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diff --git a/21363.txt b/21363.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..63a3d4c --- /dev/null +++ b/21363.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16707 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Quicksilver, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Quicksilver + The Boy With No Skid To His Wheel + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Illustrator: Frank Dadd + +Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21363] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUICKSILVER *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Quicksilver; or, The Boy With No Skid To His Wheel, by George Manville +Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +I don't know where they get titles for books from. The subtitle is "The +Boy with no Skid to his Wheel", and that is the only mention of the word +"skid" in the entire book. The only "wheel" mentioned is when the boy +hero does cartwheels round the drawing-room. And the said boy is +referred to as "a globule of quicksilver". So I suppose it is something +the author had in his mind before he began the book. + +Unlike most of Fenn's books, which involve dire situations with pirates +in the China Seas, and other such places, the entire action of this book +takes place in a small English village. The local doctor, having +retired childless, decides he would like to adopt a boy. Being a +Governor of the local Institute for the Poor he goes there and selects a +boy who at the age of two had been a foundling, and who is now eleven or +twelve. + +Everyone is keen to make this work, but there is a big difference in +social manners between a boy brought up in an Institute, and the boy the +doctor would like to have. So a certain amount of retraining has to +take place. Of course this is successful in the end, but there are a +lot of blips long the way. Our hero makes friends with a local boy who +is definitely "non-U". They run away together in a boat they have +nicked for the purpose. For a few days they have various adventures, +some enjoyable, but most of them not. + +On being brought back our hero is sent to a small private school run by +a clergyman, who beats the boy mercilessly, so that he runs away from +the school, back to the doctor's, but remains hidden in an out-house. +He is found, but becomes very ill, so the whole household is taken to a +rented house in the Isle of Wight, where he eventually recovers. At +which point it is discovered who his real parents are, and he is "U" +after all, so everyone feels good about it. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +QUICKSILVER; OR, THE BOY WITH NO SKID TO HIS WHEEL, BY GEORGE MANVILLE +FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +A VERY STRANGE PAIR. + +He was very grubby, and all about his dark grey eyes there were the +marks made by his dirty fingers where he had rubbed away the tickling +tears. The brownish red dust of the Devon lanes had darkened his +delicate white skin, and matted his shiny yellow curls. + +As to his hands, with their fat little fingers, with every joint showing +a pretty dimple, they looked white and clean, but that was due to the +fact that he was sitting in a bed of moss by the roadside, where the +water came trickling down from the red rocks above, and dabbling and +splashing the tiny pool, till the pearly drops hung among his dusty +curls, and dotted, as if with jewels, the ragged old blue jersey shirt +which seemed to form his only garment. + +This did not fit him, in spite of its elasticity, for it was what a +dealer would have called "man's size," and the wearer was about two and +a half, or at the most three; but the sleeves had been cut so that they +only reached his elbows, and the hem torn off the bottom and turned into +a belt or sash, which was tied tightly round the little fellow's waist, +to keep the jersey from slipping off. + +Consequently the plump neck was bare, as were his dirty little legs, +with their dimpled, chubby knees. + +While he splashed and dabbled the water, the sun flashed upon the drops, +some of which jewelled the spreading ferns which drooped over the +natural fount, and even reached as high as the delicate leafage of +stunted overhanging birch, some of whose twigs kept waving in the soft +summer breeze, and sweeping against the boy's curly hair. + +When the little fellow splashed the water, and felt it fly into his +face, he laughed--burst after burst of silvery, merry laughter; and in +the height of his enjoyment he threw back his head, his ruddy lips +parted, and two rows of pearly teeth flashed in the bright sunshine. + +As dirty a little grub as ever made mud-pies in a gutter; but the water, +the ferns, moss, and flowers around were to his little soul the most +delightful of toys, and he seemed supremely happy. + +After a time he grew tired of splashing the water, and, drawing one +little foot into his lap, he pursed up his lips, an intent frown +wrinkled his shining forehead, and he began, in the most serio-comic +manner, to pick the row of tiny toes, passing a chubby finger between +them to get rid of the dust and grit. + +All this while the breeze blew, the birch-tree waved, and the flowers +nodded, while from out of a clump of ling and rushes there came, at +regular intervals, a low roar like the growl of a wild beast. + +After a few minutes there was the _pad, pad_--_pad, pad_ of a horse's +hoofs on the dusty road; the rattle of wheels; and a green gig, drawn by +a sleepy-looking grey horse, and containing a fat man and a broad woman, +came into sight, approached slowly, and would have passed had not the +broad woman suddenly laid her hand upon the reins, and checked the grey +horse, when the two red-faced farming people opened their mouths, and +stared at the child. + +"Sakes alive, Izick, look at that!" said the woman in a whisper, while +the little fellow went on picking his toes, and the grey horse turned +his tail into a live chowry to keep away the flies. + +"Well, I am!" said the fat man, wrinkling his face all over as he +indulged in a silent laugh. "Why, moother, he's a perfeck picter." + +"The pretty, pretty little fellow," said the woman in a genuine motherly +tone. "O Izick, how I should like to give him a good wash!" + +"Wash! He's happy enough, bless him!" said the man. "Wonder whose he +be. Here, what are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to give un a kiss, that's what I'm a-going to do," said the +woman getting very slowly out of the gig. "He must be a lost child." + +"Well," grumbled the man, "we didn't come to market to find lost +children." + +Then he sat forward, with his arms resting upon his knees, watching his +wife as she slowly approached the unconscious child, till she was in the +act of stooping over him to lay her fat red hand upon his golden curls, +when there was a loud roar as if from some savage beast, and the woman +jumped back scared; the horse leaped sidewise; the farmer raised his +whip; and the pair of simple-hearted country folks stared at a +fierce-looking face which rose out of the bed of ling, its owner having +been sleeping face downward, and now glowering at them above his folded +arms. + +It was not a pleasant countenance, for it was foul without with dirt and +more foul within from disease, being covered with ruddy fiery blotch and +pimple, and the eyes were of that unnatural hue worn by one who has for +years been debased by drink. + +"Yah!" roared the man, half-closing his bleared eyes. "Leave the bairn +alone." + +"O Izick!" gasped the woman. + +"Here, none o' that!" cried the farmer fiercely. "Don't you frighten my +wife." + +"Let the bairn alone," growled the man again. + +"How came you by him!" said the woman recovering herself. "I'm sure he +can't be your'n." + +"Not mine!" growled the man in a hoarse, harsh voice. "You let the +bairn be. I'll soon show you about that. Hi! chick!" + +The little fellow scrambled to him, and putting his tiny chubby arms +about the man's coarse neck, nestled his head upon his shoulder, and +turned to gaze at the farmer and his wife. + +"Not my bairn!" growled the man; "what d'yer say to that?" + +"Lor, Izick, only look," said the woman in a whisper. "My!" + +"Well, what are yer starin' at?" growled the man defiantly; "didn't +think he were your bairn, did you!" + +"Come away, missus," said the farmer; and the woman reluctantly climbed +back into the gig. + +"It don't seem right, Izick, for him to have such a bairn as that," said +the woman, who could not keep her eyes off the child. + +"Ah, well! it ar'n't no business of our'n. Go along!" + +This was to the horse, who went off directly in a shambling trot, and +the gig rattled along the road; but as long as they remained in sight, +the farmer's wife stared back at the little fellow, and the +rough-looking tramp glared at her from among the heather and ling. + +"Must be getting on--must be getting on," he growled to himself; and he +kept on muttering in a low tone as he tried to stagger to his feet, but +for a time his joints seemed to be so stiff that he could only get to +his knees, and he had to set the child down. + +Then after quite a struggle, during which he kept on muttering in a +strange incoherent manner, he contrived to get upon his feet, and stood +holding on by a branch of the birch-tree, while the child stared in his +repellent face. + +The next minute he staggered into the road and began to walk away, +reeling strangely like a drunken man, talking wildly the while; but he +seemed to recall the fact that he had left the child behind, and he +staggered back to where a block of stone lay by the water-side, and sat +down. "Here, chick!" he growled. + +His aspect and the tone of his voice were sufficient to frighten the +little fellow away, but he did not seem in the least alarmed, and placed +his tiny hands in the great gnarled fists extended to him. Then with a +swing the man threw the child over his shoulder and on to his back, +staggering and nearly overbalancing himself in the act. But he kept his +feet, and growled savagely as his little burden uttered a whimpering +cry. + +"Hold on," he said; and the next minute the pretty bare arms were +clinging tightly round his neck, the hands hidden in the man's grizzly +tangled beard; and, pig-a-back fashion, he bore him on along the road. + +The sun beat down upon the fair curly head; the dust rose, shuffled up +by the tramp's uncertain step, while the chats and linnets twittered +among the furze, and the larks sang high overhead. This and the heat, +combined with the motion, sufficed to lull the tiny fellow to rest, and +before long his head drooped sidewise, and he was fast asleep. + +But he did not fall. It was as if the natural instinct which enables +the young life to maintain its hold upon the old orang-outang was in +force here, so that the child clung tightly to the staggering man, who +seemed thenceforth oblivious of his existence. + +The day passed on: the sun was setting fast, and the tramp continued to +stagger on like a drunken man, talking wildly all the time, now babbling +of green leaves, now muttering angrily, as if abusing some one near. + +Then came the soft evening-time, as he tottered down a long slope +towards the houses lying in a hollow, indicating the existence of a +goodly town. + +And now groups of people were passed, some of whom turned to gaze after +the coarse-looking object with disgust, others with wonder; while the +more thoughtless indulged in a grin, and made remarks indicating their +impressions of where the tramp had been last. + +He did not seem to see them, however, but kept on the same incoherent +talking in a low growl, and his eyes glared strangely at objects unseen +by those he passed. + +All at once, though, he paused as he reached the broad marketplace of +the town, and said to one of a group of idlers the one word-- + +"Workus?" + +"Eh?" + +"Workus!" said the tramp fiercely. + +"Oh! Straight avore you. Zee a big wall zoon as yer get over the +bridge." + +The man staggered on, and crossed the swift river running through the +town, and in due course reached the big wall, in which was a doorway +with a bell-pull at the side. + +A few minutes later the door had been opened, and a stalwart porter +seemed disposed to refuse admission, but his experienced eyes read the +applicant's state, and the door closed upon the strangely assorted pair. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE TRAMP'S LEGACY. + +The doctor shook his head as he stood beside a plain bed in a +whitewashed ward where the tramp lay muttering fiercely, and the +brisk-looking master of the workhouse and a couple of elderly women +stood in a group. + +"No, Hippetts," said the doctor; "the machinery is all to pieces and +beyond repair. No." + +Just then there was a loud cry, consequent upon one of the women taking +the child from where it had been seated upon the foot of the bed, and +carrying it toward the door. + +In a moment the sick man sprang up in bed, glaring wildly and stretching +out his hands. + +"Quick! take the boy away," said the master; but the doctor held up his +finger, watching the sick man the while. + +Then he whispered a few words to the master, who seemed to give an +unwilling consent, and the boy was placed within the tramp's reach. + +The man had been trying to say something, but the words would not come. +As he touched the child's hand, though, he gave vent to a sigh of +satisfaction, and sank back upon the coarse pillow, while the child +nestled to his side, sobbing convulsively, but rapidly calming down. + +"Against all rule and precedent, doctor," said the master, in an +ill-used tone. + +"Yes, my dear Mr Hippetts," said the doctor, smiling; "but I order it +as a sedative medicine. It will do more good than anything I can give. +It will not be for long." + +The master nodded. + +"Mrs Curdley," continued the doctor, "you will sit up with him." + +"Yes, sir," said one of the old women with a curtsey. + +"Keep an eye to the child, in case he turns violent; but I don't think +he will--I don't think he will." + +"And send for you, sir, if he do!" + +"Yes." + +The little party left the workhouse infirmary, all but Mrs Curdley, who +saw to lighting a fire for providing herself with a cup of tea, to +comfort her from time to time during her long night-watch, and then all +was very still in the whitewashed place. + +The child took the bread and butter the old woman gave him, and sat on +the bed smiling at her as he ate it hungrily, quite contented now; and +the only sounds that broke the silence after a time were the mutterings +of the sick man. + +But these did not disturb the child, who finished his bread and butter, +and drank some sweet tea which the old woman gave him, after which his +little head sank sidewise, his eyes closed, and he fell fast asleep on +the foot of the bed. + +The night was warm, and he needed no coverlet, while from time to time +the hard-faced old woman went to look at her patient, giving him a +cursory glance, and then stopping at the bedside to gently stroke the +child's round cheek with her rough finger, and as the little fellow once +broke into a crowing laugh in his sleep, it had a strange effect upon +the old nurse, who slowly wiped the corners of her eyes with her apron, +and bent down and kissed him. + +Hour after hour was chimed and struck by the great clock in the centre +of the town; and as midnight passed, the watchful old nurse did her +watching in a pleasant dream, in which she thought that she was once +more young, and that boy of hers who enlisted, went to India, and was +shot in an encounter with one of the hill tribes, was young again, and +that she was cutting bread and butter from a new loaf. + +It was a very pleasant dream, and lasted a long time, for the six +o'clock bell was ringing before she awoke with a start and exclaimed-- + +"Bless me! must have just closed my eyes. Why, a pretty bairn!" she +said softly, as her hard face grew soft. "Sleeping like a top, and-- +oh!" + +She caught the sleeping child from the bed, and hurried out of the place +to lay him upon her own bed, where about an hour after he awoke, and +cried to go to the tramp. + +But there was no tramp there for him to join. The rough man had gone on +a long journey, where he could not take the child, who cried bitterly, +as if he had lost the only one to whom he could cling, till the old +woman returned from a task she had had to fulfil, and with one of her +pockets in rather a bulgy state. + +Her words and some bread and butter quieted the child, who seemed to +like her countenance, or read therein that something which attracts the +very young as beauty does those of older growth, and the addition of a +little brown sugar, into which he could dip a wet finger from time to +time, made them such friends that he made no objection to being washed. + +"Yes, sir; went off quite quiet in his sleep," said the old nurse in +answer to the doctor's question. + +"And the child?" + +"Oh, I gave him a good wash, sir, which he needed badly," said the woman +volubly. + +"Poor little wretch!" muttered the doctor as he went away. "A tramp's +child--a waif cast up by the way. Ah, Hippetts, I was right, you see: +it was not for long." + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +DOCTOR GRAYSON'S THEORY. + +"I want some more." + +"Now, my dear Eddy, I think you have had quite as much as is good for +you," said Lady Danby, shaking her fair curls at her son. + +"No, I haven't, ma. Pa, may I have some pine-apple!" + +"Yes, yes, yes, and make yourself ill. Maria, my dear, I wish you +wouldn't have that boy into dessert; one can hardly hear one's-self +speak." + +"Sweet boy!" muttered Dr Grayson of the Manor House, Coleby, as he +glanced at Sir James Danby's hopeful fat-faced son, his mother's idol, +before which she worshipped every day. + +The doctor glanced across the table at his quiet lady-like daughter, and +there was such a curious twinkle in his eye that she turned aside so as +to keep her countenance, and began talking to Lady Danby about parish +work, the poor, and an entertainment to be given at the workhouse. + +Dr Grayson and his daughter were dining at Cedars House that evening, +greatly to the doctor's annoyance, for he preferred home. + +"But it would be uncivil not to go," said Miss Grayson, who had kept her +father's house almost from a child. So they went. + +"Well, doctor," said Sir James, who was a comfortable specimen of the +easy-going country baronet and magistrate, "you keep to your opinion, +and I'll keep to mine." + +"I will," said the doctor; "and in two years' time I shall publish my +book with the result of my long studies of the question. I say, sir, +that a boy's a boy." + +"Oh yes, we all agree to that, doctor," said Lady Danby sweetly. +"Edgar, my dear, I'm sure you've had enough." + +"Pa, mayn't I have half a glass of Madeira!" + +"Now, my dear boy, you have had some." + +"But that was such a teeny weeny drop, ma. That glass is so thick." + +"For goodness' sake, Maria, give him some wine, and keep him quiet," +cried Sir James. "Don't you hear that Dr Grayson and I are discussing +a point in philosophy!" + +"Then you mustn't ask for any more, Eddy dear," said mamma, and she +removed the decanter stopper, and began to pour out a very thin thread +of wine, when the young monkey gave the bottom of the decanter a tilt, +and the glass was nearly filled. + +"Eddy, for shame!" said mamma. "What will Miss Grayson think?" + +"I don't care," said the boy, seizing the glass, drinking some of the +rich wine, and then turning to the thick slice of pine-apple his mother +had cut. + +The doctor gave his daughter another droll look, but she preserved her +calm. + +"To continue," said the doctor: "I say a boy's a boy, and I don't care +whose he is, or where he came from; he is so much plastic clay, and you +can make of him what you please." + +"You can't make him a gentleman," said Sir James. + +"I beg your pardon." + +"And I beg yours. If the boy has not got breed in him--gentle blood-- +you can never make him a gentleman." + +"I beg your pardon," said the doctor again. "I maintain, sir, that it +is all a matter of education or training, and that you could make a +gentleman's son a labourer, or a labourer's son a gentleman." + +"And are you going to put that in your book, doctor?" + +"Yes, sir, I am: for it is a fact. I'm sure I'm right." + +Sir James laughed. + +"And I'm sure you are wrong. Look at my boy, now. You can see in an +instant that he has breed in him; but if you look at my coachman's son, +you will see that he has no breeding at all." + +_Crork, crork, crork, crork_. + +"Oh!" from her ladyship, in quite a scream. + +"Good gracious!" cried Sir James; and the doctor and Helen Grayson both +started to their feet, while Master Edgar Danby kept on making the most +unearthly noises, kicking, gasping, turning black in the face, and +rolling his eyes, which threatened to start from their sockets. + +"What is it?" cried Sir James. + +Crash went a glass. A dessert-plate was knocked off the table, and +Master Edgar kept on uttering his hoarse guttural sound of _crork, +crork, crork_! + +He was choking, and the result might have been serious as he sat +struggling there, with papa on one side, and mamma on the other, holding +his hands, had not Dr Grayson come behind him, and given him a +tremendous slap on the back which had a beneficial effect, for he ceased +making the peculiar noise, and began to wipe his eyes. + +"What was it, dear? what was it, my darling?" sobbed Lady Danby. + +"A great piece of pine-apple stuck in his throat," said the doctor. "I +say, youngster, you should use your teeth." + +"Edgar, drink some water," said Sir James sternly. + +Master Edgar caught up his wine-glass, and drained it. + +"Now, sir, leave the room!" said Sir James. + +"Oh, don't, don't be harsh with him, James," said her ladyship +pathetically. "The poor boy has suffered enough." + +"I say he shall leave the room," cried Sir James in a towering fury; and +Master Edgar uttered a howl. + +"Really, James, I--" + +Here her ladyship had an hysterical fit, and had to be attended to, what +time Master Edgar howled loudly till the butler had been summoned and he +was led off like a prisoner, while her ladyship grew worse, but under +the ministrations of Helen Grayson, suddenly becoming better, drank a +glass of water, and wiped her eyes. + +"I am so weak," she said unnecessarily, as she rose from the +dessert-table and left the room with Helen Grayson, who had hard work +once more to keep her countenance, as she encountered her father's eye. + +"Spoils him, Grayson," said Sir James, as they settled down to their +port. "Noble boy, though, wonderful intellect. I shall make him a +statesman." + +"Hah!" ejaculated the firm-looking grey-haired doctor, who had taken +high honours at his college, practised medicine for some years, and +since the death of his wife lived the calm life of a student in the old +Manor House of Coleby. + +"Now, you couldn't make a statesman of some boys whom you took out of +the gutter." + +"Oh yes, I could," said the doctor. "Oh yes, sir." + +"Ah, well; we will not argue," said Sir James good-humouredly. + +"No," said the doctor, "we will not argue." + +But they did argue all the same, till they had had their coffee, when +they argued again, and then joined the ladies in the drawing-room, where +Master Edgar was eating cake, and dropping currants and crumbs between +the leaves of a valuable illustrated book, which he turned over with +fingers in a terrible state of stick,--the consequence being that he +added illustrations--prints of his fingers in brown. + +"Have you settled your debate, Dr Grayson!" said Lady Danby, smiling. + +"No, madam; I shall have to prove my theory to your husband, and it will +take time." + +"My dear James, what is the matter!" said her ladyship as a howl arose. + +"Pa says I'm to go to bed, ma, and it's only ten; and you promised me I +might sit up as long as I liked." + +"How can you make such foolish promises, Maria?" said Sir James +petulantly. "There, hold your tongue, sir, and you may stay another +half-hour." + +"But ma said I might stop up as long as I liked," howled Master Edgar. + +"Then for goodness' sake stop up all night, sir," said Sir James +impatiently; and Master Edgar stayed till the visitors had gone. + +"Enjoyed your evening, my dear?" said the doctor. + +"Ye-es, papa," said his daughter; "I--" + +"Might have enjoyed it more. Really, Helen, it is absurd. That man +opposed my theory tooth and nail, and all the time he kept on proving it +by indulging that boy. I say you can make what you like of a boy. Now +what's he making of that boy?" + +"Sir James said he should make him a statesman," said Helen, smiling. + +"But he is making him a nuisance instead. Good-night." + +"Good-night, papa." + +"Oh, by the way, my dear, I shall have to prove my theory." + +"Indeed, papa!" + +"Yes. Good-night." + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE CHOICE OF A BOY. + +Next morning Dr Grayson took his gold-headed cane, and walked down to +the workhouse. + +Upon dragging at the bell the porter opened the gate obsequiously, and +sent a messenger to tell the master Dr Grayson had called. + +"Good morning, Hippetts," said the doctor, who being a Poor-Law +Guardian, and a wealthy inhabitant of the place, was received with +smiles by the important master. + +"Good morning, sir. Called to look round." + +"No, Hippetts, no," said the doctor, in the tone and manner of one +making an inquiry about some ordinary article of merchandise; "got any +boys?" + +"Boys, sir; the house swarms with them." + +"Ah, well, show me some." + +"Show you some, sir?" + +"Yes. I want a boy." + +"Certainly, sir. This way, sir. About what age, sir!" + +"Eleven or twelve--not particular," said the doctor. Then to himself: +"About the age of young Danby." + +"I see, sir," said the master. "Stout, strong, useful boy for a +buttons." + +"Nonsense!" said the doctor testily, "I want a boy to adopt." + +"Oh!" said the master staring, and wondering whether rich philosophical +Dr Grayson was in his right mind. + +He led the way along some whitewashed passages, and across a gravel +yard, to a long, low building, from which came the well-known humming +hum of many voices, among which a kind of chorus could be distinguished, +and from time to time the sharp striking of a cane upon a desk, followed +by a penetrating "Hush! hush!" + +As the master opened the door, a hot puff of stuffy, unpleasantly close +air came out, and the noise ceased as if by magic, though there were +about three hundred boys in the long, open-roofed room. + +The doctor cast his eye round and saw a crowd of heads, the +schoolmaster, and besides these--whitewash. The walls, the ceiling, the +beams were all whitewashed. The floor was hearth-stoned, but it seemed +to be whitewashed, and even the boys' faces appeared to have been +touched over with a thin solution laid on with the whitewash brush. + +Every eye was turned upon the visitor, and the doctor frowned as he +looked round at the pallid, wan-looking, inanimate countenances which +offered themselves to his view. The boys were not badly fed; they were +clean; they were warmly clad; but they looked as if the food they ate +did them no good, and was not enjoyed; as if they were too clean; and as +if their clothes were not comfortable. Every face seemed to have been +squeezed into the same mould, to grow it into one particular make, which +was inexpressive, inanimate, and dull, while they all wore the look of +being on the high-road to old-manism without having been allowed to stop +and play on the way, and be boys. + +"Hush! hush!" came from the schoolmaster, and a pin might have been +heard to fall. + +The boys devoured the doctor with their eyes. He was a stranger. It +was something to see, and it was a break in the horrible monotony of +their existence. Had they known the object of the visit, a tremendous +yell would have arisen, and it would have been formed of two +words--"Take me." + +It was considered a model workhouse school, too, one of which the +guardians were proud. There was no tyranny, no brutality, but there was +endless drill and discipline, and not a scrap of that for which every +boy's heart naturally yearns;--"Home, sweet home." + +No amount of management can make that and deck it with a mother's love; +and it must have been the absence of these elements which made the +Coleby boys look like three hundred white-faced small old men. + +"Now, let me see, sir," said the master; "of course the matter will have +to be laid before the Board in the usual form, but you will make your +selection now. Good light, sir, to choose." + +Mr Hippetts did not mean it unkindly; but he too spoke as if he were +busy over some goods he had to sell. + +"Let me see. Ah! Coggley, stand out." + +Coggley, a very thin boy of thirteen, a little more whitewashy than the +rest, stood out, and made a bow as if he were wiping his nose with his +right hand, and then curving it out at the doctor. + +He was a nice, sad-looking boy, with railways across his forehead, and a +pinched-in nose; but he was very thin, and showed his shirt between the +top of his trousers and the bottom of his waistcoat, instead of upon his +chest, while it was from growth, not vanity, that he showed so much +ankle and wrist. + +"Very good boy, sir. Had more marks than any one of his age last year." + +"Won't do," said the doctor shortly. + +"Too thin," said Mr Hippetts to himself. "Bunce!" he shouted. + +Bunce stood out, or rather waddled forth, a stoutly-made boy with short +legs,--a boy who, if ever he had a chance, would grow fat and round, +with eyes like two currants, and a face like a