But they wouldn't promise me nothing certain for my old
age, so I left them and padded the country a bit. And I liked tramping,
owing to the variety. And I found I could sing well enough to get a bed
and supper most times; and for three years I kept at it and saw my native
country: towns in winter it was, and villages in summer. I was on my way
to Plymouth when I dropped into Holne, and Mr. Churchward offered me a bob
if I'd travel to Little Sherberton. And when I arrived there, and saw how
it was, I made up my mind that it would serve my turn very nice. Then I
set out to satisfy your sister and please her every way I could, because
I'm too old now for the road, and would sooner ride than walk, and sooner
sleep in a bed than under a haystack."
"You fell into a proper soft thing," I said; but he wouldn't allow that.
"No," he answered. "'Tis a good billet; but nothing to make a fuss about.
Of course for ninety-nine men out of a hundred, it would be a godsend and
above their highest hopes or deserts; but I'm the hundredth man--a man of
very rare gifts and understanding, and full of accomplishments gathered
from the ends of the world. I'm not saying it ain't a good home and a
happy one; but I'm free to tell you that the luck ain't all on one side;
and for your sister to fall in with me in her declining years was a very
fortunate thing for her; and I don't think that Miss Blake would deny it
if you was to ask her.
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