"It
is
getting
dusk
,
"
Felix
then
said
;
"
will
Mr
Lyon
be
anxious
about
you
?
"
"
No
,
I
think
not
.
Lyddy
would
tell
him
that
I
went
out
with
you
,
and
that
you
carried
a
large
stick
,
"
said
Esther
,
with
her
light
laugh
.
Felix
went
in
with
Esther
to
take
tea
,
but
the
conversation
was
entirely
between
him
and
Mr
Lyon
about
the
tricks
of
canvassing
,
the
foolish
personality
of
the
placards
,
and
the
probabilities
of
Transome
's
return
,
as
to
which
Felix
declared
himself
to
have
become
indifferent
.
This
scepticism
made
the
minister
uneasy
:
he
had
great
belief
in
the
old
political
watchwords
,
had
preached
that
universal
suffrage
and
no
ballot
were
agreeable
to
the
will
of
God
,
and
liked
to
believe
that
a
visible
"
instrument
"
was
forthcoming
in
the
Radical
Candidate
who
had
pronounced
emphatically
against
Whig
finality
.
Felix
,
being
in
a
perverse
mood
,
contended
that
universal
suffrage
would
be
equally
agreeable
to
the
devil
;
that
he
would
change
his
politics
a
little
,
have
a
larger
traffic
,
and
see
himself
more
fully
represented
in
Parliament
.
"
Nay
,
my
friend
,
"
said
the
minister
,
"
you
are
again
sporting
with
paradox
;
for
you
will
not
deny
that
you
glory
in
the
name
of
Radical
,
or
Root-and-branch
man
,
as
they
said
in
the
great
times
when
Nonconformity
was
in
its
giant
youth
.
"
"
A
Radical
—
yes
;
but
I
want
to
go
to
some
roots
a
good
deal
lower
down
than
the
franchise
.
"
"
Truly
there
is
a
work
within
which
cannot
be
dispensed
with
;
but
it
is
our
preliminary
work
to
free
men
from
the
stifled
life
of
political
nullity
,
and
bring
them
into
what
Milton
calls
'
the
liberal
air
,
'
wherein
alone
can
be
wrought
the
final
triumphs
of
the
Spirit
.
"
"
With
all
my
heart
.
But
while
Caliban
is
Caliban
,
though
you
multiply
him
by
a
million
,
he
'll
worship
every
Trinculo
that
carries
a
bottle
.
I
forget
,
though
—
you
do
n't
read
Shakspeare
,
Mr
Lyon
.
"
"
I
am
bound
to
confess
that
I
have
so
far
looked
into
a
volume
of
Esther
's
as
to
conceive
your
meaning
;
but
the
fantasies
therein
were
so
little
to
be
reconciled
with
a
steady
contemplation
of
that
divine
economy
which
is
hidden
from
sense
and
revealed
to
faith
,
that
I
forbore
the
reading
,
as
likely
to
perturb
my
ministrations
.
"
Esther
sat
by
in
unusual
silence
.
The
conviction
that
Felix
willed
her
exclusion
from
his
life
was
making
it
plain
that
something
more
than
friendship
between
them
was
not
so
thoroughly
out
of
the
question
as
she
had
always
inwardly
asserted
.
In
her
pain
that
his
choice
lay
aloof
from
her
,
she
was
compelled
frankly
to
admit
to
herself
the
longing
that
it
had
been
otherwise
,
and
that
he
had
entreated
her
to
share
his
difficult
life
.
He
was
like
no
one
else
to
her
:
he
had
seemed
to
bring
at
once
a
law
,
and
the
love
that
gave
strength
to
obey
the
law
.
Yet
the
next
moment
,
stung
by
his
independence
of
her
,
she
denied
that
she
loved
him
;
she
had
only
longed
for
a
moral
support
under
the
negations
of
her
life
.
If
she
were
not
to
have
that
support
,
all
effort
seemed
useless
.
Esther
had
been
so
long
used
to
hear
the
formulas
of
her
father
's
belief
without
feeling
or
understanding
them
,
that
they
had
lost
all
power
to
touch
her
.
The
first
religious
experience
of
her
life
—
the
first
self-questioning
,
the
first
voluntary
subjection
,
the
first
longing
to
acquire
the
strength
of
greater
motives
and
obey
the
more
strenuous
rule
—
had
come
to
her
through
Felix
Holt
.
No
wonder
that
she
felt
as
if
the
loss
of
him
were
inevitable
backsliding
.
But
was
it
certain
that
she
should
lose
him
?
She
did
not
believe
that
he
was
really
indifferent
to
her
.
CHAPTER
XXVIII
.
But
what
says
Jupiter
,
I
ask
thee
?
Alas
,
sir
,
I
know
not
Jupiter
:
I
never
drank
with
him
in
all
my
life
.
Titus
Andronicus
.
The
multiplication
of
uncomplimentary
placards
noticed
by
Mr
Lyon
and
Felix
Holt
was
one
of
several
signs
that
the
days
of
nomination
and
election
were
approaching
.
The
presence
of
the
Revising
Barrister
in
Treby
was
not
only
an
opportunity
for
all
persons
not
otherwise
busy
to
show
their
zeal
for
the
purification
of
the
voting-lists
,
but
also
to
reconcile
private
ease
and
public
duty
by
standing
about
the
streets
and
lounging
at
doors
.
It
was
no
light
business
for
Trebians
to
form
an
opinion
;
the
mere
fact
of
a
public
functionary
with
an
unfamiliar
title
was
enough
to
give
them
pause
,
as
a
premiss
that
was
not
to
be
quickly
started
from
.
To
Mr
Pink
the
saddler
,
for
example
,
until
some
distinct
injury
or
benefit
had
accrued
to
him
,
the
existence
of
the
Revising-Barrister
was
like
the
existence
of
the
young
giraffe
which
Wombwell
had
lately
brought
into
those
parts
—
it
was
to
be
contemplated
,
and
not
criticised
.
Mr
Pink
professed
a
deep-dyed
Toryism
;
but
he
regarded
all
fault-finding
as
Radical
and
somewhat
impious
,
as
disturbing
to
trade
,
and
likely
to
offend
the
gentry
or
the
servants
through
whom
their
harness
was
ordered
:
there
was
a
Nemesis
in
things
which
made
objection
unsafe
,
and
even
the
Reform
Bill
was
a
sort
of
electric
eel
which
a
thriving
tradesman
had
better
leave
alone
.
It
was
only
the
"
Papists
"
who
lived
far
enough
off
to
be
spoken
of
uncivilly
.
But
Mr
Pink
was
fond
of
news
,
which
he
collected
and
retailed
with
perfect
impartiality
,
noting
facts
and
rejecting
comments
.
Hence
he
was
well
pleased
to
have
his
shop
so
constant
a
place
of
resort
for
loungers
,
that
to
many
Trebians
there
was
a
strong
association
between
the
pleasures
of
gossip
and
the
smell
of
leather
.
He
had
the
satisfaction
of
chalking
and
cutting
,
and
of
keeping
his
journeymen
close
at
work
,
at
the
very
time
that
he
learned
from
his
visitors
who
were
those
whose
votes
had
been
called
in
question
before
His
Honour
,
how
Lawyer
Jermyn
had
been
too
much
for
Lawyer
Labron
about
Todd
's
cottages
,
and
how
,
in
the
opinion
of
some
townsmen
,
this
looking
into
the
value
of
people
's
property
,
and
swearing
it
down
below
a
certain
sum
,
was
a
nasty
,
inquisitorial
kind
of
thing
;
while
others
observed
that
being
nice
to
a
few
pounds
was
all
nonsense
—
they
should
put
the
figure
high
enough
,
and
then
never
mind
if
a
voter
's
qualification
was
thereabouts
.
But
,
said
Mr
Sims
the
auctioneer
,
everything
was
done
for
the
sake
of
the
lawyers
.