bun. + +Bunce made a bow like a scoop upside down. + +"Another excellent boy, sir," said Mr Hippetts. "I haven't a fault to +find with him. He is now twelve years old, and he--" + +"Won't do," said the doctor crossly. + +"Go back, Bunce," cried the master. "Pillett, stand out. Now here, +sir, is a lad whom I am sure you will like. Writes a hand like +copperplate. Age thirteen, and very intelligent." + +Pillett came forward eagerly, after darting a triumphant look at Coggley +and Bunce. He was a wooden-faced boy, who seemed to have hard brains +and a soft head, for his forehead looked nubbly, and there were rounded +off corners at the sides. + +"Let Dr Grayson hear you say--" + +"No, no, Hippetts; this is not an examination," cried the doctor +testily. "That is not the sort of boy I want. He must be a bright, +intelligent lad, whom I can adopt and take into my house. I shall treat +him exactly as if he were my own son, and if he is a good lad, it will +be the making of him." + +"Oh! I see, sir," said Mr Hippetts importantly. "Go back, Pillett. I +have the very boy. Gloog!" + +Pillett went back, and furtively held up his fist at triumphant Gloog, +who came out panting as if he had just been running fast, and as soon as +he had made the regulation bow, he, from old force of habit, wiped his +nose on his cuff. + +"No, no, no, no," cried the doctor, without giving the lad a second +glance, the first at his low, narrow forehead and cunning cast of +features being quite enough. + +"But this is an admirably behaved boy, sir," protested Mr Hippetts. +"Mr Sibery here can speak very highly of his qualifications." + +"Oh yes, sir," put in the schoolmaster with a severe smile and a distant +bow, for he felt annoyed at not being consulted. + +"Yes, yes," said the doctor; "but not my style of boy." + +"Might I suggest one, sir!" said Mr Sibery deferentially, as he glanced +at the king who reigned over the whole building. + +"To be sure," said the doctor. "You try." + +Mr Hippetts frowned, and Mr Sibery wished he had not spoken; but the +dark look on the master's brow gave place to an air of triumph as the +schoolmaster introduced seven boys, one after the other, to all of whom +the visitor gave a decided negative. + +"Seems a strange thing," he said, "that out of three hundred boys you +cannot show one I like." + +"But all these are excellent lads, sir," said the master deprecatingly. + +"Humph!" + +"Best of characters." + +"Humph!" + +"Our own training, sir. Mr Sibery has spared no pains, and I have +watched over the boys' morals." + +"Yes, I dare say. Of course. Here, what boy's that?" + +He pointed with his cane to a pair of round blue eyes, quite at the +back. + +"That, sir--that lame boy!" + +"No, no; that young quicksilver customer with the curly poll." + +"Oh! that, sir! He wouldn't do," cried the two masters almost in a +breath. + +"How do you know!" said the doctor tartly. + +"Very bad boy indeed, sir, I'm sorry to say," said the schoolmaster. + +"Yes, sir; regular young imp; so full of mischief that he corrupts the +other boys. Can't say a word in his favour; and, besides, he's too +young." + +"How old?" + +"About eleven, sir." + +"Humph! Trot him out." + +"Obed Coleby," said the master in a severe voice. + +"Coleby, eh?" + +"Yes, sir. Son of a miserable tramp who died some years ago in the +House. No name with him, so we called him after the town." + +"Humph!" said the doctor, as the little fellow came, full of eagerness +and excitement, after kicking at Pillett, who put out a leg to hinder +his advance. + +The doctor frowned, and gazed sternly at the boy, taking in carefully +his handsome, animated face, large blue eyes, curly yellow hair, and +open forehead: not that his hair had much opportunity for curling--the +workhouse barber stopped that. + +The boy's face was as white as those of his companions, but it did not +seem depressed and inanimate, for, though it was thin and white, his +mouth was rosy and well-curved, and the slightly parted lips showed his +pearly white teeth. + +"Humph!" said the doctor, as the bright eyes gazed boldly into his. + +"Where's your bow, sir?" said the master sternly. + +"Oh! I forgot," said the boy quickly; and he made up for his lapse by +bowing first with one and then the other hand. + +"A sad young pickle," said the master. "Most hopeless case, sir. +Constantly being punished." + +"Humph! You young rascal!" said the doctor sternly. "How dare you be a +naughty boy!" + +The little fellow wrinkled his white forehead, and glanced at the +schoolmaster, and then at Mr Hippetts, before looking back at the +doctor. + +"I d'know," he said, in a puzzled way. + +"You don't know, sir!" + +"No. I'm allus cotching it." + +"Say _sir_, boy," cried the master. + +"Allus cotching of it, sir, and it don't do me no good." + +"Really, Dr Grayson--" + +"Wait a bit, Mr Hippetts," said the doctor more graciously. "Let me +question the boy." + +"Certainly, sir. But he has a very bad record." + +"Humph! Tells the truth, though," said the doctor. "Here, sir, what's +your name?" + +"Obed Coleby." + +"_Sir_!" cried the master. + +"Obed Coleby, _sir_," said the boy quickly, correcting himself. + +"What a name!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"Yes, ain't it? I hates it, sir." + +"Oh! you do?" + +"Yes; the boys all make fun of it, and call me Bed, and Go-to-bed, and +Old Bedstead, and when they don't do that, they always call me Old Coal +bag or Coaly." + +"That will do, sir. Don't chatter so," said Mr Sibery reprovingly. + +"Please, sir, he asked me," said the boy in protest; and there was a +frank, bluff manner in his speech which took with the doctor. + +"Humph!" he said. "Would you like to leave this place, and come and +live with me!" + +The boy puckered up his face, took a step forward, and the master made a +movement as if to send him back; but the doctor laid his hand upon his +arm, while the boy gazed into his eyes for some moments with wonderfully +searching intentness. + +"Well?" said the doctor. "Will you?" + +The boy's face smoothed; a bright light danced in his eyes; and, as if +full of confidence in his own judgment, he said eagerly-- + +"Yes; come along;" and he held out his hand. + +"And leave all your schoolfellows!" said the doctor. + +The boy's bright face clouded directly, and he turned to gaze back at +the crowd of closely cropped heads. + +"He'll be glad enough to go," said the schoolmaster. + +"Yes," said Mr Hippetts; "a most ungrateful boy." + +The little fellow--stunted of his age--swung sharply round; and they saw +that his eyes were brimming over as he looked reproachfully from one to +the other. + +"I didn't want to be a bad un, sir," he said. "I did try, and--and-- +and--I'll stop here, please, and--" + +He could say no more, for his face was working, and, at last, in shame +and agony of spirit, he covered his face with his hands, and let himself +drop in a heap on the stone floor, sobbing hysterically. + +"Coleby! Stand up, sir!" cried the master sternly. + +"Let him be, Mr Hippetts, if you please," said the doctor, with +dignity; and he drew in a long breath, and remained for some moments +silent, while the whole school stared with wondering eyes, and the two +masters exchanged glances. + +"Strange boy," said Mr Hippetts. + +Then the doctor bent down slowly, and laid his hand upon the lad's +shoulder. + +The little fellow started up, flinching as if from a blow, but as soon +as he saw who had touched him, he rose to his knees, and caught quickly +at the doctor's extended hand, while the look in the visitor's eyes had +so strange an influence upon him that he continued to gaze wonderingly +in the stern but benevolent face. + +"I think you'll come with me?" said the doctor. + +"Yes, I'd come. But may I?" + +"Yes; I think he may, Mr Hippetts?" said the doctor. + +"Yes, sir; of course, sir, if you wish it," said the master, with rather +an injured air; "but I feel bound to tell you the boy's character." + +"Yes; of course." + +"And to warn you, sir, that you will bring him back in less than a +week." + +"No, Mr Hippetts," said the doctor quietly; "I shall not bring him +back." + +"Well, sir; if you are satisfied I have nothing to say." + +"I am satisfied, Mr Hippetts." + +"But he is not so old as you said, sir." + +"No." + +"And you wanted a boy of good character." + +"Yes; but I recall all I said. That is the boy I want. Can I take him +at once?" + +"At once, sir!" said the master, as the little fellow, with his face a +study, listened eagerly, and looked from one to the other. "I shall +have to bring your proposal before the Board." + +"That is to say, before me and my colleagues," said the doctor, smiling. +"Well, as one of the Guardians, I think I may venture to take the boy +now, and the formal business can be settled afterwards." + +"Oh yes, sir; of course. And I venture to think, sir, that it will not +be necessary to go on with it." + +"Why, Mr Hippetts?" + +"Because," said the master, with a peculiar smile which was reflected in +the schoolmaster's face; "you are sure to bring him back." + +"I think I said before I shall not bring him back," replied the doctor +coldly. + +The master bowed, and Mr Sibery cleared his throat and frowned at the +boys. + +"Then I think that's all," said the doctor, laying his hand upon the +boy's head. + +"Do I understand you, sir, to mean that you want to take him now?" + +"Directly." + +"But his clothes, sir; and he must be--" + +"I want to take him directly, Mr Hippetts, with your permission, and he +will need nothing more from the Union." + +"Very good, sir; and I hope that he will take your kindness to heart. +Do you hear, Coleby? And be a very good boy to his benefactor, and--" + +"Yes, yes, yes, Mr Hippetts," said the doctor, cutting him short. "I'm +sure he will. Now, my man, are you ready?" + +"Yes, sir," cried the boy eagerly; "but--" + +"Well?" said the doctor kindly. + +"I should like to say good-bye to some of the chaps, and I've got +something to give 'em." + +"Indeed! what?" + +"Well, sir; I want to give Dick Dean my mouse, and Tommy Robson my +nicker, and share all my buttons among the chaps in my dormitory; and +then I've six pieces of string and a pair of bones, and a sucker." + +"Go and share them, and say good-bye to them all," said the doctor, +drawing a breath full of satisfaction; and the boy darted away full of +excitement. + +"May I say a word to the boys, Mr Sibery?" said the doctor, smiling. + +"Certainly, sir." + +"Will you call for silence?" + +The master called, and the doctor asked the lads to give their old +schoolfellow a cheer as he was going away. + +They responded with a shout that made the windows rattle. + +"And now," said the doctor, "I'm going to ask Mr Hippetts to give you +all a holiday, and I am leaving threepence a piece to be distributed +among you, so that you may have a bit of fun." + +Mr Hippetts smiled as he took the money, and the boys cheered again, in +the midst of which shouts the doctor moved off with his charge, but only +for his _protege_ to break away from him, and run to offer his hand to +Mr Sibery, who coughed slightly, and shook hands limply, as if he were +conferring a great favour. + +The boy then held out his hand to the master, and he also shook hands in +a dignified way. + +"Shall I send the boy on, sir?" said Mr Hippetts. + +"Thanks, no, Hippetts; I'll take him with me." + +"Would you like a fly, sir?" + +"No, Hippetts; I'm not ashamed for people to see what I do. Come along, +my lad." + +"Please, sir; mayn't I say good-bye to Mother Curdley?" + +"Mother Curdley? Who is she!" + +"Nurse, sir." + +"The woman who had charge of him when he was a tiny fellow." + +"Ah! to be sure. Yes, certainly," said the doctor. "He may, of +course?" + +"Oh! certainly, sir. Run on, boy, and we'll follow." + +"No larks," said the boy sharply, as he looked at the doctor. + +"No; I shall not run away, my man." + +The boy darted down a long whitewashed passage, and the doctor said:-- + +"I understand you to say that he has no friends whatever!" + +"None, sir, as far as we know. Quite a foundling." + +"That will do," said the doctor; and while the boy was bidding good-bye +to the old woman who had tended the sick tramp, the master led the way +to the nursery, where about a dozen children were crawling about and +hanging close to a large fire-guard. Others were being nursed on the +check aprons of some women, while one particularly sour creature was +rocking a monstrous cradle, made like a port-wine basket, with six +compartments, in every one of which was an unfortunate babe. + +"Which he's a very good affectionate boy, sir," said a woman, coming up +with the doctor's choice clinging to her apron; "and good-bye, and good +luck, and there, God bless you, my dear!" she said, as she kissed the +boy in a true motherly way, he clinging to her as the only being he had +felt that he could love. + +That burst of genuine affection won Mother Curdley five shillings, which +she pocketed with one hand, as she wiped her eyes with the other, and +then had a furtive pinch of snuff, which made several babies sneeze as +if they had bad colds. + +"Very eccentric man," said Mr Hippetts. + +"Very," assented Mr Sibery. + +"But he'll bring the young ruffian back." + +The doctor did not hear, for he was walking defiantly down the main +street, waving his gold-headed cane, while the boy clung to his hand, +and walked with bent head, crying silently, but fighting hard to keep it +back. + +The doctor saw it, and pressed the boy's hand kindly. + +"Yes," he said to himself; "I'll show old Danby now. The very boy I +wanted. Ah," he added aloud; "here we are." + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +A "REG'LAR" BAD ONE. + +Maria, the doctor's maid, opened the door, and as she admitted her +master and his charge, her countenance was suggestive of round O's. + +Her face was round, and her eyes opened into two round spots, while her +mouth became a perfectly circular orifice, as the doctor himself took +off the boy's cap, and marched him into the drawing-room, where Helen +Grayson was seated. + +On his way to the house, and with his young heart swelling at having to +part from the only being who had been at all kind to him--for the +recollection of the rough tramp had become extremely faint--the boy had +had hard work to keep back his tears, but no sooner had he passed the +doctor's door than the novelty of all he saw changed the current of his +thoughts, and he was full of eagerness and excitement. + +The first inkling of this was shown as his eyes lit upon Maria's round +face, and it tickled him so that he began to smile. + +"Such impidence!" exclaimed Maria. "And a workus boy. My! what's +master going to do with him?" + +She hurried to the housekeeper's room, where Mrs Millett, who had kept +the doctor's house, and attended to the cooking as well, ever since Mrs +Grayson's death, was now seated making herself a new cap. + +"A workhouse boy, Maria?" she said, letting her work fall upon her +knees, and looking over the top of her spectacles. + +"Yes; and master's took him into the drawing-room." + +"Oh! very well," said Mrs Millett tartly. "Master's master, and he has +a right to do what he likes; but if there's anything I can't abear in a +house it's a boy in buttons. They're limbs, that's what they are; +regular young imps." + +"Going to keep a page!" said Maria, whose eyes looked a little less +round. + +"Why, of course, girl; and it's all stuff." + +"Well, I don't know," said Maria thoughtfully. "There's the +coal-scuttles to fill, and the door-bell to answer, a deal more than I +like." + +"Yes," said Mrs Millett, snipping off a piece of ribbon viciously; "I +know. That boy to find every time you want 'em done, and a deal less +trouble to do 'em yourself. I can't abear boys." + +While this conversation was going on in the housekeeper's room, +something of a very different kind was in progress in the drawing-room, +where the daughter looked up from the letter she was writing, and gazed +wonderingly at the boy. For her father pushed the little fellow in +before him, and said: "There!" in a satisfied tone, and looked from one +to the other. + +"Why, papa!" said Helen, after looking pleasantly at the boy. + +"Yes, my dear, that's him. There he is. From this hour my experiment +begins." + +"With this boy?" said Helen. + +"Yes, my dear, shake hands with him, and make him at home." + +The doctor's sweet lady-like daughter held out her hand to the boy, who +was staring about him at everything with wondering delight, till he +caught sight of an admirably drawn water-colour portrait of the doctor, +the work of Helen herself, duly framed and hung upon the wall. + +The boy burst into a hearty laugh, and turned to Helen, running to her +now, and putting his hand in hers. "Look there," he cried, pointing +with his left hand; "that's the old chap's picture. Ain't it like him!" + +The doctor frowned, and Helen looked troubled, even though it was a +compliment to her skill; and for a few moments there was a painful +silence in the room. + +This was however broken by the boy, who lifted Helen's hand up and down, +and said in a parrot-like way-- + +"How do you do?" + +Helen's face rippled over with smiles, and the boy's brightened, and he +too smiled in a way that made him look frank, handsome, and singularly +attractive. + +"Oh, I say, you are pretty," he said. "Ten times as pretty as Miss +Hippetts on Sundays." + +"Hah! yes. Never mind about Miss Hippetts. And look here, my man, Mr +Hippetts said that you were anything but a good boy, and your +schoolmaster said the same." + +"Yes; everybody knows that I am a reg'lar bad boy. The worst boy in the +whole school." + +Helen Grayson's face contracted. + +"Oh, you are, are you!" said the doctor drily. + +"Yes, Mr Sibery told everybody so." + +"Well, then, now, sir, you will have to be a very good boy." + +"All right, sir." + +"And behave yourself very nicely." + +"But, I say: am I going to stop here, sir?" + +"Yes; always." + +"What, in this room?" + +"Yes." + +"And ain't I to go back to the House to have my crumbs!" + +"To have your what?" + +"Breakfasses and dinners, sir?" + +"No, you will have your meals here." + +"But I shall have to go back to sleep along with the other boys?" + +"No, you will sleep here; you will live here altogether now." + +"What! along of you and her?" cried the boy excitedly. + +"Yes, always, unless you go to a good school." + +"But live here along o' you, in this beautiful house with this nice +lady, and that gal with a round face." + +"Yes, of course." + +"Ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ri-i-kee!" cried the boy in a shrill, piercing +voice; and, to the astonishment of the doctor and his daughter, he made +a bound, and then, with wonderful skill and rapidity, began turning the +wheel, as it is called, going over and over on hands and feet, +completely round the room. + +"Here, stop, sir, stop!" cried the doctor, half-angry and half-amused. + +"I can do it t'other way too," cried the boy; and, as he had turned +before commencing upon his left hand, he began with his right, and +completed the circuit of the room in the opposite direction. + +"There!" he cried, as he stopped before the doctor and his daughter, +flushed and proud. "There isn't a chap in the House can do it as quick +as I can. Mr Sibery caught me one day, and didn't I get the cane!" + +There was such an air of innocent pride displayed by the boy, that after +for the moment feeling annoyed, Helen Grayson sat back in her chair and +laughed as much at the boy as at her father's puzzled look, of surprise. + +"That's nothing!" cried the boy, as he saw Helen's smiles. "Look here." + +He ducked down and placed his head on the hearthrug, his hands on either +side in front, and threw his heels in the air, to the great endangerment +of the chimney ornaments. + +"Get down, sir! get down!" cried the doctor. "I mean, get up." + +"It don't hurt," cried the boy, "stand on my head longer than you will +for a penny." + +"Will you get up, sir!" + +The boy let his feet go down into their normal position upon the carpet, +and rose up with his handsome young face flushed, and a look of proud +delight in his eyes. + +"I can walk on my hands ever so far," he shouted boisterously. + +"No, no; stop!" + +"You look, miss, and see me run like a tomcat." + +Before he could be stopped, he was down on all-fours running, with +wonderful agility, in and out among the chairs, and over the hearthrug. + +"That's what I do to make the boys laugh, when we go to bed. I can go +all along the dormitory, and jump from one bed to the other. Where's +the dormitory? I'll show you." + +"No, no; stop!" cried the doctor, and he caught hold of the boy by the +collar. "Confound you, sir: are you full of quicksilver!" + +"No. It's skilly," said the boy, "and I ain't full now I'm ever so +hungry." + +The doctor held him tightly, for he was just off again. + +Helen Grayson tried to look serious, but was compelled to hold her +handkerchief before her mouth, and hide her face; but her eyes twinkled +with mirth, as her father turned towards her, and sat rubbing his stiff +grey hair. + +The doctor's plan of bringing up a boy chosen from the workhouse had +certainly failed, she thought, so far as this lad was concerned; and as +the little prisoner stood tightly held, but making all the use he could +of his eyes, he said, pointing to a glass shade over a group of wax +fruit-- + +"Is them good to eat!" + +"No," said Helen, smiling. + +"I say, do you have skilly for breakfast!" + +"I do not know what skilly is," replied Helen. + +"Then, I'll tell you. It's horrid. They beats up pailfuls of oatmeal +in a copper, and ladles it out. But it's better than nothing." + +"Ahem!" coughed the doctor, who was thinking deeply. + +The boy glanced at him sharply, and then turned again to Helen-- + +"You mustn't ask for anything to eat at the House if you're ever so +hungry." + +"Are you hungry?" said Helen. + +"Just!" + +"Would you like a piece of cake!" + +"Piece o' cake? Please. Here, let go." + +He shook himself free from the doctor and ran to Helen. + +"Sit down on that cushion, and I'll ring for some." + +"What, have you got a big bell here? Let me pull it, will you?" + +"It is not a big bell, but you may pull it," said Helen, crossing to the +fireplace. "There, that will do." + +She led the way back to the chair where she had been seated, and in +spite of herself felt amused and pleased at the way in which the boy's +bright curious eyes examined her, for, outside of his school discipline, +the little fellow acted like a small savage, and was as full of eager +curiosity. + +"I say," he said, "how do you do your hair like that? It is nice." + +Just then Maria entered the room. + +"Bring up the cake, Maria, and a knife and plate--and--stop--bring a +glass of milk." + +"Yes, miss," said Maria, staring hard at the boy with anything but +favourable eyes. + +"I say, do you drink milk?" said the boy. + +"Sometimes. This is for you." + +"For me? Oh, I say! But you'll put some water to it, won't you!" + +"No; you can drink it as it is. No, no! Stop!" + +Helen Grayson was too late; in the exuberance of his delight the boy +relieved his excited feelings by turning the wheel again round the room, +stopping, though, himself, as he reached the place where the doctor's +daughter was seated. "Well, why do you look at me like that?" + +"I d'know. Feels nice," said the boy. "I say, is that round-face gal +your sister?" + +"Oh no; she's the servant." + +"I'm glad of that," said the boy thoughtfully; "she won't eat that cake, +will she!" + +Helen compressed her lips to control her mirth, and glanced at her +father again, where he sat with his brow knit and lips pursed up +thinking out his plans. + +Maria entered now with the cake and milk, placing a tray on a little +table, and going out to return to the housekeeper, saying-- + +"Pretty pass things is coming to when servants is expected to wait on +workus boys." + +In the drawing-room the object of her annoyance was watching, with +sparkling eyes, the movements of the knife with which Helen Grayson cut +off a goodly wedge of the cake. + +"There," she said; "eat that, and sit quite still." + +The boy snatched the piece wolfishly, and was lifting it to his mouth, +but he stopped suddenly and stretched out his hand-- + +"Here; you have first bite," he said. + +Helen shook her head, but felt pleased. + +"No," she said. "It is for you." + +"Do," said the boy, fighting hard with the longing to begin. + +"No; eat it yourself." + +"Would he have a bit if I asked him!" said the boy, torturing himself in +his generous impulse. + +"No, no. You eat it, my boy." + +Once more the cake was within an inch of the bright sparkling teeth, but +the bite was not taken. Instead of eating, the boy held out the cake to +his hostess. + +"Cut it in half, please," he said; "fair halves." + +"What for?" + +"I'm going to eat one bit; t'other's for Billy Jingle. He's had +measles, and been very bad, and he's such a good chap." + +"You shall have a piece to send to your schoolfellow," said Helen, with +her eyes a little moist now, for the boy's generous spirit was gaining +upon her, and she looked at him with more interest than she had +displayed a few minutes before. + +The boy took a tremendous bite, and began to munch as he sat upon a +velvet-covered hassock; but he jumped up directly, and held out the +bitten cake again, to say, with his mouth full-- + +"Oh, do have a bit. It's lovely." + +Helen smiled, and laid her hand upon the boy's shoulder, as she shook +her head, when to her surprise he caught the soft white hand in his +left, gazed hard at it, and then pressed it against his cheek, making a +soft purring noise, no bad imitation of a cat. + +Then he sat eating and holding the hand which was not taken away, till, +as the little stranger munched on in the full enjoyment of the wondrous +novelty, the doctor said sharply, "Helen, come here." + +The boy stared, but went on eating, and the doctor's daughter crossed +the room to where her father sat. