s difficulty, and, by the time I had
made the fourth, I would have scorned to take off my hat to the best
smith in Cheshire.

But I had not yet shod my little gry; this I proceeded now to do. After
having first well pared the hoofs with my churi, I applied each petul
hot, glowing hot to the pindro. Oh, how the hoofs hissed; and, oh, the
pleasant pungent odour which diffused itself through the dingle, an odour
good for an ailing spirit.

I shod the little horse bravely--merely pricked him once, slightly, with
a cafi, for doing which, I remember, he kicked me down; I was not
disconcerted, however, but, getting up, promised to be more cautious in
future; and having finished the operation, I filed the hoof well with the
rin baro; then dismissed him to graze amongst the trees, and, putting my
smaller tools into the muchtar, I sat down on my stone, and, supporting
my arm upon my knee, leaned my head upon my hand. Heaviness had come
over me.

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

Several Causes--Frogs and Eftes--Gloom and Twilight--What should I
Do?--"Our Father"--Fellow Men--What a Mercy!--Almost Calm--Fresh
Store--History of Saul--Pitch Dark.

Heaviness had suddenly come over me, heaviness of heart, and of body
also. I had accomplished the task which I had imposed upon myself, and
now that nothing more remained to do, my energies suddenly deserted me,
and I felt without strength, and without hope. Several causes, perhaps,
co-operated to bring about the state in which I then felt myself. It is
not improbable that my energies had been overstrained during the work,
the progress of which I have attempted to describe; and every one is
aware that the results of overstrained energies are feebleness and
lassitude--want of nourishment might likewise have something to do with
it. During my sojourn in the dingle, my food has been of the simplest
and most unsatisfying description, by no means calculated to support the
exertions which the labour I had been engaged upon required; it had
consisted of coarse oaten cakes, and hard cheese, and for beverage I had
been indebted to a neighbouring pit, in which, in the heat of the day, I
frequently saw, not golden or silver fish, but frogs and eftes swimming
about. I am, however, inclined to believe that Mrs. Herne's cake had
quite as much to do with the matter as insufficient nourishment. I had
never entirely recovered from the effects of its poison, but had
occasionally, especially at night,