at the next time I went to the
neighbourhood of N--- Hill I "must look out for a warm reception," to
which I replied, that "the sooner I had it the better, and I would go for
it in a day or two;" accordingly I went, believing in the old Book,
"Resist the devil and he will flee from thee." Upon my first approach
towards them, I was met with sour looks, scowls, and not over polite
language, but with a little pleasantry, chatting, and a few little
things, such as Christmas cards, oranges to give to the children, the sun
began to beam upon their countenances, and all passed off with smiles,
good humour, and shakes of the hands, till I came to a man who had the
colour and expression upon his face of his satanic majesty from the
regions below. It took me all my time to smile and say kind things while
he was pacing up and down opposite his tent, with his hands clenched, his
eye like fire, step quick, reminding me of Indian revenge. He was
speaking out in no unmistakable language, "I should like to see you hung
like a toad by the neck till you are dead, that I should, and I mean it
from my heart." When I asked him to point out anything I had said or
done that was not correct, he was in a fix, and all he could say was,
that "I would be likely to stop his game." Every now and then he would
thrust his hands into his pockets, as if feeling for his clasp-knife, and
then again, occasionally, he would give a shrug of the shoulders, as if
he felt not at all satisfied. I felt in my pocket, and opened my small
penknife. I thought it might do a little service in case he should
"close in upon me." Just to feel his pulse, and set his heart a beating,
I told him, good-humouredly, that "I was not afraid of half-a-dozen
better men than he was if they would come one at a time, but did not
think I could tackle them all at once." This caused him to open his eyes
wider than I had seen them before, as if in wonder and amazement at the
kind of fellow he had come in contact with. I told him I was afraid that
he would find me a queer kind of customer. Gipsies as a rule are
cowards, and this feature I could see in his actions and countenance.
However, after talking matters over for some time we parted friends,
feeling thankful that the storm had abated.

The Gipsies plan of attacking a house, town, city, or country for the
sake of pillage, plunder, and gain remains the same to-day as it did
eight centuries ago. They do not generally resort t