accordance.
He
seemed
to
be
waiting
and
listening
for
some
one
's
approach
,
and
presently
the
sound
of
a
heavy
step
,
with
an
accompanying
whistle
,
was
heard
across
the
large
empty
entrance-hall
.
The
door
opened
,
and
a
thick-set
,
heavy-looking
young
man
entered
,
with
the
flushed
face
and
the
gratuitously
elated
bearing
which
mark
the
first
stage
of
intoxication
.
It
was
Dunsey
,
and
at
the
sight
of
him
Godfrey
's
face
parted
with
some
of
its
gloom
to
take
on
the
more
active
expression
of
hatred
.
The
handsome
brown
spaniel
that
lay
on
the
hearth
retreated
under
the
chair
in
the
chimney-corner
.
"
Well
,
Master
Godfrey
,
what
do
you
want
with
me
?
"
said
Dunsey
,
in
a
mocking
tone
.
"
You
're
my
elders
and
betters
,
you
know
;
I
was
obliged
to
come
when
you
sent
for
me
.
"
"
Why
,
this
is
what
I
want
—
and
just
shake
yourself
sober
and
listen
,
will
you
?
"
said
Godfrey
,
savagely
.
He
had
himself
been
drinking
more
than
was
good
for
him
,
trying
to
turn
his
gloom
into
uncalculating
anger
.
"
I
want
to
tell
you
,
I
must
hand
over
that
rent
of
Fowler
's
to
the
Squire
,
or
else
tell
him
I
gave
it
you
;
for
he
's
threatening
to
distrain
for
it
,
and
it
'll
all
be
out
soon
,
whether
I
tell
him
or
not
.
He
said
,
just
now
,
before
he
went
out
,
he
should
send
word
to
Cox
to
distrain
,
if
Fowler
did
n't
come
and
pay
up
his
arrears
this
week
.
The
Squire
's
short
o
'
cash
,
and
in
no
humour
to
stand
any
nonsense
;
and
you
know
what
he
threatened
,
if
ever
he
found
you
making
away
with
his
money
again
.
So
,
see
and
get
the
money
,
and
pretty
quickly
,
will
you
?
"
"
Oh
!
"
said
Dunsey
,
sneeringly
,
coming
nearer
to
his
brother
and
looking
in
his
face
.
"
Suppose
,
now
,
you
get
the
money
yourself
,
and
save
me
the
trouble
,
eh
?
Since
you
was
so
kind
as
to
hand
it
over
to
me
,
you
'll
not
refuse
me
the
kindness
to
pay
it
back
for
me
:
it
was
your
brotherly
love
made
you
do
it
,
you
know
.
"
Godfrey
bit
his
lips
and
clenched
his
fist
.
"
Do
n't
come
near
me
with
that
look
,
else
I
'll
knock
you
down
.
"
"
O
no
,
you
wo
n't
,
"
said
Dunsey
,
turning
away
on
his
heel
,
however
.
"
Because
I
'm
such
a
good-natured
brother
,
you
know
.
I
might
get
you
turned
out
of
house
and
home
,
and
cut
off
with
a
shilling
any
day
.
I
might
tell
the
Squire
how
his
handsome
son
was
married
to
that
nice
young
woman
,
Molly
Farren
,
and
was
very
unhappy
because
he
could
n't
live
with
his
drunken
wife
,
and
I
should
slip
into
your
place
as
comfortable
as
could
be
.
But
,
you
see
,
I
do
n't
do
it
—
I
'm
so
easy
and
good-natured
.
You
'll
take
any
trouble
for
me
.
You
'll
get
the
hundred
pounds
for
me
—
I
know
you
will
.
"
"
How
can
I
get
the
money
?
"
said
Godfrey
,
quivering
.
"
I
have
n't
a
shilling
to
bless
myself
with
.
And
it
's
a
lie
that
you
'd
slip
into
my
place
:
you
'd
get
yourself
turned
out
too
,
that
's
all
.
For
if
you
begin
telling
tales
,
I
'll
follow
.
Bob
's
my
father
's
favourite
—
you
know
that
very
well
.
He
'd
only
think
himself
well
rid
of
you
.
"
"
Never
mind
,
"
said
Dunsey
,
nodding
his
head
sideways
as
he
looked
out
of
the
window
.
"
It
'
ud
be
very
pleasant
to
me
to
go
in
your
company
—
you
're
such
a
handsome
brother
,
and
we
've
always
been
so
fond
of
quarrelling
with
one
another
,
I
should
n't
know
what
to
do
without
you
.
But
you
'd
like
better
for
us
both
to
stay
at
home
together
;
I
know
you
would
.
So
you
'll
manage
to
get
that
little
sum
o
'
money
,
and
I
'll
bid
you
good-by
,
though
I
'm
sorry
to
part
.
"
Dunstan
was
moving
off
,
but
Godfrey
rushed
after
him
and
seized
him
by
the
arm
,
saying
,
with
an
oath
,
"
I
tell
you
,
I
have
no
money
:
I
can
get
no
money
.
"
"
Borrow
of
old
Kimble
.
"
"
I
tell
you
,
he
wo
n't
lend
me
any
more
,
and
I
sha
n't
ask
him
.
"
"
Well
then
,
sell
Wildfire
.
"
"
Yes
,
that
's
easy
talking
.
I
must
have
the
money
directly
.
"
"
Well
,
you
've
only
got
to
ride
him
to
the
hunt
to-morrow
.
There
'll
be
Bryce
and
Keating
there
,
for
sure
.
You
'll
get
more
bids
than
one
.
"
"
I
daresay
,
and
get
back
home
at
eight
o'clock
,
splashed
up
to
the
chin
.
I
'm
going
to
Mrs
Osgood
's
birthday
dance
.
"
"
Oho
!
"
said
Dunsey
,
turning
his
head
on
one
side
,
and
trying
to
speak
in
a
small
mincing
treble
.
"
And
there
's
sweet
Miss
Nancy
coming
;
and
we
shall
dance
with
her
,
and
promise
never
to
be
naughty
again
,
and
be
taken
into
favour
,
and
—
"
"
Hold
your
tongue
about
Miss
Nancy
,
you
fool
,
"
said
Godfrey
,
turning
red
,
"
else
I
'll
throttle
you
.
"
"
What
for
?
"
said
Dunsey
,
still
in
an
artificial
tone
,
but
taking
a
whip
from
the
table
and
beating
the
butt-end
of
it
on
his
palm
.
"
You
've
a
very
good
chance
.
I
'd
advise
you
to
creep
up
her
sleeve
again
:
it
'
ud
be
saving
time
if
Molly
should
happen
to
take
a
drop
too
much
laudanum
some
day
,
and
make
a
widower
of
you
.
Miss
Nancy
would
n't
mind
being
a
second
,
if
she
did
n't
know
it
.
And
you
've
got
a
good-natured
brother
,
who
'll
keep
your
secret
well
,
because
you
'll
be
so
very
obliging
to
him
.
"
"
I
'll
tell
you
what
it
is
,
"
said
Godfrey
,
quivering
,
and
pale
again
.
"
My
patience
is
pretty
near
at
an
end
.
If
you
'd
a
little
more
sharpness
in
you
,
you
might
know
that
you
may
urge
a
man
a
bit
too
far
,
and
make
one
leap
as
easy
as
another
.
I
do
n't
know
but
what
it
is
so
now
:
I
may
as
well
tell
the
Squire
everything
myself
—
I
should
get
you
off
my
back
,
if
I
got
nothing
else
.
And
,
after
all
,
he
'll
know
some
time
.
She
's
been
threatening
to
come
herself
and
tell
him
.
So
,
do
n't
flatter
yourself
that
your
secrecy
's
worth
any
price
you
choose
to
ask
.
You
drain
me
of
money
till
I
've
got
nothing
to
pacify
her
with
,
and
she
'll
do
as
she
threatens
some
day
.
