, he said to himself, »Charge admission at so much a head - just like a
Scotchman! - who is going to pay anything a head?« The diversions which the
Mayor intended to provide were to be entirely free.
    He had grown so dependent upon Donald that he could scarcely resist calling
him in to consult. But by sheer self-coercion he refrained. No, he thought,
Farfrae would be suggesting such improvements in his damned luminous way that in
spite of himself he, Henchard, would sink to the position of second fiddle, and
only scrape harmonies to his manager's talents.
    Everybody applauded the Mayor's proposed entertainment, especially when it
became known that he meant to pay for it all himself.
    Close to the town was an elevated green spot surrounded by an ancient square
earthwork - earthworks square, and not square, were as common as blackberries
hereabout - a spot whereon the Casterbridge people usually held any kind of
merry-making, meeting, or sheep-fair that required more space than the streets
would afford. On one side it sloped to the river Froom, and from any point a
view was obtained of the country round for many miles. This pleasant upland was
to be the scene of Henchard's exploit.
    He advertised about the town, in long posters of a pink colour, that games
of all sorts would take place here; and set to work a little battalion of men
under his own eye. They erected greasy-poles for climbing, with smoked hams and
local cheeses at the top. They placed hurdles in rows for jumping over; across
the river they laid a slippery pole, with a live pig of the neighbourhood tied
at the other end, to become the property of the man who could walk over and get
it. There were also provided wheelbarrows for racing, donkeys for the same, a
stage for boxing, wrestling, and drawing blood generally; sacks for jumping in.
Moreover, not forgetting his principles, Henchard provided a mammoth tea, of
which everybody who lived in the borough was invited to partake without payment.
The tables were laid parallel with the inner slope of the rampart, and awnings
were stretched overhead.
    Passing to and fro the Mayor beheld the unattractive exterior of Farfrae's
erection in the West Walk, rick-cloths of different sizes and colours being hung
up to the arching trees without any regard to appearance. He was easy in his
mind now, for his own preparations far transcended these.
    The morning came. The sky, which had been remarkably clear down to within a
day or two, was overcast
