The Salamanca Corpus: Yeoman Fleetwood (1900 ... - Gredos

The Salamanca Corpus: Yeoman Fleetwood (1900)
"Well, in a two-three minutes Squire coom to the field hissel', my word, he were in a
stew! He dommed us all reet and left, and towd me as Yeoman Fleetwood mun gi'e no
more orders on his ground. So we coom we're ways awhoam again; and the grass is
layin’ theer half
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made, wi' nobry thinkin' o’ turnin’ it. Seems strange, dunnot it?"
His master turned away without replying, and Bill stood looking after him and
scratching his head.
“Mun the stuff go to waste, then. Gaffer?" he called out after him.
"That is no affair of ours, Bill," said Simon; and he walked on with his head bent.
It troubled him to think that the fair lands which under his careful nurture had begun to
prosper so well must be again abandoned to the reign of waste and desolation. He had
taken an almost affectionate pride in coaxing the long-forsaken soil to make a goodly
yield, and this harvest promised to be rich and abundant. He thought of those wide
fields where the corn was already yellowing, of those others where long lines of roots
were making so brave a show, of the great meadow already cropped once, and where
now the aftermath lay in heavy swathes just as it had fallen from the scythe — it was he
who had planned and sown and watched, and now he was forbidden to gather in the
harvest. This was to be his fate through life: he should sow and never reap, the promise
should be his but not the fruit, he should clasp the bride but not the wife. Endeavouring,
however, to shake off these sorrowful thoughts, which, as he felt, unfitted him for the
line of conduct he had lain down for himself, he fell to considering the practical aspect
of the affair — some immediate step must be taken if the result of his toil was not to be
entirely lost. After much pondering he resolved to consult Mr. Renshaw, and rode into
Saltfield that very afternoon. The lawyer was just finishing his lunch, and started in
amazement on hearing that Mr. Fleetwood was waiting for him in the office.
"Mr. Fleetwood, Sarah?" said he in astonishment.
"I thought him miles away."
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