The Coachmaster 



And now began my Father's happier for- 

 tunes, which indeed so grew and flourished 

 that after no great interval he was able to 

 repay the sum so generously loaned to 

 him. 



He had not forgotten the poor folk he 

 had left behind in the little thatched Hamp- 

 shire cottage so many years back ; and had 

 from time to time sent thither all he could 

 spare of his wages, by the hand of his friend 

 the guard of the Winchester coach. By 

 the same messenger he once sent a work- 

 box and a cherry-coloured ribbon for little 

 Poll : who soon brouofht them back ao^ain, 

 for little Poll was dead of the fever ; which 

 was a great sorrow for my Father. Since 

 then the old mother and father had both 

 died in one very hard winter, and of all of 

 the little group he loved only two brothers 

 were left, and as it had long been his wish 

 to bring his kin about him, he hailed this 

 rise in his fortunes as the fit occasion. So 

 there appeared one day in Brighton 

 brothers Peter and Jim ; and a little later, 

 from the same parts, John Ridley, a nephew 

 of my Mother and a bright good-looking 

 lad, who had always been a favourite with 

 my Father. All aglow with the pleasure of 

 having his own kin with him again, my 

 Father welcomed them with a heartiness 

 41 



