Elias creaked noisily across the great kitchen, and, standing opposite Sharpe in the chimney corner, looked down at him for a moment without speaking. The other tapped his pipe on the iron hob nearest him and continued to gaze interrogatively at the new-comer. He was about the same age as Fiander but looked younger, his burly form being straight and his sunburnt face more lightly touched by the hand of time. Hair, beard, and whiskers, alike abundant, were of a uniform pepper-and-salt—there being more pepper than salt in the mixture; when he smiled he displayed a set of teeth in no less excellent preservation.
As Elias continued to gaze down at him with an odd sheepish expression, and without speaking, he himself took the initiative.
‘Ye called round to tell me about the sale, I suppose? Well, I take it very kind of ye, ’Lias, though I was n’t for your goin’ after that new-fangled machine. I do ’low ye’ll ha’ give a big price for ’t.’
His tone had a tinge of severity, and it was noticeable throughout that his attitude towards Fiander was somewhat dictatorial, though in truth Fiander was the older as well as the richer man.
‘Nay now, nay now,’ the latter returned quickly, ‘ye be wrong for once, Isaac. ’T is a wonderful bargain: things was goin’ oncommon cheap. There was hurdles to be picked up for next to nothin’. I were a-thinkin’ of you, Isaac, and a-wishin’ ye’d ha’ comed wi’ me. Yes, hurdles was goin’ wonderful cheap. They’d ha’ come in handy for your sheep.’
Isaac grunted; since he had not thought fit to accompany his friend, he was rather annoyed at being told of the bargains he had missed.
‘It was a long way to travel,’ he remarked. ‘Did you have to go into Dorchester?’
‘Nay I turned off by Yellowham Hill. Banford’s about four mile out o’ Dorchester, and I cut off a good bit that way.’
‘Well, ye’ve a-got the hoer,’ grunted Isaac. ‘Did you bid for anything else?’
‘No, I did n’t bid for it,’ returned Elias with a sheepish chuckle; ‘but I’ve a-met with a wonderful piece of luck out yonder.’