It
's
all
one
.
I
'll
tell
my
father
everything
myself
,
and
you
may
go
to
the
devil
.
"
Dunsey
perceived
that
he
had
overshot
his
mark
,
and
that
there
was
a
point
at
which
even
the
hesitating
Godfrey
might
be
driven
into
decision
.
But
he
said
,
with
an
air
of
unconcern
,
"
As
you
please
;
but
I
'll
have
a
draught
of
ale
first
.
"
And
ringing
the
bell
,
he
threw
himself
across
two
chairs
,
and
began
to
rap
the
window-seat
with
the
handle
of
his
whip
.
Godfrey
stood
,
still
with
his
back
to
the
fire
,
uneasily
moving
his
fingers
among
the
contents
of
his
side-pockets
,
and
looking
at
the
floor
.
That
big
muscular
frame
of
his
held
plenty
of
animal
courage
,
but
helped
him
to
no
decision
when
the
dangers
to
be
braved
were
such
as
could
neither
be
knocked
down
nor
throttled
.
His
natural
irresolution
and
moral
cowardice
were
exaggerated
by
a
position
in
which
dreaded
consequences
seemed
to
press
equally
on
all
sides
,
and
his
irritation
had
no
sooner
provoked
him
to
defy
Dunstan
and
anticipate
all
possible
betrayals
,
than
the
miseries
he
must
bring
on
himself
by
such
a
step
seemed
more
unendurable
to
him
than
the
present
evil
.
The
results
of
confession
were
not
contingent
,
they
were
certain
;
whereas
betrayal
was
not
certain
.
From
the
near
vision
of
that
certainty
he
fell
back
on
suspense
and
vacillation
with
a
sense
of
repose
.
The
disinherited
son
of
a
small
squire
,
equally
disinclined
to
dig
and
to
beg
,
was
almost
as
helpless
as
an
uprooted
tree
,
which
,
by
the
favour
of
earth
and
sky
,
has
grown
to
a
handsome
bulk
on
the
spot
where
it
first
shot
upward
.
Perhaps
it
would
have
been
possible
to
think
of
digging
with
some
cheerfulness
if
Nancy
Lammeter
were
to
be
won
on
those
terms
;
but
,
since
he
must
irrevocably
lose
her
as
well
as
the
inheritance
,
and
must
break
every
tie
but
the
one
that
degraded
him
and
left
him
without
motive
for
trying
to
recover
his
better
self
,
he
could
imagine
no
future
for
himself
on
the
other
side
of
confession
but
that
of
"
'
listing
for
a
soldier
"
—
the
most
desperate
step
,
short
of
suicide
,
in
the
eyes
of
respectable
families
.
No
!
he
would
rather
trust
to
casualties
than
to
his
own
resolve
—
rather
go
on
sitting
at
the
feast
and
sipping
the
wine
he
loved
,
though
with
the
sword
hanging
over
him
and
terror
in
his
heart
,
than
rush
away
into
the
cold
darkness
where
there
was
no
pleasure
left
.
The
utmost
concession
to
Dunstan
about
the
horse
began
to
seem
easy
,
compared
with
the
fulfilment
of
his
own
threat
.
But
his
pride
would
not
let
him
recommence
the
conversation
otherwise
than
by
continuing
the
quarrel
.
Dunstan
was
waiting
for
this
,
and
took
his
ale
in
shorter
draughts
than
usual
.
"
It
's
just
like
you
,
"
Godfrey
burst
out
,
in
a
bitter
tone
,
"
to
talk
about
my
selling
Wildfire
in
that
cool
way
—
the
last
thing
I
've
got
to
call
my
own
,
and
the
best
bit
of
horse-flesh
I
ever
had
in
my
life
.
And
if
you
'd
got
a
spark
of
pride
in
you
,
you
'd
be
ashamed
to
see
the
stables
emptied
,
and
everybody
sneering
about
it
.
But
it
's
my
belief
you
'd
sell
yourself
,
if
it
was
only
for
the
pleasure
of
making
somebody
feel
he
'd
got
a
bad
bargain
.
"
"
Ay
,
ay
,
"
said
Dunstan
,
very
placably
,
"
you
do
me
justice
,
I
see
.
You
know
I
'm
a
jewel
for
'
ticing
people
into
bargains
.
For
which
reason
I
advise
you
to
let
me
sell
Wildfire
.
I
'd
ride
him
to
the
hunt
to-morrow
for
you
,
with
pleasure
.
I
should
n't
look
so
handsome
as
you
in
the
saddle
,
but
it
's
the
horse
they
'll
bid
for
,
and
not
the
rider
.
"
"
Yes
,
I
daresay
—
trust
my
horse
to
you
!
"
"
As
you
please
,
"
said
Dunstan
,
rapping
the
window-seat
again
with
an
air
of
great
unconcern
.
"
It
's
you
have
got
to
pay
Fowler
's
money
;
it
's
none
of
my
business
.
You
received
the
money
from
him
when
you
went
to
Bramcote
,
and
you
told
the
Squire
it
was
n't
paid
.
I
'd
nothing
to
do
with
that
;
you
chose
to
be
so
obliging
as
give
it
me
,
that
was
all
.
If
you
do
n't
want
to
pay
the
money
,
let
it
alone
;
it
's
all
one
to
me
.
But
I
was
willing
to
accommodate
you
by
undertaking
to
sell
the
horse
,
seeing
it
's
not
convenient
to
you
to
go
so
far
to-morrow
.
"
Godfrey
was
silent
for
some
moments
.
He
would
have
liked
to
spring
on
Dunstan
,
wrench
the
whip
from
his
hand
,
and
flog
him
to
within
an
inch
of
his
life
;
and
no
bodily
fear
could
have
deterred
him
;
but
he
was
mastered
by
another
sort
of
fear
,
which
was
fed
by
feelings
stronger
even
than
his
resentment
.
When
he
spoke
again
,
it
was
in
a
half-conciliatory
tone
.
"
Well
,
you
mean
no
nonsense
about
the
horse
,
eh
?
You
'll
sell
him
all
fair
,
and
hand
over
the
money
?
If
you
do
n't
,
you
know
,
everything
'
ll
go
to
smash
,
for
I
've
got
nothing
else
to
trust
to
.
And
you
'll
have
less
pleasure
in
pulling
the
house
over
my
head
,
when
your
own
skull
's
to
be
broken
too
.
"
"
Ay
,
ay
,
"
said
Dunstan
,
rising
,
"
all
right
.
I
thought
you
'd
come
round
.
I
'm
the
fellow
to
bring
old
Bryce
up
to
the
scratch
.
I
'll
get
you
a
hundred
and
twenty
for
him
,
if
I
get
you
a
penny
.
"
"
But
it
'
ll
perhaps
rain
cats
and
dogs
to-morrow
,
as
it
did
yesterday
,
and
then
you
ca
n't
go
,
"
said
Godfrey
,
hardly
knowing
whether
he
wished
for
that
obstacle
or
not
.
"
Not
it
,
"
said
Dunstan
.
"
I
'm
always
lucky
in
my
weather
.
It
might
rain
if
you
wanted
to
go
yourself
.
You
never
hold
trumps
,
you
know
—
I
always
do
.
You
've
got
the
beauty
,
you
see
,
and
I
've
got
the
luck
,
so
you
must
keep
me
by
you
for
your
crooked
sixpence
;
you
'll
ne
-ver
get
along
without
me
.
"
"
Confound
you
,
hold
your
tongue
,
"
said
Godfrey
,
impetuously
.
"
And
take
care
to
keep
sober
to-morrow
,
else
you
'll
get
pitched
on
your
head
coming
home
,
and
Wildfire
might
be
the
worse
for
it
.
"
"
Make
your
tender
heart
easy
,
"
said
Dunstan
,
opening
the
door
.
