‘Noae, I’ll not tell ye, fur it’s no concern o’ yours; but thank ye kindly, sir, all the same.  Yer an honest man.  Good-day.’

With that she walked resolutely away, nor would she accept his offer of payment for the food she had given.  He stood and watched her, feeling checkmated, until he saw her exchange greetings with the ploughman, who reached the end of his furrow as she passed the side of the field.  Seeing this, he took up his specimens and walked slowly in the same direction, waiting for the ploughman’s next return.  As he stood at the hedge he noticed that the labourer, who appeared to be a middle-aged man of average intelligence, surveyed him with more than ordinary interest.

‘Good-day,’ he said.

‘Good-day, sir.’  There was a clank of the chains, a shout and groan to the horses, and they stopped beside the hedge.

’Can you tell me the name of the young woman who passed down the road just now?’

‘Jen Wilkes, sir; “Jen o’ the glen” they calls ’er, for she lives in the holler down there, a bit by on the town road, out of West Chilton.’

’She has not lived here long, surely; she seems a north country woman by her speech.’

‘Very like, sir; it’s a while by sin’ she came with ’er mother to live i’ Chilton.’

It was evident that the ploughman had much more to say, and that he wished to say it, but his words did not come easily.

‘Can you tell me anything more about her?’ The man rubbed his coarse beard down upon his collar, and clanked his chains, and made guttural sounds to his horses, which possibly explained to them the meaning he did not verbally express.  Then he looked up and made a facial contortion, which clearly meant that there was more to be said concerning Jen if any one could be found brave enough to say it.

‘I feel assured she is everything that is good and respectable.’

At this the ploughman could contain himself no longer, but heaving up one shoulder and looking round to see that there was no one to hear, he blurted out—­’’Ave you seen ‘er shadder, sir?’

‘Her what?’

’’Er shadder.  I seen you so long with ’er on the road I thought maybe you’d tried to ’ave a kiss.  Gentlemen mostly thinks a sight of Jen’s looks; an’ it ain’t no harm as I knows on to kiss a tidy girl, if y’ain’t married, or th’ missus don’t object.’

’And if I did, what has that to do with it?  What do you mean by her shadow?’

’Oh, I dunno; I h’ain’t seen nothing myself; but they says, whenever any has tried to be friendly with ‘er, they’s seed something not just o’ the right sort.  They calls it ’er shadder—­but I dunno, I h’ain’t seen nothing myself.’

When we are suddenly annoyed, by whatever cause, we are apt to vent our annoyance upon the person nearest to us; and at this unlooked-for corroboration of his unpleasant vision, the gentleman said rudely, ’You’re not such a fool as to believe such confounded trash as that, are you?’