He leans on his stick and blinks his eyes, looking all round the room; then taps with the stick and clears his throat--'Be he in yet ?' he asks, with emphasis on the 'he.' 'No, he be not in,' replies a junior, mocking the old man's accent and grammar.

The senior looks up, 'Call at two o'clock, the deed is not ready,' and down goes his head again.

'A main bit o' bother about this yer margidge' (mortgage), the labourer remarks, as he turns to go out, not without a complacent smile on his features for the law's delays seem to him grand, and he feels important.

He has a little property--a cottage and garden--upon which he is raising a small sum for some purpose, and this 'margidge' is one of the great events of his life.

He talked about it for two or three years before he ventured to begin it; he has been weeks making up his mind exactly what to do after his first interview with the solicitor--he would have been months had not the solicitor at last made it plain that he could waste no more time--and when it is finally completed he will talk about it again to the end of his days.