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A QUICKSILVER GLOBULE. + +"Well, papa?" she said, looking into his face in a half-amused way. + +"Well, Helen," said the doctor, taking her hand and drawing her to him; +"about this boy?" + +"Yes, dear. You have made up your mind to adopt and bring one up," she +said, in a low tone which the lad could not hear. + +"Yes," said the doctor, taking his tone from her, "to turn the raw +material into the polished cultured article." + +"But of course you will take this one back, and select another!" + +"And pray why!" said the doctor sharply. + +"I thought--I thought--" faltered Helen. + +"Oh, nonsense! Better for proving my theory." + +"Yes, papa, but--" + +"A little wild and rough, that's all; boy-like; high-spirited; right +stuff in him." + +"No doubt, papa; but he is so very rough." + +"Then we'll use plenty of sand-paper and make him smooth. Moral +sand-paper. Capital boy, my dear. Had a deal of trouble in getting +him--by George! the young wolf! He has finished that cake." + +"Then you really mean to keep him, papa?" said Helen, glancing at the +boy, where he sat diligently picking up a few crumbs and a currant which +he had dropped. + +"Mean to keep him? Now, my dear Helen, when did you ever know me +undertake anything, and not carry it out!" + +"Never, papa." + +"Then I am not going to begin now. There is the boy." + +"Yes, papa," said Helen rather sadly; "there is the boy." + +"I mean to make him a gentleman, and I must ask you to help me with the +poor orphan--" + +"He is an orphan, then!" said Helen quickly. + +"Yes. Son of some miserable tramp who died in the casual ward." + +"How dreadful!" said Helen, glancing once more at the boy, who caught +her eye, and smiled in a way which made his face light up, and illumined +the sallow cheeks and dull white pinched look. + +"Dreadful? Couldn't be better for my theory, my dear." + +"Very well, papa," said Helen quietly; "I will help you all I can." + +"I knew you would, my dear," said the doctor warmly; "and I prophesy +that you will be proud of your work, and so shall I. Now, then, to +begin," he added loudly. + +"All in--all in--all in!" shouted the boy, jumping up like a +grasshopper, and preparing to go through some fresh gymnastic feat. + +"Ah! ah! Sit down, sir. How dare you!" shouted the doctor; and the boy +dropped into his seat again, and sat like a mouse. + +"There!" said the doctor softly; "there's obedience. Result of +drilling. Now, then, what's the first thing? He must have some +clothes." + +"Oh yes; at once," said Helen. + +"And, look here, my dear," said the doctor testily; "I never use +anything of the kind myself, but you girls rub some stuff--pomade or +cream--on your hair to make it grow, do you not?" + +"Well, yes, papa." + +"Then, for goodness' sake, let a double quantity be rubbed at once upon +that poor boy's head. Really it is cut so short that he is hardly fit +to be seen without a cap on." + +"I'm afraid you will have to wait some time," said Helen, with a smile. + +"Humph! yes, I suppose so," said the doctor gruffly. "That barber ought +to be flogged. Couldn't put the boy in a wig, of course." + +"O papa! no." + +"Well, I said no," cried the doctor testily. "Must wait, I suppose; but +we can make him look decent." + +"Are you--are you going--" faltered Helen. + +"Going? Going where!" + +"Going to have him with us, papa, or to let him be with the servants?" +said Helen rather nervously; but she regretted speaking the next moment. + +"Now, my dear child, don't be absurd," cried the doctor. "How am I to +prove my theory by taking the boy from the lowest station of society and +making him, as I shall do, a gentleman, if I let him run wild with the +servants!" + +"I--I beg your pardon, papa." + +"Humph! Granted. Now, what's to be done first? The boy is clean?" + +"Oh yes." + +"Can't improve him then, that way; but I want as soon as possible to get +rid of that nasty, pasty, low-class pallor. One does not see it in poor +people's children, as a rule, while these Union little ones always look +sickly to me. You must feed him up, Helen." + +"I have begun, papa," she said, smiling. + +"Humph! Yes. Clothes. Yes; we must have some clothes, and--oh, by the +way, I had forgotten. Here, my boy." + +The lad jumped up with alacrity, and came to the doctor's side boldly-- +looking keenly from one to the other. + +"What did you say your name was!" + +"Bed--Obed Coleby." + +"Hah!" cried the doctor; "then we'll do away with that at once. Now, +what shall we call you!" + +"I d'know," said the boy, laughing. "Jack?" + +"No, no," said the doctor thoughtfully, while Helen looked on rather +amused at her father's intent manner, and the quick bird-like movements +of their visitor. + +For the boy, after watching the doctor for a few moments, grew tired, +and finding himself unnoticed, dropped down on the carpet, took four +pebbles from his pocket, laid them on the back of his right hand, and +throwing them in the air, caught them separately by as many rapid +snatches in the air. + +"Do that again," cried the doctor, suddenly becoming interested. + +The boy showed his white teeth, threw the stones in the air, and caught +them again with the greatest ease. + +"That's it, Helen, my dear," cried the doctor triumphantly. "Cleverness +of the right hand--dexterity. Capital name." + +"Capital name, papa?" + +"Yes; Dexter! Good Latin sound. Fresh and uncommon. Dexter--Dex. +Look here, sir. No more Obed. You shall be called Dexter." + +"All right," said the boy. + +"And if you behave yourself well, perhaps we shall shorten it into Dex." + +"Dick's better," said the boy sharply. + +"No, it is not, sir; Dex." + +"Well, Dix, then," said the boy, throwing one stone up high enough to +touch the ceiling, and in catching at it over-handed, failing to achieve +his object, and striking it instead, so that it flew against the wall +with a loud rap. + +"Put those stones in your pocket, sir," cried the doctor to the boy, who +ran and picked up the one which had fallen, looking rather abashed. +"Another inch, and it would have gone through that glass." + +"Yes. Wasn't it nigh!" cried the boy. + +"Here, stop! Throw them out of that window." + +The boy's brow clouded over. + +"Let me give them to some one at the school; they're such nice round +ones." + +"I said, throw them out of the window, sir." + +"All right," said the boy quickly; and he threw the pebbles into the +garden. + +"Now, then; look here, sir--or no," said the doctor less sternly. "Look +here, my boy." + +The doctor's manner influenced the little fellow directly, and he went +up and laid his hand upon his patron's knee, looking brightly from face +to face. + +"Now, mind this: in future you are to be Dexter." + +"All right: Dexter Coleby," said the boy. + +"No, no, no, no!" cried the doctor testily. "Dexter Grayson; and don't +keep on saying `All right.'" + +"All--" + +The boy stopped short, and rubbed his nose with his cuff. + +"Hah! First thing, my dear. Twelve pocket-handkerchiefs, and mark them +`Dexter Grayson.'" + +"What? twelve handkerchies for me--all for me?" + +"Yes, sir, all for you; and you are to use them. Never let me see you +rub your nose with your cuff again." + +The boy's mouth opened to say, "All right," but he checked himself. + +"That's right!" cried the doctor. "I see you are teachable. You were +going to say `all right.'" + +"You told me not to." + +"I did; and I'm very pleased to find you did not do it." + +"I say, shall I have to clean the knives?" + +"No, no, no." + +"Nor yet the boots and shoes?" + +"No, boy; no." + +"I shall have to fetch the water then, shan't I?" + +"My good boy, nothing of the kind. You are going to live with us, and +you are my adopted son," said the doctor rather pompously, while Helen +sighed. + +"Which?" queried the boy. + +"Which what?" said the doctor. + +"Which what you said?" + +"I did not say anything, sir." + +"Oh my! what a story!" cried the boy, appealing to Helen. "Didn't you +hear him say I was to be his something son?" + +"Adopted son," said the doctor severely; "and, look here, you must not +speak to me in that way." + +"All--" Dexter checked himself again, and he only stared. + +"Now, you understand," said the doctor, after a few minutes' hesitation; +"you are to be here like my son, and you may call me--yes, father, or +papa." + +"How rum!" said the boy, showing his white teeth with a remarkable want +of reverence. "I say," he added, turning to Helen; "what am I to call +you!" + +Helen turned to her father for instructions, her brow wrinkling from +amusement and vexation. + +"Helen," said the doctor, in a decided tone. "We must have no half +measures, my dear; I mean to carry out my plan in its entirety." + +"Very well, papa," said Helen quietly; and then to herself, "It is only +for a few days." + +"Now, then," said the doctor, "clothes. Ring that bell, Dexter." + +The boy ran so eagerly to the bell that he knocked over a light chair, +and left it on the floor till he had rung. + +"Oh, I say," he exclaimed; "they go over a deal easier than our forms." + +"Never mind the forms now, Dexter. I want you to forget all about the +old school." + +"Forget it?" said the boy, with his white forehead puckering up. + +"Yes, and all belonging to it. You are now going to be my son." + +"But I shall want to go and see the boys sometimes." + +"No, sir; you will not." + +"But I must go and see Mother Curdley." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. "Well, we shall see. Perhaps she will +be allowed to come and see you." + +"Hooray!" cried the boy excitedly; and turning to Helen he obtained +possession of her hand. "I say, save her a bit of that cake." + +"She shall have some cake, Dexter," said Helen kindly, for she could not +help, in spite of her annoyance, again feeling pleased with the boy's +remembrance of others. + +"And I say," he cried, "when she does come, we'll have a ha'porth o' +snuff screwed up in a bit o' paper, and--has he got any gin?" + +"Hush, hush!" whispered Helen. + +"But she's so fond of a drop," said the boy earnestly. + +"And now," said the doctor; "the next thing is clothes. Ah, Maria, send +Cribb to ask Mr Bleddan to come here directly." + +"Yes, sir," said Maria; and after a glance at the boy she closed the +door. + +In less than a quarter of an hour Mr Bleddan, the tailor of Coleby, was +there; and Dexter stood up feeling tickled and amused at being measured +for some new clothes which the tailor said should be ready in a week. + +"A week!" said the doctor; "but what am I to do now? The boy can't go +like that." + +"Ready-made, sir? I've plenty of new and fashionable suits exactly his +size." + +"Bring some," said the doctor laconically; "and shirts and stockings and +boots. Everything he wants. Do you understand!" + +Mr Bleddan perfectly understood, and Dexter stood with his eyes +sparkling as he heard the list of upper and under garments, boots, caps, +everything which the tailor and clothier considered necessary. + +The moment the man had gone, Dexter made a dash to recommence his +Ixion-like triumphal dance, but this time Helen caught his hand and +stopped him. + +"No, no, not here," she said quietly; and not in the least abashed, but +in the most obedient way, the boy submitted. + +"It was because I was so jolly glad: that's all." + +"Hah!" said the doctor, smiling. "Now, I like that, Helen. Work with +me, and all that roughness will soon pass away." + +"I say, will that chap be long?" cried Dexter, running to the window and +looking out. "Am I to have all those things for my own self, and may I +wear 'em directly?" + +"Look here, my lad; you shall have everything that's right and proper +for you, if you are a good boy." + +"Oh, I'll be a good boy--least I'll try to be. Shall you give me the +cane if I ain't?" + +"I--er--I don't quite know," said the doctor. "I hope you will not +require it." + +"Mr Sibery said I did, and he never knew a boy who wanted it worse, but +it didn't do me no good at all." + +"Well, never mind that now," said the doctor. "You will have to be very +good, and never want the cane. You must learn to be a young gentleman." + +"Young gentleman?" said Dexter, holding his head on one side like a +bird. "One of them who wears black jackets, and turn-down collars, and +tall hats, and plays at cricket all day? I shall like that." + +"Humph! Something else but play cricket, I hope," said the doctor +quietly. "Helen, my dear, I shall begin to make notes at once for my +book, so you can take Dexter in hand, and try how he can read." + +The doctor brought out a pocket-book and pencil, and Helen, after a +moment's thought, went to a glass case, and took down an old gift-book +presented to her when she was a little girl. + +"Come here, Dexter," she said, "and let me hear you read." + +The boy flushed with pleasure. + +"Yes," he said. "I should like to read to you. May I kneel down and +have the book on your knees!" + +"Yes, if you like," said Helen, who felt that the boy was gaining upon +her more and more: for, in spite of his coarseness, there was a frank, +merry, innocent undercurrent that, she felt, might be brought to the +surface, strengthened and utilised to drive the roughness away. + +"Read here!" said the boy, opening the book at random. "Oh, here's a +picture. What are these girls doing?" + +"Leave the pictures till afterwards. Go on reading now." + +"Here?" + +"Yes; at the beginning of that chapter." + +"I shall have to read it all, as there's no other boy here. We always +stand up in a class at the House, and one boy reads one bit, and another +boy goes on next, and then you're always losing your place, because it's +such a long time before it comes round to your turn, and then old Sibery +gives you the cane." + +"Yes, yes; but go on," said Helen, with a feeling of despair concerning +her father's _protege_. + +Dexter began to read in a forced, unnatural voice, with a high-pitched +unpleasant twang, and regardless of sense or stops--merely uttering the +words one after the other, and making them all of the same value. + +At the end of the second line Helen's face was a study. At the end of +the fourth the doctor roared out-- + +"Stop! I cannot stand any more. Saw-sharpening or bag-pipes would be +pleasant symphonies in comparison." + +At that moment Maria entered. + +"Lunch is on the table, if you please, sir." + +"Ah, yes, lunch," said the doctor. "Did you put a knife and fork for +Master Dexter?" + +"For who, sir!" said Maria, staring. + +"For Master Dexter here," said the doctor sharply. "Go and put them +directly." + +Maria ran down to her little pantry, and then attacked Mrs Millett. + +"Master's going mad, I think," she said. "Why, he's actually going to +have that boy at the table to lunch." + +"Never!" + +"It's a fact," cried Maria; "and I've come down for more knives and +forks." + +"And you'd better make haste and get 'em, then," said the housekeeper; +"master's master, and he always will have his way." + +Maria did make haste, and to her wonder and disgust Dexter was seated at +the doctor's table in his workhouse clothes, gazing wonderingly round at +everything: the plate, cruets, and sparkling glass taking up so much of +his attention that for the moment he forgot the viands. + +The sight of a hot leg of lamb, however, when the cover was removed, +made him seize his knife and fork, and begin tapping with the handles on +either side of his plate. + +"Errum!" coughed the doctor. "Put that knife and fork down, Dexter, and +wait." + +The boy's hands went behind him directly, and there was silence till +Maria had left the room, when the doctor began to carve, and turned to +Helen-- + +"May I give you some lamb, my dear?" + +"There, I knowed it was lamb," cried Dexter excitedly, "'cause it was so +little. We never had no lamb at the House." + +"Hush!" said the doctor quietly. "You must not talk like that." + +"All right." + +"Nor yet like that, Dexter. Now, then, may I send you some lamb!" + +"May I say anything?" said the boy so earnestly that Helen could not +contain her mirth, and the boy smiled pleasantly again. + +"Of course you may, my boy," said the doctor. "Answer when you are +spoken to, and try and be polite." + +"Yes, sir, I will; I'll try so hard." + +"Then may I send you some lamb!" + +"Yes; twice as much as you give her. It does smell nice." + +The doctor frowned a little, and then helped the boy pretty liberally. + +"Oh, I say! Just look at the gravy," he cried. "Have you got plenty, +Miss!" + +"Oh yes, Dexter," said Helen. "May I--" + +"Don't give it all to me, Mister," cried the boy. "Keep some for +yourself. I hate a pig." + +"Errum!" coughed the doctor, frowning. "Miss Grayson was going to ask +if you would take some vegetables!" + +"What? taters? No thankye, we got plenty o' them at the House," cried +the boy; and he began cutting and devouring the lamb at a furious rate. + +"Gently, gently!" cried the doctor. "You have neither bread nor salt." + +"Get's plenty o' them at the House," cried the boy, with his mouth full; +"and you'd better look sharp, too. The bell'll ring directly, and we +shall have to--no it won't ring here, will it!" he said, looking from +one to another. + +"No, sir," said the doctor sternly; "and you must not eat like that. +Watch how Miss Grayson eats her lunch, and try and imitate her." + +The boy gave the doctor a sharp glance, and then, in a very praiseworthy +manner, tried to partake of the savoury joint in a decent way. + +But it was hard work for him. The well-cooked succulent meat was so +toothsome that he longed to get to the end of it; and whenever he was +not watching the doctor and his daughter he kept glancing at the dish, +wondering whether he would be asked to have any more. + +"What's that rum-looking stuff?" he said, as the doctor helped himself +from a small tureen. + +"Mint sauce, sir. Will you have some?" + +"I don't know. Let's taste it." + +The little sauce tureen was passed to him, and he raised the silver +ladle, but instead of emptying it upon his plate he raised it to his +lips, and drank with a loud, unpleasant noise, suggestive of the word +_soup_. + +The doctor was going to utter a reproof, but the sight of Helen's mirth +checked him, and he laughed heartily as he saw the boy's face full of +disgust. + +"I don't like that," he said, pushing the tureen away. "It ain't good." + +"But you should--" + +"Don't correct him now, papa; you will spoil the poor boy's dinner," +remonstrated Helen. + +"He said it was lunch," said Dexter. + +"Your dinner, sir, and our lunch," said the doctor. "There, try and +behave as we do at the table, and keep your elbows off the cloth." + +Dexter obeyed so quickly that he knocked a glass from the table, and on +leaving his seat to pick it up he found that the foot was broken off. + +The doctor started, and uttered a sharp ejaculation. + +In an instant the boy shrank away into a corner, sobbing wildly. + +"I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it, sir. Don't beat me, please. +Don't beat me this time. I'll never do so any more." + +"Bless my soul!" cried the doctor, jumping up hastily; and the boy +uttered a wild cry, full of fear, and would have dashed out of the open +window into the garden had not Helen caught him, the tears in her eyes, +and her heart moved to pity as she read the boy's agony of spirit. In +fact that one cry for mercy had done more for Dexter's future at the +doctor's than a month's attempts at orderly conduct. + +"Hush, hush!" said Helen gently, as she took his hands; and, with a look +of horror in his eyes, the boy clung to her. + +"I don't mind the cane sometimes," he whispered, "but don't let him beat +me very much." + +"Nonsense! nonsense!" said the doctor rather huskily. "I was not going +to beat you." + +"Please, sir, you looked as if you was," sobbed the boy. + +"I only looked a little cross, because you were clumsy and broke that +glass. But it was an accident." + +"Yes, it was; it was," cried the boy, in a voice full of pleading, for +the breakage had brought up the memory of an ugly day in his young +career. "I wouldn't ha' done it, was it ever so; it's true as goodness +I wouldn't." + +"No, no, Maria, not yet," cried Helen hastily, as the door was opened. +"We will ring." + +Maria walked out again, and the boy clung to Helen as he sobbed. + +"There, there," she said. "Papa is not cross. You broke the glass, and +you have apologised. Come: sit down again." + +If some one had told Helen Grayson two hours before that she would have +done such a thing, she would have smiled incredulously, but somehow she +felt moved to pity just then, and leading the boy back to his chair, she +bent down and kissed his forehead. + +In a moment Dexter's arms were about her neck, and he was clinging to +her with passionate energy, sobbing now wildly, while the doctor got up +and walked to the window for a few moments. + +"There, there," said Helen gently, as she pressed the boy down into his +seat, and kissed him once again, after seeing that her father's back was +turned. "That's all over now. Come, papa." + +The doctor came back, and as he was passing the back of the boy's chair, +he raised his hand quickly, intending to pat him on the head. + +The boy flinched like a frightened animal anticipating a blow. + +"Why, bless my soul, Dexter! this will not do," he said huskily. "Here, +give me your hand. There, there, my dear boy, you and I are to be the +best of friends. Why, my dear Helen," he added in French, "they must +have been terribly severe, for the little fellow to shrink like this." + +The boy still sobbed as he laid his hand in the doctor's, and then the +meal was resumed; but Dexter's appetite was gone. He could not finish +the lamb, and it was only with difficulty that he managed a little +rhubarb tart and custard. + +"Why, what are you thinking about, Dexter!" said Helen after the lunch; +and somehow her tone of voice seemed to indicate that she had forgotten +all about the workhouse clothes. + +"Will he send me back to the House?" the boy whispered hoarsely, but the +doctor heard. + +"No, no," he said quickly; and the boy seemed relieved. + +That night about eleven, as she went up to bed, Helen Grayson went +softly into a little white bedroom, where the boy's pale face lay in the +full moonlight, and something sparkled. + +"Poor child!" she said, in a voice full of pity; "he has been crying." + +She was quite right, and as she bent over him, her presence must have +influenced his dreams, for he uttered a low, soft sigh, and then smiled, +while, forgetting everything now but the fact that this poor little waif +of humanity had been stranded, as it were, at their home, she bent over +him and kissed him. + +Then she started, for she became aware of the fact that her father was +at the door. + +The next moment she was in his arms. + +"Bless you, my darling!" he said. "This is like you. I took this up as +a whim as well as a stubborn belief; but somehow that poor little +ignorant fellow, with his rough ways, seems to be rousing warmer +feelings towards him, and, please God, we'll make a man of him of whom +we shall not be ashamed." + +Poor Dexter had cried himself to sleep, feeling in his ignorant fashion +that he had disgraced himself, and that the two harsh rulers were quite +right,--that he was as bad as ever he could be; but circumstances were +running in a way he little thought. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +TAMING THE WILD. + +"Ah!" said the doctor, laying down his pen and rubbing his hands. +"That's better;" and he took off his spectacles, made his grey hair +stand up all over his head like tongues of silver fire, and looked +Dexter over from top to toe. + +Thanks to Helen's supervision, the boy looked very creditable. His hair +was of course "cut almost to the bone," and his face had still the Union +look--pale and saddened, but he was dressed in a neat suit which fitted +him, and his turn-down collar and black tie seemed to give his well-cut +features quite a different air. + +"What did I say, Helen!" said the doctor, with a chuckle. "You see what +we have done already. Well, sir, how do you feel now!" + +"Not very jolly," said the boy, with a writhe. + +"Hem!" coughed the doctor; "not very comfortable you mean!" + +"Yes, that's it," said Dexter. "Boots hurts my feet, and when the +trousers ain't rubbin' the skin o' my legs, this here collar feels as if +it would saw my head off." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor stiffly. "You had better put on the old +things again." + +"Eh? No, thankye," cried Dexter eagerly. "I like these here ever so +much. Please may I keep 'em!" + +"Of course," said the doctor; "and take care of them, like a good boy." + +"Yes. I'm going to be a very good boy now, sir. She says I am to." + +He nodded his head in the direction of Helen, and stood upon one leg to +ease the foot which the shoe pinched. + +"That's right, but don't say _she_. You must look upon Miss Grayson now +as if she were your sister." + +"Yes, that I will," said the boy warmly. + +Helen flushed a little at her father's words, and a serious look came +into her sweet face; but at that moment she felt Dexter steal his hand +into hers, and then it was lifted and held against the boy's cheek, as, +in feline fashion, he rubbed his face against it, and a smile came into +her eyes again, as she laid the hand at liberty upon the closely cropped +head. + +"I say, ain't she pretty, and don't she look nice?" said Dexter +suddenly; and his free and easy way made the doctor frown: but he looked +at the boy's appearance, and in the belief that he would soon change the +manners to match, he nodded, and said, "Yes." + +Helen looked at her father, as if asking him what next, but the doctor +joined his finger-tips and frowned, as if thinking deeply. + +"Dexter and I have been filling his drawers with his new clothes and +linen," she said. + +"Yes; such a lot of things," cried the boy; "and is that always to be my +bedroom?" + +"Yes; that's to be your room," said the doctor. + +"And I've got three pairs of boots. I mean two pairs of boots, and one +pair of shoes," cried Dexter. "One pair on, and two in the bedroom; and +I shall get up at six o'clock every morning, and clean 'em, and I'll +clean yours too." + +"Hem!" coughed the doctor. "No, my boy, your boots will be cleaned for +you, and you will not have to dirty your hands now." + +The boy stared wonderingly, as the doctor enunciated a matter which was +beyond his grasp. But all the time his eyes were as busy as those of a +monkey, and wandering all over the study, and taking in everything he +saw. + +"May I leave Dexter with you now!" said Helen, "as I have a few little +matters to see to." + +"Yes, yes; of course, my dear. We are beginning capitally. Dexter, my +boy; you can sit down on that chair, and amuse yourself with a book, +while I go on writing." + +The boy looked at the chair, then at the doctor, and then at Helen. + +"I say, mayn't I go with you?" he said. + +"Not now, Dexter, I am going to be very busy. By and by I will take you +for a walk." + +Helen nodded, and left the room. + +"You'll find some books on that shelf," said the doctor kindly; and he +turned once more to his writing, while Dexter went to the bookcase, and, +after taking down one or two works, found a large quarto containing +pictures. + +He returned to the chair the doctor had pointed out, opened the book +upon his knees, turned over a few leaves, and then raised his eyes to +have a good long wondering stare at the doctor, as he sat frowning there +very severely, and in the midst of a great deal of deep thought put down +a sentence now and again. + +Dexter's eyes wandered from the doctor to a dark-looking bust upon the +top of a book-shelf. From thence to a brown bust on the opposite shelf, +at which he laughed, for though it was meant for Cicero, it put him +greatly in mind of Mr Sibery, and he then fell a-wondering what the +boys were doing at the workhouse school. + +Just then the black marble timepiece on the shelf chimed four quarters, +and struck eleven. + +"No matter what may be the descent," wrote the doctor, "the human frame +is composed of the same element." + +"I say," cried Dexter loudly. + +"Eh? Yes?" said the doctor, looking up. + +"What time are you going to have dinner!" + +"Dinner? One o'clock, sir. Why, it's not long since you had +breakfast." + +"Seems a long time." + +"Go on looking at your book." + +Dexter obeyed, and the doctor went on writing, and became very +interested in his work. + +So did not the boy, who yawned, fidgeted in his seat, rubbed his neck +impatiently, and then bent down and tried to ease his boot, which +evidently caused him pain. + +There was a pause during which Dexter closed the book and fidgeted +about; now one leg went out, now the other. Then his arms moved about +as if so full of life and energy that they must keep on the jerk. + +There was another yawn, but the doctor did not hear it, he was too much +intent upon the chapter he was writing. Then a happy thought occurred +to Dexter, and he raised the heavy quarto book he had upon his knees, +placed it upon his head, and balanced it horizontally. + +That was too easy, there was no fun or excitement in the feat, so he +placed it edgewise. + +That was better, but very easy--both topwise and bottomwise. Harder +when tried with the front edges upon his crown, for the big book +demonstrated a desire to open. + +But he dodged that, and felt happier. + +He glanced at the doctor, and smiled at his profile, for in his +intentness the writer's thick bottom lip protruded far beyond the upper, +and seemed to Dexter as if trying to reach the tip of his nose. + +What should he do next? + +Could he balance that book on its back? + +Dexter held it between his hands and cogitated. The back was round, +therefore the feat would be more difficult, and all the more enjoyable, +but would the book keep shut? + +He determined to try. + +Up went the book, his hands on either side keeping it close. Then there +was a little scheming to get it exactly in equilibrium; this was +attained, and as the boy sat there stiff-necked and rigid of spine, with +his eyes turned upwards, there was nothing left to do now but to remove +his hands. + +This he proceeded to do by slow degrees, a finger at a time, till the +heavy work was supported only by the left and right forefingers, the +rounded back exactly on the highest point of his cranium. + +"All right," said Dexter to himself, supremely happy in his success, and +with a quick movement he let his hands drop to his lap. + +For one solitary moment the great quarto volume remained balanced +exactly; then, as a matter of course, it opened all at once. + +_Flip! flop! bang_! + +The book had given him two boxes on the sides of the head, and then, +consequent upon his sudden effort to save it, made a leap, and came +heavily upon the floor. + +Dexter's face was scarlet as he dropped upon his knees to pick it up, +and found the doctor gazing at him, or, as in his own mind he put it, +threatening a similar caning to that which Mr Sibery gave him a year +before, when he dropped the big Bible on the schoolroom floor. + +"Be careful, my boy, be careful," said the doctor dreamily, for he was +half lost in thought. "That damages the bindings. Take a smaller +book." + +Dexter felt better, and hastily replaced the work on the shelf, taking +one of a smaller size, and returning to his seat to bend down and thrust +a finger inside his boot. + +"How they do hurt!" he thought to himself; and he made a sudden +movement. + +Then he checked himself. + +No; 'twas a pity. They were so new, and looked so nice. + +Yes, he would: they hurt so terribly; and, stooping down, he rapidly +unlaced the new boots, and pushed them off, smiling with gratification +at the relief. + +Then he had another good look round for something to amuse himself with, +yawned, glanced at the doctor, dropped down on hands and knees, went +softly to the other side of the centre table, and began to creep about +with the agility of a quadruped or one of the monkey tribe. + +This was delightful, and the satisfied look on the boy's face was a +study, till happening to raise his eyes, he saw that the doctor had +risen, and was leaning over the writing-table, gazing down at him with a +countenance full of wonder and astonishment combined. + +"What are you doing, sir?" said the doctor sternly. "Have you lost +something?" + +Dexter might have said, "Yes, a button--a marble;" but he did not; he +only rose slowly, and his late quadrupedal aspect was emphasised by a +sheepish look. + +"Don't do that on the carpet, sir. You'll wear out the knees of your +trousers. Why, where are your boots?" + +"On that chair, sir," said Dexter confusedly. + +"Then put them on again, and get another book." + +Dexter put on his boots slowly, laced them up, and then fetched himself +another book. + +He returned to his seat, yawning, and glanced at the doctor again. + +_Booz, booz, booz, boom_--_'m_--_'m_. + +A bluebottle had flown in through the open window, bringing with it the +suggestion of warm sunshine, fields, gardens, flowers, and the blue sky +and waving trees. + +"_Booz_!" said the bluebottle, and it dashed away, leaving a profound +silence, broken by the scratching of the doctor's pen. + +"I say," cried Dexter excitedly; "is that your garden?" + +"Yes, my boy, yes," said the doctor, without looking up from his +writing. + +"May I go out in it?" + +"Certainly, my boy. Yes," said the doctor, without looking up, though +there was the quick sound of