"There was an old beggar who returned to Lark Rise, the place he was raised," "every autumn." "How he lost his leg was a story he often told." "Old Peg Leg's tales of the Crimean War seemed as unreal as any dark fairy tale." "But this time, the old man's recollections would cause such a controversy." "His plight became a cause that aroused conflicts and opinions that stirred up our little community." "And revealed secrets that no-one could have of imagined possible." " It is all so...sudden." " I saw the press for sale, and it gave me the idea." "The very same day, I saw that the book shop was up for rent, and I thought, "I cannot turn away from such an opportunity."" " It's wonderful." " Candleford is crying out for a local newspaper, and I won't need to sell a great deal." "The press will cost me next to nothing." "A retiring newsman wanted to be sure the old thing had another life." "The rent is affordable." " And it means I am here." " Yes." " It does." " All I need now is a story to launch The Candleford Chronicle." ""I once lost a parcel."" ""Alfie grew a prize potato last year."" "That's as much of a story as you're likely to find around here." "I will wager that by the end of the week" "I will have unearthed a sensation that will have every tongue talking from here to Sherston." "I don't know where you get such confidence from." "But you like it, don't you?" "SHE LAUGHS" "Laura." "Miss Lane is wondering where you are." "Well, she knows where you are, but she feels you are here when you should be there." "Look at that!" "Give me a day and I shall have it working." "And you, Minnie, can pull the lever to fire her up." "I ain't never pulled a lever." "I shall bake a cake!" "Oh, and Daniel, you are invited to tea." "I'll whistle you a tune as good as any, spare a penny." "I'll tell you tales of the war, will make your skin crack." "I don't know how he survives, hobbling from place to place, sleeping in ditches." "Ain't you noticed, Alfie, how his tales change each time he comes around?" "More fantastical with each telling of 'em." "It wouldn't surprise me if he weren't in no war." "Twister!" "What a thing to say!" "The man gave his leg for his country." "Give his leg?" "He didn't give it." "It was took!" "Spare a something for Old Peg Leg." "You have four pennies in there already." "That's as much as I can make in the fields in half a day." "Peg Leg put two of them in there hisself." "Why did you put money in your own cap, Peg Leg?" "It gives folks the idea." "You're crying, "Spare a penny", loud enough." "I think they gets the point." "It stirs their conscience, see." "Makes people think that if other folks is giving to an old war horse, well, they'd better put their hand in their pockets." "There's craft in the begging game." "And cunning." "See the day out, that's all Old Peg Leg ever asks." "Be your own friend and reach the day's end." "A man can call that a life." "HE LAUGHS" "We are all most impressed, Daniel." "A young man setting up an exciting enterprise on our doorstep." "You are a fine example of what Samuel Smiles calls "self help"." "I know the book." "Any man can make a success of himself with the correct attitude and application." "And what a shining example you are, Mr. Parish." "Shining." "Laura is a lucky girl to have such an all-conquering man." "I have been revisiting the book." "That's a little more than heresy." "Claiming that a man's will is all." "Have you actually read the book, Thomas?" "To read it would be to condone it, ma'am." "A man does not need to peruse a book to know its contents." "Is it about helping yourself, mum?" "It is, Minnie. "The crown and glory of life is character."" "Mr Smiles, I even like his name, claims that if we want to better ourselves then application, diligence and cheerful persistence pays off." " Persisterance." " That is all very well, ma'am, if I may." "But what about those who can't better themselves?" "Like Old Peg Leg." " Is he back with us?" " Who is Old Peg Leg?" "A veteran, from the Crimean war." "He lost an eye and part of a leg fighting before Sebastopol." "Now the poor old man lumbers from town to town begging for pennies." "One leg?" "One of his legs is wood and his other leg is..." "leg." " Where is he now?" " Oh, Daniel, you are ever the