"He is; though I've been mad enough wi' that tune at times to seize en
and tear en all to linnit. Ay, he's a splendid carrel--there's no
denying that."

"The first line is well enough," said Mr. Spinks; "but when you come to
'O, thou man,' you make a mess o't."

"We'll have another go into en, and see what we can make of the martel.
Half-an-hour's hammering at en will conquer the toughness of en; I'll
warn it."

"'Od rabbit it all!" said Mr. Penny, interrupting with a flash of his
spectacles, and at the same time clawing at something in the depths of a
large side-pocket. "If so be I hadn't been as scatter-brained and
thirtingill as a chiel, I should have called at the schoolhouse wi' a
boot as I cam up along. Whatever is coming to me I really can't estimate
at all!"

"The brain has its weaknesses," murmured Mr. Spinks, waving his head
ominously. Mr. Spinks was considered to be a scholar, having once kept a
night-school, and always spoke up to that level.

"Well, I must call with en the first thing to-morrow. And I'll empt my
pocket o' this last too, if you don't mind, Mrs. Dewy." He drew forth a
last, and placed it on a table at his elbow. The eyes of three or four
followed it.

"Well," said the shoemaker, seeming to perceive that the interest the
object had excited was greater than he had anticipated, and warranted the