He judged it suited
Billy's convenience to declare that no such things happened, the more so
because Mr. Forde's own father was well known to have broke a preventive
officer's arm in his youth and done time for the same.
But a man by the name of Chawner Green it was that caused Samuel the
greatest mistrust. He had nought to do with the creek, but lived in his
own cottage, a mile out of Thorpe-Michael; and the keepers at the big
place by name of Trusham, hard by, declared that Mr. Green was a fearsome
poacher and hated the sight of the little man, though never had they
catched him red-handed, nor been able to fetch up legal proofs against
him.
There was a bit of a complication with Chawner Green, because Inspector
Chowne happened to be related to him by marriage. In fact, Chawner had
married the Inspector's sister five-and-twenty years before, and though
Mrs. Green was long since dead, the Inspector never quarrelled with his
brother-in-law and regarded him as a man who had got a worse name in the
parish than he deserved. So there it was: the keepers at Trusham always
felt that Chowne stood against 'em in their valiant endeavours to catch
out Chawner; while the officer took his stand on the letter of the law and
said that he held the balance of justice as became him, but weren't going
to believe no tales nor set the law in motion against Mr.
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