let ye know, as you were in a difficulty, and they were harrd upon ye."

Henchard paused. "I shan't soon forget this," he said. "And from a
stranger!... I couldn't believe you were not the man I had engaged! Says
I to myself, 'He knows who I am, and recommends himself by this stroke.'
And yet it turns out, after all, that you are not the man who answered
my advertisement, but a stranger!"

"Ay, ay; that's so," said the young man.

Henchard again suspended his words, and then his voice came
thoughtfully: "Your forehead, Farfrae, is something like my poor
brother's--now dead and gone; and the nose, too, isn't unlike his. You
must be, what--five foot nine, I reckon? I am six foot one and a half
out of my shoes. But what of that? In my business, 'tis true that
strength and bustle build up a firm. But judgment and knowledge are what
keep it established. Unluckily, I am bad at science, Farfrae; bad at
figures--a rule o' thumb sort of man. You are just the reverse--I can
see that. I have been looking for such as you these two year, and yet
you are not for me. Well, before I go, let me ask this: Though you are
not the young man I thought you were, what's the difference? Can't
ye stay just the same? Have you really made up your mind about this
American notion? I won't mince matters. I feel you would be invaluable
to me--that needn't be said--and if you will bide and be my manager, I
will make it worth your while."

"My plans are fixed," said the young man, in negative tones. "I have
formed a scheme, and so we need na say any more about it. But will you
not drink with me, sir? I find this Casterbridge ale warreming to the
stomach."