hunter." "I saw him heading for Lark Rise." "Alfie says he saw Old Peg Leg on the lane." "I will lay out a bed down here for the night." "Old Monday was giving out leftover milk at the farm today." "I have a rice pudding the size of this table." "I seem to have no appetite." "I think I'll go over to the Wagon and Horses." "I ain't going to ask you, if that's what you are waiting for." "Daniel Parish has moved to Candleford." "He's setting up his own newspaper." "Is that so bad?" "You get to see another side of Daniel after a while." "Perhaps moving to Candleford tells us something about him." "He.." "he's is an enterprising young man." "He likes it here." "And he is serious about our Laura." "I see the Stores is still in darkness." "Miss Pearl is determinedly in mourning." "It's not so much that she is missing her sister, though undoubtedly she will be grieving." "It is more that she must be seen to be bereft." "Which makes me feel for her even more." "Perhaps a distraction might help." "And I can no longer afford to live at the Golden Lion since I must now foot my own bills." "Perhaps Miss Pearl would welcome a lodger?" "Thomas." "Ain't you gone home?" "I am going home." "Now." "I am setting off." "Hit by a canon ball, Old Peg Leg was." "And I laid there on that battlefield, a day around the clock with not so much as a hand on my brow." "Laid there, in the blood and the mud and the madness." "Most kindly of you, sir." "Tell 'em what they did with your leg, Peg Leg." "Well, after I'd waited there for a whole lifetime, the surgeon comes." "Without more ado, he saws off the shattered portion." "And then I lies there some more, half alive, half cracked." "And I waits and I waits till the nurses come." "And they dips the stump in a bucket of boiling tar." "And didn't I holler!" "Sir." "Mr?" "Peg Leg." "Mr Peg Leg, what was your occupation before the war?" "He was a very gifted carpenter." "Made his own leg, he did." "So you were from hereabouts?" "That's why he keeps coming back, see." "With his tales." "Mr Peg Leg, did you receive any kind of a pension when you were invalided out of the army?" "All I was give was eight pence a week for 18 months." " And then it stops." " But don't you feel that is a great injustice?" "The world is made of injustices, sir." "Especially to the likes of old folks who makes no fuss for their own needs." "However great they are." "Mr Parish, you seem mighty curious about Peg Leg's circumstances." "It is my nature to be curious." "And my profession." "We hear your profession has brought you to open a newspaper in Candleford." "Would you like to visit my premises?" "I would very much like to show you around, Mr Timmins." "Perhaps tomorrow?" "Mr Peg Leg, what do you feel about your current conditions?" "Conditions would be pleasing, bettered, sir if you was to spare a few pennies for an old war horse." "Perhaps another beer?" "See the day out, that's all Old Peg Leg ever asks." "Come on, boys, all together now." "Fathom the bowl!" "# Oh, fathom the bowl," "# Give me the punch lane, oh, fathom the bowl" "# Come on, ye bold heroes, give here to my song... #" ""The common life, with its cares and duties," ""provides the true worker with abundant scope for self-improvement." ""They who are most persistent, and work in the truest spirit," ""will usually be the most successful."" "SHE SNORES" "HE MUMBLES TO HIMSELF" " We can't just leave him like this." " Who said we would?" "Alfie?" "He's been coming here regular, and he ain't never slept in a Lark Rise ditch as long as I've known him." "Be your own friend, and see...see the day's end." "He ain't been eating." "I can see it." "I have some oats for the morning." "He looks worse than last time, I'm sure of it." "Course he does." "He looks worse every time he turns up." "I could take him in our cottage." "Put him up for a good while if needs be, till he's on the mend." "He won't have it." "One night is all." "We've tried." "I can't bear to see him like this." "DOOR BELL" "Laura, are you going over to Lark Rise this morning?" "Do you want to walk with me?" "I want to ask you to do me a favour." "I am told that Peg Leg will move on after only one night." " He never settles." " You must convince him to stay." "For a while." "I heard his story last night in