Mr
Pink
suggested
impartially
that
lawyers
must
live
;
but
Mr
Sims
having
a
ready
auctioneering
wit
,
did
not
see
that
so
many
of
them
need
live
,
or
that
babies
were
born
lawyers
.
Mr
Pink
felt
that
this
speculation
was
complicated
by
the
ordering
of
side-saddles
for
lawyers
'
daughters
,
and
,
returning
to
the
firm
ground
of
fact
,
stated
that
it
was
getting
dusk
.
The
dusk
seemed
deepened
the
next
moment
by
a
tall
figure
obstructing
the
doorway
,
at
sight
of
whom
Mr
Pink
rubbed
his
hands
and
smiled
and
bowed
more
than
once
,
with
evident
solicitude
to
show
honour
where
honour
was
due
,
while
he
said
,
"
Mr
Christian
,
sir
,
how
do
you
do
,
sir
?
"
Christian
answered
with
the
condescending
familiarity
of
a
superior
.
"
Very
badly
,
I
can
tell
you
,
with
these
confounded
braces
that
you
were
to
make
such
a
fine
job
of
.
See
,
old
fellow
,
they
've
burst
out
again
.
"
"
Very
sorry
,
sir
.
Can
you
leave
them
with
me
?
"
"
O
yes
,
I
'll
leave
them
.
What
's
the
news
,
eh
?
"
said
Christian
,
half
seating
himself
on
a
high
stool
,
and
beating
his
boot
with
a
hand-whip
.
"
Well
,
sir
,
we
look
to
you
to
tell
us
that
,
"
said
Mr
Pink
,
with
a
knowing
smile
.
"
You
're
at
headquarters
—
eh
,
sir
?
That
was
what
I
said
to
Mr
Scales
the
other
day
.
He
came
for
some
straps
,
Mr
Scales
did
,
and
he
asked
that
question
in
pretty
near
the
same
terms
that
you
've
done
,
sir
,
and
I
answered
him
,
as
I
may
say
,
ditto
.
Not
meaning
any
disrespect
to
you
,
sir
,
but
a
way
of
speaking
.
"
"
Come
,
that
's
gammon
,
Pink
,
"
said
Christian
.
"
You
know
everything
.
You
can
tell
me
,
if
you
will
,
who
is
the
fellow
employed
to
paste
up
Transome
's
handbills
?
"
"
What
do
you
say
,
Mr
Sims
?
"
said
Pink
,
looking
at
the
auctioneer
.
"
Why
,
you
know
and
I
know
well
enough
.
It
's
Tommy
Trounsem
—
an
old
,
crippling
,
half-mad
fellow
.
Most
people
know
Tommy
.
I
've
employed
him
myself
for
charity
.
"
"
Where
shall
I
find
him
?
"
said
Christian
.
"
At
the
Cross-Keys
,
in
Pollard
's
End
,
most
likely
,
"
said
Mr
Sims
.
"
I
do
n't
know
where
he
puts
himself
when
he
is
n't
at
the
public
.
"
"
He
was
a
stoutish
fellow
fifteen
year
ago
,
when
he
carried
pots
,
"
said
Mr
Pink
.
"
Ay
,
and
has
snared
many
a
hare
in
his
time
,
"
said
Mr
Sims
.
"
But
he
was
always
a
little
cracked
.
Lord
bless
you
!
he
used
to
swear
he
'd
a
right
to
the
Transome
estate
.
"
"
Why
,
what
put
that
notion
into
his
head
?
"
said
Christian
,
who
had
learned
more
than
he
expected
.
"
The
lawing
,
sir
—
nothing
but
the
lawing
about
the
estate
.
There
was
a
deal
of
it
twenty
year
ago
,
"
said
Mr
Pink
.
"
Tommy
happened
to
turn
up
hereabout
at
that
time
;
a
big
,
lungeous
fellow
,
who
would
speak
disrespectfully
of
hanybody
.
"
"
O
,
he
meant
no
harm
,
"
said
Mr
Sims
.
"
He
was
fond
of
a
drop
to
drink
,
and
not
quite
right
in
the
upper
storey
,
and
he
could
hear
no
difference
between
Trounsem
and
Transome
.
It
's
an
odd
way
of
speaking
they
have
in
that
part
where
he
was
born
—
a
little
north'ard
.
You
'll
hear
it
in
his
tongue
now
,
if
you
talk
to
him
.
"
"
At
the
Cross-Keys
I
shall
find
him
,
eh
?
"
said
Christian
,
getting
off
his
stool
.
"
Good-day
,
Pink
,
good-day
.
"
Christian
went
straight
from
the
saddler
's
to
Quorlen
's
,
the
Tory
printer
's
,
with
whom
he
had
contrived
a
political
spree
.
Quorlen
was
a
new
man
in
Treby
,
who
had
so
reduced
the
trade
of
Dow
,
the
old
hereditary
printer
,
that
Dow
had
lapsed
to
Whiggery
and
Radicalism
and
opinions
in
general
,
so
far
as
they
were
contented
to
express
themselves
in
a
small
stock
of
types
.
Quorlen
had
brought
his
Duffield
wit
with
him
,
and
insisted
that
religion
and
joking
were
the
handmaids
of
politics
;
on
which
principle
he
and
Christian
undertook
the
joking
,
and
left
the
religion
to
the
Rector
.
The
joke
at
present
in
question
was
a
practical
one
.
Christian
,
turning
into
the
shop
,
merely
said
,
"
I
've
found
him
out
—
give
me
the
placards
;
"
and
,
tucking
a
thickish
flat
bundle
,
wrapped
in
a
black
glazed
cotton
bag
,
under
his
arm
,
walked
out
into
the
dusk
again
.
"
Suppose
now
,
"
he
said
to
himself
,
as
he
strode
along
—
"
suppose
there
should
be
some
secret
to
be
got
out
of
this
old
scamp
,
or
some
notion
that
's
as
good
as
a
secret
to
those
who
know
how
to
use
it
?
That
would
be
virtue
rewarded
.
But
I
'm
afraid
the
old
tosspot
is
not
likely
to
be
good
for
much
.
There
's
truth
in
wine
,
and
there
may
be
some
in
gin
and
muddy
beer
;
but
whether
it
's
truth
worth
my
knowing
,
is
another
question
.
I
've
got
plenty
of
truth
in
my
time
out
of
men
who
were
half-seas-over
,
but
never
any
that
was
worth
a
sixpence
to
me
.
"
The
Cross-Keys
was
a
very
old-fashioned
"
public
:
"
its
bar
was
a
big
rambling
kitchen
,
with
an
undulating
brick
floor
;
the
small-paned
windows
threw
an
interesting
obscurity
over
the
far-off
dresser
,
garnished
with
pewter
and
tin
,
and
with
large
dishes
that
seemed
to
speak
of
better
times
;
the
two
settles
were
half
pushed
under
the
wide-mouthed
chimney
;
and
the
grate
,
with
its
brick
hobs
,
massive
iron
crane
,
and
various
pothooks
,
suggested
a
generous
plenty
possibly
existent
in
all
moods
and
tenses
except
the
indicative
present
.
One
way
of
getting
an
idea
of
our
fellow-countrymen
's
miseries
is
to
go
and
look
at
their
pleasures
.
The
Cross-Keys
had
a
fungous-featured
landlord
and
a
yellow
sickly
landlady
,
with
a
napkin
bound
round
her
head
like
a
resuscitated
Lazarus
;
it
had
doctored
ale
,
an
odour
of
bad
tobacco
,
and
remarkably
strong
cheese
.
It
was
not
what
Astræa
,
when
come
back
,
might
be
expected
to
approve
as
the
scene
of
ecstatic
enjoyment
for
the
beings
whose
special
prerogative
it
is
to
lift
their
sublime
faces
towards
heaven
.
Still
,
there
was
ample
space
on
the
hearth
—
accommodation
for
narrative
bagmen
or
boxmen
—
room
for
a
man
to
stretch
his
legs
;
his
brain
was
not
pressed
upon
by
a
white
wall
within
a
yard
of
him
,
and
the
light
did
not
stare
in
mercilessly
on
bare
ugliness
,
turning
the
fire
to
ashes
.
