Mr. Holmes.", "What's the game\nnow?\"", "\"A waiting game.\"", "\"My word, it does not seem a very cheerful place,\" said the detective\nwith a shiver, glancing round him at the gloomy slopes of the hill and\nat the huge lake of fog which lay over the Grimpen Mire.", "\"I see the\nlights of a house ahead of us.\"", "\"That is Merripit House and the end of our journey.", "I must request you\nto walk on tiptoe and not to talk above a whisper.\"", "We moved cautiously along the track as if we were bound for the house,\nbut Holmes halted us when we were about two hundred yards from it.", "\"This will do,\" said he.", "\"These rocks upon the right make an admirable\nscreen.\"", "\"We are to wait here?\"", "\"Yes, we shall make our little ambush here.", "Get into this hollow,\nLestrade.", "You have been inside the house, have you not, Watson?", "Can you\ntell the position of the rooms?", "What are those latticed windows at this\nend?\"", "\"I think they are the kitchen windows.\"", "\"And the one beyond, which shines so brightly?\"", "\"That is certainly the dining-room.\"", "\"The blinds are up.", "You know the lie of the land best.", "Creep forward\nquietly and see what they are doing--but for heaven's sake don't let\nthem know that they are watched!\"", "I tiptoed down the path and stooped behind the low wall which surrounded\nthe stunted orchard.", "Creeping in its shadow I reached a point whence I\ncould look straight through the uncurtained window.", "There were only two men in the room, Sir Henry and Stapleton.", "They sat\nwith their profiles towards me on either side of the round table.", "Both\nof them were smoking cigars, and coffee and wine were in front of them.", "Stapleton was talking with animation, but the baronet looked pale and\ndistrait.", "Perhaps the thought of that lonely walk across the ill-omened\nmoor was weighing heavily upon his mind.", "As I watched them Stapleton rose and left the room, while Sir Henry\nfilled his glass again and leaned back in his chair, puffing at his\ncigar.", "I heard the creak of a door and the crisp sound of boots upon\ngravel.", "The steps passed along the path on the other side of the wall\nunder which I crouched.", "Looking over, I saw the naturalist pause at the\ndoor of an out-house in the corner of the orchard.", "A key turned in\na lock, and as he passed in there was a curious scuffling noise from\nwithin.", "He was only a minute or so inside, and then I heard the key turn\nonce more and he passed me and reentered the house.", "I saw him rejoin his\nguest, and I crept quietly back to where my companions were waiting to\ntell them what I had seen.", "\"You say, Watson, that the lady is not there?\"", "Holmes asked when I had\nfinished my report.", "\"No.\"", "\"Where can she be, then, since there is no light in any other room\nexcept the kitchen?\"", "\"I cannot think where she is.\"", "I have said that over the great Grimpen Mire there hung a dense, white\nfog.", "It was drifting slowly in our direction and banked itself up like a\nwall on that side of us, low but thick and well defined.", "The moon shone\non it, and it looked like a great shimmering ice-field, with the heads\nof the distant tors as rocks borne upon its surface.", "Holmes's face\nwas turned towards it, and he muttered impatiently as he watched its\nsluggish drift.", "\"It's moving towards us, Watson.\"", "\"Is that serious?\"", "\"Very serious, indeed--the one thing upon earth which could have\ndisarranged my plans.", "He can't be very long, now.", "It is already ten\no'clock.", "Our success and even his life may depend upon his coming out\nbefore the fog is over the path.\"", "The night was clear and fine above us.", "The stars shone cold and bright,\nwhile a half-moon bathed the whole scene in a soft, uncertain light.", "Before us lay the dark bulk of the house, its serrated roof and\nbristling chimneys hard outlined against the silver-spangled sky.", "Broad\nbars of golden light from the lower windows stretched across the orchard\nand the moor.", "One of them was suddenly shut off.", "The servants had left\nthe kitchen.", "There only remained the lamp in the dining-room where the\ntwo men, the murderous host and the unconscious guest, still chatted\nover their cigars.", "Every minute that white woolly plain which covered one-half of the moor\nwas drifting closer and closer to the house.", "Already the first thin\nwisps of it were curling across the golden square of the lighted window.", "The farther wall of the orchard was already invisible, and the trees\nwere standing out of a swirl of white vapour.", "As we watched it the\nfog-wreaths came crawling round both corners of the house and rolled\nslowly into one dense bank on which the upper floor and the roof\nfloated like a strange ship upon a shadowy sea.", "Holmes struck his hand\npassionately upon the rock in front of us and stamped his feet in his\nimpatience.", "\"If he isn't out in a quarter of an hour the path will be covered.", "In\nhalf an hour we won't be able to see our hands in front of us.\"", "\"Shall we move farther back upon higher ground?\"", "\"Yes, I think it would be as well.\"", "So as the fog-bank flowed onward we fell back before it until we were\nhalf a mile from the house, and still that dense white sea, with the\nmoon silvering its upper edge, swept slowly and inexorably on.", "\"We are going too far,\" said Holmes.", "\"We dare not take the chance of his\nbeing overtaken before he can reach us.", "At all costs we must hold our\nground where we are.\"", "He dropped on his knees and clapped his ear to the\nground.", "\"Thank God, I think that I hear him coming.\"", "A sound of quick steps broke the silence of the moor.", "Crouching among\nthe stones we stared intently at the silver-tipped bank in front of us.", "The steps grew louder, and through the fog, as through a curtain, there\nstepped the man whom we were awaiting.", "He looked round him in surprise\nas he emerged into the clear, starlit night.", "Then he came swiftly along\nthe path, passed close to where we lay, and went on up the long slope\nbehind us.", "As he walked he glanced continually over either shoulder,\nlike a man who is ill at ease.", "\"Hist!\"", "cried Holmes, and I heard the sharp click of a cocking pistol.", "\"Look out!", "It's coming!\"", "There was a thin, crisp, continuous patter from somewhere in the heart\nof that crawling bank.", "The cloud was within fifty yards of where we lay,\nand we glared at it, all three, uncertain what horror was about to break\nfrom the heart of it.", "I was at Holmes's elbow, and I glanced for an\ninstant at his face.", "It was pale and exultant, his eyes shining brightly\nin the moonlight.", "But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed\nstare, and his lips parted in amazement.", "At the same instant Lestrade\ngave a yell of terror and threw himself face downward upon the ground.", "I sprang to my feet, my inert hand grasping my pistol, my mind paralyzed\nby the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from the shadows of\nthe fog.", "A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a\nhound as mortal eyes have ever seen.", "Fire burst from its open mouth, its\neyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap\nwere outlined in flickering flame.", "Never in the delirious dream of\na disordered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more\nhellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face which broke\nupon us out of the wall of fog.", "With long bounds the huge black creature was leaping down the track,\nfollowing hard upon the footsteps of our friend.", "So paralyzed were we by\nthe apparition that we allowed him to pass before we had recovered our\nnerve.", "Then Holmes and I both fired together, and the creature gave a\nhideous howl, which showed that one at least had hit him.", "He did not\npause, however, but bounded onward.", "Far away on the path we saw Sir\nHenry looking back, his face white in the moonlight, his hands raised in\nhorror, glaring helplessly at the frightful thing which was hunting him\ndown.", "But that cry of pain from the hound had blown all our fears to the\nwinds.", "If he was vulnerable he was mortal, and if we could wound him we\ncould kill him.", "Never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran that night.", "I\nam reckoned fleet of foot, but he outpaced me as much as I outpaced the\nlittle professional.", "In front of us as we flew up the track we heard\nscream after scream from Sir Henry and the deep roar of the hound.", "I was\nin time to see the beast spring upon its victim, hurl him to the ground,\nand worry at his throat.", "But the next instant Holmes had emptied five\nbarrels of his revolver into the creature's flank.", "With a last howl of\nagony and a vicious snap in the air, it rolled upon its back, four feet\npawing furiously, and then fell limp upon its side.", "I stooped, panting,\nand pressed my pistol to the dreadful, shimmering head, but it was\nuseless to press the trigger.", "The giant hound was dead.", "Sir Henry lay insensible where he had fallen.", "We tore away his collar,\nand Holmes breathed a prayer of gratitude when we saw that there was\nno sign of a wound and that the rescue had been in time.", "Already our\nfriend's eyelids shivered and he made a feeble effort to move.", "Lestrade\nthrust his brandy-flask between the baronet's teeth, and two frightened\neyes were looking up at us.", "\"My God!\"", "he whispered.", "\"What was it?", "What, in heaven's name, was it?\"", "\"It's dead, whatever it is,\" said Holmes.", "\"We've laid the family ghost\nonce and forever.\"", "In mere size and strength it was a terrible creature which was lying\nstretched before us.", "It was not a pure bloodhound and it was not a pure\nmastiff; but it appeared to be a combination of the two--gaunt, savage,\nand as large as a small lioness.", "Even now in the stillness of death,\nthe huge jaws seemed to be dripping with a bluish flame and the small,\ndeep-set, cruel eyes were ringed with fire.", "I placed my hand upon the\nglowing muzzle, and as I held them up my own fingers smouldered and\ngleamed in the darkness.", "\"Phosphorus,\" I said.", "\"A cunning preparation of it,\" said Holmes, sniffing at the dead animal.", "\"There is no smell which might have interfered with his power of scent.", "We owe you a deep apology, Sir Henry, for having exposed you to this\nfright.", "I was prepared for a hound, but not for such a creature as this.", "And the fog gave us little time to receive him.\"", "\"You have saved my life.\"", "\"Having first endangered it.", "Are you strong enough to stand?\"", "\"Give me another mouthful of that brandy and I shall be ready for\nanything.", "So!", "Now, if you will help me up.", "What do you propose to do?\"", "\"To leave you here.", "You are not fit for further adventures tonight.", "If\nyou will wait, one or other of us will go back with you to the Hall.\"", "He tried to stagger to his feet; but he was still ghastly pale and\ntrembling in every limb.", "We helped him to a rock, where he sat shivering\nwith his face buried in his hands.", "\"We must leave you now,\" said Holmes.", "\"The rest of our work must be\ndone, and every moment is of importance.", "We have our case, and now we\nonly want our man.", "\"It's a thousand to one against our finding him at the house,\" he\ncontinued as we retraced our steps swiftly down the path.", "\"Those shots\nmust have told him that the game was up.\"", "\"We were some distance off, and this fog may have deadened them.\"", "\"He followed the hound to call him off--of that you may be certain.", "No,\nno, he's gone by this time!", "But we'll search the house and make sure.\"", "The front door was open, so we rushed in and hurried from room to\nroom to the amazement of a doddering old manservant, who met us in the\npassage.", "There was no light save in the dining-room, but Holmes caught\nup the lamp and left no corner of the house unexplored.", "No sign could we\nsee of the man whom we were chasing.", "On the upper floor, however, one of\nthe bedroom doors was locked.", "\"There's someone in here,\" cried Lestrade.", "\"I can hear a movement.", "Open\nthis door!\"", "A faint moaning and rustling came from within.", "Holmes struck the door\njust over the lock with the flat of his foot and it flew open.", "Pistol in\nhand, we all three rushed into the room.", "But there was no sign within it of that desperate and defiant villain\nwhom we expected to see.", "Instead we were faced by an object so strange\nand so unexpected that we stood for a moment staring at it in amazement.", "The room had been fashioned into a small museum, and the walls were\nlined by a number of glass-topped cases full of that collection of\nbutterflies and moths the formation of which had been the relaxation of\nthis complex and dangerous man.", "In the centre of this room there was an\nupright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the\nold worm-eaten baulk of timber which spanned the roof.", "To this post a\nfigure was tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been\nused to secure it that one could not for the moment tell whether it\nwas that of a man or a woman.", "One towel passed round the throat and was\nsecured at the back of the pillar.", "Another covered the lower part of\nthe face, and over it two dark eyes--eyes full of grief and shame and a\ndreadful questioning--stared back at us.", "In a minute we had torn off\nthe gag, unswathed the bonds, and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in\nfront of us.", "As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear\nred weal of a whiplash across her neck.", "\"The brute!\"", "cried Holmes.", "\"Here, Lestrade, your brandy-bottle!", "Put her\nin the chair!", "She has fainted from ill-usage and exhaustion.\"", "She opened her eyes again.", "\"Is he safe?\"", "she asked.", "\"Has he escaped?\"", "\"He cannot escape us, madam.\"", "\"No, no, I did not mean my husband.", "Sir Henry?", "Is he safe?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"And the hound?\"", "\"It is dead.\"", "She gave a long sigh of satisfaction.", "\"Thank God!", "Thank God!", "Oh, this villain!", "See how he has treated me!\"", "She shot her arms out from her sleeves, and we saw with horror that they\nwere all mottled with bruises.", "\"But this is nothing--nothing!", "It is my\nmind and soul that he has tortured and defiled.", "I could endure it all,\nill-usage, solitude, a life of deception, everything, as long as I could\nstill cling to the hope that I had his love, but now I know that in\nthis also I have been his dupe and his tool.\"", "She broke into passionate\nsobbing as she spoke.", "\"You bear him no good will, madam,\" said Holmes.", "\"Tell us then where we\nshall find him.", "If you have ever aided him in evil, help us now and so\natone.\"", "\"There is but one place where he can have fled,\" she answered.", "\"There is\nan old tin mine on an island in the heart of the mire.", "It was there that\nhe kept his hound and there also he had made preparations so that he\nmight have a refuge.", "That is where he would fly.\"", "The fog-bank lay like white wool against the window.", "Holmes held the\nlamp towards it.", "\"See,\" said he.", "\"No one could find his way into the Grimpen Mire\ntonight.\"", "She laughed and clapped her hands.", "Her eyes and teeth gleamed with\nfierce merriment.", "\"He may find his way in, but never out,\" she cried.", "\"How can he see the\nguiding wands tonight?", "We planted them together, he and I, to mark the\npathway through the mire.", "Oh, if I could only have plucked them out\ntoday.", "Then indeed you would have had him at your mercy!\"", "It was evident to us that all pursuit was in vain until the fog had\nlifted.", "Meanwhile we left Lestrade in possession of the house while\nHolmes and I went back with the baronet to Baskerville Hall.", "The story\nof the Stapletons could no longer be withheld from him, but he took\nthe blow bravely when he learned the truth about the woman whom he had\nloved.", "But the shock of the night's adventures had shattered his nerves,\nand before morning he lay delirious in a high fever under the care of\nDr. Mortimer.", "The two of them were destined to travel together round the\nworld before Sir Henry had become once more the hale, hearty man that he\nhad been before he became master of that ill-omened estate.", "And now I come rapidly to the conclusion of this singular narrative, in\nwhich I have tried to make the reader share those dark fears and vague\nsurmises which clouded our lives so long and ended in so tragic a\nmanner.", "On the morning after the death of the hound the fog had lifted\nand we were guided by Mrs. Stapleton to the point where they had found\na pathway through the bog.", "It helped us to realize the horror of this\nwoman's life when we saw the eagerness and joy with which she laid us\non her husband's track.", "We left her standing upon the thin peninsula of\nfirm, peaty soil which tapered out into the widespread bog.", "From the\nend of it a small wand planted here and there showed where the path\nzigzagged from tuft to tuft of rushes among those green-scummed pits\nand foul quagmires which barred the way to the stranger.", "Rank reeds and\nlush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay and a heavy miasmatic\nvapour onto our faces, while a false step plunged us more than once\nthigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft\nundulations around our feet.", "Its tenacious grip plucked at our heels as\nwe walked, and when we sank into it it was as if some malignant hand was\ntugging us down into those obscene depths, so grim and purposeful was\nthe clutch in which it held us.", "Once only we saw a trace that someone\nhad passed that perilous way before us.", "From amid a tuft of cotton grass\nwhich bore it up out of the slime some dark thing was projecting.", "Holmes\nsank to his waist as he stepped from the path to seize it, and had we\nnot been there to drag him out he could never have set his foot\nupon firm land again.", "He held an old black boot in the air.", "\"Meyers,\nToronto,\" was printed on the leather inside.", "\"It is worth a mud bath,\" said he.", "\"It is our friend Sir Henry's missing\nboot.\"", "\"Thrown there by Stapleton in his flight.\"", "\"Exactly.", "He retained it in his hand after using it to set the hound\nupon the track.", "He fled when he knew the game was up, still clutching\nit.", "And he hurled it away at this point of his flight.", "We know at least\nthat he came so far in safety.\"", "But more than that we were never destined to know, though there was much\nwhich we might surmise.", "There was no chance of finding footsteps in the\nmire, for the rising mud oozed swiftly in upon them, but as we at last\nreached firmer ground beyond the morass we all looked eagerly for them.", "But no slightest sign of them ever met our eyes.", "If the earth told a\ntrue story, then Stapleton never reached that island of refuge towards\nwhich he struggled through the fog upon that last night.", "Somewhere in\nthe heart of the great Grimpen Mire, down in the foul slime of the\nhuge morass which had sucked him in, this cold and cruel-hearted man is\nforever buried.", "Many traces we found of him in the bog-girt island where he had hid his\nsavage ally.", "A huge driving-wheel and a shaft half-filled with rubbish\nshowed the position of an abandoned mine.", "Beside it were the crumbling\nremains of the cottages of the miners, driven away no doubt by the foul\nreek of the surrounding swamp.", "In one of these a staple and chain with\na quantity of gnawed bones showed where the animal had been confined.", "A skeleton with a tangle of brown hair adhering to it lay among the\ndebris.", "\"A dog!\"", "said Holmes.", "\"By Jove, a curly-haired spaniel.", "Poor Mortimer\nwill never see his pet again.", "Well, I do not know that this place\ncontains any secret which we have not already fathomed.", "He could hide\nhis hound, but he could not hush its voice, and hence came those cries\nwhich even in daylight were not pleasant to hear.", "On an emergency he\ncould keep the hound in the out-house at Merripit, but it was always a\nrisk, and it was only on the supreme day, which he regarded as the end\nof all his efforts, that he dared do it.", "This paste in the tin is no\ndoubt the luminous mixture with which the creature was daubed.", "It was\nsuggested, of course, by the story of the family hell-hound, and by the\ndesire to frighten old Sir Charles to death.", "No wonder the poor devil of\na convict ran and screamed, even as our friend did, and as we ourselves\nmight have done, when he saw such a creature bounding through the\ndarkness of the moor upon his track.", "It was a cunning device, for, apart\nfrom the chance of driving your victim to his death, what peasant would\nventure to inquire too closely into such a creature should he get sight\nof it, as many have done, upon the moor?", "I said it in London, Watson,\nand I say it again now, that never yet have we helped to hunt down a\nmore dangerous man than he who is lying yonder\"--he swept his long arm\ntowards the huge mottled expanse of green-splotched bog which stretched\naway until it merged into the russet slopes of the moor." ]

[ "My friend and I are also ready for emergencies.\"", "It was drifting slowly in our direction and banked itself up like a\nwall on that side of us, low but thick and well defined.", "So as the fog-bank flowed onward we fell back before it until we were\nhalf a mile from the house, and still that dense white sea, with the\nmoon silvering its upper edge, swept slowly and inexorably on.", "As he walked he glanced continually over either shoulder,\nlike a man who is ill at ease.", "\"We must leave you now,\" said Holmes.", "\"Those shots\nmust have told him that the game was up.\"", "A faint moaning and rustling came from within.", "she asked.", "\"And the hound?\"", "No wonder the poor devil of\na convict ran and screamed, even as our friend did, and as we ourselves\nmight have done, when he saw such a creature bounding through the\ndarkness of the moor upon his track." ]

[ "It was there that\nhe kept his hound and there also he had made preparations so that he\nmight have a refuge.", "Crouching among\nthe stones we stared intently at the silver-tipped bank in front of us.", "If the earth told a\ntrue story, then Stapleton never reached that island of refuge towards\nwhich he struggled through the fog upon that last night.", "\"Those shots\nmust have told him that the game was up.\"", "He retained it in his hand after using it to set the hound\nupon the track.", "We know at least\nthat he came so far in safety.\"", "Then indeed you would have had him at your mercy!\"", "The cloud was within fifty yards of where we lay,\nand we glared at it, all three, uncertain what horror was about to break\nfrom the heart of it.", "\"The blinds are up.", "Then Holmes and I both fired together, and the creature gave a\nhideous howl, which showed that one at least had hit him." ]

[ "\"It's dead, whatever it is,\" said Holmes.", "\"We've laid the family ghost\nonce and forever.\"", "In mere size and strength it was a terrible creature which was lying\nstretched before us.", "It was not a pure bloodhound and it was not a pure\nmastiff; but it appeared to be a combination of the two--gaunt, savage,\nand as large as a small lioness.", "Even now in the stillness of death,\nthe huge jaws seemed to be dripping with a bluish flame and the small,\ndeep-set, cruel eyes were ringed with fire.", "I placed my hand upon the\nglowing muzzle, and as I held them up my own fingers smouldered and\ngleamed in the darkness.", "\"Phosphorus,\" I said.", "\"A cunning preparation of it,\" said Holmes, sniffing at the dead animal.", "\"There is no smell which might have interfered with his power of scent.", "We owe you a deep apology, Sir Henry, for having exposed you to this\nfright.", "I was prepared for a hound, but not for such a creature as this." ]

[ "\n\n\nOne of Sherlock Holmes's defects--if, indeed, one may call it a\ndefect--was that he was exceedingly loath to communicate his full plans\nto any other person until the instant of their fulfilment.", "Partly it\ncame no doubt from his own masterful nature, which loved to dominate and\nsurprise those who were around him.", "Partly also from his professional\ncaution, which urged him never to take any chances.", "The result, however,\nwas very trying for those who were acting as his agents and assistants.", "I had often suffered under it, but never more so than during that long\ndrive in the darkness.", "The great ordeal was in front of us; at last we\nwere about to make our final effort, and yet Holmes had said nothing,\nand I could only surmise what his course of action would be.", "My nerves\nthrilled with anticipation when at last the cold wind upon our faces and\nthe dark, void spaces on either side of the narrow road told me that we\nwere back upon the moor once again.", "Every stride of the horses and every\nturn of the wheels was taking us nearer to our supreme adventure.", "Our conversation was hampered by the presence of the driver of the hired\nwagonette, so that we were forced to talk of trivial matters when our\nnerves were tense with emotion and anticipation.", "It was a relief to me,\nafter that unnatural restraint, when we at last passed Frankland's\nhouse and knew that we were drawing near to the Hall and to the scene\nof action.", "\"By Jove, a curly-haired spaniel.", "Poor Mortimer\nwill never see his pet again.", "Well, I do not know that this place\ncontains any secret which we have not already fathomed.", "He could hide\nhis hound, but he could not hush its voice, and hence came those cries\nwhich even in daylight were not pleasant to hear.", "On an emergency he\ncould keep the hound in the out-house at Merripit, but it was always a\nrisk, and it was only on the supreme day, which he regarded as the end\nof all his efforts, that he dared do it.", "This paste in the tin is no\ndoubt the luminous mixture with which the creature was daubed.", "It was\nsuggested, of course, by the story of the family hell-hound, and by the\ndesire to frighten old Sir Charles to death.", "No wonder the poor devil of\na convict ran and screamed, even as our friend did, and as we ourselves\nmight have done, when he saw such a creature bounding through the\ndarkness of the moor upon his track.", "It was a cunning device, for, apart\nfrom the chance of driving your victim to his death, what peasant would\nventure to inquire too closely into such a creature should he get sight\nof it, as many have done, upon the moor?", "I said it in London, Watson,\nand I say it again now, that never yet have we helped to hunt down a\nmore dangerous man than he who is lying yonder\"--he swept his long arm\ntowards the huge mottled expanse of green-splotched bog which stretched\naway until it merged into the russet slopes of the moor." ]

[ "\n\n\nIt was the end of November, and Holmes and I sat, upon a raw and foggy\nnight, on either side of a blazing fire in our sitting-room in Baker\nStreet.", "Since the tragic upshot of our visit to Devonshire he had been\nengaged in two affairs of the utmost importance, in the first of which\nhe had exposed the atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood in connection\nwith the famous card scandal of the Nonpareil Club, while in the second\nhe had defended the unfortunate Mme.", "Montpensier from the charge\nof murder which hung over her in connection with the death of her\nstep-daughter, Mlle.", "Carere, the young lady who, as it will be\nremembered, was found six months later alive and married in New York.", "My friend was in excellent spirits over the success which had attended\na succession of difficult and important cases, so that I was able to\ninduce him to discuss the details of the Baskerville mystery.", "I had\nwaited patiently for the opportunity for I was aware that he would never\npermit cases to overlap, and that his clear and logical mind would not\nbe drawn from its present work to dwell upon memories of the past.", "Sir\nHenry and Dr. Mortimer were, however, in London, on their way to that\nlong voyage which had been recommended for the restoration of his\nshattered nerves.", "They had called upon us that very afternoon, so that\nit was natural that the subject should come up for discussion.", "\"The whole course of events,\" said Holmes, \"from the point of view of\nthe man who called himself Stapleton was simple and direct, although\nto us, who had no means in the beginning of knowing the motives of\nhis actions and could only learn part of the facts, it all appeared\nexceedingly complex.", "I have had the advantage of two conversations with\nMrs. Stapleton, and the case has now been so entirely cleared up that I\nam not aware that there is anything which has remained a secret to us.", "You will find a few notes upon the matter under the heading B in my\nindexed list of cases.\"", "\"Perhaps you would kindly give me a sketch of the course of events from\nmemory.\"", "\"Certainly, though I cannot guarantee that I carry all the facts in my\nmind.", "Intense mental concentration has a curious way of blotting out\nwhat has passed.", "The barrister who has his case at his fingers' ends and\nis able to argue with an expert upon his own subject finds that a week\nor two of the courts will drive it all out of his head once more.", "So\neach of my cases displaces the last, and Mlle.", "Carere has blurred my\nrecollection of Baskerville Hall.", "Tomorrow some other little problem may\nbe submitted to my notice which will in turn dispossess the fair French\nlady and the infamous Upwood.", "So far as the case of the hound goes,\nhowever, I will give you the course of events as nearly as I can, and\nyou will suggest anything which I may have forgotten.", "\"My inquiries show beyond all question that the family portrait did not\nlie, and that this fellow was indeed a Baskerville.", "He was a son of that\nRodger Baskerville, the younger brother of Sir Charles, who fled with\na sinister reputation to South America, where he was said to have died\nunmarried.", "He did, as a matter of fact, marry, and had one child, this\nfellow, whose real name is the same as his father's.", "He married Beryl\nGarcia, one of the beauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a\nconsiderable sum of public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur and\nfled to England, where he established a school in the east of Yorkshire.", "His reason for attempting this special line of business was that he had\nstruck up an acquaintance with a consumptive tutor upon the voyage\nhome, and that he had used this man's ability to make the undertaking a\nsuccess.", "Fraser, the tutor, died however, and the school which had begun\nwell sank from disrepute into infamy.", "The Vandeleurs found it convenient\nto change their name to Stapleton, and he brought the remains of his\nfortune, his schemes for the future, and his taste for entomology to\nthe south of England.", "I learned at the British Museum that he was a\nrecognized authority upon the subject, and that the name of Vandeleur\nhas been permanently attached to a certain moth which he had, in his\nYorkshire days, been the first to describe.", "\"We now come to that portion of his life which has proved to be of such\nintense interest to us.", "The fellow had evidently made inquiry and found\nthat only two lives intervened between him and a valuable estate.", "When\nhe went to Devonshire his plans were, I believe, exceedingly hazy, but\nthat he meant mischief from the first is evident from the way in which\nhe took his wife with him in the character of his sister.", "The idea of\nusing her as a decoy was clearly already in his mind, though he may not\nhave been certain how the details of his plot were to be arranged.", "He\nmeant in the end to have the estate, and he was ready to use any tool\nor run any risk for that end.", "His first act was to establish himself as\nnear to his ancestral home as he could, and his second was to cultivate\na friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and with the neighbours.", "\"The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and so prepared\nthe way for his own death.", "Stapleton, as I will continue to call him,\nknew that the old man's heart was weak and that a shock would kill him.", "So much he had learned from Dr. Mortimer.", "He had heard also that Sir\nCharles was superstitious and had taken this grim legend very seriously.", "His ingenious mind instantly suggested a way by which the baronet could\nbe done to death, and yet it would be hardly possible to bring home the\nguilt to the real murderer.", "\"Having conceived the idea he proceeded to carry it out with\nconsiderable finesse.", "An ordinary schemer would have been content\nto work with a savage hound.", "The use of artificial means to make the\ncreature diabolical was a flash of genius upon his part.", "The dog he\nbought in London from Ross and Mangles, the dealers in Fulham Road.", "It\nwas the strongest and most savage in their possession.", "He brought it\ndown by the North Devon line and walked a great distance over the moor\nso as to get it home without exciting any remarks.", "He had already on his\ninsect hunts learned to penetrate the Grimpen Mire, and so had found a\nsafe hiding-place for the creature.", "Here he kennelled it and waited his\nchance.", "\"But it was some time coming.", "The old gentleman could not be decoyed\noutside of his grounds at night.", "Several times Stapleton lurked about\nwith his hound, but without avail.", "It was during these fruitless quests\nthat he, or rather his ally, was seen by peasants, and that the legend\nof the demon dog received a new confirmation.", "He had hoped that his wife\nmight lure Sir Charles to his ruin, but here she proved unexpectedly\nindependent.", "She would not endeavour to entangle the old gentleman in\na sentimental attachment which might deliver him over to his enemy.", "Threats and even, I am sorry to say, blows refused to move her.", "She\nwould have nothing to do with it, and for a time Stapleton was at a\ndeadlock.", "\"He found a way out of his difficulties through the chance that Sir\nCharles, who had conceived a friendship for him, made him the minister\nof his charity in the case of this unfortunate woman, Mrs. Laura Lyons.", "By representing himself as a single man he acquired complete influence\nover her, and he gave her to understand that in the event of her\nobtaining a divorce from her husband he would marry her.", "His plans were\nsuddenly brought to a head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about\nto leave the Hall on the advice of Dr. Mortimer, with whose opinion he\nhimself pretended to coincide.", "He must act at once, or his victim might\nget beyond his power.", "He therefore put pressure upon Mrs. Lyons to\nwrite this letter, imploring the old man to give her an interview on\nthe evening before his departure for London.", "He then, by a specious\nargument, prevented her from going, and so had the chance for which he\nhad waited.", "\"Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was in time to get\nhis hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and to bring the beast\nround to the gate at which he had reason to expect that he would find\nthe old gentleman waiting.", "The dog, incited by its master, sprang over\nthe wicket-gate and pursued the unfortunate baronet, who fled screaming\ndown the yew alley.", "In that gloomy tunnel it must indeed have been a\ndreadful sight to see that huge black creature, with its flaming jaws\nand blazing eyes, bounding after its victim.", "He fell dead at the end\nof the alley from heart disease and terror.", "The hound had kept upon the\ngrassy border while the baronet had run down the path, so that no track\nbut the man's was visible.", "On seeing him lying still the creature had\nprobably approached to sniff at him, but finding him dead had turned\naway again.", "It was then that it left the print which was actually\nobserved by Dr. Mortimer.", "The hound was called off and hurried away to\nits lair in the Grimpen Mire, and a mystery was left which puzzled\nthe authorities, alarmed the countryside, and finally brought the case\nwithin the scope of our observation.", "\"So much for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville.", "You perceive the\ndevilish cunning of it, for really it would be almost impossible to make\na case against the real murderer.", "His only accomplice was one who could\nnever give him away, and the grotesque, inconceivable nature of\nthe device only served to make it more effective.", "Both of the women\nconcerned in the case, Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons, were left\nwith a strong suspicion against Stapleton.", "Mrs. Stapleton knew that he\nhad designs upon the old man, and also of the existence of the hound.", "Mrs. Lyons knew neither of these things, but had been impressed by the\ndeath occurring at the time of an uncancelled appointment which was only\nknown to him.", "However, both of them were under his influence, and he had\nnothing to fear from them.", "The first half of his task was successfully\naccomplished but the more difficult still remained.", "\"It is possible that Stapleton did not know of the existence of an heir\nin Canada.", "In any case he would very soon learn it from his friend Dr.\nMortimer, and he was told by the latter all details about the arrival of\nHenry Baskerville.", "Stapleton's first idea was that this young stranger\nfrom Canada might possibly be done to death in London without coming\ndown to Devonshire at all.", "He distrusted his wife ever since she had\nrefused to help him in laying a trap for the old man, and he dared not\nleave her long out of his sight for fear he should lose his influence\nover her.", "It was for this reason that he took her to London with him.", "They lodged, I find, at the Mexborough Private Hotel, in Craven Street,\nwhich was actually one of those called upon by my agent in search\nof evidence.", "Here he kept his wife imprisoned in her room while\nhe, disguised in a beard, followed Dr. Mortimer to Baker Street and\nafterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel.", "His wife had\nsome inkling of his plans; but she had such a fear of her husband--a\nfear founded upon brutal ill-treatment--that she dare not write to warn\nthe man whom she knew to be in danger.", "If the letter should fall into\nStapleton's hands her own life would not be safe.", "Eventually, as we\nknow, she adopted the expedient of cutting out the words which would\nform the message, and addressing the letter in a disguised hand.", "It\nreached the baronet, and gave him the first warning of his danger.", "\"It was very essential for Stapleton to get some article of Sir Henry's\nattire so that, in case he was driven to use the dog, he might always\nhave the means of setting him upon his track.", "With characteristic\npromptness and audacity he set about this at once, and we cannot doubt\nthat the boots or chamber-maid of the hotel was well bribed to help him\nin his design.", "By chance, however, the first boot which was procured for\nhim was a new one and, therefore, useless for his purpose.", "He then had\nit returned and obtained another--a most instructive incident, since it\nproved conclusively to my mind that we were dealing with a real hound,\nas no other supposition could explain this anxiety to obtain an old\nboot and this indifference to a new one.", "The more outre and grotesque an\nincident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very\npoint which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and\nscientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it.", "\"Then we had the visit from our friends next morning, shadowed always\nby Stapleton in the cab.", "From his knowledge of our rooms and of my\nappearance, as well as from his general conduct, I am inclined to think\nthat Stapleton's career of crime has been by no means limited to this\nsingle Baskerville affair.", "It is suggestive that during the last three\nyears there have been four considerable burglaries in the west country,\nfor none of which was any criminal ever arrested.", "The last of these, at\nFolkestone Court, in May, was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistolling\nof the page, who surprised the masked and solitary burglar.", "I cannot\ndoubt that Stapleton recruited his waning resources in this fashion, and\nthat for years he has been a desperate and dangerous man.", "\"We had an example of his readiness of resource that morning when he got\naway from us so successfully, and also of his audacity in sending back\nmy own name to me through the cabman.", "From that moment he understood\nthat I had taken over the case in London, and that therefore there was\nno chance for him there.", "He returned to Dartmoor and awaited the arrival\nof the baronet.\"", "\"One moment!\"", "said I.", "\"You have, no doubt, described the sequence\nof events correctly, but there is one point which you have left\nunexplained.", "What became of the hound when its master was in London?\"", "\"I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of\nimportance.", "There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant,\nthough it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by\nsharing all his plans with him.", "There was an old manservant at Merripit\nHouse, whose name was Anthony.", "His connection with the Stapletons can\nbe traced for several years, as far back as the school-mastering days,\nso that he must have been aware that his master and mistress were really\nhusband and wife.", "This man has disappeared and has escaped from the\ncountry.", "It is suggestive that Anthony is not a common name in England,\nwhile Antonio is so in all Spanish or Spanish-American countries.", "The\nman, like Mrs. Stapleton herself, spoke good English, but with a curious\nlisping accent.", "I have myself seen this old man cross the Grimpen\nMire by the path which Stapleton had marked out.", "It is very probable,\ntherefore, that in the absence of his master it was he who cared for the\nhound, though he may never have known the purpose for which the beast\nwas used.", "\"The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither they were soon\nfollowed by Sir Henry and you.", "One word now as to how I stood myself at\nthat time.", "It may possibly recur to your memory that when I examined\nthe paper upon which the printed words were fastened I made a close\ninspection for the water-mark.", "In doing so I held it within a few inches\nof my eyes, and was conscious of a faint smell of the scent known as\nwhite jessamine.", "There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very\nnecessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each\nother, and cases have more than once within my own experience depended\nupon their prompt recognition.", "The scent suggested the presence of a\nlady, and already my thoughts began to turn towards the Stapletons.", "Thus\nI had made certain of the hound, and had guessed at the criminal before\never we went to the west country.", "\"It was my game to watch Stapleton.", "It was evident, however, that I\ncould not do this if I were with you, since he would be keenly on his\nguard.", "I deceived everybody, therefore, yourself included, and I came\ndown secretly when I was supposed to be in London.", "My hardships were\nnot so great as you imagined, though such trifling details must never\ninterfere with the investigation of a case.", "I stayed for the most\npart at Coombe Tracey, and only used the hut upon the moor when it was\nnecessary to be near the scene of action.", "Cartwright had come down with\nme, and in his disguise as a country boy he was of great assistance\nto me.", "I was dependent upon him for food and clean linen.", "When I was\nwatching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watching you, so that I\nwas able to keep my hand upon all the strings.", "\"I have already told you that your reports reached me rapidly, being\nforwarded instantly from Baker Street to Coombe Tracey.", "They were of\ngreat service to me, and especially that one incidentally truthful piece\nof biography of Stapleton's.", "I was able to establish the identity of\nthe man and the woman and knew at last exactly how I stood.", "The case\nhad been considerably complicated through the incident of the escaped\nconvict and the relations between him and the Barrymores.", "This also you\ncleared up in a very effective way, though I had already come to the\nsame conclusions from my own observations.", "\"By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had a complete\nknowledge of the whole business, but I had not a case which could go to\na jury.", "Even Stapleton's attempt upon Sir Henry that night which ended\nin the death of the unfortunate convict did not help us much in proving\nmurder against our man.", "There seemed to be no alternative but to\ncatch him red-handed, and to do so we had to use Sir Henry, alone and\napparently unprotected, as a bait.", "We did so, and at the cost of a\nsevere shock to our client we succeeded in completing our case and\ndriving Stapleton to his destruction.", "That Sir Henry should have been\nexposed to this is, I must confess, a reproach to my management of the\ncase, but we had no means of foreseeing the terrible and paralyzing\nspectacle which the beast presented, nor could we predict the fog which\nenabled him to burst upon us at such short notice.", "We succeeded in our\nobject at a cost which both the specialist and Dr. Mortimer assure me\nwill be a temporary one.", "A long journey may enable our friend to recover\nnot only from his shattered nerves but also from his wounded feelings.", "His love for the lady was deep and sincere, and to him the saddest part\nof all this black business was that he should have been deceived by her.", "\"It only remains to indicate the part which she had played throughout.", "There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised an influence over her\nwhich may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both,\nsince they are by no means incompatible emotions.", "It was, at least,\nabsolutely effective.", "At his command she consented to pass as his\nsister, though he found the limits of his power over her when he\nendeavoured to make her the direct accessory to murder.", "She was ready to\nwarn Sir Henry so far as she could without implicating her husband, and\nagain and again she tried to do so.", "Stapleton himself seems to have been\ncapable of jealousy, and when he saw the baronet paying court to the\nlady, even though it was part of his own plan, still he could not help\ninterrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the fiery soul\nwhich his self-contained manner so cleverly concealed.", "By encouraging\nthe intimacy he made it certain that Sir Henry would frequently come\nto Merripit House and that he would sooner or later get the opportunity\nwhich he desired.", "On the day of the crisis, however, his wife turned\nsuddenly against him.", "She had learned something of the death of the\nconvict, and she knew that the hound was being kept in the outhouse on\nthe evening that Sir Henry was coming to dinner.", "She taxed her husband\nwith his intended crime, and a furious scene followed in which he showed\nher for the first time that she had a rival in his love.", "Her fidelity\nturned in an instant to bitter hatred, and he saw that she would betray\nhim.", "He tied her up, therefore, that she might have no chance of warning\nSir Henry, and he hoped, no doubt, that when the whole countryside put\ndown the baronet's death to the curse of his family, as they certainly\nwould do, he could win his wife back to accept an accomplished fact and\nto keep silent upon what she knew.", "In this I fancy that in any case\nhe made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, his doom\nwould none the less have been sealed.", "A woman of Spanish blood does\nnot condone such an injury so lightly.", "And now, my dear Watson, without\nreferring to my notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of\nthis curious case.", "I do not know that anything essential has been left\nunexplained.\"", "\"He could not hope to frighten Sir Henry to death as he had done the old\nuncle with his bogie hound.\"", "\"The beast was savage and half-starved.", "If its appearance did not\nfrighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze the resistance\nwhich might be offered.\"", "\"No doubt.", "There only remains one difficulty.", "If Stapleton came into the\nsuccession, how could he explain the fact that he, the heir, had been\nliving unannounced under another name so close to the property?", "How\ncould he claim it without causing suspicion and inquiry?\"", "\"It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when\nyou expect me to solve it.", "The past and the present are within the field\nof my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question\nto answer.", "Mrs. Stapleton has heard her husband discuss the problem on\nseveral occasions.", "There were three possible courses.", "He might claim the\nproperty from South America, establish his identity before the British\nauthorities there and so obtain the fortune without ever coming to\nEngland at all, or he might adopt an elaborate disguise during the\nshort time that he need be in London; or, again, he might furnish an\naccomplice with the proofs and papers, putting him in as heir, and\nretaining a claim upon some proportion of his income.", "We cannot doubt\nfrom what we know of him that he would have found some way out of the\ndifficulty.", "And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe\nwork, and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more\npleasant channels.", "I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.'", "Have you heard the\nDe Reszkes?", "Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we\ncan stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?\"" ]

