DUNDAS'S BAILIFF 325 



fresh pair o' hosses. Ye see that owd grey mare in the 

 lucerne marsh yonder, don't 'ee ? Well, she be twenty- 

 vour year owd, and every time as Oi ploughs near a dyke 

 she alius falls in, dang her : as fur her wind, whoy, 

 ye can hear of her a blowing twenty rod away ; and 

 t'other owd cripple ain't got a leg to stand on." 



" The horses you have at present are quite good 

 enough to plough and drill a few acres of this light soil, 

 and, therefore, you and your sons will kindly commence 

 the work to-morrow morning." 



" No, no ! that us 'ont, maister. It be me owd 

 'ooman's birthday to-morrow, and Oi'd as soon die as 

 work on that day." 



" Perhaps you would like to take a week's notice, 

 then," cried Dundas, wrathfully, to which suggestion 

 Rufus replied most calmly : 



" Now, look 'ee here, maister ; us don't want none o' 

 that sort o' talk, for, as Oi tode 'ee this marning, Oi've 

 a lived 'ere, man and boy, fur over fifty year, and Oi 'ont 

 turn out o' the owd homestead fur no man. Why, 

 Maister Beal he give Oi notice hundreds o' times, Oi 

 reckon, and each toime when he comed over he used to 

 say, ' Why, hang it, Thomas, thought I told you to get out 

 of this ? What the deuce are you doing here ? ' ' A- 

 doing of me duty, Maister Jack, as me owd faither did afore 

 me,' I used to say. Ah ! he wor a good 'un, wor Maister 

 Beal. Wages awaiting at Post Orfice every Saturday, 

 sure as the tide, and alius a shilling or two for the 

 young 'uns when he came a-shootin' to the island. 



