第34章

calledFarleighHall——towardthecloseofthehuntingseason。

OnthedayofwhichIamnowwriting——destinedtobeamemorabledayinourcalendar——thehoundsmeetatFarleighHall。Mrs。

FairbankandIaremountedontwoofthebesthorsesinmyfriend’sstables。Wearequiteunworthyofthatdistinction；forweknownothingandcarenothingabouthunting。Ontheotherhand，wedelightinriding，andweenjoythebreezySpringmorningandthefairandfertileEnglishlandscapesurroundingusoneveryside。

Whilethehuntprospers，wefollowthehunt。Butwhenacheckoccurs——whentimepassesandpatienceissorelytried；whenthebewildereddogsrunhitherandthither，andstronglanguagefallsfromthelipsofexasperatedsportsmen——wefailtotakeanyfurtherinterestintheproceedings。Weturnourhorses’headsinthedirectionofagrassylane，delightfullyshadedbytrees。Wetrotmerrilyalongthelane，andfindourselvesonanopencommon。Wegallopacrossthecommon，andfollowthewindingsofasecondlane。

Wecrossabrook，wepassthroughavillage，weemergeintopastoralsolitudeamongthehills。Thehorsestosstheirheads，andneightoeachother，andenjoyitasmuchaswedo。Thehuntisforgotten。Weareashappyasacoupleofchildren；weareactuallysingingaFrenchsong——wheninonemomentourmerrimentcomestoanend。Mywife’shorsesetsoneofhisforefeetonaloosestone，andstumbles。Hisrider’sreadyhandsaveshimfromfalling。But，atthefirstattempthemakestogoon，thesadtruthshowsitself——atendonisstrained；thehorseislame。

Whatistobedone？Wearestrangersinalonelypartofthecountry。Lookwherewemay，weseenosignsofahumanhabitation。

Thereisnothingforitbuttotakethebridleroadupthehill，andtrywhatwecandiscoverontheotherside。Itransferthesaddles，andmountmywifeonmyownhorse。Heisnotusedtocarryalady；hemissesthefamiliarpressureofaman’slegsoneithersideofhim；hefidgets，andstarts，andkicksupthedust。

Ifollowonfoot，atarespectfuldistancefromhisheels，leadingthelamehorse。Isthereamoremiserableobjectonthefaceofcreationthanalamehorse？Ihaveseenlamemenandlamedogswhowerecheerfulcreatures；butIneveryetsawalamehorsewhodidn’tlookheartbrokenoverhisownmisfortune。

Forhalfanhourmywifecapersandcurvetssidewaysalongthebridleroad。Itrudgeonbehindher；andtheheartbrokenhorsehaltsbehindme。Hardbythetopofthehill，ourmelancholyprocessionpassesaSomersetshirepeasantatworkinafield。I

summonthemantoapproachus；andthemanlooksatmestolidly，fromthemiddleofthefield，withoutstirringastep。IaskatthetopofmyvoicehowfaritistoFarleighHall。TheSomersetshirepeasantanswersatthetopofHISvoice:

“Vourteenmile。Gi’oiadrapo’zyder。“

Itranslate(formywife’sbenefit)fromtheSomersetshirelanguageintotheEnglishlanguage。WearefourteenmilesfromFarleighHall；andourfriendinthefielddesirestoberewarded，forgivingusthatinformation，withadropofcider。Thereisthepeasant，paintedbyhimself！Quiteabitofcharacter，mydear！

Quiteabitofcharacter！

Mrs。Fairbankdoesn’tviewthestudyofagriculturalhumannaturewithmyrelish。Herfidgetyhorsewillnotallowheramoment’srepose；sheisbeginningtolosehertemper。

“Wecan’tgofourteenmilesinthisway，“shesays。“Whereisthenearestinn？Askthatbruteinthefield！“

Itakeashillingfrommypocketandholditupinthesun。Theshillingexercisesmagneticvirtues。Theshillingdrawsthepeasantslowlytowardmefromthemiddleofthefield。IinformhimthatwewanttoputupthehorsesandtohireacarriagetotakeusbacktoFarleighHall。Wherecanwedothat？Thepeasantanswers(withhiseyeontheshilling):

“AtOonderbridge，tobezure。“(AtUnderbridge，tobesure。)

“IsitfartoUnderbridge？“

Thepeasantrepeats，“VartoOonderbridge？“——andlaughsatthequestion。“Hoo-hoo-hoo！“(Underbridgeisevidentlycloseby——ifwecouldonlyfindit。)“Willyoushowustheway，myman？““Willyougi’oiadrapofzyder？“Icourteouslybendmyhead，andpointtotheshilling。Theagriculturalintelligenceexertsitself。Thepeasantjoinsourmelancholyprocession。Mywifeisafinewoman，butheneveroncelooksatmywife——and，moreextraordinarystill，heneverevenlo

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