the Wagon and Horses." "Laura, the London newspapers create a public clamour by taking up a cause." "A cause?" "Peg Leg?" "Miss Lane, let me ask you, as a potential buyer of my newspaper, what are your feelings about a war hero cast into such a vagrant life?" "It is a disgrace." "We ought to be ashamed of ourselves." "If we cannot provide for those who serve our country, then what kind of nation are we?" "What Kind Of Nation Are We?" "I have my headline." "We must detain him here so I can speak with him some more, and report on his plight." "Perhaps Peg Leg might not wish to be made a sensation." "Daniel, these London newspapers, do they help people like Peg Leg?" "Greatly." "When the public conscience and anger are stirred, then the people in power soon listen." "Then I shall be glad to be part of your efforts." "What is it that you seek to achieve, Daniel?" "Justice...for an old man." "Who could object to that?" "You sure you can spare this, Emma?" "You have children to feed." "My little 'uns have enough flesh on their bones." "You look like a man who needs a meal before he perishes." "Arthur, won't you stay one more night?" "I'll bank up the fire and heat up some water, you can have a bath." "Baths, is it?" "Why would a man want to take off his clothes when he has them on so cosy?" "THEY CHUCKLE" "DOOR RATTLES" "Peg Leg." "Mr Arthur." "I have a friend who wishes to help you." "A journalist." "He's asked me to persuade you to remain in Lark Rise until he can write a story about you, so he can raise up public opinion on your behalf." "What a splendid idea!" "It ain't right you live by the begging bowl, Arthur, depending on folks' kindness for scraps of food." "Peg Leg has a good life." "No, I don't want no trouble in my name." "A full belly and a road to travel, what more can a man ask for?" "Surely you are owed a bit of peace and comfort in your old age?" "Folks will want to help, to put right such an unfairness." "Arthur, every time you leave," "I fear I will watch you walk down that lane for the last time." "I am left feeling that I have not done enough." "Can you not stay?" "A day or two is all." "Stay for me, so I won't feel so bad." "I've made some pea soup." "You love my pea soup." "There won't be no bath, will there?" "No bath." "I promise." "I'm no mechanic, but I am enjoying getting my hands dirty with a little oil and ink." " Daniel..." " You think me impulsive to do such a thing." "A newspaper in Candleford." "Supposing people don't buy what you have to say?" "I do feel reckless, but I'm full of faith." "It's as though it doesn't matter if I succeed." "All that counts is the thrill of the challenge." "That's why you are here, is it?" "The challenge?" "I ain't so sure that's what brought Daniel Parish to Candleford." "Mr Timmins, in truth, I..." "Gentlemen, if I may intrude." "I have a question." "Purely in the spirit of enlightening conversation, you understand." "Mr Parish, you are little more than 20 and already a self-made entrepreneur." "And you, Robert Timmins, you are a master of your craft, renowned for it." "What are the qualities that lift men like you out of the throng of common toilers?" "A little daring, perhaps?" "If you love what you do, you give yourself to it." "That's what I thought." "Courage and determination"" "I will have to fill my newspaper with local announcements, wedding banns, christenings, poetry competitions." "But I am determined to tell big stories, things that matter, like Peg Leg." "I will not stop until he has a place to live and a pension to properly feed him." "I don't doubt that will sell several copies for you." "Peg Leg doesn't matter to you." "You met the man for one evening." "What matters to you is the success of your paper." "Peg Leg does not need me to know him." "Nor even to even care much for him." "He needs me to have fire in my belly for what I write." "Your kindness in taking him in, feeding him, has that made a real difference to his plight?" "No." "No, it hasn't." "I could change his life... if I do my job properly." "I will tell people for miles around of this man's predicament." "I will shake them out of their indifference." "Isn't that better than a bed for the night and a little friendship?" "It is." "And if I can help you in any way..." "Can you