The outer fringe consisted of excited and irrepressible small boys of the town, who scampered round and round, shouting and dancing, and cuffing one another, in sheer enjoyment of living and the knowledge that something unusual was on foot. Inside them stood a number of the town loafers, all facing in towards the centre of the ring, and laughing and making jocular remarks to one another. Closer in still, came an excited circle of our friends who, like the old ladies, ought to have been living in the cottage, but were not. The irascible old gentleman was there, purple in the face and swearing frightfully; the solicitor was there, with a slightly anticipatory look in his face; the Strong Man was there, and looked as if he wanted to break something; and closer in than all these, forming a solid bodyguard of white flannels and laughing faces and briar pipes, were our young friends from Oxford. The three little old ladies, with their pugs in their arms, crept round the revolving outskirts of the crowd, and joined my wife, who stood wondering in the doorway, and began timidly questioning her as to the meaning of the uproar. Mr. Sawyer and I elbowed our way through the crowd, and the bodyguard opened to let us into the circle. In the centre stood a little, trembling meek, brown-eyed, crooked man. "Scorer!" said I, "by all that's wonderful!" [Illustration: "WE STALKED AS MAJESTICALLY AS OUR CIRCUMSTANCES PERMITTED TOWARDS THE NOISY CROWD."] "William!" said Sawyer. "Jos---! No, by Jove! it is the other leg!" "Now, William," said Mr. Sawyer, "what is the meaning of all this?" The crooked little man's eyes brightened when he saw Mr. Sawyer. "Mr. Sawyer, sir, I know no more than a babe unborn. I come in by the 10.30, and no sooner hadn't my foot touched the ground than these young gentlemen they gathered round me and began a arskin' what I meant by it, and then all them others came along. I dunno what's matter wi' em. Seems to me they're all gone crazy." "Where's Joseph?" "Why, ain't he 'ere? I left him 'ere when I went into h--orspital; and 'e said 'e'd keep things all shipshape till I come out." "Where did you find him? I thought he was away." "He come to see me just when I were sickening, Mr. Sawyer, sir, and he promised to keep things all straight and shipshape till I were right again. So I sent off the wife to her folks--for her trouble--you know, and then Joe he took me along to the h--orspital, and he said he'd keep things all--" "I see," said Mr. Sawyer; "and how's the wife?" "She's A1, Mr. Sawyer, sir." "And the baby?" "He's a reg'lar little ripper, sir, and as straight as a lath." There was more ingenuous pride packed into those last five words than any five words ever held before; but the meek brown eyes shone suddenly moist.