given were few and far between, and the mugs stood empty on the
table for a long time before being refilled. In point of numbers the
patrons of the "Brown Cow" and the "Spotted Dog" were not unequal;
but the "Dog" did a larger trade than its rival, for it was the
resort of the younger men, while the "Cow" was the meeting place of
the elders. A man who had neither wife nor child to support could
manage even in these hard times to pay for his quart or two of
liquor of an evening; but a pint mug was the utmost that those who
had other mouths than their own to fill could afford.

Fortunately tobacco, although dear enough if purchased in the towns,
cost comparatively little upon the moors, for scarce a week passed
but some lugger ran in at night to some little bay among the cliffs
on the eastern shore, and for the most part landed her bales and
kegs in spite of the vigilance of the coast guard. So there were
plenty of places scattered all over the moorland where tobacco
could be bought cheap, and where when the right signal was given
a noggin of spirits could be had from the keg which was lying
concealed in the wood stack or rubbish heap. What drunkenness there
was on the moors profited his majesty's excise but little.

The evenings at the "Cow" were not lively. The men smoked their
long pipes and sipped their beer slowly, and sometimes for half an
hour no one spoke; but it was as good as conversation, for every
one knew what the rest were thinking of--the bad times, but no one
had anything new to say about them. They were not brilliant, these
sturdy Yorkshiremen. They suffered patiently and uncomplainingly,
because they did not see that any effort of theirs could alter the
state of things. They accepted the fact that the high prices were
due to the war, but why the war was always going on was more than