[ "He married Beryl\nGarcia, one of the beauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a\nconsiderable sum of public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur and\nfled to England, where he established a school in the east of Yorkshire.", "By representing himself as a single man he acquired complete influence\nover her, and he gave her to understand that in the event of her\nobtaining a divorce from her husband he would marry her.", "\"Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was in time to get\nhis hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and to bring the beast\nround to the gate at which he had reason to expect that he would find\nthe old gentleman waiting.", "You perceive the\ndevilish cunning of it, for really it would be almost impossible to make\na case against the real murderer.", "In any case he would very soon learn it from his friend Dr.\nMortimer, and he was told by the latter all details about the arrival of\nHenry Baskerville.", "The last of these, at\nFolkestone Court, in May, was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistolling\nof the page, who surprised the masked and solitary burglar.", "There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant,\nthough it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by\nsharing all his plans with him.", "It may possibly recur to your memory that when I examined\nthe paper upon which the printed words were fastened I made a close\ninspection for the water-mark.", "When I was\nwatching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watching you, so that I\nwas able to keep my hand upon all the strings.", "Even Stapleton's attempt upon Sir Henry that night which ended\nin the death of the unfortunate convict did not help us much in proving\nmurder against our man." ]

[ "Mrs. Stapleton knew that he\nhad designs upon the old man, and also of the existence of the hound.", "The idea of\nusing her as a decoy was clearly already in his mind, though he may not\nhave been certain how the details of his plot were to be arranged.", "There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant,\nthough it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by\nsharing all his plans with him.", "Mrs. Lyons knew neither of these things, but had been impressed by the\ndeath occurring at the time of an uncancelled appointment which was only\nknown to him.", "\"But it was some time coming.", "I was dependent upon him for food and clean linen.", "He\nmeant in the end to have the estate, and he was ready to use any tool\nor run any risk for that end.", "\"I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of\nimportance.", "By chance, however, the first boot which was procured for\nhim was a new one and, therefore, useless for his purpose.", "The past and the present are within the field\nof my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question\nto answer." ]

[ "Here he kept his wife imprisoned in her room while\nhe, disguised in a beard, followed Dr. Mortimer to Baker Street and\nafterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel.", "His wife had\nsome inkling of his plans; but she had such a fear of her husband--a\nfear founded upon brutal ill-treatment--that she dare not write to warn\nthe man whom she knew to be in danger.", "If the letter should fall into\nStapleton's hands her own life would not be safe.", "Eventually, as we\nknow, she adopted the expedient of cutting out the words which would\nform the message, and addressing the letter in a disguised hand.", "It\nreached the baronet, and gave him the first warning of his danger.", "\"It was very essential for Stapleton to get some article of Sir Henry's\nattire so that, in case he was driven to use the dog, he might always\nhave the means of setting him upon his track.", "With characteristic\npromptness and audacity he set about this at once, and we cannot doubt\nthat the boots or chamber-maid of the hotel was well bribed to help him\nin his design.", "By chance, however, the first boot which was procured for\nhim was a new one and, therefore, useless for his purpose.", "He then had\nit returned and obtained another--a most instructive incident, since it\nproved conclusively to my mind that we were dealing with a real hound,\nas no other supposition could explain this anxiety to obtain an old\nboot and this indifference to a new one.", "The more outre and grotesque an\nincident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very\npoint which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and\nscientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it.", "\"Then we had the visit from our friends next morning, shadowed always\nby Stapleton in the cab." ]

[ "\n\n\nIt was the end of November, and Holmes and I sat, upon a raw and foggy\nnight, on either side of a blazing fire in our sitting-room in Baker\nStreet.", "Since the tragic upshot of our visit to Devonshire he had been\nengaged in two affairs of the utmost importance, in the first of which\nhe had exposed the atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood in connection\nwith the famous card scandal of the Nonpareil Club, while in the second\nhe had defended the unfortunate Mme.", "Montpensier from the charge\nof murder which hung over her in connection with the death of her\nstep-daughter, Mlle.", "Carere, the young lady who, as it will be\nremembered, was found six months later alive and married in New York.", "My friend was in excellent spirits over the success which had attended\na succession of difficult and important cases, so that I was able to\ninduce him to discuss the details of the Baskerville mystery.", "I had\nwaited patiently for the opportunity for I was aware that he would never\npermit cases to overlap, and that his clear and logical mind would not\nbe drawn from its present work to dwell upon memories of the past.", "Sir\nHenry and Dr. Mortimer were, however, in London, on their way to that\nlong voyage which had been recommended for the restoration of his\nshattered nerves.", "They had called upon us that very afternoon, so that\nit was natural that the subject should come up for discussion.", "\"The whole course of events,\" said Holmes, \"from the point of view of\nthe man who called himself Stapleton was simple and direct, although\nto us, who had no means in the beginning of knowing the motives of\nhis actions and could only learn part of the facts, it all appeared\nexceedingly complex.", "I have had the advantage of two conversations with\nMrs. Stapleton, and the case has now been so entirely cleared up that I\nam not aware that there is anything which has remained a secret to us.", "\"It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when\nyou expect me to solve it.", "The past and the present are within the field\nof my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question\nto answer.", "Mrs. Stapleton has heard her husband discuss the problem on\nseveral occasions.", "There were three possible courses.", "He might claim the\nproperty from South America, establish his identity before the British\nauthorities there and so obtain the fortune without ever coming to\nEngland at all, or he might adopt an elaborate disguise during the\nshort time that he need be in London; or, again, he might furnish an\naccomplice with the proofs and papers, putting him in as heir, and\nretaining a claim upon some proportion of his income.", "We cannot doubt\nfrom what we know of him that he would have found some way out of the\ndifficulty.", "And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe\nwork, and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more\npleasant channels.", "I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.'", "Have you heard the\nDe Reszkes?", "Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we\ncan stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?\"" ]

[ "\nWe were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a \"new\nfellow,\" not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a\nlarge desk.", "Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if\njust surprised at his work.", "The head-master made a sign to us to sit down.", "Then, turning to the\nclass-master, he said to him in a low voice--\n\n\"Monsieur Roger, here is a pupil whom I recommend to your care; he'll be\nin the second.", "If his work and conduct are satisfactory, he will go into\none of the upper classes, as becomes his age.\"", "The \"new fellow,\" standing in the corner behind the door so that he\ncould hardly be seen, was a country lad of about fifteen, and taller\nthan any of us.", "His hair was cut square on his forehead like a village\nchorister's; he looked reliable, but very ill at ease.", "Although he was\nnot broad-shouldered, his short school jacket of green cloth with black\nbuttons must have been tight about the arm-holes, and showed at the\nopening of the cuffs red wrists accustomed to being bare.", "His legs, in\nblue stockings, looked out from beneath yellow trousers, drawn tight by\nbraces, He wore stout, ill-cleaned, hob-nailed boots.", "We began repeating the lesson.", "He listened with all his ears, as\nattentive as if at a sermon, not daring even to cross his legs or lean\non his elbow; and when at two o'clock the bell rang, the master was\nobliged to tell him to fall into line with the rest of us.", "When we came back to work, we were in the habit of throwing our caps on\nthe ground so as to have our hands more free; we used from the door to\ntoss them under the form, so that they hit against the wall and made a\nlot of dust: it was \"the thing.\"", "But, whether he had not noticed the trick, or did not dare to attempt\nit, the \"new fellow,\" was still holding his cap on his knees even after\nprayers were over.", "It was one of those head-gears of composite order, in\nwhich we can find traces of the bearskin, shako, billycock hat, sealskin\ncap, and cotton night-cap; one of those poor things, in fine, whose\ndumb ugliness has depths of expression, like an imbecile's face.", "Oval,\nstiffened with whalebone, it began with three round knobs; then came in\nsuccession lozenges of velvet and rabbit-skin separated by a red band;\nafter that a sort of bag that ended in a cardboard polygon covered with\ncomplicated braiding, from which hung, at the end of a long thin cord,\nsmall twisted gold threads in the manner of a tassel.", "The cap was new;\nits peak shone.", "\"Rise,\" said the master.", "He stood up; his cap fell.", "The whole class began to laugh.", "He stooped to\npick it up.", "A neighbor knocked it down again with his elbow; he picked\nit up once more.", "\"Get rid of your helmet,\" said the master, who was a bit of a wag.", "There was a burst of laughter from the boys, which so thoroughly put the\npoor lad out of countenance that he did not know whether to keep his cap\nin his hand, leave it on the ground, or put it on his head.", "He sat down\nagain and placed it on his knee.", "\"Rise,\" repeated the master, \"and tell me your name.\"", "The new boy articulated in a stammering voice an unintelligible name.", "\"Again!\"", "The same sputtering of syllables was heard, drowned by the tittering of\nthe class.", "\"Louder!\"", "cried the master; \"louder!\"", "The \"new fellow\" then took a supreme resolution, opened an inordinately\nlarge mouth, and shouted at the top of his voice as if calling someone\nin the word \"Charbovari.\"", "A hubbub broke out, rose in crescendo with bursts of shrill voices (they\nyelled, barked, stamped, repeated \"Charbovari!", "Charbovari\"), then died\naway into single notes, growing quieter only with great difficulty, and\nnow and again suddenly recommencing along the line of a form whence rose\nhere and there, like a damp cracker going off, a stifled laugh.", "However, amid a rain of impositions, order was gradually re-established\nin the class; and the master having succeeded in catching the name of\n\"Charles Bovary,\" having had it dictated to him, spelt out, and re-read,\nat once ordered the poor devil to go and sit down on the punishment form\nat the foot of the master's desk.", "He got up, but before going hesitated.", "\"What are you looking for?\"", "asked the master.", "\"My c-a-p,\" timidly said the \"new fellow,\" casting troubled looks round\nhim.", "\"Five hundred lines for all the class!\"", "shouted in a furious voice\nstopped, like the Quos ego*, a fresh outburst.", "\"Silence!\"", "continued the\nmaster indignantly, wiping his brow with his handkerchief, which he\nhad just taken from his cap.", "\"As to you, 'new boy,' you will conjugate\n'ridiculus sum'** twenty times.\"", "Then, in a gentler tone, \"Come, you'll find your cap again; it hasn't\nbeen stolen.\"", "*A quotation from the Aeneid signifying a threat.", "**I am ridiculous.", "Quiet was restored.", "Heads bent over desks, and the \"new fellow\" remained\nfor two hours in an exemplary attitude, although from time to time some\npaper pellet flipped from the tip of a pen came bang in his face.", "But he\nwiped his face with one hand and continued motionless, his eyes lowered.", "In the evening, at preparation, he pulled out his pens from his desk,\narranged his small belongings, and carefully ruled his paper.", "We saw him\nworking conscientiously, looking up every word in the dictionary, and\ntaking the greatest pains.", "Thanks, no doubt, to the willingness he\nshowed, he had not to go down to the class below.", "But though he knew his\nrules passably, he had little finish in composition.", "It was the cure\nof his village who had taught him his first Latin; his parents, from\nmotives of economy, having sent him to school as late as possible.", "His father, Monsieur Charles Denis Bartolome Bovary, retired\nassistant-surgeon-major, compromised about 1812 in certain conscription\nscandals, and forced at this time to leave the service, had taken\nadvantage of his fine figure to get hold of a dowry of sixty thousand\nfrancs that offered in the person of a hosier's daughter who had fallen\nin love with his good looks.", "A fine man, a great talker, making his\nspurs ring as he walked, wearing whiskers that ran into his moustache,\nhis fingers always garnished with rings and dressed in loud colours,\nhe had the dash of a military man with the easy go of a commercial\ntraveller.", "Once married, he lived for three or four years on his wife's fortune,\ndining well, rising late, smoking long porcelain pipes, not coming in\nat night till after the theatre, and haunting cafes.", "The father-in-law\ndied, leaving little; he was indignant at this, \"went in for the\nbusiness,\" lost some money in it, then retired to the country, where he\nthought he would make money.", "But, as he knew no more about farming than calico, as he rode his horses\ninstead of sending them to plough, drank his cider in bottle instead of\nselling it in cask, ate the finest poultry in his farmyard, and greased\nhis hunting-boots with the fat of his pigs, he was not long in finding\nout that he would do better to give up all speculation.", "For two hundred francs a year he managed to live on the border of\nthe provinces of Caux and Picardy, in a kind of place half farm, half\nprivate house; and here, soured, eaten up with regrets, cursing his\nluck, jealous of everyone, he shut himself up at the age of forty-five,\nsick of men, he said, and determined to live at peace.", "His wife had adored him once on a time; she had bored him with a\nthousand servilities that had only estranged him the more.", "Lively once,\nexpansive and affectionate, in growing older she had become (after the\nfashion of wine that, exposed to air, turns to vinegar) ill-tempered,\ngrumbling, irritable.", "She had suffered so much without complaint at\nfirst, until she had seem him going after all the village drabs, and\nuntil a score of bad houses sent him back to her at night, weary,\nstinking drunk.", "Then her pride revolted.", "After that she was silent,\nburying her anger in a dumb stoicism that she maintained till her death.", "She was constantly going about looking after business matters.", "She\ncalled on the lawyers, the president, remembered when bills fell due,\ngot them renewed, and at home ironed, sewed, washed, looked after the\nworkmen, paid the accounts, while he, troubling himself about nothing,\neternally besotted in sleepy sulkiness, whence he only roused himself\nto say disagreeable things to her, sat smoking by the fire and spitting\ninto the cinders.", "When she had a child, it had to be sent out to nurse.", "When he came home,\nthe lad was spoilt as if he were a prince.", "His mother stuffed him\nwith jam; his father let him run about barefoot, and, playing the\nphilosopher, even said he might as well go about quite naked like the\nyoung of animals.", "As opposed to the maternal ideas, he had a certain\nvirile idea of childhood on which he sought to mould his son, wishing\nhim to be brought up hardily, like a Spartan, to give him a strong\nconstitution.", "He sent him to bed without any fire, taught him to drink\noff large draughts of rum and to jeer at religious processions.", "But,\npeaceable by nature, the lad answered only poorly to his notions.", "His\nmother always kept him near her; she cut out cardboard for him, told him\ntales, entertained him with endless monologues full of melancholy gaiety\nand charming nonsense.", "In her life's isolation she centered on the\nchild's head all her shattered, broken little vanities.", "She dreamed of\nhigh station; she already saw him, tall, handsome, clever, settled as\nan engineer or in the law.", "She taught him to read, and even, on an old\npiano, she had taught him two or three little songs.", "But to all this\nMonsieur Bovary, caring little for letters, said, \"It was not worth\nwhile.", "Would they ever have the means to send him to a public school, to\nbuy him a practice, or start him in business?", "Besides, with cheek a man\nalways gets on in the world.\"", "Madame Bovary bit her lips, and the child\nknocked about the village.", "He went after the labourers, drove away with clods of earth the ravens\nthat were flying about.", "He ate blackberries along the hedges, minded the\ngeese with a long switch, went haymaking during harvest, ran about in\nthe woods, played hop-scotch under the church porch on rainy days, and\nat great fetes begged the beadle to let him toll the bells, that he\nmight hang all his weight on the long rope and feel himself borne upward\nby it in its swing.", "Meanwhile he grew like an oak; he was strong on\nhand, fresh of colour.", "When he was twelve years old his mother had her own way; he began\nlessons.", "The cure took him in hand; but the lessons were so short and\nirregular that they could not be of much use.", "They were given at spare\nmoments in the sacristy, standing up, hurriedly, between a baptism and\na burial; or else the cure, if he had not to go out, sent for his pupil\nafter the Angelus*.", "They went up to his room and settled down; the\nflies and moths fluttered round the candle.", "It was close, the child\nfell asleep, and the good man, beginning to doze with his hands on his\nstomach, was soon snoring with his mouth wide open.", "On other occasions,\nwhen Monsieur le Cure, on his way back after administering the viaticum\nto some sick person in the neighbourhood, caught sight of Charles\nplaying about the fields, he called him, lectured him for a quarter of\nan hour and took advantage of the occasion to make him conjugate his\nverb at the foot of a tree.", "The rain interrupted them or an acquaintance\npassed.", "All the same he was always pleased with him, and even said the\n\"young man\" had a very good memory.", "*A devotion said at morning, noon, and evening, at the sound\n of a bell.", "Here, the evening prayer.", "Charles could not go on like this.", "Madame Bovary took strong steps.", "Ashamed, or rather tired out, Monsieur Bovary gave in without a\nstruggle, and they waited one year longer, so that the lad should take\nhis first communion.", "Six months more passed, and the year after Charles was finally sent to\nschool at Rouen, where his father took him towards the end of October,\nat the time of the St. Romain fair.", "It would now be impossible for any of us to remember anything about him.", "He was a youth of even temperament, who played in playtime, worked in\nschool-hours, was attentive in class, slept well in the dormitory,\nand ate well in the refectory.", "He had in loco parentis* a wholesale\nironmonger in the Rue Ganterie, who took him out once a month on Sundays\nafter his shop was shut, sent him for a walk on the quay to look at\nthe boats, and then brought him back to college at seven o'clock before\nsupper.", "Every Thursday evening he wrote a long letter to his mother with\nred ink and three wafers; then he went over his history note-books, or\nread an old volume of \"Anarchasis\" that was knocking about the study.", "When he went for walks he talked to the servant, who, like himself, came\nfrom the country.", "*In place of a parent.", "By dint of hard work he kept always about the middle of the class; once\neven he got a certificate in natural history.", "But at the end of his\nthird year his parents withdrew him from the school to make him study\nmedicine, convinced that he could even take his degree by himself.", "His mother chose a room for him on the fourth floor of a dyer's she\nknew, overlooking the Eau-de-Robec.", "She made arrangements for his\nboard, got him furniture, table and two chairs, sent home for an old\ncherry-tree bedstead, and bought besides a small cast-iron stove with\nthe supply of wood that was to warm the poor child.", "Then at the end of a week she departed, after a thousand injunctions to\nbe good now that he was going to be left to himself.", "The syllabus that he read on the notice-board stunned him; lectures\non anatomy, lectures on pathology, lectures on physiology, lectures on\npharmacy, lectures on botany and clinical medicine, and therapeutics,\nwithout counting hygiene and materia medica--all names of whose\netymologies he was ignorant, and that were to him as so many doors to\nsanctuaries filled with magnificent darkness.", "He understood nothing of it all; it was all very well to listen--he did\nnot follow.", "Still he worked; he had bound note-books, he attended all\nthe courses, never missed a single lecture.", "He did his little daily task\nlike a mill-horse, who goes round and round with his eyes bandaged, not\nknowing what work he is doing.", "To spare him expense his mother sent him every week by the carrier a\npiece of veal baked in the oven, with which he lunched when he came back\nfrom the hospital, while he sat kicking his feet against the wall.", "After this he had to run off to lectures, to the operation-room, to the\nhospital, and return to his home at the other end of the town.", "In the\nevening, after the poor dinner of his landlord, he went back to his\nroom and set to work again in his wet clothes, which smoked as he sat in\nfront of the hot stove.", "On the fine summer evenings, at the time when the close streets are\nempty, when the servants are playing shuttle-cock at the doors, he\nopened his window and leaned out.", "The river, that makes of this quarter\nof Rouen a wretched little Venice, flowed beneath him, between the\nbridges and the railings, yellow, violet, or blue.", "Working men, kneeling\non the banks, washed their bare arms in the water.", "On poles projecting\nfrom the attics, skeins of cotton were drying in the air.", "Opposite,\nbeyond the roots spread the pure heaven with the red sun setting.", "How\npleasant it must be at home!", "How fresh under the beech-tree!", "And he\nexpanded his nostrils to breathe in the sweet odours of the country\nwhich did not reach him.", "He grew thin, his figure became taller, his face took a saddened look\nthat made it nearly interesting.", "Naturally, through indifference, he\nabandoned all the resolutions he had made.", "Once he missed a lecture; the\nnext day all the lectures; and, enjoying his idleness, little by little,\nhe gave up work altogether.", "He got into the habit of going to the\npublic-house, and had a passion for dominoes.", "To shut himself up every\nevening in the dirty public room, to push about on marble tables the\nsmall sheep bones with black dots, seemed to him a fine proof of his\nfreedom, which raised him in his own esteem.", "It was beginning to see\nlife, the sweetness of stolen pleasures; and when he entered, he put\nhis hand on the door-handle with a joy almost sensual.", "Then many things\nhidden within him came out; he learnt couplets by heart and sang them to\nhis boon companions, became enthusiastic about Beranger, learnt how to\nmake punch, and, finally, how to make love.", "Thanks to these preparatory labours, he failed completely in his\nexamination for an ordinary degree.", "He was expected home the same night\nto celebrate his success.", "He started on foot, stopped at the beginning\nof the village, sent for his mother, and told her all.", "She excused\nhim, threw the blame of his failure on the injustice of the examiners,\nencouraged him a little, and took upon herself to set matters straight.", "It was only five years later that Monsieur Bovary knew the truth; it was\nold then, and he accepted it.", "Moreover, he could not believe that a man\nborn of him could be a fool.", "So Charles set to work again and crammed for his examination,\nceaselessly learning all the old questions by heart.", "He passed pretty\nwell.", "What a happy day for his mother!", "They gave a grand dinner.", "Where should he go to practice?", "To Tostes, where there was only one old\ndoctor.", "For a long time Madame Bovary had been on the look-out for his\ndeath, and the old fellow had barely been packed off when Charles was\ninstalled, opposite his place, as his successor.", "But it was not everything to have brought up a son, to have had him\ntaught medicine, and discovered Tostes, where he could practice it;\nhe must have a wife.", "She found him one--the widow of a bailiff at\nDieppe--who was forty-five and had an income of twelve hundred francs.", "Though she was ugly, as dry as a bone, her face with as many pimples as\nthe spring has buds, Madame Dubuc had no lack of suitors.", "To attain her\nends Madame Bovary had to oust them all, and she even succeeded in\nvery cleverly baffling the intrigues of a port-butcher backed up by the\npriests.", "Charles had seen in marriage the advent of an easier life, thinking he\nwould be more free to do as he liked with himself and his money.", "But his\nwife was master; he had to say this and not say that in company, to fast\nevery Friday, dress as she liked, harass at her bidding those patients\nwho did not pay.", "She opened his letter, watched his comings and goings,\nand listened at the partition-wall when women came to consult him in his\nsurgery.", "She must have her chocolate every morning, attentions without end.", "She\nconstantly complained of her nerves, her chest, her liver.", "The noise of\nfootsteps made her ill; when people left her, solitude became odious to\nher; if they came back, it was doubtless to see her die.", "When Charles\nreturned in the evening, she stretched forth two long thin arms from\nbeneath the sheets, put them round his neck, and having made him sit\ndown on the edge of the bed, began to talk to him of her troubles: he\nwas neglecting her, he loved another.", "She had been warned she would be\nunhappy; and she ended by asking him for a dose of medicine and a little\nmore love." ]

[ "His hair was cut square on his forehead like a village\nchorister's; he looked reliable, but very ill at ease.", "We began repeating the lesson.", "He sat down\nagain and placed it on his knee.", "\"Louder!\"", "*A quotation from the Aeneid signifying a threat.", "Thanks, no doubt, to the willingness he\nshowed, he had not to go down to the class below.", "But to all this\nMonsieur Bovary, caring little for letters, said, \"It was not worth\nwhile.", "Madame Bovary took strong steps.", "To spare him expense his mother sent him every week by the carrier a\npiece of veal baked in the oven, with which he lunched when he came back\nfrom the hospital, while he sat kicking his feet against the wall.", "It was beginning to see\nlife, the sweetness of stolen pleasures; and when he entered, he put\nhis hand on the door-handle with a joy almost sensual." ]

[ "How fresh under the beech-tree!", "The whole class began to laugh.", "In the evening, at preparation, he pulled out his pens from his desk,\narranged his small belongings, and carefully ruled his paper.", "continued the\nmaster indignantly, wiping his brow with his handkerchief, which he\nhad just taken from his cap.", "Moreover, he could not believe that a man\nborn of him could be a fool.", "After that she was silent,\nburying her anger in a dumb stoicism that she maintained till her death.", "She dreamed of\nhigh station; she already saw him, tall, handsome, clever, settled as\nan engineer or in the law.", "Thanks, no doubt, to the willingness he\nshowed, he had not to go down to the class below.", "What a happy day for his mother!", "He got up, but before going hesitated." ]

[ "His\nmother always kept him near her; she cut out cardboard for him, told him\ntales, entertained him with endless monologues full of melancholy gaiety\nand charming nonsense.", "In her life's isolation she centered on the\nchild's head all her shattered, broken little vanities.", "She dreamed of\nhigh station; she already saw him, tall, handsome, clever, settled as\nan engineer or in the law.", "She taught him to read, and even, on an old\npiano, she had taught him two or three little songs.", "But to all this\nMonsieur Bovary, caring little for letters, said, \"It was not worth\nwhile.", "Would they ever have the means to send him to a public school, to\nbuy him a practice, or start him in business?", "Besides, with cheek a man\nalways gets on in the world.\"", "Madame Bovary bit her lips, and the child\nknocked about the village.", "He went after the labourers, drove away with clods of earth the ravens\nthat were flying about.", "He ate blackberries along the hedges, minded the\ngeese with a long switch, went haymaking during harvest, ran about in\nthe woods, played hop-scotch under the church porch on rainy days, and\nat great fetes begged the beadle to let him toll the bells, that he\nmight hang all his weight on the long rope and feel himself borne upward\nby it in its swing.", "Meanwhile he grew like an oak; he was strong on\nhand, fresh of colour." ]

[ "\nWe were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a \"new\nfellow,\" not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a\nlarge desk.", "Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if\njust surprised at his work.", "The head-master made a sign to us to sit down.", "Then, turning to the\nclass-master, he said to him in a low voice--\n\n\"Monsieur Roger, here is a pupil whom I recommend to your care; he'll be\nin the second.", "If his work and conduct are satisfactory, he will go into\none of the upper classes, as becomes his age.\"", "The \"new fellow,\" standing in the corner behind the door so that he\ncould hardly be seen, was a country lad of about fifteen, and taller\nthan any of us.", "His hair was cut square on his forehead like a village\nchorister's; he looked reliable, but very ill at ease.", "Although he was\nnot broad-shouldered, his short school jacket of green cloth with black\nbuttons must have been tight about the arm-holes, and showed at the\nopening of the cuffs red wrists accustomed to being bare.", "His legs, in\nblue stockings, looked out from beneath yellow trousers, drawn tight by\nbraces, He wore stout, ill-cleaned, hob-nailed boots.", "We began repeating the lesson.", "Though she was ugly, as dry as a bone, her face with as many pimples as\nthe spring has buds, Madame Dubuc had no lack of suitors.", "To attain her\nends Madame Bovary had to oust them all, and she even succeeded in\nvery cleverly baffling the intrigues of a port-butcher backed up by the\npriests.", "Charles had seen in marriage the advent of an easier life, thinking he\nwould be more free to do as he liked with himself and his money.", "But his\nwife was master; he had to say this and not say that in company, to fast\nevery Friday, dress as she liked, harass at her bidding those patients\nwho did not pay.", "She opened his letter, watched his comings and goings,\nand listened at the partition-wall when women came to consult him in his\nsurgery.", "She must have her chocolate every morning, attentions without end.", "She\nconstantly complained of her nerves, her chest, her liver.", "The noise of\nfootsteps made her ill; when people left her, solitude became odious to\nher; if they came back, it was doubtless to see her die.", "When Charles\nreturned in the evening, she stretched forth two long thin arms from\nbeneath the sheets, put them round his neck, and having made him sit\ndown on the edge of the bed, began to talk to him of her troubles: he\nwas neglecting her, he loved another.", "She had been warned she would be\nunhappy; and she ended by asking him for a dose of medicine and a little\nmore love." ]

