Silas Marner Chapter 4

Dunsey heads for the hunt when he passes by the Stone-pits and then Silas Marner's home. He wonders to himself why he or Godfrey had asked the old miser for a loan. He decides that he would rather see Godfrey sweat out the deal of having to pay the money himself than suggest asking Marner, and he still wants the satisfaction of having Godfrey's horse to sell. A man named Bryce buys Wildfire for one hundred and twenty pounds, but he will only pay the full amount when he sees that Wildfire is delivered to his stables safely. Following the hunt, instead of riding the horse over to Bryce's, Dunsey takes a jump on the horse and kills it on a stake. Because no one has seen him fall, Dunsey sets off for home without having to tell anyone at the hunt of the horse's death. As the weather has turned cold and misty, he carries Godfrey's whip for protection, when he passes by Silas Marner's house and sees gleams of light shining from it. With thought of Silas's money in his mind, Dunsey decides to ask the old man about a loan. He thinks of a plan to get him inside Silas's cottage - asking Silas if he could borrow a lantern - when he realizes that the cottage is empty, for Silas has gone somewhere. Dunsey is able to enter the cottage because Silas has left the door unlocked. The meat cooking on the fire shows Dunsey, however, that Silas will be returning home soon, but he thinks that the weather might have delayed or even killed the old man by obstructing his view of the road and the Stone-pits. Dunsey easily finds Silas's precious money in a hole in the floor and hurries out of Silas's house into the dark evening.