52 THE EARLY DAYS OF 



can plav a good finger and thumb over strawberries and cream. In 

 fact, she clearly hopes to 



" Condone for faults she is inclined to, 

 By damning those she has no mind to." 



Besides the pleasure I derived from climbing trees and catching 

 birds, we often had lively scenes within the village. The railroad 

 which joins Oxford with Worcester, passing through the Rectory 

 glebe, was being constructed, and hundreds of navvies found a 

 lodging here. They were a strange rough lot, such as one might 

 expect to meet in a new gold or diamond field abroad. The village 

 constables were powerless to stop any disturbance which they chose 

 to make, and our chief safety lay in their getting high wages for 

 piecework, so, as a rule, most of their buo5^ant spirits were 

 consumed in a praiseworthy direction. But when the snow lay deep 

 upon the ground in Winter and work was stopped, they passed most 

 of their time in the public houses, from which they would at length 

 emerge well primed for mischief. 



It was at such a time as this, when late one night, we were 

 startled by a loud hammering at the Rectory door accompanied b}' 

 shouts outside, and my father, who was reading by the fire, started 

 up, closely followed by my brother and myself. Somewhat rashly, the 

 door was opened, when a stalwart navvy attempted to effect an 

 entrance, cheered on by comrades from below. My father was about 

 to collar the man, when I handed him an oaken hat-stand which 

 was near, and then all three of us, using this engine of war as a 

 battering-ram, drove it straight against the waistcoat of our 

 assailant, and sent him fiying down the stone steps much faster than 

 he came up. Seeing this, and noticing that a crowd of men were 

 coming on, I flew upstairs, and in less than no time handed my 

 father the loaded gun which he always kept in his bedroom in those 

 troubled times. Then the navvies, seeing ours was a formidable 

 stronghold to attack, prudently withdrew, contenting themselves 

 with a burst of boisterous laughter at the discomfiture of their mate. 



