Excerpt from Ralf Skirlaugh, the Lincolnshire Squire, Vol. 2 of 3: A Novel The morning which saw the Squire's carriage um packed, also beheld John arrayed for a journey; he had risen earlier than usual, and made all needful arrangements for his departure before eight o'clock, when he entered his house for breakfast. Bessie had prepared the fried bacon and home-brewed beer, and was awaiting him at the cottage door when he arrived. There won't want aught doing till I come back; you'll have nought to do but take care of yourself, and milk the cow, and see to her; you'd better not let the lass do that, she might hurt the bairn. If any body brings any skins, they mun leave 'em till I get back, and then I'll see to it; tell everybody you don't know where I'm gone, or when I shall be home agen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.