footsteps, and, with a bound, Dexter was +through the open French window, and out upon the lawn. + +The doctor did not heed the lapse of time, for he was intent upon his +writing, and an hour had passed when the door opened and Helen returned. + +"Now I am at liberty, papa," she said; "and--where is Dexter?" + +"Eh? The boy? Bless me, I thought he was here!" + +_Smash! Tinkle_! + +The sound of breaking glass, and the doctor leaped to his feet, just as +a loud gruff voice sounded-- + +"Here, you just come down." + +"Copestake!" cried the doctor. "Why, what is the matter out there!" + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +OLD DAN'L IS WROTH. + +Mr Grayson's was the best garden for twenty miles round. + +The Coleby people said so, and they ought to have known. + +But Dan'l Copestake said it was all nonsense. "Might be made a good +garden if master wasn't so close," he used to say to everybody. "Wants +more money spent on it, and more hands kept. How'm I to keep a place +like that to rights with only two--me and a lab'rer, under me, and Peter +to do the sweeping?" + +Keep it to rights or not, it was to Helen Grayson four acres of delight, +and she was to blame for a great deal which offended Dan'l Copestake, +the head-gardener. + +"Papa," it would be, "did you give orders for that beautiful privet +hedge to be cut down!" + +"Eh? no, my dear, Copestake said it kept the light off some of those +young trees, and I said he might cut it down." + +"Oh, do stop him," cried Helen. "It will take years to grow up, and +this past year it has been delightful, with its sweet-scented blossom +and beautiful black berries." + +So it was with scores of things. Helen wanted to see them growing +luxuriantly, Dan'l Copestake loved to hash and chop them into miserably +cramped "specimints," as he called them, and the doctor got all the +blame. + +But what a garden! It was full of old-fashioned flowers in great +clumps, many of them growing, to Dan'l's disgust, down among the fruit +and vegetables. + +There were flowering shrubs and beautiful conifers, a great +mulberry-tree on the mossy lawn, and a huge red brick wall all round, +literally covered with trained trees, which in their seasons were masses +of white bloom, or glowing with purple and golden plums, and light red, +black, or yellowy pink cherries, and great fat pears, while, facing the +south, there were dozens of trees of peaches, nectarines, and downy +golden apricots. + +As to the apples, they grew by the bushel, almost by the ton; and for +strawberries and the other lower fruits there was no such garden near. + +Then there was Helen's conservatory, always full of sweet-scented +flowers, and the vinery and pits, where the great purple and amber +bunches hung and ripened, and the long green cucumber and melon came in +their good time. + +But Dan'l grumbled, as gardeners will. + +"Blights is offle," he said. "It's the blightiest garden I ever see, +and a man might spend all his life keeping the birds down with a gun." + +But Dan'l did not spend any part of his life, let alone all, keeping the +birds down with a gun. The doctor caught him shooting one day, and +nearly shot him out of the place. + +"How dare you, sir?" he cried. "I will not have a single bird +destroyed." + +"Then you won't get no peace, sir, nor not a bit of fruit." + +"I shall have the place overrun with slugs and snails, and all kinds of +injurious blight, sir, if you use that gun. No, sir, you'll put nets +over the fruit when it's beginning to ripen. That will do." + +The doctor walked away with Helen, and as soon as they were out of +sight, behind the great laurustinus clump, Helen threw her arms about +his neck, and kissed him for saving her pet birds. + +Consequently, in addition to abundance of fruit, and although it was so +close in the town, there was always a chorus of song in the season; and +even the nightingale came from the woodlands across the river and sang +within the orchard, through which the river ran. + +That river alone half made the place, for it was one of those useless +rivers, so commercial men called it, where the most you could do was +pleasure-boating; barges only being able to ascend to Coleby Bridge, a +sort of busy colony from the town, two miles nearer the sea. + +"Yes, sir," Sir James Danby had been known to say, "if the river could +be deepened right through the town it would be the making of the place." + +"And the spoiling of my grounds," said the doctor, "so I'm glad it runs +over the solid rock." + +This paradise of a garden was the one into which Dexter darted, and in +which Dan'l Copestake was grumbling that morning-- + +"Like a bear with a sore head, that's what I say," said Peter Cribb to +the under-gardener. "Nothing never suits him." + +"Yes, it do," said Dan'l, showing a very red face over a clump of +rhododendron. "Master said you was to come into the garden three days a +week, and last week I only set eyes on you twice, and here's half the +week gone and you've only been once." + +"Look here," said Peter Cribb, a hard-looking bullet-headed man of +five-and-twenty; and he leaned on his broom, and twisted one very +tightly trousered leg round the other, "do you think I can sit upon the +box o' that there wagginette, drivin' miles away, and be sweeping this +here lawn same time!" + +"Master said as it was your dooty to be in this garden three days a +week; and t'other three days you was to do your stable-work--there." + +"Didn't I go out with the carriage every day this week?" + +"I don't know when you went out with the carriage, and when you didn't," +said Dan'l; "all I know is as my lawn didn't get swept; and how the +doctor expects a garden like this here to be kept tidy without help, I +should be glad to know." + +"Well, you'd better go and grumble at him, and not worry me, and--pst! +Lookye there." + +He pointed with his broom, and both men remained paralysed at the sight +which met their eyes. + +It was not so much from its extraordinary nature as from what Dan'l +afterwards spoke of as its "imperence." That last, he said, was what +staggered him, that any human boy should, in the very middle of the day, +dare to do such a thing in his garden. + +He said _his_ garden, for when speaking of it the doctor seemed to be +only some one who was allowed to walk through it for a treat. + +What the two men gazed at was the figure of a boy, in shirt and +trousers, going up the vinery roof, between where the early and the late +houses joined and there was a sloping brick coping. From this they saw +him reach the big wall against which the vinery was built, and there he +sat for a few moments motionless. + +"Why, who is he?" said Peter, in a whisper. "He went up that vinery +just like a monkey." + +Peter had never seen a monkey go up the roof of a vinery, but Dan'l did +not notice that. + +"Hold your row," said Dan'l, in a low voice; "don't speak, and we'll +ketch my nabs. Now we know where my peaches went last year." + +"But who is he!" whispered Peter. + +"I don't know, and I don't care, but I mean to have him as sure as he's +there. Now if master hadn't been so precious 'tickler about a gun, I +could ha' brought him down like a bird." + +"Lookye there," cried Peter. "See that?" + +"Oh yes, I see him," said Dan'l, as the figure ran easily along the top +of the twelve-foot wall on all-fours. "I see my gentleman. Nice little +game he's having. I'll bet a shilling he's about gorged with grapes, +and now he's on the look-out for something else. But let him alone; +wait a bit and we'll put salt on his tail before he can say what's what. +I knowed some grapes was a-going. I could about feel it, like." + +"Well, I never!" whispered Peter, peering through the laurustinus, and +watching the boy. "See that?" + +"Oh yes, I see him. Nice un he is." + +This last was consequent upon the boy running a few yards, and then +holding tightly with his hands, and kicking both legs in the air two or +three times before trotting on along the wall again as easily as a +tomcat. + +"See that?" said Peter. + +"Oh yes, I can see," said Dan'l. "He's so full o' grapes it makes him +lively," and he stared at the boy, who had suddenly stopped, and +planting his hands firmly, stood up on them, balancing himself, with his +legs spread wide in the air. + +"He'll break his neck, that's what he'll do," said Peter. + +"Good job too, I says," grumbled Dan'l. "Boys like that ought to be +done away with. He's one on 'em out o' the town. Now look here, Peter, +we've got to get him, that's what we've got to do." + +"Ah, that's better," said Peter, who had been nervous ever since a horse +ran away with him. "I don't like to see a boy doing dangerous things +that how." + +"Don't call a thing like that a boy, do yer!" said Dan'l. "I calls it +monkey rubbidge. Now you step round the house, and through the stable, +and get down that side o' the wall, and I'll go this. Don't you seem to +see him till you hear me whistle. Then grab." + +"But how am I to grab when he's up there!" said Peter. + +"Ah! 'tis high up," said Dan'l. "Wish I'd got one o' them +grappling-irons as hangs down by the bridge; I'd fetch him off pretty +quick." + +"Shall I get a fruit-ladder?" suggested Peter. + +"Nay, we don't want no fruit-ladders," grumbled Dan'l. "We'll soon +fetch his lordship down. Now then, you be off." + +"Stop a moment," said Peter, as he watched the boy intently. "Look at +him! Well, I never did!" + +It was a very true remark. Peter certainly never did, and very few boys +would have cunning enough to perform such a feat with so much ease. +For, after running about fifty yards along the top of the wall, the +little fellow turned quickly and ran back again, made offers as if he +were going to leap down, and then suddenly squatted down in exact +imitation of a cat, and began licking his arms, and passing them over +his head. + +"Well, he caps me!" cried Peter. "I never see a boy do anything like +that since I was at a show at Exeter, and then it was a bigger chap than +him." + +"Look here," said Dan'l; "I've got it. You get a big strong +clothes-prop, and I'll get another, and we'll poke him off. If he comes +down your side, mind this: he'll be like a rat, and off as quick as +quick; but don't you let him go. Drop your prop, and throw yourself on +him; we'll ketch him, and take him in to the gov'nor, and he'll know now +where the fruit goes. You couldn't net chaps like this." + +In happy ignorance of the doctor's plans, Peter and Dan'l each provided +himself with a clothes-prop, and in due time made for the appointed +sides of the wall; but no sooner did the boy catch sight of his pursuers +than he started off on another all-fours run; but this took him away +from the house, and before he had gone far he turned and ran back. + +Dan'l whistled, and Peter made a poke at the runner from one side of the +wall, while Dan'l made a savage poke from the other. + +The boy, who seemed as active as a squirrel, dodged them both, ran along +toward the vinery, and as fast as the various trees would allow the two +men followed. + +Peter was soon out of the race, for a lean-to shed on his side of the +wall put a stop to further pursuit, and Dan'l, who looked as malicious +as a savage after a wild beast, had the hunt all to himself. + +"Ah!" he shouted, as he stopped panting, "now I've got you, my fine +fellow." + +This was untrue, for he was as far off his quarry as ever, he being at +the front of the vinery, and the boy on the top of the wall right at the +back of the glass slope. + +"Now, then, none o' yer nonsense, and down yer come." + +Down the boy did not come, for he squatted there at the top, in a +sitting position, with his arms round his knees, gazing coolly but +watchfully at the gardener. + +"D'yer hear? come down!" + +The Yankee 'coon in the tree, when he saw the celebrated Colonel +Crockett taking aim at him, and in full possession of the hunter's +reputation as a dead shot, is reported to have said, "Don't shoot; I'll +come down;" and the boy might have said something of the kind to Dan'l +Copestake. But he had no faith in the gardener, and it is expecting too +much of a boy who is seated in a safe place, to conclude that he will +surrender at the first summons, especially to a fierce-looking man, who +is armed with a very big stick. + +This boy had not the least intention of giving himself up as a prisoner, +and he sat and stared at Dan'l, and Dan'l stared at him. + +"Do you hear me?" cried Dan'l; but the boy did not move a muscle, he +only stared. + +"Are you over there, Peter?" shouted Dan'l. + +"Ay! All right!" + +"You stop there, then, and nip him if he comes your way. I'll get a +ladder, and will soon have him down." + +"All right!" came from Peter again; and the boy's eyes watched keenly +the old gardener's movements. + +"Do you hear what I say!" continued Dan'l. "Am I to fetch that ladder, +or will you come down without!" + +The boy did not move. + +"Let's see: I can reach you with this here, though," Dan'l went on. +"Not going to have any more of your nonsense, my fine fellow, so now +then." + +The boy's eyes flashed as he saw the gardener come close up to the foot +of the glass slope, and reach toward him with the long ash clothes-prop; +but he measured mentally the length of that prop, and sat still, for, as +he had quickly concluded, the gardener could not, even with his arm +fully extended, reach to within some feet of where he sat. + +Dan'l pushed and poked about, and nearly broke a pane of glass, but the +boy did not stir. + +"Oh, very well: only you'd better get down; you'll have it all the worse +if I do fetch that ladder." + +Still the boy made no sign. He merely glanced to right and left, and +could have dashed along the wall at once, but that would have taken him +down the garden, toward the river, and that was the direction in which +he did not want to go. + +To his left there was a portion of the house, the wall rising a good +height, so that there was no escape in that direction. His way was +either by the garden wall, or else down the slope of the vinery, as he +had gone up. + +But, like a lion in his path, there at the foot of this slope stood +Dan'l, with the great clothes-prop, and the boy, concluding that he was +best where he was, sat and stared at the gardener, and waited. + +"Oh, very well then, my fine fellow: ladder it is," cried Dan'l; and, +sticking the prop into the ground with a savage dig, he turned and ran +off. + +It was only a feint, and he turned sharply at the end of a dozen steps, +to find, as he expected, that the boy had moved, and begun to descend. + +Dan'l ran back, and the boy slipped into his former place, and sat like +a monument of stone. + +"Oh, that's your game, is it!" said Dan'l. "But it won't do, my fine +fellow. Now, are you coming down?" + +No reply. + +Dan'l reflected. + +If he went off to fetch the ladder from the stable-yard, the boy would +slide down the top of the vinery and escape. + +That would not do. + +If he called to Peter to fetch the ladder, the boy would wait till the +groom was gone, and slip over the wall, drop, and escape that way. + +That would not do either. + +Hah! There was the labourer. He could call him. + +It was past twelve, and he had gone to his dinner, Dan'l, like Peter, +taking his at the more aristocratic hour of one. + +Dan'l was in a fix. He meant to have that boy, and make an example of +him, but a great difficulty stared him in the face. + +There was no one to call, unless he waited till the doctor came. If the +doctor came, he would perhaps take a lenient view of the matter, and let +the boy go, and, unless Dan'l could first give the prisoner a sound +thrashing with a hazel stick, one of a bundle which he had in his +tool-shed, all his trouble would have been in vain. + +So he would not call the doctor. + +He made two or three more feints of going, and each time the boy began +to descend, but only to dart back as the gardener turned. + +"Oh, that's your game, is it!" said Dan'l. "Very well; come down, but +you can't get out of the garden if you do." + +The next time, after a few minutes' thought, Dan'l turned and ran as +hard as he could, with every appearance now of going right off for the +ladder. But he had made his plans with no little calculation of +probabilities; and his idea was now to go right on till he had given the +boy time to descend, and make for one of the entrances, when he meant to +return, run him down, and seize him, before the young scamp, as he +called him, had time to clamber up any other place. + +Dan'l ran on, and the boy watched him; and as soon as the gardener +showed by his movements that he was evidently going away, began to +descend. + +Hardly, however, had he reached the ground than Dan'l turned, saw him, +and made a fresh dash to capture him. + +If the gardener had waited a couple more minutes he would have had a +better chance. As it was, the boy had time to reach the dividing wall +of the vinery wall again, but just as he was scrambling up, Dan'l was +upon him, and was in the act of grasping one arm, when it was snatched +away. + +In the effort the boy lost his composure, and the steady easy-going +confidence which had enabled him to trot along with such facility; and +the consequence was that as he made a final bound to reach the back wall +his right foot slipped, went through a pane of glass, and as this +startled him more, he made another ill-judged attempt, and, slipping, +went through the top of the vinery, only saving himself from dropping +down inside by spreading his arms across the rafters, and hanging, +caught as if in a trap. + +"Here, just you come down!" + +Directly after the doctor appeared in the study window, and, closely +followed by Helen, hurried toward the front of the vinery, where the +gardener stood. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +A RELEASE. + +"Glad you've come, sir," said the old gardener, telling a tremendous +fib. "Got one on 'em at last." + +"Got one of them?" cried the doctor. + +"Why--" + +"O papa dear! look!" cried Helen. + +"One of them nippers as is always stealing our fruit," continued Dan'l. + +"Why, Dexter," cried the doctor; "you there!" He stared wildly at the +boy, who, with his legs kicking to and fro in the vinery in search of +support, looked down from the roof of the building like a sculptured +cherub, with arms instead of wings. + +"Yes, it's all right," said the boy coolly. "Ain't much on it broken," +while Dan'l stared and scratched his head, as he felt that he had made +some mistake. + +"You wicked boy!" cried Helen, with a good deal of excitement. "How did +you get in such a position!" + +"I couldn't help it," said Dexter. "He chivied me all along the top o' +the wall with that great stick, and there's another chap t'other side. +He was at me too." + +"Is this true, Copestake!" cried the doctor angrily. + +"Well, yes, sir; I s'pose it is," said the gardener. "Me and Peter see +him a-cuttin' his capers atop o' that wall, and when we told him to come +down, he wouldn't, and fell through our vinery." + +"Who was going to come down when you was hitting at him with that big +stick?" said Dexter indignantly. + +"You had no business atop of our wall," said the gardener stoutly. "And +now look at the mischief you've done." + +"Tut--tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"Please, sir, I didn't know as he was any one you knew." + +"No, no, of course not," said the doctor pettishly. "Tut--tut--tut! +Dear me! dear me!" + +"I say, ain't some one coming to help me down?" said Dexter, in an +ill-used tone. + +"Yes, yes, of course," said the doctor. "Keep still, sir, or you'll cut +yourself." + +"I have cut myself, and it's a-bleeding," said the boy. "Look here, if +one of you goes inside this place, and holds up that big long prop, I +can put my foot in the fork at the end, and climb up again." + +"Get a ladder quickly, Copestake, and call the groom." + +"Yes, sir," said Dan'l; and he went off grumbling, while the doctor +seized the prop, and went into the vinery. + +"Are you much hurt, Dexter?" said Helen sympathisingly. + +"I d'know," he replied. "It hurts a bit. I slipped, and went through." + +"Now, sir, keep your legs still," cried the doctor from inside, as he +raised the prop. + +"All right," said the boy, and the next moment one of his feet rested in +the fork of the ash prop; but, though the prisoner struggled, and the +doctor pushed, there was no result. + +"I wants some one to lend a hand up here," said Dexter. + +"If I try I shall break some more glass. Is that old chap coming back-- +him as poked me!" + +"Yes, yes," cried Helen. "Keep still; there's a good boy." + +"No, I ain't," he said, smiling down at her in the most ludicrous way. +"I ain't a good boy. I wish I was. Will he give it me very much?" + +He tapped with his hand on the glass, as he pointed down at the doctor, +who was still supporting the boy's foot with the prop. + +Helen did not reply, for the simple reason that she did not know what to +say; and the boy, feeling bound, was making a fresh struggle to free +himself, when Dan'l came in sight, round the end of the house, with a +light ladder, and just behind him came Peter, with a board used when +glass was being repaired. + +"Here they come," said Dexter, watching the approach eagerly. "I am +glad. It's beginning to hurt ever so." + +Dan'l laid the ladder against the vinery at some distance from the +front, so that it should lie upon the roof at the same angle, and then, +holding it steady, Peter, who was grinning largely, mounted with the +board, which he placed across the rafters, so that he could kneel down, +and, taking hold of Dexter, who clasped his hands about his neck, he +bodily drew him out, and would have carried him down had the boy not +preferred to get down by himself. + +As he reached the foot of the ladder the doctor was standing ready for +him, armed with the clothes-prop, which he held in his hand, as if it +were a weapon intended for punishment. + +The boy looked up in the stern face before him, and the doctor put on a +tremendous frown. + +"Please, sir, I'm very sorry, sir," said Dexter. + +"You young rascal!" began the doctor, seizing his arm. + +"Oh, I say, please, sir, don't hit a fellow with a thing like that." + +"Bah!" ejaculated the doctor, throwing down the prop, which fell on the +grass with a loud thud. "Copestake!--Peter!--take those things away, +and send for the glazier to put in those squares. Here, Dexter; this +way." + +The doctor strode away half a dozen steps, and then stopped and gazed +down. + +"Where is your jacket, sir? and where are your boots?" + +"I tucked 'em under that tree there that lies on the grass," said the +boy, pointing to a small cedar. + +"Fetch them out, sir." + +Dexter went toward the tree, and his first instinct was to make a dash +and escape, anywhere, so as to avoid punishment, but as he stooped down +and drew his articles of attire from beneath the broad frond-like +branches, he caught sight of Helen's eyes fixed upon him, so full of +trouble and amusement that he walked back, put his hand in the doctor's, +and walked with him into the house. + +Helen followed, and as she passed through the window Dan'l turned to +Peter with-- + +"I say, who is he?" + +"I dunno. Looks like a young invalid." + +"Ay, that's it," said the gardener. "Hair cut short, and looks very +white. He's a young luneattic come for the governor to cure. Well, if +that's going to be it, I shall resign my place." + +"Oh, I wouldn't do that," said Peter, who was moved to say it from the +same feeling which induced the old woman to pray for long life to the +tyrant--for fear they might get a worse to rule over them. "Doctor'll +make him better. Rum-looking little chap." + +As they spoke, they were carrying the ladder and board round to the back +of the house, and, in doing so, they had to pass the kitchen door, where +Maria was standing. + +"See that game!" said Peter. + +"Oh yes. I saw him out of one of the bedroom windows." + +"Young patient, ain't he?" said Peter. + +"Patient! Why, he's a young workhouse boy as master's took a fancy to. +I never see such games, for my part." + +Peter whistled, and the head-gardener repeated his determination to +resign. + +"And he'll never get another gardener like me," he said. + +"That's a true word, Mr Copestake, sir," said Peter seriously. And +then to himself: "No, there never was another made like you, you old +tyrant. I wish you would go, and then we should have a little peace." + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +DEXTER IS VERY SORRY. + +Dexter walked into the doctor's study, and Helen came as rearguard +behind. + +"Now, sir," said the doctor sternly, "I suppose you know that I'm very +much displeased with you." + +"Yes, sir, of course you are," said the boy seriously. "I don't wonder +at it." + +Dr Grayson bit his lip. + +"Are you going to cane me?" + +"Wait and see, sir. Now, first thing, you go up to your room and wash +your hands, and dress yourself properly. Then come down to me." + +Dexter glanced at Helen, but she kept her eyes averted, and the boy went +slowly out, keeping his gaze fixed upon her all the time. + +"A young scamp!" said the doctor, as soon as they were alone. "I'm +afraid I shall have to send him back." + +Helen looked at him. + +"I expected him to be a little wild," continued the doctor; "but he is +beyond bearing. What do you say, my dear? Too bad, is he not?" + +Helen was silent for a few moments. + +"It is too soon to say that, papa," she replied at last. "There is a +great deal in the boy that is most distasteful, but, on the other hand, +I cannot help liking the little fellow." + +"Yes; that's just it," cried the doctor. "I feel as if I should like to +give him a sound thrashing, but, at the same time, I feel that I could +not raise a hand against him. What's to be done? Shall I send him +back, and choose another?" + +"No, no, papa. If you intend to adopt a boy, let us keep this one, and +see what he turns out." + +Just then the bell rang for lunch, and a minute after Dexter came +running down into the room, with a smile, as if nothing was the matter, +shining out of his eyes. + +"I say, wasn't that the dinner-bell?" he cried. "I am so precious +hungry." + +"And have you no apologies to make, sir? Aren't you sorry you were so +mischievous, and broke the top of my vinery?" + +"Yes; I'm very sorry, sir; but it was that old chap's fault. He made me +run and slip. I say, what would he have done if he had caught me?" + +"Punished you, or brought you in to me, sir. Now, then, I've been +talking about sending you back to the workhouse. You are too +mischievous for me." + +"Send me back!" + +"Yes, of course. I want a boy who will be good." + +"Well, I will." + +"So you said before, but you are not good. You are about as mischievous +a young rascal as I ever saw in my life." + +"Yes, sir; that's what Mr Sibery used to say," replied the boy quietly. +"I don't want to be." + +"Then why are you, sir?" + +The boy shook his head, and looked up at the doctor thoughtfully. + +"I suppose it's in me," he said. + +Helen bit her lip, and turned away, while her father gave his head a +fierce rub, as if he was extremely vexed. + +"Shall you send me back, sir!" said Dexter at last; and his look was +full of wistful appeal. + +"Well, I shall think about it," said the doctor. + +"I don't want to go," said the boy thoughtfully. "You don't want me to +go, do you?" he continued, turning to Helen. + +"Here, the lunch is getting cold," said the doctor. "Come along." + +As he spoke he half-pushed Dexter before him, and pointed to a chair. + +The boy hesitated, but a sharp command from the doctor made him scuffle +into his place, after which the grace was said, and the dinner commenced +for Dexter--the lunch for his patron and friend. + +Roast fowl most delicately cooked, with a delicious sauce; in addition +to that made with bread; and there was an ornamentation round the dish +of tempting sausages. + +The odour from the steaming dishes was enough to have attracted any +coarsely-fed workhouse boy, just as a flower, brings a bee from afar. + +Helen was helped to a couple of choice slices from the breast, and then +the doctor, looking stern all the while, carved off the liver wing, with +a fine long piece of juicy breast adhering, and laid it on a plate, with +the biggest sausage, gravy, and sauce, Maria carrying the plate +afterwards to Helen to be well supplied with vegetables. + +Then, according to custom, Maria departed with her nose in the air, and +her bosom overcharged with indignant remonstrances, which she was going +to let off at Mrs Millett. + +The meal was commenced in silence, Dexter taking up his knife and fork, +and watching by turns the doctor and Helen, to see how they handled +theirs. Then he cut the sausage in half, just as the doctor had cut +his, and looked hard at him, but the doctor was gazing down at his plate +and frowning. + +Dexter looked at Helen, but she was gazing at her father, and everything +was very still in the dining-room, while from without, faintly heard, +there came the rippling song of a lark, far away over the meadow across +the river. + +That fowl smelt delicious, and looked good in the extreme, but Dexter +laid down his knife and fork, and sat perfectly still. + +Helen saw everything, but she did not speak, and the annoyance she had +felt began to diminish, for the boy was evidently suffering keenly. + +"Hallo!" said the doctor. "Don't you like chicken!" + +The boy started, and looked up at him with a troubled face. + +"I say, don't you like chicken, sir!" + +Dexter tried to answer, but the words would not come; and he sat there +with the tears gathering in his eyes, though he tried hard to choke his +emotion down. + +The doctor was very angry, and sadly disappointed; but he said no more, +only went