[ "\nOne night towards eleven o'clock they were awakened by the noise of\na horse pulling up outside their door.", "The servant opened the\ngarret-window and parleyed for some time with a man in the street below.", "He came for the doctor, had a letter for him.", "Natasie came downstairs\nshivering and undid the bars and bolts one after the other.", "The man left\nhis horse, and, following the servant, suddenly came in behind her.", "He\npulled out from his wool cap with grey top-knots a letter wrapped up in\na rag and presented it gingerly to Charles, who rested on his elbow on\nthe pillow to read it.", "Natasie, standing near the bed, held the light.", "Madame in modesty had turned to the wall and showed only her back.", "This letter, sealed with a small seal in blue wax, begged Monsieur\nBovary to come immediately to the farm of the Bertaux to set a broken\nleg.", "Now from Tostes to the Bertaux was a good eighteen miles across\ncountry by way of Longueville and Saint-Victor.", "It was a dark night;\nMadame Bovary junior was afraid of accidents for her husband.", "So it was\ndecided the stable-boy should go on first; Charles would start three\nhours later when the moon rose.", "A boy was to be sent to meet him, and\nshow him the way to the farm, and open the gates for him.", "Towards four o'clock in the morning, Charles, well wrapped up in his\ncloak, set out for the Bertaux.", "Still sleepy from the warmth of his bed,\nhe let himself be lulled by the quiet trot of his horse.", "When it stopped\nof its own accord in front of those holes surrounded with thorns that\nare dug on the margin of furrows, Charles awoke with a start, suddenly\nremembered the broken leg, and tried to call to mind all the fractures\nhe knew.", "The rain had stopped, day was breaking, and on the branches\nof the leafless trees birds roosted motionless, their little feathers\nbristling in the cold morning wind.", "The flat country stretched as far as\neye could see, and the tufts of trees round the farms at long intervals\nseemed like dark violet stains on the cast grey surface, that on the\nhorizon faded into the gloom of the sky.", "Charles from time to time opened his eyes, his mind grew weary, and,\nsleep coming upon him, he soon fell into a doze wherein, his recent\nsensations blending with memories, he became conscious of a double\nself, at once student and married man, lying in his bed as but now, and\ncrossing the operation theatre as of old.", "The warm smell of poultices\nmingled in his brain with the fresh odour of dew; he heard the iron\nrings rattling along the curtain-rods of the bed and saw his wife\nsleeping.", "As he passed Vassonville he came upon a boy sitting on the\ngrass at the edge of a ditch.", "\"Are you the doctor?\"", "asked the child.", "And on Charles's answer he took his wooden shoes in his hands and ran on\nin front of him.", "The general practitioner, riding along, gathered from his guide's talk\nthat Monsieur Rouault must be one of the well-to-do farmers.", "He had broken his leg the evening before on his way home from a\nTwelfth-night feast at a neighbour's.", "His wife had been dead for two\nyears.", "There was with him only his daughter, who helped him to keep\nhouse.", "The ruts were becoming deeper; they were approaching the Bertaux.", "The little lad, slipping through a hole in the hedge, disappeared;\nthen he came back to the end of a courtyard to open the gate.", "The\nhorse slipped on the wet grass; Charles had to stoop to pass under\nthe branches.", "The watchdogs in their kennels barked, dragging at their\nchains.", "As he entered the Bertaux, the horse took fright and stumbled.", "It was a substantial-looking farm.", "In the stables, over the top of the\nopen doors, one could see great cart-horses quietly feeding from new\nracks.", "Right along the outbuildings extended a large dunghill, from\nwhich manure liquid oozed, while amidst fowls and turkeys, five or six\npeacocks, a luxury in Chauchois farmyards, were foraging on the top of\nit.", "The sheepfold was long, the barn high, with walls smooth as your\nhand.", "Under the cart-shed were two large carts and four ploughs, with\ntheir whips, shafts and harnesses complete, whose fleeces of blue wool\nwere getting soiled by the fine dust that fell from the granaries.", "The\ncourtyard sloped upwards, planted with trees set out symmetrically, and\nthe chattering noise of a flock of geese was heard near the pond.", "A young woman in a blue merino dress with three flounces came to the\nthreshold of the door to receive Monsieur Bovary, whom she led to the\nkitchen, where a large fire was blazing.", "The servant's breakfast was\nboiling beside it in small pots of all sizes.", "Some damp clothes were\ndrying inside the chimney-corner.", "The shovel, tongs, and the nozzle\nof the bellows, all of colossal size, shone like polished steel, while\nalong the walls hung many pots and pans in which the clear flame of the\nhearth, mingling with the first rays of the sun coming in through the\nwindow, was mirrored fitfully.", "Charles went up the first floor to see the patient.", "He found him in his\nbed, sweating under his bed-clothes, having thrown his cotton nightcap\nright away from him.", "He was a fat little man of fifty, with white skin\nand blue eyes, the forepart of his head bald, and he wore earrings.", "By\nhis side on a chair stood a large decanter of brandy, whence he poured\nhimself a little from time to time to keep up his spirits; but as soon\nas he caught sight of the doctor his elation subsided, and instead of\nswearing, as he had been doing for the last twelve hours, began to groan\nfreely.", "The fracture was a simple one, without any kind of complication.", "Charles could not have hoped for an easier case.", "Then calling to mind\nthe devices of his masters at the bedsides of patients, he comforted the\nsufferer with all sorts of kindly remarks, those caresses of the surgeon\nthat are like the oil they put on bistouries.", "In order to make some\nsplints a bundle of laths was brought up from the cart-house.", "Charles\nselected one, cut it into two pieces and planed it with a fragment\nof windowpane, while the servant tore up sheets to make bandages, and\nMademoiselle Emma tried to sew some pads.", "As she was a long time before\nshe found her work-case, her father grew impatient; she did not answer,\nbut as she sewed she pricked her fingers, which she then put to her\nmouth to suck them.", "Charles was surprised at the whiteness of her nails.", "They were shiny, delicate at the tips, more polished than the ivory of\nDieppe, and almond-shaped.", "Yet her hand was not beautiful, perhaps not\nwhite enough, and a little hard at the knuckles; besides, it was too\nlong, with no soft inflections in the outlines.", "Her real beauty was in\nher eyes.", "Although brown, they seemed black because of the lashes, and\nher look came at you frankly, with a candid boldness.", "The bandaging over, the doctor was invited by Monsieur Rouault himself\nto \"pick a bit\" before he left.", "Charles went down into the room on the ground floor.", "Knives and forks\nand silver goblets were laid for two on a little table at the foot of a\nhuge bed that had a canopy of printed cotton with figures representing\nTurks.", "There was an odour of iris-root and damp sheets that escaped\nfrom a large oak chest opposite the window.", "On the floor in corners were\nsacks of flour stuck upright in rows.", "These were the overflow from\nthe neighbouring granary, to which three stone steps led.", "By way of\ndecoration for the apartment, hanging to a nail in the middle of the\nwall, whose green paint scaled off from the effects of the saltpetre,\nwas a crayon head of Minerva in gold frame, underneath which was written\nin Gothic letters \"To dear Papa.\"", "First they spoke of the patient, then of the weather, of the great cold,\nof the wolves that infested the fields at night.", "Mademoiselle Rouault did not at all like the country, especially now\nthat she had to look after the farm almost alone.", "As the room was\nchilly, she shivered as she ate.", "This showed something of her full lips,\nthat she had a habit of biting when silent.", "Her neck stood out from a white turned-down collar.", "Her hair, whose\ntwo black folds seemed each of a single piece, so smooth were they, was\nparted in the middle by a delicate line that curved slightly with the\ncurve of the head; and, just showing the tip of the ear, it was joined\nbehind in a thick chignon, with a wavy movement at the temples that the\ncountry doctor saw now for the first time in his life.", "The upper part of\nher cheek was rose-coloured.", "She had, like a man, thrust in between two\nbuttons of her bodice a tortoise-shell eyeglass.", "When Charles, after bidding farewell to old Rouault, returned to the\nroom before leaving, he found her standing, her forehead against the\nwindow, looking into the garden, where the bean props had been knocked\ndown by the wind.", "She turned round.", "\"Are you looking for anything?\"", "she\nasked.", "\"My whip, if you please,\" he answered.", "He began rummaging on the bed, behind the doors, under the chairs.", "It\nhad fallen to the floor, between the sacks and the wall.", "Mademoiselle\nEmma saw it, and bent over the flour sacks.", "Charles out of politeness made a dash also, and as he stretched out his\narm, at the same moment felt his breast brush against the back of the\nyoung girl bending beneath him.", "She drew herself up, scarlet, and looked\nat him over her shoulder as she handed him his whip.", "Instead of returning to the Bertaux in three days as he had promised,\nhe went back the very next day, then regularly twice a week, without\ncounting the visits he paid now and then as if by accident.", "Everything, moreover, went well; the patient progressed favourably; and\nwhen, at the end of forty-six days, old Rouault was seen trying to walk\nalone in his \"den,\" Monsieur Bovary began to be looked upon as a man\nof great capacity.", "Old Rouault said that he could not have been cured\nbetter by the first doctor of Yvetot, or even of Rouen.", "As to Charles, he did not stop to ask himself why it was a pleasure\nto him to go to the Bertaux.", "Had he done so, he would, no doubt, have\nattributed his zeal to the importance of the case, or perhaps to the\nmoney he hoped to make by it.", "Was it for this, however, that his visits\nto the farm formed a delightful exception to the meagre occupations of\nhis life?", "On these days he rose early, set off at a gallop, urging on\nhis horse, then got down to wipe his boots in the grass and put on black\ngloves before entering.", "He liked going into the courtyard, and noticing\nthe gate turn against his shoulder, the cock crow on the wall, the lads\nrun to meet him.", "He liked the granary and the stables; he liked old\nRouault, who pressed his hand and called him his saviour; he liked the\nsmall wooden shoes of Mademoiselle Emma on the scoured flags of the\nkitchen--her high heels made her a little taller; and when she walked in\nfront of him, the wooden soles springing up quickly struck with a sharp\nsound against the leather of her boots.", "She always accompanied him to the first step of the stairs.", "When his\nhorse had not yet been brought round she stayed there.", "They had said\n\"Good-bye\"; there was no more talking.", "The open air wrapped her round,\nplaying with the soft down on the back of her neck, or blew to and fro\non her hips the apron-strings, that fluttered like streamers.", "Once,\nduring a thaw the bark of the trees in the yard was oozing, the snow on\nthe roofs of the outbuildings was melting; she stood on the threshold,\nand went to fetch her sunshade and opened it.", "The sunshade of silk of\nthe colour of pigeons' breasts, through which the sun shone, lighted\nup with shifting hues the white skin of her face.", "She smiled under the\ntender warmth, and drops of water could be heard falling one by one on\nthe stretched silk.", "During the first period of Charles's visits to the Bertaux, Madame\nBovary junior never failed to inquire after the invalid, and she had\neven chosen in the book that she kept on a system of double entry a\nclean blank page for Monsieur Rouault.", "But when she heard he had a\ndaughter, she began to make inquiries, and she learnt the Mademoiselle\nRouault, brought up at the Ursuline Convent, had received what is called\n\"a good education\"; and so knew dancing, geography, drawing, how to\nembroider and play the piano.", "That was the last straw.", "\"So it is for this,\" she said to herself, \"that his face beams when he\ngoes to see her, and that he puts on his new waistcoat at the risk of\nspoiling it with the rain.", "Ah!", "that woman!", "That woman!\"", "And she detested her instinctively.", "At first she solaced herself by\nallusions that Charles did not understand, then by casual observations\nthat he let pass for fear of a storm, finally by open apostrophes to\nwhich he knew not what to answer.", "\"Why did he go back to the Bertaux now\nthat Monsieur Rouault was cured and that these folks hadn't paid yet?", "Ah!", "it was because a young lady was there, some one who know how to\ntalk, to embroider, to be witty.", "That was what he cared about; he wanted\ntown misses.\"", "And she went on--\n\n\"The daughter of old Rouault a town miss!", "Get out!", "Their grandfather was\na shepherd, and they have a cousin who was almost had up at the assizes\nfor a nasty blow in a quarrel.", "It is not worth while making such a fuss,\nor showing herself at church on Sundays in a silk gown like a countess.", "Besides, the poor old chap, if it hadn't been for the colza last year,\nwould have had much ado to pay up his arrears.\"", "For very weariness Charles left off going to the Bertaux.", "Heloise made\nhim swear, his hand on the prayer-book, that he would go there no more\nafter much sobbing and many kisses, in a great outburst of love.", "He\nobeyed then, but the strength of his desire protested against the\nservility of his conduct; and he thought, with a kind of naive\nhypocrisy, that his interdict to see her gave him a sort of right to\nlove her.", "And then the widow was thin; she had long teeth; wore in all\nweathers a little black shawl, the edge of which hung down between her\nshoulder-blades; her bony figure was sheathed in her clothes as if they\nwere a scabbard; they were too short, and displayed her ankles with the\nlaces of her large boots crossed over grey stockings.", "Charles's mother came to see them from time to time, but after a few\ndays the daughter-in-law seemed to put her own edge on her, and\nthen, like two knives, they scarified him with their reflections and\nobservations.", "It was wrong of him to eat so much.", "Why did he always offer a glass of something to everyone who came?", "What obstinacy not to wear flannels!", "In the spring it came about that a\nnotary at Ingouville, the holder of the widow Dubuc's property, one fine\nday went off, taking with him all the money in his office.", "Heloise,\nit is true, still possessed, besides a share in a boat valued at six\nthousand francs, her house in the Rue St. Francois; and yet, with all\nthis fortune that had been so trumpeted abroad, nothing, excepting\nperhaps a little furniture and a few clothes, had appeared in the\nhousehold.", "The matter had to be gone into.", "The house at Dieppe was found\nto be eaten up with mortgages to its foundations; what she had placed\nwith the notary God only knew, and her share in the boat did not exceed\none thousand crowns.", "She had lied, the good lady!", "In his exasperation,\nMonsieur Bovary the elder, smashing a chair on the flags, accused his\nwife of having caused misfortune to the son by harnessing him to such\na harridan, whose harness wasn't worth her hide.", "They came to Tostes.", "Explanations followed.", "There were scenes.", "Heloise in tears, throwing her\narms about her husband, implored him to defend her from his parents.", "Charles tried to speak up for her.", "They grew angry and left the house.", "But \"the blow had struck home.\"", "A week after, as she was hanging up some\nwashing in her yard, she was seized with a spitting of blood, and\nthe next day, while Charles had his back turned to her drawing the\nwindow-curtain, she said, \"O God!\"", "gave a sigh and fainted.", "She was\ndead!", "What a surprise!", "When all was over at the cemetery Charles went\nhome.", "He found no one downstairs; he went up to the first floor to\ntheir room; saw her dress still hanging at the foot of the alcove; then,\nleaning against the writing-table, he stayed until the evening, buried\nin a sorrowful reverie.", "She had loved him after all!" ]

[ "He had broken his leg the evening before on his way home from a\nTwelfth-night feast at a neighbour's.", "The sheepfold was long, the barn high, with walls smooth as your\nhand.", "A young woman in a blue merino dress with three flounces came to the\nthreshold of the door to receive Monsieur Bovary, whom she led to the\nkitchen, where a large fire was blazing.", "Charles could not have hoped for an easier case.", "It\nhad fallen to the floor, between the sacks and the wall.", "Instead of returning to the Bertaux in three days as he had promised,\nhe went back the very next day, then regularly twice a week, without\ncounting the visits he paid now and then as if by accident.", "Had he done so, he would, no doubt, have\nattributed his zeal to the importance of the case, or perhaps to the\nmoney he hoped to make by it.", "Why did he always offer a glass of something to everyone who came?", "The house at Dieppe was found\nto be eaten up with mortgages to its foundations; what she had placed\nwith the notary God only knew, and her share in the boat did not exceed\none thousand crowns.", "Heloise in tears, throwing her\narms about her husband, implored him to defend her from his parents." ]

[ "It is not worth while making such a fuss,\nor showing herself at church on Sundays in a silk gown like a countess.", "A week after, as she was hanging up some\nwashing in her yard, she was seized with a spitting of blood, and\nthe next day, while Charles had his back turned to her drawing the\nwindow-curtain, she said, \"O God!\"", "When his\nhorse had not yet been brought round she stayed there.", "Once,\nduring a thaw the bark of the trees in the yard was oozing, the snow on\nthe roofs of the outbuildings was melting; she stood on the threshold,\nand went to fetch her sunshade and opened it.", "They came to Tostes.", "Charles went down into the room on the ground floor.", "Charles from time to time opened his eyes, his mind grew weary, and,\nsleep coming upon him, he soon fell into a doze wherein, his recent\nsensations blending with memories, he became conscious of a double\nself, at once student and married man, lying in his bed as but now, and\ncrossing the operation theatre as of old.", "And then the widow was thin; she had long teeth; wore in all\nweathers a little black shawl, the edge of which hung down between her\nshoulder-blades; her bony figure was sheathed in her clothes as if they\nwere a scabbard; they were too short, and displayed her ankles with the\nlaces of her large boots crossed over grey stockings.", "Her hair, whose\ntwo black folds seemed each of a single piece, so smooth were they, was\nparted in the middle by a delicate line that curved slightly with the\ncurve of the head; and, just showing the tip of the ear, it was joined\nbehind in a thick chignon, with a wavy movement at the temples that the\ncountry doctor saw now for the first time in his life.", "gave a sigh and fainted." ]

[ "As the room was\nchilly, she shivered as she ate.", "This showed something of her full lips,\nthat she had a habit of biting when silent.", "Her neck stood out from a white turned-down collar.", "Her hair, whose\ntwo black folds seemed each of a single piece, so smooth were they, was\nparted in the middle by a delicate line that curved slightly with the\ncurve of the head; and, just showing the tip of the ear, it was joined\nbehind in a thick chignon, with a wavy movement at the temples that the\ncountry doctor saw now for the first time in his life.", "The upper part of\nher cheek was rose-coloured.", "She had, like a man, thrust in between two\nbuttons of her bodice a tortoise-shell eyeglass.", "When Charles, after bidding farewell to old Rouault, returned to the\nroom before leaving, he found her standing, her forehead against the\nwindow, looking into the garden, where the bean props had been knocked\ndown by the wind.", "She turned round.", "\"Are you looking for anything?\"", "she\nasked.", "\"My whip, if you please,\" he answered." ]

[ "\nOne night towards eleven o'clock they were awakened by the noise of\na horse pulling up outside their door.", "The servant opened the\ngarret-window and parleyed for some time with a man in the street below.", "He came for the doctor, had a letter for him.", "Natasie came downstairs\nshivering and undid the bars and bolts one after the other.", "The man left\nhis horse, and, following the servant, suddenly came in behind her.", "He\npulled out from his wool cap with grey top-knots a letter wrapped up in\na rag and presented it gingerly to Charles, who rested on his elbow on\nthe pillow to read it.", "Natasie, standing near the bed, held the light.", "Madame in modesty had turned to the wall and showed only her back.", "This letter, sealed with a small seal in blue wax, begged Monsieur\nBovary to come immediately to the farm of the Bertaux to set a broken\nleg.", "Now from Tostes to the Bertaux was a good eighteen miles across\ncountry by way of Longueville and Saint-Victor.", "Charles tried to speak up for her.", "They grew angry and left the house.", "But \"the blow had struck home.\"", "A week after, as she was hanging up some\nwashing in her yard, she was seized with a spitting of blood, and\nthe next day, while Charles had his back turned to her drawing the\nwindow-curtain, she said, \"O God!\"", "gave a sigh and fainted.", "She was\ndead!", "What a surprise!", "When all was over at the cemetery Charles went\nhome.", "He found no one downstairs; he went up to the first floor to\ntheir room; saw her dress still hanging at the foot of the alcove; then,\nleaning against the writing-table, he stayed until the evening, buried\nin a sorrowful reverie.", "She had loved him after all!" ]

[ "\nOne morning old Rouault brought Charles the money for setting his\nleg--seventy-five francs in forty-sou pieces, and a turkey.", "He had heard\nof his loss, and consoled him as well as he could.", "\"I know what it is,\" said he, clapping him on the shoulder; \"I've been\nthrough it.", "When I lost my dear departed, I went into the fields to be\nquite alone.", "I fell at the foot of a tree; I cried; I called on God; I\ntalked nonsense to Him.", "I wanted to be like the moles that I saw on the\nbranches, their insides swarming with worms, dead, and an end of it.", "And when I thought that there were others at that very moment with their\nnice little wives holding them in their embrace, I struck great blows on\nthe earth with my stick.", "I was pretty well mad with not eating; the very\nidea of going to a cafe disgusted me--you wouldn't believe it.", "Well,\nquite softly, one day following another, a spring on a winter, and an\nautumn after a summer, this wore away, piece by piece, crumb by crumb;\nit passed away, it is gone, I should say it has sunk; for something\nalways remains at the bottom as one would say--a weight here, at one's\nheart.", "But since it is the lot of all of us, one must not give way\naltogether, and, because others have died, want to die too.", "You must\npull yourself together, Monsieur Bovary.", "It will pass away.", "Come to see\nus; my daughter thinks of you now and again, d'ye know, and she says\nyou are forgetting her.", "Spring will soon be here.", "We'll have some\nrabbit-shooting in the warrens to amuse you a bit.\"", "Charles followed his advice.", "He went back to the Bertaux.", "He found all\nas he had left it, that is to say, as it was five months ago.", "The pear\ntrees were already in blossom, and Farmer Rouault, on his legs again,\ncame and went, making the farm more full of life.", "Thinking it his duty to heap the greatest attention upon the doctor\nbecause of his sad position, he begged him not to take his hat off,\nspoke to him in an undertone as if he had been ill, and even pretended\nto be angry because nothing rather lighter had been prepared for him\nthan for the others, such as a little clotted cream or stewed pears.", "He\ntold stories.", "Charles found himself laughing, but the remembrance of his\nwife suddenly coming back to him depressed him.", "Coffee was brought in;\nhe thought no more about her.", "He thought less of her as he grew accustomed to living alone.", "The new\ndelight of independence soon made his loneliness bearable.", "He could now\nchange his meal-times, go in or out without explanation, and when he was\nvery tired stretch himself at full length on his bed.", "So he nursed and\ncoddled himself and accepted the consolations that were offered him.", "On the other hand, the death of his wife had not served him ill in his\nbusiness, since for a month people had been saying, \"The poor young\nman!", "what a loss!\"", "His name had been talked about, his practice had\nincreased; and moreover, he could go to the Bertaux just as he liked.", "He had an aimless hope, and was vaguely happy; he thought himself better\nlooking as he brushed his whiskers before the looking-glass.", "One day he got there about three o'clock.", "Everybody was in the fields.", "He went into the kitchen, but did not at once catch sight of Emma; the\noutside shutters were closed.", "Through the chinks of the wood the sun\nsent across the flooring long fine rays that were broken at the corners\nof the furniture and trembled along the ceiling.", "Some flies on the table\nwere crawling up the glasses that had been used, and buzzing as they\ndrowned themselves in the dregs of the cider.", "The daylight that came in\nby the chimney made velvet of the soot at the back of the fireplace, and\ntouched with blue the cold cinders.", "Between the window and the hearth\nEmma was sewing; she wore no fichu; he could see small drops of\nperspiration on her bare shoulders.", "After the fashion of country folks she asked him to have something to\ndrink.", "He said no; she insisted, and at last laughingly offered to have\na glass of liqueur with him.", "So she went to fetch a bottle of curacao\nfrom the cupboard, reached down two small glasses, filled one to the\nbrim, poured scarcely anything into the other, and, after having clinked\nglasses, carried hers to her mouth.", "As it was almost empty she bent\nback to drink, her head thrown back, her lips pouting, her neck on the\nstrain.", "She laughed at getting none of it, while with the tip of her\ntongue passing between her small teeth she licked drop by drop the\nbottom of her glass.", "She sat down again and took up her work, a white cotton stocking she was\ndarning.", "She worked with her head bent down; she did not speak, nor did\nCharles.", "The air coming in under the door blew a little dust over the\nflags; he watched it drift along, and heard nothing but the throbbing\nin his head and the faint clucking of a hen that had laid an egg in the\nyard.", "Emma from time to time cooled her cheeks with the palms of her\nhands, and cooled these again on the knobs of the huge fire-dogs.", "She complained of suffering since the beginning of the season from\ngiddiness; she asked if sea-baths would do her any good; she began\ntalking of her convent, Charles of his school; words came to them.", "They\nwent up into her bedroom.", "She showed him her old music-books, the little\nprizes she had won, and the oak-leaf crowns, left at the bottom of a\ncupboard.", "She spoke to him, too, of her mother, of the country, and even\nshowed him the bed in the garden where, on the first Friday of every\nmonth, she gathered flowers to put on her mother's tomb.", "But the\ngardener they had never knew anything about it; servants are so stupid!", "She would have dearly liked, if only for the winter, to live in town,\nalthough the length of the fine days made the country perhaps even more\nwearisome in the summer.", "And, according to what she was saying, her\nvoice was clear, sharp, or, on a sudden all languor, drawn out in\nmodulations that ended almost in murmurs as she spoke to herself, now\njoyous, opening big naive eyes, then with her eyelids half closed, her\nlook full of boredom, her thoughts wandering.", "Going home at night, Charles went over her words one by one, trying to\nrecall them, to fill out their sense, that he might piece out the life\nshe had lived before he knew her.", "But he never saw her in his thoughts\nother than he had seen her the first time, or as he had just left her.", "Then he asked himself what would become of her--if she would be married,\nand to whom!", "Alas!", "Old Rouault was rich, and she!--so beautiful!", "But\nEmma's face always rose before his eyes, and a monotone, like the\nhumming of a top, sounded in his ears, \"If you should marry after\nall!", "If you should marry!\"", "At night he could not sleep; his throat was\nparched; he was athirst.", "He got up to drink from the water-bottle and\nopened the window.", "The night was covered with stars, a warm wind blowing\nin the distance; the dogs were barking.", "He turned his head towards the\nBertaux.", "Thinking that, after all, he should lose nothing, Charles promised\nhimself to ask her in marriage as soon as occasion offered, but each\ntime such occasion did offer the fear of not finding the right words\nsealed his lips.", "Old Rouault would not have been sorry to be rid of his daughter, who was\nof no use to him in the house.", "In his heart he excused her, thinking\nher too clever for farming, a calling under the ban of Heaven, since one\nnever saw a millionaire in it.", "Far from having made a fortune by it,\nthe good man was losing every year; for if he was good in bargaining, in\nwhich he enjoyed the dodges of the trade, on the other hand, agriculture\nproperly so called, and the internal management of the farm, suited him\nless than most people.", "He did not willingly take his hands out of his\npockets, and did not spare expense in all that concerned himself, liking\nto eat well, to have good fires, and to sleep well.", "He liked old cider,\nunderdone legs of mutton, glorias* well beaten up.", "He took his meals in\nthe kitchen alone, opposite the fire, on a little table brought to him\nall ready laid as on the stage.", "*A mixture of coffee and spirits.", "When, therefore, he perceived that Charles's cheeks grew red if near his\ndaughter, which meant that he would propose for her one of these days,\nhe chewed the cud of the matter beforehand.", "He certainly thought him a\nlittle meagre, and not quite the son-in-law he would have liked, but he\nwas said to be well brought-up, economical, very learned, and no doubt\nwould not make too many difficulties about the dowry.", "Now, as old\nRouault would soon be forced to sell twenty-two acres of \"his property,\"\nas he owed a good deal to the mason, to the harness-maker, and as the\nshaft of the cider-press wanted renewing, \"If he asks for her,\" he said\nto himself, \"I'll give her to him.\"", "At Michaelmas Charles went to spend three days at the Bertaux.", "The last had passed like the others in procrastinating from hour to\nhour.", "Old Rouault was seeing him off; they were walking along the road\nfull of ruts; they were about to part.", "This was the time.", "Charles gave\nhimself as far as to the corner of the hedge, and at last, when past\nit--\n\n\"Monsieur Rouault,\" he murmured, \"I should like to say something to\nyou.\"", "They stopped.", "Charles was silent.", "\"Well, tell me your story.", "Don't I know all about it?\"", "said old Rouault,\nlaughing softly.", "\"Monsieur Rouault--Monsieur Rouault,\" stammered Charles.", "\"I ask nothing better\", the farmer went on.", "\"Although, no doubt, the\nlittle one is of my mind, still we must ask her opinion.", "So you get\noff--I'll go back home.", "If it is 'yes', you needn't return because of\nall the people about, and besides it would upset her too much.", "But so\nthat you mayn't be eating your heart, I'll open wide the outer shutter\nof the window against the wall; you can see it from the back by leaning\nover the hedge.\"", "And he went off.", "Charles fastened his horse to a tree; he ran into the road and waited.", "Half an hour passed, then he counted nineteen minutes by his watch.", "Suddenly a noise was heard against the wall; the shutter had been thrown\nback; the hook was still swinging.", "The next day by nine o'clock he was at the farm.", "Emma blushed as\nhe entered, and she gave a little forced laugh to keep herself in\ncountenance.", "Old Rouault embraced his future son-in-law.", "The discussion\nof money matters was put off; moreover, there was plenty of time before\nthem, as the marriage could not decently take place till Charles was out\nof mourning, that is to say, about the spring of the next year.", "The winter passed waiting for this.", "Mademoiselle Rouault was busy with\nher trousseau.", "Part of it was ordered at Rouen, and she made herself\nchemises and nightcaps after fashion-plates that she borrowed.", "When\nCharles visited the farmer, the preparations for the wedding were talked\nover; they wondered in what room they should have dinner; they dreamed\nof the number of dishes that would be wanted, and what should be\nentrees.", "Emma would, on the contrary, have preferred to have a midnight wedding\nwith torches, but old Rouault could not understand such an idea.", "So\nthere was a wedding at which forty-three persons were present, at which\nthey remained sixteen hours at table, began again the next day, and to\nsome extent on the days following." ]

[ "I fell at the foot of a tree; I cried; I called on God; I\ntalked nonsense to Him.", "He went back to the Bertaux.", "So he nursed and\ncoddled himself and accepted the consolations that were offered him.", "She showed him her old music-books, the little\nprizes she had won, and the oak-leaf crowns, left at the bottom of a\ncupboard.", "Old Rouault was rich, and she!--so beautiful!", "Old Rouault would not have been sorry to be rid of his daughter, who was\nof no use to him in the house.", "\"Monsieur Rouault--Monsieur Rouault,\" stammered Charles.", "But so\nthat you mayn't be eating your heart, I'll open wide the outer shutter\nof the window against the wall; you can see it from the back by leaning\nover the hedge.\"", "And he went off.", "So\nthere was a wedding at which forty-three persons were present, at which\nthey remained sixteen hours at table, began again the next day, and to\nsome extent on the days following." ]

[ "He\ntold stories.", "The night was covered with stars, a warm wind blowing\nin the distance; the dogs were barking.", "They\nwent up into her bedroom.", "\"Although, no doubt, the\nlittle one is of my mind, still we must ask her opinion.", "He liked old cider,\nunderdone legs of mutton, glorias* well beaten up.", "Old Rouault embraced his future son-in-law.", "Charles followed his advice.", "The discussion\nof money matters was put off; moreover, there was plenty of time before\nthem, as the marriage could not decently take place till Charles was out\nof mourning, that is to say, about the spring of the next year.", "I was pretty well mad with not eating; the very\nidea of going to a cafe disgusted me--you wouldn't believe it.", "But since it is the lot of all of us, one must not give way\naltogether, and, because others have died, want to die too." ]

[ "They\nwent up into her bedroom.", "She showed him her old music-books, the little\nprizes she had won, and the oak-leaf crowns, left at the bottom of a\ncupboard.", "She spoke to him, too, of her mother, of the country, and even\nshowed him the bed in the garden where, on the first Friday of every\nmonth, she gathered flowers to put on her mother's tomb.", "But the\ngardener they had never knew anything about it; servants are so stupid!", "She would have dearly liked, if only for the winter, to live in town,\nalthough the length of the fine days made the country perhaps even more\nwearisome in the summer.", "And, according to what she was saying, her\nvoice was clear, sharp, or, on a sudden all languor, drawn out in\nmodulations that ended almost in murmurs as she spoke to herself, now\njoyous, opening big naive eyes, then with her eyelids half closed, her\nlook full of boredom, her thoughts wandering.", "Going home at night, Charles went over her words one by one, trying to\nrecall them, to fill out their sense, that he might piece out the life\nshe had lived before he knew her.", "But he never saw her in his thoughts\nother than he had seen her the first time, or as he had just left her.", "Then he asked himself what would become of her--if she would be married,\nand to whom!", "Alas!", "Old Rouault was rich, and she!--so beautiful!" ]

[ "\nOne morning old Rouault brought Charles the money for setting his\nleg--seventy-five francs in forty-sou pieces, and a turkey.", "He had heard\nof his loss, and consoled him as well as he could.", "\"I know what it is,\" said he, clapping him on the shoulder; \"I've been\nthrough it.", "When I lost my dear departed, I went into the fields to be\nquite alone.", "I fell at the foot of a tree; I cried; I called on God; I\ntalked nonsense to Him.", "I wanted to be like the moles that I saw on the\nbranches, their insides swarming with worms, dead, and an end of it.", "And when I thought that there were others at that very moment with their\nnice little wives holding them in their embrace, I struck great blows on\nthe earth with my stick.", "I was pretty well mad with not eating; the very\nidea of going to a cafe disgusted me--you wouldn't believe it.", "Well,\nquite softly, one day following another, a spring on a winter, and an\nautumn after a summer, this wore away, piece by piece, crumb by crumb;\nit passed away, it is gone, I should say it has sunk; for something\nalways remains at the bottom as one would say--a weight here, at one's\nheart.", "But since it is the lot of all of us, one must not give way\naltogether, and, because others have died, want to die too.", "The next day by nine o'clock he was at the farm.", "Emma blushed as\nhe entered, and she gave a little forced laugh to keep herself in\ncountenance.", "Old Rouault embraced his future son-in-law.", "The discussion\nof money matters was put off; moreover, there was plenty of time before\nthem, as the marriage could not decently take place till Charles was out\nof mourning, that is to say, about the spring of the next year.", "The winter passed waiting for this.", "Mademoiselle Rouault was busy with\nher trousseau.", "Part of it was ordered at Rouen, and she made herself\nchemises and nightcaps after fashion-plates that she borrowed.", "When\nCharles visited the farmer, the preparations for the wedding were talked\nover; they wondered in what room they should have dinner; they dreamed\nof the number of dishes that would be wanted, and what should be\nentrees.", "Emma would, on the contrary, have preferred to have a midnight wedding\nwith torches, but old Rouault could not understand such an idea.", "So\nthere was a wedding at which forty-three persons were present, at which\nthey remained sixteen hours at table, began again the next day, and to\nsome extent on the days following." ]

[ "\nThe guests arrived early in carriages, in one-horse chaises, two-wheeled\ncars, old open gigs, waggonettes with leather hoods, and the young\npeople from the nearer villages in carts, in which they stood up in\nrows, holding on to the sides so as not to fall, going at a trot\nand well shaken up.", "Some came from a distance of thirty miles, from\nGoderville, from Normanville, and from Cany.", "All the relatives of both families had been invited, quarrels between\nfriends arranged, acquaintances long since lost sight of written to.", "From time to time one heard the crack of a whip behind the hedge; then\nthe gates opened, a chaise entered.", "Galloping up to the foot of the\nsteps, it stopped short and emptied its load.", "They got down from all\nsides, rubbing knees and stretching arms.", "The ladies, wearing bonnets,\nhad on dresses in the town fashion, gold watch chains, pelerines with\nthe ends tucked into belts, or little coloured fichus fastened down\nbehind with a pin, and that left the back of the neck bare.", "The lads,\ndressed like their papas, seemed uncomfortable in their new clothes\n(many that day hand-sewed their first pair of boots), and by their\nsides, speaking never a work, wearing the white dress of their first\ncommunion lengthened for the occasion were some big girls of fourteen or\nsixteen, cousins or elder sisters no doubt, rubicund, bewildered, their\nhair greasy with rose pomade, and very much afraid of dirtying their\ngloves.", "As there were not enough stable-boys to unharness all the\ncarriages, the gentlemen turned up their sleeves and set about it\nthemselves.", "According to their different social positions they wore\ntail-coats, overcoats, shooting jackets, cutaway-coats; fine tail-coats,\nredolent of family respectability, that only came out of the wardrobe\non state occasions; overcoats with long tails flapping in the wind and\nround capes and pockets like sacks; shooting jackets of coarse\ncloth, generally worn with a cap with a brass-bound peak; very short\ncutaway-coats with two small buttons in the back, close together like\na pair of eyes, and the tails of which seemed cut out of one piece by a\ncarpenter's hatchet.", "Some, too (but these, you may be sure, would sit at\nthe bottom of the table), wore their best blouses--that is to say,\nwith collars turned down to the shoulders, the back gathered into small\nplaits and the waist fastened very low down with a worked belt.", "And the shirts stood out from the chests like cuirasses!", "Everyone had\njust had his hair cut; ears stood out from the heads; they had been\nclose-shaved; a few, even, who had had to get up before daybreak, and\nnot been able to see to shave, had diagonal gashes under their noses or\ncuts the size of a three-franc piece along the jaws, which the fresh\nair en route had enflamed, so that the great white beaming faces were\nmottled here and there with red dabs.", "The mairie was a mile and a half from the farm, and they went thither\non foot, returning in the same way after the ceremony in the church.", "The procession, first united like one long coloured scarf that undulated\nacross the fields, along the narrow path winding amid the green corn,\nsoon lengthened out, and broke up into different groups that loitered to\ntalk.", "The fiddler walked in front with his violin, gay with ribbons at\nits pegs.", "Then came the married pair, the relations, the friends, all\nfollowing pell-mell; the children stayed behind amusing themselves\nplucking the bell-flowers from oat-ears, or playing amongst themselves\nunseen.", "Emma's dress, too long, trailed a little on the ground; from\ntime to time she stopped to pull it up, and then delicately, with her\ngloved hands, she picked off the coarse grass and the thistledowns,\nwhile Charles, empty handed, waited till she had finished.", "Old Rouault,\nwith a new silk hat and the cuffs of his black coat covering his hands\nup to the nails, gave his arm to Madame Bovary senior.", "As to Monsieur\nBovary senior, who, heartily despising all these folk, had come simply\nin a frock-coat of military cut with one row of buttons--he was passing\ncompliments of the bar to a fair young peasant.", "She bowed, blushed,\nand did not know what to say.", "The other wedding guests talked of their\nbusiness or played tricks behind each other's backs, egging one another\non in advance to be jolly.", "Those who listened could always catch the\nsqueaking of the fiddler, who went on playing across the fields.", "When\nhe saw that the rest were far behind he stopped to take breath, slowly\nrosined his bow, so that the strings should sound more shrilly, then set\noff again, by turns lowering and raising his neck, the better to mark\ntime for himself.", "The noise of the instrument drove away the little\nbirds from afar.", "The table was laid under the cart-shed.", "On it were four sirloins, six\nchicken fricassees, stewed veal, three legs of mutton, and in the middle\na fine roast suckling pig, flanked by four chitterlings with sorrel.", "At\nthe corners were decanters of brandy.", "Sweet bottled-cider frothed round\nthe corks, and all the glasses had been filled to the brim with wine\nbeforehand.", "Large dishes of yellow cream, that trembled with the least\nshake of the table, had designed on their smooth surface the initials of\nthe newly wedded pair in nonpareil arabesques.", "A confectioner of Yvetot\nhad been intrusted with the tarts and sweets.", "As he had only just set up\non the place, he had taken a lot of trouble, and at dessert he himself\nbrought in a set dish that evoked loud cries of wonderment.", "To begin\nwith, at its base there was a square of blue cardboard, representing a\ntemple with porticoes, colonnades, and stucco statuettes all round, and\nin the niches constellations of gilt paper stars; then on the second\nstage was a dungeon of Savoy cake, surrounded by many fortifications\nin candied angelica, almonds, raisins, and quarters of oranges; and\nfinally, on the upper platform a green field with rocks set in lakes of\njam, nutshell boats, and a small Cupid balancing himself in a chocolate\nswing whose two uprights ended in real roses for balls at the top.", "Until night they ate.", "When any of them were too tired of sitting, they\nwent out for a stroll in the yard, or for a game with corks in the\ngranary, and then returned to table.", "Some towards the finish went to\nsleep and snored.", "But with the coffee everyone woke up.", "Then they began\nsongs, showed off tricks, raised heavy weights, performed feats with\ntheir fingers, then tried lifting carts on their shoulders, made broad\njokes, kissed the women.", "At night when they left, the horses, stuffed\nup to the nostrils with oats, could hardly be got into the shafts; they\nkicked, reared, the harness broke, their masters laughed or swore;\nand all night in the light of the moon along country roads there were\nrunaway carts at full gallop plunging into the ditches, jumping over\nyard after yard of stones, clambering up the hills, with women leaning\nout from the tilt to catch hold of the reins.", "Those who stayed at the Bertaux spent the night drinking in the kitchen.", "The children had fallen asleep under the seats.", "The bride had begged her father to be spared the usual marriage\npleasantries.", "However, a fishmonger, one of their cousins (who had even\nbrought a pair of soles for his wedding present), began to squirt water\nfrom his mouth through the keyhole, when old Rouault came up just in\ntime to stop him, and explain to him that the distinguished position\nof his son-in-law would not allow of such liberties.", "The cousin all the\nsame did not give in to these reasons readily.", "In his heart he accused\nold Rouault of being proud, and he joined four or five other guests in\na corner, who having, through mere chance, been several times running\nserved with the worst helps of meat, also were of opinion they had been\nbadly used, and were whispering about their host, and with covered hints\nhoping he would ruin himself.", "Madame Bovary, senior, had not opened her mouth all day.", "She had been\nconsulted neither as to the dress of her daughter-in-law nor as to the\narrangement of the feast; she went to bed early.", "Her husband, instead\nof following her, sent to Saint-Victor for some cigars, and smoked till\ndaybreak, drinking kirsch-punch, a mixture unknown to the company.", "This\nadded greatly to the consideration in which he was held.", "Charles, who was not of a facetious turn, did not shine at the wedding.", "He answered feebly to the puns, doubles entendres*, compliments, and\nchaff that it was felt a duty to let off at him as soon as the soup\nappeared.", "*Double meanings.", "The next day, on the other hand, he seemed another man.", "It was he who\nmight rather have been taken for the virgin of the evening before,\nwhilst the bride gave no sign that revealed anything.", "The shrewdest did\nnot know what to make of it, and they looked at her when she passed\nnear them with an unbounded concentration of mind.", "But Charles concealed\nnothing.", "He called her \"my wife\", tutoyed* her, asked for her of\neveryone, looked for her everywhere, and often he dragged her into the\nyards, where he could be seen from far between the trees, putting his\narm around her waist, and walking half-bending over her, ruffling the\nchemisette of her bodice with his head.", "*Used the familiar form of address.", "Two days after the wedding the married pair left.", "Charles, on account of\nhis patients, could not be away longer.", "Old Rouault had them driven back\nin his cart, and himself accompanied them as far as Vassonville.", "Here\nhe embraced his daughter for the last time, got down, and went his way.", "When he had gone about a hundred paces he stopped, and as he saw the\ncart disappearing, its wheels turning in the dust, he gave a deep sigh.", "Then he remembered his wedding, the old times, the first pregnancy of\nhis wife; he, too, had been very happy the day when he had taken her\nfrom her father to his home, and had carried her off on a pillion,\ntrotting through the snow, for it was near Christmas-time, and the\ncountry was all white.", "She held him by one arm, her basket hanging from\nthe other; the wind blew the long lace of her Cauchois headdress so that\nit sometimes flapped across his mouth, and when he turned his head he\nsaw near him, on his shoulder, her little rosy face, smiling silently\nunder the gold bands of her cap.", "To warm her hands she put them from\ntime to time in his breast.", "How long ago it all was!", "Their son would\nhave been thirty by now.", "Then he looked back and saw nothing on the\nroad.", "He felt dreary as an empty house; and tender memories mingling\nwith the sad thoughts in his brain, addled by the fumes of the feast, he\nfelt inclined for a moment to take a turn towards the church.", "As he was\nafraid, however, that this sight would make him yet more sad, he went\nright away home.", "Monsieur and Madame Charles arrived at Tostes about six o'clock.", "The neighbors came to the windows to see their doctor's new wife.", "The old servant presented herself, curtsied to her, apologised for not\nhaving dinner ready, and suggested that madame, in the meantime, should\nlook over her house." ]