recommend a sign-maker?" "I can do better than that." "HE PLAYS THE PENNY WHISTLE" "I've put some thyme in the bread for us to have with the pea soup." "Ma?" "Why are you fond of Old Peg Leg like your own pa?" "Well, when I was a girl, Peg Leg would come up the lane, and the other children would shout after him," ""Dot and carry one," because of the sound he made walking." "I couldn't bear the cruelty of it." "So, when I was old enough, had my own home," "I took him in." ""Dot and carry one"?" "There's something suspicious about a man who won't stay still." "It's like he don't want no-one to know him." "Twister, you do have a sour mind sometimes." "Has anyone ever seen under that patch?" "He might have more eyes than I do." "Twister Turrell," "I do believe that you are no more than jealous of an old war hero." "All these years you've known me, and you can say such a thing?" "Believe such a thing?" "Well..." "Perhaps I'll show you." "Show you all." "Oh, Minnie, I can't find my book anywhere." "Have you moved it?" "No, mum, I ain't seen no book nowhere, so I ain't moved it." " And anyway, what book was it?" " Self-Help, Samuel Smiles." "Oh, I seen that one." "It was lying right there." "Thomas, have you moved my book?" "Oh, is that the bell." "Did I hear the bell?" "A man must be conscientious, ma'am." "Spare a coin for Old Peg Leg." "Will whistle you a tune good as any, spare a penny." "Spare a few coins for an old man ruined with rheumatism." "HE PICKS OUT A TUNE: "Camptown Races"" "PEG LEG PLAYS A DIFFERENT TUNE" "A man don't need a comely tune when he has the sympathy of being legless." "HE CONTINUES TO STRUM" "Now I remember." "They didn't call you Peg Leg back then, did they?" " Are you sure you can afford this, Daniel?" " It's an occasion." "A double occasion." "I have always felt it important to mark significant moments." "I am the proprietor of my own newspaper." "If I cannot celebrate, then what kind of a man am I?" "You're right." "It's such a lovely thing to do." "You said it was a double occasion?" "Yes." "Us." "What are you doing?" "To mark the occasion of me coming to live in Candleford." "A brooch." " It's beautiful." " It was my grandmother's." " Daniel, I can't accept it." " Why?" "I'm sorry, Daniel." "Perhaps I should go." "Why would you say such a thing?" "I am only hurting you, sitting here, refusing your gift." "I'm sorry." " Thomas, has Miss Lane been chiding you?" " She has not, Minnie." "I give Miss Lane no cause to chide." "But you are here again in the evening and you are working like the most working man there ever was." "Minnie, would you say that I was diligent?" "Yes." "Industrious?" "Attentive?" " Yes." " Persistent?" "Do I work in a true spirit?" "Yes." "DOOR OPENS" "Thomas, what is "persisterance"?" "And "indus..."" ""Attentive"?" "CHILDREN:" "Dot and carry one!" "Dot and carry one!" "You think I can't catch you?" "Well..." "Oh..." "I'll get you..." "He'll grab you when you least expect it." "Old Peg Leg never forgets." "How's a man like you come to have such a fine bottle of brandy, Arthur?" "Found it on the lane." "I'll have a word with those children." "We was all children." "Once." "In another life." "KNOCK ON DOOR" "It's no use burying your head in the pillow, Laura." "I can tell when you come home distressed from the way you close the back door." "Ma'am, please..." "I don't want to talk." "Then something really is the matter." "You always share your burdens, Laura." "Ma'am..." "I was so thrilled that Daniel had come to Candleford." "So proud of what he is doing." "I was so looking forward to..." "Daniel was so kind to me." "He gave me the most lovely gift, a beautiful brooch in a beautiful box." "I refused it." "Why would you do such a thing?" "I don't know why." "Perhaps tomorrow you could accept it?" "It is never too late to put things right." "No, ma'am." "I don't want his gift." "Laura..." "Please." "Ma'am, I cannot talk about this any more." "I've such a headache." "Margaret, I lack..." "Lack?" "I lack success." "I lack thrust!" "Miss Lane has the post office, and the Forge." "Both of which she inherited." "Daniel Parish is little more than a boy, he has his own business." "It can not yet be called a success." "Misses Pratt have the Stores." "Even Robert Timmins is his own