"
You
never
knew
me
see
double
when
I
'd
got
a
bargain
to
make
;
it
'
ud
spoil
the
fun
.
Besides
,
whenever
I
fall
,
I
'm
warranted
to
fall
on
my
legs
.
"
With
that
,
Dunstan
slammed
the
door
behind
him
,
and
left
Godfrey
to
that
bitter
rumination
on
his
personal
circumstances
which
was
now
unbroken
from
day
to
day
save
by
the
excitement
of
sporting
,
drinking
,
card-playing
,
or
the
rarer
and
less
oblivious
pleasure
of
seeing
Miss
Nancy
Lammeter
.
The
subtle
and
varied
pains
springing
from
the
higher
sensibility
that
accompanies
higher
culture
,
are
perhaps
less
pitiable
than
that
dreary
absence
of
impersonal
enjoyment
and
consolation
which
leaves
ruder
minds
to
the
perpetual
urgent
companionship
of
their
own
griefs
and
discontents
.
The
lives
of
those
rural
forefathers
,
whom
we
are
apt
to
think
very
prosaic
figures
—
men
whose
only
work
was
to
ride
round
their
land
,
getting
heavier
and
heavier
in
their
saddles
,
and
who
passed
the
rest
of
their
days
in
the
half-listless
gratification
of
senses
dulled
by
monotony
—
had
a
certain
pathos
in
them
nevertheless
.
Calamities
came
to
them
too
,
and
their
early
errors
carried
hard
consequences
:
perhaps
the
love
of
some
sweet
maiden
,
the
image
of
purity
,
order
,
and
calm
,
had
opened
their
eyes
to
the
vision
of
a
life
in
which
the
days
would
not
seem
too
long
,
even
without
rioting
;
but
the
maiden
was
lost
,
and
the
vision
passed
away
,
and
then
what
was
left
to
them
,
especially
when
they
had
become
too
heavy
for
the
hunt
,
or
for
carrying
a
gun
over
the
furrows
,
but
to
drink
and
get
merry
,
or
to
drink
and
get
angry
,
so
that
they
might
be
independent
of
variety
,
and
say
over
again
with
eager
emphasis
the
things
they
had
said
already
any
time
that
twelvemonth
?
Assuredly
,
among
these
flushed
and
dull-eyed
men
there
were
some
whom
—
thanks
to
their
native
human-kindness
—
even
riot
could
never
drive
into
brutality
;
men
who
,
when
their
cheeks
were
fresh
,
had
felt
the
keen
point
of
sorrow
or
remorse
,
had
been
pierced
by
the
reeds
they
leaned
on
,
or
had
lightly
put
their
limbs
in
fetters
from
which
no
struggle
could
loose
them
;
and
under
these
sad
circumstances
,
common
to
us
all
,
their
thoughts
could
find
no
resting-place
outside
the
ever-trodden
round
of
their
own
petty
history
.
That
,
at
least
,
was
the
condition
of
Godfrey
Cass
in
this
six-and-twentieth
year
of
his
life
.
A
movement
of
compunction
,
helped
by
those
small
indefinable
influences
which
every
personal
relation
exerts
on
a
pliant
nature
,
had
urged
him
into
a
secret
marriage
,
which
was
a
blight
on
his
life
.
It
was
an
ugly
story
of
low
passion
,
delusion
,
and
waking
from
delusion
,
which
needs
not
to
be
dragged
from
the
privacy
of
Godfrey
's
bitter
memory
.
He
had
long
known
that
the
delusion
was
partly
due
to
a
trap
laid
for
him
by
Dunstan
,
who
saw
in
his
brother
's
degrading
marriage
the
means
of
gratifying
at
once
his
jealous
hate
and
his
cupidity
.
And
if
Godfrey
could
have
felt
himself
simply
a
victim
,
the
iron
bit
that
destiny
had
put
into
his
mouth
would
have
chafed
him
less
intolerably
.
If
the
curses
he
muttered
half
aloud
when
he
was
alone
had
had
no
other
object
than
Dunstan
's
diabolical
cunning
,
he
might
have
shrunk
less
from
the
consequences
of
avowal
.
But
he
had
something
else
to
curse
—
his
own
vicious
folly
,
which
now
seemed
as
mad
and
unaccountable
to
him
as
almost
all
our
follies
and
vices
do
when
their
promptings
have
long
passed
away
.
For
four
years
he
had
thought
of
Nancy
Lammeter
,
and
wooed
her
with
tacit
patient
worship
,
as
the
woman
who
made
him
think
of
the
future
with
joy
:
she
would
be
his
wife
,
and
would
make
home
lovely
to
him
,
as
his
father
's
home
had
never
been
;
and
it
would
be
easy
,
when
she
was
always
near
,
to
shake
off
those
foolish
habits
that
were
no
pleasures
,
but
only
a
feverish
way
of
annulling
vacancy
.
Godfrey
's
was
an
essentially
domestic
nature
,
bred
up
in
a
home
where
the
hearth
had
no
smiles
,
and
where
the
daily
habits
were
not
chastised
by
the
presence
of
household
order
;
his
easy
disposition
made
him
fall
in
unresistingly
with
the
family
courses
,
but
the
need
of
some
tender
permanent
affection
,
the
longing
for
some
influence
that
would
make
the
good
he
preferred
easy
to
pursue
,
caused
the
neatness
,
purity
,
and
liberal
orderliness
of
the
Lammeter
household
,
sunned
by
the
smile
of
Nancy
,
to
seem
like
those
fresh
bright
hours
of
the
morning
,
when
temptations
go
to
sleep
,
and
leave
the
ear
open
to
the
voice
of
the
good
angel
,
inviting
to
industry
,
sobriety
,
and
peace
.
And
yet
the
hope
of
this
paradise
had
not
been
enough
to
save
him
from
a
course
which
shut
him
out
of
it
for
ever
.
Instead
of
keeping
fast
hold
of
the
strong
silken
rope
by
which
Nancy
would
have
drawn
him
safe
to
the
green
banks
,
where
it
was
easy
to
step
firmly
,
he
had
let
himself
be
dragged
back
into
mud
and
slime
,
in
which
it
was
useless
to
struggle
.
He
had
made
ties
for
himself
which
robbed
him
of
all
wholesome
motive
,
and
were
a
constant
exasperation
.
Still
,
there
was
one
position
worse
than
the
present
:
it
was
the
position
he
would
be
in
when
the
ugly
secret
was
disclosed
;
and
the
desire
that
continually
triumphed
over
every
other
was
that
of
warding
off
the
evil
day
,
when
he
would
have
to
bear
the
consequences
of
his
father
's
violent
resentment
for
the
wound
inflicted
on
his
family
pride
—
would
have
,
perhaps
,
to
turn
his
back
on
that
hereditary
ease
and
dignity
which
,
after
all
,
was
a
sort
of
reason
for
living
,
and
would
carry
with
him
the
certainty
that
he
was
banished
for
ever
from
the
sight
and
esteem
of
Nancy
Lammeter
.
The
longer
the
interval
,
the
more
chance
there
was
of
deliverance
from
some
,
at
least
,
of
the
hateful
consequences
to
which
he
had
sold
himself
—
the
more
opportunities
remained
for
him
to
snatch
the
strange
gratification
of
seeing
Nancy
,
and
gathering
some
faint
indications
of
her
lingering
regard
.
Towards
this
gratification
he
was
impelled
,
fitfully
,
every
now
and
then
,
after
having
passed
weeks
in
which
he
had
avoided
her
as
the
far-off
,
bright-winged
prize
,
that
only
made
him
spring
forward
,
and
find
his
chain
all
the
more
galling
.
One
of
those
fits
of
yearning
was
on
him
now
,
and
it
would
have
been
strong
enough
to
have
persuaded
him
to
trust
Wildfire
to
Dunstan
rather
than
disappoint
the
yearning
,
even
if
he
had
not
had
another
reason
for
his
disinclination
towards
the
morrow
's
hunt
.