[ "\nThe guests arrived early in carriages, in one-horse chaises, two-wheeled\ncars, old open gigs, waggonettes with leather hoods, and the young\npeople from the nearer villages in carts, in which they stood up in\nrows, holding on to the sides so as not to fall, going at a trot\nand well shaken up.", "They got down from all\nsides, rubbing knees and stretching arms.", "And the shirts stood out from the chests like cuirasses!", "The mairie was a mile and a half from the farm, and they went thither\non foot, returning in the same way after the ceremony in the church.", "The procession, first united like one long coloured scarf that undulated\nacross the fields, along the narrow path winding amid the green corn,\nsoon lengthened out, and broke up into different groups that loitered to\ntalk.", "Those who stayed at the Bertaux spent the night drinking in the kitchen.", "However, a fishmonger, one of their cousins (who had even\nbrought a pair of soles for his wedding present), began to squirt water\nfrom his mouth through the keyhole, when old Rouault came up just in\ntime to stop him, and explain to him that the distinguished position\nof his son-in-law would not allow of such liberties.", "Charles, on account of\nhis patients, could not be away longer.", "How long ago it all was!", "He felt dreary as an empty house; and tender memories mingling\nwith the sad thoughts in his brain, addled by the fumes of the feast, he\nfelt inclined for a moment to take a turn towards the church." ]

[ "Then they began\nsongs, showed off tricks, raised heavy weights, performed feats with\ntheir fingers, then tried lifting carts on their shoulders, made broad\njokes, kissed the women.", "He felt dreary as an empty house; and tender memories mingling\nwith the sad thoughts in his brain, addled by the fumes of the feast, he\nfelt inclined for a moment to take a turn towards the church.", "Then came the married pair, the relations, the friends, all\nfollowing pell-mell; the children stayed behind amusing themselves\nplucking the bell-flowers from oat-ears, or playing amongst themselves\nunseen.", "\nThe guests arrived early in carriages, in one-horse chaises, two-wheeled\ncars, old open gigs, waggonettes with leather hoods, and the young\npeople from the nearer villages in carts, in which they stood up in\nrows, holding on to the sides so as not to fall, going at a trot\nand well shaken up.", "Old Rouault,\nwith a new silk hat and the cuffs of his black coat covering his hands\nup to the nails, gave his arm to Madame Bovary senior.", "When\nhe saw that the rest were far behind he stopped to take breath, slowly\nrosined his bow, so that the strings should sound more shrilly, then set\noff again, by turns lowering and raising his neck, the better to mark\ntime for himself.", "The cousin all the\nsame did not give in to these reasons readily.", "As he was\nafraid, however, that this sight would make him yet more sad, he went\nright away home.", "He called her \"my wife\", tutoyed* her, asked for her of\neveryone, looked for her everywhere, and often he dragged her into the\nyards, where he could be seen from far between the trees, putting his\narm around her waist, and walking half-bending over her, ruffling the\nchemisette of her bodice with his head.", "However, a fishmonger, one of their cousins (who had even\nbrought a pair of soles for his wedding present), began to squirt water\nfrom his mouth through the keyhole, when old Rouault came up just in\ntime to stop him, and explain to him that the distinguished position\nof his son-in-law would not allow of such liberties." ]

[ "To begin\nwith, at its base there was a square of blue cardboard, representing a\ntemple with porticoes, colonnades, and stucco statuettes all round, and\nin the niches constellations of gilt paper stars; then on the second\nstage was a dungeon of Savoy cake, surrounded by many fortifications\nin candied angelica, almonds, raisins, and quarters of oranges; and\nfinally, on the upper platform a green field with rocks set in lakes of\njam, nutshell boats, and a small Cupid balancing himself in a chocolate\nswing whose two uprights ended in real roses for balls at the top.", "Until night they ate.", "When any of them were too tired of sitting, they\nwent out for a stroll in the yard, or for a game with corks in the\ngranary, and then returned to table.", "Some towards the finish went to\nsleep and snored.", "But with the coffee everyone woke up.", "Then they began\nsongs, showed off tricks, raised heavy weights, performed feats with\ntheir fingers, then tried lifting carts on their shoulders, made broad\njokes, kissed the women.", "At night when they left, the horses, stuffed\nup to the nostrils with oats, could hardly be got into the shafts; they\nkicked, reared, the harness broke, their masters laughed or swore;\nand all night in the light of the moon along country roads there were\nrunaway carts at full gallop plunging into the ditches, jumping over\nyard after yard of stones, clambering up the hills, with women leaning\nout from the tilt to catch hold of the reins.", "Those who stayed at the Bertaux spent the night drinking in the kitchen.", "The children had fallen asleep under the seats.", "The bride had begged her father to be spared the usual marriage\npleasantries.", "However, a fishmonger, one of their cousins (who had even\nbrought a pair of soles for his wedding present), began to squirt water\nfrom his mouth through the keyhole, when old Rouault came up just in\ntime to stop him, and explain to him that the distinguished position\nof his son-in-law would not allow of such liberties." ]

[ "\nThe guests arrived early in carriages, in one-horse chaises, two-wheeled\ncars, old open gigs, waggonettes with leather hoods, and the young\npeople from the nearer villages in carts, in which they stood up in\nrows, holding on to the sides so as not to fall, going at a trot\nand well shaken up.", "Some came from a distance of thirty miles, from\nGoderville, from Normanville, and from Cany.", "All the relatives of both families had been invited, quarrels between\nfriends arranged, acquaintances long since lost sight of written to.", "From time to time one heard the crack of a whip behind the hedge; then\nthe gates opened, a chaise entered.", "Galloping up to the foot of the\nsteps, it stopped short and emptied its load.", "They got down from all\nsides, rubbing knees and stretching arms.", "The ladies, wearing bonnets,\nhad on dresses in the town fashion, gold watch chains, pelerines with\nthe ends tucked into belts, or little coloured fichus fastened down\nbehind with a pin, and that left the back of the neck bare.", "The lads,\ndressed like their papas, seemed uncomfortable in their new clothes\n(many that day hand-sewed their first pair of boots), and by their\nsides, speaking never a work, wearing the white dress of their first\ncommunion lengthened for the occasion were some big girls of fourteen or\nsixteen, cousins or elder sisters no doubt, rubicund, bewildered, their\nhair greasy with rose pomade, and very much afraid of dirtying their\ngloves.", "As there were not enough stable-boys to unharness all the\ncarriages, the gentlemen turned up their sleeves and set about it\nthemselves.", "According to their different social positions they wore\ntail-coats, overcoats, shooting jackets, cutaway-coats; fine tail-coats,\nredolent of family respectability, that only came out of the wardrobe\non state occasions; overcoats with long tails flapping in the wind and\nround capes and pockets like sacks; shooting jackets of coarse\ncloth, generally worn with a cap with a brass-bound peak; very short\ncutaway-coats with two small buttons in the back, close together like\na pair of eyes, and the tails of which seemed cut out of one piece by a\ncarpenter's hatchet.", "She held him by one arm, her basket hanging from\nthe other; the wind blew the long lace of her Cauchois headdress so that\nit sometimes flapped across his mouth, and when he turned his head he\nsaw near him, on his shoulder, her little rosy face, smiling silently\nunder the gold bands of her cap.", "To warm her hands she put them from\ntime to time in his breast.", "How long ago it all was!", "Their son would\nhave been thirty by now.", "Then he looked back and saw nothing on the\nroad.", "He felt dreary as an empty house; and tender memories mingling\nwith the sad thoughts in his brain, addled by the fumes of the feast, he\nfelt inclined for a moment to take a turn towards the church.", "As he was\nafraid, however, that this sight would make him yet more sad, he went\nright away home.", "Monsieur and Madame Charles arrived at Tostes about six o'clock.", "The neighbors came to the windows to see their doctor's new wife.", "The old servant presented herself, curtsied to her, apologised for not\nhaving dinner ready, and suggested that madame, in the meantime, should\nlook over her house." ]

[ "\nThe brick front was just in a line with the street, or rather the road.", "Behind the door hung a cloak with a small collar, a bridle, and a black\nleather cap, and on the floor, in a corner, were a pair of leggings,\nstill covered with dry mud.", "On the right was the one apartment, that was\nboth dining and sitting room.", "A canary yellow paper, relieved at the\ntop by a garland of pale flowers, was puckered everywhere over the badly\nstretched canvas; white calico curtains with a red border hung crossways\nat the length of the window; and on the narrow mantelpiece a clock with\na head of Hippocrates shone resplendent between two plate candlesticks\nunder oval shades.", "On the other side of the passage was Charles's\nconsulting room, a little room about six paces wide, with a table,\nthree chairs, and an office chair.", "Volumes of the \"Dictionary of Medical\nScience,\" uncut, but the binding rather the worse for the successive\nsales through which they had gone, occupied almost along the six shelves\nof a deal bookcase.", "The smell of melted butter penetrated through the walls when he saw\npatients, just as in the kitchen one could hear the people coughing in\nthe consulting room and recounting their histories.", "Then, opening on the yard, where the stable was, came a large\ndilapidated room with a stove, now used as a wood-house, cellar, and\npantry, full of old rubbish, of empty casks, agricultural implements\npast service, and a mass of dusty things whose use it was impossible to\nguess.", "The garden, longer than wide, ran between two mud walls with espaliered\napricots, to a hawthorn hedge that separated it from the field.", "In the\nmiddle was a slate sundial on a brick pedestal; four flower beds with\neglantines surrounded symmetrically the more useful kitchen garden bed.", "Right at the bottom, under the spruce bushes, was a cure in plaster\nreading his breviary.", "Emma went upstairs.", "The first room was not furnished, but in the second,\nwhich was their bedroom, was a mahogany bedstead in an alcove with red\ndrapery.", "A shell box adorned the chest of drawers, and on the secretary\nnear the window a bouquet of orange blossoms tied with white satin\nribbons stood in a bottle.", "It was a bride's bouquet; it was the other\none's.", "She looked at it.", "Charles noticed it; he took it and carried it\nup to the attic, while Emma seated in an arm-chair (they were putting\nher things down around her) thought of her bridal flowers packed up in\na bandbox, and wondered, dreaming, what would be done with them if she\nwere to die.", "During the first days she occupied herself in thinking about changes in\nthe house.", "She took the shades off the candlesticks, had new wallpaper\nput up, the staircase repainted, and seats made in the garden round the\nsundial; she even inquired how she could get a basin with a jet fountain\nand fishes.", "Finally her husband, knowing that she liked to drive out,\npicked up a second-hand dogcart, which, with new lamps and splashboard\nin striped leather, looked almost like a tilbury.", "He was happy then, and without a care in the world.", "A meal together,\na walk in the evening on the highroad, a gesture of her hands over her\nhair, the sight of her straw hat hanging from the window-fastener, and\nmany another thing in which Charles had never dreamed of pleasure, now\nmade up the endless round of his happiness.", "In bed, in the morning, by\nher side, on the pillow, he watched the sunlight sinking into the down\non her fair cheek, half hidden by the lappets of her night-cap.", "Seen\nthus closely, her eyes looked to him enlarged, especially when, on\nwaking up, she opened and shut them rapidly many times.", "Black in the\nshade, dark blue in broad daylight, they had, as it were, depths of\ndifferent colours, that, darker in the centre, grew paler towards the\nsurface of the eye.", "His own eyes lost themselves in these depths; he saw\nhimself in miniature down to the shoulders, with his handkerchief round\nhis head and the top of his shirt open.", "He rose.", "She came to the window\nto see him off, and stayed leaning on the sill between two pots of\ngeranium, clad in her dressing gown hanging loosely about her.", "Charles,\nin the street buckled his spurs, his foot on the mounting stone, while\nshe talked to him from above, picking with her mouth some scrap of\nflower or leaf that she blew out at him.", "Then this, eddying, floating,\ndescribed semicircles in the air like a bird, and was caught before\nit reached the ground in the ill-groomed mane of the old white mare\nstanding motionless at the door.", "Charles from horseback threw her a\nkiss; she answered with a nod; she shut the window, and he set off.", "And\nthen along the highroad, spreading out its long ribbon of dust, along\nthe deep lanes that the trees bent over as in arbours, along paths where\nthe corn reached to the knees, with the sun on his back and the morning\nair in his nostrils, his heart full of the joys of the past night, his\nmind at rest, his flesh at ease, he went on, re-chewing his happiness,\nlike those who after dinner taste again the truffles which they are\ndigesting.", "Until now what good had he had of his life?", "His time at school, when\nhe remained shut up within the high walls, alone, in the midst of\ncompanions richer than he or cleverer at their work, who laughed at his\naccent, who jeered at his clothes, and whose mothers came to the school\nwith cakes in their muffs?", "Later on, when he studied medicine, and never\nhad his purse full enough to treat some little work-girl who would have\nbecome his mistress?", "Afterwards, he had lived fourteen months with the\nwidow, whose feet in bed were cold as icicles.", "But now he had for life\nthis beautiful woman whom he adored.", "For him the universe did not extend\nbeyond the circumference of her petticoat, and he reproached himself\nwith not loving her.", "He wanted to see her again; he turned back quickly,\nran up the stairs with a beating heart.", "Emma, in her room, was dressing;\nhe came up on tiptoe, kissed her back; she gave a cry.", "He could not keep from constantly touching her comb, her ring, her\nfichu; sometimes he gave her great sounding kisses with all his mouth on\nher cheeks, or else little kisses in a row all along her bare arm\nfrom the tip of her fingers up to her shoulder, and she put him away\nhalf-smiling, half-vexed, as you do a child who hangs about you.", "Before marriage she thought herself in love; but the happiness that\nshould have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought,\nhave been mistaken.", "And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in\nlife by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so\nbeautiful in books." ]

[ "Behind the door hung a cloak with a small collar, a bridle, and a black\nleather cap, and on the floor, in a corner, were a pair of leggings,\nstill covered with dry mud.", "The first room was not furnished, but in the second,\nwhich was their bedroom, was a mahogany bedstead in an alcove with red\ndrapery.", "A shell box adorned the chest of drawers, and on the secretary\nnear the window a bouquet of orange blossoms tied with white satin\nribbons stood in a bottle.", "She took the shades off the candlesticks, had new wallpaper\nput up, the staircase repainted, and seats made in the garden round the\nsundial; she even inquired how she could get a basin with a jet fountain\nand fishes.", "Finally her husband, knowing that she liked to drive out,\npicked up a second-hand dogcart, which, with new lamps and splashboard\nin striped leather, looked almost like a tilbury.", "He was happy then, and without a care in the world.", "His time at school, when\nhe remained shut up within the high walls, alone, in the midst of\ncompanions richer than he or cleverer at their work, who laughed at his\naccent, who jeered at his clothes, and whose mothers came to the school\nwith cakes in their muffs?", "Afterwards, he had lived fourteen months with the\nwidow, whose feet in bed were cold as icicles.", "But now he had for life\nthis beautiful woman whom he adored.", "Before marriage she thought herself in love; but the happiness that\nshould have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought,\nhave been mistaken." ]

[ "He rose.", "In bed, in the morning, by\nher side, on the pillow, he watched the sunlight sinking into the down\non her fair cheek, half hidden by the lappets of her night-cap.", "The smell of melted butter penetrated through the walls when he saw\npatients, just as in the kitchen one could hear the people coughing in\nthe consulting room and recounting their histories.", "Later on, when he studied medicine, and never\nhad his purse full enough to treat some little work-girl who would have\nbecome his mistress?", "Seen\nthus closely, her eyes looked to him enlarged, especially when, on\nwaking up, she opened and shut them rapidly many times.", "On the other side of the passage was Charles's\nconsulting room, a little room about six paces wide, with a table,\nthree chairs, and an office chair.", "And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in\nlife by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so\nbeautiful in books.", "Black in the\nshade, dark blue in broad daylight, they had, as it were, depths of\ndifferent colours, that, darker in the centre, grew paler towards the\nsurface of the eye.", "The first room was not furnished, but in the second,\nwhich was their bedroom, was a mahogany bedstead in an alcove with red\ndrapery.", "Charles noticed it; he took it and carried it\nup to the attic, while Emma seated in an arm-chair (they were putting\nher things down around her) thought of her bridal flowers packed up in\na bandbox, and wondered, dreaming, what would be done with them if she\nwere to die." ]

[ "Charles noticed it; he took it and carried it\nup to the attic, while Emma seated in an arm-chair (they were putting\nher things down around her) thought of her bridal flowers packed up in\na bandbox, and wondered, dreaming, what would be done with them if she\nwere to die.", "During the first days she occupied herself in thinking about changes in\nthe house.", "She took the shades off the candlesticks, had new wallpaper\nput up, the staircase repainted, and seats made in the garden round the\nsundial; she even inquired how she could get a basin with a jet fountain\nand fishes.", "Finally her husband, knowing that she liked to drive out,\npicked up a second-hand dogcart, which, with new lamps and splashboard\nin striped leather, looked almost like a tilbury.", "He was happy then, and without a care in the world.", "A meal together,\na walk in the evening on the highroad, a gesture of her hands over her\nhair, the sight of her straw hat hanging from the window-fastener, and\nmany another thing in which Charles had never dreamed of pleasure, now\nmade up the endless round of his happiness.", "In bed, in the morning, by\nher side, on the pillow, he watched the sunlight sinking into the down\non her fair cheek, half hidden by the lappets of her night-cap.", "Seen\nthus closely, her eyes looked to him enlarged, especially when, on\nwaking up, she opened and shut them rapidly many times.", "Black in the\nshade, dark blue in broad daylight, they had, as it were, depths of\ndifferent colours, that, darker in the centre, grew paler towards the\nsurface of the eye.", "His own eyes lost themselves in these depths; he saw\nhimself in miniature down to the shoulders, with his handkerchief round\nhis head and the top of his shirt open.", "He rose." ]

[ "\nThe brick front was just in a line with the street, or rather the road.", "Behind the door hung a cloak with a small collar, a bridle, and a black\nleather cap, and on the floor, in a corner, were a pair of leggings,\nstill covered with dry mud.", "On the right was the one apartment, that was\nboth dining and sitting room.", "A canary yellow paper, relieved at the\ntop by a garland of pale flowers, was puckered everywhere over the badly\nstretched canvas; white calico curtains with a red border hung crossways\nat the length of the window; and on the narrow mantelpiece a clock with\na head of Hippocrates shone resplendent between two plate candlesticks\nunder oval shades.", "On the other side of the passage was Charles's\nconsulting room, a little room about six paces wide, with a table,\nthree chairs, and an office chair.", "Volumes of the \"Dictionary of Medical\nScience,\" uncut, but the binding rather the worse for the successive\nsales through which they had gone, occupied almost along the six shelves\nof a deal bookcase.", "The smell of melted butter penetrated through the walls when he saw\npatients, just as in the kitchen one could hear the people coughing in\nthe consulting room and recounting their histories.", "Then, opening on the yard, where the stable was, came a large\ndilapidated room with a stove, now used as a wood-house, cellar, and\npantry, full of old rubbish, of empty casks, agricultural implements\npast service, and a mass of dusty things whose use it was impossible to\nguess.", "The garden, longer than wide, ran between two mud walls with espaliered\napricots, to a hawthorn hedge that separated it from the field.", "In the\nmiddle was a slate sundial on a brick pedestal; four flower beds with\neglantines surrounded symmetrically the more useful kitchen garden bed.", "His time at school, when\nhe remained shut up within the high walls, alone, in the midst of\ncompanions richer than he or cleverer at their work, who laughed at his\naccent, who jeered at his clothes, and whose mothers came to the school\nwith cakes in their muffs?", "Later on, when he studied medicine, and never\nhad his purse full enough to treat some little work-girl who would have\nbecome his mistress?", "Afterwards, he had lived fourteen months with the\nwidow, whose feet in bed were cold as icicles.", "But now he had for life\nthis beautiful woman whom he adored.", "For him the universe did not extend\nbeyond the circumference of her petticoat, and he reproached himself\nwith not loving her.", "He wanted to see her again; he turned back quickly,\nran up the stairs with a beating heart.", "Emma, in her room, was dressing;\nhe came up on tiptoe, kissed her back; she gave a cry.", "He could not keep from constantly touching her comb, her ring, her\nfichu; sometimes he gave her great sounding kisses with all his mouth on\nher cheeks, or else little kisses in a row all along her bare arm\nfrom the tip of her fingers up to her shoulder, and she put him away\nhalf-smiling, half-vexed, as you do a child who hangs about you.", "Before marriage she thought herself in love; but the happiness that\nshould have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought,\nhave been mistaken.", "And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in\nlife by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so\nbeautiful in books." ]

[ "\nShe had read \"Paul and Virginia,\" and she had dreamed of the little\nbamboo-house, the nigger Domingo, the dog Fidele, but above all of the\nsweet friendship of some dear little brother, who seeks red fruit for\nyou on trees taller than steeples, or who runs barefoot over the sand,\nbringing you a bird's nest.", "When she was thirteen, her father himself took her to town to place\nher in the convent.", "They stopped at an inn in the St. Gervais quarter,\nwhere, at their supper, they used painted plates that set forth the\nstory of Mademoiselle de la Valliere.", "The explanatory legends, chipped\nhere and there by the scratching of knives, all glorified religion, the\ntendernesses of the heart, and the pomps of court.", "Far from being bored at first at the convent, she took pleasure in the\nsociety of the good sisters, who, to amuse her, took her to the chapel,\nwhich one entered from the refectory by a long corridor.", "She played very\nlittle during recreation hours, knew her catechism well, and it was she\nwho always answered Monsieur le Vicaire's difficult questions.", "Living\nthus, without ever leaving the warm atmosphere of the classrooms, and\namid these pale-faced women wearing rosaries with brass crosses, she\nwas softly lulled by the mystic languor exhaled in the perfumes of the\naltar, the freshness of the holy water, and the lights of the tapers.", "Instead of attending to mass, she looked at the pious vignettes with\ntheir azure borders in her book, and she loved the sick lamb, the sacred\nheart pierced with sharp arrows, or the poor Jesus sinking beneath the\ncross he carries.", "She tried, by way of mortification, to eat nothing a\nwhole day.", "She puzzled her head to find some vow to fulfil.", "When she went to confession, she invented little sins in order that she\nmight stay there longer, kneeling in the shadow, her hands joined,\nher face against the grating beneath the whispering of the priest.", "The comparisons of betrothed, husband, celestial lover, and eternal\nmarriage, that recur in sermons, stirred within her soul depths of\nunexpected sweetness.", "In the evening, before prayers, there was some religious reading in\nthe study.", "On week-nights it was some abstract of sacred history or\nthe Lectures of the Abbe Frayssinous, and on Sundays passages from the\n\"Genie du Christianisme,\" as a recreation.", "How she listened at first to\nthe sonorous lamentations of its romantic melancholies reechoing\nthrough the world and eternity!", "If her childhood had been spent in the\nshop-parlour of some business quarter, she might perhaps have opened\nher heart to those lyrical invasions of Nature, which usually come to\nus only through translation in books.", "But she knew the country too well;\nshe knew the lowing of cattle, the milking, the ploughs.", "Accustomed to calm aspects of life, she turned, on the contrary, to\nthose of excitement.", "She loved the sea only for the sake of its storms,\nand the green fields only when broken up by ruins.", "She wanted to get some personal profit out of things, and she rejected\nas useless all that did not contribute to the immediate desires of her\nheart, being of a temperament more sentimental than artistic, looking\nfor emotions, not landscapes.", "At the convent there was an old maid who came for a week each month to\nmend the linen.", "Patronized by the clergy, because she belonged to an\nancient family of noblemen ruined by the Revolution, she dined in the\nrefectory at the table of the good sisters, and after the meal had a bit\nof chat with them before going back to her work.", "The girls often slipped\nout from the study to go and see her.", "She knew by heart the love songs\nof the last century, and sang them in a low voice as she stitched away.", "She told stories, gave them news, went errands in the town, and on\nthe sly lent the big girls some novel, that she always carried in the\npockets of her apron, and of which the good lady herself swallowed\nlong chapters in the intervals of her work.", "They were all love, lovers,\nsweethearts, persecuted ladies fainting in lonely pavilions, postilions\nkilled at every stage, horses ridden to death on every page, sombre\nforests, heartaches, vows, sobs, tears and kisses, little skiffs by\nmoonlight, nightingales in shady groves, \"gentlemen\" brave as lions,\ngentle as lambs, virtuous as no one ever was, always well dressed, and\nweeping like fountains.", "For six months, then, Emma, at fifteen years of\nage, made her hands dirty with books from old lending libraries.", "Through Walter Scott, later on, she fell in love with historical events,\ndreamed of old chests, guard-rooms and minstrels.", "She would have liked\nto live in some old manor-house, like those long-waisted chatelaines\nwho, in the shade of pointed arches, spent their days leaning on the\nstone, chin in hand, watching a cavalier with white plume galloping on\nhis black horse from the distant fields.", "At this time she had a cult\nfor Mary Stuart and enthusiastic veneration for illustrious or unhappy\nwomen.", "Joan of Arc, Heloise, Agnes Sorel, the beautiful Ferroniere, and\nClemence Isaure stood out to her like comets in the dark immensity of\nheaven, where also were seen, lost in shadow, and all unconnected, St.\nLouis with his oak, the dying Bayard, some cruelties of Louis XI, a\nlittle of St. Bartholomew's Day, the plume of the Bearnais, and always\nthe remembrance of the plates painted in honour of Louis XIV.", "In the music class, in the ballads she sang, there was nothing but\nlittle angels with golden wings, madonnas, lagunes, gondoliers;-mild\ncompositions that allowed her to catch a glimpse athwart the obscurity\nof style and the weakness of the music of the attractive phantasmagoria\nof sentimental realities.", "Some of her companions brought \"keepsakes\"\ngiven them as new year's gifts to the convent.", "These had to be hidden;\nit was quite an undertaking; they were read in the dormitory.", "Delicately\nhandling the beautiful satin bindings, Emma looked with dazzled eyes at\nthe names of the unknown authors, who had signed their verses for the\nmost part as counts or viscounts.", "She trembled as she blew back the tissue paper over the engraving and\nsaw it folded in two and fall gently against the page.", "Here behind the\nbalustrade of a balcony was a young man in a short cloak, holding in his\narms a young girl in a white dress wearing an alms-bag at her belt; or\nthere were nameless portraits of English ladies with fair curls, who\nlooked at you from under their round straw hats with their large clear\neyes.", "Some there were lounging in their carriages, gliding through\nparks, a greyhound bounding along in front of the equipage driven at\na trot by two midget postilions in white breeches.", "Others, dreaming on\nsofas with an open letter, gazed at the moon through a slightly open\nwindow half draped by a black curtain.", "The naive ones, a tear on their\ncheeks, were kissing doves through the bars of a Gothic cage, or,\nsmiling, their heads on one side, were plucking the leaves of a\nmarguerite with their taper fingers, that curved at the tips like peaked\nshoes.", "And you, too, were there, Sultans with long pipes reclining\nbeneath arbours in the arms of Bayaderes; Djiaours, Turkish sabres,\nGreek caps; and you especially, pale landscapes of dithyrambic lands,\nthat often show us at once palm trees and firs, tigers on the right, a\nlion to the left, Tartar minarets on the horizon; the whole framed by\na very neat virgin forest, and with a great perpendicular sunbeam\ntrembling in the water, where, standing out in relief like white\nexcoriations on a steel-grey ground, swans are swimming about.", "And the shade of the argand lamp fastened to the wall above Emma's head\nlighted up all these pictures of the world, that passed before her one\nby one in the silence of the dormitory, and to the distant noise of some\nbelated carriage rolling over the Boulevards.", "When her mother died she cried much the first few days.", "She had a\nfuneral picture made with the hair of the deceased, and, in a letter\nsent to the Bertaux full of sad reflections on life, she asked to be\nburied later on in the same grave.", "The goodman thought she must be ill,\nand came to see her.", "Emma was secretly pleased that she had reached at\na first attempt the rare ideal of pale lives, never attained by mediocre\nhearts.", "She let herself glide along with Lamartine meanderings, listened\nto harps on lakes, to all the songs of dying swans, to the falling of\nthe leaves, the pure virgins ascending to heaven, and the voice of\nthe Eternal discoursing down the valleys.", "She wearied of it, would not\nconfess it, continued from habit, and at last was surprised to feel\nherself soothed, and with no more sadness at heart than wrinkles on her\nbrow.", "The good nuns, who had been so sure of her vocation, perceived with\ngreat astonishment that Mademoiselle Rouault seemed to be slipping\nfrom them.", "They had indeed been so lavish to her of prayers, retreats,\nnovenas, and sermons, they had so often preached the respect due to\nsaints and martyrs, and given so much good advice as to the modesty of\nthe body and the salvation of her soul, that she did as tightly reined\nhorses; she pulled up short and the bit slipped from her teeth.", "This\nnature, positive in the midst of its enthusiasms, that had loved the\nchurch for the sake of the flowers, and music for the words of the\nsongs, and literature for its passional stimulus, rebelled against\nthe mysteries of faith as it grew irritated by discipline, a thing\nantipathetic to her constitution.", "When her father took her from school,\nno one was sorry to see her go.", "The Lady Superior even thought that she\nhad latterly been somewhat irreverent to the community.", "Emma, at home once more, first took pleasure in looking after the\nservants, then grew disgusted with the country and missed her convent.", "When Charles came to the Bertaux for the first time, she thought herself\nquite disillusioned, with nothing more to learn, and nothing more to\nfeel.", "But the uneasiness of her new position, or perhaps the disturbance\ncaused by the presence of this man, had sufficed to make her believe\nthat she at last felt that wondrous passion which, till then, like a\ngreat bird with rose-coloured wings, hung in the splendour of the skies\nof poesy; and now she could not think that the calm in which she lived\nwas the happiness she had dreamed." ]

[ "Instead of attending to mass, she looked at the pious vignettes with\ntheir azure borders in her book, and she loved the sick lamb, the sacred\nheart pierced with sharp arrows, or the poor Jesus sinking beneath the\ncross he carries.", "She puzzled her head to find some vow to fulfil.", "When she went to confession, she invented little sins in order that she\nmight stay there longer, kneeling in the shadow, her hands joined,\nher face against the grating beneath the whispering of the priest.", "Accustomed to calm aspects of life, she turned, on the contrary, to\nthose of excitement.", "At the convent there was an old maid who came for a week each month to\nmend the linen.", "She would have liked\nto live in some old manor-house, like those long-waisted chatelaines\nwho, in the shade of pointed arches, spent their days leaning on the\nstone, chin in hand, watching a cavalier with white plume galloping on\nhis black horse from the distant fields.", "Delicately\nhandling the beautiful satin bindings, Emma looked with dazzled eyes at\nthe names of the unknown authors, who had signed their verses for the\nmost part as counts or viscounts.", "When her mother died she cried much the first few days.", "They had indeed been so lavish to her of prayers, retreats,\nnovenas, and sermons, they had so often preached the respect due to\nsaints and martyrs, and given so much good advice as to the modesty of\nthe body and the salvation of her soul, that she did as tightly reined\nhorses; she pulled up short and the bit slipped from her teeth.", "But the uneasiness of her new position, or perhaps the disturbance\ncaused by the presence of this man, had sufficed to make her believe\nthat she at last felt that wondrous passion which, till then, like a\ngreat bird with rose-coloured wings, hung in the splendour of the skies\nof poesy; and now she could not think that the calm in which she lived\nwas the happiness she had dreamed." ]

[ "When her mother died she cried much the first few days.", "She puzzled her head to find some vow to fulfil.", "She knew by heart the love songs\nof the last century, and sang them in a low voice as she stitched away.", "At the convent there was an old maid who came for a week each month to\nmend the linen.", "But she knew the country too well;\nshe knew the lowing of cattle, the milking, the ploughs.", "In the evening, before prayers, there was some religious reading in\nthe study.", "Some there were lounging in their carriages, gliding through\nparks, a greyhound bounding along in front of the equipage driven at\na trot by two midget postilions in white breeches.", "She had a\nfuneral picture made with the hair of the deceased, and, in a letter\nsent to the Bertaux full of sad reflections on life, she asked to be\nburied later on in the same grave.", "She loved the sea only for the sake of its storms,\nand the green fields only when broken up by ruins.", "Far from being bored at first at the convent, she took pleasure in the\nsociety of the good sisters, who, to amuse her, took her to the chapel,\nwhich one entered from the refectory by a long corridor." ]

[ "She knew by heart the love songs\nof the last century, and sang them in a low voice as she stitched away.", "She told stories, gave them news, went errands in the town, and on\nthe sly lent the big girls some novel, that she always carried in the\npockets of her apron, and of which the good lady herself swallowed\nlong chapters in the intervals of her work.", "They were all love, lovers,\nsweethearts, persecuted ladies fainting in lonely pavilions, postilions\nkilled at every stage, horses ridden to death on every page, sombre\nforests, heartaches, vows, sobs, tears and kisses, little skiffs by\nmoonlight, nightingales in shady groves, \"gentlemen\" brave as lions,\ngentle as lambs, virtuous as no one ever was, always well dressed, and\nweeping like fountains.", "For six months, then, Emma, at fifteen years of\nage, made her hands dirty with books from old lending libraries.", "Through Walter Scott, later on, she fell in love with historical events,\ndreamed of old chests, guard-rooms and minstrels.", "She would have liked\nto live in some old manor-house, like those long-waisted chatelaines\nwho, in the shade of pointed arches, spent their days leaning on the\nstone, chin in hand, watching a cavalier with white plume galloping on\nhis black horse from the distant fields.", "At this time she had a cult\nfor Mary Stuart and enthusiastic veneration for illustrious or unhappy\nwomen.", "Joan of Arc, Heloise, Agnes Sorel, the beautiful Ferroniere, and\nClemence Isaure stood out to her like comets in the dark immensity of\nheaven, where also were seen, lost in shadow, and all unconnected, St.\nLouis with his oak, the dying Bayard, some cruelties of Louis XI, a\nlittle of St. Bartholomew's Day, the plume of the Bearnais, and always\nthe remembrance of the plates painted in honour of Louis XIV.", "In the music class, in the ballads she sang, there was nothing but\nlittle angels with golden wings, madonnas, lagunes, gondoliers;-mild\ncompositions that allowed her to catch a glimpse athwart the obscurity\nof style and the weakness of the music of the attractive phantasmagoria\nof sentimental realities.", "Some of her companions brought \"keepsakes\"\ngiven them as new year's gifts to the convent.", "These had to be hidden;\nit was quite an undertaking; they were read in the dormitory." ]

