The old man was delighted to find some one who would sit with him through the long hours of Petty Sessional business.

Thus it was that the people who had to attend the Local Board, whether it was a Saturday, the principal day, or whether it was a Tuesday, that had previously been so trying, found their business facilitated by the attendance of two magistrates.

The Vice-Chairman was always there, and Mr.Marthorne was always there.

It sometimes happened that while Hodge the lately intoxicated, or Hodge the recent pugilist, was stolidly waiting for his sentence, the two justices in the retiring room were convulsed with laughter; the one recounting, the other imbibing, some curious racy anecdote concerning the family history of a local magnate.
Meantime, the young squire was steadily gaining a reputation for solid qualities, for work and application.

Not only at the Bench, but at the Board of Guardians and at other Boards where the justice of the peace is _ex officio_ a member, he steadily worked at details, sat patiently upon committees, audited endless accounts, read interminable reports, and was never weary of work.