their heads, and intimated their opinion that it was not a robbery
to have much light thrown on it by tinder-boxes, that Master
Marner's tale had a queer look with it, and that such things had
been known as a man's doing himself a mischief, and then setting the
justice to look for the doer. But when questioned closely as to
their grounds for this opinion, and what Master Marner had to gain
by such false pretences, they only shook their heads as before, and
observed that there was no knowing what some folks counted gain;
moreover, that everybody had a right to their own opinions, grounds
or no grounds, and that the weaver, as everybody knew, was partly
crazy. Mr. Macey, though he joined in the defence of Marner against
all suspicions of deceit, also pooh-poohed the tinder-box; indeed,
repudiated it as a rather impious suggestion, tending to imply that
everything must be done by human hands, and that there was no power
which could make away with the guineas without moving the bricks.
Nevertheless, he turned round rather sharply on Mr. Tookey, when the
zealous deputy, feeling that this was a view of the case peculiarly
suited to a parish-clerk, carried it still farther, and doubted
whether it was right to inquire into a robbery at all when the
circumstances were so mysterious.

"As if," concluded Mr. Tookey--"as if there was nothing but
what could be made out by justices and constables."

"Now, don't you be for overshooting the mark, Tookey," said
Mr. Macey, nodding his head aside admonishingly. "That's what
you're allays at; if I throw a stone and hit, you think there's
summat better than hitting, and you try to throw a stone beyond.
What I said was against the tinder-box: I said nothing against
justices and constables, for they're o' King George's making, and it