Compared
with
some
beerhouses
of
this
more
advanced
period
,
the
Cross-Keys
of
that
day
presented
a
high
standard
of
pleasure
.
But
though
this
venerable
"
public
"
had
not
failed
to
share
in
the
recent
political
excitement
of
drinking
,
the
pleasures
it
offered
were
not
at
this
early
hour
of
the
evening
sought
by
a
numerous
company
.
There
were
only
three
or
four
pipes
being
smoked
by
the
firelight
,
but
it
was
enough
for
Christian
when
he
found
that
one
of
these
was
being
smoked
by
the
bill-sticker
,
whose
large
flat
basket
,
stuffed
with
placards
,
leaned
near
him
against
the
settle
.
So
splendid
an
apparition
as
Christian
was
not
a
little
startling
at
the
Cross-Keys
,
and
was
gazed
at
in
expectant
silence
;
but
he
was
a
stranger
in
Pollard
's
End
,
and
was
taken
for
the
highest
style
of
traveller
when
he
declared
that
he
was
deucedly
thirsty
,
ordered
sixpennyworth
of
gin
and
a
large
jug
of
water
,
and
,
putting
a
few
drops
of
the
spirit
into
his
own
glass
,
invited
Tommy
Trounsem
,
who
sat
next
him
;
to
help
himself
.
Tommy
was
not
slower
than
a
shaking
hand
obliged
him
to
be
in
accepting
this
invitation
.
He
was
a
tall
broad-shouldered
old
fellow
,
who
had
once
been
good-looking
;
but
his
cheeks
and
chest
were
both
hollow
now
,
and
his
limbs
were
shrunken
.
"
You
've
got
some
bills
there
,
master
,
eh
?
"
said
Christian
,
pointing
to
the
basket
.
"
Is
there
an
auction
coming
on
?
"
"
Auction
?
no
,
"
said
Tommy
,
with
a
gruff
hoarseness
,
which
was
the
remnant
of
a
jovial
bass
,
and
with
an
accent
which
differed
from
the
Trebian
fitfully
,
as
an
early
habit
is
wont
to
reassert
itself
.
"
I
've
nought
to
do
wi
'
auctions
;
I
'm
a
pol'tical
charicter
.
It
's
me
am
getting
Trounsem
into
Parl'ment
.
"
"
Trounsem
,
says
he
,
"
the
landlord
observed
,
taking
out
his
pipe
with
a
low
laugh
.
"
It
's
Transome
,
sir
.
May
be
you
do
n't
belong
to
this
part
.
It
's
the
candidate
'
ull
do
most
for
the
working
men
,
and
's
proved
it
too
,
in
the
way
o
'
being
openhanded
and
wishing
'
em
to
enjoy
themselves
.
If
I
'd
twenty
votes
,
I
'd
give
one
for
Transome
,
and
I
do
n't
care
who
hears
me
.
"
The
landlord
peeped
out
from
his
fungous
cluster
of
features
with
a
beery
confidence
that
the
high
figure
of
twenty
had
somehow
raised
the
hypothetic
value
of
his
vote
.
"
Spilkins
,
now
,
"
said
Tommy
,
waving
his
hand
to
the
landlord
,
"
you
let
one
genelman
speak
to
another
,
will
you
?
This
genelman
wants
to
know
about
my
bills
.
Does
he
,
or
does
n't
he
?
"
"
What
then
?
I
spoke
according
,
"
said
the
landlord
,
mildly
holding
his
own
.
"
You
're
all
very
well
,
Spilkins
,
"
retuned
Tommy
,
"
but
y'are
n't
me
.
I
know
what
the
bills
are
.
It
's
public
business
.
I
'm
none
o
'
your
common
bill-stickers
,
master
;
I
've
left
off
sticking
up
ten
guineas
reward
for
a
sheep-stealer
,
or
low
stuff
like
that
.
These
are
Trounsem
's
bills
;
and
I
'm
the
rightful
family
,
and
so
I
give
him
a
lift
.
A
Trounsem
I
am
,
and
a
Trounsem
I
'll
be
buried
;
and
if
Old
Nick
tries
to
lay
hold
on
me
for
poaching
,
I
'll
say
,
'
You
be
hanged
for
a
lawyer
,
Old
Nick
;
every
hare
and
pheasant
on
the
Trounsem
's
land
is
mine
;
'
and
what
rises
the
family
,
rises
old
Tommy
;
and
we
're
going
to
get
into
Parl'ment
—
that
's
the
long
and
the
short
o
n't
,
master
.
And
I
'm
the
head
o
'
the
family
,
and
I
stick
the
bills
.
There
's
Johnsons
,
and
Thomsons
,
and
Jacksons
,
and
Billsons
;
but
I
'm
a
Trounsem
,
I
am
.
What
do
you
say
to
that
,
master
?
"
This
appeal
,
accompanied
by
a
blow
on
the
table
,
while
the
landlord
winked
at
the
company
,
was
addressed
to
Christian
,
who
answered
,
with
severe
gravity
,
"
I
say
there
is
n't
any
work
more
honourable
than
bill-sticking
.
"
"
No
,
no
,
"
said
Tommy
,
wagging
his
head
from
side
to
side
.
"
I
thought
you
'd
come
in
to
that
.
I
thought
you
'd
know
better
than
say
contrairy
.
But
I
'll
shake
hands
wi
'
you
;
I
do
n't
want
to
knock
any
man
's
head
off
.
I
'm
a
good
chap
—
a
sound
crock
—
an
old
family
kep
'
out
o'my
rights
.
I
shall
go
to
heaven
,
for
all
Old
Nick
.
"
As
these
celestial
prospects
might
imply
that
a
little
extra
gin
was
beginning
to
tell
on
the
bill-sticker
,
Christian
wanted
to
lose
no
time
in
arresting
his
attention
.
He
laid
his
hand
on
Tommy
's
arm
and
spoke
emphatically
.
"
But
I
'll
tell
you
what
you
bill-stickers
are
not
up
to
.
You
should
be
on
the
look-out
when
Debarry
's
side
have
stuck
up
fresh
bills
,
and
go
and
paste
yours
over
them
.
I
know
where
there
's
a
lot
of
Debarry
's
bills
now
.
Come
along
with
me
,
and
I
'll
show
you
.
We
'll
paste
them
over
,
and
then
we
'll
come
back
and
treat
the
company
.
"
"
Hooray
!
"
said
Tommy
.
"
Let
's
be
off
them
.
"
He
was
one
of
the
thoroughly
inured
,
originally
hale
drunkards
,
and
did
not
easily
lose
his
head
or
legs
or
the
ordinary
amount
of
method
in
his
talk
.
Strangers
often
suppposed
that
Tommy
was
tipsy
when
he
had
only
taken
what
he
called
"
one
blessed
pint
,
"
chiefly
from
that
glorious
contentment
with
himself
and
his
adverse
fortunes
which
is
not
usually
characteristic
of
the
sober
Briton
.
He
knocked
the
ashes
out
of
his
pipe
,
seized
his
paste-vessel
and
his
basket
,
and
prepared
to
start
,
with
a
satisfactory
promise
that
he
could
know
what
he
was
about
.
The
landlord
and
some
others
had
confidently
concluded
that
they
understood
all
about
Christian
now
.
He
was
a
Transome
's
man
,
come
to
see
after
the
bill-sticking
in
Transome
's
interest
.
The
landlord
,
telling
his
yellow
wife
snappishly
to
open
the
door
for
the
gentleman
,
hoped
soon
to
see
him
again
.
"
This
is
a
Transome
's
house
,
sir
,
"
he
observed
,
"
in
respect
of
entertaining
customers
of
that
colour
.
I
do
my
duty
as
a
publican
,
which
,
if
I
know
it
,
is
to
turn
back
no
genelman
's
money
.
