第50章

“Howfarourpeoplewouldtakeupthatsortofthing——“beganthevicar。

“I’mallforgettingthatgoodoldEnglishspiritbackagain。”

saidmyuncle。“Merrymakings。Ladsandlassesdancingonthevillagegreen。Harvesthome。Fairings。YuleLog——alltherestofit。”

“HowwouldoldSallyGluedoforaMayQueen？”askedoneofthesonsintheslightpausethatfollowed。

“OrAnnieGlassbound？”saidtheother，withthehugevirileguffawofayoungmanwhosevoicehasonlyrecentlybroken。

“SallyGlueiseighty-five。”explainedthevicar，“andAnnieGlassboundiswell——ayoungladyofextremelygenerousproportions。Andnotquiteright，youknow。Notquiteright——here。”Hetappedhisbrow。

“Generousproportions！”saidtheeldestson，andtheguffawswererenewed。

“Yousee。”saidthevicar，“allthebriskergirlsgointoserviceinornearLondon。Thelifeofexcitementattractsthem。Andnodoubtthehigherwageshavesomethingtodowithit。Andthelibertytowearfinery。Andgenerally——freedomfromrestraint。

SothattheremightbealittlediffcultyperhapstofindaMayQueenherejustatpresentwhowasreallyyoungander——

pretty。OfcourseIcouldn’tthinkofanyofmygirls——oranythingofthatsort。”

“Wegottoattract’emback。”saidmyuncle。“That’swhatIfeelaboutit。WegottoBuck-Upthecountry。TheEnglishcountryisagoingconcernstill；justastheEstablishedChurch——ifyou’llexcusemesayingit，isagoingconcern。JustasOxfordis——orCambridge。Oranyofthoseold，fineoldthings。Onlyitwantsfreshcapital，freshideesandfreshmethods。Lightrailways，f’rinstance——scientificuseofdrainage。Wirefencingmachinery——allthat。”

Thevicar’sfaceforonemomentbetrayeddismay。Perhapshewasthinkingofhiscountrywalksamidsthehawthornsandhoneysuckle。

“There’sgreatthings。”saidmyuncle，“tobedoneonMod’unlineswithVillageJamandPickles——boiledinthecountry。”

Itwasthereverberationofthislastsentenceinmymind，I

think，thatsharpenedmysentimentalsympathyaswewentthroughthestragglingvillagestreetandacrossthetrimgreenonourwaybacktoLondon。Itseemedthatafternoonthemosttranquilandidylliccollectionofcreeper-shelteredhomesyoucanimagine；thatchstilllingeredonawhitewashedcottageortwo，pyracanthus，wall-flowers，anddaffodilsabounded，andanunsystematicorchardorsowaswhitewithblossomaboveandgaywithbulbsbelow。Inotedarowofstrawbeehives，beehive-shaped，beehivesofthetypelongsincecondemnedasinefficientbyallprogressiveminds，andinthedoctor’sacreofgrassaflockoftwowholesheepwasgrazing，——nodoubthe’dtakenthemonaccount。Twomenandoneoldwomanmadegesturesofabjectvassalage，andmyunclerepliedwithalordlygestureofhisgreatmotoringglove。

“England’sfullofBitslikethis。”saidmyuncle，leaningoverthefrontseatandlookingbackwithgreatsatisfaction。TheblackglareofhisgogglesrestedforatimeontherecedingturretsofLadyGrovejustpeepingoverthetrees。

“Ishallhaveaflagstaff，Ithink。”heconsidered。“Thenonecouldshowwhenoneisinresidence。Thevillagerswillliketoknow。”。

Ireflected。“Theywill“Isaid。“They’reusedtolikingtoknow。”。

Myaunthadbeenunusuallysilent。Suddenlyshespoke。“HesaysSnap。”sheremarked；“hebuysthatplace。AndaniceoldjobofHousekeepinghegivesme！Hesailsthroughthe