I got him a bit o' breakfast when he woke, and started him to help at the furnace, and he was that strong and active for his years, and had that pluck about him, that he went at it as though he'd been used to it for years. Dragging them heavy balls of white-hot iron to the helve is no light work, and I did'nt put it too hard on him at first. But lor bless you, as for looks, he looked a like a living marble statter at work, he was that handsome.

"His hands got sore?" Well, of course they did that, but he thought nothing of it, and worked like a young lion. He shared my dinner, and when knocking-off time came, I took him down home with me, and we had a neat little bedroom where he could sleep; as nice a little room as you could wish, and we arranged that he was to lodge with us, and when he had been with us a bit, I would see what wages I could give him. I thought it best to treat him like this, knowing what I did of his father-in-law. Some folks would have blamed me, and said I ought to ha' wrote to his friends to have him back, but would I give a nice young fellow like that back to one of the worst villians as ever crawled? Not I.

By little and little he told me all about himself. He had lived all his life at the family house in Gloucestershire, a good sized place by what I could make out, where they kep' carriages and servants, and lived in style. Two year ago his father had died, and in less than twelve months his mother had married Richard Levett. He had two sisters and one brother younger than himself, and for the last half year his precious father-in-law had led them a pretty dance.

From the first time young Mainwaring had clapped eyes on him, the young fellow had shown himself of too independent a spirit to please a man of Richard Levett's sort, and ever since they had been at daggers drawn. The lad had a favourite pony he was very fond of, and the rascal Levett had sold it and pocketed the cash, and shot his pet terrier. He had thrashed him twice, and was going to thrash him a third time-that was when he came away-but the spirited young fellow planted a blow on his nose that sent him back'ards into the fender, and I reckon he would ha' killed him when he got up, but his mother pulled him off, and begged of him to go, or there would be murder, and gave him what money she had about her; so while Richard was coming to his evil self, young Thomas was turning his back on the old home from which this reptile wanted to drive him. You can tell somewhere about how the land lay, it appears that all the money was to come to the young feller when he was of age, and Richard would ha' pisoned him sooner than give it up. Well, the young fellow went with me to the works, and I got to like him, and having no children o' my own, I sort of felt fatherly to him from that very first morning I put him to sleep up i' the loft, and by the time Christmas Day came round, though he'd been with us less than a week, we'd got quite used to him, and on the Christmas Eve I went with him to the inn, where he'd left his clothes and few things, and next day when we went for a walk he looked quite the gentleman I can tell you.

He says to me on that morning as we were going a walk to a church about four mile off to get us an appetite for our Christmas dinner, and my missis liking me to go to church o' Christmas Day, which I allus give way to her when it wa'nt agen reason, he says to me "Do you think Levett 'ill come after me?" he says.

"Well," I says, "I should not be surprised to see him. He used to be an awful fellow when his temper was up, and I suppose he ain't much altered."

"He'll kill me if he does come after me," he says.

"Not if I'm about, my lad," I says. "I'll kill him first." It wa'nt exactly the kind o' talk for Christmas morning, when everybody talks o' goodwill and all that kind o' thing, but Richard Levett was that sort o' fellow that it would be almost a religious kind o' thing to kill him. What with these 'ere Wesleyan Chapels like my missis goes to, and what with what they calls civilisation, we shall have a law protecting the lives of lions and tigers and crocodiles after a bit. And there's men as is as bad. We had our Christmas dinner and sat round the fire afterwards, and my missis's cousin that plays the big fiddle at the chapel came in and played Vital Spark, and the Dead March in Saul, and some other things. He could play the Dead March proper, and we had it over and over agen, and then he brings out his voyolin, and we has some other toons, but young Mainwaring he ketches hold on it and plays some o' the merriest music you can think on-dances and things as took us by storm, as the saying is, and made me and the missis almust get up out of our chairs and dance straight off, and seeing this rather put the other chap out these musicians are allers that plaguy jealous-after we'd had tea we asked him to play the Dead March twice, and with that ringing in my ears I started out for a stroll down to these works, for I don't know how it is, but even on a holiday I never could feel happy unless I just took a stroll down to see as things was going on all right. "Shall I come with you?" says young Mainwaring. Yes, if you like," I says.