I
say
,
give
every
genelman
a
chanch
,
and
the
more
the
merrier
,
in
Parl'ment
and
out
of
it
.
And
if
anybody
says
they
want
but
two
Parl'ment
men
,
I
say
it
'
ud
be
better
for
trade
if
there
was
six
of
'
em
,
and
voters
according
.
"
"
Ay
,
ay
,
"
said
Christian
;
"
you
're
a
sensible
man
,
landlord
.
You
do
n't
mean
to
vote
for
Debarry
then
,
eh
?
"
"
Not
nohow
,
"
said
the
landlord
,
thinking
that
where
negatives
were
good
the
more
you
heard
of
them
the
better
.
As
soon
as
the
door
had
closed
behind
Christian
and
his
new
companion
,
Tommy
said
,
"
Now
,
master
,
if
you
're
to
be
my
lantern
,
do
n't
you
be
a
Jacky
Lantern
,
which
I
take
to
mean
one
as
leads
you
the
wrong
way
.
For
I
'll
tell
you
what
—
if
you
've
had
the
luck
to
fall
in
wi
'
Tommy
Trounsem
,
do
n't
you
let
him
drop
.
"
"
No
,
no
—
to
be
sure
not
,
"
said
Christian
.
"
Come
along
here
.
We
'll
go
to
the
Back
Brewery
wall
first
.
"
"
No
,
no
;
do
n't
you
let
me
drop
.
Give
me
a
shilling
any
day
you
like
,
and
I
'll
tell
you
more
nor
you
'll
hear
from
Spilkins
in
a
week
.
There
isna
many
men
like
me
.
I
carried
pots
for
fifteen
year
off
and
on
—
what
do
you
think
o
'
that
now
,
for
a
man
as
might
ha
'
lived
up
there
at
Trounsem
Park
,
and
snared
his
own
game
?
Which
I
'd
ha
'
done
,
"
said
Tommy
,
wagging
his
head
at
Christian
in
the
dimness
undisturbed
by
gas
.
"
None
o
'
your
shooting
for
me
—
it
's
two
to
one
you
'll
miss.
Snaring
's
more
fishing-like
.
You
bait
your
hook
,
and
if
it
isna
the
fishes
'
goodwill
to
come
,
that
's
nothing
again
'
the
sporting
genelman
.
And
that
's
what
I
say
by
snaring
.
"
"
But
if
you
'd
a
right
to
the
Transome
estate
,
how
was
it
you
were
kept
out
of
it
,
old
boy
?
It
was
some
foul
shame
or
other
,
eh
?
"
"
It
's
the
law
—
that
's
what
it
is
.
You
're
a
good
sort
o
'
chap
;
I
do
n't
mind
telling
you
.
There
's
folks
born
to
property
,
and
there
's
folks
catch
hold
on
it
;
and
the
law
's
made
for
them
as
catch
hold
.
I
'm
pretty
deep
;
I
see
a
good
deal
further
than
Spilkins
.
There
was
Ned
Patch
,
the
pedlar
,
used
to
say
to
me
,
'
You
canna
read
,
Tommy
,
'
says
he
.
'
No
;
thank
you
,
'
says
I
;
'
I
'm
not
going
to
crack
my
headpiece
to
make
myself
as
big
a
fool
as
you
.
'
I
was
fond
o
'
Ned
.
Many
's
the
pot
we
've
had
together
.
"
"
I
see
well
enough
you
're
deep
,
Tommy
.
How
came
you
to
know
you
were
born
to
property
?
"
"
It
was
the
regester
—
the
parish
regester
,
"
said
Tommy
,
with
his
knowing
wag
of
the
head
,
"
that
shows
as
you
was
born
.
I
allays
felt
it
inside
me
as
I
was
somebody
,
and
I
could
see
other
chaps
thought
it
on
me
too
;
and
so
one
day
at
Littleshaw
,
where
I
kep
ferrets
and
a
little
bit
of
a
public
,
there
comes
a
fine
man
looking
after
me
,
and
walking
me
up
and
down
wi
'
questions
.
And
I
made
out
from
the
clerk
as
he
'd
been
at
the
regester
;
and
I
gave
the
clerk
a
pot
or
two
,
and
he
got
it
of
our
parson
as
the
nake
o
'
Trounsem
was
a
great
name
hereabout
.
And
I
waits
a
bit
for
my
fine
man
to
come
again
.
Thinks
I
,
if
there
's
property
wants
a
right
owner
,
I
shall
be
called
for
;
for
I
did
n't
know
the
law
then
.
And
I
waited
and
waited
,
till
I
see
'd
no
fun
i
'
waiting
.
So
I
parted
wi
'
my
public
and
my
ferrets
—
for
she
was
dead
a'ready
,
my
wife
was
,
and
I
had
n't
no
cumbrance
.
And
off
I
started
a
pretty
long
walk
to
this
countryside
,
for
I
could
walk
for
a
wager
in
them
days
.
"
"
Ah
!
well
,
here
we
are
at
the
Back
Brewery
wall
.
Put
down
your
paste
and
your
basket
now
,
old
boy
,
and
I
'll
help
you
.
You
paste
,
and
I
'll
give
you
the
bills
,
and
then
you
can
go
on
talking
.
"
Tommy
obeyed
automatically
,
for
he
was
now
carried
away
by
the
rare
opportunity
of
talking
to
a
new
listener
,
and
was
only
eager
to
go
on
with
his
story
.
As
soon
as
his
back
was
turned
,
and
he
was
stooping
over
his
paste-pot
,
Christian
,
with
quick
adroitness
,
exchanged
the
placards
in
his
own
bag
for
those
in
Tommy
's
basket
.
Christian
's
placards
had
not
been
printed
at
Treby
,
but
were
a
new
lot
which
had
been
sent
from
Duffield
that
very
day
—
"
highly
spiced
,
"
Quorlen
had
said
,
"
coming
from
a
pen
that
was
up
to
that
sort
of
thing
.
"
Christian
had
read
the
first
of
the
sheaf
,
and
supposed
they
were
all
alike
.
He
proceeded
to
hand
one
to
Tommy
,
and
said
,
"
Here
,
old
boy
,
paste
this
over
the
other
.
And
so
,
when
you
got
into
this
country-side
,
what
did
you
do
?
"
"
Do
?
Why
,
I
put
up
at
a
good
public
and
ordered
the
best
,
for
I
'd
a
bit
o
'
money
in
my
pocket
;
and
I
axed
about
,
and
they
said
to
me
,
if
it
's
Trounsem
business
you
're
after
,
you
go
to
Lawyer
Jermyn
.
And
I
went
;
and
says
I
,
going
along
,
he
's
may
be
the
fine
man
as
walked
me
up
and
down
.
But
no
such
thing
.
I
'll
tell
you
what
Lawyer
Jermyn
was
.
He
stands
you
there
,
and
holds
you
away
from
him
wi
'
a
pole
three
yard
long
.
He
stares
at
you
,
and
says
nothing
,
till
you
feel
like
a
Tomfool
;
and
then
he
threats
you
to
set
the
justice
on
you
;
and
then
he
's
sorry
for
you
,
and
hands
you
money
,
and
preaches
you
a
sarmint
,
and
tells
you
you
're
a
poor
man
,
and
he
'll
give
you
a
bit
of
advice
—
and
you
'd
better
not
be
meddling
wi
'
things
belonging
to
the
law
,
else
you
'll
be
catched
up
in
a
big
wheel
and
fly
to
bits
.
And
I
went
of
a
cold
sweat
,
and
I
wished
I
might
never
come
i
'
sight
o
'
Lawyer
Jermyn
again
.
But
he
says
,
if
you
keep
i
'
this
neighbourhood
,
behave
yourself
well
,
and
I
'll
pertect
you
.
I
were
deep
enough
,
but
it
's
no
use
being
deep
,
'
cause
you
can
never
know
the
law
.
And
there
's
times
when
the
deepest
fellow
's
worst
frightened
.
