234 MEMOIR OF 



" ' Gone to the village inn,' I said, ' where 

 I saw him fed and bedded up for the night. 

 He's my sole stand-by ; does the double work 

 of hack and hunter, so I hope will be well 

 cared for, as I value him greatly.' 



'' ' Then he musn't stay there another minute, 

 or, in all probability, he'll be kicked by some 

 farmer's horse before the night's over,' said 

 Russell, rising to ring the bell, and giving orders 

 that the horse should be fetched and brought 

 to his stable at once. 'To-morrow,' he continued, 

 ' you'll have no difBculty in finding a quiet 

 little box in the village, and you must go to 

 Barnstaple next market day and buy your hay 

 and corn, for at Swymbridge you'll get none.' 



*' The next morning, as I was about to sit 

 down to breakfast, to my great surprise a cart, 

 heavily laden with hay and corn, stood at the 

 door of my lodgings, and before I could make 

 any inquiry as to its ownership, the man in 

 charge, seeing me at an open window, thus 

 addressed me : ' If yeu plaise, sir, this here hay 

 and woats be for yeu, \vi' maister's compli- 

 ments. 



" Had I possessed the cap of Fortunatus, I 

 could scarcely have wished for a more welcome 

 gift, as the business of buying good upland hay 

 and old oats in Devonshire, at that season of 

 the year, was, as I knew from experience, a 

 most difficult job. Now, however, through 