master and an artist." "Has a reputation and widespread respect." "What do I have?" "Postal bag, female employer and a rod upon my back." "Hardly a rod, Thomas." "It's a metaphorical rod, Margaret." "Thomas, what has brought such thoughts upon you?" "I look at my "achievements", and what is the sum of a lifetime's efforts?" "This!" "But Thomas, we have us." "Don't we?" "Ohh." "Oh..." "Mum, why did Daniel give Laura something that was his grandma's?" "Because, I suppose, it was a sign to her of how much she means to him." "Mum, if people help themselves, like the book says we have to, do all our dreams come true?" "Something like that, yes, according to Mr Smiles." "Mum, do you suppose Laura will take the brooch from Daniel?" " Perhaps, yes, when she is ready." " Because she loves him?" " Because she loves him." " Mum, if someone wants something, then it is up to you to have persisterance, isn't it?" "Yes, persistence." " Do you have your eyes on the post office, Minnie?" " Oh no, mum." "I am too young." "Yet." "Perhaps later." "Mum, love is beautiful, isn't it?" "I think it is meant to be, yes." "We are introducing a new offer today, ladies." "Buy ten penny stamps for nine pence." "Do tell your friends and neighbours." "..And when you returned to England and were released from the hospital, no possibility of work?" "Well, they did say I might learn blacksmith work, since that's mostly arm labour." "That is, if I could stand at all." "THEY LAUGH" "'The British Government has behaved disgracefully 'when it comes to the care of our brave war veterans." "'Men like Mr Arthur Myhill, who lost a leg fighting in Sebastopol, 'who had his eye blown out 'in the service of this great country of ours." "'Why does this lion-hearted man trudge the lanes of Oxfordshire 'begging for his next meal, never knowing where he may lay his head?" "'Because he is not entitled to a pension for his services to us all." "'His courage has been spurned, ignored, mocked by indifference." "'Who is responsible for this scandal?" "'You are." "'We all are.'" ""If we do not care enough to raise our voices" ""in anger and rejection of this terrible injustice," ""if we do not demand rightful provision for men like Arthur Myhill," ""then we can all hang our heads in shame."" ""The Candleford Chronicle shall start the call." ""Let every fair-hearted man in this fair-hearted country" ""demand justice for Old Peg Leg." ""Write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, care of the Chronicle." ""Write today." ""Demand hope for Old Peg Leg!"" "That's fine writing, well enough." "But I never asked to be in no papers." "Arthur, if this can bring in a few shillings regular, a place for you to live." "That has to be proper for a man who has giv..." "I never asked for no place to live." "Look at how many people are responding." "So many decent people can see what the moral obligation of our Government is." "And this is just the start of it." "They threw away your life like an old rag." "And how many more like you didn't make it home?" "What is this war for?" "For you?" "For my children?" "For any man in here?" "Do we share their grand designs?" "Will Sebastopol feed my family?" "Your family?" "Your life, Arthur, before you left." "A carpenter, making homes for folks to live in." "And what a fine hand you had." "Known for the twinkle in your eyes." "There wasn't a girl around here who was safe." "Eileen Middleton." "You would have married her." "Brought your own children into this world." "Same as we have, all of us." "What took that away from you?" "Some cannonball did this to you?" "No." "Men in suits did this to you." "Men who sit in panelled rooms and decide our lives." "Rich men, and sons of rich men." "Powerful men." "Ask them, do their sons go to war?" "Your name, Arthur, your plight, could point a finger at these men." "Now, isn't that a cause worth putting your shoulder behind?" "Isn't that what you want, Arthur?" "Finally, you're asking me what I want." "Well, I'll tell you." "A few pennies so's I can be on my way." "A beer, and another beer to make the evening shine." "Be your own friend and reach the day's end." "Well, come on, boys." "Come on!" "HE PLAYS A TUNE ON HIS WHISTLE, SOME SING RELUCTANTLY" "Sing, boys, come on!" "THEY SING" "Daniel, Peg