The Invisible Burden

At the junction of the four cross roads, gleaming white in the hot
sunshine and hawthorn-bounded, and marked by the parallel ruts made by
the broad wheels of the country carts, the old public house of the
_Wyresdale Arms_ was scarcely ever without a number of timber wagons
or hay carts about its open door, the horses quietly munching from the
nose-bags and patiently waiting until their owners or drivers should
emerge from the sanded kitchen.

Nathan Peel's hostelry was the half-way house for all the farmers and
cart-drivers in the district, and generally quiet enough at night
time, but from its capacious kitchen roars of laughter rang out many a
summer afternoon, as the carters and yeomen told their droll stories.

On one of these occasions, when the sun was blazing outside, and
shimmering upon the sands and the distant sea, and through the open
window the perfume of the may-blossom stole gently, a quaint looking
old fellow, whose face had been bronzed by three-score summers and
winters, happened to mention an occurrence as having taken place about
the time of 'th' quare weddin',' and a chorus of voices at once called
upon him for the story.

'It's quite forty year sin,' he said thoughtfully, 'an' I wir quite a
young chap then, an' ready for any marlock. I could dance too wi' hear
an' thear one, an' no weddin' wir reet wi'aat axin' me. This one I'm
baan to tell abaat heawivir wir Mester Singleton's owdest son o' th'
Dyke Farm, an' as he wir weddin' th' prattiest lass i' o' th' country
side, varra nigh everybody wir theear, 'specially as Mester Singleton
hed given it aat ther'd be a welcome for onnybody. A string o' nearly
twenty conveyances, milk carts, an' shandrys, an' gigs, went to th'
church wi' fowk o' seein' 'em wed; but comin' back, young Adam started
off wi' his young wife as if he wir mad, an' isted o' gooin' th' owd
road across th' Stone Brig, an' through th' Holme meadow he pelted
off through th' Ingleton Road an' th' Owd Horse Lane. Th' mare seemed
to know what th' young chap wir up to, an' to enter into th' spirit
o't' thing an' off hoo went like th' woint, th' string o' shandrys an'
milk carts an' gigs peltin' on at after abaat a mile behint, an' th'
fowk laughin' an' shaatin' at th' fun. Th' gate into th' Owd Horse
Lane wir wide open, so th' fowk wir disappointed as expected to gain a
minnit or two wi' Adam hevin' to get daan theer to oppen it, an' into
th' lane th' mare dashed, an' on hoo went as if th' shandry an' Adam
an' his wife wir nowt behint her. Abaat midway i'th' lane heawever th'
road dipped a bit, an' th' watter fra a spring i'th' bank ran o'er it,
an' just afoor th' shandry reyched it th 'mare stopped o' of a sudden,
an' Adam flew aat o'er th' horse's back an' pitched into th' hedge
like leetnin'. Th' wife shaated as if he wir kilt, but he'd no bones
brokken, an' when we geet up to him he crept aat o'th' prickles wi' a
shame-faced look as if he'd bin catcht thievin'. Ther wir some rare
jokin' as he climbed up to th' side of his wife an' lasht the mare for
another start, but it wir no use, th' mare couldn't stir th'
conveyance. Adam lasht away at her, but stir it hoo couldn't, an' at
last eight or ten on us set to an' turned th' wheels for twenty or
thirty yards an' it wir th' same as if it wir a timber-wagon, it wir
that heavy. It wir th' same wi' every one o'th' conveyances, not one
could be got o'er th' watter only wi' eight or ten on us toilin' an'
slavin' at th' wheels, no matter heaw th' horse strained an' pulled.
Nobody could make aat what it wir, an' th' Vicar came an' look't abaat
but could find nowt. He said, heawever, th' Owd Lad had some hand in
it, an' he warned th' fowk not to use th' road when they could help
it. Many an' many a time heawivir, I see carts stuck theear bi' th'
day together, for some chaps wouldn't be persuaded not to go through
th' lane, for it wir a short cut, an' other chaps went i' nowt but
darin' when they'd hed a sup o' drink. It went on for some years like
that, an' fowk came fray far an' near to see it. I'd gettin' wed mysen
and hed a farm on the Holme, but I used to go raand to it bi'th' owd
road across the Brig, but one day, a breet hot day, I'd mi little lad
i'th cart an' he bothert mi to go through th' lane, he wantit to see
th' Owd Lad he said, an' as he started o' cryin' abaat it, I went.
Well, the cart stuck i'th' owd place bi th' runnin' watter, an' th'
little lad wir deleeted. I geet daan an' took howd o'th' wheel, for I
knew it wir no use usin' the whip, an' th' horse wir sweatin' as if it
wir rare an' 'freetont, when little Will shaated aat o' ov a sudden
'Feythar, I con see him!' 'See what?' I sang aat, an' broad dayleet as
it wir, mi knees wir quakin'. 'A little chap i'th' cart,' he said, 'a
fat little chap wi' a red neet cap on.' 'Wheer is he?' I shaated, for
I couldn't see owt. 'Theer on th' cart tail,' he said, an' then he
shaated 'Why, he's gone,' an' no sooner hed he spokken than th' horse
started off wi' th' cart as if it hed nowt behint it.

Thir never wir a cart stuck theer at after that, an' th' Vicar said it
wir because little Will hed persayved th' Feeorin, an' as Will hed th'
gift o' seein' feeorin an' sich like because he wir born at midneet.