That
other
reason
was
the
fact
that
the
morning
's
meet
was
near
Batherley
,
the
market-town
where
the
unhappy
woman
lived
,
whose
image
became
more
odious
to
him
every
day
;
and
to
his
thought
the
whole
vicinage
was
haunted
by
her
.
The
yoke
a
man
creates
for
himself
by
wrong-doing
will
breed
hate
in
the
kindliest
nature
;
and
the
good-humoured
,
affectionate-hearted
Godfrey
Cass
,
was
fast
becoming
a
bitter
man
,
visited
by
cruel
wishes
,
that
seemed
to
enter
,
and
depart
,
and
enter
again
,
like
demons
who
had
found
in
him
a
ready-garnished
home
.
What
was
he
to
do
this
evening
to
pass
the
time
?
He
might
as
well
go
to
the
Rainbow
,
and
hear
the
talk
about
the
cock-fighting
:
everybody
was
there
,
and
what
else
was
there
to
be
done
?
Though
,
for
his
own
part
,
he
did
not
care
a
button
for
cock-fighting
.
Snuff
,
the
brown
spaniel
,
who
had
placed
herself
in
front
of
him
,
and
had
been
watching
him
for
some
time
,
now
jumped
up
in
impatience
for
the
expected
caress
.
But
Godfrey
thrust
her
away
without
looking
at
her
,
and
left
the
room
,
followed
humbly
by
the
unresenting
Snuff
—
perhaps
because
she
saw
no
other
career
open
to
her
.
CHAPTER
IV
.
Dunstan
Cass
,
setting
off
in
the
raw
morning
,
at
the
judiciously
quiet
pace
of
a
man
who
is
obliged
to
ride
to
cover
on
his
hunter
,
had
to
take
his
way
along
the
lane
,
which
,
at
its
farther
extremity
,
passed
by
the
piece
of
unenclosed
ground
called
the
Stonepit
,
where
stood
the
cottage
,
once
a
stone-cutter
's
shed
,
now
for
fifteen
years
inhabited
by
Silas
Marner
.
The
spot
looked
very
dreary
at
this
season
,
with
the
moist
trodden
clay
about
it
,
and
the
red
,
muddy
water
high
up
in
the
deserted
quarry
.
That
was
Dunstan
's
first
thought
as
he
approached
it
;
the
second
was
,
that
the
old
fool
of
a
weaver
,
whose
loom
he
heard
rattling
already
,
had
a
great
deal
of
money
hidden
somewhere
.
How
was
it
that
he
,
Dunstan
Cass
,
who
had
often
heard
talk
of
Marner
's
miserliness
,
had
never
thought
of
suggesting
to
Godfrey
that
he
should
frighten
or
persuade
the
old
fellow
into
lending
the
money
on
the
excellent
security
of
the
young
Squire
's
prospects
?
The
resource
occurred
to
him
now
as
so
easy
and
agreeable
,
especially
as
Marner
's
hoard
was
likely
to
be
large
enough
to
leave
Godfrey
a
handsome
surplus
beyond
his
immediate
needs
,
and
enable
him
to
accommodate
his
faithful
brother
,
that
he
had
almost
turned
the
horse
's
head
towards
home
again
.
Godfrey
would
be
ready
enough
to
accept
the
suggestion
:
he
would
snatch
eagerly
at
a
plan
that
might
save
him
from
parting
with
Wildfire
.
But
when
Dunstan
's
meditation
reached
this
point
,
the
inclination
to
go
on
grew
strong
and
prevailed
.
He
did
n't
want
to
give
Godfrey
that
pleasure
:
he
preferred
that
Master
Godfrey
should
be
vexed
.
Moreover
,
Dunstan
enjoyed
the
self-important
consciousness
of
having
a
horse
to
sell
,
and
the
opportunity
of
driving
a
bargain
,
swaggering
,
and
,
possibly
,
taking
somebody
in
.
He
might
have
all
the
satisfaction
attendant
on
selling
his
brother
's
horse
,
and
not
the
less
have
the
further
satisfaction
of
setting
Godfrey
to
borrow
Marner
's
money
.
So
he
rode
on
to
cover
.
Bryce
and
Keating
were
there
,
as
Dunstan
was
quite
sure
they
would
be
—
he
was
such
a
lucky
fellow
.
"
Hey-day
,
"
said
Bryce
,
who
had
long
had
his
eye
on
Wildfire
,
"
you
're
on
your
brother
's
horse
to-day
:
how
's
that
?
"
"
O
,
I
've
swopped
with
him
,
"
said
Dunstan
,
whose
delight
in
lying
,
grandly
independent
of
utility
,
was
not
to
be
diminished
by
the
likelihood
that
his
hearer
would
not
believe
him
—
"
Wildfire
's
mine
now
.
"
"
What
!
has
he
swopped
with
you
for
that
big-boned
hack
of
yours
?
"
said
Bryce
,
quite
aware
that
he
should
get
another
lie
in
answer
.
"
O
,
there
was
a
little
account
between
us
,
"
said
Dunsey
,
carelessly
,
"
and
Wildfire
made
it
even
.
I
accommodated
him
by
taking
the
horse
,
though
it
was
against
my
will
,
for
I
'd
got
an
itch
for
a
mare
o
'
Jortin
's
—
as
rare
a
bit
o
'
blood
as
ever
you
threw
your
leg
across
.
But
I
shall
keep
Wildfire
,
now
I
've
got
him
;
though
I
'd
a
bid
of
a
hundred
and
fifty
for
him
the
other
day
,
from
a
man
over
at
Flitton
—
he
's
buying
for
Lord
Cromleck
—
a
fellow
with
a
cast
in
his
eye
,
and
a
green
waistcoat
.
But
I
mean
to
stick
to
Wildfire
:
I
sha
n't
get
a
better
at
a
fence
in
a
hurry
.
The
mare
's
got
more
blood
,
but
she
's
a
bit
too
weak
in
the
hind-quarters
.
"
Bryce
of
course
divined
that
Dunstan
wanted
to
sell
the
horse
,
and
Dunstan
knew
that
he
divined
it
(
horse-dealing
is
only
one
of
many
human
transactions
carried
on
in
this
ingenious
manner
)
;
and
they
both
considered
that
the
bargain
was
in
its
first
stage
,
when
Bryce
replied
ironically
—
"
I
wonder
at
that
now
;
I
wonder
you
mean
to
keep
him
;
for
I
never
heard
of
a
man
who
did
n't
want
to
sell
his
horse
getting
a
bid
of
half
as
much
again
as
the
horse
was
worth
.
You
'll
be
lucky
if
you
get
a
hundred
.
"
Keating
rode
up
now
,
and
the
transaction
became
more
complicated
.
It
ended
in
the
purchase
of
the
horse
by
Bryce
for
a
hundred
and
twenty
,
to
be
paid
on
the
delivery
of
Wildfire
,
safe
and
sound
,
at
the
Batherley
stables
.
It
did
occur
to
Dunsey
that
it
might
be
wise
for
him
to
give
up
the
day
's
hunting
,
proceed
at
once
to
Batherley
,
and
,
having
waited
for
Bryce
's
return
,
hire
a
horse
to
carry
him
home
with
the
money
in
his
pocket
.
But
the
inclination
for
a
run
,
encouraged
by
confidence
in
his
luck
,
and
by
a
draught
of
brandy
from
his
pocket-pistol
at
the
conclusion
of
the
bargain
,
was
not
easy
to
overcome
,
especially
with
a
horse
under
him
that
would
take
the
fences
to
the
admiration
of
the
field
.
Dunstan
,
however
,
took
one
fence
too
many
,
and
"
staked
"
his
horse
.