[ "\nShe had read \"Paul and Virginia,\" and she had dreamed of the little\nbamboo-house, the nigger Domingo, the dog Fidele, but above all of the\nsweet friendship of some dear little brother, who seeks red fruit for\nyou on trees taller than steeples, or who runs barefoot over the sand,\nbringing you a bird's nest.", "When she was thirteen, her father himself took her to town to place\nher in the convent.", "They stopped at an inn in the St. Gervais quarter,\nwhere, at their supper, they used painted plates that set forth the\nstory of Mademoiselle de la Valliere.", "The explanatory legends, chipped\nhere and there by the scratching of knives, all glorified religion, the\ntendernesses of the heart, and the pomps of court.", "Far from being bored at first at the convent, she took pleasure in the\nsociety of the good sisters, who, to amuse her, took her to the chapel,\nwhich one entered from the refectory by a long corridor.", "She played very\nlittle during recreation hours, knew her catechism well, and it was she\nwho always answered Monsieur le Vicaire's difficult questions.", "Living\nthus, without ever leaving the warm atmosphere of the classrooms, and\namid these pale-faced women wearing rosaries with brass crosses, she\nwas softly lulled by the mystic languor exhaled in the perfumes of the\naltar, the freshness of the holy water, and the lights of the tapers.", "Instead of attending to mass, she looked at the pious vignettes with\ntheir azure borders in her book, and she loved the sick lamb, the sacred\nheart pierced with sharp arrows, or the poor Jesus sinking beneath the\ncross he carries.", "She tried, by way of mortification, to eat nothing a\nwhole day.", "She puzzled her head to find some vow to fulfil.", "She let herself glide along with Lamartine meanderings, listened\nto harps on lakes, to all the songs of dying swans, to the falling of\nthe leaves, the pure virgins ascending to heaven, and the voice of\nthe Eternal discoursing down the valleys.", "She wearied of it, would not\nconfess it, continued from habit, and at last was surprised to feel\nherself soothed, and with no more sadness at heart than wrinkles on her\nbrow.", "The good nuns, who had been so sure of her vocation, perceived with\ngreat astonishment that Mademoiselle Rouault seemed to be slipping\nfrom them.", "They had indeed been so lavish to her of prayers, retreats,\nnovenas, and sermons, they had so often preached the respect due to\nsaints and martyrs, and given so much good advice as to the modesty of\nthe body and the salvation of her soul, that she did as tightly reined\nhorses; she pulled up short and the bit slipped from her teeth.", "This\nnature, positive in the midst of its enthusiasms, that had loved the\nchurch for the sake of the flowers, and music for the words of the\nsongs, and literature for its passional stimulus, rebelled against\nthe mysteries of faith as it grew irritated by discipline, a thing\nantipathetic to her constitution.", "When her father took her from school,\nno one was sorry to see her go.", "The Lady Superior even thought that she\nhad latterly been somewhat irreverent to the community.", "Emma, at home once more, first took pleasure in looking after the\nservants, then grew disgusted with the country and missed her convent.", "When Charles came to the Bertaux for the first time, she thought herself\nquite disillusioned, with nothing more to learn, and nothing more to\nfeel.", "But the uneasiness of her new position, or perhaps the disturbance\ncaused by the presence of this man, had sufficed to make her believe\nthat she at last felt that wondrous passion which, till then, like a\ngreat bird with rose-coloured wings, hung in the splendour of the skies\nof poesy; and now she could not think that the calm in which she lived\nwas the happiness she had dreamed." ]

[ "\nShe thought, sometimes, that, after all, this was the happiest time\nof her life--the honeymoon, as people called it.", "To taste the full\nsweetness of it, it would have been necessary doubtless to fly to those\nlands with sonorous names where the days after marriage are full of\nlaziness most suave.", "In post chaises behind blue silken curtains to ride\nslowly up steep road, listening to the song of the postilion re-echoed\nby the mountains, along with the bells of goats and the muffled sound of\na waterfall; at sunset on the shores of gulfs to breathe in the perfume\nof lemon trees; then in the evening on the villa-terraces above, hand in\nhand to look at the stars, making plans for the future.", "It seemed to her\nthat certain places on earth must bring happiness, as a plant peculiar\nto the soil, and that cannot thrive elsewhere.", "Why could not she lean\nover balconies in Swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a Scotch\ncottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails,\nand thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills?", "Perhaps she would have liked\nto confide all these things to someone.", "But how tell an undefinable\nuneasiness, variable as the clouds, unstable as the winds?", "Words failed\nher--the opportunity, the courage.", "If Charles had but wished it, if he had guessed it, if his look had but\nonce met her thought, it seemed to her that a sudden plenty would have\ngone out from her heart, as the fruit falls from a tree when shaken by\na hand.", "But as the intimacy of their life became deeper, the greater\nbecame the gulf that separated her from him.", "Charles's conversation was commonplace as a street pavement, and\neveryone's ideas trooped through it in their everyday garb, without\nexciting emotion, laughter, or thought.", "He had never had the curiosity,\nhe said, while he lived at Rouen, to go to the theatre to see the actors\nfrom Paris.", "He could neither swim, nor fence, nor shoot, and one day\nhe could not explain some term of horsemanship to her that she had come\nacross in a novel.", "A man, on the contrary, should he not know everything, excel in manifold\nactivities, initiate you into the energies of passion, the refinements\nof life, all mysteries?", "But this one taught nothing, knew nothing,\nwished nothing.", "He thought her happy; and she resented this easy calm,\nthis serene heaviness, the very happiness she gave him.", "Sometimes she would draw; and it was great amusement to Charles to stand\nthere bolt upright and watch her bend over her cardboard, with eyes\nhalf-closed the better to see her work, or rolling, between her fingers,\nlittle bread-pellets.", "As to the piano, the more quickly her fingers\nglided over it the more he wondered.", "She struck the notes with aplomb,\nand ran from top to bottom of the keyboard without a break.", "Thus shaken\nup, the old instrument, whose strings buzzed, could be heard at the\nother end of the village when the window was open, and often the\nbailiff's clerk, passing along the highroad bare-headed and in list\nslippers, stopped to listen, his sheet of paper in his hand.", "Emma, on the other hand, knew how to look after her house.", "She sent the\npatients' accounts in well-phrased letters that had no suggestion of\na bill.", "When they had a neighbour to dinner on Sundays, she managed to\nhave some tasty dish--piled up pyramids of greengages on vine leaves,\nserved up preserves turned out into plates--and even spoke of buying\nfinger-glasses for dessert.", "From all this much consideration was\nextended to Bovary.", "Charles finished by rising in his own esteem for possessing such a wife.", "He showed with pride in the sitting room two small pencil sketches by\nher that he had had framed in very large frames, and hung up against the\nwallpaper by long green cords.", "People returning from mass saw him at his\ndoor in his wool-work slippers.", "He came home late--at ten o'clock, at midnight sometimes.", "Then he asked\nfor something to eat, and as the servant had gone to bed, Emma waited\non him.", "He took off his coat to dine more at his ease.", "He told her, one\nafter the other, the people he had met, the villages where he had been,\nthe prescriptions he had written, and, well pleased with himself, he\nfinished the remainder of the boiled beef and onions, picked pieces off\nthe cheese, munched an apple, emptied his water-bottle, and then went to\nbed, and lay on his back and snored.", "As he had been for a time accustomed to wear nightcaps, his handkerchief\nwould not keep down over his ears, so that his hair in the morning was\nall tumbled pell-mell about his face and whitened with the feathers of\nthe pillow, whose strings came untied during the night.", "He always wore\nthick boots that had two long creases over the instep running obliquely\ntowards the ankle, while the rest of the upper continued in a straight\nline as if stretched on a wooden foot.", "He said that \"was quite good\nenough for the country.\"", "His mother approved of his economy, for she came to see him as formerly\nwhen there had been some violent row at her place; and yet Madame Bovary\nsenior seemed prejudiced against her daughter-in-law.", "She thought \"her\nways too fine for their position\"; the wood, the sugar, and the candles\ndisappeared as \"at a grand establishment,\" and the amount of firing in\nthe kitchen would have been enough for twenty-five courses.", "She put her\nlinen in order for her in the presses, and taught her to keep an eye on\nthe butcher when he brought the meat.", "Emma put up with these lessons.", "Madame Bovary was lavish of them; and the words \"daughter\" and \"mother\"\nwere exchanged all day long, accompanied by little quiverings of the\nlips, each one uttering gentle words in a voice trembling with anger.", "In Madame Dubuc's time the old woman felt that she was still the\nfavorite; but now the love of Charles for Emma seemed to her a desertion\nfrom her tenderness, an encroachment upon what was hers, and she watched\nher son's happiness in sad silence, as a ruined man looks through\nthe windows at people dining in his old house.", "She recalled to him as\nremembrances her troubles and her sacrifices, and, comparing these with\nEmma's negligence, came to the conclusion that it was not reasonable to\nadore her so exclusively.", "Charles knew not what to answer: he respected his mother, and he loved\nhis wife infinitely; he considered the judgment of the one infallible,\nand yet he thought the conduct of the other irreproachable.", "When Madam\nBovary had gone, he tried timidly and in the same terms to hazard one or\ntwo of the more anodyne observations he had heard from his mamma.", "Emma\nproved to him with a word that he was mistaken, and sent him off to his\npatients.", "And yet, in accord with theories she believed right, she wanted to make\nherself in love with him.", "By moonlight in the garden she recited all\nthe passionate rhymes she knew by heart, and, sighing, sang to him many\nmelancholy adagios; but she found herself as calm after as before, and\nCharles seemed no more amorous and no more moved.", "When she had thus for a while struck the flint on her heart without\ngetting a spark, incapable, moreover, of understanding what she did\nnot experience as of believing anything that did not present itself\nin conventional forms, she persuaded herself without difficulty that\nCharles's passion was nothing very exorbitant.", "His outbursts became\nregular; he embraced her at certain fixed times.", "It was one habit among\nother habits, and, like a dessert, looked forward to after the monotony\nof dinner.", "A gamekeeper, cured by the doctor of inflammation of the lungs, had\ngiven madame a little Italian greyhound; she took her out walking, for\nshe went out sometimes in order to be alone for a moment, and not to see\nbefore her eyes the eternal garden and the dusty road.", "She went as far\nas the beeches of Banneville, near the deserted pavilion which forms an\nangle of the wall on the side of the country.", "Amidst the vegetation of\nthe ditch there are long reeds with leaves that cut you.", "She began by looking round her to see if nothing had changed since last\nshe had been there.", "She found again in the same places the foxgloves and\nwallflowers, the beds of nettles growing round the big stones, and\nthe patches of lichen along the three windows, whose shutters, always\nclosed, were rotting away on their rusty iron bars.", "Her thoughts,\naimless at first, wandered at random, like her greyhound, who ran round\nand round in the fields, yelping after the yellow butterflies, chasing\nthe shrew-mice, or nibbling the poppies on the edge of a cornfield.", "Then gradually her ideas took definite shape, and, sitting on the grass\nthat she dug up with little prods of her sunshade, Emma repeated to\nherself, \"Good heavens!", "Why did I marry?\"", "She asked herself if by some other chance combination it would have not\nbeen possible to meet another man; and she tried to imagine what would\nhave been these unrealised events, this different life, this unknown\nhusband.", "All, surely, could not be like this one.", "He might have been\nhandsome, witty, distinguished, attractive, such as, no doubt, her old\ncompanions of the convent had married.", "What were they doing now?", "In\ntown, with the noise of the streets, the buzz of the theatres and the\nlights of the ballroom, they were living lives where the heart expands,\nthe senses bourgeon out.", "But she--her life was cold as a garret whose\ndormer window looks on the north, and ennui, the silent spider, was\nweaving its web in the darkness in every corner of her heart.", "She recalled the prize days, when she mounted the platform to receive\nher little crowns, with her hair in long plaits.", "In her white frock and\nopen prunella shoes she had a pretty way, and when she went back to her\nseat, the gentlemen bent over her to congratulate her; the courtyard was\nfull of carriages; farewells were called to her through their windows;\nthe music master with his violin case bowed in passing by.", "How far all\nof this!", "How far away!", "She called Djali, took her between her knees, and\nsmoothed the long delicate head, saying, \"Come, kiss mistress; you have\nno troubles.\"", "Then noting the melancholy face of the graceful animal, who yawned\nslowly, she softened, and comparing her to herself, spoke to her aloud\nas to somebody in trouble whom one is consoling.", "Occasionally there came gusts of winds, breezes from the sea rolling in\none sweep over the whole plateau of the Caux country, which brought\neven to these fields a salt freshness.", "The rushes, close to the ground,\nwhistled; the branches trembled in a swift rustling, while their\nsummits, ceaselessly swaying, kept up a deep murmur.", "Emma drew her shawl\nround her shoulders and rose.", "In the avenue a green light dimmed by the leaves lit up the short moss\nthat crackled softly beneath her feet.", "The sun was setting; the sky\nshowed red between the branches, and the trunks of the trees, uniform,\nand planted in a straight line, seemed a brown colonnade standing out\nagainst a background of gold.", "A fear took hold of her; she called Djali,\nand hurriedly returned to Tostes by the high road, threw herself into an\narmchair, and for the rest of the evening did not speak.", "But towards the end of September something extraordinary fell upon her\nlife; she was invited by the Marquis d'Andervilliers to Vaubyessard.", "Secretary of State under the Restoration, the Marquis, anxious to\nre-enter political life, set about preparing for his candidature to\nthe Chamber of Deputies long beforehand.", "In the winter he distributed a\ngreat deal of wood, and in the Conseil General always enthusiastically\ndemanded new roads for his arrondissement.", "During the dog-days he had\nsuffered from an abscess, which Charles had cured as if by miracle by\ngiving a timely little touch with the lancet.", "The steward sent to Tostes\nto pay for the operation reported in the evening that he had seen some\nsuperb cherries in the doctor's little garden.", "Now cherry trees did not\nthrive at Vaubyessard; the Marquis asked Bovary for some slips; made it\nhis business to thank his personally; saw Emma; thought she had a pretty\nfigure, and that she did not bow like a peasant; so that he did not\nthink he was going beyond the bounds of condescension, nor, on the other\nhand, making a mistake, in inviting the young couple.", "On Wednesday at three o'clock, Monsieur and Madame Bovary, seated in\ntheir dog-cart, set out for Vaubyessard, with a great trunk strapped\non behind and a bonnet-box in front of the apron.", "Besides these Charles\nheld a bandbox between his knees.", "They arrived at nightfall, just as the lamps in the park were being lit\nto show the way for the carriages." ]

[ "To taste the full\nsweetness of it, it would have been necessary doubtless to fly to those\nlands with sonorous names where the days after marriage are full of\nlaziness most suave.", "A man, on the contrary, should he not know everything, excel in manifold\nactivities, initiate you into the energies of passion, the refinements\nof life, all mysteries?", "But this one taught nothing, knew nothing,\nwished nothing.", "People returning from mass saw him at his\ndoor in his wool-work slippers.", "She thought \"her\nways too fine for their position\"; the wood, the sugar, and the candles\ndisappeared as \"at a grand establishment,\" and the amount of firing in\nthe kitchen would have been enough for twenty-five courses.", "And yet, in accord with theories she believed right, she wanted to make\nherself in love with him.", "How far all\nof this!", "Occasionally there came gusts of winds, breezes from the sea rolling in\none sweep over the whole plateau of the Caux country, which brought\neven to these fields a salt freshness.", "Emma drew her shawl\nround her shoulders and rose.", "The steward sent to Tostes\nto pay for the operation reported in the evening that he had seen some\nsuperb cherries in the doctor's little garden." ]

[ "But she--her life was cold as a garret whose\ndormer window looks on the north, and ennui, the silent spider, was\nweaving its web in the darkness in every corner of her heart.", "\nShe thought, sometimes, that, after all, this was the happiest time\nof her life--the honeymoon, as people called it.", "Emma\nproved to him with a word that he was mistaken, and sent him off to his\npatients.", "From all this much consideration was\nextended to Bovary.", "She called Djali, took her between her knees, and\nsmoothed the long delicate head, saying, \"Come, kiss mistress; you have\nno troubles.\"", "She recalled the prize days, when she mounted the platform to receive\nher little crowns, with her hair in long plaits.", "People returning from mass saw him at his\ndoor in his wool-work slippers.", "In post chaises behind blue silken curtains to ride\nslowly up steep road, listening to the song of the postilion re-echoed\nby the mountains, along with the bells of goats and the muffled sound of\na waterfall; at sunset on the shores of gulfs to breathe in the perfume\nof lemon trees; then in the evening on the villa-terraces above, hand in\nhand to look at the stars, making plans for the future.", "Charles's conversation was commonplace as a street pavement, and\neveryone's ideas trooped through it in their everyday garb, without\nexciting emotion, laughter, or thought.", "His mother approved of his economy, for she came to see him as formerly\nwhen there had been some violent row at her place; and yet Madame Bovary\nsenior seemed prejudiced against her daughter-in-law." ]

[ "Emma put up with these lessons.", "Madame Bovary was lavish of them; and the words \"daughter\" and \"mother\"\nwere exchanged all day long, accompanied by little quiverings of the\nlips, each one uttering gentle words in a voice trembling with anger.", "In Madame Dubuc's time the old woman felt that she was still the\nfavorite; but now the love of Charles for Emma seemed to her a desertion\nfrom her tenderness, an encroachment upon what was hers, and she watched\nher son's happiness in sad silence, as a ruined man looks through\nthe windows at people dining in his old house.", "She recalled to him as\nremembrances her troubles and her sacrifices, and, comparing these with\nEmma's negligence, came to the conclusion that it was not reasonable to\nadore her so exclusively.", "Charles knew not what to answer: he respected his mother, and he loved\nhis wife infinitely; he considered the judgment of the one infallible,\nand yet he thought the conduct of the other irreproachable.", "When Madam\nBovary had gone, he tried timidly and in the same terms to hazard one or\ntwo of the more anodyne observations he had heard from his mamma.", "Emma\nproved to him with a word that he was mistaken, and sent him off to his\npatients.", "And yet, in accord with theories she believed right, she wanted to make\nherself in love with him.", "By moonlight in the garden she recited all\nthe passionate rhymes she knew by heart, and, sighing, sang to him many\nmelancholy adagios; but she found herself as calm after as before, and\nCharles seemed no more amorous and no more moved.", "When she had thus for a while struck the flint on her heart without\ngetting a spark, incapable, moreover, of understanding what she did\nnot experience as of believing anything that did not present itself\nin conventional forms, she persuaded herself without difficulty that\nCharles's passion was nothing very exorbitant.", "His outbursts became\nregular; he embraced her at certain fixed times." ]

[ "\nShe thought, sometimes, that, after all, this was the happiest time\nof her life--the honeymoon, as people called it.", "To taste the full\nsweetness of it, it would have been necessary doubtless to fly to those\nlands with sonorous names where the days after marriage are full of\nlaziness most suave.", "In post chaises behind blue silken curtains to ride\nslowly up steep road, listening to the song of the postilion re-echoed\nby the mountains, along with the bells of goats and the muffled sound of\na waterfall; at sunset on the shores of gulfs to breathe in the perfume\nof lemon trees; then in the evening on the villa-terraces above, hand in\nhand to look at the stars, making plans for the future.", "It seemed to her\nthat certain places on earth must bring happiness, as a plant peculiar\nto the soil, and that cannot thrive elsewhere.", "Why could not she lean\nover balconies in Swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a Scotch\ncottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails,\nand thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills?", "Perhaps she would have liked\nto confide all these things to someone.", "But how tell an undefinable\nuneasiness, variable as the clouds, unstable as the winds?", "Words failed\nher--the opportunity, the courage.", "If Charles had but wished it, if he had guessed it, if his look had but\nonce met her thought, it seemed to her that a sudden plenty would have\ngone out from her heart, as the fruit falls from a tree when shaken by\na hand.", "But as the intimacy of their life became deeper, the greater\nbecame the gulf that separated her from him.", "A fear took hold of her; she called Djali,\nand hurriedly returned to Tostes by the high road, threw herself into an\narmchair, and for the rest of the evening did not speak.", "But towards the end of September something extraordinary fell upon her\nlife; she was invited by the Marquis d'Andervilliers to Vaubyessard.", "Secretary of State under the Restoration, the Marquis, anxious to\nre-enter political life, set about preparing for his candidature to\nthe Chamber of Deputies long beforehand.", "In the winter he distributed a\ngreat deal of wood, and in the Conseil General always enthusiastically\ndemanded new roads for his arrondissement.", "During the dog-days he had\nsuffered from an abscess, which Charles had cured as if by miracle by\ngiving a timely little touch with the lancet.", "The steward sent to Tostes\nto pay for the operation reported in the evening that he had seen some\nsuperb cherries in the doctor's little garden.", "Now cherry trees did not\nthrive at Vaubyessard; the Marquis asked Bovary for some slips; made it\nhis business to thank his personally; saw Emma; thought she had a pretty\nfigure, and that she did not bow like a peasant; so that he did not\nthink he was going beyond the bounds of condescension, nor, on the other\nhand, making a mistake, in inviting the young couple.", "On Wednesday at three o'clock, Monsieur and Madame Bovary, seated in\ntheir dog-cart, set out for Vaubyessard, with a great trunk strapped\non behind and a bonnet-box in front of the apron.", "Besides these Charles\nheld a bandbox between his knees.", "They arrived at nightfall, just as the lamps in the park were being lit\nto show the way for the carriages." ]

[ "\nThe chateau, a modern building in Italian style, with two projecting\nwings and three flights of steps, lay at the foot of an immense\ngreen-sward, on which some cows were grazing among groups of large trees\nset out at regular intervals, while large beds of arbutus, rhododendron,\nsyringas, and guelder roses bulged out their irregular clusters of\ngreen along the curve of the gravel path.", "A river flowed under a bridge;\nthrough the mist one could distinguish buildings with thatched roofs\nscattered over the field bordered by two gently sloping, well timbered\nhillocks, and in the background amid the trees rose in two parallel\nlines the coach houses and stables, all that was left of the ruined old\nchateau.", "Charles's dog-cart pulled up before the middle flight of steps; servants\nappeared; the Marquis came forward, and, offering his arm to the\ndoctor's wife, conducted her to the vestibule.", "It was paved with marble slabs, was very lofty, and the sound of\nfootsteps and that of voices re-echoed through it as in a church.", "Opposite rose a straight staircase, and on the left a gallery\noverlooking the garden led to the billiard room, through whose door one\ncould hear the click of the ivory balls.", "As she crossed it to go to the\ndrawing room, Emma saw standing round the table men with grave faces,\ntheir chins resting on high cravats.", "They all wore orders, and smiled\nsilently as they made their strokes.", "On the dark wainscoting of the walls large gold frames bore at\nthe bottom names written in black letters.", "She read: \"Jean-Antoine\nd'Andervilliers d'Yvervonbille, Count de la Vaubyessard and Baron de la\nFresnay, killed at the battle of Coutras on the 20th of October,\n1587.\"", "And on another: \"Jean-Antoine-Henry-Guy d'Andervilliers de\nla Vaubyessard, Admiral of France and Chevalier of the Order of St.\nMichael, wounded at the battle of the Hougue-Saint-Vaast on the 29th of\nMay, 1692; died at Vaubyessard on the 23rd of January 1693.\"", "One could\nhardly make out those that followed, for the light of the lamps lowered\nover the green cloth threw a dim shadow round the room.", "Burnishing the\nhorizontal pictures, it broke up against these in delicate lines where\nthere were cracks in the varnish, and from all these great black squares\nframed in with gold stood out here and there some lighter portion of the\npainting--a pale brow, two eyes that looked at you, perukes flowing over\nand powdering red-coated shoulders, or the buckle of a garter above a\nwell-rounded calf.", "The Marquis opened the drawing room door; one of the ladies (the\nMarchioness herself) came to meet Emma.", "She made her sit down by her on\nan ottoman, and began talking to her as amicably as if she had known her\na long time.", "She was a woman of about forty, with fine shoulders, a hook\nnose, a drawling voice, and on this evening she wore over her brown hair\na simple guipure fichu that fell in a point at the back.", "A fair young\nwoman sat in a high-backed chair in a corner; and gentlemen with flowers\nin their buttonholes were talking to ladies round the fire.", "At seven dinner was served.", "The men, who were in the majority, sat down\nat the first table in the vestibule; the ladies at the second in the\ndining room with the Marquis and Marchioness.", "Emma, on entering, felt herself wrapped round by the warm air, a\nblending of the perfume of flowers and of the fine linen, of the fumes\nof the viands, and the odour of the truffles.", "The silver dish covers\nreflected the lighted wax candles in the candelabra, the cut crystal\ncovered with light steam reflected from one to the other pale rays;\nbouquets were placed in a row the whole length of the table; and in\nthe large-bordered plates each napkin, arranged after the fashion of a\nbishop's mitre, held between its two gaping folds a small oval shaped\nroll.", "The red claws of lobsters hung over the dishes; rich fruit in open\nbaskets was piled up on moss; there were quails in their plumage; smoke\nwas rising; and in silk stockings, knee-breeches, white cravat, and\nfrilled shirt, the steward, grave as a judge, offering ready carved\ndishes between the shoulders of the guests, with a touch of the spoon\ngave you the piece chosen.", "On the large stove of porcelain inlaid\nwith copper baguettes the statue of a woman, draped to the chin, gazed\nmotionless on the room full of life.", "Madame Bovary noticed that many ladies had not put their gloves in their\nglasses.", "But at the upper end of the table, alone amongst all these women, bent\nover his full plate, and his napkin tied round his neck like a child, an\nold man sat eating, letting drops of gravy drip from his mouth.", "His eyes\nwere bloodshot, and he wore a little queue tied with black ribbon.", "He\nwas the Marquis's father-in-law, the old Duke de Laverdiere, once on\na time favourite of the Count d'Artois, in the days of the Vaudreuil\nhunting-parties at the Marquis de Conflans', and had been, it was said,\nthe lover of Queen Marie Antoinette, between Monsieur de Coigny and\nMonsieur de Lauzun.", "He had lived a life of noisy debauch, full of duels,\nbets, elopements; he had squandered his fortune and frightened all his\nfamily.", "A servant behind his chair named aloud to him in his ear the\ndishes that he pointed to stammering, and constantly Emma's eyes\nturned involuntarily to this old man with hanging lips, as to something\nextraordinary.", "He had lived at court and slept in the bed of queens!", "Iced champagne was poured out.", "Emma shivered all over as she felt\nit cold in her mouth.", "She had never seen pomegranates nor tasted\npineapples.", "The powdered sugar even seemed to her whiter and finer than\nelsewhere.", "The ladies afterwards went to their rooms to prepare for the ball.", "Emma made her toilet with the fastidious care of an actress on her\ndebut.", "She did her hair according to the directions of the hairdresser,\nand put on the barege dress spread out upon the bed.", "Charles's trousers were tight across the belly.", "\"My trouser-straps will be rather awkward for dancing,\" he said.", "\"Dancing?\"", "repeated Emma.", "\"Yes!\"", "\"Why, you must be mad!", "They would make fun of you; keep your place.", "Besides, it is more becoming for a doctor,\" she added.", "Charles was silent.", "He walked up and down waiting for Emma to finish\ndressing.", "He saw her from behind in the glass between two lights.", "Her black eyes\nseemed blacker than ever.", "Her hair, undulating towards the ears, shone\nwith a blue lustre; a rose in her chignon trembled on its mobile stalk,\nwith artificial dewdrops on the tip of the leaves.", "She wore a gown of\npale saffron trimmed with three bouquets of pompon roses mixed with\ngreen.", "Charles came and kissed her on her shoulder.", "\"Let me alone!\"", "she said; \"you are tumbling me.\"", "One could hear the flourish of the violin and the notes of a horn.", "She\nwent downstairs restraining herself from running.", "Dancing had begun.", "Guests were arriving.", "There was some crushing.", "She sat down on a form near the door.", "The quadrille over, the floor was occupied by groups of men standing up\nand talking and servants in livery bearing large trays.", "Along the line\nof seated women painted fans were fluttering, bouquets half hid smiling\nfaces, and gold stoppered scent-bottles were turned in partly-closed\nhands, whose white gloves outlined the nails and tightened on the flesh\nat the wrists.", "Lace trimmings, diamond brooches, medallion bracelets\ntrembled on bodices, gleamed on breasts, clinked on bare arms.", "The hair, well-smoothed over the temples and knotted at the nape,\nbore crowns, or bunches, or sprays of mytosotis, jasmine, pomegranate\nblossoms, ears of corn, and corn-flowers.", "Calmly seated in their places,\nmothers with forbidding countenances were wearing red turbans.", "Emma's heart beat rather faster when, her partner holding her by the\ntips of the fingers, she took her place in a line with the dancers, and\nwaited for the first note to start.", "But her emotion soon vanished, and,\nswaying to the rhythm of the orchestra, she glided forward with slight\nmovements of the neck.", "A smile rose to her lips at certain delicate\nphrases of the violin, that sometimes played alone while the other\ninstruments were silent; one could hear the clear clink of the louis\nd'or that were being thrown down upon the card tables in the next room;\nthen all struck again, the cornet-a-piston uttered its sonorous note,\nfeet marked time, skirts swelled and rustled, hands touched and parted;\nthe same eyes falling before you met yours again.", "A few men (some fifteen or so), of twenty-five to forty, scattered here\nand there among the dancers or talking at the doorways, distinguished\nthemselves from the crowd by a certain air of breeding, whatever their\ndifferences in age, dress, or face.", "Their clothes, better made, seemed of finer cloth, and their hair,\nbrought forward in curls towards the temples, glossy with more delicate\npomades.", "They had the complexion of wealth--that clear complexion that\nis heightened by the pallor of porcelain, the shimmer of satin, the\nveneer of old furniture, and that an ordered regimen of exquisite\nnurture maintains at its best.", "Their necks moved easily in their low\ncravats, their long whiskers fell over their turned-down collars, they\nwiped their lips upon handkerchiefs with embroidered initials that gave\nforth a subtle perfume.", "Those who were beginning to grow old had an air\nof youth, while there was something mature in the faces of the young.", "In their unconcerned looks was the calm of passions daily satiated, and\nthrough all their gentleness of manner pierced that peculiar brutality,\nthe result of a command of half-easy things, in which force is exercised\nand vanity amused--the management of thoroughbred horses and the society\nof loose women.", "A few steps from Emma a gentleman in a blue coat was talking of Italy\nwith a pale young woman wearing a parure of pearls.", "They were praising the breadth of the columns of St. Peter's, Tivoly,\nVesuvius, Castellamare, and Cassines, the roses of Genoa, the Coliseum\nby moonlight.", "With her other ear Emma was listening to a conversation\nfull of words she did not understand.", "A circle gathered round a very\nyoung man who the week before had beaten \"Miss Arabella\" and \"Romolus,\"\nand won two thousand louis jumping a ditch in England.", "One complained\nthat his racehorses were growing fat; another of the printers' errors\nthat had disfigured the name of his horse.", "The atmosphere of the ball was heavy; the lamps were growing dim.", "Guests were flocking to the billiard room.", "A servant got upon a chair\nand broke the window-panes.", "At the crash of the glass Madame Bovary\nturned her head and saw in the garden the faces of peasants pressed\nagainst the window looking in at them.", "Then the memory of the Bertaux\ncame back to her.", "She saw the farm again, the muddy pond, her father in\na blouse under the apple trees, and she saw herself again as formerly,\nskimming with her finger the cream off the milk-pans in the dairy.", "But\nin the refulgence of the present hour her past life, so distinct until\nthen, faded away completely, and she almost doubted having lived it.", "She\nwas there; beyond the ball was only shadow overspreading all the rest.", "She was just eating a maraschino ice that she held with her left hand\nin a silver-gilt cup, her eyes half-closed, and the spoon between her\nteeth.", "A lady near her dropped her fan.", "A gentlemen was passing.", "\"Would you be so good,\" said the lady, \"as to pick up my fan that has\nfallen behind the sofa?\"", "The gentleman bowed, and as he moved to stretch out his arm, Emma saw\nthe hand of a young woman throw something white, folded in a triangle,\ninto his hat.", "The gentleman, picking up the fan, offered it to the lady\nrespectfully; she thanked him with an inclination of the head, and began\nsmelling her bouquet.", "After supper, where were plenty of Spanish and Rhine wines, soups a la\nbisque and au lait d'amandes*, puddings a la Trafalgar, and all sorts of\ncold meats with jellies that trembled in the dishes, the carriages one\nafter the other began to drive off.", "Raising the corners of the muslin\ncurtain, one could see the light of their lanterns glimmering through\nthe darkness.", "The seats began to empty, some card-players were still\nleft; the musicians were cooling the tips of their fingers on their\ntongues.", "Charles was half asleep, his back propped against a door.", "*With almond milk\n\nAt three o'clock the cotillion began.", "Emma did not know how to waltz.", "Everyone was waltzing, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers herself and the\nMarquis; only the guests staying at the castle were still there, about a\ndozen persons.", "One of the waltzers, however, who was familiarly called Viscount, and\nwhose low cut waistcoat seemed moulded to his chest, came a second time\nto ask Madame Bovary to dance, assuring her that he would guide her, and\nthat she would get through it very well.", "They began slowly, then went more rapidly.", "They turned; all around them\nwas turning--the lamps, the furniture, the wainscoting, the floor, like\na disc on a pivot.", "On passing near the doors the bottom of Emma's dress\ncaught against his trousers.", "Their legs commingled; he looked down at her; she raised her eyes to\nhis.", "A torpor seized her; she stopped.", "They started again, and with a\nmore rapid movement; the Viscount, dragging her along disappeared with\nher to the end of the gallery, where panting, she almost fell, and for\na moment rested her head upon his breast.", "And then, still turning, but\nmore slowly, he guided her back to her seat.", "She leaned back against the\nwall and covered her eyes with her hands.", "When she opened them again, in the middle of the drawing room three\nwaltzers were kneeling before a lady sitting on a stool.", "She chose the Viscount, and the violin struck up once more.", "Everyone looked at them.", "They passed and re-passed, she with rigid body,\nher chin bent down, and he always in the same pose, his figure curved,\nhis elbow rounded, his chin thrown forward.", "That woman knew how to\nwaltz!", "They kept up a long time, and tired out all the others.", "Then they talked a few moments longer, and after the goodnights, or\nrather good mornings, the guests of the chateau retired to bed.", "Charles dragged himself up by the balusters.", "His \"knees were going\nup into his body.\"", "He had spent five consecutive hours standing\nbolt upright at the card tables, watching them play whist, without\nunderstanding anything about it, and it was with a deep sigh of relief\nthat he pulled off his boots.", "Emma threw a shawl over her shoulders, opened the window, and leant out.", "The night was dark; some drops of rain were falling.", "She breathed in the\ndamp wind that refreshed her eyelids.", "The music of the ball was still\nmurmuring in her ears.", "And she tried to keep herself awake in order to\nprolong the illusion of this luxurious life that she would soon have to\ngive up.", "Day began to break.", "She looked long at the windows of the chateau,\ntrying to guess which were the rooms of all those she had noticed the\nevening before.", "She would fain have known their lives, have penetrated,\nblended with them.", "But she was shivering with cold.", "She undressed, and\ncowered down between the sheets against Charles, who was asleep.", "There were a great many people to luncheon.", "The repast lasted ten\nminutes; no liqueurs were served, which astonished the doctor.", "Next, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers collected some pieces of roll in a\nsmall basket to take them to the swans on the ornamental waters, and\nthey went to walk in the hot-houses, where strange plants, bristling\nwith hairs, rose in pyramids under hanging vases, whence, as from\nover-filled nests of serpents, fell long green cords interlacing.", "The orangery, which was at the other end, led by a covered way to the\nouthouses of the chateau.", "The Marquis, to amuse the young woman, took\nher to see the stables.", "Above the basket-shaped racks porcelain slabs bore the names of the\nhorses in black letters.", "Each animal in its stall whisked its tail when\nanyone went near and said \"Tchk!", "tchk!\"", "The boards of the harness room\nshone like the flooring of a drawing room.", "The carriage harness was\npiled up in the middle against two twisted columns, and the bits, the\nwhips, the spurs, the curbs, were ranged in a line all along the wall.", "Charles, meanwhile, went to ask a groom to put his horse to.", "The\ndog-cart was brought to the foot of the steps, and, all the parcels\nbeing crammed in, the Bovarys paid their respects to the Marquis and\nMarchioness and set out again for Tostes.", "Emma watched the turning wheels in silence.", "Charles, on the extreme edge\nof the seat, held the reins with his two arms wide apart, and the little\nhorse ambled along in the shafts that were too big for him.", "The loose\nreins hanging over his crupper were wet with foam, and the box fastened\non behind the chaise gave great regular bumps against it.", "They were on the heights of Thibourville when suddenly some horsemen\nwith cigars between their lips passed laughing.", "Emma thought she\nrecognized the Viscount, turned back, and caught on the horizon only the\nmovement of the heads rising or falling with the unequal cadence of the\ntrot or gallop.", "A mile farther on they had to stop to mend with some string the traces\nthat had broken.", "But Charles, giving a last look to the harness, saw something on the\nground between his horse's legs, and he picked up a cigar-case with\na green silk border and beblazoned in the centre like the door of a\ncarriage.", "\"There are even two cigars in it,\" said he; \"they'll do for this evening\nafter dinner.\"", "\"Why, do you smoke?\"", "she asked.", "\"Sometimes, when I get a chance.\"", "He put his find in his pocket and whipped up the nag.", "When they reached home the dinner was not ready.", "Madame lost her temper.", "Nastasie answered rudely.", "\"Leave the room!\"", "said Emma.", "\"You are forgetting yourself.", "I give you\nwarning.\"", "For dinner there was onion soup and a piece of veal with sorrel.", "Charles, seated opposite Emma, rubbed his hands gleefully.", "\"How good it is to be at home again!\"", "Nastasie could be heard crying.", "He was rather fond of the poor girl.", "She had formerly, during the wearisome time of his widowhood, kept him\ncompany many an evening.", "She had been his first patient, his oldest\nacquaintance in the place.", "\"Have you given her warning for good?\"", "he asked at last.", "\"Yes.", "Who is to prevent me?\"", "she replied.", "Then they warmed themselves in the kitchen while their room was being\nmade ready.", "Charles began to smoke.", "He smoked with lips protruding,\nspitting every moment, recoiling at every puff.", "\"You'll make yourself ill,\" she said scornfully.", "He put down his cigar and ran to swallow a glass of cold water at the\npump.", "Emma seizing hold of the cigar case threw it quickly to the back\nof the cupboard.", "The next day was a long one.", "She walked about her little garden, up\nand down the same walks, stopping before the beds, before the espalier,\nbefore the plaster curate, looking with amazement at all these things\nof once-on-a-time that she knew so well.", "How far off the ball seemed\nalready!", "What was it that thus set so far asunder the morning of the day\nbefore yesterday and the evening of to-day?", "Her journey to Vaubyessard\nhad made a hole in her life, like one of those great crevices that\na storm will sometimes make in one night in mountains.", "Still she was\nresigned.", "She devoutly put away in her drawers her beautiful dress, down\nto the satin shoes whose soles were yellowed with the slippery wax of\nthe dancing floor.", "Her heart was like these.", "In its friction against\nwealth something had come over it that could not be effaced.", "The memory of this ball, then, became an occupation for Emma.", "Whenever the Wednesday came round she said to herself as she awoke, \"Ah!", "I was there a week--a fortnight--three weeks ago.\"", "And little by little the faces grew confused in her remembrance.", "She forgot the tune of the quadrilles; she no longer saw the liveries\nand appointments so distinctly; some details escaped her, but the regret\nremained with her." ]

