They had literally no longer the
wherewithal to live. The tithe payers absolutely refused to fulfil
their obligations. As it happened, Jones, the man who had murdered the
auctioneer, was never brought to trial. He died shortly after his arrest
in a fit of _delirium tremens_ and nervous prostration brought on by
the sudden cessation of a supply of stimulants, and an example was lost,
that, had he been duly hanged, might have been made of the results of
defying the law. Mr. Granger was now too poor to institute any further
proceedings, which, in the state of public feeling in Wales, might or
might not succeed; he could only submit, and submission meant beggary.
Indeed he was already a beggar. In this state of affairs he took counsel
with Elizabeth, pointing out that they must either get money or starve.
Now the only possible way to get money was by borrowing it, and Mr.
Granger's suggestion was that he should apply to Owen Davies, who had
plenty. Indeed he would have done so long ago, but that the squire had
the reputation of being an exceedingly close-fisted man.
But this proposition did not at all suit Elizabeth's book.
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