His
own
ill-favoured
person
,
which
was
quite
unmarketable
,
escaped
without
injury
,
but
poor
Wildfire
,
unconscious
of
his
price
,
turned
on
his
flank
,
and
painfully
panted
his
last
.
It
happened
that
Dunstan
,
a
short
time
before
,
having
had
to
get
down
to
arrange
his
stirrup
,
had
muttered
a
good
many
curses
at
this
interruption
,
which
had
thrown
him
in
the
rear
of
the
hunt
near
the
moment
of
glory
,
and
under
this
exasperation
had
taken
the
fences
more
blindly
.
He
would
soon
have
been
up
with
the
hounds
again
,
when
the
fatal
accident
happened
;
and
hence
he
was
between
eager
riders
in
advance
,
not
troubling
themselves
about
what
happened
behind
them
,
and
far-off
stragglers
,
who
were
as
likely
as
not
to
pass
quite
aloof
from
the
line
of
road
in
which
Wildfire
had
fallen
.
Dunstan
,
whose
nature
it
was
to
care
more
for
immediate
annoyances
than
for
remote
consequences
,
no
sooner
recovered
his
legs
,
and
saw
that
it
was
all
over
with
Wildfire
,
than
he
felt
a
satisfaction
at
the
absence
of
witnesses
to
a
position
which
no
swaggering
could
make
enviable
.
Reinforcing
himself
,
after
his
shake
,
with
a
little
brandy
and
much
swearing
,
he
walked
as
fast
as
he
could
to
a
coppice
on
his
right
hand
,
through
which
it
occurred
to
him
that
he
could
make
his
way
to
Batherley
without
danger
of
encountering
any
member
of
the
hunt
.
His
first
intention
was
to
hire
a
horse
there
and
ride
home
forthwith
,
for
to
walk
many
miles
without
a
gun
in
his
hand
,
and
along
an
ordinary
road
,
was
as
much
out
of
the
question
to
him
as
to
other
spirited
young
men
of
his
kind
.
He
did
not
much
mind
about
taking
the
bad
news
to
Godfrey
,
for
he
had
to
offer
him
at
the
same
time
the
resource
of
Marner
's
money
;
and
if
Godfrey
kicked
,
as
he
always
did
,
at
the
notion
of
making
a
fresh
debt
,
from
which
he
himself
got
the
smallest
share
of
advantage
,
why
,
he
would
n't
kick
long
:
Dunstan
felt
sure
he
could
worry
Godfrey
into
anything
.
The
idea
of
Marner
's
money
kept
growing
in
vividness
,
now
the
want
of
it
had
become
immediate
;
the
prospect
of
having
to
make
his
appearance
with
the
muddy
boots
of
a
pedestrian
at
Batherley
,
and
encounter
the
grinning
queries
of
stablemen
,
stood
unpleasantly
in
the
way
of
his
impatience
to
be
back
at
Raveloe
and
carry
out
his
felicitous
plan
;
and
a
casual
visitation
of
his
waistcoat-pocket
,
as
he
was
ruminating
,
awakened
his
memory
to
the
fact
the
two
or
three
small
coins
his
fore-finger
encountered
there
were
of
too
pale
a
colour
to
cover
that
small
debt
,
without
payment
of
which
Jennings
had
declared
he
would
never
do
any
more
business
with
Dunsey
Cass
.
After
all
,
according
to
the
direction
in
which
the
run
had
brought
him
,
he
was
not
so
very
much
farther
from
home
than
he
was
from
Batherley
;
but
Dunsey
,
not
being
remarkable
for
clearness
of
head
,
was
only
led
to
this
conclusion
by
the
gradual
perception
that
there
were
other
reasons
for
choosing
the
unprecedented
course
of
walking
home
.
It
was
now
nearly
four
o'clock
,
and
a
mist
was
gathering
:
the
sooner
he
got
into
the
road
the
better
.
He
remembered
having
crossed
the
road
and
seen
the
finger-post
only
a
little
while
before
Wildfire
broke
down
;
so
,
buttoning
his
coat
,
twisting
the
lash
of
his
hunting-whip
compactly
round
the
handle
,
and
rapping
the
tops
of
his
boots
with
a
self-possessed
air
,
as
if
to
assure
himself
that
he
was
not
at
all
taken
by
surprise
,
he
set
off
with
the
sense
that
he
was
undertaking
a
remarkable
feat
of
bodily
exertion
,
which
somehow
,
and
at
some
time
,
he
should
be
able
to
dress
up
and
magnify
to
the
admiration
of
a
select
circle
at
the
Rainbow
.
When
a
young
gentleman
like
Dunsey
is
reduced
to
so
exceptional
a
mode
of
locomotion
as
walking
,
a
whip
in
his
hand
is
a
desirable
corrective
to
a
too
bewildering
dreamy
sense
of
unwontedness
in
his
position
;
and
Dunstan
,
as
he
went
along
through
the
gathering
mist
,
was
always
rapping
his
whip
somewhere
.
It
was
Godfrey
's
whip
,
which
he
had
chosen
to
take
without
leave
because
it
had
a
gold
handle
;
of
course
no
one
could
see
,
when
Dunstan
held
it
,
that
the
name
Godfrey
Cass
was
cut
in
deep
letters
on
that
gold
handle
—
they
could
only
see
that
it
was
a
very
handsome
whip
.
Dunsey
was
not
without
fear
that
he
might
meet
some
acquaintance
in
whose
eyes
he
would
cut
a
pitiable
figure
,
for
mist
is
no
screen
when
people
get
close
to
each
other
;
but
when
he
at
last
found
himself
in
the
well-known
Raveloe
lanes
without
having
met
a
soul
,
he
silently
remarked
that
that
was
part
of
his
usual
good-luck
.
But
now
the
mist
,
helped
by
the
evening
darkness
,
was
more
of
a
screen
than
he
desired
,
for
it
hid
the
ruts
into
which
his
feet
were
liable
to
slip
—
hid
everything
,
so
that
he
had
to
guide
his
steps
by
dragging
his
whip
along
the
low
bushes
in
advance
of
the
hedgerow
.
He
must
soon
,
he
thought
,
be
getting
near
the
opening
at
the
Stone-pits
:
he
should
find
it
out
by
the
break
in
the
hedgerow
.
He
found
it
out
,
however
,
by
another
circumstance
which
he
had
not
expected
—
namely
,
by
certain
gleams
of
light
,
which
he
presently
guessed
to
proceed
from
Silas
Marner
's
cottage
.
That
cottage
and
the
money
hidden
within
it
had
been
in
his
mind
continually
during
his
walk
,
and
he
had
been
imagining
ways
of
cajoling
and
tempting
the
weaver
to
part
with
the
immediate
possession
of
his
money
for
the
sake
of
receiving
interest
.
Dunstan
felt
as
if
there
must
be
a
little
frightening
added
to
the
cajolery
,
for
his
own
arithmetical
convictions
were
not
clear
enough
to
afford
him
any
forcible
demonstration
as
to
the
advantages
of
interest
;
and
as
for
security
,
he
regarded
it
vaguely
as
a
means
of
cheating
a
man
,
by
making
him
believe
that
he
would
be
paid
.
Altogether
,
the
operation
on
the
miser
's
mind
was
a
task
that
Godfrey
would
be
sure
to
hand
over
to
his
more
daring
and
cunning
brother
:
Dunstan
had
made
up
his
mind
to
that
;
and
by
the
time
he
saw
the
light
gleaming
through
the
chinks
of
Marner
's
shutters
,
the
idea
of
a
dialogue
with
the
weaver
had
become
so
familiar
to
him
,
that
it
occurred
to
him
as
quite
a
natural
thing
to
make
the
acquaintance
forthwith
.
There
might
be
several
conveniences
attending
this
course
:
the
weaver
had
possibly
got
a
lantern
,
and
Dunstan
was
tired
of
feeling
his
way
.
