"

"Very good," said a brawny fellow, advancing with a spade in his hand;
"you get out of the way, and I'll soon have him up. Here goes, like blue
blazes!"

The first shovelful of earth he took up, he cast over his head into the
air, so that it fell in a shower among the mob, which of course raised a
shout of indignation; and, as he continued so to dispose of the
superfluous earth, a general row seemed likely to ensue. Mr. Fletcher
opened his mouth to make a remark, and, as that feature of his face was
rather a capacious one, a descending lump of mould, of a clayey
consistency, fell into it, and got so wedged among his teeth, that in
the process of extracting it he nearly brought some of those essential
portions of his anatomy with it.

This was a state of things that could not last long, and he who had been
so liberal with his spadesful of mould was speedily disarmed, and yet he
was a popular favourite, and had done the thing so good-humouredly, that
nobody touched him. Six or eight others, who had brought spades and
pickaxes, now pushed forward to the work, and in an incredibly short
space of time the grave of Miles, the butcher, seemed to be very nearly
excavated.

Work of any kind or nature whatever, is speedily executed when done with
a wish to get through it; and never, perhaps, within the memory of man,
was a grave opened in that churchyard with such a wonderful celerity.
The excitement of the crowd grew intense--every available spot from
which a view of the grave could be got, was occupied; for the last few
minutes scarcely a remark had been uttered, and when, at last, the spade
of one of those who were digging struck upon something that sounded like
wood, you might have heard a pin drop, and each one there present drew
his breath more shortly than before.

"There he is," said the man, whose spade struck upon the coffin.

Those few words broke the spell, and there was a general murmur, while
every individual present seemed to shift his position in his anxiety to
obtain a better view of what was about to ensue.

The coffin now having been once found, there seemed to be an increased
impetus given to the work; the earth was thrown out with a rapidity that
seemed almost the quick result of the working of some machine; and those
closest to the grave's brink crouched down, and, intent as they were
upon the progress of events, heeded not the damp earth that fell upon
them, nor the frail brittle and humid remain