Leg might rail against the offer of a settled life, but there was no joy in that music." "The man is tormented." "He needs hope, that is all." "True hope." "Daniel, there is a bigger cause here." "More than homes for men like Arthur." "If you were to name the reason why this kind of thing happens." "And hear me out." "Imagine the stir that that would cause if you were able to do that in The London Illustrated News." "They print pictures." "Photographs." "Imagine it." "Peg Leg he is the nugget that shows it all." "It is the sight of him that makes visible the injustice of it." "I could send them a telegram." "Who would have thought Old Peg Leg would become a political cause?" "You'll be needing to dust down your expanding plank, our Robert." "It matters, Em." "That man, his story, could make a difference." "I know it matters." "And it cheers my heart to see you so fired up." "OLD PEG GIVES OUT A RASPING COUGH" "HE COUGHS AND MUMBLES" "You have found my book for me, Thomas." "Thank you." "It was about, so I decided to glance through a few pages of it, ma'am." "And what did you make of it?" "There is only one book a man can live by, Miss Lane." "Though this does have some merits, in places." "It is well meant, I suppose." "People suppose the book is about success." "But my favourite chapter is the one on character." ""That which dignifies a country" ""is not an aristocracy of blood, it is an aristocracy of character."" "But there is an impressive list of illustrious commoners, raised themselves from humble to elevated position by the power of application and industry." "A lowly postman might be encouraged by such a thought." "Thomas, I had a rather strange encounter in the post office this morning." "Several of our customers were asking for discounts." "Ah." "They said that you had informed them that such a thing was possible." "I was merely showing initiative, Miss Lane." " An ambitious man must live on his toes." " Initiative with my income, Thomas." "Ah..." "Ah." "Well, perhaps I overstepped myself." "You did indeed." "I trust it will not happen again." "Mmm!" "There's porridge." "There's flavoursome porridge and then there's Emma Timmins' porridge." "Are you sure you can spare it, Emma?" "I'd hate to think that I was taking out of the mouths of the little 'uns." "You eat up, Arthur." "We have battles to fight." "I'll go on down the lane, see if there's a few extra pennies to get me on my way." "Perhaps, before I go, I might come back, have a bowl of your pea soup?" "We will always share whatever we have with those who need it." " Thomas?" " Margaret." "James Dowland built Villas." "Daniel Parish opened a newspaper." "I am sitting here contemplating what Thomas Brown might do." "Thomas..." "I am an empty vessel, Margaret." "Inspiration was there none." "It seems that I am doomed to be no more than a common toiler." "The Illustrated London News have picked up on my story." "They are sending a photographer from Oxford to take a picture of Peg for tomorrow's edition." " I am to have him ready by midday." " Well..." "You come to our little spot in the wilderness and before you know it, you are conquering the world." " Money?" " Notes." " Lots of them." " How?" "He is Poor Old Peg Leg." "How did he lay his hands on so much?" "Every family in the hamlet would work to the bone for half that amount." "But why does he live as he does if...?" "He isn't the man we thought." "He comes to our home, eats our porridge, plays the pauper." " What will you do, Ma?" " It is enough to break me." "Are we such fools to let him take our kindness?" "Not fools." "Then why does it make me feel so?" "Why does it hurt so?" "He has betrayed you time and time again." "I don't know what I will do." "Peg Leg." "How are you today?" "Thomas?" "Thomas?" "A photograph fella, coming all the way from one of them London newspapers, taking a picture of Peg Leg." " For the paper." "A picture." " Is that so?" "A picture of a poor man." "A beggar and a war hero." "Is that so?" "They didn't call him Peg Leg when he was a boy." "I used to put my hat on the ground outside the ale house, sing a few songs, have a few drinks and there'd be coins gone from my hat." "Penny Pincher, that's what they used to call him." "If you don't talk to him, tell him what you