[ "Emma, on entering, felt herself wrapped round by the warm air, a\nblending of the perfume of flowers and of the fine linen, of the fumes\nof the viands, and the odour of the truffles.", "Charles's trousers were tight across the belly.", "Besides, it is more becoming for a doctor,\" she added.", "The hair, well-smoothed over the temples and knotted at the nape,\nbore crowns, or bunches, or sprays of mytosotis, jasmine, pomegranate\nblossoms, ears of corn, and corn-flowers.", "They had the complexion of wealth--that clear complexion that\nis heightened by the pallor of porcelain, the shimmer of satin, the\nveneer of old furniture, and that an ordered regimen of exquisite\nnurture maintains at its best.", "In their unconcerned looks was the calm of passions daily satiated, and\nthrough all their gentleness of manner pierced that peculiar brutality,\nthe result of a command of half-easy things, in which force is exercised\nand vanity amused--the management of thoroughbred horses and the society\nof loose women.", "At the crash of the glass Madame Bovary\nturned her head and saw in the garden the faces of peasants pressed\nagainst the window looking in at them.", "Emma watched the turning wheels in silence.", "But Charles, giving a last look to the harness, saw something on the\nground between his horse's legs, and he picked up a cigar-case with\na green silk border and beblazoned in the centre like the door of a\ncarriage.", "What was it that thus set so far asunder the morning of the day\nbefore yesterday and the evening of to-day?" ]

[ "Her heart was like these.", "Everyone was waltzing, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers herself and the\nMarquis; only the guests staying at the castle were still there, about a\ndozen persons.", "Charles, on the extreme edge\nof the seat, held the reins with his two arms wide apart, and the little\nhorse ambled along in the shafts that were too big for him.", "\"Why, you must be mad!", "The men, who were in the majority, sat down\nat the first table in the vestibule; the ladies at the second in the\ndining room with the Marquis and Marchioness.", "Charles's trousers were tight across the belly.", "In their unconcerned looks was the calm of passions daily satiated, and\nthrough all their gentleness of manner pierced that peculiar brutality,\nthe result of a command of half-easy things, in which force is exercised\nand vanity amused--the management of thoroughbred horses and the society\nof loose women.", "He was rather fond of the poor girl.", "he asked at last.", "she said; \"you are tumbling me.\"" ]

[ "The gentleman bowed, and as he moved to stretch out his arm, Emma saw\nthe hand of a young woman throw something white, folded in a triangle,\ninto his hat.", "The gentleman, picking up the fan, offered it to the lady\nrespectfully; she thanked him with an inclination of the head, and began\nsmelling her bouquet.", "After supper, where were plenty of Spanish and Rhine wines, soups a la\nbisque and au lait d'amandes*, puddings a la Trafalgar, and all sorts of\ncold meats with jellies that trembled in the dishes, the carriages one\nafter the other began to drive off.", "Raising the corners of the muslin\ncurtain, one could see the light of their lanterns glimmering through\nthe darkness.", "The seats began to empty, some card-players were still\nleft; the musicians were cooling the tips of their fingers on their\ntongues.", "Charles was half asleep, his back propped against a door.", "*With almond milk\n\nAt three o'clock the cotillion began.", "Emma did not know how to waltz.", "Everyone was waltzing, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers herself and the\nMarquis; only the guests staying at the castle were still there, about a\ndozen persons.", "One of the waltzers, however, who was familiarly called Viscount, and\nwhose low cut waistcoat seemed moulded to his chest, came a second time\nto ask Madame Bovary to dance, assuring her that he would guide her, and\nthat she would get through it very well.", "They began slowly, then went more rapidly." ]

[ "\nThe chateau, a modern building in Italian style, with two projecting\nwings and three flights of steps, lay at the foot of an immense\ngreen-sward, on which some cows were grazing among groups of large trees\nset out at regular intervals, while large beds of arbutus, rhododendron,\nsyringas, and guelder roses bulged out their irregular clusters of\ngreen along the curve of the gravel path.", "A river flowed under a bridge;\nthrough the mist one could distinguish buildings with thatched roofs\nscattered over the field bordered by two gently sloping, well timbered\nhillocks, and in the background amid the trees rose in two parallel\nlines the coach houses and stables, all that was left of the ruined old\nchateau.", "Charles's dog-cart pulled up before the middle flight of steps; servants\nappeared; the Marquis came forward, and, offering his arm to the\ndoctor's wife, conducted her to the vestibule.", "It was paved with marble slabs, was very lofty, and the sound of\nfootsteps and that of voices re-echoed through it as in a church.", "Opposite rose a straight staircase, and on the left a gallery\noverlooking the garden led to the billiard room, through whose door one\ncould hear the click of the ivory balls.", "As she crossed it to go to the\ndrawing room, Emma saw standing round the table men with grave faces,\ntheir chins resting on high cravats.", "They all wore orders, and smiled\nsilently as they made their strokes.", "On the dark wainscoting of the walls large gold frames bore at\nthe bottom names written in black letters.", "She read: \"Jean-Antoine\nd'Andervilliers d'Yvervonbille, Count de la Vaubyessard and Baron de la\nFresnay, killed at the battle of Coutras on the 20th of October,\n1587.\"", "And on another: \"Jean-Antoine-Henry-Guy d'Andervilliers de\nla Vaubyessard, Admiral of France and Chevalier of the Order of St.\nMichael, wounded at the battle of the Hougue-Saint-Vaast on the 29th of\nMay, 1692; died at Vaubyessard on the 23rd of January 1693.\"", "Her journey to Vaubyessard\nhad made a hole in her life, like one of those great crevices that\na storm will sometimes make in one night in mountains.", "Still she was\nresigned.", "She devoutly put away in her drawers her beautiful dress, down\nto the satin shoes whose soles were yellowed with the slippery wax of\nthe dancing floor.", "Her heart was like these.", "In its friction against\nwealth something had come over it that could not be effaced.", "The memory of this ball, then, became an occupation for Emma.", "Whenever the Wednesday came round she said to herself as she awoke, \"Ah!", "I was there a week--a fortnight--three weeks ago.\"", "And little by little the faces grew confused in her remembrance.", "She forgot the tune of the quadrilles; she no longer saw the liveries\nand appointments so distinctly; some details escaped her, but the regret\nremained with her." ]

[ "\nOften when Charles was out she took from the cupboard, between the\nfolds of the linen where she had left it, the green silk cigar case.", "She looked at it, opened it, and even smelt the odour of the lining--a\nmixture of verbena and tobacco.", "Whose was it?", "The Viscount's?", "Perhaps\nit was a present from his mistress.", "It had been embroidered on some\nrosewood frame, a pretty little thing, hidden from all eyes, that had\noccupied many hours, and over which had fallen the soft curls of the\npensive worker.", "A breath of love had passed over the stitches on the\ncanvas; each prick of the needle had fixed there a hope or a memory, and\nall those interwoven threads of silk were but the continuity of the same\nsilent passion.", "And then one morning the Viscount had taken it away\nwith him.", "Of what had they spoken when it lay upon the wide-mantelled\nchimneys between flower-vases and Pompadour clocks?", "She was at Tostes;\nhe was at Paris now, far away!", "What was this Paris like?", "What a vague\nname!", "She repeated it in a low voice, for the mere pleasure of it; it\nrang in her ears like a great cathedral bell; it shone before her eyes,\neven on the labels of her pomade-pots.", "At night, when the carriers passed under her windows in their carts\nsinging the \"Marjolaine,\" she awoke, and listened to the noise of the\niron-bound wheels, which, as they gained the country road, was soon\ndeadened by the soil.", "\"They will be there to-morrow!\"", "she said to\nherself.", "And she followed them in thought up and down the hills, traversing\nvillages, gliding along the highroads by the light of the stars.", "At the\nend of some indefinite distance there was always a confused spot, into\nwhich her dream died.", "She bought a plan of Paris, and with the tip of her finger on the map\nshe walked about the capital.", "She went up the boulevards, stopping at\nevery turning, between the lines of the streets, in front of the white\nsquares that represented the houses.", "At last she would close the lids of\nher weary eyes, and see in the darkness the gas jets flaring in the wind\nand the steps of carriages lowered with much noise before the peristyles\nof theatres.", "She took in \"La Corbeille,\" a lady's journal, and the \"Sylphe des\nSalons.\"", "She devoured, without skipping a word, all the accounts of\nfirst nights, races, and soirees, took interest in the debut of a\nsinger, in the opening of a new shop.", "She knew the latest fashions, the\naddresses of the best tailors, the days of the Bois and the Opera.", "In\nEugene Sue she studied descriptions of furniture; she read Balzac and\nGeorge Sand, seeking in them imaginary satisfaction for her own desires.", "Even at table she had her book by her, and turned over the pages\nwhile Charles ate and talked to her.", "The memory of the Viscount always\nreturned as she read.", "Between him and the imaginary personages she made\ncomparisons.", "But the circle of which he was the centre gradually widened\nround him, and the aureole that he bore, fading from his form, broadened\nout beyond, lighting up her other dreams.", "Paris, more vague than the ocean, glimmered before Emma's eyes in an\natmosphere of vermilion.", "The many lives that stirred amid this tumult\nwere, however, divided into parts, classed as distinct pictures.", "Emma\nperceived only two or three that hid from her all the rest, and in\nthemselves represented all humanity.", "The world of ambassadors moved over\npolished floors in drawing rooms lined with mirrors, round oval tables\ncovered with velvet and gold-fringed cloths.", "There were dresses with\ntrains, deep mysteries, anguish hidden beneath smiles.", "Then came the\nsociety of the duchesses; all were pale; all got up at four o'clock; the\nwomen, poor angels, wore English point on their petticoats; and the men,\nunappreciated geniuses under a frivolous outward seeming, rode horses to\ndeath at pleasure parties, spent the summer season at Baden, and towards\nthe forties married heiresses.", "In the private rooms of restaurants,\nwhere one sups after midnight by the light of wax candles, laughed the\nmotley crowd of men of letters and actresses.", "They were prodigal as\nkings, full of ideal, ambitious, fantastic frenzy.", "This was an existence\noutside that of all others, between heaven and earth, in the midst of\nstorms, having something of the sublime.", "For the rest of the world it\nwas lost, with no particular place and as if non-existent.", "The nearer\nthings were, moreover, the more her thoughts turned away from them.", "All her immediate surroundings, the wearisome country, the middle-class\nimbeciles, the mediocrity of existence, seemed to her exceptional, a\npeculiar chance that had caught hold of her, while beyond stretched, as\nfar as eye could see, an immense land of joys and passions.", "She confused\nin her desire the sensualities of luxury with the delights of the heart,\nelegance of manners with delicacy of sentiment.", "Did not love, like\nIndian plants, need a special soil, a particular temperature?", "Signs\nby moonlight, long embraces, tears flowing over yielded hands, all\nthe fevers of the flesh and the languors of tenderness could not be\nseparated from the balconies of great castles full of indolence,\nfrom boudoirs with silken curtains and thick carpets, well-filled\nflower-stands, a bed on a raised dias, nor from the flashing of precious\nstones and the shoulder-knots of liveries.", "The lad from the posting house who came to groom the mare every morning\npassed through the passage with his heavy wooden shoes; there were holes\nin his blouse; his feet were bare in list slippers.", "And this was the\ngroom in knee-britches with whom she had to be content!", "His work done,\nhe did not come back again all day, for Charles on his return put up\nhis horse himself, unsaddled him and put on the halter, while the\nservant-girl brought a bundle of straw and threw it as best she could\ninto the manger.", "To replace Nastasie (who left Tostes shedding torrents of tears) Emma\ntook into her service a young girl of fourteen, an orphan with a sweet\nface.", "She forbade her wearing cotton caps, taught her to address her in\nthe third person, to bring a glass of water on a plate, to knock before\ncoming into a room, to iron, starch, and to dress her--wanted to make a\nlady's-maid of her.", "The new servant obeyed without a murmur, so as not\nto be sent away; and as madame usually left the key in the sideboard,\nFelicite every evening took a small supply of sugar that she ate alone\nin her bed after she had said her prayers.", "Sometimes in the afternoon she went to chat with the postilions.", "Madame was in her room upstairs.", "She wore an open dressing gown that\nshowed between the shawl facings of her bodice a pleated chamisette with\nthree gold buttons.", "Her belt was a corded girdle with great tassels, and\nher small garnet coloured slippers had a large knot of ribbon that fell\nover her instep.", "She had bought herself a blotting book, writing case,\npen-holder, and envelopes, although she had no one to write to; she\ndusted her what-not, looked at herself in the glass, picked up a book,\nand then, dreaming between the lines, let it drop on her knees.", "She\nlonged to travel or to go back to her convent.", "She wished at the same\ntime to die and to live in Paris.", "Charles in snow and rain trotted across country.", "He ate omelettes on\nfarmhouse tables, poked his arm into damp beds, received the tepid\nspurt of blood-lettings in his face, listened to death-rattles, examined\nbasins, turned over a good deal of dirty linen; but every evening he\nfound a blazing fire, his dinner ready, easy-chairs, and a well-dressed\nwoman, charming with an odour of freshness, though no one could say\nwhence the perfume came, or if it were not her skin that made odorous\nher chemise.", "She charmed him by numerous attentions; now it was some new way of\narranging paper sconces for the candles, a flounce that she altered on\nher gown, or an extraordinary name for some very simple dish that the\nservant had spoilt, but that Charles swallowed with pleasure to the last\nmouthful.", "At Rouen she saw some ladies who wore a bunch of charms on the\nwatch-chains; she bought some charms.", "She wanted for her mantelpiece two\nlarge blue glass vases, and some time after an ivory necessaire with a\nsilver-gilt thimble.", "The less Charles understood these refinements\nthe more they seduced him.", "They added something to the pleasure of the\nsenses and to the comfort of his fireside.", "It was like a golden dust\nsanding all along the narrow path of his life.", "He was well, looked well; his reputation was firmly established.", "The country-folk loved him because he was not proud.", "He petted the\nchildren, never went to the public house, and, moreover, his morals\ninspired confidence.", "He was specially successful with catarrhs and chest\ncomplaints.", "Being much afraid of killing his patients, Charles, in fact\nonly prescribed sedatives, from time to time and emetic, a footbath,\nor leeches.", "It was not that he was afraid of surgery; he bled people\ncopiously like horses, and for the taking out of teeth he had the\n\"devil's own wrist.\"", "Finally, to keep up with the times, he took in \"La Ruche Medicale,\"\na new journal whose prospectus had been sent him.", "He read it a little\nafter dinner, but in about five minutes the warmth of the room added to\nthe effect of his dinner sent him to sleep; and he sat there, his chin\non his two hands and his hair spreading like a mane to the foot of the\nlamp.", "Emma looked at him and shrugged her shoulders.", "Why, at least, was\nnot her husband one of those men of taciturn passions who work at their\nbooks all night, and at last, when about sixty, the age of rheumatism\nsets in, wear a string of orders on their ill-fitting black coat?", "She could have wished this name of Bovary, which was hers, had been\nillustrious, to see it displayed at the booksellers', repeated in the\nnewspapers, known to all France.", "But Charles had no ambition.", "An Yvetot doctor whom he had lately met in consultation had somewhat\nhumiliated him at the very bedside of the patient, before the assembled\nrelatives.", "When, in the evening, Charles told her this anecdote, Emma\ninveighed loudly against his colleague.", "Charles was much touched.", "He\nkissed her forehead with a tear in his eyes.", "But she was angered with\nshame; she felt a wild desire to strike him; she went to open the window\nin the passage and breathed in the fresh air to calm herself.", "\"What a man!", "What a man!\"", "she said in a low voice, biting her lips.", "Besides, she was becoming more irritated with him.", "As he grew older his\nmanner grew heavier; at dessert he cut the corks of the empty bottles;\nafter eating he cleaned his teeth with his tongue; in taking soup\nhe made a gurgling noise with every spoonful; and, as he was getting\nfatter, the puffed-out cheeks seemed to push the eyes, always small, up\nto the temples.", "Sometimes Emma tucked the red borders of his under-vest unto his\nwaistcoat, rearranged his cravat, and threw away the dirty gloves he was\ngoing to put on; and this was not, as he fancied, for himself; it\nwas for herself, by a diffusion of egotism, of nervous irritation.", "Sometimes, too, she told him of what she had read, such as a passage in\na novel, of a new play, or an anecdote of the \"upper ten\" that she\nhad seen in a feuilleton; for, after all, Charles was something, an\never-open ear, and ever-ready approbation.", "She confided many a thing to\nher greyhound.", "She would have done so to the logs in the fireplace or to\nthe pendulum of the clock.", "At the bottom of her heart, however, she was waiting for something to\nhappen.", "Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the\nsolitude of her life, seeking afar off some white sail in the mists of\nthe horizon.", "She did not know what this chance would be, what wind would\nbring it her, towards what shore it would drive her, if it would be a\nshallop or a three-decker, laden with anguish or full of bliss to the\nportholes.", "But each morning, as she awoke, she hoped it would come that\nday; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that\nit did not come; then at sunset, always more saddened, she longed for\nthe morrow.", "Spring came round.", "With the first warm weather, when the pear trees\nbegan to blossom, she suffered from dyspnoea.", "From the beginning of July she counted how many weeks there were to\nOctober, thinking that perhaps the Marquis d'Andervilliers would give\nanother ball at Vaubyessard.", "But all September passed without letters or\nvisits.", "After the ennui of this disappointment her heart once more remained\nempty, and then the same series of days recommenced.", "So now they would\nthus follow one another, always the same, immovable, and bringing\nnothing.", "Other lives, however flat, had at least the chance of some\nevent.", "One adventure sometimes brought with it infinite consequences and\nthe scene changed.", "But nothing happened to her; God had willed it so!", "The future was a dark corridor, with its door at the end shut fast.", "She gave up music.", "What was the good of playing?", "Who would hear her?", "Since she could never, in a velvet gown with short sleeves, striking\nwith her light fingers the ivory keys of an Erard at a concert, feel\nthe murmur of ecstasy envelop her like a breeze, it was not worth while\nboring herself with practicing.", "Her drawing cardboard and her embroidery\nshe left in the cupboard.", "What was the good?", "What was the good?", "Sewing\nirritated her.", "\"I have read everything,\" she said to herself.", "And she\nsat there making the tongs red-hot, or looked at the rain falling.", "How sad she was on Sundays when vespers sounded!", "She listened with dull\nattention to each stroke of the cracked bell.", "A cat slowly walking over\nsome roof put up his back in the pale rays of the sun.", "The wind on the\nhighroad blew up clouds of dust.", "Afar off a dog sometimes howled; and\nthe bell, keeping time, continued its monotonous ringing that died away\nover the fields.", "But the people came out from church.", "The women in waxed clogs, the\npeasants in new blouses, the little bare-headed children skipping along\nin front of them, all were going home.", "And till nightfall, five or six\nmen, always the same, stayed playing at corks in front of the large door\nof the inn.", "The winter was severe.", "The windows every morning were covered with\nrime, and the light shining through them, dim as through ground-glass,\nsometimes did not change the whole day long.", "At four o'clock the lamp\nhad to be lighted.", "On fine days she went down into the garden.", "The dew had left on the\ncabbages a silver lace with long transparent threads spreading from one\nto the other.", "No birds were to be heard; everything seemed asleep, the\nespalier covered with straw, and the vine, like a great sick serpent\nunder the coping of the wall, along which, on drawing near, one saw the\nmany-footed woodlice crawling.", "Under the spruce by the hedgerow, the\ncurie in the three-cornered hat reading his breviary had lost his right\nfoot, and the very plaster, scaling off with the frost, had left white\nscabs on his face.", "Then she went up again, shut her door, put on coals, and fainting with\nthe heat of the hearth, felt her boredom weigh more heavily than ever.", "She would have liked to go down and talk to the servant, but a sense of\nshame restrained her.", "Every day at the same time the schoolmaster in a black skullcap opened\nthe shutters of his house, and the rural policeman, wearing his sabre\nover his blouse, passed by.", "Night and morning the post-horses, three by\nthree, crossed the street to water at the pond.", "From time to time the\nbell of a public house door rang, and when it was windy one could hear\nthe little brass basins that served as signs for the hairdresser's shop\ncreaking on their two rods.", "This shop had as decoration an old engraving\nof a fashion-plate stuck against a windowpane and the wax bust of a\nwoman with yellow hair.", "He, too, the hairdresser, lamented his wasted\ncalling, his hopeless future, and dreaming of some shop in a big\ntown--at Rouen, for example, overlooking the harbour, near the\ntheatre--he walked up and down all day from the mairie to the church,\nsombre and waiting for customers.", "When Madame Bovary looked up, she\nalways saw him there, like a sentinel on duty, with his skullcap over\nhis ears and his vest of lasting.", "Sometimes in the afternoon outside the window of her room, the head of a\nman appeared, a swarthy head with black whiskers, smiling slowly, with\na broad, gentle smile that showed his white teeth.", "A waltz immediately\nbegan and on the organ, in a little drawing room, dancers the size of\na finger, women in pink turbans, Tyrolians in jackets, monkeys in frock\ncoats, gentlemen in knee-breeches, turned and turned between the sofas,\nthe consoles, multiplied in the bits of looking glass held together\nat their corners by a piece of gold paper.", "The man turned his handle,\nlooking to the right and left, and up at the windows.", "Now and again,\nwhile he shot out a long squirt of brown saliva against the milestone,\nwith his knee raised his instrument, whose hard straps tired his\nshoulder; and now, doleful and drawling, or gay and hurried, the music\nescaped from the box, droning through a curtain of pink taffeta under\na brass claw in arabesque.", "They were airs played in other places at\nthe theatres, sung in drawing rooms, danced to at night under lighted\nlustres, echoes of the world that reached even to Emma.", "Endless\nsarabands ran through her head, and, like an Indian dancing girl on the\nflowers of a carpet, her thoughts leapt with the notes, swung from dream\nto dream, from sadness to sadness.", "When the man had caught some coppers\nin his cap, he drew down an old cover of blue cloth, hitched his organ\non to his back, and went off with a heavy tread.", "She watched him going.", "But it was above all the meal-times that were unbearable to her, in this\nsmall room on the ground floor, with its smoking stove, its creaking\ndoor, the walls that sweated, the damp flags; all the bitterness in life\nseemed served up on her plate, and with smoke of the boiled beef there\nrose from her secret soul whiffs of sickliness.", "Charles was a slow\neater; she played with a few nuts, or, leaning on her elbow, amused\nherself with drawing lines along the oilcloth table cover with the point\nof her knife.", "She now let everything in her household take care of itself, and Madame\nBovary senior, when she came to spend part of Lent at Tostes, was much\nsurprised at the change.", "She who was formerly so careful, so dainty,\nnow passed whole days without dressing, wore grey cotton stockings, and\nburnt tallow candles.", "She kept saying they must be economical since\nthey were not rich, adding that she was very contented, very happy, that\nTostes pleased her very much, with other speeches that closed the mouth\nof her mother-in-law.", "Besides, Emma no longer seemed inclined to follow\nher advice; once even, Madame Bovary having thought fit to maintain that\nmistresses ought to keep an eye on the religion of their servants, she\nhad answered with so angry a look and so cold a smile that the good\nwoman did not interfere again.", "Emma was growing difficult, capricious.", "She ordered dishes for herself,\nthen she did not touch them; one day drank only pure milk, the next\ncups of tea by the dozen.", "Often she persisted in not going out, then,\nstifling, threw open the windows and put on light dresses.", "After she had\nwell scolded her servant she gave her presents or sent her out to see\nneighbours, just as she sometimes threw beggars all the silver in her\npurse, although she was by no means tender-hearted or easily accessible\nto the feelings of others, like most country-bred people, who always\nretain in their souls something of the horny hardness of the paternal\nhands.", "Towards the end of February old Rouault, in memory of his cure, himself\nbrought his son-in-law a superb turkey, and stayed three days at Tostes.", "Charles being with his patients, Emma kept him company.", "He smoked in the\nroom, spat on the firedogs, talked farming, calves, cows, poultry, and\nmunicipal council, so that when he left she closed the door on him with\na feeling of satisfaction that surprised even herself.", "Moreover she no\nlonger concealed her contempt for anything or anybody, and at times she\nset herself to express singular opinions, finding fault with that which\nothers approved, and approving things perverse and immoral, all of which\nmade her husband open his eyes widely.", "Would this misery last for ever?", "Would she never issue from it?", "Yet\nshe was as good as all the women who were living happily.", "She had seen\nduchesses at Vaubyessard with clumsier waists and commoner ways, and she\nexecrated the injustice of God.", "She leant her head against the walls\nto weep; she envied lives of stir; longed for masked balls, for violent\npleasures, with all the wildness that she did not know, but that these\nmust surely yield.", "She grew pale and suffered from palpitations of the heart.", "Charles prescribed valerian and camphor baths.", "Everything that was tried\nonly seemed to irritate her the more.", "On certain days she chatted with feverish rapidity, and this\nover-excitement was suddenly followed by a state of torpor, in which\nshe remained without speaking, without moving.", "What then revived her was\npouring a bottle of eau-de-cologne over her arms.", "As she was constantly complaining about Tostes, Charles fancied that her\nillness was no doubt due to some local cause, and fixing on this idea,\nbegan to think seriously of setting up elsewhere.", "From that moment she drank vinegar, contracted a sharp little cough, and\ncompletely lost her appetite.", "It cost Charles much to give up Tostes after living there four years and\n\"when he was beginning to get on there.\"", "Yet if it must be!", "He took her\nto Rouen to see his old master.", "It was a nervous complaint: change of\nair was needed.", "After looking about him on this side and on that, Charles learnt that\nin the Neufchatel arrondissement there was a considerable market town\ncalled Yonville-l'Abbaye, whose doctor, a Polish refugee, had decamped a\nweek before.", "Then he wrote to the chemist of the place to ask the\nnumber of the population, the distance from the nearest doctor, what\nhis predecessor had made a year, and so forth; and the answer being\nsatisfactory, he made up his mind to move towards the spring, if Emma's\nhealth did not improve.", "One day when, in view of her departure, she was tidying a drawer,\nsomething pricked her finger.", "It was a wire of her wedding bouquet.", "The orange blossoms were yellow with dust and the silver bordered satin\nribbons frayed at the edges.", "She threw it into the fire.", "It flared\nup more quickly than dry straw.", "Then it was, like a red bush in the\ncinders, slowly devoured.", "She watched it burn.", "The little pasteboard berries burst, the wire twisted, the gold\nlace melted; and the shriveled paper corollas, fluttering like black\nbutterflies at the back of the stove, at last flew up the chimney.", "When they left Tostes at the month of March, Madame Bovary was pregnant.", "Part II" ]

[ "And then one morning the Viscount had taken it away\nwith him.", "She repeated it in a low voice, for the mere pleasure of it; it\nrang in her ears like a great cathedral bell; it shone before her eyes,\neven on the labels of her pomade-pots.", "There were dresses with\ntrains, deep mysteries, anguish hidden beneath smiles.", "Charles was much touched.", "As he grew older his\nmanner grew heavier; at dessert he cut the corks of the empty bottles;\nafter eating he cleaned his teeth with his tongue; in taking soup\nhe made a gurgling noise with every spoonful; and, as he was getting\nfatter, the puffed-out cheeks seemed to push the eyes, always small, up\nto the temples.", "\"I have read everything,\" she said to herself.", "But the people came out from church.", "Sometimes in the afternoon outside the window of her room, the head of a\nman appeared, a swarthy head with black whiskers, smiling slowly, with\na broad, gentle smile that showed his white teeth.", "Towards the end of February old Rouault, in memory of his cure, himself\nbrought his son-in-law a superb turkey, and stayed three days at Tostes.", "It cost Charles much to give up Tostes after living there four years and\n\"when he was beginning to get on there.\"" ]

[ "What then revived her was\npouring a bottle of eau-de-cologne over her arms.", "For the rest of the world it\nwas lost, with no particular place and as if non-existent.", "Perhaps\nit was a present from his mistress.", "She kept saying they must be economical since\nthey were not rich, adding that she was very contented, very happy, that\nTostes pleased her very much, with other speeches that closed the mouth\nof her mother-in-law.", "They added something to the pleasure of the\nsenses and to the comfort of his fireside.", "At the\nend of some indefinite distance there was always a confused spot, into\nwhich her dream died.", "It was a wire of her wedding bouquet.", "On certain days she chatted with feverish rapidity, and this\nover-excitement was suddenly followed by a state of torpor, in which\nshe remained without speaking, without moving.", "Afar off a dog sometimes howled; and\nthe bell, keeping time, continued its monotonous ringing that died away\nover the fields.", "She\nlonged to travel or to go back to her convent." ]

[ "She confided many a thing to\nher greyhound.", "She would have done so to the logs in the fireplace or to\nthe pendulum of the clock.", "At the bottom of her heart, however, she was waiting for something to\nhappen.", "Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the\nsolitude of her life, seeking afar off some white sail in the mists of\nthe horizon.", "She did not know what this chance would be, what wind would\nbring it her, towards what shore it would drive her, if it would be a\nshallop or a three-decker, laden with anguish or full of bliss to the\nportholes.", "But each morning, as she awoke, she hoped it would come that\nday; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that\nit did not come; then at sunset, always more saddened, she longed for\nthe morrow.", "Spring came round.", "With the first warm weather, when the pear trees\nbegan to blossom, she suffered from dyspnoea.", "From the beginning of July she counted how many weeks there were to\nOctober, thinking that perhaps the Marquis d'Andervilliers would give\nanother ball at Vaubyessard.", "But all September passed without letters or\nvisits.", "After the ennui of this disappointment her heart once more remained\nempty, and then the same series of days recommenced." ]

[ "\nOften when Charles was out she took from the cupboard, between the\nfolds of the linen where she had left it, the green silk cigar case.", "She looked at it, opened it, and even smelt the odour of the lining--a\nmixture of verbena and tobacco.", "Whose was it?", "The Viscount's?", "Perhaps\nit was a present from his mistress.", "It had been embroidered on some\nrosewood frame, a pretty little thing, hidden from all eyes, that had\noccupied many hours, and over which had fallen the soft curls of the\npensive worker.", "A breath of love had passed over the stitches on the\ncanvas; each prick of the needle had fixed there a hope or a memory, and\nall those interwoven threads of silk were but the continuity of the same\nsilent passion.", "And then one morning the Viscount had taken it away\nwith him.", "Of what had they spoken when it lay upon the wide-mantelled\nchimneys between flower-vases and Pompadour clocks?", "She was at Tostes;\nhe was at Paris now, far away!", "One day when, in view of her departure, she was tidying a drawer,\nsomething pricked her finger.", "It was a wire of her wedding bouquet.", "The orange blossoms were yellow with dust and the silver bordered satin\nribbons frayed at the edges.", "She threw it into the fire.", "It flared\nup more quickly than dry straw.", "Then it was, like a red bush in the\ncinders, slowly devoured.", "She watched it burn.", "The little pasteboard berries burst, the wire twisted, the gold\nlace melted; and the shriveled paper corollas, fluttering like black\nbutterflies at the back of the stove, at last flew up the chimney.", "When they left Tostes at the month of March, Madame Bovary was pregnant.", "Part II" ]

