Yorkshire; but the work of his revenge went steadily on. Still, few things grow desperate at once. For months, Burley had intervals in which he not only disregarded but defied his enemy, "He'll get more than he's building for, Ben." he would say, after an unusually prosperous week, "If he thinks he can take my business from me, he's a bit mistaken! Who's Sykes of Halifax? Nobody knows him. Jonathan Burley, he's a good name from t' Tweed to t' Thames."
But, from the hour in which Aske's tactics developed themselves in the locked stream, Jonathan plainly foresaw his financial ruin; and the conflict resolved itself into that desperate, despairing pertinacity which makes soldiers hold a fort they know must finally be surrendered, or doctors struggle with a cancer they are certain will, in the end, destroy life.
It was the facing of this hopeless fight which made Burley hard and parsimonious. He wanted every shilling to continue it as long as possible, and he began retrenchment first in his home. All his horses were sold but the one roadster he needed for his gig; all the servants dismissed but such as were absolutely
