A Farmer’s Life 
that would be worst of all. However, by this 
time we’d got out into the road together, and by 
good luck an old fishman come along in his cart. 
‘ Here, master,’ [ says, ‘ you ’ll have to take this 
man along with you as fur as to the “ Ship” at 
Farnborough.’ ‘ Damn’d if I do,’ he says; ‘ it ’Il 
take ’n half an hour to git up inthe cart.’ “ Never 
mind. You got to take ’n,’ I says.) )yogee 
shan’t,’ he says. “ Yes, you will,’ I says. And 
by that time he’d pulled up, and I bundled the 
old feller up beside ’n. And when he’d got ’n 
up there he was as pleased as Punch, for it 
turned out to be an old pal of his.” 
‘““ And what about his money for the sheep?” 
‘Well, as I tell ye, it took Will two hours to 
get them poor things along. Bachelor come out 
to meet him and says, ‘I’m very much obliged 
to ye, William. But where’s the man?’ Will 
didn’t know: dessay he was along the road 
somewhere. ‘ Well,’ Bachelor says, ‘ I'll walk a 
bit o’ the way back with ye. P’raps we shall 
meet ’n.” So they come as far back as the * Ship,’ 
and there they found ’n. Somebody ’d give ’n a 
glass o’ beer. Bachelor looks at ’n: Will could 
see he was fingerin’ a sixpence or something in 
his waistcoat pocket. ‘ Well,’ he says, ‘ how be 
we goin’ on? I agreed to pay you five shillin’s, 
but you never finished your job. I dunno what 
you thinks, but this young man here in my opinion 
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