inner-hour, and all the men had gone but Pannell, who was
sitting on a piece of iron out in the yard calmly cutting his bread and
meat into squares and then masticating them as if it were so much
tilt-hammer work that he had to do by the piece.

"I was thinking, Uncle, suppose they were to set fire to us some night,
what should we do?"

"Hah! Yes: not a bad thought," said Uncle Dick sharply. "Pannell!"

"Hillo!" said that gentleman, rising slowly.

"Finish eating your bread and meat as you go, will you, and buy us
twenty-four buckets."

"Fower-and-twenty boockets," said Pannell, speaking with his mouth full.
"What do yow want wi fower-and-twenty boockets?"

"I'll show you this evening," replied my uncle; and, handing the man a
couple of sovereigns, Pannell went off, and both Uncle Jack and I
laughed at the quick way in which Uncle Dick had determined to be
provided for an emergency.

The buckets came, and were run by their handles upon a pole which was
supported upon two great hooks in one of the outhouses against the wall
of the yard, and some of the men noticed them, but the greater part
seemed to pay not the slightest heed to this addition to our defences.

But at leaving time, after a few words from Uncle Dick to Uncle Jack,
the latter stood in the yard as the men came out, and said sharply:

"Four-and-twenty men for a window wash. Who'll help?"

A few months before, such a demand would have been met with a scowl; but
quite a little crowd of the men now stopped, and Pannell said with a
grin:

"Wonder whether there'll be a boocket o' beer efter?"

"Why, of course there will, my lad," cried Uncle Jack, who ranged the
men in order.

"Why, 'tis like being drilled for milishy, mester," said one man, and
there was a roar of laughter as the buckets were passed out of the shed,
and the men were placed in two rows, with Uncle Jack at one end, Uncle
Dick at the other; the two ends resting, as a soldier would say, on the
dam, and on the works.

It was wonderful how a little management and discipline made easy such a
business as this, and I could not help smiling as I saw how my idea had
been acted upon.

There were a few sharp words of command given, and then Uncle Jack
dipped his bucket into the dam from the stone edge where we had bathed
poor Piter, filled it, passed it on to Number 1 of the first row, and
took a bucket from the last man of the second row, to fill. Meanwhile
the first bucket was being