"So yo shan," replied Jem; "weel, then, th' dyke begins near a little
mound ca'd Turn Heaod, about a hundert yards fro' my dwellin', an runs
across th' easterly soide o't moor till it reaches Knowl Bottom."
"You will swear this?" cried Potts, scarcely able to conceal his
satisfaction.
"Swere it! eigh," replied Jem.
"Eigh, we'n aw swere it," chorused the hinds.
"I'm delighted to hear it," cried Potts, radiant with delight, "for
your description corresponds exactly with Master Nowell's plan, and
differs materially from that of Mistress Nutter, as Squire Nicholas
Assheton will tell you."
"I cannot deny it," replied Nicholas, in some confusion.
"Ey should ha' said 'westerly' i' stead o' 'yeasterly,'" cried Jem, "boh
yo puzzle a mon so wi' your lawyerly questins, that he dusna knoa his
reet hond fro' his laft."
"Yeigh, yeigh, we aw meant to say 'yeasterly,'" added the hinds.
"You have sworn the contrary," cried Nowell. "Secure him," he added to
the grooms and Sparshot, "and do not let him go till we have completed
the survey. We will now see how far the reality corresponds with the
description, and what further devilish tricks have been played with the
property."
Upon this the troop was again put in motion, James Device walking
between the two grooms, with Sparshot behind him.
So wonderfully elated was Master Potts by the successful hit he had just
made, and which, in his opinion, quite counterbalanced his previous
failure, that he could not help communicating his satisfaction to Flint,
and this in such manner, that the fiery little animal, who had been for
some time exceedingly tractable and good-natured, took umbrage at it,
and threatened to dislodge him if he did not desist from his
vagaries--delivering the hint so clearly and unmistakeably that it was
not lost upon his rider, who endeavoured to calm him down. In proportion
as the attorney's spirits rose, those of James Device and his followers
sank, for they felt they were caught in a snare, from which they could
not easily escape.
By this time they had reached the borders of Worston Moor, which had
been hitherto concealed by a piece of rising ground, covered with gorse
and brushwood, and Jem's hut, together with the clough, the rindle, and
the dyke, came distinctly into view. The plans were again produced, and,
on comparing them, it appeared that the various landmarks were precisely
situated as laid down by Mistress Nutter, while their disposition was
entirely at variance with James Device's statement.
Master Potts then rose in his stirrups, and calling for silence,
addressed the assemblage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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