on the high land, laughed
at his fellow-countrymen. But they were kind and bid him be cautious and
keep his little nest-egg snug.

"Tie it up in stout leather, my son," said a farmer from Gidleigh. "Ay,
an' fasten the bag wi' a knot as'll take 'e half an hour to undo; an'
remember, the less you open it, the better for your peace of mind."

All of which good counsel Blanchard received with expressions of
gratitude, yet secretly held to be but the croaking of a past
generation, stranded far behind that wave of progress on which he
himself was advancing crest-high.

It happened one evening, when Clement Hicks visited Newtake to go for a
walk under the full moon with Chris, that he learnt she was away for a
few days. This fact had been mentioned to Clement; but he forgot it, and
now found himself here, with only Will and Sam Bonus for company. He
accepted the young farmer's invitation to supper, and the result proved
unlucky in more directions than one. During this meal Clem railed in
surly vein against the whole order of things as it affected himself, and
made egotistical complaint as to the hardness of life; then, when his
host began to offer advice, he grew savage and taunted Will with his own
unearned good fortune. Blanchard, weary after a day of tremendous
physical exertion, made sharp answer. He felt his old admiration for
Clem Hicks much lessened of late, and it nettled him not a little that
his friend should thus attribute his present position to the mere
accident of a windfall. He was heartily sick of the other's endless
complaints, and now spoke roughly and to the point.

"What the devil's the gude of this eternal bleat? You'm allus snarlin'
an' gnashin' your teeth 'gainst God, like a rat bitin' the stick that's
killin' it."

"And why should God kill me? You've grown so wise of late, perhaps you
know."

"Why shouldn't He? Why shouldn't He kill you, or any other man, if He
wants the room of un for a better? Not that I believe parson's stuff
more 'n you; but grizzlin' your guts to fiddlestrings won't mend your
fortune. Best to put your time into work, 'stead o' talk--same as me an'
Bonus. And as for my money, you knaw right well if theer'd been two
thousand 'stead of wan, I'd have shared it with Chris."

"Easy to say! If there had been two, you would have said, 'If it was
only four'! That's human nature."

"Ban't my nature, anyway, to tell a lie!" burst out Will.

"Perhaps it's your nature to do worse. Wh