He
was
still
nearly
three-quarters
of
a
mile
from
home
,
and
the
lane
was
becoming
unpleasantly
slippery
,
for
the
mist
was
passing
into
rain
.
He
turned
up
the
bank
,
not
without
some
fear
lest
he
might
miss
the
right
way
,
since
he
was
not
certain
whether
the
light
were
in
front
or
on
the
side
of
the
cottage
.
But
he
felt
the
ground
before
him
cautiously
with
his
whip-handle
,
and
at
last
arrived
safely
at
the
door
.
He
knocked
loudly
,
rather
enjoying
the
idea
that
the
old
fellow
would
be
frightened
at
the
sudden
noise
.
He
heard
no
movement
in
reply
:
all
was
silence
in
the
cottage
.
Was
the
weaver
gone
to
bed
,
then
?
If
so
,
why
had
he
left
a
light
?
That
was
a
strange
forgetfulness
in
a
miser
.
Dunstan
knocked
still
more
loudly
,
and
,
without
pausing
for
a
reply
,
pushed
his
fingers
through
the
latch-hole
,
intending
to
shake
the
door
and
pull
the
latch-string
up
and
down
,
not
doubting
that
the
door
was
fastened
.
But
,
to
his
surprise
,
at
this
double
motion
the
door
opened
,
and
he
found
himself
in
front
of
a
bright
fire
,
which
lit
up
every
corner
of
the
cottage
—
the
bed
,
the
loom
,
the
three
chairs
,
and
the
table
—
and
showed
him
that
Marner
was
not
there
.
Nothing
at
that
moment
could
be
much
more
inviting
to
Dunsey
than
the
bright
fire
on
the
brick
hearth
:
he
walked
in
and
seated
himself
by
it
at
once
.
There
was
something
in
front
of
the
fire
,
too
,
that
would
have
been
inviting
to
a
hungry
man
,
if
it
had
been
in
a
different
stage
of
cooking
.
It
was
a
small
bit
of
pork
suspended
from
the
kettle-hanger
by
a
string
passed
through
a
large
door-key
,
in
a
way
known
to
primitive
housekeepers
unpossessed
of
jacks
.
But
the
pork
had
been
hung
at
the
farthest
extremity
of
the
hanger
,
apparently
to
prevent
the
roasting
from
proceeding
too
rapidly
during
the
owner
's
absence
.
The
old
staring
simpleton
had
hot
meat
for
his
supper
,
then
?
thought
Dunstan
.
People
had
always
said
he
lived
on
mouldy
bread
,
on
purpose
to
check
his
appetite
.
But
where
could
he
be
at
this
time
,
and
on
such
an
evening
,
leaving
his
supper
in
this
stage
of
preparation
,
and
his
door
unfastened
?
Dunstan
's
own
recent
difficulty
in
making
his
way
suggested
to
him
that
the
weaver
had
perhaps
gone
outside
his
cottage
to
fetch
in
fuel
,
or
for
some
such
brief
purpose
,
and
had
slipped
into
the
Stone-pit
.
That
was
an
interesting
idea
to
Dunstan
,
carrying
consequences
of
entire
novelty
.
If
the
weaver
was
dead
,
who
had
a
right
to
his
money
?
Who
would
know
where
his
money
was
hidden
?
Who
would
know
that
anybody
had
come
to
take
it
away
?
He
went
no
farther
into
the
subtleties
of
evidence
:
the
pressing
question
,
"
Where
is
the
money
?
"
now
took
such
entire
possession
of
him
as
to
make
him
quite
forget
that
the
weaver
's
death
was
not
a
certainty
.
A
dull
mind
,
once
arriving
at
an
inference
that
flatters
a
desire
,
is
rarely
able
to
retain
the
impression
that
the
notion
from
which
the
inference
started
was
purely
problematic
.
And
Dunstan
's
mind
was
as
dull
as
the
mind
of
a
possible
felon
usually
is
.
There
were
only
three
hiding-places
where
he
had
ever
heard
of
cottagers
'
hoards
being
found
:
the
thatch
,
the
bed
,
and
a
hole
in
the
floor
.
Marner
's
cottage
had
no
thatch
;
and
Dunstan
's
first
act
,
after
a
train
of
thought
made
rapid
by
the
stimulus
of
cupidity
,
was
to
go
up
to
the
bed
;
but
while
he
did
so
,
his
eyes
travelled
eagerly
over
the
floor
,
where
the
bricks
,
distinct
in
the
fire-light
,
were
discernible
under
the
sprinkling
of
sand
.
But
not
everywhere
;
for
there
was
one
spot
,
and
one
only
,
which
was
quite
covered
with
sand
,
and
sand
showing
the
marks
of
fingers
which
had
apparently
been
careful
to
spread
it
over
a
given
space
.
It
was
near
the
treddles
of
the
loom
.
In
an
instant
Dunstan
darted
to
that
spot
,
swept
away
the
sand
with
his
whip
,
and
,
inserting
the
thin
end
of
the
hook
between
the
bricks
,
found
that
they
were
loose
.
In
haste
he
lifted
up
two
bricks
,
and
saw
what
he
had
no
doubt
was
the
object
of
his
search
;
for
what
could
there
be
but
money
in
those
two
leathern
bags
?
And
,
from
their
weight
,
they
must
be
filled
with
guineas
.
Dunstan
felt
round
the
hole
,
to
be
certain
that
it
held
no
more
;
then
hastily
replaced
the
bricks
,
and
spread
the
sand
over
them
.
Hardly
more
than
five
minutes
had
passed
since
he
entered
the
cottage
,
but
it
seemed
to
Dunstan
like
a
long
while
;
and
though
he
was
without
any
distinct
recognition
of
the
possibility
that
Marner
might
be
alive
,
and
might
re-enter
the
cottage
at
any
moment
,
he
felt
an
undefinable
dread
laying
hold
on
him
,
as
he
rose
to
his
feet
with
the
bags
in
his
hand
.
He
would
hasten
out
into
the
darkness
,
and
then
consider
what
he
should
do
with
the
bags
.
He
closed
the
door
behind
him
immediately
,
that
he
might
shut
in
the
stream
of
light
:
a
few
steps
would
be
enough
to
carry
him
beyond
betrayal
by
the
gleams
from
the
shutter-chinks
and
the
latch-hole
.
The
rain
and
darkness
had
got
thicker
,
and
he
was
glad
of
it
;
though
it
was
awkward
walking
with
both
hands
filled
,
so
that
it
was
as
much
as
he
could
do
to
grasp
his
whip
along
with
one
of
the
bags
.
But
when
he
had
gone
a
yard
or
two
,
he
might
take
his
time
.
So
he
stepped
forward
into
the
darkness
.
CHAPTER
V.
When
Dunstan
Cass
turned
his
back
on
the
cottage
,
Silas
Marner
was
not
more
than
a
hundred
yards
away
from
it
,
plodding
along
from
the
village
with
a
sack
thrown
round
his
shoulders
as
an
over-coat
,
and
with
a
horn
lantern
in
his
hand
.
His
legs
were
weary
,
but
his
mind
was
at
ease
,
free
from
the
presentiment
of
change
.
The
sense
of
security
more
frequently
springs
from
habit
than
from
conviction
,
and
for
this
reason
it
often
subsists
after
such
a
change
in
the
conditions
as
might
have
been
expected
to
suggest
alarm
.
The
lapse
of
time
during
which
a
given
event
has
not
happened
,
is
,
in
this
logic
of
habit
,
constantly
alleged
as
a
reason
why
the
event
should
never
happen
,
even
when
the
lapse
of
time
is
precisely
the
added
condition
which
makes
the
event
imminent
.
A
man
will
tell
you
that
he
has
worked
in
a
mine
for
forty
years
unhurt
by
an
accident
,
as
a
reason
why
he
should
apprehend
no
danger
,
though
the
roof
is
beginning
to
sink
;
and
it
is
often
observable
,
that
the
older
a
man
gets
,
the
more
difficult
it
is
to
him
to
retain
a
believing
conception
of
his
own
death
.
