130 THE MOUNTAINS 



tator could fruitfully manage him. Fur- 

 thermore, he had an intense pride in his 

 province, and seriously objected to the 

 surrender of any of his traditional rights. 

 One fall he was so late in beginning to 

 clip the hedge that I engaged another 

 Negro to help at my end, innocently sup- 

 posing that John would be delighted with 

 the arrangement. I was soon disabused, 

 for he dropped his shears and excitedly 

 exclaimed: "I kin do it all without him, 

 or he kin do it all without me?* If, how- 

 ever, the margin of liberty was duly 

 granted, John would charge his work with 

 devotion and delight. Again and again 

 I have discovered him working far beyond 

 the agreement and far beyond the need, 

 and this too even in wild weather. In this 

 respect he was worthy of comradeship 

 with Adam Bede himself, who said: "I 

 hate to see a man's arms drop down as 

 if he was shot, before the clock's fairly 

 struck, just as if he'd never a bit o' pride 

 and delight in's work. The very grind- 



