My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

!SURVEYING IN BEDFORDSHIRE 65saw a pleasant-looking young man coming towardsme carrying a double-barrelled gun. When he wasa few yards off, two very large birds, looking like wildgeese, came flying towards us, and as they passed overheadat a moderate height, he threw up his gun, firedboth barrels, and brought them both to the ground.Of course I went up to look at them, and found theywere a fine pair of wild swans, the male being aboutfive feet long from beak to end of tail. " That was agood shot," I remarked ; to which he replied, " Ohyou can't miss them, they are as big as a barn door."Afterwards I found that this was young Mr. H. H.Higgins, of Turvey Abbey, his father being one ofthe principal landowners in the parish.More than half a century later (in November,1889), I was invited to Liverpool to give somelectures, and some time before the date fixed uponI received a very kind letter from the Rev. H. H.Higgins, inviting me to dine with him on my arrival,and offering to assist me in every way he could. Ideclined the invitation, but told him what hotel I wasgoing to, and said that I should be glad to see him.His letter recalled to me my acquaintance at Turvey,but Idid not see how a Liverpool clergyman couldhave any close relationship to a wealthy Bedfordshirelandowner. I found Mr. Higgins at the station witha carriage ready, and he told me that, as I did notwish to go out to dinner, he and some friends hadtaken the liberty of ordering a dinner at my hotel,and hoped I would dine with them. He was aspleasant as an old friend, and of course I accepted.When his friends left about an hour after dinner,I asked him, if he had no engagement, to stay a littlelonger, as I wished to find out the mystery. I thenasked him if he knew a place called Turvey, inF