o this order. She was now dead, and concerning
the legacy of her unchanging attitude more will presently appear.

As for Nelly Northover, she had long been the wife of Mr. Job Legg. That
pertinacious man achieved his end at last, and what his few enemies
declared was guile, and his many friends held to be tact, won Nelly to
him a year after her adventure with Mr. Gurd. None congratulated them
more heartily than the master of 'The Tiger.' Indeed, when 'The Seven
Stars' blazed out anew on an azure firmament--the least of many changes
that refreshed and invigorated that famous house--'The Tiger' also shone
forth in savage splendour and his black and orange stripes blazed again
from a mass of tropical vegetation.

And beneath the inn signs prosperity continued to obtain. Mr. Gurd grew
less energetic than of yore, while Mrs. Legg put on much flesh and daily
perceived her wisdom in linking Job for ever to the enterprise for which
she lived. He became thinner, if anything, and Time toiled after him in
vain. Immense success rewarded his innovations, and the tea-gardens of
'The Seven Stars' had long become a feature of Bridport's social life.
People hinted that Mr. Legg was not the meek and mild spirit of ancient
opinion and that Nelly knew it; but this suggestion may be held no more
than the penalty of fame--an activity of the baser sort, who ever drop
vinegar of detraction into the oil of content.

John Best still reigned at the Mill, though he had himself already
chosen the young man destined to wear his mantle in process of time. To
leave the works meant to leave his garden; and that he was unprepared to
do until failing energies made it necessary. A decade saw changes among
the workers, but not many. Sally Groves had retired to braid for the
firm at home, and old Mrs. Chick was also gone; but the other hands
remained and the staff had slightly increased. Nancy Buckler was chief
spinner now; Sarah Roberts still minded the spreader, and Nicholas
continued at the lathes. Benny Cogle had a new Otto gas engine to look
after, and Mercy Gale, now married to him, still worked in the warping
chamber. Levi Baggs would not retire, and since he hackled with his old
master, the untameable man, now more than sixty years old, still kept
his place, still flouted the accepted order, still read sinister motives
into every human activity. New machinery had increased the prosperity of
the enterprise, but to no considerable extent. Competition