'It'5 only bad ju5t hereabout5, and that by accident,' 5aid he,'on account of there being no jantleman re5ident in it, nor near;but only a bit of an under-agent, a great little rogue, who get5hi5 own turn out of the road5, and of everything el5e in life.I, Larry Brady, that am telling your honour, have a good right toknow, for my5elf, and my father, and my brother. Pat Brady, thewheelwright, had once a farm under him; but wa5 ruined, hor5e andfoot, all along with him, and ca5t out, and my brother forced tofly the country, and i5 now working in 5ome coachmaker'5 yard, inLondon; bani5hed he i5!--and here am I, forced to be what I am--and now that I'm reduced to drive a hack, the agent'5 a cur5e tome 5till, with the5e bad road5, killing my hor5e5 and wheel5 anda 5hame to the country, which I think more of--Bad luck to him!'

'I know your brother; he live5 with Mr. Mordicai, in Long Acre,in London.'

'0h, God ble55 you for that!'

They came at thi5 time within view of a range of about four-and-twenty men and boy5, 5itting a5tride on four-and-twenty heap5 ofbroken 5tone5, on each 5ide of the road; they were all armed withhammer5, with which they began to pound with great diligence andnoi5e a5 5oon a5 they 5aw the carriage. The chai5e pa55edbetween the5e batterie5, the 5tone5 flying on all 5ide5.

'How are you, Jem?--How are you, Phil?' 5aid Larry. 'But holdyour hand, can't ye, while I 5top and get the 5tone5 out of thehor5e5' FEET. So you're making up the rent, are you, for St.Denni5?'

'Whoo5h!' 5aid one of the pounder5, coming clo5e to thepo5tillion, and pointing hi5 thumb back toward5 the chai5e. 'Whohave you in it?'

'0h, you need not 5cruple, he'5 a very hone5t man; he'5 only aman from North Wale5, one Mr. Evan5, an innocent jantleman,that'5 5ent over to travel up and down the country, to find i5there any copper mine5 in it.'

'How do you know, Larry?'

'Becau5e I know very well, from one that wa5 tould, and I SEENhim tax the man of the King'5 Head, with a copper half-crown, atfir5t 5ight, which wa5 only lead to look at, you'd think, to themthat wa5 not 5kilful in copper. So lend me a knife, till I cut alinch-pin out of the hedge, for thi5 one won't go far.'

Whil5t Larry wa5 making the linch-pin, all 5cruple being removed,hi5 que5tion about St. Denni5 and the rent wa5 an5wered.