on with his lunch. + +"Eat your dinner," said Helen, after a time; and she leant over toward +the boy, and whispered the words kindly. + +He gave her a quick, grateful look, but he could not speak. + +"Come, sir, eat your dinner," said the doctor at last. + +"Please, sir, I can't," the boy faltered. + +"Why not?" + +Dexter had to make another fight to keep down his tears before he could +say-- + +"Please, sir, I never could eat my breakfast when I knew I was going to +have the cane." + +The doctor grunted, frowned, and went on eating, while the boy directed +a pitiful appealing look at Helen. + +"Yes," she said at last, "what do you want?" + +"May I go up to that place where I slept last night?" + +Helen glanced at her father, who nodded shortly, and went on with his +dinner, while the required permission being given by Helen, the boy rose +hastily, and hurried out of the room. + +Doctor Grayson was silent for a few minutes, and then he took a glass of +sherry. + +"A young scoundrel!" he said. "It's not pleasant to have to say so, but +I've made a mistake." + +"And are you going to give up your project, papa?" said Helen. + +"_No_," he thundered. "Certainly not. It's very awkward, for that +bullet-headed drill-sergeant Hippetts will laugh at me, and say `I told +you so,' but I shall have to take the boy back." + +Helen was silent. + +"He told me I should," he continued; "but I would not believe him. The +young dog's face attracted me. He looked so frank and ingenuous. But +I'll soon pick out another. My theory is right, and if I have ten +thousand obstacles, I'll carry it out, and prove to the world that I +knew what I was at." + +Helen went on slowly with her lunch, thinking deeply the while. + +"Well?" said the doctor angrily, "why don't you speak? Are you +triumphing over my first downfall!" + +Helen looked up at her father, and smiled reproachfully. + +"I was thinking about Dexter," she said softly. + +"A confounded ungrateful young dog! Taken him from that wretched place, +clothed him, offered him a home of which he might be proud, and he turns +upon me like that!" + +"It was the act of a high-spirited, mischievous boy," said Helen +quietly. + +"Mischievous! I should think it was. Confound him! But I'll have no +more of his tricks. Back he goes to the Union, and I'll have one +without so much spirit." + +Helen continued her lunch, and the doctor went on with his, but only to +turn pettishly upon his child. + +"I wish to goodness you'd say something, Helen," he cried. "It's so +exasperating to have every one keeping silence like that." + +Helen looked up and smiled. + +"Yes, and that's just as aggravating," said the doctor. "Now you are +laughing at me." + +"No, no; I was thinking very seriously about your project." + +"One which I mean to carry out, madam." + +"Of course, papa," said Helen quietly; "but I would not be damped at the +outset." + +"What do you mean, Helen?" + +"I mean that I should not take that poor boy back to the life from which +you have rescued him, just because he has displayed a few pranks, all +due to the exuberance of his nature. Coming from such a place, and +making such a change, he is sure to feel it strongly. He is, so to +speak, bubbling over with excitement and--" + +"Here, stop a moment," said the doctor, in astonishment. "I give up. +You had better write that book." + +"Not I, papa dear," said Helen, smiling. "And if you are really bent +upon this experiment--" + +"And I am," said the doctor. "Nothing shall change me." + +"Then I think you have selected the very boy." + +"You do!" said the doctor excitedly. + +"Yes. He is just the wild little savage for you to reclaim." + +"But--but a little too bad, Helen?" + +"No, papa, I think not; and I think you are not justified in saying bad. +I believe he is a very good boy." + +"You do?" + +"Yes; full of mischief as a boy can be, but very, very affectionate." + +"Yes. I think he is," assented the doctor. + +"I think he will be very teachable." + +"Humph!" + +"And it was plain to see that he was touched to the heart with grief at +our anger." + +"Or is it all his artfulness!" + +"Oh no, papa! Certainly not that. The boy is frank and affectionate as +can be." + +"Then you think it is possible to make a gentleman of him?" + +"If it is possible of any boy whom you could get from the Union, papa." + +"And you really think he is frank and tender-hearted?" + +Helen pointed to the boy's untouched plate. + +"And you would not exchange him for something a little more tractable?" + +"I don't think you could. I really begin to like the mischievous little +fellow, and I believe that in a very short time we should see a great +change." + +"You do?" + +"Yes; but of course we must be prepared for a great many more outbreaks +of this kind." + +"Unless I stop them." + +"No, no, you must not stop them," said Helen quietly. "These little +ebullitions must not be suppressed in that way--I mean with undue +severity." + +"Then you really would not take--I mean send him back?" + +"No," said Helen. "I think, perhaps, I could help you in all this." + +"My dear Helen," cried the doctor eagerly. "My dear child, you don't +know how pleased you make me. I felt that for your sake I must take him +back." + +"For my sake?" exclaimed Helen. + +"Yes; that it was too bad to expose you to the petty annoyances and +troubles likely to come from keeping him. But if you feel that you +could put up with it till we have tamed him down--" + +Helen rose from her chair, and went behind her father's, to lay her +hands upon his shoulders, when he took them in his, and crossed them +upon his breast, so as to draw her face down over his shoulder. + +"My dear father," she said, as she laid her cheek against his, "I don't +know--I cannot explain, but this boy seems to have won his way with me +very strangely, and I should be deeply grieved if you sent him away." + +"My dear Helen, you've taken a load off my mind. There, go and fetch +the poor fellow down. He wanted his dinner two hours ago, and he must +be starved." + +Helen kissed her father's forehead, and went quietly up to Dexter's +room, listened for a few moments, heard a low sob, and then, softly +turning the handle of the door, she entered, to stand there, quite taken +aback. + +The boy was crouched in a heap on the floor, sobbing silently, and with +his breast heaving with the agony of spirit he suffered. + +For that she was prepared, but the tears rose in her eyes as she grasped +another fact. There, neatly folded and arranged, just as the Union +teaching had prompted him, were the clothes the boy had worn that day, +even to the boots placed under the chair, upon which they lay, while the +boy had taken out and dressed himself again in his old workhouse livery, +his cap lying on the floor by his side. + +Helen crossed to him softly, bent over him, and laid her little white +hand upon his head. + +The boy sprang to his feet as if he had felt a blow, and stood before +her with one arm laid across his eyes, as, in shame for his tears, he +bent his head. + +"Dexter," she said again, "what are you going to do?" + +"Going back again," he said hoarsely. "I'm such a bad un. They always +said I was." + +"And is that the way to make yourself better?" + +"I can't help it," he said, half defiantly. "It's no use to try, and +I'm going back." + +"To grieve me, and make me sorry that I have been mistaken?" + +"Yes," he said huskily, and with his arm still across his eyes. "I'm +going back, and old Sibery may cut me to pieces," he added passionately. +"I don't care." + +"Look up at me, Dexter," said Helen gently, as she laid her hand upon +the boy's arm. "Tell me," she continued, "which will you do?--go back, +or try to be a good boy, and do what you know I wish you to do, and +stay!" + +He let her arm fall, gazed wildly in her eyes, and then caught her hand +and dropped upon his knees, sobbing passionately. + +"I will try; I will try," he cried, as soon as he could speak. "Take me +down to him, and let him cane me, and I won't cry out a bit. I'll take +it all like Bill Jones does, and never make a sound, but don't, don't +send me away." + +Helen Grayson softly sank upon her knees beside the boy, and took him in +her arms to kiss him once upon the forehead. + +"There, Dexter," she said gently, as she rose. "Now bathe your eyes, +dress yourself again, and come downstairs to me in the dining-room, as +quickly as you can." + +Helen went to her own room for a few moments to bathe her own eyes, and +wonder how it was that she should be so much moved, and in so short a +time. + +The doctor was anxiously awaiting her return. + +"Well!" he said; "where is the young scamp!" + +"In his room," replied Helen, "and--" + +"Well--well!" said the doctor impatiently. + +"Oh no, father dear," said Helen quietly, but with more emotion in her +voice than even she knew. "We must not send him back." + +Then she told what had passed, and the doctor nodded his head. + +"No," he said; "we must not send him back." + +Just then there was a knock at the door, and Maria entered to clear +away. + +"Not yet, Maria," said Helen quietly. "Take that chicken back, and ask +Mrs Millett to make it hot again." + +"And the vegetables, ma'am!" + +"Yes. I will ring when we want them." + +Maria took the various dishes away with a very ill grace, and dabbed +them down on the kitchen table, almost hard enough to produce cracks, as +she delivered her message to Mrs Millett, who looked annoyed. + +"You can do as you please, Mrs Millett," said Maria, giving herself a +jerk as if a string inside her had been pulled; "but I'm a-going to look +out for a new place." + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +MASTER GRAYSON GOES FOR A WALK. + +"Couldn't have believed it," said the doctor one evening, when a week +had passed away. "It's wonderful." Helen smiled. + +"A whole week, and the young dog's behaviour has been even better than I +could wish. Well, it's very hopeful, and I am extremely glad, Helen, +extremely glad." + +Helen said nothing, but she thought a good deal, and, among other +things, she wondered how Dexter would have behaved if he had been left +to himself. Consequently, she felt less sanguine than the doctor. + +The fact was that she had given up everything to devote the whole of her +time to the boy, thus taking care that he was hardly ever left to +himself. + +She read to him, and made him read to her, and battled hard to get him +out of his schoolboy twang. + +Taken by his bright, handsome face, and being clever with her brush, she +had made him sit while she painted his likeness; that is, she tried to +make him sit, but it was like dealing with so much quicksilver, and she +was fain to give up the task as an impossibility after scolding, +coaxing, and bribing, coming to the conclusion that the boy could not +keep still. + +She played games with him; and at last risked public opinion very +bravely by taking the boy out with her for a walk, when one of the first +persons she met was Lady Danby. + +"I say, what did she mean!" said Dexter, as they walked away. + +"That lady--Lady Danby!" + +"Yes. Why did she look sorry for me, and call me a _protege_?" + +"Oh," said Helen, smiling; "it is only a French word for any one who is +adopted or protected, as papa is protecting you." + +"But is it a funny word!" + +"Funny? Oh dear no!" + +"Then why did she laugh, curious like?" + +Helen could not answer that question. + +"She looked at me," said Dexter, "as if she didn't like me. I've seen +ladies look like that when they've come to see the schools, and us boy's +used to feel as if we'd like to throw slates at them." + +"You have no occasion to trouble yourself about other people's opinions, +Dexter," said Helen quietly; "and of course now you couldn't throw +stones or anything else at a lady." + +"No; but I could at a boy. I could hit that chap ever so far off. Him +as was with that Lady Danby." + +"Oh, nonsense! come along; we'll go down by the river." + +"Yes; come along," cried Dexter excitedly; "but I don't see why he +should sneer at me for nothing." + +"What? Master Danby!" + +"Yes, him. All the time you two were talking, he kept walking round me, +and making faces as if I was physic." + +"You fancied it, Dexter." + +"Oh no, I didn't. I know when anybody likes me, and when anybody +doesn't. Lady Danby didn't like me, and she give a sneery laugh when +she called me a _protege_, and when you weren't looking that chap made +an offer at me with the black cane he carried, that one with a silver +top and black tassels." + +"Did he?" + +"Didn't he just! I only wish he had. I'd ha' given him such a oner. +Why, I could fight two like him with one hand tied behind me." + +Helen's face grew cloudy with trouble, but she said nothing then, only +hurried the boy along toward the river. + +In spite of her determination she avoided the town main street, and +struck off by the narrow turning which led through the old churchyard, +with its grand lime-tree avenue and venerable church, whose crocketed +spire was a landmark for all the southern part of the county. + +"Look, look!" cried Dexter. "See those jackdaws fly out? There's one +sitting on that old stone face. See me fetch him down." + +"No, no," cried Helen, catching his arm. "You might break a window." + +"No, I wouldn't. You see." + +"But why throw at the poor bird? It has done you no harm." + +"No, but it's a jackdaw, and you always want to throw stones at +jackdaws." + +"And at blackbirds and thrushes and starlings too, Dexter?" said Helen. + +The boy looked guilty. + +"You didn't see me throw at them?" + +"Yes, I did, and I thought it very cruel." + +"Don't you like me to throw stones at the birds?" + +"Certainly I do not." + +"Then I won't," said Dexter; and he took aim with the round stone he +carried at the stone urn on the top of a tomb, hitting it with a +sounding crack. + +"There, wasn't that a good aim!" he said, with a smile of triumph. "It +couldn't hurt that. That wasn't cruel." + +Helen turned crimson with annoyance, for she had suddenly become aware +of the fact that a gentleman, whom she recognised as the Vicar, was +coming along the path quickly, having evidently seen the stone-throwing. + +She was quite right in her surmise. It was the Vicar; and not +recognising her with her veil down, he strode toward them, making up an +angry speech. + +"Ah, Miss Grayson," he said, raising his hat, and ceasing to make his +stick quiver in his hand, "I did not recognise you." + +Then followed the customary hand-shakings and inquiries, during which +Dexter hung back, and gazed up at the crocketed spire, and at the +jackdaws flying in and out of the slits which lit the stone staircase +within. + +"And who is this?" said the Vicar, raising his glasses to his eyes, but +knowing perfectly well all the time, he having been one of the first to +learn of the doctor's eccentricity. "Ah, to be sure; Doctor Grayson's +_protege_. Yes, I remember him perfectly well, and I suppose you +remember me!" + +"Yes, I remember you," said Dexter. "You called me a stupid boy because +I couldn't say all of _I desire_." + +"Did I? Ah, to be sure, I remember. Well, but you are not stupid now. +I dare say, if I asked you, you would remember every word." + +"Don't think I could," said the boy; "it's the hardest bit in the Cat." + +"But I'm not going to ask you," said the Vicar. "Miss Grayson here will +examine you, I'm sure. There, good day. Good day, Miss Grayson;" and, +to Helen's great relief, he shook hands with both. "And I'm to ask you +not to throw stones in the churchyard," he added, shaking his stick +playfully. "My windows easily break." + +He nodded and smiled again, as Helen and her young companion went on, +watching them till they had passed through the further gate and +disappeared. + +"A mischievous young rascal!" he said to himself. "I believe I should +have given him the stick if it had been anybody else." + +As he said this, he walked down a side path which led past the tomb that +had formed Dexter's target. + +"I dare say he has chipped the urn," he continued, feeling exceedingly +vexed, as a Vicar always does when he finds any wanton defacement of the +building and surroundings in his charge. + +"No," he said aloud, and in a satisfied tone, "unhurt. But tut--tut-- +tut--tut! what tiresome young monkeys boys are!" + +He turned back, and went thoughtfully toward the town. + +"Singular freak on the part of Grayson. Most eccentric man," he +continued. "Danby tells me--now really what a coincidence! Sir James, +by all that is singular! Ah, my dear Sir James, I was thinking about +you. Ah, Edgar, my boy, how are you?" + +He shook hands warmly with the magistrate and his son. + +"Thinking about me, eh!" said Sir James, rather pompously. "Then I'll +be bound to say that I can tell you what you are thinking." + +"No, I believe I may say for certain you cannot," said the Vicar, +smiling. + +"Of calling on me for a subscription." + +"Wrong this time," said the Vicar good-humouredly. "No; I have just met +Miss Grayson with that boy." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes; very eccentric of Grayson, is it not!" + +"Whim for a week or two. Soon get tired of it," said Sir James, +laughing. + +"Think so?" + +"Sure of it, sir; sure of it." + +"Well, I hope not," said the Vicar thoughtfully. "Fine thing for the +poor boy. Make a man of him." + +"Ah, but he is not content with that. He means to make a gentleman of +him, and that's an impossibility." + +"Ah, well," said the Vicar good-humouredly; "we shall see." + +"Yes, sir," said Sir James; "we shall see--we shall see; but it's a most +unpleasant episode in our midst. Of course, being such near neighbours, +I have been on the most intimate terms with the Graysons, and Lady Danby +is warmly attached to Helen Grayson; but now they have this boy there, +they want us to know him too." + +"Indeed!" said the Vicar, looking half-amused, half puzzled. + +"Yes, sir," said Sir James; "and they want--at least Grayson does--Edgar +here to become his playmate." + +"Ah!" ejaculated the Vicar. + +"Sent word yesterday that they should be glad if Edgar would go and +spend the afternoon. Awkward, sir; extremely awkward." + +"Did he go?" + +"Go? no, sir; decidedly not. Edgar refused to go, point-blank." + +Master Edgar was walking a little way in front, looking like a small +edition of his father in a short jacket, for he imitated Sir James's +stride, put on his tall hat at the same angle, and carried his black +cane with its two silken tassels in front of him, as a verger in church +carries a wand. + +"I wasn't going," said Master Edgar importantly. "I don't want to know +a boy like that." + +"What would you do under the circumstances?" said Sir James. + +"Do?" said the Vicar; "why I should--I beg your pardon--will you excuse +me? I am wanted." + +He pointed to a lady who was signalling to him with a parasol, and +hurried off. + +"How lucky!" he said to himself. "I don't want to offend Sir James; but +'pon my word, knowing what I do of his young cub, I would rather have +Grayson's _protege_ on spec." + +"Where are we going for a walk, pa!" said Master Edgar importantly. + +"Through the quarry there, and by the windmill, and back home." + +"_No_; I meant to go down by the river, pa, to see if there are any +fish." + +"Another day will do for that, Eddy." + +"No, it won't. I want to go now." + +"Oh, very well," said Sir James; and they took the way to the meadows. + +Meanwhile Helen and Dexter had gone on some distance ahead. + +"There, you see, Dexter; how easy it is to do wrong," said Helen, as, +feeling greatly relieved, she hurried on toward the meadows. + +"I didn't know it was doing wrong to have a cockshy," said Dexter. +"Seems to me that nearly everything nice that you want to do is wrong." + +"Oh no," said Helen, smiling at the boy's puzzled face. + +"Seems like it," said Dexter. "I say, he was going to scold me, only he +found I was with you, and that made him stop. Wish I hadn't thrown the +stone." + +"So do I," said Helen quickly. "Come, you have broken yourself off +several bad habits this last week, and I shall hope soon to find that +you have stopped throwing stones." + +"But mayn't I throw anything else?" + +"Oh yes; your ball." + +"But I haven't got a ball." + +"Then you shall have one," said Helen. "We'll buy one as we go back. +There, it was a mistake, Dexter, so remember not to do it again." + +They were now on the banks of the glancing river, the hay having been +lately cut, and the way open right to the water's edge. + +"Yes, I'll remember," said Dexter. "Look--look at the fish. Oh, don't +I wish I had a rod and line! Here, wait a moment." + +He was down on his chest, reaching with his hand in the shallow water. + +"Why, Dexter," said Helen, laughing, "you surely did not think that you +could catch fishes with your hand!" + +"No," said the boy, going cautiously forward and striking an attitude; +"but you see me hit one." + +As he spoke he threw a large round pebble which he had picked out of the +river-bed with great force, making the water splash up, while, instead +of sinking, the stone skipped from the surface, dipped again, and then +disappeared. + +As the stone made its last splash, the reality of what he had done +seemed to come to him, and he turned scarlet as he met Helen's eyes. + +"Dexter!" she said reproachfully. + +The boy took off his cap, looked in it, rubbed his closely cropped head +in a puzzled way, and put his cap slowly on again, to stand once more +gazing at his companion. + +"I can't tell how it is," he said dolefully. "I think there must be +something wrong in my head. It don't go right. I never mean to do what +you don't like, but somehow I always do." + +"Look there, Dexter," said Helen quickly; "those bullocks seem vicious; +we had better go back." + +She pointed to a drove of bullocks which had been put in the newly-cut +meadows by one of the butchers in the town, and the actions of the +animals were enough to startle any woman, for, being teased by the +flies, they were careering round the field with heads down and tails up, +in a lumbering gallop, and approaching the spot where the couple stood. + +They were down by the water, both the stile they had crossed and that by +which they would leave the meadow about equidistant, while, as the +bullocks were making straight for the river to wade in, and try to rid +themselves of their torment, it seemed as if they were charging down +with serious intent. + +"Come: quick! let us run," cried Helen in alarm, and she caught at +Dexter's hand. + +"What! run away from them!" cried the boy stoutly. "Don't you be afraid +of them. You come along." + +"No, no," cried Helen; "it is not safe." + +But, to her horror, Dexter shook himself free, snatched off his cap, and +rushed straight at the leading bullock, a great heavy beast with long +horns, and now only fifty yards away, while the drove were close at its +heels. + +The effect was magical. + +No sooner did the great animal see the boy running forward than it +stopped short, and began to paw up the ground and shake its head, the +drove following the example of their leader, while, to Helen, as she +stood motionless with horror, it seemed as if the boy's fate was sealed. + +For a few moments the bullock stood fast, but by the time Dexter was +within half a dozen yards, he flung his cap right in the animal's face, +and, with a loud snort, it turned as on a pivot, and dashed off toward +the upper part of the field, now driving the whole of the rest before +it. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Dexter, picking up his cap, and coming back +panting. "That's the way to serve them. Come along." + +Helen was very white, but the colour began to come in her cheeks again +as she saw the boy's bright, frank, animated face; and, as they crossed +the second stile, and rambled on through the pleasant meads, it began to +dawn upon her that perhaps it would not prove to be so unpleasant a task +after all to tame the young savage placed in her hands. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +A PLEASANT LESSON. + +One minute Helen Grayson was delighted at the freshness of nature, and +the genuine delight and enthusiasm displayed by her companion, the next +there came quite a cloud over everything, for it seemed to her that here +was a bright young spirit corroded and spoiled by the surroundings to +which it had been accustomed. + +"What's that? What flower's this? Oh, look at that butterfly! Here, +Miss Grayson, see here--a long thin fly with his body all blue; and such +lovely wings. There's another with purple edges to it. Oh, how +lovely!" + +Helen's eyes brightened, and she began to enjoy her walk, and forget the +stone-throwing, when Dexter damped her enjoyment. + +"Oh, here's a lark!" he cried, plunging down into a ditch, and +reappearing after a hunt in the long wet grass with a large greenish +frog. + +"What have you found, Dexter!" + +"A jolly old frog. Look here; I'll show you how the boys do up there at +the House." + +"I think you had better not," said Helen, wincing. + +"But it's such a game. You get a flat piece of wood, about so long, and +you lay it across a stone. Then you set the frog on one end, and +perhaps he hops off. If he does, you catch him again, and put him on +the end of the wood over and over again till he sits still, and he does +when he is tired. Then you have a stick ready, as if you were going to +play at cat, and you hit the end of the stick--" + +"Oh!" ejaculated Helen. + +"I don't mean the end where the frog is," cried Dexter quickly, as he +saw Helen's look of disgust; "I mean the other end; and then the frog +flies up in the air ever so high, and kicks out his legs as if he was +swimming, and--" + +Dexter began his description in a bright, animated way, full of +gesticulation; but as he went on the expression in his companion's face +seemed to chill him. He did not understand what it meant, only he felt +that he was doing or saying something which was distasteful; and he +gradually trailed off, and stood staring with his narrative unfinished, +and the frog in his hand. + +"Could you do that now, Dexter!" said Helen suddenly. + +"Do it?" he faltered. + +"Yes; with the frog." + +"I haven't got a bit of flat wood, and I have no stick, and if I had-- +I--you--I--" + +He stopped short, with his head on one side, and his brows puckered up, +gazing into Helen's eyes. Then he looked down, at the frog, and back at +Helen. + +"You don't mean it?" he said sharply. "You don't want me to? I know: +you mean it would hurt the frog." + +"Would it hurt you, Dexter, if somebody put you on one end of a plank, +and then struck the other end!" + +The boy took off his cap and scratched his head with his little finger, +the others being closed round the frog, which was turned upside down. + +"The boys always used to do it up at the House," he said apologetically. + +"Why!" said Helen gravely. + +"Because it was such fun; but they always made them hop well first. +They'd begin by taking great long jumps, and then, as the boys hunted +them, the jumps would get shorter and shorter, and they'd be so tired +that it was easy to make them sit still on the piece of wood." + +"And when they had struck the wood, and driven it into the air, what did +they do to the poor thing then?" + +"Sent it up again." + +"And then?" + +"Oh, they caught it--some of the boys did--caught it like a ball." + +"Have you ever done so?" + +Dexter shuffled about from foot to foot, and looked at the prospect, +then at the frog, and then slowly up at the clear, searching eyes +watching him. + +"Yes," he said, with a sigh; "lots of times." + +"And was it to save the poor thing from being hurt by the fall on the +hard ground!" + +Dexter tried hard to tell a lie, but somehow he could not. + +"No," he said slowly. "It was to put it back on the stick, so as the +other boys could not catch it first." + +"What was done then!" + +Dexter was silent, and he seemed to be taking a wonderful deal of +interest in the frog, which was panting hard in his hot hand, with only +its comical face peeping out between his finger and thumb, the bright +golden irised eyes seeming to stare into his, and the loose skin of its +throat quivering. + +"Well, Dexter, why don't you tell me!" + +"Am I to?" said the boy slowly. + +"Of course." + +There were a few more moments of hesitation, and then the boy said with +an effort-- + +"They used--" + +He paused again. + +"We used to get lots of stones and shy at 'em till they was dead." + +There was a long silence here, during which Helen Grayson watched the +play in the boy's countenance, and told herself that there was a +struggle going on between the good and evil in the young nature, and +once more she asked herself how she could hesitate in the task before +her. + +Meanwhile it was very uncomfortable for the frog. The day was hot; +Dexter's hand was hotter still; and though there was the deliciously +cool gurgling river close at hand, with plenty of sedge, and the roots +of water grasses, where it might hide and enjoy its brief span of life, +it was a prisoner; and if frogs can think and know anything about the +chronicles of their race, it was thinking of its approaching fate, and +wondering how many of its young tadpoles would survive to be as big as +its parent, and whether it was worth while after all. + +"Dexter," said Helen suddenly, and her voice sounded so clear and +thrilling that the boy started, and looked at her in a shame-faced +manner. "Suppose you saw a boy--say like--like--" + +"That chap we saw with the hat and stick? him who sneered at me?" + +Helen winced in turn. She had young Edgar Danby in her mind, but was +about to propose some other young lad for her illustration; but the boy +had divined her thought, and she did not shrink now from the feeling +that above all things she must be frank if she wished her companion to +be. + +"Yes; young Danby. Suppose you saw him torturing a frog, a lowly +reptile, but one of God's creatures, in that cruel way, what would you +say, now?" + +"I should say he was a beast." + +Helen winced again, for the declaration was more emphatic and to the +point than she had anticipated. + +"And what would you do?" he continued. + +"I'd punch his head, and take the frog away from him. Please, Miss +Grayson," he continued earnestly; "I didn't ever think it was like that. +We always used to do it--we boys always did, and--and--" + +"You did not know then what you know now. Surely, Dexter, you will +never be so cruel again." + +"If you don't want me to, I won't," he said quickly. + +"Ah, but I want you to be frank and manly for a higher motive than that, +Dexter," she said, laying her hand upon his shoulder. "There, I will +not say any more now. What are you going to do!" + +"Put him in the river, and let him swim away." + +The boy darted to the side of the rippling stream, stooped down, and +lowered the hand containing the frog into the water, opened it, and for +a moment or two the half-dead reptile sat there motionless. Then there +was a vigorous kick, and it shot off into the clear water, diving right +down among the water weeds, and disappearing from their view. + +"There!" said Dexter, jumping up and looking relieved. "You are not +cross with me now!" + +"I have not been cross with you," she said; "only a little grieved." + +"Couldn't he swim!" cried the boy, who was anxious to turn the +conversation. "I can swim like that, and dive too. We learned in our +great bath, and--Oh, I say, hark at the bullocks." + +Helen listened, and could hear a low, muttering bellow in the next +meadow, accompanied by the dull sounds of galloping hoofs, which were +near enough to make the earth of the low, marshy bottom through which +the river ran quiver slightly where they stood. + +Just then there was a piercing shriek, as of a woman in peril, and +directly after a man's voice heard shouting for help. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +RAMPANT BEEF. + +"Here's something the matter!" cried Dexter; and, forgetting everything +in the excitement of the moment, he ran back as hard as he could tear to +the footpath leading to the stile they had crossed, the high untrimmed +hedge between the fields concealing what was taking place. + +Helen followed quickly, feeling certain the while that the drove of +bullocks in the next meadow were the cause of the trouble and alarm. + +Dexter reached the stile far in advance; and when at last Helen attained +to the same post of observation, it was to see Sir James Danby at the +far side standing upon the next stile toward the town, shouting, and +frantically waving his hat and stick, while between her and the stout +baronet there was the drove of bullocks, and Dexter approaching them +fast. + +For a few moments Helen could not understand what was the matter, but +directly after, to her horror, she saw that young Edgar Danby was on the +ground, with one of the bullocks standing over him, smelling at the +prostrate boy, and apparently trying to turn him over with one of its +horns. + +"Here! Hi!" shouted Dexter; "bring me your stick." + +But Sir James, who had been chased by the leading bullock, was +breathless, exhausted, and too nervous to attempt his son's rescue. All +he seemed capable of doing was to shout hoarsely, and this he did more +feebly every moment. + +Dexter made a rush at the bullocks, and the greater part of the drove +turned tail; but, evidently encouraged by its success, the leader of the +little herd stood firm, tossed its head on high, shook its horns, and +uttered a defiant bellow. + +"Here, I can't do anything without a stick," said Dexter, in an ill-used +tone, and he turned and ran toward Sir James, while, still more +encouraged by what must have seemed to its dense brain like a fresh +triumph, the bullock placed one of its horns under Edgar Danby and +cleverly turned him right over. + +"Here, give me your stick!" shouted Dexter, as he ran up to Sir James. +"You shouldn't be afraid o' them." + +"The boy will be killed," cried Sir James, in agony; and he shouted +again, "Help! help!" + +"No, he won't," cried Dexter, snatching the magistrate's heavy ebony +stick from his hand. "I'll make 'em run." + +Raising the stick in the air, Dexter ran toward where the whole drove +were trotting back, and gathering round their leader, who now began to +sing its war-song, throwing up its muzzle so as to straighten its +throat, and emitting a bellow that was, in spite of its size, but a +poor, feeble imitation of the roar of a lion. + +As Dexter ran up, the drove stood firm for a few moments; then the +nearest to him arched its back, curved its tail, executed a clumsy +gambol, turned, and fled, the rest taking their cues from this, the most +timid in the herd, and going off in a lumbering gallop, their heads now +down, and their tails rigid, excepting a few inches, and the hairy tuft +at the end. + +But the leader stood fast, and shaking its head, bellowed, looked +threatening, and lowering one of its long horns, thrust it into the +earth, and began to plough up the soft, moist soil. + +"Oh, you would, would you?" cried Dexter, who did not feel in the +slightest degree alarmed, from ignorance probably more than bravery; +and, dashing in, he struck out with the ebony stick so heavy a blow upon +the end of the horn raised in the air that the ebony snapped in two, and +the bullock, uttering a roar of astonishment and pain, swung round, and +galloped after its companions, which were now facing round at the top of +the field. + +"Broke his old stick," said Dexter, as he bent over Edgar. "Here, I +say; get up. They're gone now. You ain't hurt." + +Hurt or no, Edgar did not hear him, but lay there with his clothes +soiled, and his tall hat trampled on by the drove, and crushed out of +shape. + +"I say," said Dexter, shaking him; "why don't you get up?" + +Poor Edgar made no reply, for he was perfectly insensible and cadaverous +of hue. + +"Here! Hi! Come here!" cried Dexter, rising and waving his hands, +first to Helen, and then to Sir James. "They won't hurt you. Come on." + +The effect of the boy's shout was to make the spot where he now knelt +down by Edgar Danby the centre upon which the spectators sought to +gather. Helen set off first; Sir James, feeling very nervous, followed +her example; and the drove of bullocks, with quivering tails and +moistening nostrils, also began to trot back, while Dexter got one arm +beneath the insensible boy, and tried hard to lift him, and carry him to +the stile nearest the town. + +But the Union diet had not supplied him with sufficient muscle, and +after getting the boy well on his shoulder, and staggering along a few +paces, he stopped. + +"Oh, I say," he muttered; "ain't he jolly heavy?" + +A bellow from the leader of the bullocks made Dexter look round, and +take in the position, which was that the drove were again approaching, +and that this combined movement had had the effect of making Helen and +Sir James both stop some forty yards away. + +"Here, come on!" cried Dexter. "I'll see as they don't hurt you." And +Helen obeyed; but Sir James hesitated, till, having somewhat recovered +his nerve, and moved by shame at seeing a young girl and a boy perform +what was naturally his duty, he came on slowly, and with no little +trepidation, toward where Dexter was waiting with his son. + +"That's right!" cried Dexter. "Come along. You come and carry him. I +ain't strong enough. I'll soon send them off." + +The situation was ludicrous enough, and Sir James was angry with +himself; but all the same there was the nervous trepidation to overcome, +and it was a very hard fight. + +"Let me try and help you carry him," said Helen quickly. + +"No, no; you can't," cried the boy. "Let him. Oh, don't I wish I'd got +a stick. Here, ketch hold." + +This last was to Sir James, whose face looked mottled as he came up. He +obeyed the boy's command, though: took his son in his arms, and began to +retreat with Helen toward the stile. + +Meanwhile the bullocks were coming on in their customary stupid way. + +"That's right; you go, sir," cried Dexter. "I'll talk to them," and, to +Helen's horror, he went down on his hands and knees and ran at the +drove, imitating the barking of a dog, not very naturally, but +sufficiently true to life to make the drove turn tail again and gallop +off, their flight being hastened by the flight of Edgar's damaged hat, +which Dexter picked up and sent flying after them, and spinning through +the air like a black firework till it dropped. + +"'Tain't no good now," said the boy, laughing to himself; "and never was +much good. Only done for a cockshy. I'll take them back, though." + +This last was in allusion to the broken stick, which he picked up, and +directly after found Master Edgar's tasselled cane, armed with which he +beat a retreat toward the group making for the stile, with Helen +beckoning to him to come. + +The bullocks made one more clumsy charge down, but the imitation dog got +up by Dexter was enough to check them, and the stile was crossed in +safety just as a butcher's man in blue, followed by a big rough dog, +came in sight. + +Sir James was at first too indignant and too much upset to speak to the +man. + +"It's of no use, Miss Grayson," he said, "but his master shall certainly +be summoned for this. How dare he place those ferocious bulls in a +field through which there is a right of way? O my poor boy! my poor +boy! He's dead!--he's dead!" + +"He ain't," said Dexter sharply. + +"Shall I carry him, sir?" said the butcher's man, forgetful of the fact +that he would come off terribly greasy on the helpless boy's black +clothes. + +"No, man," cried Sir James. "Go and watch over those ferocious beasts, +and see that they do not injure any one else." + +"Did they hurt him, sir!" said the man eagerly. + +"Hurt him! Look," cried Sir James indignantly. + +"He ain't hurt," said Dexter sturdily. "Only frightened. There was a +chap at our school used to go like that. He's fainting, that's what he +is doing. You lay him down, and wait till I come back." + +Dexter ran to the river, and, without a moment's hesitation, plunged in +his new cap, and brought it back, streaming and dripping, with as much +water as he could scoop up. + +Too nervous even to oppose the boy's order, Sir James had lowered his +son to the ground, and, as he lay on the grass, Helen bathed and +splashed his face with the water, till it was gone. + +"I'll soon fetch some more," cried Dexter. + +But it was not needed, for just then Edgar opened his eyes, looked +wildly round, as if not comprehending where he was, and then exclaimed +with a sob-- + +"Where's the bull?" + +"Hush! hush! my boy; you are safe now; thanks to the bravery of this +gallant lad." + +Dexter puckered up his forehead and stared. + +"Where's my hat!" cried Edgar piteously. + +"Scrunched," said Dexter shortly. "Bullocks trod on it." + +"And my silver-topped cane!" + +"There it lies on the grass," said Dexter, stooping down and picking it +up. + +"Oh, look at my jacket and my trousers," cried Edgar. "What a mess I'm +in!" + +"Never mind, my boy; we will soon set that right," said Sir James. +"There, try and stand up. If you can walk home it will be all the +better now." + +"The brutes!" cried Edgar, with a passionate burst of tears. + +"Do you feel hurt anywhere?" said Helen kindly. + +"I don't know," said the boy faintly, as he rose and took his father's +arm. + +"Can I help you, Sir James?" said Helen. + +"No, no, my dear Miss Grayson, we are so near home, and we will go in by +the back way, so as not to call attention. I can never thank you +sufficiently for your kindness, nor this brave boy for his gallantry. +Good-bye. Edgar is better now. Good-bye." + +He shook hands warmly with both. + +"Shake hands with Miss Grayson, Eddy," said Sir James, while the +butcher's man sat on the stile and lit his pipe. + +Edgar obeyed. + +"Now with your gallant preserver," said Sir James. + +Edgar, who looked extremely damp and limp, put out a hand unwillingly, +and Dexter just touched it, and let his own fall. + +"You shall hear from me again, my man," said Sir James, now once more +himself; and he spoke with great dignity. "Good day, Miss Grayson, and +thanks." + +He went on quickly with his son, while Helen and Dexter took another +footpath, leading to a stile which opened upon the road. + +As they reached this, Dexter laid his arm upon the top rail, and his +forehead upon his wrist. + +"What is the matter, Dexter?" cried Helen, in alarm. + +"Nothing: I was only laughing," said the boy, whose shoulders were +shaking with suppressed mirth. + +"Laughing?" + +"Yes. What a game! They were both afraid of the bullocks, and you've +only got to go right at 'em, and they're sure to run." + +"I think you behaved very bravely, Dexter," said Helen warmly; "and as +I've scolded you sometimes, it is only fair that when I can I ought to +praise. You were very brave indeed." + +"Tchah! that isn't being brave," said the boy, whose face was scarlet. +"Why, anybody could scare a few bullocks." + +"Yes, but anybody would not," said Helen, smiling. "There, let's make +haste home. I was very much frightened too." + +"Were you!" said Dexter, with wide open eyes. + +"Yes; weren't you?" + +"No," said Dexter; "there wasn't anything to be frightened about then. +But I'm frightened now." + +"Indeed! What, now the danger is past?" + +"No, not about that." + +"What then, Dexter?" + +"Look at my new cap." + +He held up his drenched head-covering, all wet, muddy at the bottom, and +out of shape. + +"'Tain't so bad as his chimney-pot hat, but it's awful, ain't it? What +will he say?" + +"Papa? Only that you behaved exceedingly well, Dexter. He will be very +pleased." + +"Think he will?" + +"Yes; and you shall have a new cap at once." + +"Let's make haste back, then," cried the boy eagerly, "for I'm as hungry +as never was. But you're sure he won't be cross?" + +"Certain, Dexter. I will answer for that." + +"All right. Come along. I was afraid I was in for it again." + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +MR. DENGATE IS INDIGNANT, AND DEXTER WANTS SOME "WUMS." + +Mr Grayson was delighted when he heard the narrative from Helen. + +"There! what did I tell you!" he cried. "Proofs of my theory." + +"Do you think so, papa?" + +"Think, my dear? I'm sure. Why, there it all was; what could have been +better? Young Danby has breed in him, and what did he do? Lay down +like a girl, and fainted. No, my dear, you cannot get over it. Pick +your subject if you will, but you may make what you like of a boy." + +"I hope so, papa." + +"That's right, my dear. Brave little fellow! Afraid I should scold him +about his cap? Thoughtless young dog, but it was all chivalrous. +Couldn't have been better. He shall have a hundred caps if he likes. +Hah! I'm on the right track, I'm sure." + +The doctor rubbed his hands and chuckled, and Helen went to bed that +night better pleased with her task. + +Sir James Danby, who was the magnate of Coleby, sent a very furious +letter to Dengate the butcher, threatening proceedings against him for +allowing a herd of dangerous bullocks to be at large in one of his +fields, and ordering him to remove them at once. + +Dengate the butcher read the letter, grew red in the face, and, after +buttoning up that letter in his breast-pocket, he put on his greasy cap, +and went to Topley the barber to get shaved. + +Dengate's cap was greasy because, though he was a wealthy man, he worked +hard at his trade, calling for orders, delivering meat, and always twice +a week, to use his own words, "killing hisself." + +Topley lathered Dengate's red round face, and scraped it perfectly +clean, feeling it all over with his soapy fingers, as well as carefully +inspecting it with his eye, to make sure that none of the very bristly +stubble was left. + +While Topley shaved, Dengate made plans, and as soon as the operation +was over he went back home, and what he called "cleaned hisself." That +is to say, he put on his best clothes, stuck a large showy flower in his +button-hole, cocked his rather broad-brimmed hat on one side of his +head, and went straight to Dr Grayson's. + +Maria opened the door, stared at the butcher, who generally came to the +back entrance, admitted him, received his message, and went into the +study, where the doctor was writing, and Dexter busily copying a letter +in a fairly neat round hand, but could only on an average get one word +and a half in a line, a fact which looked awkward, especially as Dexter +cut his words anywhere without studying the syllables. + +Dexter had just left off at the end of a line, and finished the first +letters of the word toothache, leaving "toot" as his division, and +taking a fresh dip of ink ready for writing "hache." + +"Don't put your tongue out, Dexter, my boy." + +"All right," said Dexter. + +"And I would not suck the pen. Ink is not wholesome." + +"All right, I won't," said Dexter; and he put the nibs between his lips. + +"Mr Dengate, sir," said Maria. + +"Dengate? What does he want, Maria? Let him see Mrs Millett or Miss +Helen." + +Maria looked scornfully at Dexter, as if he had injured her in some way. + +"Which is what I said to him, sir. `Master's busy writing,' I says; but +he says his dooty, sir, and if you would see him five minutes he would +be greatly obligated." + +The doctor said, "Send him in." + +Maria left the room, and there was a tremendous sound of wiping shoes +all over the mat, although it was a dry day without, and the butcher's +boots were speckless. + +Then there was another burst of wiping on the mat by the study door as a +finish off, a loud muttering of instructions to Maria, and the door was +opened to admit the butcher, looking hot and red, with his hat in one +hand, a glaring orange handkerchief in the other, with which he dabbed +himself from time to time. + +"Good morning, Dengate," said the doctor; "what can I do for you?" + +"Good morning, sir; hope you're quite well, sir. If you wouldn't mind, +sir, reading this letter, sir. Received this morning, sir. Sir James, +sir." + +"Read it? ah, yes," said the doctor. + +He ran through the missive and frowned. + +"Well, Dengate," he said, "Sir James is a near neighbour and friend of +mine, and I don't like to interfere in these matters." + +"No, sir, of course you wouldn't, sir, but as a gentleman, sir, as I +holds in the highest respect--a gentleman as runs a heavy bill with me." + +"Hasn't your account been paid, Dengate!" said the doctor, frowning, +while Dexter looked hard at the butcher, and wondered why his face was +so red, and why little drops like beads formed all over his forehead. + +"No, sir, it hasn't, sir," said the butcher, with a chuckle, "and I'm +glad of it. I never ask for your account, sir, till it gets lumpy. I +always leave it till I want it, for it's good as the bank to me, and I +know I've only to give you a hint like, and there it is." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"What I have come about is them bullocks, sir, hearing as your young +lady, sir, and young shaver here--" + +"Mr Dengate," said the doctor, frowning, "this young gentleman is my +adopted son." + +"Beg pardon, sir, I'm sure," said the butcher obsequiously. "I had +heared as you'd had taken a boy from the--" + +"Never mind that, Dengate," said the doctor shortly, as the butcher +dabbed himself hurriedly,--"business." + +"Exactly, sir. Well, sir, it's like this here: I'm the last man in the +world to put dangerous beasts in any one's way, and if I knowed that any +one o' them was the least bit risky to a human being, he'd be bullock +to-day and beef to-morrow. D'yer see?" + +"Yes, of course," said the doctor, "and very proper." + +"But what I holds is, sir, and my man too says is, that there ain't a +bit o' danger in any on 'em, though if there was nobody ought to +complain." + +"Well, there I don't agree with you, Dengate," said the doctor +haughtily, as Dexter came and stood by him, having grown deeply +interested. + +"Don't you, sir? Well, then, look here," said the butcher, rolling his +yellow handkerchief into a cannon ball and ramming it into his hat, as +if it were a cannon that he now held beneath his left arm. "There's a +path certainly from stile to stile, but it only leads to my farrest +medder, and though I never says nothing to nobody who thinks it's a nice +walk down there by the river to fish or pick flowers or what not, though +they often tramples my medder grass in a way as is sorrowful to see, +they're my medders, and the writing's in my strong-box, and not a +shilling on 'em. All freehold, seven-and-twenty acres, and everybody as +goes on is a trespasser, so what do you say to that?" + +The butcher unloaded the imaginary cannon as he said this triumphantly, +and dabbed his face with the ball. + +"Say?" said the doctor, smiling; "why, that I'm a trespasser sometimes, +for I like to go down there for a walk. It's the prettiest bit out of +the town." + +"Proud to hear you say so, sir," said the butcher eagerly. "It is, +isn't it? and I'm proud to have you go for a walk there, sir. Honoured, +I'm sure, and if the--er--the young gentleman likes to pick a spot out +to keep ground baited for a bit o' fishing, why, he's hearty welcome, +and my man shall save him as many maddicks for bait as ever he likes." + +"I'll come," cried Dexter eagerly. "May I go?" he added. + +"Yes, yes; we'll see," said the doctor; "and it's very kind of Mr +Dengate to give you leave." + +"Oh, that's nothing, sir. He's welcome as the flowers in May; but what +I wanted to say, sir, was that as they're my fields, and people who +comes is only trespassers, I've a right to put anything I like there. I +don't put danger for the public: they comes to the danger." + +"Yes; that's true," said the doctor. "Of course, now you mention it, +there's no right of way." + +"Not a bit, sir, and I might turn out old Billy, if I liked." + +"I say, who is old Billy?" said Dexter. + +"Hush, my boy! Don't interpose when people are speaking." + +"Oh, let him talk, sir," said the butcher, good-naturedly. "I like to +hear a boy want to know. It's what my boy won't do. He's asleep half +his time, and I feed him well too." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"Billy's my old bull, as I always keeps shut up close in my yard, +because he is dangerous." + +"And very properly," said the doctor. + +"Quite right, sir, quite right; and I want to know then what right Sir +James has to come ordering me about. He's no customer of mine. Took it +all away and give it to Mossetts, because he said the mutton was woolly, +when I give you my word, sir, that it was as good a bit o' mutton as I +ever killed." + +"Yes, yes, Dengate, but what has all this to do with me?" said the +doctor testily. + +"Well, sir, begging your pardon, only this: your young lady and young +gentleman was there, and I want to know the rights of it all. My man +says the beasts are quiet enough, only playful, and I say the same; but +I may be making a mistake. I went in the medder this morning, with my +boy Ezry, and he could drive 'em anywheres, and he's only ten. Did they +trouble your young folks, sir?" + +"Well, Dexter: you can answer that," said the doctor. + +"Trouble us?--no!" said Dexter, laughing. "Miss Grayson was a bit +afraid of 'em, but I ran the big one, and he galloped off across the +fields." + +"There," said the butcher; "what did I say? Bit playful, that's all." + +"And when we heard a noise, and found one of 'em standing over that +young Danby, he was only turning him over, that's all." + +"Yes; he was running away, and fell down, and the beasts came to look at +him," said Dengate, laughing. + +"And Sir James was over on the stile calling for help. Why, as soon as +I ran at the bullocks they all galloped off, all but the big one, and I +give him a crack on the horn, and soon made him go." + +"Of course. Why, a child would make 'em run. That's all, sir, I only +wanted to know whether they really was dangerous, because if they had +been, as I said afore, bullock it is now, but beef it should be. Good +morning, sir." + +"What are you going to do!" said the doctor. + +"Do, sir? I'm a-going to let Sir James do his worst. My beasts ain't +dangerous, and they ain't on a public road, so there they stay till I +want 'em for the shop. Morning, young--er--gentleman. You're not +afraid of a bullock?" + +"No," said Dexter quietly, "I don't think I am." + +"I'm sure you ain't, my lad, if you'll 'scuse me calling you so. +Morning, sir, morning." + +The butcher backed out, smiling triumphantly, but only to put his head +in again-- + +"Beg pardon, sir, only to say that if he'd asked me polite like, I'd ha' +done it directly; but he didn't, and I'll stand upon my medder like a +man." + +"Humph!" said the doctor, as soon as they were alone; "and so you were +not afraid of the bullocks, Dexter?" + +"There wasn't anything to be afraid of," said the boy. "I'm ever so +much more afraid of you." + +"Afraid?" + +"Yes, when you look cross, sir, only then." + +"Well, you must not make me look cross, Dexter; and now get on with your +copying. When you've done that you may go in the garden if you'll keep +out of mischief." + +"And when may I go fishing?" + +"When you like." + +"Down the meadows!" + +"Why not fish down the garden; there's a capital place." + +"All right," said Dexter. "I'll go there. But I want a rod and line." + +"There is an old rod in the hall, and you can buy a line. No, Helen is +going out, and she will buy you one." + +Dexter's eyes glistened at the idea of going fishing, and he set to work +most industriously at the copying, which in due time he handed over to +the Doctor, who expressed himself as highly satisfied: though if he +really was, he was easily pleased. + +Helen had received her instructions, and she soon afterwards returned +with the fishing-line, and a fair supply of extra hooks, and odds and +ends, which the doctor, as an old angler, had suggested. + +"These--all for me!" cried the boy joyfully. + +The doctor nodded. + +"Recollect: no mischief, and don't tumble in." + +"All right, sir," cried the boy, who was gloating over the new silk +line, with its cork float glistening in blue and white paint brought +well up with varnish. + +"Do you know how to fish!" + +"Yes, I know all about it, sir." + +"How's that? You never went fishing at the workhouse." + +"No, sir; but old Dimsted in the House used to tell us boys all about +it, and how he used to catch jack and eels, and roach and perch, in the +river." + +"Very well, then," said the doctor. "Now you can go." + +Dexter went off in high glee, recalling divers instructions given by the +venerable old pauper who had been a fishing idler all his life, the +river always having more attractions for him than work. His son +followed in his steps, and he again had a son with the imitative +faculty, and spending every hour he could find at the river-side. + +It was a well-known fact in Coleby that the Dimsteds always knew where +fish was to be found, and the baskets they made took the place of meat +that other fathers and sons of families would have earned. + +Rod, line, and hooks are prime necessaries for fishing; but a fish +rarely bites at a bare hook, so one of Dexter's first proceedings was to +obtain some bait. + +Mr Dengate had said that his man should save plenty of gentles for him; +but Dexter resolved not to wait for them that day, but to try what he +could do with worms and paste. So his first proceeding was to appeal to +Mrs Millett for a slice or two of bread. + +Mrs Millett was not in the kitchen, but Maria was, and on being +appealed to, she said sharply that she was not the cook. + +Dexter looked puzzled, and he flushed a little as he wondered why it was +that the maid looked so cross, and always answered him so snappishly. + +Just then Mrs Millett, who was a plump elderly female with a pleasant +countenance and expression, appeared in the doorway, and to her Dexter +appealed in turn. + +Mrs Millett had been disposed to look at Dexter from the point of view +suggested by Maria, who had been making unpleasant allusions to the +boy's birth and parentage, and above all to "Master's strange goings +on," ever since Dexter's coming. Hence, then, the old lady, who looked +upon herself as queen of the kitchen, had a sharp reproof on her tongue, +and was about to ask the boy why he hadn't stopped in his own place, and +rung for what he wanted. The frank happy expression on his face +disarmed her, and she smiled and cut the required bread. + +"Well, I never!" said Maria. + +"Ah, my dear," said Mrs Millett; "I was young once, and I didn't like +to be scolded. He isn't such a bad-looking boy after all, only he will +keep apples in his bedroom, and make it smell." + +"What's looks!" said Maria tartly, as she gave a candlestick she was +cleaning a fierce rub. + +"A deal, my dear, sometimes," said the old housekeeper. "Specially if +they're sweet ones, and that's what yours are not now." + +Dexter was not yet armed with all he wanted, for he was off down the +kitchen-garden in search of worms. + +His first idea was to get a spade and dig for himself; but the stern +countenance of Dan'l Copestake rose up before him, and set him wondering +what would be the consequences if he were to be found turning over some +bed. + +On second thoughts he determined to find the gardener and ask for +permission, the dread of not succeeding in his mission making him for +the moment more thoughtful. + +Dan'l did not need much looking for. He had caught sight of Dexter as +soon as he entered the garden, and gave vent to a grunt. + +"Now, what mischief's he up to now?" he