And he did so.
Then the tale ran round that Mr. Bates was going to the workhouse.
People declared that he had ceded all his furniture to the landlord,
who could now sell it quietly and advantageously, in a manner which
would yield more than enough to wipe out the debt. Perhaps there might
even be a trifling balance in the debtor's favor eventually; but
meanwhile the homeless and stickless old gentleman would fall as
another burden on the rates to which he had so long subscribed.
It was curious, perhaps, but the humble folk spoke of him as the old
gentleman, and not as the old man, all at once giving him the title
which they only now began to think he had fairly earned as a master
and employer, an important personage who used to drive about in gigs,
wear a black coat at church, and always have a kind word for you when
you touched your cap to him.
"'Tis all a pity but so 'tis, and can't be gainsaid. Th' old gentleman
hev come down so low, that 'tis the Union and nought else."
"Is that for sure?"
"Oh, yes, for certain sure. He is a-goin' into workhouse to-morrow
maarning."
But he did not go there.
In the morning some one came running into Dale's yard, and shouted
what had happened since dark last night.
"Th' old gentleman hev a done fer hisself."
He had been found hanging from the biggest of the apple trees behind
his cottage. He had set a ladder against the tree, gone up it, fixed
the rope firmly, put the noose round his neck, and stepped off into
the air. That was the way they did for themselves in this part of
Hampshire.