[ "\nYonville-l'Abbaye (so called from an old Capuchin abbey of which not\neven the ruins remain) is a market-town twenty-four miles from Rouen,\nbetween the Abbeville and Beauvais roads, at the foot of a valley\nwatered by the Rieule, a little river that runs into the Andelle after\nturning three water-mills near its mouth, where there are a few trout\nthat the lads amuse themselves by fishing for on Sundays.", "We leave the highroad at La Boissiere and keep straight on to the top of\nthe Leux hill, whence the valley is seen.", "The river that runs through it\nmakes of it, as it were, two regions with distinct physiognomies--all on\nthe left is pasture land, all of the right arable.", "The meadow stretches\nunder a bulge of low hills to join at the back with the pasture land of\nthe Bray country, while on the eastern side, the plain, gently rising,\nbroadens out, showing as far as eye can follow its blond cornfields.", "The\nwater, flowing by the grass, divides with a white line the colour of the\nroads and of the plains, and the country is like a great unfolded mantle\nwith a green velvet cape bordered with a fringe of silver.", "Before us, on the verge of the horizon, lie the oaks of the forest of\nArgueil, with the steeps of the Saint-Jean hills scarred from top\nto bottom with red irregular lines; they are rain tracks, and these\nbrick-tones standing out in narrow streaks against the grey colour of\nthe mountain are due to the quantity of iron springs that flow beyond in\nthe neighboring country.", "Here we are on the confines of Normandy, Picardy, and the Ile-de-France,\na bastard land whose language is without accent and its landscape is\nwithout character.", "It is there that they make the worst Neufchatel\ncheeses of all the arrondissement; and, on the other hand, farming is\ncostly because so much manure is needed to enrich this friable soil full\nof sand and flints.", "Up to 1835 there was no practicable road for getting to Yonville, but\nabout this time a cross-road was made which joins that of Abbeville to\nthat of Amiens, and is occasionally used by the Rouen wagoners on their\nway to Flanders.", "Yonville-l'Abbaye has remained stationary in spite of\nits \"new outlet.\"", "Instead of improving the soil, they persist in keeping\nup the pasture lands, however depreciated they may be in value, and\nthe lazy borough, growing away from the plain, has naturally spread\nriverwards.", "It is seem from afar sprawling along the banks like a\ncowherd taking a siesta by the water-side.", "At the foot of the hill beyond the bridge begins a roadway, planted with\nyoung aspens, that leads in a straight line to the first houses in the\nplace.", "These, fenced in by hedges, are in the middle of courtyards\nfull of straggling buildings, wine-presses, cart-sheds and distilleries\nscattered under thick trees, with ladders, poles, or scythes hung on to\nthe branches.", "The thatched roofs, like fur caps drawn over eyes, reach\ndown over about a third of the low windows, whose coarse convex glasses\nhave knots in the middle like the bottoms of bottles.", "Against the\nplaster wall diagonally crossed by black joists, a meagre pear-tree\nsometimes leans and the ground-floors have at their door a small\nswing-gate to keep out the chicks that come pilfering crumbs of bread\nsteeped in cider on the threshold.", "But the courtyards grow narrower,\nthe houses closer together, and the fences disappear; a bundle of\nferns swings under a window from the end of a broomstick; there is a\nblacksmith's forge and then a wheelwright's, with two or three new carts\noutside that partly block the way.", "Then across an open space appears a\nwhite house beyond a grass mound ornamented by a Cupid, his finger\non his lips; two brass vases are at each end of a flight of steps;\nscutcheons* blaze upon the door.", "It is the notary's house, and the\nfinest in the place.", "*The panonceaux that have to be hung over the doors of\n notaries.", "The Church is on the other side of the street, twenty paces farther\ndown, at the entrance of the square.", "The little cemetery that surrounds\nit, closed in by a wall breast high, is so full of graves that the old\nstones, level with the ground, form a continuous pavement, on which the\ngrass of itself has marked out regular green squares.", "The church was\nrebuilt during the last years of the reign of Charles X.", "The wooden roof\nis beginning to rot from the top, and here and there has black hollows\nin its blue colour.", "Over the door, where the organ should be, is a\nloft for the men, with a spiral staircase that reverberates under their\nwooden shoes.", "The daylight coming through the plain glass windows falls obliquely upon\nthe pews ranged along the walls, which are adorned here and there with\na straw mat bearing beneath it the words in large letters, \"Mr.\nSo-and-so's pew.\"", "Farther on, at a spot where the building narrows, the\nconfessional forms a pendant to a statuette of the Virgin, clothed in\na satin robe, coifed with a tulle veil sprinkled with silver stars, and\nwith red cheeks, like an idol of the Sandwich Islands; and, finally, a\ncopy of the \"Holy Family, presented by the Minister of the Interior,\"\noverlooking the high altar, between four candlesticks, closes in the\nperspective.", "The choir stalls, of deal wood, have been left unpainted.", "The market, that is to say, a tiled roof supported by some twenty posts,\noccupies of itself about half the public square of Yonville.", "The town\nhall, constructed \"from the designs of a Paris architect,\" is a sort of\nGreek temple that forms the corner next to the chemist's shop.", "On\nthe ground-floor are three Ionic columns and on the first floor a\nsemicircular gallery, while the dome that crowns it is occupied by a\nGallic cock, resting one foot upon the \"Charte\" and holding in the other\nthe scales of Justice.", "But that which most attracts the eye is opposite the Lion d'Or inn, the\nchemist's shop of Monsieur Homais.", "In the evening especially its argand\nlamp is lit up and the red and green jars that embellish his shop-front\nthrow far across the street their two streams of colour; then across\nthem as if in Bengal lights is seen the shadow of the chemist\nleaning over his desk.", "His house from top to bottom is placarded with\ninscriptions written in large hand, round hand, printed hand: \"Vichy,\nSeltzer, Barege waters, blood purifiers, Raspail patent medicine,\nArabian racahout, Darcet lozenges, Regnault paste, trusses, baths,\nhygienic chocolate,\" etc.", "And the signboard, which takes up all the\nbreadth of the shop, bears in gold letters, \"Homais, Chemist.\"", "Then at\nthe back of the shop, behind the great scales fixed to the counter, the\nword \"Laboratory\" appears on a scroll above a glass door, which about\nhalf-way up once more repeats \"Homais\" in gold letters on a black\nground.", "Beyond this there is nothing to see at Yonville.", "The street (the only\none) a gunshot in length and flanked by a few shops on either side stops\nshort at the turn of the highroad.", "If it is left on the right hand and\nthe foot of the Saint-Jean hills followed the cemetery is soon reached.", "At the time of the cholera, in order to enlarge this, a piece of wall\nwas pulled down, and three acres of land by its side purchased; but all\nthe new portion is almost tenantless; the tombs, as heretofore,\ncontinue to crowd together towards the gate.", "The keeper, who is at once\ngravedigger and church beadle (thus making a double profit out of the\nparish corpses), has taken advantage of the unused plot of ground to\nplant potatoes there.", "From year to year, however, his small field grows\nsmaller, and when there is an epidemic, he does not know whether to\nrejoice at the deaths or regret the burials.", "\"You live on the dead, Lestiboudois!\"", "the curie at last said to him one\nday.", "This grim remark made him reflect; it checked him for some time;\nbut to this day he carries on the cultivation of his little tubers, and\neven maintains stoutly that they grow naturally.", "Since the events about to be narrated, nothing in fact has changed\nat Yonville.", "The tin tricolour flag still swings at the top of the\nchurch-steeple; the two chintz streamers still flutter in the wind from\nthe linen-draper's; the chemist's fetuses, like lumps of white amadou,\nrot more and more in their turbid alcohol, and above the big door of\nthe inn the old golden lion, faded by rain, still shows passers-by its\npoodle mane.", "On the evening when the Bovarys were to arrive at Yonville, Widow\nLefrancois, the landlady of this inn, was so very busy that she sweated\ngreat drops as she moved her saucepans.", "To-morrow was market-day.", "The\nmeat had to be cut beforehand, the fowls drawn, the soup and coffee\nmade.", "Moreover, she had the boarders' meal to see to, and that of the\ndoctor, his wife, and their servant; the billiard-room was echoing with\nbursts of laughter; three millers in a small parlour were calling for\nbrandy; the wood was blazing, the brazen pan was hissing, and on the\nlong kitchen table, amid the quarters of raw mutton, rose piles of\nplates that rattled with the shaking of the block on which spinach was\nbeing chopped.", "From the poultry-yard was heard the screaming of the fowls whom the\nservant was chasing in order to wring their necks.", "A man slightly marked with small-pox, in green leather slippers, and\nwearing a velvet cap with a gold tassel, was warming his back at the\nchimney.", "His face expressed nothing but self-satisfaction, and he\nappeared to take life as calmly as the goldfinch suspended over his head\nin its wicker cage: this was the chemist.", "\"Artemise!\"", "shouted the landlady, \"chop some wood, fill the water\nbottles, bring some brandy, look sharp!", "If only I knew what dessert to\noffer the guests you are expecting!", "Good heavens!", "Those furniture-movers\nare beginning their racket in the billiard-room again; and their van has\nbeen left before the front door!", "The 'Hirondelle' might run into it when\nit draws up.", "Call Polyte and tell him to put it up.", "Only think, Monsieur\nHomais, that since morning they have had about fifteen games, and drunk\neight jars of cider!", "Why, they'll tear my cloth for me,\" she went on,\nlooking at them from a distance, her strainer in her hand.", "\"That wouldn't be much of a loss,\" replied Monsieur Homais.", "\"You would\nbuy another.\"", "\"Another billiard-table!\"", "exclaimed the widow.", "\"Since that one is coming to pieces, Madame Lefrancois.", "I tell you again\nyou are doing yourself harm, much harm!", "And besides, players now want\nnarrow pockets and heavy cues.", "Hazards aren't played now; everything is\nchanged!", "One must keep pace with the times!", "Just look at Tellier!\"", "The hostess reddened with vexation.", "The chemist went on--\n\n\"You may say what you like; his table is better than yours; and if one\nwere to think, for example, of getting up a patriotic pool for Poland or\nthe sufferers from the Lyons floods--\"\n\n\"It isn't beggars like him that'll frighten us,\" interrupted the\nlandlady, shrugging her fat shoulders.", "\"Come, come, Monsieur Homais; as\nlong as the 'Lion d'Or' exists people will come to it.", "We've feathered\nour nest; while one of these days you'll find the 'Cafe Francais' closed\nwith a big placard on the shutters.", "Change my billiard-table!\"", "she went\non, speaking to herself, \"the table that comes in so handy for folding\nthe washing, and on which, in the hunting season, I have slept six\nvisitors!", "But that dawdler, Hivert, doesn't come!\"", "\"Are you waiting for him for your gentlemen's dinner?\"", "\"Wait for him!", "And what about Monsieur Binet?", "As the clock strikes\nsix you'll see him come in, for he hasn't his equal under the sun for\npunctuality.", "He must always have his seat in the small parlour.", "He'd\nrather die than dine anywhere else.", "And so squeamish as he is, and so\nparticular about the cider!", "Not like Monsieur Leon; he sometimes comes\nat seven, or even half-past, and he doesn't so much as look at what he\neats.", "Such a nice young man!", "Never speaks a rough word!\"", "\"Well, you see, there's a great difference between an educated man and\nan old carabineer who is now a tax-collector.\"", "Six o'clock struck.", "Binet came in.", "He wore a blue frock-coat falling in a straight line round his thin\nbody, and his leather cap, with its lappets knotted over the top of\nhis head with string, showed under the turned-up peak a bald forehead,\nflattened by the constant wearing of a helmet.", "He wore a black cloth\nwaistcoat, a hair collar, grey trousers, and, all the year round,\nwell-blacked boots, that had two parallel swellings due to the sticking\nout of his big-toes.", "Not a hair stood out from the regular line of fair\nwhiskers, which, encircling his jaws, framed, after the fashion of a\ngarden border, his long, wan face, whose eyes were small and the nose\nhooked.", "Clever at all games of cards, a good hunter, and writing a\nfine hand, he had at home a lathe, and amused himself by turning napkin\nrings, with which he filled up his house, with the jealousy of an artist\nand the egotism of a bourgeois.", "He went to the small parlour, but the three millers had to be got out\nfirst, and during the whole time necessary for laying the cloth, Binet\nremained silent in his place near the stove.", "Then he shut the door and\ntook off his cap in his usual way.", "\"It isn't with saying civil things that he'll wear out his tongue,\" said\nthe chemist, as soon as he was along with the landlady.", "\"He never talks more,\" she replied.", "\"Last week two travelers in the\ncloth line were here--such clever chaps who told such jokes in the\nevening, that I fairly cried with laughing; and he stood there like a\ndab fish and never said a word.\"", "\"Yes,\" observed the chemist; \"no imagination, no sallies, nothing that\nmakes the society-man.\"", "\"Yet they say he has parts,\" objected the landlady.", "\"Parts!\"", "replied Monsieur Homais; \"he, parts!", "In his own line it is\npossible,\" he added in a calmer tone.", "And he went on--\n\n\"Ah!", "That a merchant, who has large connections, a jurisconsult, a\ndoctor, a chemist, should be thus absent-minded, that they should become\nwhimsical or even peevish, I can understand; such cases are cited in\nhistory.", "But at least it is because they are thinking of something.", "Myself, for example, how often has it happened to me to look on the\nbureau for my pen to write a label, and to find, after all, that I had\nput it behind my ear!\"", "Madame Lefrancois just then went to the door to see if the \"Hirondelle\"\nwere not coming.", "She started.", "A man dressed in black suddenly came into\nthe kitchen.", "By the last gleam of the twilight one could see that his\nface was rubicund and his form athletic.", "\"What can I do for you, Monsieur le Curie?\"", "asked the landlady, as she\nreached down from the chimney one of the copper candlesticks placed\nwith their candles in a row.", "\"Will you take something?", "A thimbleful of\nCassis*?", "A glass of wine?\"", "*Black currant liqueur.", "The priest declined very politely.", "He had come for his umbrella, that\nhe had forgotten the other day at the Ernemont convent, and after\nasking Madame Lefrancois to have it sent to him at the presbytery in the\nevening, he left for the church, from which the Angelus was ringing.", "When the chemist no longer heard the noise of his boots along the\nsquare, he thought the priest's behaviour just now very unbecoming.", "This\nrefusal to take any refreshment seemed to him the most odious hypocrisy;\nall priests tippled on the sly, and were trying to bring back the days\nof the tithe.", "The landlady took up the defence of her curie.", "\"Besides, he could double up four men like you over his knee.", "Last year\nhe helped our people to bring in the straw; he carried as many as six\ntrusses at once, he is so strong.\"", "\"Bravo!\"", "said the chemist.", "\"Now just send your daughters to confess to\nfellows which such a temperament!", "I, if I were the Government, I'd have\nthe priests bled once a month.", "Yes, Madame Lefrancois, every month--a\ngood phlebotomy, in the interests of the police and morals.\"", "\"Be quiet, Monsieur Homais.", "You are an infidel; you've no religion.\"", "The chemist answered: \"I have a religion, my religion, and I even have\nmore than all these others with their mummeries and their juggling.", "I adore God, on the contrary.", "I believe in the Supreme Being, in a\nCreator, whatever he may be.", "I care little who has placed us here below\nto fulfil our duties as citizens and fathers of families; but I don't\nneed to go to church to kiss silver plates, and fatten, out of my\npocket, a lot of good-for-nothings who live better than we do.", "For one\ncan know Him as well in a wood, in a field, or even contemplating the\neternal vault like the ancients.", "My God!", "Mine is the God of Socrates, of\nFranklin, of Voltaire, and of Beranger!", "I am for the profession of faith\nof the 'Savoyard Vicar,' and the immortal principles of '89!", "And I can't\nadmit of an old boy of a God who takes walks in his garden with a\ncane in his hand, who lodges his friends in the belly of whales, dies\nuttering a cry, and rises again at the end of three days; things absurd\nin themselves, and completely opposed, moreover, to all physical laws,\nwhich prove to us, by the way, that priests have always wallowed in\nturpid ignorance, in which they would fain engulf the people with them.\"", "He ceased, looking round for an audience, for in his bubbling over\nthe chemist had for a moment fancied himself in the midst of the town\ncouncil.", "But the landlady no longer heeded him; she was listening to a\ndistant rolling.", "One could distinguish the noise of a carriage mingled\nwith the clattering of loose horseshoes that beat against the ground,\nand at last the \"Hirondelle\" stopped at the door.", "It was a yellow box on two large wheels, that, reaching to the tilt,\nprevented travelers from seeing the road and dirtied their shoulders.", "The small panes of the narrow windows rattled in their sashes when the\ncoach was closed, and retained here and there patches of mud amid the\nold layers of dust, that not even storms of rain had altogether washed\naway.", "It was drawn by three horses, the first a leader, and when it came\ndown-hill its bottom jolted against the ground.", "Some of the inhabitants of Yonville came out into the square; they all\nspoke at once, asking for news, for explanations, for hampers.", "Hivert\ndid not know whom to answer.", "It was he who did the errands of the place\nin town.", "He went to the shops and brought back rolls of leather for\nthe shoemaker, old iron for the farrier, a barrel of herrings for his\nmistress, caps from the milliner's, locks from the hair-dresser's and\nall along the road on his return journey he distributed his parcels,\nwhich he threw, standing upright on his seat and shouting at the top of\nhis voice, over the enclosures of the yards.", "An accident had delayed him.", "Madame Bovary's greyhound had run across\nthe field.", "They had whistled for him a quarter of an hour; Hivert had\neven gone back a mile and a half expecting every moment to catch sight\nof her; but it had been necessary to go on.", "Emma had wept, grown angry; she had accused Charles of this misfortune.", "Monsieur Lheureux, a draper, who happened to be in the coach with\nher, had tried to console her by a number of examples of lost dogs\nrecognizing their masters at the end of long years.", "One, he said had\nbeen told of, who had come back to Paris from Constantinople.", "Another\nhad gone one hundred and fifty miles in a straight line, and swum four\nrivers; and his own father had possessed a poodle, which, after twelve\nyears of absence, had all of a sudden jumped on his back in the street\nas he was going to dine in town." ]

[ "At the foot of the hill beyond the bridge begins a roadway, planted with\nyoung aspens, that leads in a straight line to the first houses in the\nplace.", "These, fenced in by hedges, are in the middle of courtyards\nfull of straggling buildings, wine-presses, cart-sheds and distilleries\nscattered under thick trees, with ladders, poles, or scythes hung on to\nthe branches.", "The church was\nrebuilt during the last years of the reign of Charles X.", "The choir stalls, of deal wood, have been left unpainted.", "Since the events about to be narrated, nothing in fact has changed\nat Yonville.", "Then he shut the door and\ntook off his cap in his usual way.", "\"He never talks more,\" she replied.", "But at least it is because they are thinking of something.", "Hivert\ndid not know whom to answer.", "It was he who did the errands of the place\nin town." ]

[ "I care little who has placed us here below\nto fulfil our duties as citizens and fathers of families; but I don't\nneed to go to church to kiss silver plates, and fatten, out of my\npocket, a lot of good-for-nothings who live better than we do.", "My God!", "Here we are on the confines of Normandy, Picardy, and the Ile-de-France,\na bastard land whose language is without accent and its landscape is\nwithout character.", "And the signboard, which takes up all the\nbreadth of the shop, bears in gold letters, \"Homais, Chemist.\"", "In the evening especially its argand\nlamp is lit up and the red and green jars that embellish his shop-front\nthrow far across the street their two streams of colour; then across\nthem as if in Bengal lights is seen the shadow of the chemist\nleaning over his desk.", "Beyond this there is nothing to see at Yonville.", "Last year\nhe helped our people to bring in the straw; he carried as many as six\ntrusses at once, he is so strong.\"", "\"Now just send your daughters to confess to\nfellows which such a temperament!", "\"Yes,\" observed the chemist; \"no imagination, no sallies, nothing that\nmakes the society-man.\"", "He ceased, looking round for an audience, for in his bubbling over\nthe chemist had for a moment fancied himself in the midst of the town\ncouncil." ]

[ "\"Come, come, Monsieur Homais; as\nlong as the 'Lion d'Or' exists people will come to it.", "We've feathered\nour nest; while one of these days you'll find the 'Cafe Francais' closed\nwith a big placard on the shutters.", "Change my billiard-table!\"", "she went\non, speaking to herself, \"the table that comes in so handy for folding\nthe washing, and on which, in the hunting season, I have slept six\nvisitors!", "But that dawdler, Hivert, doesn't come!\"", "\"Are you waiting for him for your gentlemen's dinner?\"", "\"Wait for him!", "And what about Monsieur Binet?", "As the clock strikes\nsix you'll see him come in, for he hasn't his equal under the sun for\npunctuality.", "He must always have his seat in the small parlour.", "He'd\nrather die than dine anywhere else." ]

[ "\nYonville-l'Abbaye (so called from an old Capuchin abbey of which not\neven the ruins remain) is a market-town twenty-four miles from Rouen,\nbetween the Abbeville and Beauvais roads, at the foot of a valley\nwatered by the Rieule, a little river that runs into the Andelle after\nturning three water-mills near its mouth, where there are a few trout\nthat the lads amuse themselves by fishing for on Sundays.", "We leave the highroad at La Boissiere and keep straight on to the top of\nthe Leux hill, whence the valley is seen.", "The river that runs through it\nmakes of it, as it were, two regions with distinct physiognomies--all on\nthe left is pasture land, all of the right arable.", "The meadow stretches\nunder a bulge of low hills to join at the back with the pasture land of\nthe Bray country, while on the eastern side, the plain, gently rising,\nbroadens out, showing as far as eye can follow its blond cornfields.", "The\nwater, flowing by the grass, divides with a white line the colour of the\nroads and of the plains, and the country is like a great unfolded mantle\nwith a green velvet cape bordered with a fringe of silver.", "Before us, on the verge of the horizon, lie the oaks of the forest of\nArgueil, with the steeps of the Saint-Jean hills scarred from top\nto bottom with red irregular lines; they are rain tracks, and these\nbrick-tones standing out in narrow streaks against the grey colour of\nthe mountain are due to the quantity of iron springs that flow beyond in\nthe neighboring country.", "Here we are on the confines of Normandy, Picardy, and the Ile-de-France,\na bastard land whose language is without accent and its landscape is\nwithout character.", "It is there that they make the worst Neufchatel\ncheeses of all the arrondissement; and, on the other hand, farming is\ncostly because so much manure is needed to enrich this friable soil full\nof sand and flints.", "Up to 1835 there was no practicable road for getting to Yonville, but\nabout this time a cross-road was made which joins that of Abbeville to\nthat of Amiens, and is occasionally used by the Rouen wagoners on their\nway to Flanders.", "Yonville-l'Abbaye has remained stationary in spite of\nits \"new outlet.\"", "Hivert\ndid not know whom to answer.", "It was he who did the errands of the place\nin town.", "He went to the shops and brought back rolls of leather for\nthe shoemaker, old iron for the farrier, a barrel of herrings for his\nmistress, caps from the milliner's, locks from the hair-dresser's and\nall along the road on his return journey he distributed his parcels,\nwhich he threw, standing upright on his seat and shouting at the top of\nhis voice, over the enclosures of the yards.", "An accident had delayed him.", "Madame Bovary's greyhound had run across\nthe field.", "They had whistled for him a quarter of an hour; Hivert had\neven gone back a mile and a half expecting every moment to catch sight\nof her; but it had been necessary to go on.", "Emma had wept, grown angry; she had accused Charles of this misfortune.", "Monsieur Lheureux, a draper, who happened to be in the coach with\nher, had tried to console her by a number of examples of lost dogs\nrecognizing their masters at the end of long years.", "One, he said had\nbeen told of, who had come back to Paris from Constantinople.", "Another\nhad gone one hundred and fifty miles in a straight line, and swum four\nrivers; and his own father had possessed a poodle, which, after twelve\nyears of absence, had all of a sudden jumped on his back in the street\nas he was going to dine in town." ]

[ "\nEmma got out first, then Felicite, Monsieur Lheureux, and a nurse, and\nthey had to wake up Charles in his corner, where he had slept soundly\nsince night set in.", "Homais introduced himself; he offered his homages to madame and his\nrespects to monsieur; said he was charmed to have been able to render\nthem some slight service, and added with a cordial air that he had\nventured to invite himself, his wife being away.", "When Madame Bovary was in the kitchen she went up to the chimney.", "With the tips of her fingers she caught her dress at the knee, and\nhaving thus pulled it up to her ankle, held out her foot in its black\nboot to the fire above the revolving leg of mutton.", "The flame lit up the\nwhole of her, penetrating with a crude light the woof of her gowns, the\nfine pores of her fair skin, and even her eyelids, which she blinked now\nand again.", "A great red glow passed over her with the blowing of the wind\nthrough the half-open door.", "On the other side of the chimney a young man with fair hair watched her\nsilently.", "As he was a good deal bored at Yonville, where he was a clerk at the\nnotary's, Monsieur Guillaumin, Monsieur Leon Dupuis (it was he who\nwas the second habitue of the \"Lion d'Or\") frequently put back his\ndinner-hour in hope that some traveler might come to the inn, with whom\nhe could chat in the evening.", "On the days when his work was done early,\nhe had, for want of something else to do, to come punctually, and endure\nfrom soup to cheese a tete-a-tete with Binet.", "It was therefore with\ndelight that he accepted the landlady's suggestion that he should dine\nin company with the newcomers, and they passed into the large parlour\nwhere Madame Lefrancois, for the purpose of showing off, had had the\ntable laid for four.", "Homais asked to be allowed to keep on his skull-cap, for fear of coryza;\nthen, turning to his neighbour--\n\n\"Madame is no doubt a little fatigued; one gets jolted so abominably in\nour 'Hirondelle.'\"", "\"That is true,\" replied Emma; \"but moving about always amuses me.", "I like\nchange of place.\"", "\"It is so tedious,\" sighed the clerk, \"to be always riveted to the same\nplaces.\"", "\"If you were like me,\" said Charles, \"constantly obliged to be in the\nsaddle\"--\n\n\"But,\" Leon went on, addressing himself to Madame Bovary, \"nothing, it\nseems to me, is more pleasant--when one can,\" he added.", "\"Moreover,\" said the druggist, \"the practice of medicine is not very\nhard work in our part of the world, for the state of our roads allows us\nthe use of gigs, and generally, as the farmers are prosperous, they pay\npretty well.", "We have, medically speaking, besides the ordinary cases\nof enteritis, bronchitis, bilious affections, etc., now and then a\nfew intermittent fevers at harvest-time; but on the whole, little of a\nserious nature, nothing special to note, unless it be a great deal of\nscrofula, due, no doubt, to the deplorable hygienic conditions of our\npeasant dwellings.", "Ah!", "you will find many prejudices to combat, Monsieur\nBovary, much obstinacy of routine, with which all the efforts of your\nscience will daily come into collision; for people still have recourse\nto novenas, to relics, to the priest, rather than come straight to the\ndoctor or the chemist.", "The climate, however, is not, truth to tell, bad,\nand we even have a few nonagenarians in our parish.", "The thermometer (I\nhave made some observations) falls in winter to 4 degrees Centigrade\nat the outside, which gives us 24 degrees Reaumur as the maximum, or\notherwise 54 degrees Fahrenheit (English scale), not more.", "And, as a\nmatter of fact, we are sheltered from the north winds by the forest of\nArgueil on the one side, from the west winds by the St. Jean range on\nthe other; and this heat, moreover, which, on account of the aqueous\nvapours given off by the river and the considerable number of cattle\nin the fields, which, as you know, exhale much ammonia, that is to say,\nnitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen (no, nitrogen and hydrogen alone), and\nwhich sucking up into itself the humus from the ground, mixing together\nall those different emanations, unites them into a stack, so to say,\nand combining with the electricity diffused through the atmosphere, when\nthere is any, might in the long run, as in tropical countries, engender\ninsalubrious miasmata--this heat, I say, finds itself perfectly tempered\non the side whence it comes, or rather whence it should come--that is to\nsay, the southern side--by the south-eastern winds, which, having cooled\nthemselves passing over the Seine, reach us sometimes all at once like\nbreezes from Russia.\"", "\"At any rate, you have some walks in the neighbourhood?\"", "continued\nMadame Bovary, speaking to the young man.", "\"Oh, very few,\" he answered.", "\"There is a place they call La Pature, on\nthe top of the hill, on the edge of the forest.", "Sometimes, on Sundays, I\ngo and stay there with a book, watching the sunset.\"", "\"I think there is nothing so admirable as sunsets,\" she resumed; \"but\nespecially by the side of the sea.\"", "\"Oh, I adore the sea!\"", "said Monsieur Leon.", "\"And then, does it not seem to you,\" continued Madame Bovary, \"that the\nmind travels more freely on this limitless expanse, the contemplation of\nwhich elevates the soul, gives ideas of the infinite, the ideal?\"", "\"It is the same with mountainous landscapes,\" continued Leon.", "\"A cousin\nof mine who travelled in Switzerland last year told me that one could\nnot picture to oneself the poetry of the lakes, the charm of the\nwaterfalls, the gigantic effect of the glaciers.", "One sees pines of\nincredible size across torrents, cottages suspended over precipices,\nand, a thousand feet below one, whole valleys when the clouds open.", "Such\nspectacles must stir to enthusiasm, incline to prayer, to ecstasy; and I\nno longer marvel at that celebrated musician who, the better to inspire\nhis imagination, was in the habit of playing the piano before some\nimposing site.\"", "\"You play?\"", "she asked.", "\"No, but I am very fond of music,\" he replied.", "\"Ah!", "don't you listen to him, Madame Bovary,\" interrupted Homais,\nbending over his plate.", "\"That's sheer modesty.", "Why, my dear fellow, the\nother day in your room you were singing 'L'Ange Gardien' ravishingly.", "I\nheard you from the laboratory.", "You gave it like an actor.\"", "Leon, in fact, lodged at the chemist's where he had a small room on the\nsecond floor, overlooking the Place.", "He blushed at the compliment of his\nlandlord, who had already turned to the doctor, and was enumerating to\nhim, one after the other, all the principal inhabitants of Yonville.", "He\nwas telling anecdotes, giving information; the fortune of the notary\nwas not known exactly, and \"there was the Tuvache household,\" who made a\ngood deal of show.", "Emma continued, \"And what music do you prefer?\"", "\"Oh, German music; that which makes you dream.\"", "\"Have you been to the opera?\"", "\"Not yet; but I shall go next year, when I am living at Paris to finish\nreading for the bar.\"", "\"As I had the honour of putting it to your husband,\" said the chemist,\n\"with regard to this poor Yanoda who has run away, you will find\nyourself, thanks to his extravagance, in the possession of one of the\nmost comfortable houses of Yonville.", "Its greatest convenience for a\ndoctor is a door giving on the Walk, where one can go in and out unseen.", "Moreover, it contains everything that is agreeable in a household--a\nlaundry, kitchen with offices, sitting-room, fruit-room, and so on.", "He\nwas a gay dog, who didn't care what he spent.", "At the end of the garden,\nby the side of the water, he had an arbour built just for the purpose of\ndrinking beer in summer; and if madame is fond of gardening she will be\nable--\"\n\n\"My wife doesn't care about it,\" said Charles; \"although she has\nbeen advised to take exercise, she prefers always sitting in her room\nreading.\"", "\"Like me,\" replied Leon.", "\"And indeed, what is better than to sit by\none's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against\nthe window and the lamp is burning?\"", "\"What, indeed?\"", "she said, fixing her large black eyes wide open upon\nhim.", "\"One thinks of nothing,\" he continued; \"the hours slip by.", "Motionless we\ntraverse countries we fancy we see, and your thought, blending with\nthe fiction, playing with the details, follows the outline of the\nadventures.", "It mingles with the characters, and it seems as if it were\nyourself palpitating beneath their costumes.\"", "\"That is true!", "That is true?\"", "she said.", "\"Has it ever happened to you,\" Leon went on, \"to come across some vague\nidea of one's own in a book, some dim image that comes back to you from\nafar, and as the completest expression of your own slightest sentiment?\"", "\"I have experienced it,\" she replied.", "\"That is why,\" he said, \"I especially love the poets.", "I think verse more\ntender than prose, and that it moves far more easily to tears.\"", "\"Still in the long run it is tiring,\" continued Emma.", "\"Now I, on the\ncontrary, adore stories that rush breathlessly along, that frighten one.", "I detest commonplace heroes and moderate sentiments, such as there are\nin nature.\"", "\"In fact,\" observed the clerk, \"these works, not touching the heart,\nmiss, it seems to me, the true end of art.", "It is so sweet, amid all\nthe disenchantments of life, to be able to dwell in thought upon noble\ncharacters, pure affections, and pictures of happiness.", "For myself,\nliving here far from the world, this is my one distraction; but Yonville\naffords so few resources.\"", "\"Like Tostes, no doubt,\" replied Emma; \"and so I always subscribed to a\nlending library.\"", "\"If madame will do me the honour of making use of it\", said the chemist,\nwho had just caught the last words, \"I have at her disposal a library\ncomposed of the best authors, Voltaire, Rousseau, Delille, Walter\nScott, the 'Echo des Feuilletons'; and in addition I receive various\nperiodicals, among them the 'Fanal de Rouen' daily, having the advantage\nto be its correspondent for the districts of Buchy, Forges, Neufchatel,\nYonville, and vicinity.\"", "For two hours and a half they had been at table; for the servant\nArtemis, carelessly dragging her old list slippers over the flags,\nbrought one plate after the other, forgot everything, and constantly\nleft the door of the billiard-room half open, so that it beat against\nthe wall with its hooks.", "Unconsciously, Leon, while talking, had placed his foot on one of the\nbars of the chair on which Madame Bovary was sitting.", "She wore a small\nblue silk necktie, that kept up like a ruff a gauffered cambric collar,\nand with the movements of her head the lower part of her face gently\nsunk into the linen or came out from it.", "Thus side by side, while\nCharles and the chemist chatted, they entered into one of those vague\nconversations where the hazard of all that is said brings you back to\nthe fixed centre of a common sympathy.", "The Paris theatres, titles of\nnovels, new quadrilles, and the world they did not know; Tostes, where\nshe had lived, and Yonville, where they were; they examined all, talked\nof everything till to the end of dinner.", "When coffee was served Felicite went away to get ready the room in the\nnew house, and the guests soon raised the siege.", "Madame Lefrancois was\nasleep near the cinders, while the stable-boy, lantern in hand, was\nwaiting to show Monsieur and Madame Bovary the way home.", "Bits of straw\nstuck in his red hair, and he limped with his left leg.", "When he had\ntaken in his other hand the cure's umbrella, they started.", "The town was asleep; the pillars of the market threw great shadows; the\nearth was all grey as on a summer's night.", "But as the doctor's house was\nonly some fifty paces from the inn, they had to say good-night almost\nimmediately, and the company dispersed.", "As soon as she entered the passage, Emma felt the cold of the plaster\nfall about her shoulders like damp linen.", "The walls were new and the\nwooden stairs creaked.", "In their bedroom, on the first floor, a whitish\nlight passed through the curtainless windows.", "She could catch glimpses of tree tops, and beyond, the fields,\nhalf-drowned in the fog that lay reeking in the moonlight along\nthe course of the river.", "In the middle of the room, pell-mell, were\nscattered drawers, bottles, curtain-rods, gilt poles, with mattresses\non the chairs and basins on the ground--the two men who had brought the\nfurniture had left everything about carelessly.", "This was the fourth time that she had slept in a strange place.", "The first was the day of her going to the convent; the second, of her\narrival at Tostes; the third, at Vaubyessard; and this was the fourth.", "And each one had marked, as it were, the inauguration of a new phase in\nher life.", "She did not believe that things could present themselves in\nthe same way in different places, and since the portion of her life\nlived had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be\nbetter." ]

[ "\"There is a place they call La Pature, on\nthe top of the hill, on the edge of the forest.", "don't you listen to him, Madame Bovary,\" interrupted Homais,\nbending over his plate.", "I\nheard you from the laboratory.", "He blushed at the compliment of his\nlandlord, who had already turned to the doctor, and was enumerating to\nhim, one after the other, all the principal inhabitants of Yonville.", "\"And indeed, what is better than to sit by\none's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against\nthe window and the lamp is burning?\"", "For two hours and a half they had been at table; for the servant\nArtemis, carelessly dragging her old list slippers over the flags,\nbrought one plate after the other, forgot everything, and constantly\nleft the door of the billiard-room half open, so that it beat against\nthe wall with its hooks.", "She wore a small\nblue silk necktie, that kept up like a ruff a gauffered cambric collar,\nand with the movements of her head the lower part of her face gently\nsunk into the linen or came out from it.", "But as the doctor's house was\nonly some fifty paces from the inn, they had to say good-night almost\nimmediately, and the company dispersed.", "As soon as she entered the passage, Emma felt the cold of the plaster\nfall about her shoulders like damp linen.", "In their bedroom, on the first floor, a whitish\nlight passed through the curtainless windows." ]

[ "We have, medically speaking, besides the ordinary cases\nof enteritis, bronchitis, bilious affections, etc., now and then a\nfew intermittent fevers at harvest-time; but on the whole, little of a\nserious nature, nothing special to note, unless it be a great deal of\nscrofula, due, no doubt, to the deplorable hygienic conditions of our\npeasant dwellings.", "The climate, however, is not, truth to tell, bad,\nand we even have a few nonagenarians in our parish.", "\"If madame will do me the honour of making use of it\", said the chemist,\nwho had just caught the last words, \"I have at her disposal a library\ncomposed of the best authors, Voltaire, Rousseau, Delille, Walter\nScott, the 'Echo des Feuilletons'; and in addition I receive various\nperiodicals, among them the 'Fanal de Rouen' daily, having the advantage\nto be its correspondent for the districts of Buchy, Forges, Neufchatel,\nYonville, and vicinity.\"", "The thermometer (I\nhave made some observations) falls in winter to 4 degrees Centigrade\nat the outside, which gives us 24 degrees Reaumur as the maximum, or\notherwise 54 degrees Fahrenheit (English scale), not more.", "said Monsieur Leon.", "Bits of straw\nstuck in his red hair, and he limped with his left leg.", "The flame lit up the\nwhole of her, penetrating with a crude light the woof of her gowns, the\nfine pores of her fair skin, and even her eyelids, which she blinked now\nand again.", "A great red glow passed over her with the blowing of the wind\nthrough the half-open door.", "\"It is the same with mountainous landscapes,\" continued Leon.", "The town was asleep; the pillars of the market threw great shadows; the\nearth was all grey as on a summer's night." ]

[ "Leon, in fact, lodged at the chemist's where he had a small room on the\nsecond floor, overlooking the Place.", "He blushed at the compliment of his\nlandlord, who had already turned to the doctor, and was enumerating to\nhim, one after the other, all the principal inhabitants of Yonville.", "He\nwas telling anecdotes, giving information; the fortune of the notary\nwas not known exactly, and \"there was the Tuvache household,\" who made a\ngood deal of show.", "Emma continued, \"And what music do you prefer?\"", "\"Oh, German music; that which makes you dream.\"", "\"Have you been to the opera?\"", "\"Not yet; but I shall go next year, when I am living at Paris to finish\nreading for the bar.\"", "\"As I had the honour of putting it to your husband,\" said the chemist,\n\"with regard to this poor Yanoda who has run away, you will find\nyourself, thanks to his extravagance, in the possession of one of the\nmost comfortable houses of Yonville.", "Its greatest convenience for a\ndoctor is a door giving on the Walk, where one can go in and out unseen.", "Moreover, it contains everything that is agreeable in a household--a\nlaundry, kitchen with offices, sitting-room, fruit-room, and so on.", "He\nwas a gay dog, who didn't care what he spent." ]

[ "\nEmma got out first, then Felicite, Monsieur Lheureux, and a nurse, and\nthey had to wake up Charles in his corner, where he had slept soundly\nsince night set in.", "Homais introduced himself; he offered his homages to madame and his\nrespects to monsieur; said he was charmed to have been able to render\nthem some slight service, and added with a cordial air that he had\nventured to invite himself, his wife being away.", "When Madame Bovary was in the kitchen she went up to the chimney.", "With the tips of her fingers she caught her dress at the knee, and\nhaving thus pulled it up to her ankle, held out her foot in its black\nboot to the fire above the revolving leg of mutton.", "The flame lit up the\nwhole of her, penetrating with a crude light the woof of her gowns, the\nfine pores of her fair skin, and even her eyelids, which she blinked now\nand again.", "A great red glow passed over her with the blowing of the wind\nthrough the half-open door.", "On the other side of the chimney a young man with fair hair watched her\nsilently.", "As he was a good deal bored at Yonville, where he was a clerk at the\nnotary's, Monsieur Guillaumin, Monsieur Leon Dupuis (it was he who\nwas the second habitue of the \"Lion d'Or\") frequently put back his\ndinner-hour in hope that some traveler might come to the inn, with whom\nhe could chat in the evening.", "On the days when his work was done early,\nhe had, for want of something else to do, to come punctually, and endure\nfrom soup to cheese a tete-a-tete with Binet.", "It was therefore with\ndelight that he accepted the landlady's suggestion that he should dine\nin company with the newcomers, and they passed into the large parlour\nwhere Madame Lefrancois, for the purpose of showing off, had had the\ntable laid for four.", "But as the doctor's house was\nonly some fifty paces from the inn, they had to say good-night almost\nimmediately, and the company dispersed.", "As soon as she entered the passage, Emma felt the cold of the plaster\nfall about her shoulders like damp linen.", "The walls were new and the\nwooden stairs creaked.", "In their bedroom, on the first floor, a whitish\nlight passed through the curtainless windows.", "She could catch glimpses of tree tops, and beyond, the fields,\nhalf-drowned in the fog that lay reeking in the moonlight along\nthe course of the river.", "In the middle of the room, pell-mell, were\nscattered drawers, bottles, curtain-rods, gilt poles, with mattresses\non the chairs and basins on the ground--the two men who had brought the\nfurniture had left everything about carelessly.", "This was the fourth time that she had slept in a strange place.", "The first was the day of her going to the convent; the second, of her\narrival at Tostes; the third, at Vaubyessard; and this was the fourth.", "And each one had marked, as it were, the inauguration of a new phase in\nher life.", "She did not believe that things could present themselves in\nthe same way in different places, and since the portion of her life\nlived had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be\nbetter." ]

