182 MY LIFE 



with their fellows, and thus their thoughts and wishes are 

 intensely and continuously directed to the acquisition of the 

 means of doing so. 



A mile further up the valley was a small gentleman's house 

 with about a hundred and fifty acres of land attached, owned 

 and occupied by a Mr. Worthington, his wife and wife's sister. 

 They had, I believe, come there not long before from Devon- 

 shire, and being refined and educated people, we were glad 

 to make their acquaintance, and soon became very friendly. 

 Mr. Worthington was a tall and rather handsome man 

 between fifty and sixty ; while his wife was perhaps fifteen 

 or twenty years younger, rather under middle size and very 

 quiet and agreeable ; while her sister was younger, smaller, 

 and more lively. They lent us books and magazines, and we 

 often went there to spend the evening. I do not think our 

 friend knew much about farming, but he had a kind of 

 working bailiff and two or three labourers to cultivate the 

 land, which, however, was mostly pasture. The place is called 

 Gelli-duch-lithe, the meaning of which is obscure. " The 

 grove and the wet moor " is not inappropriate, and seems 

 more likely than any connection with " llaeth " (milk), which 

 implies good land or rich pastures, which were decidedly 

 absent. 



Mr. Worthington was an eccentric but interesting man. He 

 played the violin beautifully, and when in the humour would 

 walk about the long sitting-room playing and talking at 

 intervals. He discussed all kinds of subjects, mostly personal, 

 and he was, I think, the most openly egotistical man I ever 

 met, and I have met many. After playing a piece that was 

 one of his favourites, he would say to my brother, " Was not 

 that fine, Mr. Wallace? There are not many amateurs could 

 play in that style, are there? — or professionals either," he 

 would sometimes add. And after telling some anecdote in 

 which he was the principal personage, he would often finish 

 up with, " Don't I deserve praise for that, Mr. Wallace ? " 

 On one occasion, I remember, after telling us of how he 

 befriended a poor girl and resisted temptation, he concluded 



