Thomas Hardy

The Three Strangers Thomas Hardy

Higher Crowstairs is an isolated cottage some three miles from Casterbridge, the county town where the county jail is situated. It is late winter, in the evening of a very rainy day. Shepherd Fennel and his wife are holding a christening party, to which about twenty relatives and neighbors have come, all well known to one another. Inside it is warm and snug, with a blazing fire in the hearth. Mrs Fennel, a somewhat frugal lady, is hoping to strike a balance between dancing and talking, so that no one gets too thirsty or too hungry. The musicians are a twelve-year-old fiddler and the parish clerk, who plays the serpent, an old-fashioned brass instrument. Into this festive scene, three strangers intrude, one by one. The first has come from the direction of town and asks shelter from the rain. He dries off by the hearth but is evasive when asked about himself. Although he enjoys smoking, he has neither pipe, tobacco, nor pouch.