"Wish aw'd weighed in wi' th' rush-cart. They wanted me to, but th' owd mother were agin it. Aw'll be bun they'll finger a matter o' haulf a guinea apiece out o' this year's Rush. It beats goin' out wi' th' waits at Xersmas time, an' as for goin' a wassailing at th' New Year, why, that's babby work. To be sure it's harder work, tho' aw could tug that owd cart, rushes an' all, awmost by missen on a pinch, but then, look yo, it's warmer work, an', by gosh, a felly nivver knows how nice a gallon o' ale can taste till he's poo'd a rush-cart fro' Woolroad to th' Church. Aw've heard tell o' a chap at used to put ki-an on salt herrings so's he could enjoy his liquor more, but aw't back a rush-cart agen th' best ki-an ivver come out o' a pepper-box lid. But then, on t' other hand, if aw'd had th' fingering o' another hauf guinea, besides what we'n getten o' our own, aw should happen ha' ended up whur aw see Neddy Thurkill is by now. It's a weary an' a contrary world, Abel, when yo' can see six things for a thing an' just hauf a dozen agin it." "Why, what of Neddy Thurkill?" I asked, with quick misgiving. Now Ned was our dyer, and a very good dyer, too; but never a Saturday night came round but he was turned out of the Hanging Gate at Diggle, maudlin drunk, and half his good wages gone in drink. He spent Sunday in bed mending the clocks and watches of the villagers, and he was as good a clock doctor as he was a dyer. Jim jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the church, just opposite the inns and going to the door and pressing my way through a hustling, jeering crowd, I made my way to the space by the eastern wall of the churchyard, where stood the village stocks, and in them, in drunken gravity, with a churchwarden pipe brandished in one hand, and brandishing a pewter pot half full of ale in the other sat Neddy Thurkill. I turned away sadly enough for a better workman and a better hearted fellow than Ned never breathed, but for just this one fault and that a big one. I found Jim in the front room, which was crowded by a thirsty throng all clamouring for something to wash the dust out of their throats. I ordered my modest draught and managing by great good fortune to secure a seat on a settle near the window gazed moodily on the scene without.