ws about the head, as if
he had been suddenly attacked and beaten with a club, for there was no
sign of any struggle.

Mr Marston went over at once with the squire, Dick obtaining permission
to accompany them; and upon their arrival it was to find all the work at
a stand-still, the men being grouped about with their sleeves rolled-up,
and smoking, and staring silently at the rough peat hovel where their
fellow-worker lay.

The engineer entered the shelter--it did not deserve the title of
cottage--and the squire and Dick followed, to find the man nearly
insensible, and quite unable to give any account of how the affair had
happened.

The men were questioned, but knew nothing beyond the fact that they had
parted from him as usual to go to their own quarters, Bargle being the
only one who lodged alone. There had been no quarrel as far as Mr
Marston could make out, everyone he spoke to declaring that the work had
gone on the previous day in the smoothest way possible; and at last
there seemed to be nothing to do but wait until the great, rough fellow
could give an account of the case for himself.

The doctor came at last, and formed his opinion.

"He is such a great, strong fellow that unless he was attacked by two or
three together, I should say someone came upon him as he lay asleep and
stunned him with a blow on the head."

"The result of some quarrel or offence given to one of the men under
him, I'm afraid," said the engineer with a look of intense vexation in
his eyes. "These men are very brutal sometimes to their fellows,
especially when they are placed in authority. Will he be long before he
is better?"

"No," replied the doctor. "The blows would have killed an ordinary man,
but he has a skull like an ox. He'll be at work again in a fortnight if
he'll behave sensibly, and carry out my instructions."

A couple of days later Bargle was sitting up smoking, when the engineer
entered the reed-thatched hut, in company with Dick.

"Hallo, youngster!" growled the great fellow, with a smile slowly
spreading over his rugged face, and growing into a grin, which accorded
ill with his bandaged head; "shak' hands!"

Dick obeyed heartily enough, the great fellow retaining the lad's hand
in his, and slowly pumping it up and down.

"We're mates, that's what we two are," he growled. "You ar'n't half a
bad un, you ar'n't. Ah, mester, how are you? Arm better?"

"Mending fast, my lad; and how are you?"

"Tidy, me