like some of the other men, but he had a vein of humour. A relative of
his used to come over from Evesham to sing in our church choir, and I
remember a special occasion when the choir was somewhat _piano_ until
this singer's part came in; he had a strong and not very melodious
voice, and the effort and the effect alike were startling. Tom was in
church at the time, and had evidently been watching expectantly for
the _fortissimo_ climax; he told me afterwards that "when S. opened
his mouth I knew it was sure to come." It did!

I have mentioned Tom's cautiousness; he had a way of assenting to a
statement without committing himself to definite agreement. I once
asked him who the leaders had been in a disorderly incident, being
aware that he knew; I suggested the names, but the nearest approach to
assent which I could extract was, "If you spakes again you'll be
wrong."




CHAPTER IV.



THE HEAD CARTER--THE CARPENTER.

"There's a right way and a wrong way to do everything, and folks
most in general chooses the wrong un."
--TOM G.

Jim was my first head carter, and he dearly loved a horse. He had, as