194 Life and Times of " The Druid? 



he put it into her hand, saying, " Take care 

 of this, dear, and keep it near you for my 

 sake ; it is all you will have left ere long of 

 your poor old man." 



He had another very narrow escape when 

 inspecting a herd in the north of England. 

 Having wandered away from the herdsman, 

 he entered a building whose sole occupant 

 proved to be a surly bull. The savage brute 

 made for him without an instant's delay. 

 "The Druid," preserving complete presence 

 of mind, backed against the wall and 

 awaited the bull's rush. Fortunately the 

 beast's horns were wide enough to encircle 

 "The Druid's " body without wounding him ; 

 and there he stood, pinned to the wall, but 

 uninjured, until the bull's keeper arrived, 

 and rescued him from his perilous position. 



At all times his mind seemed too absorbed 

 and preoccupied to have leisure for ordinary 

 matters. On one occasion he slipped a 

 bottle of ink into his pocket and went out 

 to visit a clergyman who took him into his 

 church. The chancel was paved with the 

 purest white marble, and after a while to 

 their dismay they saw a track of black spots 



