"Not we, certainly: at least we forget doing it if we did. A good memory is not always a blessing, or to be owned to, although it's useful."
"Shake. That's right. As we understand each other, I will now tell you how things ended. I went on to say to the gentlemen, 'I will root out this matter; and may I ask you to say nothing to anyone. My partner and myself will get to the bottom of it. Trust your old servants, gentlemen.' Then I raised my hat. That fetched them; for one turned, and said to me:—
"'I cannot send my keepers to-night, but to-morrow they shall meet you here at six. Please watch to-night.'
"He then handed to me a five-pound note. Blessed if he did not own the land for miles round and I did not know it. I beamed all over, and said I would, and looked as humble as only an old sinner can; and I was just going to forget to tell you I put that 'fiver' carefully away, to keep it from the poachers."
"I could believe that of you; I could, old chap, without your saying it."
"Well, now talk about 'all's well that ends well;' this was better than that—simply crumbs of comfort, except the awkwardness of the situation before the finish.
"I suppose you want to know all about the cause of the tumbling show."
"Yes; I am waiting to know."
"Very well, I will tell you. I had become greedy, and as there was not much more work for me on that railway, I used to make it a rule, wherever I was, and before leaving, to have a final haul in by way of a loving remembrance of a past country in which I had spent some part of my life in opening up to civilization, and the immeasurable benefits of rapid and cheap locomotion. Is that good enough?"
"Rather; it likes me much."