In short , Harthover was a grand place , and Sir John a grand old man , whom even Mr. Grimes respected ; for not only could he send Mr. Grimes to prison when he deserved it , as he did once or twice a week ; not only did he own all the land about for miles ; not only was he a jolly , honest , sensible squire , as ever kept a pack of hounds , who would do what he thought right by his neighbours , as well as get what he thought right for himself ; but , what was more , he weighed full fifteen stone , was nobody knew how many inches round the chest , and could have thrashed Mr. Grimes himself in fair fight , which very few folk round there could do , and which , my dear little boy , would not have been right for him to do , as a great many things are not which one both can do , and would like very much to do . So Mr. Grimes touched his hat to him when he rode through the town , and called him a `` buirdly awd chap , '' and his young ladies `` gradely lasses , '' which are two high compliments in the North country ; and thought that that made up for his poaching Sir John 's pheasants ; whereby you may perceive that Mr. Grimes had not been to a properly-inspected Government National School . Now , I dare say , you never got up at three o'clock on a midsummer morning . Some people get up then because they want to catch salmon ; and some because they want to climb Alps ; and a great many more because they must , like Tom . But , I assure you , that three o'clock on a midsummer morning is the pleasantest time of all the twenty-four hours , and all the three hundred and sixty-five days ; and why every one does not get up then , I never could tell , save that they are all determined to spoil their nerves and their complexions by doing all night what they might just as well do all day . But Tom , instead of going out to dinner at half-past eight at night , and to a ball at ten , and finishing off somewhere between twelve and four , went to bed at seven , when his master went to the public-house , and slept like a dead pig ; for which reason he was as piert as a game-cock -LRB- who always gets up early to wake the maids -RRB- , and just ready to get up when the fine gentlemen and ladies were just ready to go to bed . So he and his master set out ; Grimes rode the donkey in front , and Tom and the brushes walked behind ; out of the court , and up the street , past the closed window-shutters , and the winking weary policemen , and the roofs all shining gray in the gray dawn . They passed through the pitmen 's village , all shut up and silent now , and through the turnpike ; and then the were out in the real country , and plodding along the black dusty road , between black slag walls , with no sound but the groaning and thumping of the pit - engine in the next field . But soon the road grew white , and the walls likewise ; and at the wall 's foot grew long grass and gay flowers , all drenched with dew ; and instead of the groaning of the pit-engine , they heard the skylark saying his matins high up in the air , and the pit-bird warbling in the sedges , as he had warbled all night long . All else was silent . For old Mrs. Earth was still fast asleep ; and , like many pretty people , she looked still prettier asleep than awake . The great elm-trees in the gold-green meadows were fast asleep above , and the cows fast asleep beneath them ; nay , the few clouds which were about were fast asleep likewise , and so tired that they had lain down on the earth to rest , in long white flakes and bars , among the stems of the elm-trees , and along the tops of the alders by the stream , waiting for the sun to bid them rise and go about their day 's business in the clear blue overhead . On they went ; and Tom looked , and looked , for he never had been so far into the country before ; and longed to get over a gate , and pick buttercups , and look for birds ' nests in the hedge ; but Mr. Grimes was a man of business , and would not have heard of that . Soon they came up with a poor Irishwoman , trudging along with a bundle at her back . She had a gray shawl over her head , and a crimson madder petticoat ; so you may be sure she came from Galway . She had neither shoes nor stockings , and limped along as if she were tired and footsore ; but she was a very tall handsome woman , with bright gray eyes , and heavy black hair hanging about her cheeks . And she took Mr. Grimes ' fancy so much , that when he came alongside he called out to her : `` This is a hard road for a gradely foot like that . Will ye up , lass , and ride behind me ? '' But , perhaps , she did not admire Mr. Grimes ' look and voice ; for she answered quietly : `` No , thank you : I 'd sooner walk with your little lad here . '' `` You may please yourself , '' growled Grimes , and went on smoking .
So she walked beside Tom , and talked to him , and asked him where he lived , and what he knew , and all XXXXX himself , till Tom thought he had never met such a pleasant-spoken woman .
So about above among at between in into of than