A Final Reckoning | Page 6

her. Owing to his memory of his
former position at the mill, and to his mother's talk and teaching,
Reuben did not entertain the same feeling of respect, mingled with fear,
for the squire's family which was felt by the village in general. Instead
of being two years younger than himself, the girl had spoken as gravely

as if she had been twenty years his senior, and Reuben could not help a
smile of amusement.
"She is a dear little lady," he said, as he looked after her; "and it's only
natural she should talk like her mother. But Mrs. Ellison means well,
too, mother says; and as for the squire, he is a good fellow. I expected
he would have given it to me the other day.
"Well, now I will go up to the pony. One more lesson, and I think a
baby might ride it."
As he walked along, he met Tom Thorne. There had been war between
them, since the affair of the broken window. Reuben had shown the
other no animosity on the subject as, having been cleared, he had felt in
no way aggrieved; but Tom Thorne was very sore over it. In the first
place, he had been found out; and although Reuben himself had said
nothing to him, respecting his conduct in allowing him to be flogged
for the offence which he himself had committed, others had not been so
reticent, and he had had a hard time of it in the village. Secondly, he
had been severely thrashed by his father, in the presence of the squire;
the former laying on the lash with a vigour which satisfied Mr. Ellison,
the heartiness of the thrashing being due, not to any indignation at the
fault, but because the boy's conduct had excited the squire's anger;
which Thorne, for many reasons, was anxious to deprecate. He was his
landlord, and had the power to turn him out at a quarter's notice; and as
there was no possibility of obtaining any other house near, and he was
doing by no means a bad trade, he was anxious to keep on good terms
with him.
Tom Thorne was sitting on a gate, as Reuben passed.
"You think you be a fine fellow, Reuben, but I will be even with you,
some day."
"You can be even with me now," Reuben said, "if you like to get off
that gate."
"I bain't afeared of you, Reuben, don't you go to think it; only I ain't

going to do any fighting now. Feyther says if I get into any more rows,
he will pay me out; so I can't lick you now, but some day I will be even
with you."
"That's a good excuse," Reuben said scornfully. "However, I don't want
to fight if you don't, only you keep your tongue to yourself. I don't want
to say nothing to you, if you don't say nothing to me. You played me a
dirty trick the other day, and you got well larrupped for it, so I don't
owe you any grudge; but mind you, I don't want any more talk about
your getting even with me, for if you do give me any more of it I will
fetch you one on the nose, and then you will have a chance of getting
even, at once."
Tom Thorne held his tongue, only relieving his feelings by making a
grimace after Reuben, as the latter passed on. In the various contests
among the boys of the village, Reuben had proved himself so tough an
adversary that, although Tom Thorne was heavier and bigger, he did
not care about entering upon what would be, at best, a doubtful contest
with him.
Contenting himself, therefore, with another muttered, "I will be even
with you some day," he strolled home to his father's ale house.
The change at the school was very speedily made. The squire generally
carried out his resolutions while they were hot and, on the very day
after his conversation with his wife on the subject, he went first to the
vicar and arranged for the retirement of the clerk, and the instalment of
White in his place; and then went to the school house, and informed the
master of his intention. The latter had been expecting his dismissal,
since Mrs. Ellison had spoken to him on the previous day; and the news
which the squire gave him was a relief to him. His emoluments, as
clerk, would be smaller than those he received as schoolmaster; but
while he would not be able to discharge the duties of the latter for very
much longer, for he felt the boys were getting too much for him, he
would be able to perform the very easy work entailed by the clerkship