eth.

"I wonder who thought of introducing it here?"

Donald Farfrae was in the minds of both as the innovator, for though not
a farmer he was closely leagued with farming operations. And as if
in response to their thought he came up at that moment, looked at the
machine, walked round it, and handled it as if he knew something about
its make. The two watchers had inwardly started at his coming, and
Elizabeth left the window, went to the back of the room, and stood as if
absorbed in the panelling of the wall. She hardly knew that she had done
this till Lucetta, animated by the conjunction of her new attire with
the sight of Farfrae, spoke out: "Let us go and look at the instrument,
whatever it is."

Elizabeth-Jane's bonnet and shawl were pitchforked on in a moment, and
they went out. Among all the agriculturists gathered round the only
appropriate possessor of the new machine seemed to be Lucetta, because
she alone rivalled it in colour.

They examined it curiously; observing the rows of trumpet-shaped tubes
one within the other, the little scoops, like revolving salt-spoons,
which tossed the seed into the upper ends of the tubes that conducted it
to the ground; till somebody said, "Good morning, Elizabeth-Jane." She
looked up, and there was her stepfather.

His greeting had been somewhat dry and thunderous, and Elizabeth-Jane,
embarrassed out of her equanimity, stammered at random, "This is the
lady I live with, father--Miss Templeman."

Henchard put his hand to his hat, which he brought down with a great
wave till it met his body at the knee. Miss Templeman bowed. "I am
happy to become acquainted with you, Mr. Henchard," she said. "This is a
curious machine."

"Yes," Henchard replied; and he proceeded to explain it, and still more
forcibly to ridicule it.

"Who brought it here?" said Lucetta.

"Oh, don't ask me, ma'am!" said Henchard. "The thing--why 'tis
impossible it should act. 'Twas brought here by one of our machinists on
the recommendation of a jumped-up jackanapes of a fellow who thinks----"
His eye caught Elizabeth-Jane's imploring face, and he stopped, probably
thinking that the suit might be progressing.

He turned to go away. Then something seemed to occur which his
stepdaughter fancied must really be a hallucination of hers. A murmur
apparently came from Henchard's lips in which she detected the words,
"You refused to see me!" reproachfully addressed to Lucetta. She could
not believe that they