"
"
Yes
,
yes
.
There
!
Now
for
another
placard
.
And
so
that
was
all
?
"
"
All
?
"
said
Tommy
,
turning
round
and
holding
the
paste-brush
in
suspense
.
"
Do
n't
you
be
running
too
quick
.
Thinks
I
,
'
I
'll
meddle
no
more
.
I
've
got
a
bit
o
'
money
—
I
'll
buy
a
basket
,
and
be
a
potman
.
It
's
a
pleasant
life
.
I
shall
live
at
publics
and
see
the
world
,
and
pick
up
'
quaintance
,
and
get
a
chanch
penny
.
'
But
when
I
'd
turned
into
the
Red
Lion
,
and
got
myself
warm
again
wi
'
a
drop
o
'
hot
,
something
jumps
into
my
head
.
Thinks
I
,
Tommy
,
you
've
done
finely
for
yourself
:
you
're
a
rat
as
has
broke
up
your
house
to
take
a
journey
,
and
show
yourself
to
a
ferret
.
And
then
it
jumps
into
my
head
:
I
'd
once
two
ferrets
as
turned
on
one
another
,
and
the
little
un
killed
the
big
un
.
Says
I
to
the
landlady
,
'
Missis
,
could
you
tell
me
of
a
lawyer
,
'
says
I
,
'
not
very
big
or
fine
,
but
a
second
size
—
a
pig-potato
,
like
?
'
'
That
I
can
,
'
says
she
;
'
there
's
one
now
in
the
bar
parlour
.
'
'
Be
so
kind
as
bring
us
together
,
'
says
I
.
And
she
cries
out
—
I
think
I
hear
her
now
—
'
Mr
Johnson
!
'
And
what
do
you
think
?
"
At
this
crisis
in
Tommy
's
story
the
grey
clouds
,
which
had
been
gradually
thinning
,
opened
sufficiently
to
let
down
the
sudden
moonlight
,
and
show
his
poor
battered
old
figure
and
face
in
the
attitude
and
with
the
expression
of
a
narrator
sure
of
the
coming
effect
on
his
auditor
;
his
body
and
neck
stretched
a
little
on
one
side
,
and
his
pastebrush
held
out
with
an
alarming
intention
of
tapping
Christian
's
coat-sleeve
at
the
right
moment
.
Christian
started
to
a
safe
distance
,
and
said
,
"
It
's
wonderful
.
I
ca
n't
tell
what
to
think
.
"
"
Then
never
do
you
deny
Old
Nick
,
"
said
Tommy
,
with
solemnity
.
"
I
've
believed
in
him
more
ever
since
.
Who
was
Johnson
?
Why
,
Johnson
was
the
fine
man
as
had
walked
me
up
and
down
with
questions
.
And
I
out
with
it
to
him
then
and
there
.
And
he
speaks
me
civil
,
and
says
,
'
Come
away
wi
'
me
,
my
good
fellow
.
'
And
he
told
me
a
deal
o
'
law
.
And
he
says
,
whether
you
're
a
Tommy
Trounsem
or
no
,
it
's
no
good
to
you
,
but
only
to
them
as
have
got
hold
o
'
the
property
.
If
you
was
a
Tommy
Trounsem
twenty
times
over
,
it
'
ud
be
no
good
,
for
the
law
's
bought
you
out
;
and
your
life
's
no
good
,
only
to
them
as
have
catched
hold
o
'
the
property
.
The
more
you
live
,
the
more
they
'll
stick
in
.
Not
as
they
want
you
now
,
says
he
—
you
're
no
good
to
anybody
,
and
you
might
howl
like
a
dog
for
iver
,
and
the
law
'
ud
take
no
notice
on
you
.
Says
Johnson
,
I
'm
doing
a
kind
thing
by
you
,
to
tell
you
.
For
that
's
the
law
.
And
if
you
want
to
know
the
law
,
master
,
you
ask
Johnson
.
I
heard
'
em
say
after
,
as
he
was
an
understrapper
at
Jermyn
's
.
I
've
never
forgot
it
from
that
day
to
this
.
But
I
saw
clear
enough
,
as
if
the
law
had
n't
been
again
'
me
,
the
Trounsem
estate
'
ud
ha
'
been
mine
.
But
folks
are
fools
hereabouts
,
and
I
've
left
off
talking
.
The
more
you
tell
'em
the
truth
,
the
more
they
'll
niver
believe
you
.
And
I
went
and
bought
my
basket
and
the
pots
,
and
—
"
"
Come
,
then
,
fire
away
,
"
said
Christian
.
"
Here
's
another
placard
.
"
"
I
'm
getting
a
bit
dry
,
master
.
"
"
Well
,
then
,
make
haste
,
and
you
'll
have
something
to
drink
all
the
sooner
.
"
Tommy
turned
to
his
work
again
,
and
Christian
,
continuing
his
help
,
said
,
"
And
how
long
has
Mr
Jermyn
been
employing
you
?
"
"
Oh
,
no
particular
time
—
off
and
on
;
but
a
week
or
two
ago
he
sees
me
upo
'
the
road
,
and
speaks
to
me
uncommon
civil
,
and
tells
me
to
go
up
to
his
office
,
and
he
'll
give
me
employ
.
And
I
was
noways
unwilling
to
stick
the
bills
to
get
the
family
into
Parl'ment
.
For
there
's
no
man
can
help
the
law
.
And
the
family
's
the
family
,
whether
you
carry
pots
or
no.
Master
,
I
'm
uncommon
dry
;
my
head
's
a
turning
round
;
it
's
talking
so
long
on
end
.
"
The
unwonted
excitement
of
poor
Tommy
's
memory
was
producing
a
reaction
.
"
Well
,
Tommy
,
"
said
Christian
,
who
had
just
made
a
discovery
among
the
placards
which
altered
the
bent
of
his
thoughts
,
"
you
may
go
back
to
the
Cross-Keys
now
,
if
you
like
;
here
's
a
half-crown
for
you
to
spend
handsomely
.
I
ca
n't
go
back
there
myself
just
yet
;
but
you
may
give
my
respects
to
Spilkins
,
and
mind
you
paste
the
rest
of
the
bills
early
to-morrow
morning
.
"
"
Ay
,
ay
.
But
do
n't
you
believe
too
much
i
'
Spilkins
,
"
said
Tommy
,
pocketing
the
half-crown
,
and
showing
his
gratitude
by
giving
this
advice
—
"
he
's
no
harm
much
—
but
weak
.
He
thinks
he
's
at
the
bottom
o
'
things
because
he
scores
you
up
.
But
I
bear
him
no
ill-will
.
Tommy
Trounsem
's
a
good
chap
;
and
any
day
you
like
to
give
me
half
—
a
—
crown
,
I
'll
tell
you
the
same
story
over
again
.
Not
now
;
I
'm
dry
.
Come
,
help
me
up
wi
'
these
things
;
you
're
a
younger
chap
than
me
.
Well
,
I
'll
tell
Spilkins
you
'll
come
again
another
day
.
"
The
moonlight
,
which
had
lit
up
poor
Tommy
's
oratorical
attitude
,
had
served
to
light
up
for
Christian
the
print
of
the
placards
.
He
had
expected
the
copies
to
be
various
,
and
had
turned
them
half
over
at
different
depths
of
the
sheaf
before
drawing
out
those
he
offered
to
the
bill-sticker
.
Suddenly
the
clearer
light
had
shown
him
on
one
of
them
a
name
which
was
just
then
especially
interesting
to
him
,
and
all
the
more
when
occurring
in
a
placard
intended
to
dissuade
the
electors
of
North
Loamshire
from
voting
for
the
heir
of
the
Transomes
.
He
hastily
turned
over
the
lists
that
preceded
and
succeeded
,
that
he
might
draw
out
and
carry
away
all
of
this
pattern
;
for
it
might
turn
out
to
be
wiser
for
him
not
to
contribute
to
the
publicity
of
handbills
which
contained
allusions
to
Bycliffe
versus
Transome
.