This
influence
of
habit
was
necessarily
strong
in
a
man
whose
life
was
so
monotonous
as
Marner
's
—
who
saw
no
new
people
and
heard
of
no
new
events
to
keep
alive
in
him
the
idea
of
the
unexpected
and
the
changeful
;
and
it
explains
,
simply
enough
,
why
his
mind
could
be
at
ease
,
though
he
had
left
his
house
and
his
treasure
more
defenceless
than
usual
.
Silas
was
thinking
with
double
complacency
of
his
supper
:
first
,
because
it
would
be
hot
and
savoury
;
and
,
secondly
,
because
it
would
cost
him
nothing
.
For
the
little
bit
of
pork
was
a
present
from
that
excellent
housewife
,
Miss
Priscilla
Lammeter
,
to
whom
he
had
this
day
carried
home
a
handsome
piece
of
linen
;
and
it
was
only
on
occasion
of
a
present
like
this
,
that
Silas
indulged
himself
with
roast-meat
.
Supper
was
his
favourite
meal
,
because
it
came
at
his
time
of
revelry
,
when
his
heart
warmed
over
his
gold
;
whenever
he
had
roast-meat
,
he
always
chose
to
have
it
for
supper
.
But
this
evening
,
he
had
no
sooner
ingeniously
knotted
his
string
fast
round
his
bit
of
pork
,
twisted
the
string
according
to
rule
over
his
door-key
,
passed
it
through
the
handle
,
and
made
it
fast
on
the
hanger
,
than
he
remembered
that
a
piece
of
very
fine
twine
was
indispensable
to
his
"
setting
up
"
a
new
piece
of
work
in
his
loom
early
in
the
morning
.
It
had
slipped
his
memory
,
because
,
in
coming
from
Mr
Lammeter
's
,
he
had
not
had
to
pass
through
the
village
;
but
to
lose
time
by
going
on
errands
in
the
morning
was
out
of
the
question
.
It
was
a
nasty
fog
to
turn
out
into
,
but
there
were
things
Silas
loved
better
than
his
own
comfort
;
so
,
drawing
his
pork
to
the
extremity
of
the
hanger
,
and
arming
himself
with
his
lantern
and
his
old
sack
,
he
set
out
on
what
,
in
ordinary
weather
,
would
have
been
a
twenty
minutes
'
errand
.
He
could
not
have
locked
his
door
without
undoing
his
well-knotted
string
and
retarding
his
supper
;
it
was
not
worth
his
while
to
make
that
sacrifice
.
What
thief
would
find
his
way
to
the
Stone-pits
on
such
a
night
as
this
?
and
why
should
he
come
on
this
particular
night
,
when
he
had
never
come
through
all
the
twelve
years
before
?
These
questions
were
not
distinctly
present
in
Silas
's
mind
;
they
merely
serve
to
represent
the
vaguely-felt
foundation
of
his
freedom
from
anxiety
.
He
reached
his
door
in
much
satisfaction
that
his
errand
was
done
:
he
opened
it
,
and
to
his
short-sighted
eyes
everything
remained
as
he
had
left
it
,
except
that
the
fire
sent
out
a
welcome
increase
of
heat
.
He
trod
about
the
floor
while
putting
by
his
lantern
and
throwing
aside
his
hat
and
sack
,
so
as
to
merge
the
marks
of
Dunstan
's
feet
on
the
sand
in
the
marks
of
his
own
nailed
boots
.
Then
he
moved
his
pork
nearer
to
the
fire
,
and
sat
down
to
the
agreeable
business
of
tending
the
meat
and
warming
himself
at
the
same
time
.
Any
one
who
had
looked
at
him
as
the
red
light
shone
upon
his
pale
face
,
strange
straining
eyes
,
and
meagre
form
,
would
perhaps
have
understood
the
mixture
of
contemptuous
pity
,
dread
,
and
suspicion
with
which
he
was
regarded
by
his
neighbours
in
Raveloe
.
Yet
few
men
could
be
more
harmless
than
poor
Marner
.
In
his
truthful
simple
soul
,
not
even
the
growing
greed
and
worship
of
gold
could
beget
any
vice
directly
injurious
to
others
.
The
light
of
his
faith
quite
put
out
,
and
his
affections
made
desolate
,
he
had
clung
with
all
the
force
of
his
nature
to
his
work
and
his
money
;
and
like
all
objects
to
which
a
man
devotes
himself
,
they
had
fashioned
him
into
correspondence
with
themselves
.
His
loom
,
as
he
wrought
in
it
without
ceasing
,
had
in
its
turn
wrought
on
him
,
and
confirmed
more
and
more
the
monotonous
craving
for
its
monotonous
response
.
His
gold
,
as
he
hung
over
it
and
saw
it
grow
,
gathered
his
power
of
loving
together
into
a
hard
isolation
like
its
own
.
As
soon
as
he
was
warm
he
began
to
think
it
would
be
a
long
while
to
wait
till
after
supper
before
he
drew
out
his
guineas
,
and
it
would
be
pleasant
to
see
them
on
the
table
before
him
as
he
ate
his
unwonted
feast
.
For
joy
is
the
best
of
wine
,
and
Silas
's
guineas
were
a
golden
wine
of
that
sort
.
He
rose
and
placed
his
candle
unsuspectingly
on
the
floor
near
his
loom
,
swept
away
the
sand
without
noticing
any
change
,
and
removed
the
bricks
.
The
sight
of
the
empty
hole
made
his
heart
leap
violently
,
but
the
belief
that
his
gold
was
gone
could
not
come
at
once
—
only
terror
,
and
the
eager
effort
to
put
an
end
to
the
terror
.
He
passed
his
trembling
hand
all
about
the
hole
,
trying
to
think
it
possible
that
his
eyes
had
deceived
him
;
then
he
held
the
candle
in
the
hole
and
examined
it
curiously
,
trembling
more
and
more
.
At
last
he
shook
so
violently
that
he
let
fall
the
candle
,
and
lifted
his
hands
to
his
head
,
trying
to
steady
himself
,
that
he
might
think
.
Had
he
put
his
gold
somewhere
else
,
by
a
sudden
resolution
last
night
,
and
then
forgotten
it
?
A
man
falling
into
dark
water
seeks
a
momentary
footing
even
on
sliding
stones
;
and
Silas
,
by
acting
as
if
he
believed
in
false
hopes
,
warded
off
the
moment
of
despair
.
He
searched
in
every
corner
,
he
turned
his
bed
over
,
and
shook
it
,
and
kneaded
it
;
he
looked
in
his
brick
oven
where
he
laid
his
sticks
.
When
there
was
no
other
place
to
be
searched
,
he
kneeled
down
again
and
felt
once
more
all
round
the
hole
.
There
was
no
untried
refuge
left
for
a
moment
's
shelter
from
the
terrible
truth
.
Yes
,
there
was
a
sort
of
refuge
which
always
comes
with
the
prostration
of
thought
under
an
overpowering
passion
:
it
was
that
expectation
of
impossibilities
,
that
belief
in
contradictory
images
,
which
is
still
distinct
from
madness
,
because
it
is
capable
of
being
dissipated
by
the
external
fact
.
Silas
got
up
from
his
knees
trembling
,
and
looked
round
at
the
table
:
did
n't
the
gold
lie
there
after
all
?
The
table
was
bare
.
Then
he
turned
and
looked
behind
him
—
looked
all
round
his
dwelling
,
seeming
to
strain
his
brown
eyes
after
some
possible
appearance
of
the
bags
where
he
had
already
sought
them
in
vain
.
He
could
see
every
object
in
his
cottage
—
and
his
gold
was
not
there
.
