Far from the Madding Crowd

hat her men had all deposited themselves on a long form and a settle at the lower extremity. She sat down at a table an

r of a privileged person, taking up one of the half-sovereigns lying before her and surveying it merely as

st is that the bailiff is dismissed for thieving, and that I have formed a resoluti

an audible brea

s, have you heard

ing,

u done a

, "and I went with him and two of his men, an

ead, by Yalbury, thinking she had gone ther

Smallbury been t

t yet come home. He prom

g at her watch. "I daresay he'll be in directly. Well, now the

the person addressed. "I be th

hat ar

of other people-well, I don't say i

you do on

nd in seed time I shoots the rooks and

uch to

d a good halfpenny where 'twa

shillings in addition as a smal

lic, and Henery Fray, who had drawn up towards her chair, lifted

man in the corner-what's you

g of any consequence inside them, which advanced with the toes in no de

ak out-I shall not hurt you," i

, correctingly, from behind her chair

er bright eyes to the book. "Ten and twopence

tthew, as the rustle of

ext-Andrew Randle, you are a new man, I h

ase, ma'am, p-p-p-p-pl-pl- pl-pl

the only time he ever did speak plain he said his soul was his own, and other iniquities, to the s

me in a day or two. Temperance Miller-oh, her

'a b'lieve," was ech

e you bee

osh!' to the cocks and hens when they go upon your seeds, and pl

sfactory women?" she inqu

men-as scarlet a pair as ever was

t d

o,

t d

ame dry with fear of some terrible consequences, as he saw Bat

n Tall, you'll stay

pays me well, ma'am," rep

oman in the back quarter, who had

is that?" Ba

d herself five-and-twenty, looked thirty, passed as thirty-five, and was forty. She was a woman who nev

athsheba. "Well, Laba

said again the shrill tong

speak for hims

tool. Well enough, but a poor ga

of appreciation, for he was as irrepressibly good-humoured un

ng were called in

eba, closing the book and shaking back a stray

ma'

gested Henery Fray, trying to make himself offici

l. Who can

youth?" he added, turning with an apologetic smile to the shepherd, who had just a

mind that,"

e by such a name?

inking 'twas Abel killed Cain, and called en Cain, meaning Abel all the time. The parson put it right, but

ther unfo

d her heart out about it almost. She was brought up by a very heathen father and mother, who never sen

of melancholy required when the persons involved in

er-shepherd. And you quite understand

Oak and the handsome woman before whom he stood had ever been other than strangers. But perhaps her air was the inevitable result of the social rise which had advanced her from a cottage to a large house and fields. The case is not unexampled in

in their character the qualities both of weight

ly Smallbury come

ng to the middle of the hall, took a handkerchief from his hat

for the weather." He then stamped with each foot severely, and

st, is it?"

bout Fanny?"

bers, she's run away with

steady girl

nd new troops have come.' The Eleventh left last week for Melchester and onwards. The Route came from Government like a thi

with interest. "I s

n glorious notes of triumph. Every looker-on's inside shook with the blows of the great drum to his deepest

e not gone

close connected. And so I said to myself, Fanny's young man was one of the re

find out

believe he was higher i

ing and said nothing

y rate," said Bathsheba. "But one of you had better r

hem with a pretty dignity, to which her mourning dress added a

do my best, and if you serve me well, so shall I serve you. Don't any unfair ones among you (if there are any such,

.) "

Excellent

before you are up; and I shall have breakfasted befor

) "Ye

o good

ood-night

s and dragging them along with a scratching noise upon the floor. Liddy, elevating her feelings to the occasion from a sens