66

You see those three blast furnaces standing up there on the fur side of the works, like three giant's towers? You don't know what a light them used to throw when they was at work. They're three o' the biggest in this part, and our old governor was always no end proud on 'em. Of course, at that time, they was allus kep' at work, winter and summer, Sundays and week days, and at night you'd see the flames dancing up and down, now rising, now falling, and looking sometimes as if they were alive. There was summat awful about them furnaces at nights, what with the roaring of the blast engine, and the creaking of the winding machinery that wound the wagons of coke and coal and ironstone and what not up to the top and tipped 'em over into the great blazing mouth.

The flickering light was over everything as we got nearer the works, and past the church there, where the bells was ringing for evening service; and when the chimes stopped it seemed as though that Dead March kep' running in my head, and seemed to suit that queer kind of half-light and half-dark, I asked young Mainwaring if he would like to go up the

incline to the top of the furnaces, and he said he should, so we waited till the wagon came down, and then we walked up by the side of the tram, holding on to the railings. They're a mighty height, them furnaces, and he was wonderful pleased with 'em, never having seen anything o' the sort, and when we came to the opening where the wagons tip, and looked down at the mass o' fire, he said it was the awfullest thing he'd ever seen, and said he had a sort of feeling as though he must jump in. Of course we did'nt go close, but even where we stood we had to hold up our hands to screen our faces, it was that hot. The incline goes up one side and down the other, and the wagons are worked by a chain that lies in the middle of the tramway. We stood and watched two or three come creaking up and tip their loads into the furnace, and then we come down agen.

We were strolling towards this part of the works across the pit mounts, and heaps o' big furnace cinders that Mainwaring said looked like big oysters, and we stood now and then, looking over the mountains lighted up by the fitful blaze, when we saw a tall man coming towards us. When we got within twenty yards of him, Mainwaring said "There's Levett!" 'Nonsense," I says, "what should he do here. I'll settle him if it is him." We came closer and closer, and by George it was Levett. They both recognised each other at the same time, and the scoundrel leaped forward to grab the young fellow, but I threw myself on to him, and whether or not the young fellow was unnerved by the suddeness and the strange light and the roar of the engines and what not, I don't know, but he turned and fled up the incline towards the top of the furnaces like a deer.

Levett made a fearful try to get away after him, but I was pretty well his equal, though he was taller than me. I got my hand well twisted into his neckcloth and collar, and got hold of his left wrist as though I didn't mean leaving go.

"Loose me you infernal fool!" he said. "Not I, Richard Levett," I says, "you've got to pay now. What about Mary Owen that you deceived and ran away with fourteen year ago-as come back from Ameriky and drowned herself, and if I'd thought you'd been in this country I'd have made you fight for your life before now. She was my sister, you wretch."

He fetched me the savagest blow on the jaw with his right fist, and I loosed him and went at him like mad, for I made up my mind to kill him there and then if I could, and no bones about it. But he was taller than I was, and longer in the reach, and he sent me a blow that made me see stars and knocked me over on my back, and when I got up he was off, the miserable hound, and up the incline after Mainwaring.

I stood stock still and watched him get up to the top and then stand a second. The light blazed up, and I could see him black against it, and I was just going to run up after him when I saw him go bang head first into the furnace. He must ha' caught his foot in the chain, and the wagon must ha' tipped afore he could get his balance.

I ran up as hard as I could, but there was nothing to see. Two wagons had tipped on to him afore I could get up, and the blast was just a roaring, and the flames just leaping up and down the same as ever, of course he wouldn't live a minute.

I found young Mainwaring awfully excited and flustered, down in the mill, and told him what had happened, and we walked home togetherthat was the rummest Christmas night I ever see. And I went straight to our governor, as was a magistrate, and I told him all about it, and he said I done quite right and didn't see how I could ha' done otherwise, I hadn't killed him and it was certain there was nothing to hold an inquest on.

Young Mainwaring came into his property when he was twenty-one, and turned out one o' the nicest fellows in his part o' the country. He's a fine man now and a magistrate himself, and comes over here sometimes to see the old spot.

They talk about cremation as they call it, but that was a case of cremation and no mistake. And the evil of that man must ha' gone into the iron. The next two lots of iron that was poured from that furnace was the hardest most tarnation stuff you can think of, we could do nothing with it in the puddling furnaces, and the governor sold it to a foundry as was making the iron gratings for a big gaol. I saved a bit of it and here it is-feel the weight of it. of Richard Levett's body mixed up with that. What his soul's got mixed up with is more than I can tell.

There's some

REDBARN.