Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
page 51 of 550 (09%)
page 51 of 550 (09%)
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situation required was known to the hirers at a
glance. In the crowd was an athletic young fellow of some- what superior appearance to the rest -- in fact, his superiority was marked enough to lead several ruddy peasants standing by to speak to him inquiringly, as to a farmer, and to use `Sir' as a finishing word. His answer always was, "I am looking for a place myself -- a bailiff's. Do Ye know of anybody who wants one?" Gabriel was paler now. His eyes were more medi- tative, and his expression was more sad. He had passed through an ordeal of wretchedness which had given him more than it had taken away. He had sunk from his modest elevation as pastoral king into the very slime-pits of Siddim; but there was left to him a digni- fied calm he had never before known, and that indiffer- ence to fate which, though it often makes a villain of a man, is the basis of his sublimity when it does not. And thus the abasement had been exaltation, and the loss gain. In the morning a regiment of cavalry had left the town, and a sergeant and his party had been beating up for recruits through the four streets. As the end of the day drew on, and he found himself not hired, Gabriel almost wished that he had joined them, and gone off to serve his country. Weary of standing in the market- place, and not much minding the kind of work he turned his hand to, he decided to offer himself in some other capacity than that of bailiff. |
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