[ "\nThe next day, as she was getting up, she saw the clerk on the Place.", "She\nhad on a dressing-gown.", "He looked up and bowed.", "She nodded quickly and\nreclosed the window.", "Leon waited all day for six o'clock in the evening to come, but on going\nto the inn, he found no one but Monsieur Binet, already at table.", "The\ndinner of the evening before had been a considerable event for him; he\nhad never till then talked for two hours consecutively to a \"lady.\"", "How\nthen had he been able to explain, and in such language, the number of\nthings that he could not have said so well before?", "He was usually\nshy, and maintained that reserve which partakes at once of modesty and\ndissimulation.", "At Yonville he was considered \"well-bred.\"", "He listened to the arguments\nof the older people, and did not seem hot about politics--a remarkable\nthing for a young man.", "Then he had some accomplishments; he painted in\nwater-colours, could read the key of G, and readily talked literature\nafter dinner when he did not play cards.", "Monsieur Homais respected him\nfor his education; Madame Homais liked him for his good-nature, for\nhe often took the little Homais into the garden--little brats who were\nalways dirty, very much spoilt, and somewhat lymphatic, like their\nmother.", "Besides the servant to look after them, they had Justin, the\nchemist's apprentice, a second cousin of Monsieur Homais, who had been\ntaken into the house from charity, and who was useful at the same time\nas a servant.", "The druggist proved the best of neighbours.", "He gave Madame Bovary\ninformation as to the trades-people, sent expressly for his own cider\nmerchant, tasted the drink himself, and saw that the casks were properly\nplaced in the cellar; he explained how to set about getting in a\nsupply of butter cheap, and made an arrangement with Lestiboudois, the\nsacristan, who, besides his sacerdotal and funeral functions, looked\nafter the principal gardens at Yonville by the hour or the year,\naccording to the taste of the customers.", "The need of looking after others was not the only thing that urged the\nchemist to such obsequious cordiality; there was a plan underneath it\nall.", "He had infringed the law of the 19th Ventose, year xi., article I, which\nforbade all persons not having a diploma to practise medicine; so that,\nafter certain anonymous denunciations, Homais had been summoned to Rouen\nto see the procurer of the king in his own private room; the magistrate\nreceiving him standing up, ermine on shoulder and cap on head.", "It was\nin the morning, before the court opened.", "In the corridors one heard\nthe heavy boots of the gendarmes walking past, and like a far-off noise\ngreat locks that were shut.", "The druggist's ears tingled as if he were\nabout to have an apoplectic stroke; he saw the depths of dungeons,\nhis family in tears, his shop sold, all the jars dispersed; and he was\nobliged to enter a cafe and take a glass of rum and seltzer to recover\nhis spirits.", "Little by little the memory of this reprimand grew fainter, and\nhe continued, as heretofore, to give anodyne consultations in his\nback-parlour.", "But the mayor resented it, his colleagues were jealous,\neverything was to be feared; gaining over Monsieur Bovary by his\nattentions was to earn his gratitude, and prevent his speaking out later\non, should he notice anything.", "So every morning Homais brought him \"the\npaper,\" and often in the afternoon left his shop for a few moments to\nhave a chat with the Doctor.", "Charles was dull: patients did not come.", "He remained seated for hours\nwithout speaking, went into his consulting room to sleep, or watched\nhis wife sewing.", "Then for diversion he employed himself at home as a\nworkman; he even tried to do up the attic with some paint which had been\nleft behind by the painters.", "But money matters worried him.", "He had\nspent so much for repairs at Tostes, for madame's toilette, and for the\nmoving, that the whole dowry, over three thousand crowns, had slipped\naway in two years.", "Then how many things had been spoilt or lost during their carriage from\nTostes to Yonville, without counting the plaster cure, who falling out\nof the coach at an over-severe jolt, had been dashed into a thousand\nfragments on the pavements of Quincampoix!", "A pleasanter trouble came\nto distract him, namely, the pregnancy of his wife.", "As the time of her\nconfinement approached he cherished her the more.", "It was another bond of\nthe flesh establishing itself, and, as it were, a continued sentiment\nof a more complex union.", "When from afar he saw her languid walk, and\nher figure without stays turning softly on her hips; when opposite one\nanother he looked at her at his ease, while she took tired poses in her\narmchair, then his happiness knew no bounds; he got up, embraced her,\npassed his hands over her face, called her little mamma, wanted to\nmake her dance, and half-laughing, half-crying, uttered all kinds of\ncaressing pleasantries that came into his head.", "The idea of having\nbegotten a child delighted him.", "Now he wanted nothing.", "He knew human\nlife from end to end, and he sat down to it with serenity.", "Emma at first felt a great astonishment; then was anxious to be\ndelivered that she might know what it was to be a mother.", "But not\nbeing able to spend as much as she would have liked, to have a\nswing-bassinette with rose silk curtains, and embroidered caps, in a fit\nof bitterness she gave up looking after the trousseau, and ordered the\nwhole of it from a village needlewoman, without choosing or discussing\nanything.", "Thus she did not amuse herself with those preparations that\nstimulate the tenderness of mothers, and so her affection was from the\nvery outset, perhaps, to some extent attenuated.", "As Charles, however, spoke of the boy at every meal, she soon began to\nthink of him more consecutively.", "She hoped for a son; he would be strong and dark; she would call him\nGeorge; and this idea of having a male child was like an expected\nrevenge for all her impotence in the past.", "A man, at least, is free; he\nmay travel over passions and over countries, overcome obstacles, taste\nof the most far-away pleasures.", "But a woman is always hampered.", "At once\ninert and flexible, she has against her the weakness of the flesh and\nlegal dependence.", "Her will, like the veil of her bonnet, held by a\nstring, flutters in every wind; there is always some desire that draws\nher, some conventionality that restrains.", "She was confined on a Sunday at about six o'clock, as the sun was\nrising.", "\"It is a girl!\"", "said Charles.", "She turned her head away and fainted.", "Madame Homais, as well as Madame Lefrancois of the Lion d'Or, almost\nimmediately came running in to embrace her.", "The chemist, as man of\ndiscretion, only offered a few provincial felicitations through the\nhalf-opened door.", "He wished to see the child and thought it well made.", "Whilst she was getting well she occupied herself much in seeking a\nname for her daughter.", "First she went over all those that have Italian\nendings, such as Clara, Louisa, Amanda, Atala; she liked Galsuinde\npretty well, and Yseult or Leocadie still better.", "Charles wanted the child to be called after her mother; Emma opposed\nthis.", "They ran over the calendar from end to end, and then consulted\noutsiders.", "\"Monsieur Leon,\" said the chemist, \"with whom I was talking about it\nthe other day, wonders you do not chose Madeleine.", "It is very much in\nfashion just now.\"", "But Madame Bovary, senior, cried out loudly against this name of a\nsinner.", "As to Monsieur Homais, he had a preference for all those that\nrecalled some great man, an illustrious fact, or a generous idea, and it\nwas on this system that he had baptized his four children.", "Thus Napoleon\nrepresented glory and Franklin liberty; Irma was perhaps a concession to\nromanticism, but Athalie was a homage to the greatest masterpiece of the\nFrench stage.", "For his philosophical convictions did not interfere\nwith his artistic tastes; in him the thinker did not stifle the man of\nsentiment; he could make distinctions, make allowances for imagination\nand fanaticism.", "In this tragedy, for example, he found fault with the\nideas, but admired the style; he detested the conception, but applauded\nall the details, and loathed the characters while he grew enthusiastic\nover their dialogue.", "When he read the fine passages he was transported,\nbut when he thought that mummers would get something out of them for\ntheir show, he was disconsolate; and in this confusion of sentiments in\nwhich he was involved he would have liked at once to crown Racine with\nboth his hands and discuss with him for a good quarter of an hour.", "At last Emma remembered that at the chateau of Vaubyessard she had heard\nthe Marchioness call a young lady Berthe; from that moment this name was\nchosen; and as old Rouault could not come, Monsieur Homais was requested\nto stand godfather.", "His gifts were all products from his establishment,\nto wit: six boxes of jujubes, a whole jar of racahout, three cakes of\nmarshmallow paste, and six sticks of sugar-candy into the bargain that\nhe had come across in a cupboard.", "On the evening of the ceremony there\nwas a grand dinner; the cure was present; there was much excitement.", "Monsieur Homais towards liqueur-time began singing \"Le Dieu des bonnes\ngens.\"", "Monsieur Leon sang a barcarolle, and Madame Bovary, senior, who\nwas godmother, a romance of the time of the Empire; finally, M. Bovary,\nsenior, insisted on having the child brought down, and began baptizing\nit with a glass of champagne that he poured over its head.", "This mockery\nof the first of the sacraments made the Abbe Bournisien angry; old\nBovary replied by a quotation from \"La Guerre des Dieux\"; the cure\nwanted to leave; the ladies implored, Homais interfered; and they\nsucceeded in making the priest sit down again, and he quietly went on\nwith the half-finished coffee in his saucer.", "Monsieur Bovary, senior, stayed at Yonville a month, dazzling the\nnatives by a superb policeman's cap with silver tassels that he wore\nin the morning when he smoked his pipe in the square.", "Being also in the\nhabit of drinking a good deal of brandy, he often sent the servant\nto the Lion d'Or to buy him a bottle, which was put down to his\nson's account, and to perfume his handkerchiefs he used up his\ndaughter-in-law's whole supply of eau-de-cologne.", "The latter did not at all dislike his company.", "He had knocked about the\nworld, he talked about Berlin, Vienna, and Strasbourg, of his soldier\ntimes, of the mistresses he had had, the grand luncheons of which he had\npartaken; then he was amiable, and sometimes even, either on the stairs,\nor in the garden, would seize hold of her waist, crying, \"Charles, look\nout for yourself.\"", "Then Madame Bovary, senior, became alarmed for her son's happiness, and\nfearing that her husband might in the long-run have an immoral influence\nupon the ideas of the young woman, took care to hurry their departure.", "Perhaps she had more serious reasons for uneasiness.", "Monsieur Bovary was\nnot the man to respect anything.", "One day Emma was suddenly seized with the desire to see her little\ngirl, who had been put to nurse with the carpenter's wife, and, without\nlooking at the calendar to see whether the six weeks of the Virgin were\nyet passed, she set out for the Rollets' house, situated at the extreme\nend of the village, between the highroad and the fields.", "It was mid-day, the shutters of the houses were closed and the slate\nroofs that glittered beneath the fierce light of the blue sky seemed to\nstrike sparks from the crest of the gables.", "A heavy wind was blowing;\nEmma felt weak as she walked; the stones of the pavement hurt her; she\nwas doubtful whether she would not go home again, or go in somewhere to\nrest.", "At this moment Monsieur Leon came out from a neighbouring door with a\nbundle of papers under his arm.", "He came to greet her, and stood in the\nshade in front of the Lheureux's shop under the projecting grey awning.", "Madame Bovary said she was going to see her baby, but that she was\nbeginning to grow tired.", "\"If--\" said Leon, not daring to go on.", "\"Have you any business to attend to?\"", "she asked.", "And on the clerk's answer, she begged him to accompany her.", "That same\nevening this was known in Yonville, and Madame Tuvache, the mayor's\nwife, declared in the presence of her servant that \"Madame Bovary was\ncompromising herself.\"", "To get to the nurse's it was necessary to turn to the left on leaving\nthe street, as if making for the cemetery, and to follow between little\nhouses and yards a small path bordered with privet hedges.", "They were\nin bloom, and so were the speedwells, eglantines, thistles, and the\nsweetbriar that sprang up from the thickets.", "Through openings in\nthe hedges one could see into the huts, some pigs on a dung-heap, or\ntethered cows rubbing their horns against the trunk of trees.", "The two,\nside by side walked slowly, she leaning upon him, and he restraining\nhis pace, which he regulated by hers; in front of them a swarm of midges\nfluttered, buzzing in the warm air.", "They recognized the house by an old walnut-tree which shaded it.", "Low and covered with brown tiles, there hung outside it, beneath the\ndormer-window of the garret, a string of onions.", "Faggots upright\nagainst a thorn fence surrounded a bed of lettuce, a few square feet of\nlavender, and sweet peas strung on sticks.", "Dirty water was running here\nand there on the grass, and all round were several indefinite rags,\nknitted stockings, a red calico jacket, and a large sheet of coarse\nlinen spread over the hedge.", "At the noise of the gate the nurse appeared\nwith a baby she was suckling on one arm.", "With her other hand she was\npulling along a poor puny little fellow, his face covered with scrofula,\nthe son of a Rouen hosier, whom his parents, too taken up with their\nbusiness, left in the country.", "\"Go in,\" she said; \"your little one is there asleep.\"", "The room on the ground-floor, the only one in the dwelling, had at its\nfarther end, against the wall, a large bed without curtains, while a\nkneading-trough took up the side by the window, one pane of which\nwas mended with a piece of blue paper.", "In the corner behind the door,\nshining hob-nailed shoes stood in a row under the slab of the washstand,\nnear a bottle of oil with a feather stuck in its mouth; a Matthieu\nLaensberg lay on the dusty mantelpiece amid gunflints, candle-ends, and\nbits of amadou.", "Finally, the last luxury in the apartment was a \"Fame\" blowing her\ntrumpets, a picture cut out, no doubt, from some perfumer's prospectus\nand nailed to the wall with six wooden shoe-pegs.", "Emma's child was asleep in a wicker-cradle.", "She took it up in the\nwrapping that enveloped it and began singing softly as she rocked\nherself to and fro.", "Leon walked up and down the room; it seemed strange to him to see this\nbeautiful woman in her nankeen dress in the midst of all this poverty.", "Madam Bovary reddened; he turned away, thinking perhaps there had been\nan impertinent look in his eyes.", "Then she put back the little girl, who\nhad just been sick over her collar.", "The nurse at once came to dry her, protesting that it wouldn't show.", "\"She gives me other doses,\" she said: \"I am always a-washing of her.", "If\nyou would have the goodness to order Camus, the grocer, to let me have\na little soap, it would really be more convenient for you, as I needn't\ntrouble you then.\"", "\"Very well!", "very well!\"", "said Emma.", "\"Good morning, Madame Rollet,\" and\nshe went out, wiping her shoes at the door.", "The good woman accompanied her to the end of the garden, talking all the\ntime of the trouble she had getting up of nights.", "\"I'm that worn out sometimes as I drop asleep on my chair.", "I'm sure you\nmight at least give me just a pound of ground coffee; that'd last me a\nmonth, and I'd take it of a morning with some milk.\"", "After having submitted to her thanks, Madam Bovary left.", "She had gone a\nlittle way down the path when, at the sound of wooden shoes, she turned\nround.", "It was the nurse.", "\"What is it?\"", "Then the peasant woman, taking her aside behind an elm tree, began\ntalking to her of her husband, who with his trade and six francs a year\nthat the captain--\n\n\"Oh, be quick!\"", "said Emma.", "\"Well,\" the nurse went on, heaving sighs between each word, \"I'm afraid\nhe'll be put out seeing me have coffee alone, you know men--\"\n\n\"But you are to have some,\" Emma repeated; \"I will give you some.", "You\nbother me!\"", "\"Oh, dear!", "my poor, dear lady!", "you see in consequence of his wounds he\nhas terrible cramps in the chest.", "He even says that cider weakens him.\"", "\"Do make haste, Mere Rollet!\"", "\"Well,\" the latter continued, making a curtsey, \"if it weren't asking\ntoo much,\" and she curtsied once more, \"if you would\"--and her eyes\nbegged--\"a jar of brandy,\" she said at last, \"and I'd rub your little\none's feet with it; they're as tender as one's tongue.\"", "Once rid of the nurse, Emma again took Monsieur Leon's arm.", "She walked\nfast for some time, then more slowly, and looking straight in front of\nher, her eyes rested on the shoulder of the young man, whose frock-coat\nhad a black-velvety collar.", "His brown hair fell over it, straight and\ncarefully arranged.", "She noticed his nails which were longer than one\nwore them at Yonville.", "It was one of the clerk's chief occupations to\ntrim them, and for this purpose he kept a special knife in his writing\ndesk.", "They returned to Yonville by the water-side.", "In the warm season the\nbank, wider than at other times, showed to their foot the garden walls\nwhence a few steps led to the river.", "It flowed noiselessly, swift,\nand cold to the eye; long, thin grasses huddled together in it as the\ncurrent drove them, and spread themselves upon the limpid water like\nstreaming hair; sometimes at the tip of the reeds or on the leaf of a\nwater-lily an insect with fine legs crawled or rested.", "The sun pierced\nwith a ray the small blue bubbles of the waves that, breaking, followed\neach other; branchless old willows mirrored their grey backs in\nthe water; beyond, all around, the meadows seemed empty.", "It was the\ndinner-hour at the farms, and the young woman and her companion heard\nnothing as they walked but the fall of their steps on the earth of the\npath, the words they spoke, and the sound of Emma's dress rustling round\nher.", "The walls of the gardens with pieces of bottle on their coping were\nhot as the glass windows of a conservatory.", "Wallflowers had sprung up\nbetween the bricks, and with the tip of her open sunshade Madame Bovary,\nas she passed, made some of their faded flowers crumble into a yellow\ndust, or a spray of overhanging honeysuckle and clematis caught in its\nfringe and dangled for a moment over the silk.", "They were talking of a troupe of Spanish dancers who were expected\nshortly at the Rouen theatre.", "\"Are you going?\"", "she asked.", "\"If I can,\" he answered.", "Had they nothing else to say to one another?", "Yet their eyes were full\nof more serious speech, and while they forced themselves to find trivial\nphrases, they felt the same languor stealing over them both.", "It was the\nwhisper of the soul, deep, continuous, dominating that of their voices.", "Surprised with wonder at this strange sweetness, they did not think of\nspeaking of the sensation or of seeking its cause.", "Coming joys, like\ntropical shores, throw over the immensity before them their inborn\nsoftness, an odorous wind, and we are lulled by this intoxication\nwithout a thought of the horizon that we do not even know.", "In one place the ground had been trodden down by the cattle; they had to\nstep on large green stones put here and there in the mud.", "She often stopped a moment to look where to place her foot, and\ntottering on a stone that shook, her arms outspread, her form bent\nforward with a look of indecision, she would laugh, afraid of falling\ninto the puddles of water.", "When they arrived in front of her garden, Madame Bovary opened the\nlittle gate, ran up the steps and disappeared.", "Leon returned to his office.", "His chief was away; he just glanced at the\nbriefs, then cut himself a pen, and at last took up his hat and went\nout.", "He went to La Pature at the top of the Argueil hills at the beginning of\nthe forest; he threw himself upon the ground under the pines and watched\nthe sky through his fingers.", "\"How bored I am!\"", "he said to himself, \"how bored I am!\"", "He thought he was to be pitied for living in this village, with Homais\nfor a friend and Monsieru Guillaumin for master.", "The latter, entirely\nabsorbed by his business, wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and red\nwhiskers over a white cravat, understood nothing of mental refinements,\nalthough he affected a stiff English manner, which in the beginning had\nimpressed the clerk.", "As to the chemist's spouse, she was the best wife in Normandy, gentle\nas a sheep, loving her children, her father, her mother, her cousins,\nweeping for other's woes, letting everything go in her household, and\ndetesting corsets; but so slow of movement, such a bore to listen to, so\ncommon in appearance, and of such restricted conversation, that although\nshe was thirty, he only twenty, although they slept in rooms next each\nother and he spoke to her daily, he never thought that she might be a\nwoman for another, or that she possessed anything else of her sex than\nthe gown.", "And what else was there?", "Binet, a few shopkeepers, two or three\npublicans, the cure, and finally, Monsieur Tuvache, the mayor, with his\ntwo sons, rich, crabbed, obtuse persons, who farmed their own lands\nand had feasts among themselves, bigoted to boot, and quite unbearable\ncompanions.", "But from the general background of all these human faces Emma's stood\nout isolated and yet farthest off; for between her and him he seemed to\nsee a vague abyss.", "In the beginning he had called on her several times along with the\ndruggist.", "Charles had not appeared particularly anxious to see him\nagain, and Leon did not know what to do between his fear of being\nindiscreet and the desire for an intimacy that seemed almost impossible." ]

[ "Little by little the memory of this reprimand grew fainter, and\nhe continued, as heretofore, to give anodyne consultations in his\nback-parlour.", "Charles was dull: patients did not come.", "He remained seated for hours\nwithout speaking, went into his consulting room to sleep, or watched\nhis wife sewing.", "The idea of having\nbegotten a child delighted him.", "A heavy wind was blowing;\nEmma felt weak as she walked; the stones of the pavement hurt her; she\nwas doubtful whether she would not go home again, or go in somewhere to\nrest.", "I'm sure you\nmight at least give me just a pound of ground coffee; that'd last me a\nmonth, and I'd take it of a morning with some milk.\"", "It was the nurse.", "They returned to Yonville by the water-side.", "she asked.", "Binet, a few shopkeepers, two or three\npublicans, the cure, and finally, Monsieur Tuvache, the mayor, with his\ntwo sons, rich, crabbed, obtuse persons, who farmed their own lands\nand had feasts among themselves, bigoted to boot, and quite unbearable\ncompanions." ]

[ "He remained seated for hours\nwithout speaking, went into his consulting room to sleep, or watched\nhis wife sewing.", "Leon returned to his office.", "Little by little the memory of this reprimand grew fainter, and\nhe continued, as heretofore, to give anodyne consultations in his\nback-parlour.", "He looked up and bowed.", "She hoped for a son; he would be strong and dark; she would call him\nGeorge; and this idea of having a male child was like an expected\nrevenge for all her impotence in the past.", "\"She gives me other doses,\" she said: \"I am always a-washing of her.", "In the beginning he had called on her several times along with the\ndruggist.", "Low and covered with brown tiles, there hung outside it, beneath the\ndormer-window of the garret, a string of onions.", "The latter did not at all dislike his company.", "When from afar he saw her languid walk, and\nher figure without stays turning softly on her hips; when opposite one\nanother he looked at her at his ease, while she took tired poses in her\narmchair, then his happiness knew no bounds; he got up, embraced her,\npassed his hands over her face, called her little mamma, wanted to\nmake her dance, and half-laughing, half-crying, uttered all kinds of\ncaressing pleasantries that came into his head." ]

[ "A heavy wind was blowing;\nEmma felt weak as she walked; the stones of the pavement hurt her; she\nwas doubtful whether she would not go home again, or go in somewhere to\nrest.", "At this moment Monsieur Leon came out from a neighbouring door with a\nbundle of papers under his arm.", "He came to greet her, and stood in the\nshade in front of the Lheureux's shop under the projecting grey awning.", "Madame Bovary said she was going to see her baby, but that she was\nbeginning to grow tired.", "\"If--\" said Leon, not daring to go on.", "\"Have you any business to attend to?\"", "she asked.", "And on the clerk's answer, she begged him to accompany her.", "That same\nevening this was known in Yonville, and Madame Tuvache, the mayor's\nwife, declared in the presence of her servant that \"Madame Bovary was\ncompromising herself.\"", "To get to the nurse's it was necessary to turn to the left on leaving\nthe street, as if making for the cemetery, and to follow between little\nhouses and yards a small path bordered with privet hedges.", "They were\nin bloom, and so were the speedwells, eglantines, thistles, and the\nsweetbriar that sprang up from the thickets." ]

[ "\nThe next day, as she was getting up, she saw the clerk on the Place.", "She\nhad on a dressing-gown.", "He looked up and bowed.", "She nodded quickly and\nreclosed the window.", "Leon waited all day for six o'clock in the evening to come, but on going\nto the inn, he found no one but Monsieur Binet, already at table.", "The\ndinner of the evening before had been a considerable event for him; he\nhad never till then talked for two hours consecutively to a \"lady.\"", "How\nthen had he been able to explain, and in such language, the number of\nthings that he could not have said so well before?", "He was usually\nshy, and maintained that reserve which partakes at once of modesty and\ndissimulation.", "At Yonville he was considered \"well-bred.\"", "He listened to the arguments\nof the older people, and did not seem hot about politics--a remarkable\nthing for a young man.", "\"How bored I am!\"", "he said to himself, \"how bored I am!\"", "He thought he was to be pitied for living in this village, with Homais\nfor a friend and Monsieru Guillaumin for master.", "The latter, entirely\nabsorbed by his business, wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and red\nwhiskers over a white cravat, understood nothing of mental refinements,\nalthough he affected a stiff English manner, which in the beginning had\nimpressed the clerk.", "As to the chemist's spouse, she was the best wife in Normandy, gentle\nas a sheep, loving her children, her father, her mother, her cousins,\nweeping for other's woes, letting everything go in her household, and\ndetesting corsets; but so slow of movement, such a bore to listen to, so\ncommon in appearance, and of such restricted conversation, that although\nshe was thirty, he only twenty, although they slept in rooms next each\nother and he spoke to her daily, he never thought that she might be a\nwoman for another, or that she possessed anything else of her sex than\nthe gown.", "And what else was there?", "Binet, a few shopkeepers, two or three\npublicans, the cure, and finally, Monsieur Tuvache, the mayor, with his\ntwo sons, rich, crabbed, obtuse persons, who farmed their own lands\nand had feasts among themselves, bigoted to boot, and quite unbearable\ncompanions.", "But from the general background of all these human faces Emma's stood\nout isolated and yet farthest off; for between her and him he seemed to\nsee a vague abyss.", "In the beginning he had called on her several times along with the\ndruggist.", "Charles had not appeared particularly anxious to see him\nagain, and Leon did not know what to do between his fear of being\nindiscreet and the desire for an intimacy that seemed almost impossible." ]

[ "\nWhen the first cold days set in Emma left her bedroom for the\nsitting-room, a long apartment with a low ceiling, in which there was\non the mantelpiece a large bunch of coral spread out against the\nlooking-glass.", "Seated in her arm chair near the window, she could see\nthe villagers pass along the pavement.", "Twice a day Leon went from his office to the Lion d'Or.", "Emma could hear\nhim coming from afar; she leant forward listening, and the young man\nglided past the curtain, always dressed in the same way, and without\nturning his head.", "But in the twilight, when, her chin resting on her\nleft hand, she let the embroidery she had begun fall on her knees, she\noften shuddered at the apparition of this shadow suddenly gliding past.", "She would get up and order the table to be laid.", "Monsieur Homais called at dinner-time.", "Skull-cap in hand, he came in on\ntiptoe, in order to disturb no one, always repeating the same phrase,\n\"Good evening, everybody.\"", "Then, when he had taken his seat at the table\nbetween the pair, he asked the doctor about his patients, and the latter\nconsulted his as to the probability of their payment.", "Next they talked\nof \"what was in the paper.\"", "Homais by this hour knew it almost by heart, and he repeated it from end\nto end, with the reflections of the penny-a-liners, and all the stories\nof individual catastrophes that had occurred in France or abroad.", "But\nthe subject becoming exhausted, he was not slow in throwing out some\nremarks on the dishes before him.", "Sometimes even, half-rising, he delicately pointed out to madame the\ntenderest morsel, or turning to the servant, gave her some advice on the\nmanipulation of stews and the hygiene of seasoning.", "He talked aroma, osmazome, juices, and gelatine in a bewildering manner.", "Moreover, Homais, with his head fuller of recipes than his shop of jars,\nexcelled in making all kinds of preserves, vinegars, and sweet liqueurs;\nhe knew also all the latest inventions in economic stoves, together with\nthe art of preserving cheese and of curing sick wines.", "At eight o'clock Justin came to fetch him to shut up the shop.", "Then Monsieur Homais gave him a sly look, especially if Felicite was\nthere, for he half noticed that his apprentice was fond of the doctor's\nhouse.", "\"The young dog,\" he said, \"is beginning to have ideas, and the devil\ntake me if I don't believe he's in love with your servant!\"", "But a more serious fault with which he reproached Justin was his\nconstantly listening to conversation.", "On Sunday, for example, one could\nnot get him out of the drawing-room, whither Madame Homais had called\nhim to fetch the children, who were falling asleep in the arm-chairs,\nand dragging down with their backs calico chair-covers that were too\nlarge.", "Not many people came to these soirees at the chemist's, his\nscandal-mongering and political opinions having successfully alienated\nvarious respectable persons from him.", "The clerk never failed to be\nthere.", "As soon as he heard the bell he ran to meet Madame Bovary, took\nher shawl, and put away under the shop-counter the thick list shoes that\nshe wore over her boots when there was snow.", "First they played some hands at trente-et-un; next Monsieur Homais\nplayed ecarte with Emma; Leon behind her gave her advice.", "Standing up with his hands on the back of her chair he saw the teeth of\nher comb that bit into her chignon.", "With every movement that she made\nto throw her cards the right side of her dress was drawn up.", "From her\nturned-up hair a dark colour fell over her back, and growing gradually\npaler, lost itself little by little in the shade.", "Then her dress fell\non both sides of her chair, puffing out full of folds, and reached the\nground.", "When Leon occasionally felt the sole of his boot resting on it,\nhe drew back as if he had trodden upon some one.", "When the game of cards was over, the druggist and the Doctor played\ndominoes, and Emma, changing her place, leant her elbow on the table,\nturning over the leaves of \"L'Illustration\".", "She had brought her ladies'\njournal with her.", "Leon sat down near her; they looked at the engravings\ntogether, and waited for one another at the bottom of the pages.", "She\noften begged him to read her the verses; Leon declaimed them in a\nlanguid voice, to which he carefully gave a dying fall in the love\npassages.", "But the noise of the dominoes annoyed him.", "Monsieur Homais\nwas strong at the game; he could beat Charles and give him a double-six.", "Then the three hundred finished, they both stretched themselves out in\nfront of the fire, and were soon asleep.", "The fire was dying out in the\ncinders; the teapot was empty, Leon was still reading.", "Emma listened to him, mechanically turning around the lampshade, on the\ngauze of which were painted clowns in carriages, and tight-rope dances\nwith their balancing-poles.", "Leon stopped, pointing with a gesture to his\nsleeping audience; then they talked in low tones, and their conversation\nseemed the more sweet to them because it was unheard.", "Thus a kind of bond was established between them, a constant commerce\nof books and of romances.", "Monsieur Bovary, little given to jealousy, did\nnot trouble himself about it.", "On his birthday he received a beautiful phrenological head, all marked\nwith figures to the thorax and painted blue.", "This was an attention of\nthe clerk's.", "He showed him many others, even to doing errands for him\nat Rouen; and the book of a novelist having made the mania for cactuses\nfashionable, Leon bought some for Madame Bovary, bringing them back on\nhis knees in the \"Hirondelle,\" pricking his fingers on their hard hairs.", "She had a board with a balustrade fixed against her window to hold the\npots.", "The clerk, too, had his small hanging garden; they saw each other\ntending their flowers at their windows.", "Of the windows of the village there was one yet more often occupied; for\non Sundays from morning to night, and every morning when the weather was\nbright, one could see at the dormer-window of the garret the profile of\nMonsieur Binet bending over his lathe, whose monotonous humming could be\nheard at the Lion d'Or.", "One evening on coming home Leon found in his room a rug in velvet and\nwool with leaves on a pale ground.", "He called Madame Homais, Monsieur\nHomais, Justin, the children, the cook; he spoke of it to his chief;\nevery one wanted to see this rug.", "Why did the doctor's wife give the\nclerk presents?", "It looked queer.", "They decided that she must be his\nlover.", "He made this seem likely, so ceaselessly did he talk of her charms and\nof her wit; so much so, that Binet once roughly answered him--\n\n\"What does it matter to me since I'm not in her set?\"", "He tortured himself to find out how he could make his declaration to\nher, and always halting between the fear of displeasing her and the\nshame of being such a coward, he wept with discouragement and desire.", "Then he took energetic resolutions, wrote letters that he tore up, put\nit off to times that he again deferred.", "Often he set out with the determination to dare all; but this resolution\nsoon deserted him in Emma's presence, and when Charles, dropping in,\ninvited him to jump into his chaise to go with him to see some patient\nin the neighbourhood, he at once accepted, bowed to madame, and went\nout.", "Her husband, was he not something belonging to her?", "As to Emma,\nshe did not ask herself whether she loved.", "Love, she thought, must come\nsuddenly, with great outbursts and lightnings--a hurricane of the skies,\nwhich falls upon life, revolutionises it, roots up the will like a leaf,\nand sweeps the whole heart into the abyss.", "She did not know that on\nthe terrace of houses it makes lakes when the pipes are choked, and she\nwould thus have remained in her security when she suddenly discovered a\nrent in the wall of it." ]

[ "Next they talked\nof \"what was in the paper.\"", "Moreover, Homais, with his head fuller of recipes than his shop of jars,\nexcelled in making all kinds of preserves, vinegars, and sweet liqueurs;\nhe knew also all the latest inventions in economic stoves, together with\nthe art of preserving cheese and of curing sick wines.", "Then Monsieur Homais gave him a sly look, especially if Felicite was\nthere, for he half noticed that his apprentice was fond of the doctor's\nhouse.", "First they played some hands at trente-et-un; next Monsieur Homais\nplayed ecarte with Emma; Leon behind her gave her advice.", "When the game of cards was over, the druggist and the Doctor played\ndominoes, and Emma, changing her place, leant her elbow on the table,\nturning over the leaves of \"L'Illustration\".", "She had brought her ladies'\njournal with her.", "Thus a kind of bond was established between them, a constant commerce\nof books and of romances.", "The clerk, too, had his small hanging garden; they saw each other\ntending their flowers at their windows.", "Why did the doctor's wife give the\nclerk presents?", "Often he set out with the determination to dare all; but this resolution\nsoon deserted him in Emma's presence, and when Charles, dropping in,\ninvited him to jump into his chaise to go with him to see some patient\nin the neighbourhood, he at once accepted, bowed to madame, and went\nout." ]

[ "But in the twilight, when, her chin resting on her\nleft hand, she let the embroidery she had begun fall on her knees, she\noften shuddered at the apparition of this shadow suddenly gliding past.", "On Sunday, for example, one could\nnot get him out of the drawing-room, whither Madame Homais had called\nhim to fetch the children, who were falling asleep in the arm-chairs,\nand dragging down with their backs calico chair-covers that were too\nlarge.", "Standing up with his hands on the back of her chair he saw the teeth of\nher comb that bit into her chignon.", "Leon sat down near her; they looked at the engravings\ntogether, and waited for one another at the bottom of the pages.", "He tortured himself to find out how he could make his declaration to\nher, and always halting between the fear of displeasing her and the\nshame of being such a coward, he wept with discouragement and desire.", "Why did the doctor's wife give the\nclerk presents?", "Then her dress fell\non both sides of her chair, puffing out full of folds, and reached the\nground.", "Monsieur Homais called at dinner-time.", "As to Emma,\nshe did not ask herself whether she loved.", "On his birthday he received a beautiful phrenological head, all marked\nwith figures to the thorax and painted blue." ]

[ "With every movement that she made\nto throw her cards the right side of her dress was drawn up.", "From her\nturned-up hair a dark colour fell over her back, and growing gradually\npaler, lost itself little by little in the shade.", "Then her dress fell\non both sides of her chair, puffing out full of folds, and reached the\nground.", "When Leon occasionally felt the sole of his boot resting on it,\nhe drew back as if he had trodden upon some one.", "When the game of cards was over, the druggist and the Doctor played\ndominoes, and Emma, changing her place, leant her elbow on the table,\nturning over the leaves of \"L'Illustration\".", "She had brought her ladies'\njournal with her.", "Leon sat down near her; they looked at the engravings\ntogether, and waited for one another at the bottom of the pages.", "She\noften begged him to read her the verses; Leon declaimed them in a\nlanguid voice, to which he carefully gave a dying fall in the love\npassages.", "But the noise of the dominoes annoyed him.", "Monsieur Homais\nwas strong at the game; he could beat Charles and give him a double-six.", "Then the three hundred finished, they both stretched themselves out in\nfront of the fire, and were soon asleep." ]

[ "\nWhen the first cold days set in Emma left her bedroom for the\nsitting-room, a long apartment with a low ceiling, in which there was\non the mantelpiece a large bunch of coral spread out against the\nlooking-glass.", "Seated in her arm chair near the window, she could see\nthe villagers pass along the pavement.", "Twice a day Leon went from his office to the Lion d'Or.", "Emma could hear\nhim coming from afar; she leant forward listening, and the young man\nglided past the curtain, always dressed in the same way, and without\nturning his head.", "But in the twilight, when, her chin resting on her\nleft hand, she let the embroidery she had begun fall on her knees, she\noften shuddered at the apparition of this shadow suddenly gliding past.", "She would get up and order the table to be laid.", "Monsieur Homais called at dinner-time.", "Skull-cap in hand, he came in on\ntiptoe, in order to disturb no one, always repeating the same phrase,\n\"Good evening, everybody.\"", "Then, when he had taken his seat at the table\nbetween the pair, he asked the doctor about his patients, and the latter\nconsulted his as to the probability of their payment.", "Next they talked\nof \"what was in the paper.\"", "It looked queer.", "They decided that she must be his\nlover.", "He made this seem likely, so ceaselessly did he talk of her charms and\nof her wit; so much so, that Binet once roughly answered him--\n\n\"What does it matter to me since I'm not in her set?\"", "He tortured himself to find out how he could make his declaration to\nher, and always halting between the fear of displeasing her and the\nshame of being such a coward, he wept with discouragement and desire.", "Then he took energetic resolutions, wrote letters that he tore up, put\nit off to times that he again deferred.", "Often he set out with the determination to dare all; but this resolution\nsoon deserted him in Emma's presence, and when Charles, dropping in,\ninvited him to jump into his chaise to go with him to see some patient\nin the neighbourhood, he at once accepted, bowed to madame, and went\nout.", "Her husband, was he not something belonging to her?", "As to Emma,\nshe did not ask herself whether she loved.", "Love, she thought, must come\nsuddenly, with great outbursts and lightnings--a hurricane of the skies,\nwhich falls upon life, revolutionises it, roots up the will like a leaf,\nand sweeps the whole heart into the abyss.", "She did not know that on\nthe terrace of houses it makes lakes when the pipes are choked, and she\nwould thus have remained in her security when she suddenly discovered a\nrent in the wall of it." ]