Again
he
put
his
trembling
hands
to
his
head
,
and
gave
a
wild
ringing
scream
,
the
cry
of
desolation
.
For
a
few
moments
after
,
he
stood
motionless
;
but
the
cry
had
relieved
him
from
the
first
maddening
pressure
of
the
truth
.
He
turned
,
and
tottered
towards
his
loom
,
and
got
into
the
seat
where
he
worked
,
instinctively
seeking
this
as
the
strongest
assurance
of
reality
.
And
now
that
all
the
false
hopes
had
vanished
,
and
the
first
shock
of
certainty
was
past
,
the
idea
of
a
thief
began
to
present
itself
,
and
he
entertained
it
eagerly
,
because
a
thief
might
be
caught
and
made
to
restore
the
gold
.
The
thought
brought
some
new
strength
with
it
,
and
he
started
from
his
loom
to
the
door
.
As
he
opened
it
the
rain
beat
in
upon
him
,
for
it
was
falling
more
and
more
heavily
.
There
were
no
footsteps
to
be
tracked
on
such
a
night
—
footsteps
?
When
had
the
thief
come
?
During
Silas
's
absence
in
the
daytime
the
door
had
been
locked
,
and
there
had
been
no
marks
of
any
inroad
on
his
return
by
daylight
.
And
in
the
evening
,
too
,
he
said
to
himself
,
everything
was
the
same
as
when
he
had
left
it
.
The
sand
and
bricks
looked
as
if
they
had
not
been
moved
.
Was
it
a
thief
who
had
taken
the
bags
?
or
was
it
a
cruel
power
that
no
hands
could
reach
,
which
had
delighted
in
making
him
a
second
time
desolate
?
He
shrank
from
this
vaguer
dread
,
and
fixed
his
mind
with
struggling
effort
on
the
robber
with
hands
,
who
could
be
reached
by
hands
.
His
thoughts
glanced
at
all
the
neighbours
who
had
made
any
remarks
,
or
asked
any
questions
which
he
might
now
regard
as
a
ground
of
suspicion
.
There
was
Jem
Rodney
,
a
known
poacher
,
and
otherwise
disreputable
:
he
had
often
met
Marner
in
his
journeys
across
the
fields
,
and
had
said
something
jestingly
about
the
weaver
's
money
;
nay
,
he
had
once
irritated
Marner
,
by
lingering
at
the
fire
when
he
called
to
light
his
pipe
,
instead
of
going
about
his
business
.
Jem
Rodney
was
the
man
—
there
was
ease
in
the
thought
.
Jem
could
be
found
and
made
to
restore
the
money
:
Marner
did
not
want
to
punish
him
,
but
only
to
get
back
his
gold
which
had
gone
from
him
,
and
left
his
soul
like
a
forlorn
traveller
on
an
unknown
desert
.
The
robber
must
be
laid
hold
of
.
Marner
's
ideas
of
legal
authority
were
confused
,
but
he
felt
that
he
must
go
and
proclaim
his
loss
;
and
the
great
people
in
the
village
—
the
clergyman
,
the
constable
,
and
Squire
Cass
—
would
make
Jem
Rodney
,
or
somebody
else
,
deliver
up
the
stolen
money
.
He
rushed
out
in
the
rain
,
under
the
stimulus
of
this
hope
,
forgetting
to
cover
his
head
,
not
caring
to
fasten
his
door
;
for
he
felt
as
if
he
had
nothing
left
to
lose
.
He
ran
swiftly
till
want
of
breath
compelled
him
to
slacken
his
pace
as
he
was
entering
the
village
at
the
turning
close
to
the
Rainbow
.
The
Rainbow
,
in
Marner
's
view
,
was
a
place
of
luxurious
resort
for
rich
and
stout
husbands
,
whose
wives
had
superfluous
stores
of
linen
;
it
was
the
place
where
he
was
likely
to
find
the
powers
and
dignities
of
Raveloe
,
and
where
he
could
most
speedily
make
his
loss
public
.
He
lifted
the
latch
,
and
turned
into
the
bright
bar
or
kitchen
on
the
right
hand
,
where
the
less
lofty
customers
of
the
house
were
in
the
habit
of
assembling
,
the
parlour
on
the
left
being
reserved
for
the
more
select
society
in
which
Squire
Cass
frequently
enjoyed
the
double
pleasure
of
conviviality
and
condescension
.
But
the
parlour
was
dark
to-night
,
the
chief
personages
who
ornamented
its
circle
being
all
at
Mrs
Osgood
's
birthday
dance
,
as
Godfrey
Cass
was
.
And
in
consequence
of
this
,
the
party
on
the
high-screened
seats
in
the
kitchen
was
more
numerous
than
usual
;
several
personages
,
who
would
otherwise
have
been
admitted
into
the
parlour
and
enlarged
the
opportunity
of
hectoring
and
condescension
for
their
betters
,
being
content
this
evening
to
vary
their
enjoyment
by
taking
their
spirits-and-water
where
they
could
themselves
hector
and
condescend
in
company
that
called
for
beer
.
CHAPTER
VI
.
The
conversation
,
which
was
at
a
high
pitch
of
animation
when
Silas
approached
the
door
of
the
Rainbow
,
had
,
as
usual
,
been
slow
and
intermittent
when
the
company
first
assembled
.
The
pipes
began
to
be
puffed
in
a
silence
which
had
an
air
of
severity
;
the
more
important
customers
,
who
drank
spirits
and
sat
nearest
the
fire
,
staring
at
each
other
as
if
a
bet
were
depending
on
the
first
man
who
winked
;
while
the
beer-drinkers
,
chiefly
men
in
fustian
jackets
and
smock-frocks
,
kept
their
eyelids
down
and
rubbed
their
hands
across
their
mouths
,
as
if
their
draughts
of
beer
were
a
funereal
duty
attended
with
embarrassing
sadness
.
At
last
,
Mr
Snell
,
the
landlord
,
a
man
of
a
neutral
disposition
,
accustomed
to
stand
aloof
from
human
differences
as
those
of
beings
who
were
all
alike
in
need
of
liquor
,
broke
silence
,
by
saying
in
a
doubtful
tone
to
his
cousin
the
butcher
,
—
"
Some
folks
'
ud
say
that
was
a
fine
beast
you
druv
in
yesterday
,
Bob
?
"
The
butcher
,
a
jolly
,
smiling
,
red-haired
man
,
was
not
disposed
to
answer
rashly
.
He
gave
a
few
puffs
before
he
spat
and
replied
,
"
And
they
would
n't
be
fur
wrong
,
John
.
"
After
this
feeble
delusive
thaw
,
the
silence
set
in
as
severely
as
before
.
"
Was
it
a
red
Durham
?
"
said
the
farrier
,
taking
up
the
thread
of
discourse
after
the
lapse
of
a
few
minutes
.
The
farrier
looked
at
the
landlord
,
and
the
landlord
looked
at
the
butcher
,
as
the
person
who
must
take
the
responsibility
of
answering
.
"
Red
it
was
,
"
said
the
butcher
,
in
his
goodhumoured
husky
treble
—
"
and
a
Durham
it
was
.
"
"
Then
you
need
n't
tell
me
who
you
bought
it
of
,
"
said
the
farrier
,
looking
round
with
some
triumph
;
"
I
know
who
it
is
has
got
the
red
Durhams
o
'
this
country-side
.
And
she
'd
a
white
star
on
her
brow
,
I
'll
bet
a
penny
?
"
The
farrier
leaned
forward
with
his
hands
on
his
knees
as
he
put
this
question
,
and
his
eyes
twinkled
knowingly
.
"
Well
;
yes
—
she
might
,
"
said
the
butcher
,
slowly
,
considering
that
he
was
giving
a
decided
affirmative
.
"
I
do
n't
say
contrairy
.
"
"
I
knew
that
very
well
,
"
said
the
farrier