know, he'll go off down the lane, he'll be back again." "What then, Emma?" "Look at him there." "The Wood Leg Hero." "See their eyes, Alfie." "See how they admire him." "He ain't no pauper." "He has more money than you or I could ever hope for." "Twister, how can you say such a thing?" "Ask Emma Timmins." "She knows." "Knows what?" "This will undermine everything." "The Chronicle will be ruined by this." "Can't you stop them?" "He owes me nothing." "I gave to him freely." "It's none of my business if he has money." "Oh..." "I have to talk to Daniel." "Wh..." "What's to be done?" "I must do something." "Daniel, I am sorry." "It was me pushed you into this." " What are we to do, Pa?" " We have no choice." "No-one wants to do it, but we must expose the lie of the man." "Perhaps, but... surely what truly matters here is the greater cause." "That is still worthwhile." "War veterans without a home or a pension." "If the story in the London papers can still achieve some good, it seems to me that the only thing to do is to do nothing." "You're right." "But to keep such a secret..." "I don't like how it makes me feel." "Daniel Parish, disturbed by a moral quandary?" "You sound to me like a man of character." " I can't believe it." " It's true." "Look at him there." "It ain't right." "Alfie, I have a gift for you." "Go on, open it." "Open it now." "Minnie, I am grateful but I need you to wait just one moment." "Folks should know what he's made of." "It's a hairpin." "Do you like it?" "Someone should tell them!" "Twister, listen to me..." "It was my grandma's." "It's all I have of hers." "Minnie, I'm grateful, but..." "Twister, hold hard!" "The man ain't nothing but a chiseller." "Twister, let him have his money and his secrets." "Would you swap places with him?" "Would you want to carry his burden?" "Look at him." "He's tormented." "He ain't getting away with nothing." "I never thought I'd see the day when they was taking pictures of Old Peg Leg." "Arthur, I came downstairs in the night to fix your blankets." "I saw the money." "Your money." "It's not for me to know how you came upon that kind of money." "Peg Leg ain't no thief." " Is that what you think of me?" " You beg." "It pains you to travel a few yards." "You beg, and yet..." "I don't stand here to be judged by no man and no woman." "I am my own judge." "I paid, do you hear?" "I have paid with the blood and the mud and the madness." "I always knew the day would come when you would turn me away." "I ain't turning you away." "I'm asking you." "A bowl of soup and a bed for the night don't give you no rights over me." "I've learned one thing in this world, and it's this." "Be your own friend and reach the day's end." "Arthur, come back." "Arthur..." "He won't come back here now." "He will never come back." "It was still the right thing to do." "You had more courage than I did." "I saw him out the back there." "He had brandy." "Fine brandy." "Hiding it." "I knew something wasn't right, but I pushed it aside." "I've been asking myself why I did that." "I could have challenged him." "But he wasn't Peg Leg to me any more." "It wasn't a thought in my head, it was deeper than that." "I couldn't bear the idea that Peg Leg wasn't what he appeared to be because I would have lost my precious just cause." "Thomas, you will be late for work." "Thomas, you DO have diligence." "You show it in your efforts to master the cornet." "Your application to your duties is sterling." "What rewards does that bring?" "You are a success, Thomas." " If you have a failing, it is that you do not see it." " Hm!" ""Mind without heart, cleverness without goodness." ""We may be amused by them, but they are not substance."" "Those words...are from that book." "I confess it." "I happened to come upon it in the sorting office and... peeked beneath its covers." "Please, Thomas, tell me what is at the bottom of this?" "Is it not self-evident?" "A rector's daughter might hope to find a man who is a shining example of position and attainment." "She might be daily disappointed to find herself saddled with a common toiler." "Oh, Thomas." "My Thomas." "You have "thrust" in abundance, if only you could see it." ""Men of character are the conscience of society."" "I find your conscience most attractive, Thomas