There
were
about
a
dozen
of
them
;
he
pressed
them
together
and
thrust
them
into
his
pocket
,
returning
all
the
rest
to
Tommy
's
basket
.
To
take
away
this
dozen
might
not
be
to
prevent
similar
bills
from
being
posted
up
elsewhere
,
but
he
had
reason
to
believe
that
these
were
all
of
the
same
kind
which
had
been
sent
to
Treby
from
Duffield
.
Christian
's
interest
in
his
practical
joke
had
died
out
like
a
morning
rushlight
.
Apart
from
this
discovery
in
the
placards
,
old
Tommy
's
story
had
some
indications
in
it
that
were
worth
pondering
over
.
Where
was
that
well-informed
Johnson
now
?
Was
he
still
an
understrapper
of
Jermyn
's
?
With
this
matter
in
his
thoughts
,
Christian
only
turned
in
hastily
at
Quorlen
's
,
threw
down
the
black
bag
which
contained
the
captured
Radical
handbills
,
said
he
had
done
the
job
,
and
hurried
back
to
the
Manor
that
he
might
study
his
problem
.
CHAPTER
XXIX
.
I
doe
believe
that
,
as
the
gall
has
severall
receptacles
in
several
creatures
,
soe
there
's
scarce
any
creature
but
hath
that
emunctorye
somewhere
.
Sir
Thomas
Browne
.
Fancy
what
a
game
at
chess
would
be
if
all
the
chessmen
had
passions
and
intellects
,
more
or
less
small
and
cunning
:
if
you
were
not
only
uncertain
about
your
adversary
's
men
,
but
a
little
uncertain
also
about
your
own
;
if
your
knight
could
shuffle
himself
on
to
a
new
square
by
the
sly
;
if
your
bishop
,
in
disgust
at
your
castling
,
could
wheedle
your
pawns
out
of
their
places
;
and
if
your
pawns
,
hating
you
because
they
are
pawns
,
could
make
away
from
their
appointed
posts
that
you
might
get
checkmate
on
a
sudden
.
You
might
be
the
longest-headed
of
deductive
reasoners
,
and
yet
you
might
be
beaten
by
your
own
pawns
.
You
would
be
especially
likely
to
be
beaten
,
if
you
depended
arrogantly
on
your
mathematical
imagination
,
and
regarded
your
passionate
pieces
with
contempt
.
Yet
this
imaginary
chess
is
easy
compared
with
the
game
a
man
has
to
play
against
his
fellow-men
with
other
fellow-men
for
his
instruments
.
He
thinks
himself
sagacious
,
perhaps
,
because
he
trusts
no
bond
except
that
of
self-interest
;
but
the
only
self-interest
he
can
safely
rely
on
is
what
seems
to
be
such
to
the
mind
he
would
use
or
govern
.
Can
he
ever
be
sure
of
knowing
this
?
Matthew
Jermyn
was
under
no
misgivings
as
to
the
fealty
of
Johnson
.
He
had
"
been
the
making
of
Johnson
;
"
and
this
seems
to
many
men
a
reason
for
expecting
devotion
,
in
spite
of
the
fact
that
they
themselves
,
though
very
fond
of
their
own
persons
and
lives
,
are
not
at
all
devoted
to
the
Maker
they
believe
in
.
Johnson
was
a
most
serviceable
subordinate
.
Being
a
man
who
aimed
at
respectability
,
a
family
man
,
who
had
a
good
church-pew
,
subscribed
for
engravings
of
banquet
pictures
where
there
were
portraits
of
political
celebrities
,
and
wished
his
children
to
be
more
unquestionably
genteel
than
their
father
,
he
presented
all
the
more
numerous
handles
of
worldly
motive
by
which
a
judicious
superior
might
keep
a
hold
on
him
.
But
this
useful
regard
to
respectability
had
its
inconvenience
in
relation
to
such
a
superior
:
it
was
a
mark
of
some
vanity
and
some
pride
,
which
,
if
they
were
not
touched
just
in
the
right
handling-place
,
were
liable
to
become
raw
and
sensitive
.
Jermyn
was
aware
of
Johnson
's
weaknesses
,
and
thought
he
had
flattered
them
sufficiently
.
But
on
the
point
of
knowing
when
we
are
disagreeable
,
our
human
nature
is
fallible
.
Our
lavender-water
,
our
smiles
,
our
compliments
,
and
other
polite
falsities
,
are
constantly
offensive
,
when
in
the
very
nature
of
them
they
can
only
be
meant
to
attract
admiration
and
regard
.
Jermyn
had
often
been
unconsciously
disagreeable
to
Johnson
,
over
and
above
the
constant
offence
of
being
an
ostentatious
patron
.
He
would
never
let
Johnson
dine
with
his
wife
and
daughters
;
he
would
not
himself
dine
at
Johnson
's
house
when
he
was
in
town
.
He
often
did
what
was
equivalent
to
pooh-poohing
his
conversation
by
not
even
appearing
to
listen
,
and
by
suddenly
cutting
it
short
with
a
query
on
a
new
subject
.
Jermyn
was
able
and
politic
enough
to
have
commanded
a
great
deal
of
success
in
his
life
,
but
he
could
not
help
being
handsome
,
arrogant
,
fond
of
being
heard
,
indisposed
to
any
kind
of
comradeship
,
amorous
and
bland
towards
women
,
cold
and
self-contained
towards
men
.
You
will
bear
very
strong
denials
that
an
attorney
's
being
handsome
could
enter
into
the
dislike
he
excited
;
but
conversation
consists
a
good
deal
in
the
denial
of
what
is
true
.
From
the
British
point
of
view
masculine
beauty
is
regarded
very
much
as
it
is
in
the
drapery
business
:
—
as
good
solely
for
the
fancy
department
—
for
young
noblemen
,
artists
,
poets
,
and
the
clergy
.
Some
one
who
,
like
Mr
Lingon
,
was
disposed
to
revile
Jermyn
(
perhaps
it
was
Sir
Maximus
)
,
had
called
him
"
a
cursed
,
sleek
,
handsome
,
long-winded
,
overbearing
sycophant
;
"
epithets
which
expressed
,
rather
confusedly
,
the
mingled
character
of
the
dislike
he
excited
.
And
serviceable
John
Johnson
,
himself
sleek
,
and
mindful
about
his
broadcloth
and
his
cambric
fronts
,
had
what
he
considered
"
spirit
"
enough
within
him
to
feel
that
dislike
of
Jermyn
gradually
gathering
force
through
years
of
obligation
and
subjection
,
till
it
had
become
an
actuating
motive
disposed
to
use
an
opportunity
,
if
not
to
watch
for
one
.
It
was
not
this
motive
,
however
,
but
rather
the
ordinary
course
of
business
,
which
accounted
for
Johnson
's
playing
a
double
part
as
an
electioneering
agent
.
What
men
do
in
elections
,
is
not
to
be
classed
either
among
sins
or
marks
of
grace
:
it
would
be
profane
to
include
business
in
religion
,
and
conscience
refers
to
failure
,
not
to
success
.
Still
,
the
sense
of
being
galled
by
Jermyn
's
harness
was
an
additional
reason
for
cultivating
all
relations
that
were
independent
of
him
;
and
pique
at
Harold
Transome
's
behaviour
to
him
in
Jermyn
's
office
perhaps
gave
all
the
more
zest
to
Johnson
's
use
of
his
pen
and
ink
when
he
wrote
a
handbill
in
the
service
of
Garstin
,
and
Garstin
's
incomparable
agent
,
Putty
,
full
of
inuendoes
against
Harold
Transome
,
as
a
descendant
of
the
Durfey-Transomes
.
It
is
a
natural
subject
of
self-congratulation
to
a
man
,
when
special
knowledge
,
gained
long
ago
without
any
forecast
,
turns
out
to
afford
a
special
inspiration
in
the
present
;
and
Johnson
felt
a
new
pleasure
in
the
consciousness
that
he
of
all
people
in
the
world
next
to
Jermyn
had
the
most
intimate
knowledge
of
the
Transome
affairs
.
