"Well," said Corkam, swelling with importance, "if I di'n't I ought ter, for I've been twice ter 'Meriky, and that's moor nor the rest of yer hev."
This argument was unanswerable, for nobody else certainly had crossed the Atlantic, or had, for the matter of that, ever experienced the slightest desire to do so; but still, to have been a traveller gives one importance in one's native village, and Corkam never let the American experience be forgotten. There was a tradition that an impudent boy, with an inquiring mind, had once asked him how long he had been there; and there _were_ people in the upper walks of life in Willowton who had expressed an opinion that he had gone over as a stoker in one of the "Cunarders," but had never done more than set his foot on the soil of the other hemisphere. But the fate of the indiscreet boy, whose ears had tingled for some time after his awkward question, had successfully deterred others from indulging in any undue thirst for information on that point, and Corkam was popularly supposed to be a mine of knowledge. It was, therefore, distinctly disappointing to find that the afternoon's excitement was to go for nothing, and that they were, so to speak, "no forrader" than they were before.
There was soon quite a little crowd round the "traveller," who was airing his opinions freely, and consequently enjoying himself exceedingly.
"And if he hev found water," he was saying--"s'posin', as we'll say, s'posin' there _is_ water where he say--why, he didn't find that for nothin'. Bah! _I_ knaw better'n that. He knaw wot he's about, does that gen'lm; he'll be round here in a month or two, I'll lay a soverin', arstin' for yer wotes for the next election! I knaw 'em; they're all alike--doctors, parsons, jowsers--they don't do anythin' for nothin'. Mark my words, he'll git suffin' out on yer before long. I knaw 'em, an' I ought'er, I'm shore, for ha'int I've bin te 'Meriky?"
How long this harangue might have continued one cannot tell, but an interruption was cased by the arrival on the scene of the doctor in his high dog-cart. He pulled up on the bridge and addressed the crowd.
"This seems to be a good opportunity of speaking to you, my men, on the subject which will be discussed in the schoolroom to-morrow at dinner-time. Three springs of water are said to have been discovered, and it has been decided to sink wells, if possible, in all three places; and also to clear out those wells which already exist, with a hope that when the rain _does_ come, and the springs begin to work again, the water may be purer and more fit to drink. The wells must be dug at once, the funds must be raised somehow or other; we can't stop to consider how at this moment, for it is a matter, as you all know, of life and death. What we propose to ask of you is to come forward with offers of help. The farmers have kindly consented to spare those of their men who know anything about well-sinking. I am about to send telegrams to several well-known men to come to our assistance, and I now ask you to think the matter over this evening, and those men who are willing to offer their services will, I hope, come in person to the meeting at one o'clock to-morrow, when a selection will be made by a committee, which will be formed this evening. I should like to add that the question of wages will be also settled, and that the vicar and I will be responsible for their prompt payment. All we ask of you is your hearty co-operation in what is for the good of the whole parish."