CHAPTER II.

Meeting with Time-Slack thing, said I,
Thy scythe is dull; whet it for shame.

No marvel, Sir, he did reply,

If it at length deserve some blame:

But where one man would have me grind it,
Twenty for one too sharp do find it.

M

him as a cotton-spinner in this secluded

place in Alsace. Aided by an overlooker of but very inferior capacity, he had to instruct the work-people, new to the employment, and very inapt at learning; and, moreover, as stupidly obstinate and proudly self-opinionated, as very ignorant people so often are.

The greater part of them were extremely indigent, gaining a very scanty subsistence by working on the land, and living in such a way as in England would

be thought wretchedly poor and comfortless, suffering innumerable hardships and miseries from their extreme poverty, and having at best such a bare maintenance, they were not in the habit of laying anything by. Nor could it be expected; and therefore, in cases of sickness or misfortune, there being no workhouse or any such institution in the neighbourhood, their only choice was to beg or starve.

And, besides, little remunerative as was their labour in the land, it was very far from affording a sufficiency of employment for the bulk of the population in the locality. The consequence of which was, that in a family of six or eight persons capable of earning, one-half that number might perhaps be regularly employed, whilst the remainder had little or nothing to do.

One would have been led to suppose that in such a place to establish a means of providing the people with an abundance of much more lucrative employment than any they had hitherto been able to obtain -which the working of a factory in Mossdale would effect to a very considerable degree - would be unanimously regarded by them as a great and notable benefit, and hailed with gladness; but it was only by a few of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood that it was looked upon in any such light, whilst the others were inclined to regard it with distrust and suspicion as an unwelcome innovation, and to look upon Mr Harebell with rather hostile feelings as an impertinent intruder.

In order somewhat to lighten his labours-some

HENRY MEADOWS.

7

times very heavy under existing circumstances-Mr Harebell had decided, after talking the matter over with his son Christopher, to try to procure an efficient overlooker from England, rightly judging that a clever young man would probably soon be able to make himself sufficiently master of the language; and had accordingly caused a suitable advertisement to be inserted in one of the principal English newspapers, which was not long ere it met with a reply from a Mr Henry Meadows, who proposed himself as a candidate for the situation, and who, after a short correspondence, during which he furnished highlysatisfactory testimonials, as well in regard to his abilities for filling the proposed situation, as to his character, Mr Harebell had engaged him; and he had now arrived in Mossdale a few weeks ago. In the testimonials, however-otherwise so fully satisfactory -the referees had given very few particulars, and very scanty information respecting Mr Meadows' antecedents; but as these referees were, by reputation at least, known to Mr Harebell as people of some importance and great respectability, he contented himself with the measure of information they had thought fit to give, and which, in point of fact, was amply sufficient for the purpose; and thought that in regard to further particulars, it would suffice to learn them later from the young man himself.

On first seeing Henry Meadows, Mr Harebell felt decidedly prepossessed in his favour; for he was a pleasing-looking young man of about four-and-twenty, with a handsome, intelligent countenance; but on

attempting to converse with him, more particularly if touching on anything regarding himself, he found him repulsively cold and reserved. His brows were often contracted as with mental or physical suffering, and a cloud of gloom would sometimes settle upon his dark, pale face.

"Meadows is not a pleasant fellow," said Christopher, in vexation. "I can't understand him!"

Meanwhile he did not complain of anything; was scrupulously attentive to his duties, irreproachably exact in fulfilling all Mr Harebell's orders, and indefatigable in studying to make himself master of the language spoken by the workpeople,* and in which he was already making rapid progress; retiring to his room to study at every spare moment. For as they had a room at liberty, and as Mr Harebell thought it would be advisable for the overlooker to be as near the works as possible, he had provided him with one in his own house.

* The peasantry speak a German patois, and the educated people, mostly French; but in this narrative, conversations with either will be rendered in English.

ESCENDING Mossdale, and passing out at the lower end, the entrance to another and much wider valley is immediately ap

proached, where the contiguous mountains are no longer so rugged, and are clothed with pine forests on the one side, and on the other with vineyards and other cultivated ground, above which are wild tracts of land stretching far and wide, covered with heath and gorse in flower. Amongst the cultivated ground, some is allotted to corn, and some to colza, with its bright yellow blossoms, whose strong perfume scents the air all around for some distance. The fresh green of the vines, the wavy corn, the gay colza blossoms, and the varied colours of the heath and gorse in flower, form indeed a most pleasing whole; more especially when contrasted with the dark pine forests on the opposite side of the valley.