' AMARYLLIS AT THE FAIR ' 279 



two bottles of beer from the barrel, odds and ends, and so 

 swept them of^ again in a jiffy. 



' Mrs. Iden ! Mrs. Iden ! you ought to be ashamed of 

 yourself, that is not the way to feed the poor. What 

 could you be thinking of, you ignorant farmer's wife ! . . . 



' No wasteful bread and butter, no scandalous cheese, 

 no abominable beef bone, no wretched rabbit, no prodigal 

 potatoes, above all. No immoral ale ! 



' There, Mrs. Iden. 



' Go to the famous Henry Ward Beecher, that shining 

 light and apostle, Mrs. Iden, and read, mark, learn, and 

 inwardly digest what he says : 



' " A man who cannot live on bread is not fit to live. 

 A family may live, laugh, love, and be happy that eats 

 bread in the morning with good water, and water and 

 good bread at noon, and water and bread at night." 



' Does that sound like an echo of the voice that ceased 

 on the Cross ? 



' Guilty Mrs. Iden, ignorant farmer's wife ; hide your 

 beef and ale, your rabbit and potatoes. . . .' * 



Such lively, faithful scenes of domestic life, and such 

 luxuriant colouring out of Jefferies' prejudice, are of the 

 essence of the book. It is with Grandfather Iden that 

 there is some dramatic play of characters, and the conflict 

 of Iden and Flamma blood is most nearly seen between 

 him and Amaryllis. They are side by side for some time, 

 the fair child and the grim ancient man bent like an S. 

 Amaryllis is angry with him for his quarrel with her 

 father, and yet giving way a little for her family's sake. 

 The old man is fond of her^ — he in his ' great, grey, tottering 

 hat,' bent under as heavy a load as strong Jack Duck 

 under two sacks of wheat — fond of roast pork as of flowers 

 and bright leaves, fond of the lord of the manor and all 

 his works, cherishing a Beaconsfield peacock's feather. 

 At the dinner he goes from chair to chair of the thirty- 

 two sycophantic relatives expecting gold. Coming to his 

 son's empty chair, he stands and leans over it, the happy 



* Amaryllis at the Fair. 



