body knows everybody; everybody talks about everybody; everybody's business is everybody's business, and every one is fair u;mic for the whole. And herein lie the humanities of a village. They must know something—hence they seek to know each other: they must talk about something—hence they talk about each other: they must laugh at something—hence they laugh at each other: they must denounce something, and they hence denounce each other. This may be called "petty;" but then a village is a petty world, containing petty people, whose general intelligence is therein confined.
It might have been thought that Aunt Eleanor had, as she imagined, done sufficient to ensure secresy in this matter; but although Legge was silent, and Judkins was silent, and Jones and the reverend gentleman were silent, Mrs. Legge, when she found that she was able to get nothing having reference to it out of Legge himself, sent for Mary, who at once told her all.
Having thus obtained the important information sought, Mrs. Legge told Obadiah Drant, and the moment he heard of it, of course the secret died. It was then indeed no longer a secret: for glorying as he always did in everything bearing even the semblance of an opportunity of having, what he termed, "a regular fructifying cut" at those above him, he went round the village, called on all his associates, and developed his fine inventive faculties strongly. He had received that morning a large order for a quarter of a hundred of bricks, but that of course he could not attend to.
"I say," said he, on reaching Pokey's residence, "I say, my boy! have you heard the news?"
"No!" replied Pokey. "What news?"
"What! haven't you heard about old Teddy Rouse?"
"No! what about him?"
"Such a game, my boy! such a glorious game! Pinned like a cockchafer! regularly pinned! I'll be bound to say there hasn't been a man so pinned since the time of the French revolution."
"But how," cried Pokey, "how was he pinned? What was it all about?"
"Why, you know Mrs. Sound has been much annoyed lately by ghosts, you know, and all sorts of things. Well, this blessed morning, you know, when she came down, who should she find in her parlour but old Teddy Rouse in his shirt!"
"What! the parson?"
"The parson! Well, in she went, and flew at him, and out she pulled him, and pommelled and scratched him, and shook him, and worried him, until Ted called out for mercy so loud you might have heard him all over the village."
"What! do you mean to say—"
"Yes!—Well! when she had him down flat on his back, with her fingers on his throat, and her knees upon his chest, she sent her maid over for Legge, and when Legge came, she offered to stand a pound if he'd give Ted an out-and-out welting. Legge was a fool not to do it."
"But do you mean to say—"
