"I didn't know you were such a fighter."
Sherebiah gave him a quick look out of his uninjured eye.
"Nay, I bean't a fighter, not me," he said. "I'm a man o' peace; I be so."
CHAPTER IV
Mynheer Jan Grootz and Another
The Gaffer Chops Logic—In Print—The London Coach—Simple Annals—A Village Hampden—Bereft—An Offer of Service—A Hearty Send-off—Outside Passengers—Introductions—Contractor to the Forces—Followed—The Man on the Road—Sherebiah Muses
It was a dull, damp day towards the end of November, a little more than four months after Captain Aglionby's unhappy departure from Winton St. Mary. There was again great bustle at the Berkeley Arms; Mistress Joplady's ample face was red with exertion, and her voice, when she gave directions to her servants, was raised to an acrimonious pitch far from usual with her. The whole village appeared to be gathered either within or without the inn. Gaffer Minshull was there, seated with his back to the wall and leaning on his inseparable staff. Lumpy, Soapy Dick, Long Robin the tanner, Old Everlasting the miller, stood in a group about the door, talking to the ostler, who stood guard, with arms akimbo, over four brimming pails of water ranged along the wall.
Soft Jemmy was standing a yard or two away, watching with open mouth a man who, straddling across a step-ladder, was smearing the ancient sign-board with daubs of black paint, obliterating every trace of the crude heraldic design that had marked the inn's connection with the lord of the manor. When the board was one unbroken black, the painter descended the ladder with his brush and can, winked at Jemmy, and went into the inn to "mix the flavours", as he said in passing. The half-witted youth contemplated his handiwork for some minutes in mild surprise; then he walked towards old Minshull and addressed him timorously:
"Gaffer, I'm afeard my poor yead won't stand the wonder on't, but it med do me good to know why John painter ha' covered that noble pictur wi' the colour o' sut."
"Why, boy, black's for sorrow, as 'ee med know wi'out tellen an 'ee weren't so simple, and 'tis a black day for Winton Simmary, so 'tis."