THE SQUIRE. 73 



before them. But, alas! the handwriting was on the 

 wall ; only a few months later the young mother caught a 

 €hill, typhoid supervened, and it was with a deep sense of 

 personal loss and intense sadness that each one followed 

 her to the t]uiet resting-place in Radburne churchyard. It 

 may have been some comfort to the Squire to feel that he 

 had the sympathy of the whole countryside, more particu- 

 larly perhaps of the farmers, with whom he was immensely 

 popular. 



" There is not a farmer in the Forest but would go 

 through fire and water for him," a cheery Staffordshire 

 yeoman once said to the writer, while his own tenants 

 would do as much or more. And well they might, for he 

 knows all their troubles, and their well-being is his, while 

 the rents, which are low, have never been raised for 

 generations on the estate. A ride home with him after 

 hunting is a partial explanation of their affection for him, 

 for he knows every one and all about them too, and never 

 forgets to ask after whatever is of the most interest to 

 them at the moment. Besides this, he never forgets a 

 face. (Jharles used often to say that one day the Squire 

 and he were riding home together when the former 

 suddenly stopped to speak to a man who was breaking 

 stones by the roadside. 



" Who was that, sir ? " Charles asked. 



" Don't you remember ? That good fellow who helped 

 us dig a fox last year in the Brakenhurst ? " 



" I should not have known him from Adam," Charles 

 used to say, " but Mr. Pole knew him in a minute. Gave 

 him something too." 



This is only a trifling incident, but little straws show 

 which way the wind blows. 



Charles was also fond of telling us about the late 

 Mr. Jaggard, of Hamstall Eidware, as good a specimen of 

 a yeoman as ever lived. His cart, with him and his 

 daughter in it, used to be a familiar sight ploughing 

 through the deep rides of Pipe Wood or Rough Park long 

 after infirmity prevented him from riding. However, he 



