208 .JOUX METCALF, ROAD MAKER. FART III. 



CHAPTER V. 



JOHN METCALF, Bo AD MAKER. 



JOHX METCALF was born at Knaresborough in 1717, 

 the son of poor working people. When only six years 

 old he was seized with virulent small-pox, which totally 

 destroyed his sight. The blind boy, when sufficiently 

 recovered to go abroad, first learnt to grope from door 

 to door along the walls on either side of his parents' 

 dwelling. In about six months he was able to feel his 

 way to the end of the street and back without a guide, 

 and in three years he could go on a message to any part 

 of the town. He grew strong and healthy, and longed 

 to join in the sports of boys of his age. He went bird- 

 nesting with them, and climbed the trees while the boys 

 below directed him to the nests, receiving his share of 

 the eggs and young birds. Thus he shortly became an 

 expert climber, and could mount with ease any tree that 

 he was able to grasp. He rambled into the lanes and 

 fields alone, and soon knew every foot of the ground for 

 miles round Knaresborough. He next learnt to ride, 

 delighting above all things in a gallop. He contrived 

 to keep a dog and coursed hares : indeed, the boy was 

 the marvel of the neighbourhood. His unrestrainablo 

 activity, his acuteness of sense, his shrewdness, and his 

 cleverness, astonished everybody. 



The boy's confidence in himself was such, that though 

 blind, he was ready to undertake almost any adventure. 

 Among his other arts he learnt to swim in the Nidd, 

 and became so expert that on one occasion he saved the 

 lives of three of his companions. Once, when two men 

 were drowned in a deep part of the river, Metcalf \vas 



