"But Noel was a good man. He was handy, and amiable. He could lay a
roof, or mend a thresher, it was all the same to him. What do you
think, Jeminy? Anna Barly won't forget him in a hurry--heh?"
"No," said Mr. Jeminy; "no, Anna won't forget him in a hurry. That is
as it should be, William. She believes that she has suffered. And if
she fools herself a little, I, for one, would be inclined to forgive
her."
"She won't fool herself any," said Mr. Tomkins; "not Anna. Wait and
see."
The shadows of late afternoon stretched half across the field when Mr.
Jeminy laid down his fork, and started to return home. As he followed
Mr. Tomkins down the hill, he saw the tops of the clouds lighted by the
descending sun, and heard, across the valley, the harsh notes of a
cow's horn, calling the hands on Ploughman's Farm in from the fields.
He stopped a moment at a shadowy spring, hidden away among the ferns,
for a cup of cold, clear water. Holding the cup, made of tin, to his
lips, he observed:
"Thus, of old, the farmer stooped to refresh himself.
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