after a day or two, in spite of my devotion and nursing, but this
little foundling kicked herself out of the world with as much noise
as would have sufficed to summon a garrison to surrender. It is all
very well to laugh at it now, but we were, five valiant souls in
all, as thoroughly frightened at the time as we could well be.

The only real harm a swagger did me was to carry off one of my best
maidservants as his wife, but as he had 300 pounds in the bank at
Christchurch, and was only travelling about looking for work, and
they have lived in great peace and prosperity ever since, I suppose
I ought not to complain. This swagger was employed in deepening our
well, and Mary was always going to see how he was getting on, so he
used to make love to her, looking up from the bottom of a deep
shaft, and shouting compliments to her from a depth of sixty feet.
What really won her Irish heart, though, was his calmly putting a
rival, a shepherd, into a water-butt. She could not resist that, so
they were married, and are doing well.

Let no one despise swaggers. They are merely travelling workmen,
and would pay for their lodging if it was the custom to do so. I am
told that even now they are fast becoming things of the past; for
one could not "swagger" by railroad, and most of our beautiful happy
vallies will soon have a line of rails laid down throughout its
green and peaceful length.



Chapter X: Changing servants.