Still
better
—
some
of
these
affairs
were
secrets
of
Jermyn
's
.
If
in
an
uncomplimentary
spirit
he
might
have
been
called
Jermyn
's
"
man
of
straw
,
"
it
was
a
satisfaction
to
know
that
the
unreality
of
the
man
John
Johnson
was
confined
to
his
appearance
in
annuity
deeds
,
and
that
elsewhere
he
was
solid
,
locomotive
,
and
capable
of
remembering
anything
for
his
own
pleasure
and
benefit
.
To
act
with
doubleness
towards
a
man
whose
own
conduct
was
double
,
was
so
near
an
approach
to
virtue
that
it
deserved
to
be
called
by
no
meaner
name
than
Diplomacy
.
By
such
causes
it
came
to
pass
that
Christian
held
in
his
hands
a
bill
in
which
Jermyn
was
playfully
alluded
to
as
Mr
German
Cozen
,
who
won
games
by
clever
shunffling
and
odd
tricks
without
any
honour
,
and
backed
Durfey
's
crib
against
Bycliffe
,
—
in
which
it
was
adroitly
implied
that
the
so-called
head
of
the
Transomes
was
only
the
tail
of
the
Durfeys
,
—
and
that
some
said
the
Durfeys
would
have
died
out
and
left
their
nest
empty
if
it
had
not
been
for
their
German
Cozen
.
Johnson
had
not
dared
to
use
any
recollections
except
such
as
might
credibly
exist
in
other
minds
besides
his
own
.
In
the
truth
of
the
case
,
no
one
but
himself
had
the
prompting
to
recall
these
outworn
scandals
;
but
it
was
likely
enough
that
such
foul-winged
things
should
be
revived
by
election
heats
for
Johnson
to
escape
all
suspicion
.
Christian
could
gather
only
dim
and
uncertain
inferences
from
this
flat
irony
and
heavy
joking
;
but
one
chief
thing
was
clear
to
him
.
He
had
been
right
in
his
conjecture
that
Jermyn
's
interest
about
Bycliffe
had
its
source
in
some
claim
of
Bycliffe
's
on
the
Transome
property
.
And
then
,
there
was
that
story
of
the
old
bill-sticker
's
,
which
,
closely
considered
,
indicated
that
the
right
of
the
present
Transomes
depended
,
or
at
least
had
depended
,
on
the
continuance
of
some
other
lives
.
Christian
in
his
time
had
gathered
enough
legal
notions
to
be
aware
that
possession
by
one
man
sometimes
depended
on
the
life
of
another
;
that
a
man
might
sell
his
own
interest
in
property
,
and
the
interest
of
his
descendants
,
while
a
claim
on
that
property
would
still
remain
to
some
one
else
than
the
purchaser
,
supposing
the
descendants
became
extinct
,
and
the
interest
they
had
sold
were
at
an
end
.
But
under
what
conditions
the
claim
might
be
valid
or
void
in
any
particular
case
,
was
all
darkness
to
him
.
Suppose
Bycliffe
had
any
such
claim
on
the
Transome
estates
:
how
was
Christian
to
know
whether
at
the
present
moment
it
was
worth
anything
more
than
a
bit
of
rotten
parchment
?
Old
Tommy
Trounsem
had
said
that
Johnson
knew
all
about
it
.
But
even
if
Johnson
were
still
above-ground
—
and
all
Johnsons
are
mortal
—
he
might
still
be
an
understrapper
of
Jermyn
's
,
in
which
case
his
knowledge
would
be
on
the
wrong
side
of
the
hedge
for
the
purposes
of
Henry
Scaddon
.
His
immediate
care
must
be
to
find
out
all
he
could
about
Johnson
.
He
blamed
himself
for
not
having
questioned
Tommy
further
while
he
had
him
at
command
;
but
on
this
head
the
bill-sticker
could
hardly
know
more
than
the
less
dilapidated
denizens
of
Treby
.
Now
it
had
happened
that
during
the
weeks
in
which
Christian
had
been
at
work
in
trying
to
solve
the
enigma
of
Jermyn
's
interest
about
Bycliffe
,
Johnson
's
mind
also
had
been
somewhat
occupied
with
suspicion
and
conjecture
as
to
new
information
on
the
subject
of
the
old
Bycliffe
claims
which
Jermyn
intended
to
conceal
from
him
.
The
letter
which
,
after
his
interview
with
Christian
,
Jermyn
had
written
with
a
sense
of
perfect
safety
to
his
faithful
ally
Johnson
,
was
,
as
we
know
,
written
to
a
Johnson
who
had
found
his
self-love
incompatible
with
that
faithfulness
of
which
it
was
supposed
to
be
the
foundation
.
Anything
that
the
patron
felt
it
inconvenient
for
his
obliged
friend
and
servant
to
know
,
became
by
that
very
fact
an
object
of
peculiar
curiosity
.
The
obliged
friend
and
servant
secretly
doated
on
his
patron
's
inconvenience
,
provided
that
he
himself
did
not
share
it
;
and
conjecture
naturally
became
active
.
Johnson
's
legal
imagination
,
being
very
differently
furnished
from
Christian
's
,
was
at
no
loss
to
conceive
conditions
under
which
there
might
arise
a
new
claim
on
the
Transome
estates
.
He
had
before
him
the
whole
history
of
the
settlement
of
those
estates
made
a
hundred
years
ago
by
John
Justus
Transome
,
entailing
them
,
whilst
in
his
possession
,
on
his
son
Thomas
and
his
heirs-male
,
with
remainder
to
the
Bycliffes
in
fee
.
He
knew
that
Thomas
,
son
of
John
Justus
,
proving
a
prodigal
,
had
,
without
the
knowledge
of
his
father
,
the
tenant
in
possession
,
sold
his
own
and
his
descendants
'
rights
to
a
lawyer-cousin
named
Durfey
;
that
,
therefore
,
the
title
of
the
Durfey-Transomes
,
in
spite
of
that
old
Durfey
's
tricks
to
show
the
contrary
,
depended
solely
on
the
purchase
of
the
"
base
fee
"
thus
created
by
Thomas
Transome
;
and
that
the
Bycliffes
were
the
"
remainder-men
"
who
might
fairly
oust
the
Durfey-Transomes
if
ever
the
issue
of
the
prodigal
Thomas
went
clean
out
of
existence
,
and
ceased
to
represent
a
right
which
he
had
bargained
away
from
them
.
Johnson
,
as
Jermyn
's
subordinate
,
had
been
closely
cognisant
of
the
details
concerning
the
suit
instituted
by
successive
Bycliffes
,
of
whom
Maurice
Christian
Bycliffe
was
the
last
,
on
the
plea
that
the
extinction
of
Thomas
Transome
's
line
had
actually
come
to
pass
—
a
weary
suit
,
which
had
eaten
into
the
fortunes
of
two
families
,
and
had
only
made
the
cankerworms
fat
.
The
suit
had
closed
with
the
death
of
Maurice
Christian
Bycliffe
in
prison
;
but
before
his
death
,
Jermyn
's
exertions
to
get
evidence
that
there
was
still
issue
of
Thomas
Transome
's
line
surviving
,
as
a
security
of
the
Durfey
title
,
had
issued
in
the
discovery
of
a
Thomas
Transome
at
Littleshaw
,
in
Stonyshire
,
who
was
the
representative
of
a
pawned
inheritance
.
The
death
of
Maurice
had
made
this
discovery
useless
—
had
made
it
seem
the
wiser
part
to
say
nothing
about
it
;
and
the
fact
had
remained
a
secret
known
only
to
Jermyn
and
Johnson
.