Brown." ""Though he possesses little of the world's goods," ""he might look down without the slightest of envy" ""upon the man of money bags and acres."" ""Some men leave no memorial" ""but a world made better by their lives."" "Minnie." "You are a fine girl with a heart worth any that I have ever known." "Minnie, it is such a treasure from your family." "You must keep it." "Truly." "It is yours to hold dear for the rest of your days." " You and me, we're friends, aren't we?" " Yes, Alfie." "Only friends." "Yes." "I wouldn't want you to get hurt because I care for you, as a friend." "You understand that?" "Yes." "That's good." "Alfie." "I am decided to be persisterance." "Persisterance?" "It means trying and waiting and never giving up, I think." "How are things with you today, Minnie?" "Industrialous." "Candleford Chronicle..." "Candleford Chronicle." "Candleford Chronicle." "There are so many of them." "Mr Parish seems to have stirred half the county into action." "Not a sound, boy, or I'll tear your tongue right out." "Food." "Poor Old Peg Leg needs food, understand?" "Eh, are you afraid of me, boy?" "You ought to be." "Look at me..." "Look at me." "Now, food, you bring food and you tell no-one or I'll haunt you in your sleep, in the darkness at night." "I will be there to haunt your every thought." "Now go!" "I realise this must feel like a double-edged triumph, Daniel." "I haven't slept." "Surely, Miss Lane, if we are to lay this to rest, we must know where Peg Leg acquired so much money." "Emma said he is on his way." "Sydney?" "Sydney, what are you doing?" "Laura, I have been trying my best not to intrude." "But I feel it is time I spoke out." "The brooch." "I think you do know why you refused it, and I think you have to admit that, at least to yourself." "It was his grandmother's brooch." "It means something." "I was not expecting any of this." "Laura..." "You thought it was a ring, didn't you?" "And it scared the living daylights out of you." "Oh." "But it wasn't a ring, Laura." "There is time." "There is no need for you to feel such pressure." "You are young." "Be young." "Tell Daniel it is young love you want." "I don't think you even need to tell him." "I suspect he wants the same thing." "Arthur..." "Oh, Arthur." "Why did you hide away?" "I need that money, see." "I need it in case things should ever go bad." "Let's get you up." "I kept it in case the day should ever come when I might need it." "But you need it now." "You needed it ten years ago." "You could give yourself some peace and rest." "Oh!" "Why won't you consider settling?" "I laid there on that field... ..listening to men die." "Listening to their cries in the mud and the blood and the madness." "I couldn't move." "I couldn't escape." "I cried out to a God I don't believe in till I had no voice left." "No answer came." "Just the screams of the dying men and all I wanted... was to be gone...away." "Anywhere but here." "If I stop still, I'll die." "And I lived, see." "I was carried from that field and I come back to some sort of life." "I still feel it." "Move, or die." "Be gone." "But there has been such an outcry." "I know that if we press the authorities, we could establish a rest-home for veterans." "Perhaps for some of the other men." "Not for Arthur." "He's just not the settling kind." "'Time, like an ever-rolling stream, 'bears all its sons away.'" "'Poor Old Peg Leg never returned." "'Though he never escaped our memories." "'But his life was changed by his last visit to Lark Rise." "'It may have been the smallest of things." "'But my mother always said 'it was the closest Peg Leg ever came to settling." "'There are those who must go on wandering, 'and those who find their place in the world." "'Miss Lane used to say 'that the crown and glory of life is character 'and that cheerful persistence pays off.'" "Timothy loved his patch." "Then why did he have to leave us?" "Timothy married and his wife preferred London." "Well, he married the wrong wife, didn't he?" " Letter?" " Isn't that the reason you're here?" "The play?" "There is no doctor and there is no dragon." "I do wonder how we can put on something pleasing for our squire." "MINNIE:" "Mr Timmins..." " Do you miss Sir Timothy?" " I do." "Did he ask you?" "Did Timothy want you to marry him?"