This concession, I observed, would immediately
mollify the old man; and, after walking over a field or two in
silence, with his hands behind his back, chewing the cud of
reflection, he would suddenly turn to the Squire, and observe, that
"he had been turning the matter over in his mind, and, upon the whole,
he believed he would take his honour's advice."
Christy, the huntsman, is another of the Squire's occasional
attendants, to whom he continually refers in all matters of local
history, as to a chronicle of the estate, having, in a manner, been
acquainted with many of the trees, from the very time that they were
acorns. Old Nimrod, as has been shown, is rather pragmatical in those
points of knowledge on which he values himself; but the Squire rarely
contradicts him, and is, in fact, one of the most indulgent potentates
that ever was henpecked by his ministry.
He often laughs about it himself, and evidently yields to these old
men more from the bent of his own humour than from any want of proper
authority. He likes this honest independence of old age, and is well
aware that these trusty followers love and honour him in their hearts.
He is perfectly at ease about his own dignity, and the respect of
those around him; nothing disgusts him sooner than any appearance of
fawning or sycophancy.
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