dered otherwise. He hath wiped out all his
faults against the law; he hath fought for the honor of old England
well; and he hath saved the life of my son Jack. Spite of all that, I
might refuse to unspeak my words, which I never did afore, if it had not
been that I wronged the man. I have wronged the young fellow, and I am
man enough to say so. I called him a murderer and a sneak, and time hath
proved me to have been a liar. Therefore I ask his pardon humbly; and,
what will be more to his liking, perhaps, I say that he shall have my
daughter Mary, if she abides agreeable. And I put down these here twenty
guineas, for Mary to look as she ought to look. She hath been a good
lass, and hath borne with me better than one in a thousand would have
done. Mary, my love to you; and with leave all round, here's the very
good health of Robin Lyth!"

"Here's the health of Robin Lyth!" shouted Mr. Popplewell, with his fat
cheeks shining merrily. "Hurrah for the lad who saved Nelson's death
from a Frenchman's grins, and saved our Jack boy! Stephen Anerley, I
forgive you. This is the right stuff, and no mistake. Deborah, come and
kiss the farmer."

Mrs. Popplewell obeyed her husband, as the manner of good wives is. And
over and above this fleeting joy, solid satisfaction entered into noble
hearts, which felt that now the fruit of laborious years, and the cash
of many a tanning season, should never depart from the family. And to
make an end of any weak misgivings, even before the ladies went--to fill
the pipes for the gentlemen--the tanner drew with equal care, and
even better nerve, the second bottle's cork, and expressed himself as
follows:

"Brother Steve hath done the right thing. We hardly expected it of
him, by rights of his confounded stubbornness. But when a shut-up man
repenteth, he is equal to a hoyster, or this here bottle. What good
would this 'a been without it was sealed over? Now mark my words. I'll
not be behind no man when it comes to the right side up. I may be a
poor man, a very poor man; and people counting otherwise might find
themselves mistaken. I likes to be liked for myself only. But the day
our Mary goes to church with Robin Lyth she shall have 500 pounds tied
upon her back, or else my name's not Popplewell."

Mary had left the room long ago, after giving her father a gentle kiss,
and whispering to Willie that he should have half of her twenty guineas
for inventing things; which is a most expensive process,