WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 157 



two or three times a-day to inquire after him, and 

 to talk the matter over with him. 



" Massy oh, an' save us ! what is the world cumin' 

 to when figgers like that 'ere was 'lowed tu git loose 

 and walk the airth ? " 



When this much-valued gardener and cow-tender 

 got about again, and the cottagers near pressed him 

 for fresh information on the subject, he simply told 

 them " as how he didn't want tu hear no more on't ; 

 he had got over it, by a marcy, and let it goo." 



The real version of the affair that might have been 

 given by that nice old man Shadrac, had he chosen, 

 was as follows : On the particular night in question, 

 eight pack-horses, each carrying a heavy burden, 

 and ridden by men who carried cutlasses drawn 

 ready for the worst, had come along towards the 

 mill. The hoofs of the horses were muffled, each 

 man having his own set of mufflers, which he put 

 off and on as emergency required. Old Shadrac 

 had been very busy working for hours, under cover 

 of the darkness, making a breach in the low bank, 

 which, when finished, he filled up with a double- 

 wattled hurdle, plastered with mud. This had been 

 pulled on one side by him as the horses approached, 