No
other
Bycliffe
was
known
or
believed
to
exist
,
and
the
Durfey-Transomes
might
be
considered
safe
,
unless
—
yes
,
there
was
an
"
unless
"
which
Johnson
could
conceive
:
an
heir
or
heiress
of
the
Bycliffes
—
if
such
a
personage
turned
out
to
be
in
existence
—
might
some
time
raise
a
new
and
valid
claim
when
once
informed
that
wretched
old
Tommy
Trounsem
the
bill-sticker
,
tottering
drunkenly
on
the
edge
of
the
grave
,
was
the
last
issue
remaining
above
ground
from
that
dissolute
Thomas
who
played
his
Esau
part
a
century
before
.
While
the
poor
old
bill-sticker
breathed
,
the
Durfey-Transomes
could
legally
keep
their
possession
in
spite
of
a
possible
Bycliffe
proved
real
;
but
not
when
the
parish
had
buried
the
bill-sticker
.
Still
,
it
is
one
thing
to
conceive
conditions
,
and
another
to
see
any
chance
of
proving
their
existence
.
Johnson
at
present
had
no
glimpse
of
such
a
chance
;
and
even
if
he
ever
gained
the
glimpse
,
he
was
not
sure
that
he
should
ever
make
any
use
of
it
.
His
inquiries
of
Medwin
,
in
obedience
to
Jermyn
's
letter
,
had
extracted
only
a
negative
as
to
any
information
possessed
by
the
lawyers
of
Bycliffe
concerning
a
marriage
,
or
expectation
of
offspring
on
his
part
.
But
Johnson
felt
not
the
less
stung
by
curiosity
to
know
what
Jermyn
had
found
out
:
that
he
had
found
something
in
relation
to
a
possible
Bycliffe
,
Johnson
felt
pretty
sure
.
And
he
thought
with
satisfaction
that
Jermyn
could
not
hinder
him
from
knowing
what
he
already
knew
about
Thomas
Transome
's
issue
.
Many
things
might
occur
to
alter
his
policy
and
give
a
new
value
to
facts
.
Was
it
certain
that
Jermyn
would
always
be
fortunate
?
When
greed
and
unscrupulousness
exhibit
themselves
on
a
grand
historical
scale
,
and
there
is
question
of
peace
or
war
or
amicable
partition
,
it
often
occurs
that
gentlemen
of
high
diplomatic
talents
have
their
minds
bent
on
the
same
object
from
different
points
of
view
.
Each
,
perhaps
,
is
thinking
of
a
certain
duchy
or
province
,
with
a
view
to
arranging
the
ownership
in
such
a
way
as
shall
best
serve
the
purposes
of
the
gentleman
with
high
diplomatic
talents
in
whom
each
is
more
especially
interested
.
But
these
select
minds
in
high
office
can
never
miss
their
aims
from
ignorance
of
each
other
's
existence
or
whereabouts
.
Their
high
titles
may
be
learned
even
by
common
people
from
every
pocket
almanac
.
But
with
meaner
diplomatists
,
who
might
be
mutually
useful
,
such
ignorance
is
often
obstructive
.
Mr
John
Johnson
and
Mr
Christian
,
otherwise
Henry
Scaddon
,
might
have
had
a
concentration
of
purpose
and
an
ingenuity
of
device
fitting
them
to
make
a
figure
in
the
parcelling
of
Europe
,
and
yet
they
might
never
have
met
,
simply
because
Johnson
knew
nothing
of
Christian
,
and
because
Christian
did
not
know
where
to
find
Johnson
.
CHAPTER
XXX
.
His
nature
is
too
noble
for
the
world
:
He
would
not
flatter
Neptune
for
his
trident
,
Or
Jove
for
his
power
to
thunder
.
His
heart
's
his
mouth
:
What
his
breast
forges
,
that
his
tongue
must
vent
;
And
,
being
angry
,
doth
forget
that
ever
He
heard
the
name
of
death---
Coriolanus
.
Christian
and
Johnson
did
meet
,
however
,
by
means
that
were
quite
incalculable
.
The
incident
which
brought
them
into
communication
was
due
to
Felix
Holt
,
who
of
all
men
in
the
world
had
the
least
affinity
either
for
the
industrious
or
the
idle
parasite
.
Mr
Lyon
had
urged
Felix
to
go
to
Duffield
on
the
15th
of
December
,
to
witness
the
nomination
of
the
candidates
for
North
Loamshire
.
The
minister
wished
to
hear
what
took
place
;
and
the
pleasure
of
gratifying
him
helped
to
outweigh
some
opposing
reasons
.
"
I
shall
get
into
a
rage
of
something
or
other
,
"
Felix
had
said
.
"
I
've
told
you
one
of
my
weak
points
.
Where
I
have
any
particular
business
,
I
must
incur
the
risks
my
nature
brings
.
But
I
've
no
particular
business
at
Duffield
.
However
,
I
'll
make
a
holiday
and
go
.
By
dint
of
seeing
folly
,
I
shall
get
lessons
in
patience
.
"
The
weak
point
to
which
Felix
referred
was
his
liability
to
be
carried
completely
out
of
his
own
mastery
by
indignant
anger
.
His
strong
health
,
his
renunciation
of
selfish
claims
,
his
habitual
pre-occupation
with
large
thoughts
and
with
purposes
independent
of
everyday
casualities
,
secured
him
a
fine
and
even
temper
,
free
from
moodiness
or
irritability
.
He
was
full
of
long-suffering
towards
his
unwise
mother
,
who
"
pressed
him
daily
with
her
words
and
urged
him
,
so
that
his
soul
was
vexed
;
"
he
had
chosen
to
fill
his
days
in
a
way
that
required
the
utmost
exertion
of
patience
,
that
required
those
little
rill-like
out-flowings
of
goodness
which
in
minds
of
great
energy
must
be
fed
from
deep
sources
of
thought
and
passionate
devotedness
.
In
this
way
his
energies
served
to
make
him
gentle
;
and
now
,
in
this
twenty-sixth
year
of
his
life
,
they
had
ceased
to
make
him
angry
,
except
in
the
presence
of
something
that
roused
his
deep
indignation
.
When
once
exasperated
,
the
passionateness
of
his
nature
threw
off
the
yoke
of
a
long-trained
consciousness
in
which
thought
and
emotion
had
been
more
and
more
completely
mingled
,
and
concentrated
itself
in
a
rage
as
ungovernable
as
that
of
boyhood
.
He
was
thoroughly
aware
of
the
liability
,
and
knew
that
in
such
circumstances
he
could
not
answer
for
himself
.
Sensitive
people
with
feeble
frames
have
often
the
same
sort
of
fury
within
them
;
but
they
are
themselves
shattered
,
and
shatter
nothing
.
Felix
had
a
terrible
arm
:
he
knew
that
he
was
dangerous
;
and
he
avoided
the
conditions
that
might
cause
him
exasperation
,
as
he
would
have
avoided
intoxicating
drinks
if
he
had
been
in
danger
of
intemperance
.
The
nomination-day
was
a
great
epoch
of
successful
trickery
,
or
,
to
speak
in
a
more
parliamentary
manner
,
of
war-stratagem
,
on
the
part
of
skilful
agents
.
And
Mr
Johnson
had
his
share
of
inward
chuckling
and
self-approval
,
as
one
who
might
justly
expect
increasing
renown
,
and
be
some
day
in
as
general
request
as
the
great
Putty
himself
.
To
have
the
pleasure
and
the
praise
of
electioneering
ingenuity
,
and
also
to
get
paid
for
it
,
without
too
much
anxiety
whether
the
ingenuity
will
achieve
its
ultimate
end
,
perhaps
gives
to
some
select
persons
a
sort
of
satisfaction
in
their
superiority
to
their
more
agitated
fellow-men
that
is
worthy
to
be
classed
with
those
generous
enjoyments
of
having
the
truth
chiefly
to
yourself
,
and
of
seeing
others
in
danger
of
drowning
while
you
are
high
and
dry
,
which
seem
to
have
been
regarded
as
unmixed
privileges
by
Lucretius