grumbled; and he set to and +watched the boy while making believe to be busy cutting the dead leaves +and flowers off certain plants. + +He soon became aware of the fact that Dexter was searching for him, and +this altered the case, for he changed his tactics, and kept on moving +here and there, so as to avoid the boy. + +"Here! Hi! Mr Copestake!" cried Dexter; but the old man had been +suddenly smitten with that worst form of deafness peculiar to those who +will not hear; and it was not until Dexter had pursued him round three +or four beds, during which he seemed to be blind as well as deaf, that +the old man was able to see him. + +"Eh!" he said. "Master want me?" + +"No. I'm going fishing; and, please, I want some worms." + +"Wums? Did you say wums!" said Dan'l, affecting deafness, and holding +his hand to his ear. + +"Yes." + +"Ay, you're right; they are," grumbled Dan'l. "Deal o' trouble, wums. +Gets inter the flower-pots, and makes wum castesses all over the lawn, +and they all has to be swept up." + +"Yes; but I want some for fishing." + +"'Ficient? Quite right, not sufficient help to get 'em swep' away." + +"Will you dig a few worms for me, please?" shouted Dexter in the old +man's ear. + +"Dig wums? What for? Oh, I see, thou'rt going fishing. No; I can't +stop." + +"May I dig some!" cried Dexter; but Dan'l affected not to hear him, and +went hurriedly away. + +"He knew what I wanted all the time," said the boy to himself. "He +don't like me no more than Maria does." + +Just then he caught sight of Peter Cribb, who, whenever he was not busy +in the stable, seemed to be chained to a birch broom. + +"Will you dig a few worms for me, please?" said Dexter; "red ones." + +"No; I'm sweeping," said the groom gruffly; and then, in the most +inconsistent way, he changed his tone, for he had a weakness for the rod +and line himself. "Going fishing!" + +"Yes, if I can get some worms." + +"Where's old Copestake!" + +"Gone into the yard over there," said Dexter. + +"All right. I'll dig you some. Go behind the wall there, by the +cucumber frames. Got a pot!" + +Dexter shook his head. + +"All right. I'll bring one." + +Dexter went to the appointed place, and in a few minutes Peter appeared, +free from the broom now, and bearing a five-pronged fork and a small +flower-pot; for the fact that the boy was a brother angler superseded +the feeling of animosity against one who had so suddenly been raised +from a lowly position and placed over his head. + +Peter winked one eye as he scraped away some of the dry straw, and then +turned over a quantity of the moist, rotten soil, displaying plenty of +the glistening red worms suitable for the capture of roach and perch. + +"There you are," he said, after putting an ample supply in the +flower-pot, whose hole he had stopped with a piece of clay; "there's as +many as you'll want; and now, you go and fish down in the deep hole, +where the wall ends in the water, and I wish you luck." + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +DEXTER MAKES A FRIEND. + +"I like him," said Dexter to himself, as he hurried down the garden, +found the place, and for the next ten minutes he was busy fitting up his +tackle, watching a boy on the other side of the river the while, as he +sat in the meadow beneath a willow-tree fishing away, and every now and +then capturing a small gudgeon or roach. + +The river was about thirty yards broad at this spot, and as Dexter +prepared his tackle and watched the boy opposite, the boy opposite +fished and furtively watched Dexter. + +He was a dark, snub-nosed boy, shabbily-dressed, and instead of being +furnished with a bamboo rod and a new line with glistening float, he had +a rough home-made hazel affair in three pieces, spliced together, but +fairly elastic; his float was a common quill, and his line of so many +hairs pulled out of a horse's tail, and joined together with a +peculiarly fast knot. + +Before Dexter was ready the shabby-looking boy on the other side had +caught two more silvery roach, and Dexter's heart beat fast as he at +last baited his hook and threw in the line as far as he could. + +He was pretty successful in that effort, but his cork float and the shot +made a loud splash, while the boy opposite uttered a chuckle. + +"He's laughing at me," said Dexter to himself; and he tried the +experiment of watching his float with one eye and the boy with the +other, but the plan did not succeed, and he found himself gazing from +one to the other, always hurriedly glancing back from the boy to the +float, under the impression that it bobbed. + +He knew it all by heart, having many a time drunk in old Dimsted's +words, and he remembered that he could tell what fish was biting by the +way the float moved. If it was a bream, it would throw the float up so +that it lay flat on the water. If it was a roach, it would give a short +quick bob. If it was a perch, it would give a bob, and then a series of +sharp quick bobs, the last of which would be right under, while if it +was a tench, it would glide slowly away. + +But the float did nothing but float, and nothing in the way of bobbing, +while the shabby boy on the other side kept on striking, and every now +and then hooking a fish. + +"Isn't he lucky!" thought Dexter, and he pulled out his line to find +that the bait had gone. + +He began busily renewing it in a very _nonchalant_ manner, as he was +conscious of the fact that the boy was watching him keenly with critical +eyes. + +Dexter threw in again; but there was no bite, and as the time went on, +it seemed as if all the fish had been attracted to the other side of the +river, where the shabby-looking boy, who fished skilfully and well, kept +on capturing something at the rate of about one every five minutes. + +They were not large, but still they were fish, and it was most +tantalising to one to be patiently waiting, while the other was busy +landing and rebaiting and throwing in again. + +At last a happy thought struck Dexter, and after shifting his float +about from place to place, he waited till he saw the boy looking at him, +and he said-- + +"I say?" + +"Hullo!" came back, the voices easily passing across the water. + +"What are you baiting with?" + +"Gentles." + +"Oh!" + +Then there was a pause, and more fishing on one side, waiting on the +other. At last the shabby boy said-- + +"You're baiting with worms, ain't you?" + +"Yes." + +"Ah, they won't bite at worms much this time o' day." + +"Won't they?" said Dexter, putting out his line. + +"No. And you ain't fishing deep enough." + +"Ain't I!" + +"No. Not by three foot." + +"I wish I'd got some gentles," said Dexter at last. + +"Do you!" + +"Yes." + +"Shall I shy some over in the box?" + +"Can you throw so far?" + +"Yers!" cried the shabby boy. "You'll give me the box again, won't +you?" + +"Yes; I'll throw it back." + +The boy on the other side divided his bait by putting some in a piece of +paper. Then putting a stone in his little round tin box, he walked back +a few yards so as to give himself room, stepped forward, and threw the +box right across, Dexter catching it easily. + +"Now, you try one o' them," said the donor of the fresh bait. + +Dexter eagerly did as was suggested, and five minutes after there was a +sharp tug, which half drew his float below the surface. + +"Why, you didn't strike," said the boy sharply. + +"Well, you can't strike 'em till you've got hold of them," retorted +Dexter; and the shabby-looking boy laughed. + +"Yah!" he said; "you don't know how to fish." + +"Don't I! Why, I was taught to fish by some one who knows all about +it." + +"So it seems," said the boy jeeringly. "Don't even know how to strike a +fish. There, you've got another bite. Look at him; he's running away +with it." + +It was no credit to Dexter that he got hold of that fish, for the +unfortunate roach had hooked itself. + +As the float glided away beneath the surface, Dexter gave a tremendous +snatch with the rod, and jerked the fish out of the water among the +branches of an overhanging tree, where the line caught, and the captive +hung suspended about a foot below a cluster of twigs, flapping about and +trying to get itself free. + +Dexter's fellow-fisherman burst into a roar of laughter, laid down his +rod, and stamped about on the opposite bank slapping his knees, while +the unlucky fisherman stood with his rod in his hand, jigging the line. + +"You'll break it if you don't mind," cried the shabby boy. + +"But I want to get it out." + +"You shouldn't have struck so hard. Climb up the tree, get out on that +branch, and reach down." + +Dexter looked at the tree, which hung over the water to such an extent +that it seemed as if his weight would tear it from its hold in the bank, +while the water looked terribly deep and black beneath. + +"I say," cried the shabby boy jeeringly; "who taught you how to fish!" + +"Why, old Dimsted did, and he knew." + +"Who did!" cried the boy excitedly. + +"Old Dimsted." + +"Yah! That he didn't. Why, he's been in the House these ten years-- +ever since I was quite a little un." + +"Well, I know that," shouted back Dexter. "He taught me all the same." + +"Why, how came you to know grandfather!" cried the shabby boy. + +Dexter ceased pulling at the line, and looked across at his +shabbily-dressed questioner. For the first time he glanced down at his +well-made clothes, and compared his personal appearance with that of the +boy opposite, and in a curiously subtle way he began to awake to the +fact that he was growing ashamed of the workhouse, and the people in it. + +"Yah! you didn't know grandfather," cried the boy mockingly; "and you +don't know how to fish. Grandfather wouldn't have taught you to chuck a +fish up in the tree. You should strike gently, like that." + +He gave the top of his rod a slight, quick twitch, and hooked a +good-sized roach. Dexter grinning to see him play it till it was feeble +enough to be drawn to the side and lifted out. + +"That's the way grandfather taught me how to fish," continued the boy, +as he took the hook from the captive's mouth, "I say, what's your name!" + +"Dexter Grayson," was the answer, for the boy felt keenly already that +the names Obed Coleby were ones of which he could not be proud. + +"Ever been in the workus!" + +"Yes." + +"Ever see grandfather there!" + +"Yes, I've seen him," said Dexter, who felt no inclination to enlighten +the boy further. + +"Ah, he could fish," said the boy, baiting and throwing in again. "My +name's Dimsted--Bob Dimsted. So's father's. He can fish as well as +grandfather. So can I," he added modestly; "there ain't a good place +nowheres in the river as we don't know. I could take you where you +could ketch fish every swim." + +"Could you?" said Dexter, who seemed awed in the presence of so much +knowledge. + +"Course I could, any day." + +"And will you?" said Dexter eagerly. + +"Ah dunno," said the boy, striking and missing another fish. "You +wouldn't care to go along o' me?" + +"Yes, I should--fishing," cried Dexter. "But my line's fast." + +"Why don't you climb up and get it then? Ain't afraid, are you!" + +"What, to climb that tree?" cried Dexter. "Not I;" and laying the rod +down with the butt resting on the bank, he began to climb at once. + +"Mind yer don't tumble in," cried Bob Dimsted; "some o' them boughs gets +very rotten--like touchwood." + +"All right," said Dexter; and he climbed steadily on in happy ignorance +of the fact that the greeny lichen and growth was not good for dark +cloth trousers and vests. But the bole of the tree was short, for it +had been pollarded, and in a minute or two he was in a nest of branches, +several of which protruded over the water, the one in particular which +had entangled the fishing-line being not even horizontal, but dipping +toward the surface. + +"That's the way," shouted Bob Dimsted. "Look sharp, they're biting like +fun." + +"Think it'll bear?" said Dexter. + +"Bear? Yes; half a dozen on yer. Sit on it striddling, and work +yourself along till you can reach the line. Got a knife?" + +"Yes." + +"Then go right out, and when you git far enough cut off the little +bough, and let it all drop into the water." + +"Why, then, I should lose the fish." + +"Not you. Ain't he hooked? You do as I say, and then git back, and you +can pull all out together." + +Dexter bestrode the branch, and worked himself along further and further +till an ominous crack made him pause. + +"Go on," shouted the boy from the other side. + +"He'll think I'm a coward if I don't," said Dexter to himself, and he +worked himself along for another three feet, with the silvery fish just +before him, seeming to tempt him on. + +"There, you can reach him now, can't you?" cried the boy. + +"Yes; I think I can reach him now," said Dexter. "Wait till I get out +my knife." + +It was not so easy to get out that knife, and to open it, as it would +have been on land. The position was awkward; the branch dipped at a +great slope now toward the water, and Dexter's trousers were not only +drawn half-way up his legs, but drawn so tightly by his attitude that he +could hardly get his hand into his pocket. + +It was done though at last, the thin bough in which the line was tangled +seized by the left hand, while the right cut vigorously with the knife. + +It would have been far easier to have disentangled the line, but Bob +Dimsted was a learned fisher, and he had laid down the law. So Dexter +cut and cut into the soft green wood till he got through the little +bough all but one thin piece of succulent bark, dancing up and down the +while over the deep water some fifteen feet from the bank. + +_Soss_! + +That last vigorous cut did it, and the bough, with its summer burden of +leaves, dropped with a splash into the water. + +"There! What did I tell you!" cried Dexter's mentor. "Now you can get +back and pull all out together. Fish won't bite for a bit after this, +but they'll be all right soon." + +Dexter shut up his knife, thrust it as well as he could into his pocket, +and prepared to return. + +This was not so easy, for he had to go backwards. What was more, he had +to progress up hill. But, nothing daunted, he took tight hold with his +hands, bore down upon them, and was in the act of thrusting himself +along a few inches, when--_Crack_! + +One loud, sharp, splintering crack, and the branch, which was rotten +three parts through, broke short off close to the trunk, and like an +echo to the crack came a tremendous--_Plash_! + +That water, as already intimated, was deep, and, as a consequence, there +was a tremendous splash, and branch and its rider went down right out of +sight, twig after twig disappearing leisurely in the eddying swirl. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +"THEM AS IS BORN TO BE HANGED." + +It might have been presumed that Bob Dimsted would either have tried to +render some assistance or else have raised an alarm. + +Bob Dimsted did nothing of the kind. + +For certain reasons of his own, and as one who had too frequently been +in the hot water of trouble, Master Bob thought only of himself, and +catching his line in his hand as he quickly drew it from the water, he +hastily gathered up his fishing paraphernalia, and ran off as hard as he +could go. + +He had time, however, to see Dexter's wet head rise to the surface and +then go down again, for the unwilling bather had one leg hooked in the +bough, which took him down once more, as it yielded to the current, and +the consequence was that when Dexter rose, breathless and +half-strangled, he was fifty yards down the stream. + +But he was now free, and giving his head a shake, he trod the water for +a few moments, and then struck out for the shore, swimming as easily as +a frog. + +A few sturdy strokes took him out of the sharp current and into an eddy +near the bank, by whose help he soon reached the deep still water, +swimming so vigorously that before long he was abreast of the doctor's +garden, where a group beneath the trees startled him more than his +involuntary plunge. + +For there, in a state of the greatest excitement, were the doctor and +Helen, with Peter Cribb, with a clothes-prop to be used for a different +purpose now. + +Further behind was Dan'l Copestake, who came panting up with the longest +handled rake just as Dexter was nearing the bank. + +"Will he be drowned?" whispered Helen, as she held tightly by her +father's arm. + +"No; he swims like a water-rat," said the doctor. + +"No, no," shouted Dexter, beginning to splash the water, and sheering +off as he saw Dan'l about to make a dab at him with the rake. + +There was more zeal than discretion in the gardener's use of this +implement, for it splashed down into the water heavily, the teeth nearly +catching the boy's head. + +"Here, catch hold of this," cried Peter Cribb. + +"No, no; let me be," cried Dexter, declining the offer of the +clothes-prop, as he had avoided it before when he was on the top of the +wall. "I can swim ashore if you'll let me be." + +This was so self-evident that the doctor checked Dan'l as he was about +to make another skull-fracturing dash with the rake; and the next minute +Dexter's hand clutched the grass on the bank, and he crawled out, with +the water streaming down out of his clothes, and his short hair gummed, +as it were, to his head. + +"Here!" he cried; "where's my fish?" + +"Fish, sir!" cried the doctor; "you ought to be very thankful that +you've saved your life." + +"O Dexter!" cried Helen. + +"I say, don't touch me," cried the boy, as she caught at his hand. "I'm +so jolly wet." + +He was like a sponge just lifted out of a pail, and already about him +there was a pool. + +"Here, quick, sir; run up to the house and change your clothes," cried +the doctor. + +"But I must get my fish, sir." + +"Fish!" cried the doctor angrily; "that's not the way to fish." + +"Yes, it was, sir; and I caught one." + +"You caught one!" + +"Yes, sir; a beauty." + +"Look here, Dexter," cried the doctor, catching him by his wet arm; "do +you mean to tell me that you dived into the river like that and caught a +fish!" + +"No, sir; I fell in when I was getting my line out of the tree." + +"Oh, I see." + +"Beg pardon, sir," said Dan'l sourly; "but he've broke a great branch +off this here tree." + +"Well, I couldn't help it," said Dexter, in an ill-used tone. "I caught +my line in the tree, and was obliged to get up and fetch it, and--stop a +minute. I can see it. All right." + +He ran off along the river-bank till they saw him stoop just where the +wall dipped down into the river. There he found the rod floating close +to the edge, and, securing it, he soon after drew in the loose branch he +had cut off the tree, and disentangled his line, with the little roach +still on the hook. + +"There!" he cried in triumph, as he ran back with rod, line, and fish; +"look at that, Miss Grayson, isn't it a beauty, and--What are you +laughing at!" + +This was at Peter Cribb, who was grinning hugely, but who turned away, +followed by Dan'l. + +"Them as is born to be hanged'll never be drowned," grumbled the old +gardener sourly, as the two men went away. + +"No fear of him being drowned," said Peter. "Swims like a cork." + +"It's disgusting; that's what I say it is," growled Dan'l; "disgusting." + +"What's disgusting?" said Peter. + +"Why, they cuddles and makes a fuss over a boy as is a reg'lar noosance +about the place, just as any other varmint would be. Wish he had +drowned himself. What call was there for me to come and bring a rake!" + +"Ah, he's a rum un, that he is," said Peter. "And master's a rum un; +and how they can take to that boy, Miss Helen specially, and have him +here's more'n I can understand. It caps me, that it do." + +"Wait a bit, my lad, and you'll see," cried the old gardener. "He's +begun his games just as such a boy would, and afore long this here +garden will be turned into such a wreck as'll make the doctor tear his +hair, and wish as he'd never seen the young rascal. He's a bad un; you +can see it in his eye. He's got bad blood in him, and bad blood allus +comes out sooner or later. Peter Cribb, my lad--" + +"Yes." + +"We're getting old fellow-servants, though you're only young. Peter, my +lad, I'm beginning to tremble for my fruit." + +"Eh?" + +"Yes; that I am, my lad," said Dan'l in a whisper. "Just as I +expected--I was watching of him--that rip's took up with bad company, +Poacher Dimsted's boy; and that means evil. They was talking together, +and then young Dimsted see me, and run away." + +"Did he?" + +"Did he? Yes, he just did; and you mark my words, Peter Cribb, it will +not be long before the gov'ner gets rid of him." + +"Oh yes; it's a very beautiful fish," said the doctor testily; "but make +haste in. There, run and get all your wet things off as quickly as you +can." + +Dexter was so deeply interested in the silvery scales and graceful shape +of his fish that he hardly heard the doctor's words, which had to be +repeated before the boy started, nodded shortly, and ran off toward the +house, while his patron walked to a garden chair, sat down, and gazed up +at Helen in a perplexed way. + +Helen did not speak, but gazed back at her father with a suppressed +laugh twinkling about the corners of her lips. + +"You're laughing at me, my dear," said the doctor at last; "but you mark +my words--what I say is true. All this is merely the froth of the boy's +nature, of which he is getting rid. But tut, tut, tut! All this must +be stopped. First a new cap destroyed by being turned into a bucket, +and now a suit of clothes gone." + +"They will do for a garden suit, papa," said Helen, speaking as if she +had had charge of boys for years. + +"Well, yes: I suppose so," said the doctor. "But there: I am not going +to worry myself about trifles. The cost of a few suits of clothes are +as nothing compared to the success of my scheme. Now let's go in and +see if the young dog has gone to work to change his things." + +The doctor rose and walked up the garden, making comments to his +daughter about the course of instruction he intended to pursue with +Dexter, and on reaching the house and finding that the object of his +thoughts was in his bedroom, he went on to the study just as Maria came +from the front door with a letter. + +"Letter, eh? Oh, I see. From Lady Danby!" + +The doctor opened the letter. + +"Any one waiting!" he said. + +"Yes, sir. Groom waiting for an answer." + +"I'll ring, Maria," said the doctor, and then he smiled and looked +pleased. "There, my deaf," he cried, tossing the note to his daughter. +"Now I call that very kind and neighbourly. You see, Sir James and Lady +Danby feel and appreciate the fine manly conduct of Dexter over that +cattle, and they very wisely think that he not only deserves great +commendation, but that the present is a favourable opportunity for +beginning an intimacy and companionship." + +"Yes, papa," said Helen, with rather a troubled look. + +"Danby sees that he was wrong, and is holding out the right hand of good +fellowship. Depend upon it that we shall have a strong tie between +those two boys. They will go to a public school together, help one +another with their studies, and become friends for life. Hah! Yes. +Sit down, my dear," continued the doctor, rubbing his hands. "My kind +regards to Sir James and Lady Danby, that I greatly appreciate their +kindness, and that Dexter shall come and spend the day with Edgar on +Friday." + +Helen wrote the note, which was despatched, and the doctor smiled, and +looked highly satisfied. + +"You remember how obstinate Sir James was about boys?" + +"Yes, papa. I heard a part of the conversation, and you told me the +rest." + +"To be sure. You see my selection was right. Dexter behaved like a +little hero over that adventure." + +"Yes," said Helen; "he was as brave as could be." + +"Exactly. All justification of my choice. I don't want to prophesy, +Helen, but there will be a strong friendship between those boys from +that day. Edgar, the weak, well-born boy, will always recognise the +manly confidence of Dexter, the er--er, well, low-born boy, who in turn +will have his sympathies aroused by his companion's want of--er--well, +say, ballast." + +"Possibly, papa." + +"My dear Helen, don't speak like that," said the doctor pettishly. "You +are so fond of playing wet blanket to all my plans." + +"Oh no, papa; I am sure I will help you, and am helping you, in all +this, but it is not in my nature to be so sanguine." + +"Ah, well, never mind that. But you do like Dexter!" + +"Yes; I am beginning to like him more and more." + +"That's right. I'm very, very glad, and I feel quite grateful to the +Danbys. You must give Dexter a few hints about behaving himself, and, +so to speak, keeping down his exuberance when he is there." + +"May I say a word, papa!" + +"Certainly, my dear; of course." + +"Well, then, I have an idea of my own with respect to Dexter." + +"Ah, that's right," said the doctor, smiling and rubbing his hands. +"What is it!" + +"I have been thinking over it all a great deal, dear," said Helen, going +to her father's side and resting her hand upon his shoulder; "and it +seems to me that the way to alter and improve Dexter will be by +example." + +"Ah yes, I see; example better than precept, eh!" + +"Yes. So far his life has been one of repression and the severest +discipline." + +"Yes, of course. Cut down; tied down, and his natural growth stopped. +Consequently wild young shoots have thrust themselves out of his +nature." + +"That is what I mean." + +"Quite right, my dear; then we will give him as much freedom as we can. +You will give him a hint or two, though." + +"I will do everything I can, papa, to make him presentable." + +"Thank you, my dear. Yes, these boys will become great companions, I +can see. Brave little fellow! I am very, very much pleased." + +The doctor forgot all about the broken branch, and Dexter's spoiled suit +of clothes, and Helen went to see whether the boy had obeyed the last +command. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +DAN'L IS TOO ATTENTIVE. + +Things were not quite so smooth as Dr Grayson thought, for there had +been stormy weather at Sir James's. + +"Well, my dear, you are my husband, and it is my duty to obey," said +Lady Danby; "but I do protest against my darling son being forced to +associate with a boy of an exceedingly low type." + +"Allow me, my dear," said Sir James importantly. "By Dr Grayson's act, +in taking that boy into his house, he has wiped away any stigma which +may cling to him; and I must say that the lad displayed a great deal of +animal courage--that kind of brute courage which comes from an ignorance +of danger." + +"Is it animal courage not to be afraid of animals, ma?" said Master +Edgar. + +"Yes, my dear, of course," said Lady Danby. + +"I wish Edgar would display courage of any kind," said Sir James. + +"Why, you ran away from the bulls too, papa," said Master Edgar. + +"I am a great sufferer from nervousness, Edgar," said Sir James +reprovingly; "but we were not discussing that question. Dr Grayson has +accepted the invitation for his adopted son. It is his whim for the +moment, and it is only becoming on my part to show that we are grateful +for the way in which the boy behaved. By the time a month has gone by, +I have no doubt that the boy will be back at the--the place from which +he came; but while he is at Dr Grayson's I desire that he be treated as +if he were Dr Grayson's son." + +"Very well, James," said Lady Danby, in an ill-used tone of voice. "You +are master here, and we must obey." + +The day of the invitation arrived. Dexter was to be at Sir James's in +time for lunch, and directly after breakfast he watched his opportunity +and followed Helen into the drawing-room. + +"I say," he said; "I can't go there, can I?" + +"Why not?" said Helen. + +"Lookye here." + +"Why, Dexter!" cried Helen, laughing merrily; "what have you been +doing!" + +"Don't I look a guy!" + +There was a change already in the boy's aspect; his face, short as the +time had been, was beginning to show what fresh air and good feeding +could achieve. His hair had altered very slightly, but still there was +an alteration for the better, and his eyes looked brighter, but his +general appearance was comical all the same. + +Directly after breakfast he had rushed up to his room and put on the +clothes in which he had taken his involuntary bath. These garments, as +will be remembered, had been obtained in haste, and were of the kind +known in the trade as "ready-mades," and in this case composed of a +well-glazed and pressed material, containing just enough wool to hold +together a great deal of shoddy. + +The dip in the river had been too severe a test for the suit, especially +as Maria had been put a little more out of temper than usual by having +the garments handed to her to dry. + +Maria's mother was a washerwoman who lived outside Coleby on the common, +and gained her income by acting as laundress generally for all who would +intrust her with their family linen; but she called herself in yellow +letters on a brilliant scarlet ground a "clear starcher." + +During Maria's early life at home she had had much experience in the +ways of washing. She knew the smell of boiled soap. She had often +watched the steam rising from the copper, and played among the clouds, +and she well knew that the quickest way to dry anything that has been +soaked is to give it a good wringing. + +She had therefore given Dexter's new suit a good wringing, and wrung out +of it a vast quantity of sticky dye which stained her hands. Then she +had--grumbling bitterly all the time--given the jacket, vest, and +trousers a good shake, and hung them over a clothes-horse as near to the +fire as she could get them without singeing. + +Mrs Millett told her to be sure and get them nice and dry, and Maria +did get them "nice and dry." + +And now Dexter had put them on and presented himself before Helen, +suggesting that he looked a guy. + +Certainly his appearance was suggestive of the stuffed effigy borne +about on the fifth of November, for the garments were shrunken so that +his arms and legs showed to a terrible extent, and Maria's wringing had +given them curves and hollows never intended by the cutter, the worst +one being in the form of a hump between the wearer's shoulders. + +"The things are completely spoiled. You foolish boy to put them on." + +"Then I can't go to that other house." + +"Nonsense! You have the new clothes that came from the tailor's--those +for which you were measured." + +"Yes," said Dexter reluctantly; "but it's a pity to put on them. I may +get 'em spoiled." + +"Then you do not want to go, Dexter," said Helen, smiling. + +"No," he cried eagerly. "Ask him to let me stop here." + +"No, no," said Helen kindly. "Papa wishes you to go there; it is very +kind of the Danbys to ask you, and I hope you will go, and behave very +nicely, and make great friends with Edgar Danby." + +"How?" said Dexter laconically. + +"Well, as boys generally do. You must talk to him." + +"What about?" + +"Anything. Then you must play with him." + +"What at?" + +"Oh, he'll be sure to suggest something to play at." + +"I don't think he will," said Dexter thoughtfully. "He don't look the +sort of chap to." + +"Don't say chap, Dexter; say boy." + +"Sort of boy to play any games. He's what we used to call a soft Tommy +sort of a chap--boy." + +"Oh no, no, no! I don't suppose he will be rough, and care for +boisterous sports; but he may prove to be a very pleasant companion for +you." + +Dexter shook his head. + +"I don't think he'll like me." + +"Nonsense! How can you tell that? Then they have a beautiful garden." + +"Can't be such a nice one as this," said Dexter. + +"Oh yes, it is; and it runs down to the river as this one does, and Sir +James has a very nice boat." + +"Boat!" cried Dexter, pricking up his ears. "And may you go in it!" + +"Not by yourselves, I suppose. There, I'm sure you will enjoy your +visit." + +Dexter shook his head again. + +"I say, you'll come too, won't you?" he cried eagerly. + +"No, Dexter; not this time." + +The boy's forehead grew wrinkled all over. + +"Come, you are pretending that you do not want to go." + +"I don't," said the boy, hanging his head. "I want to stay here along +with you." + +"Perhaps I should like you to stay, Dexter," said Helen; "but I wish you +to go and behave nicely, and you can tell me all about it when you come +back." + +"And how soon may I come back?" + +"I don't suppose till the evening, but we shall see. Now, go and change +those things directly. What would papa say if he saw you?" + +Dexter went slowly up to his room, and came down soon after to look for +Helen. + +He found her busy writing letters, so he went off on tiptoe to the +study, where the doctor was deep in his book, writing with a very severe +frown on his brow. + +"Ah, Dexter," he said, looking up and running his eye critically over +the boy, the result being very satisfactory. "Let's see, you are to be +at Sir James's by half-past twelve. Now only ten. Go and amuse +yourself in the garden, and don't get into mischief." + +Dexter went back into the hall, obtained his cap, and went out through +the glass door into the verandah, where the great wisteria hung a +valance of lavender blossoms all along the edge. + +"He always says don't get into mischief," thought the boy. "I don't +want to get into mischief, I'm sure." + +Half-way across the lawn he was startled by the sudden appearance of +Dan'l, who started out upon him from behind a great evergreen shrub. + +"What are you a-doing of now?" snarled Dan'l. + +"I wasn't doing anything," said Dexter, staring. + +"Then you were going to do something," cried the old man sharply. "Look +here, young man; if you get meddling with anything in my garden there's +going to be trouble, so mind that. I know what boys is, so none of your +nonsense here." + +He went off grumbling to another part of the garden, and Dexter felt +disposed to go back indoors. + +"He's watching me all the time," he thought to himself; "just as if I +was going to steal something. He don't like me." + +Dexter strolled on, and heard directly a regular rustling noise, which +he recognised at once as the sound made by a broom sweeping grass, and +sure enough, just inside the great laurel hedge, where a little green +lawn was cut off from the rest of the garden, there was Peter Cribb, at +his usual pursuit, sweeping all the sweet-scented cuttings of the grass. + +Peter was a sweeper who was always on the look-out for an excuse. He +was, so to speak, chained to that broom so many hours a day, and if he +had been a galley slave, and the broom an oar, it is morally certain +that he would have been beaten with many stripes, for he would have left +off rowing whenever he could. + +"Well, squire," he said, laying his hands one over the other on the top +of the broom-handle. + +"Well, Peter. How's the horse?" + +"Grinding his corn, and enjoying himself," said Peter. "He's like you: +a lucky one--plenty to eat and nothing to do." + +"Don't you take him out for exercise?" said Dexter. + +"Course I do. So do you go out for exercise." + +"Think I could ride?" said Dexter. + +"Dersay you could, if you could hold on." + +"I should like to try." + +"Go along with you!" + +"But I should. Will you let me try!" + +Peter shook his head, and began to examine his half-worn broom. + +"I could hold on. Let me go with you next time!" + +"Oh, but I go at ha'-past six, hours before you're awake. Young gents +don't get up till eight." + +"Why, I always wake at a quarter to six," said Dexter. "It seems the +proper time to get up. I say, let me go with you." + +"Here, I say, you, Peter," shouted Dan'l; "are you a-going to sweep that +bit o' lawn, or am I to come and do it myself. Gawsiping about!" + +"Hear that?" said Peter, beginning to make his broom swing round again. +"There, you'd better be off, or you'll get me in a row." + +Dexter sighed, for he seemed to be always the cause of trouble. + +"I say," said Peter, as the boy was moving off; "going fishing again?" + +"No; not now." + +"You knows the way to fish, don't you? Goes in after them." + +Dexter laughed, and went on down to the river, examined the place where +the branch had broken off, and then gazed down into the clear water at +the gliding fish, which seemed to move here and there with no more +effort than a wave of the tail. + +His next look was across the river in search of Bob Dimsted; but the +shabby-looking boy was not fishing, and nowhere in sight either up or +down the stream. + +Dexter turned away with another sigh. The garden was very beautiful, +but it seemed dull just then. He wanted some one to talk to, and if he +went again to Peter, old Dan'l would shout and find fault. + +"It don't matter which way I go," said Dexter, after a few minutes, +during which time he had changed his place in the garden again and +again; "that old man is always watching me to see what I am going to +do." + +He looked round at the flowers, at the coming fruit, at everything in +turn, but the place seemed desolate, and in spite of himself he began +thinking of his old companions at the great school, and wondering what +they were doing. + +Then he recalled that he was to go to Sir James Danby's soon, and he +began to think of Edgar. + +"I shan't like that chap," he said to himself. "I wonder whether he'll +like me." + +He was standing thinking deeply and gazing straight before him at the +high red brick wall when he suddenly started, for there was a heavy step +on the gravel. + +Dan'l had come along the grass edge till he was close to the boy, and +then stepped off heavily on to the path. + +"They aren't ripe yet," he said with an unpleasant leer; "and you'd best +let them alone." + +Dexter walked quickly away, with his face scarlet, and a bitter feeling +of annoyance which he could not master. + +For the next quarter of an hour he was continually changing his position +in the garden, but always to wake up to the fact that the old gardener +was carrying out a purpose which he had confided to Peter. + +This the boy soon learned, for after a time he suddenly encountered the +groom, still busy with the broom. + +"Why, hullo, youngster!" he said; "what's the matter!" + +"Nothing," said Dexter, with his face growing a deeper scarlet. + +"Oh yes, there is; I can see," cried Peter. + +"Well, he's always watching me, and pretending that I'm getting into +mischief, or trying to pick the fruit." + +"Hah!" said Peter, with a laugh; "he told me he meant to keep his eye on +you." + +Just then there was a call for Dan'l from the direction of the house, +and Mrs Millett was seen beyond a laurel hedge. + +Directly after the old man went up to the house, and it seemed to Dexter +as if a cloud had passed from across the sun. The garden appeared to +have grown suddenly brighter, and the boy began to whistle as he went +about in an aimless way, looking here and there for something to take +his attention. + +He was not long in finding it, for just at the back of the dense yew +hedge there were half a dozen old-fashioned round-topped hives, whose +occupants were busy going to and fro, save that at the hive nearest the +cross-path a heavy cluster, betokening a late swarm, was hanging +outside, looking like a double handful of bees. + +Dexter knew a rhyme beginning-- + + "How doth the little busy bee--" + +and he knew that bees made honey; but that was all he did know about +their habits, save that they lived in hives; and he stood and stared at +the cluster hanging outside. + +"Why, they can't get in," he said to himself. "Hole's stopped up." + +He stood still for a few minutes, and then, as he looked round, he +caught sight of some bean-sticks--tall thin pieces of oak sapling, and +drawing one of these out of the ground he rubbed the mould off the +pointed end, and, as soon as it was clean, took hold of it, and returned +to the hive, where he watched the clustering bees for a few minutes, and +then, reaching over, he inserted the thin end of the long stick just by +the opening to the hive, thrust it forward, and gave it a good rake to +right and left. + +There was a tremendous buzz and a rush, and the next moment Dexter, +stick in hand, was running down the path toward the river, pursued by +quite a cloud of angry bees. + +Dexter ran fast, of course, and as it happened, right down one of the +most shady paths, beneath the densely growing apple-trees, where the +bees could not fly, so that by the time he reached the river-side he was +clear of his pursuers, but tingling from a sting on the wrist, and from +two more on the neck, one being among the hair at the back, and the +other right down in his collar. + +"Well, that's nice," he said, as he rubbed himself, and began mentally +to try and do a sum in the Rule of Three--if three stings make so much +pain, how much pain would be caused by the stings of a whole hiveful of +bees? + +"Bother the nasty vicious little things!" he cried, as he had another +rub, and he threw the bean-stick angrily away. + +"Don't hurt so much now," he said, after a few minutes' stamping about. +Then his face broke up into a merry smile. "How they did make me run!" + +Just then there was a shout--a yell, and a loud call for help. + +Dexter forgot his own pain, and, alarmed by the cries, ran as hard as he +could back again towards the spot from whence the sounds came, and to +his horror found that Old Dan'l was running here and there, waving his +arms, while Peter had come to his help, and was whisking his broom about +in all directions. + +For a few moments Dexter could not comprehend what was wrong, then, like +a flash, he understood that the bees had attacked the old gardener, and +that it was due to his having irritated them with the stick. + +Dexter knew how a wasp's nest had been taken in the fields by the boys +one day, and without a moment's hesitation he ran to the nearest shrub, +tore off a good-sized bough, and joined in the task of beating down the +bees. + +It is pretty sport to fight either bees or wasps in this way, but it +requires a great deal of courage, especially as the insects are sure to +get the best of it, as they did in this case, putting their enemies to +flight, their place of refuge being the tool-house, into whose dark +recesses the bees did not attempt to come. + +"Much stung, Dan'l!" said Peter. + +"Much stung, indeed! I should think I am. Offle!" + +"You got it much, youngster?" said Peter. + +"I've got three stings," replied Dexter, who had escaped without further +harm. + +"And I've got five, I think," said Peter. "What was you doing to 'em, +Dan'l!" + +"Doin' to 'em!" growled Dan'l, who was stamping about and rubbing +himself, and looking exceedingly like the bear in the old fable. "I +wasn't doin' nothin' to 'em. One o' the hives have been threatenin' to +swarm again, and I was just goin' by, when they come at me like a swarm +o' savidges, just as if some one had been teasing them." Dexter was +rubbing the back of his neck, and feeling horribly guilty, as he asked +himself whether he had not better own to having disturbed the hive; but +there was something so unpleasantly repellent about the old gardener, +and he was looking so suspiciously from one to the other, that the boy +felt as if he could not speak to him. + +If it had been Peter, who, with all his roughness, seemed to be tolerant +of his presence, he would have spoken out at once; but he could not to +Dan'l, and he remained silent. + +"They stings pretty sharp," said Peter, laughing. "Blue-bag's best +thing. I shall go up and get Maria to touch mine up. Coming?" + +"Nay, I'm not coming," growled Dan'l. "I can bear a sting or two of a +bee without getting myself painted up with blue-bags. Dock leaves is +good enough for me." + +"And there aren't a dock left in the garden," said Peter. "You found +fault with me for not pulling the last up." + +So Peter went up to the house to be blue-bagged, Dan'l remained like a +bear in his den, growling to himself, and Dexter, whose stings still +throbbed, went off across the lawn to walk off the pain, till it was +time to go to Sir James's. + +"Who'd have thought that the little things could hurt so much!" + +Then the pain began to diminish till it was only a tingle, and the spots +where the stings went in were round and hard, and now it was that +Dexter's conscience began to prick him as sharply as the bees' stings, +and he walked about the garden trying to make up his mind as to whether +he should go and confess to Dan'l that he stirred the bees up with a +long stick. + +But as soon as he felt that he would do this, something struck him that +Dan'l would be sure to think he had done it all out of mischief, and he +knew that he could not tell him. + +"Nobody will know," he said to himself; "and I won't tell. I didn't +mean to do any harm." + +"Dexter! Dexter!" + +He looked in the direction from whence the sounds came, and could see +Helen waving her handkerchief, as a signal for him to come in. + +"Time to go," he said to himself as he set off to her. "Nobody will +know, so I shan't tell him." + +And then he turned cold. + +Only a few moments before he had left Dan'l growling in his den, and now +here he was down the garden, stooping and picking up something. + +For a few moments Dexter could not see what the something was, for the +trees between them hindered the view, but directly after he made out +that Dan'l had picked up a long stick, which had been thrown among the +little apple-trees, and was carefully examining it. + +The colour came into Dexter's cheeks as he wondered whether Dan'l would +know where that stick came from. + +The colour would have been deeper still had he known that Dan'l had a +splendid memory, and knew exactly where every stick or plant should be. +In fact, Dan'l recognised that stick as having been taken from the end +of the scarlet-runner row. + +"A young sperrit o' mischief! that's what he is," muttered the old man, +giving a writhe as he felt the stinging of the bees. "Now what's he +been up to with that there stick? making a fishing-rod of it, I s'pose, +and tearing my rows o' beans to pieces. I tell him what it is--" + +Dan'l stopped short, and stared at the end of the stick--the thin end, +where there was something peculiar, betraying what had been done with +it. + +It was a sight which made him tighten his lips up into a thin red line, +and screw up his eyes till they could be hardly seen, for upon the end +of that stick were the mortal remains of two crushed bees. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +DEXTER SPENDS A PLEASANT AFTERNOON. + +Dexter went up to where Helen was waiting for him, and found her +dressed. "Going out!" he said. + +"Yes; I thought I would walk up to Sir James's with you," she said; and +she cast a critical eye over him, and smiled upon seeing that he only +needed a touch with a brush to make him presentable. + +This was given, and they set off together, the doctor only giving Dexter +a friendly nod in accordance with a promise made not to upset the boy +with a number of hints as to how he was to behave. + +"It must come by degrees, papa," Helen said; "and any advice given now +would only make him more conscious." + +Dexter's hair still looked horribly short, but his face did not quite +resemble now that of a boy who had just risen from a sick-bed. He +looked brighter and more animated, and in nowise peculiar; but all the +same, in their short walk, Helen was conscious of the fact that they +were being observed by every one they passed, and that plenty of remarks +were made. + +All at once she noticed that Dexter as she was speaking to him gave +quite a start, and following the direction of his eyes, she saw that he +was looking at a rough-looking boy, who was approaching them with a +fishing-rod over his shoulder, and a basket in his hand. + +The boy's mouth widened into a grin as he passed, and Helen asked Dexter +if he knew him, the friendly look he had given speaking volumes of a new +difficulty likely to be in their way. + +"I don't know whether I know him--or not," said Dexter. "I've spoken to +him." + +"Where? At the schools!" + +"No; he was fishing on the other side of the river that day I tumbled +in." + +"Oh!" said Helen coldly. "Here we are." + +She turned through a great iron gate, walked up a broad flight of steps, +and knocked. + +"There, Dexter," she said, as the door was opened. "I hope you will +enjoy yourself." + +"Ain't you going in with me!" he whispered excitedly, as a footman in a +blue and yellow livery opened the door. + +"No; good-bye." + +She nodded pleasantly, and went down the steps, leaving Dexter face to +face with the footman, who had become possessed of the news of the young +guest's quality from no less a personage than Master Edgar himself. + +"Will you come in, please," he said, drawing back, and holding the door +open with an air that should have made him gain for wages--kicks. + +Dexter said, "Yes, sir," as respectfully as if he were the workhouse +porter, and took off his cap and went in. + +"This way, hif you please," said the supercilious gentleman. "You may +leave your cap here." + +Dexter put down his cap, and followed the man to a door at the further +end of the hall. + +"What name!" said the footman. + +Dexter stared at him. + +"What name shall I announce?" said the man again with chilling dignity. + +"Please, I don't know what you mean," said the boy, feeling very much +confused. + +The man smiled pityingly, and looked down with a most exasperating kind +of condescension at the visitor,--in a way, in fact, that stamped him +mentally as a brother in spirit, if not in flesh, of Maria, the doctor's +maid. + +"I 'ave to announce your name to her ladyship," said the footman. + +"Oh, my name," cried Dexter, "Obed Cole--I mean Dexter Grayson." + +He turned more red than ever in his confusion, and before he could say +another word to add to his correction the door was thrown open. + +"Master Obed Cole Dextry Grayson," said the footman, in a loud voice; +and the boy found himself standing in a large handsomely furnished room +in the presence of Lady Danby, who rose with a forced smile, and looked +very limp. + +"How do you do, Master Grayson!" she said sadly, and she held out her +hand. + +Dexter in his confusion made a dash at it, and caught it tightly, to +find that it felt very limp and cold, but the sensation did not last +long, for the thin white fingers were snatched away. + +"Eddy, dear," said Lady Danby. + +There was no answer, and Dexter stood there, feeling very uncomfortable, +and staring hard at the tall lady, who spoke in such an ill-used tone of +voice. + +"Eddy, my darling," she said a little more loudly, as she turned and +looked toward a glass door opening into a handsome conservatory; "come +and shake hands with Master Grayson." + +There was no reply, but a faint rustling sound fell upon Dexter's quick +ears, telling plainly enough that some one was in the conservatory. + +Lady Danby sighed, and there was a very awkward pause. + +"Perhaps you had better sit down, Master Grayson," she said. "My son +will be here soon." + +Just at that moment there was a loud important sounding cough in the +hall, the handle of the door rattled loudly, and Sir James entered, +walking very upright, and smiling with his eyes half-closed. + +"Aha!" he exclaimed. "Here you are, then. How do you do--how do you +do--how do you do!" + +He shook hands boisterously, nodding and smiling the while, and Dexter +wondered whether he ought to say, "Quite well, thank you, sir," three +times over, but he only said it once. + +"That's right," said Sir James. "Quite safe here, eh? No bullocks to +run after us now." + +"No, sir," said Dexter uneasily. + +"But where's Eddy!" cried Sir James. + +"He was here a little while ago, my dear," said Lady Danby uneasily. "I +think he has gone down the garden." + +"No; I think not," said Sir James. "Here, Eddy! Eddy!" + +"Yes, pa," came out of the conservatory. + +"Why, where are you, sir? Come and shake hands with our young friend." + +Master Edgar came slowly into sight, entered the drawing-room, and stood +still. + +"Well; why don't you welcome your visitor? Come here." + +Master Edgar came a little more forward. + +"Now, then, shake hands with your friend." + +Master Edgar slowly held out a white thin hand in the direction of +Dexter, who caught it eagerly, and felt as if he were shaking hands with +Lady Danby again. + +"That's better," said Sir James. "Now the ice is broken I hope you two +will be very great friends. There, we shall have an early dinner for +you at three o'clock. Better leave them to themselves, my dear." + +"Very well, my love," responded Lady Danby sadly. + +"Take Dexter Grayson and show him your games, and your pony, and then +you can take him round the garden, but don't touch the boat." + +"No, pa," said Edgar slowly. + +"He's a little shy, Dexter," said Sir James. + +"No, I ain't, ma," said Edgar, in a whisper. + +"We are very glad to see you, Dexter," continued Sir James. "There, +now, go and enjoy yourself out in the garden, you'll find plenty to see. +Come, Eddy." + +Master Edgar looked slowly and sulkily up at his father, and seemed to +hesitate, not even glancing at his visitor. + +"Well!" said Sir James sharply. "Why are you hesitating? Come: run +along. That way, Dexter, my lad. You two will soon be good friends." + +Dexter tried to smile, but it was a very poor apology for a look of +pleasure, while Sir James, who seemed rather annoyed at his son's +shrinking, uncouth conduct, laid his hand upon the boy's shoulder and +led him into the conservatory. + +"Come, Eddy," he said bluffly. + +"Must I go, ma!" whispered Eddy. + +"Yes, my dear, certainly. Papa wishes it, and you must behave like a +young gentleman to your guest." + +"Come, Eddy," shouted Sir James from the conservatory. + +Master Edgar went out sidewise in a very crabby way, and found Sir James +waiting. + +"There, no more shyness," said Sir James bluffly. "Go out and enjoy +yourselves till dinner-time." + +He nodded and smiled at them, gave his son a push toward Dexter, and +returned to where Lady Danby was seated, with her brow all in wrinkles. + +"They will soon make friends," said Sir James. "It's Grayson's whim, of +course, and really, my dear, this seems to be a decent sort of boy. +Very rough, of course, but Eddy will give him polish. This class of boy +is very quick at picking up things; and if, after a few weeks, Grayson +is disappointed and finds out his mistake, why, then, we have behaved in +a neighbourly way to him and Helen, and there's an end of it." + +"But it seems so shocking for poor Eddy, my dear," remonstrated Lady +Danby. + +"Fish! pooh! tchah! rubbish! not at all!" + +"Eddy may pick up bad language from him, and become rude." + +"He had better not!" said Sir James. "He knows differently. The other +young dog will learn from him. Make him discontented, I'm afraid; but +there--it is not our doing." + +Lady Danby sighed. + +"They'll come back in a hour or two quite companions," continued Sir +James. "Boys like that are a little awkward at their first meeting. +Soon wear off. I am going to write letters till three. After their +dinner perhaps I shall take them in the boat down the river." + +Lady Danby sighed again, and Sir James went to see to his letters for +the post. + +By this time Master Edgar had walked softly out on to the lawn, with his +right hand in his pocket, and his left thumb playing about his mouth, +looking the while in all directions but that occupied by Dexter, who +followed him slowly, waiting for his young host to speak. + +But Eddy did not seem to have the slightest intention of speaking. He +only sidled away slowly across the lawn, and then down one of the +winding paths among the shrubs and ornamental trees. + +This went on for about ten minutes, during which they got to be further +and further from the house, not a word being spoken; and though Dexter +looked genial and eager as he followed his young host, the silence +chilled him as much as did the studied way in which his companion +avoided his eyes. + +"What a beautiful garden you've got!" said Dexter at last. + +There was no reply. + +Eddy picked up a stone, and threw it at a thrush. + +"It's bigger than Dr Grayson's," said Dexter, after a pause. + +Eddy picked a flower, gave a chew at the stalk; then picked it to +pieces, and threw it away. + +Then he began to sidle along again in and out among the trees, and on +and on, never once looking at his companion till they were at the bottom +of the garden. A pleasant piece of lawn, dotted with ornamental trees, +sloped down to the river where, in a Gothic-looking boat-house, open at +either end, a handsome-looking gig floated in the clear water. + +"That your boat?" said Dexter eagerly, as his eyes ran over the +cushioned seats, and the sculls of varnished wood lying all ready along +the thwarts. + +Edgar made no reply, only moved nearer to the water, and threw himself +on a garden seat near the edge. + +"Isn't this a good place for fishing?" said Dexter, trying another tack. + +No answer, and it was getting very monotonous. But Dexter took it all +good-humouredly, attributing the boy's manner more to shyness than +actual discourtesy. + +"I say, don't you fish sometimes!" + +No reply. + +"Have you got any rods and lines!" + +Eddy gave a contemptuous sniff, which might have meant anything. + +"There's lots at Dr Grayson's," said Dexter eagerly, for the sight of +the roach gliding about in the clear water in the shade of the +boat-house excited the desire to begin angling. "Shall I go and fetch +the rods and lines?" + +Eddy leaned back in the garden seat, and rested his head upon his hand. + +In despair Dexter sighed, and then recalled Sir James's words about +their enjoying themselves. + +It was a lovely day; the garden was very beautiful; the river ran by, +sparkling and bright; but there was very little enjoyment so far, and +Dexter sat down upon the grass at a little distance from his young host. + +But it was not in Dexter's nature to sit still long, and after staring +hard at the bright water for a few minutes, he looked up brightly at +Edgar. + +"I say," he cried; "that bullock didn't hurt you the other day, did it?" + +Edgar shifted himself a little in his seat, so that he could stare in +the other direction, and he tried to screw up his mouth into what was +meant to be a supercilious look, though it was a failure, being +extremely pitiful, and very small. + +Dexter waited for a few minutes, and then continued the one-sided +conversation-- + +"I never felt afraid of bullocks," he said thoughtfully. "If you had +run after them with your stick--I say, you got your stick, didn't you?" + +No reply. + +"Oh, well," said Dexter; "if you don't want to talk, I don't." + +"I don't want to talk to a boy like you," said Edgar, without looking. + +Dexter started, and stared hard. + +"I'm not accustomed to associate with workhouse boys." + +Dexter flinched. + +Not long back the idea of being a workhouse boy did not trouble him in +the least. He knew that there were plenty of boys who were not +workhouse boys, and seeing what freedom they enjoyed, and how much +happier they seemed, something of the nature of envy had at times crept +into his breast, but, on the whole, he had been very well contented till +he commenced his residence at the doctor's; and now all seemed changed. + +"I'm not a workhouse boy," he said hotly. + +"Yes, you are," retorted Edgar, looking at him hard, full in the face, +for the first time. "I know where you came from, and why you were +fetched." + +Dexter's face was burning, and there was an angry look in his eyes, as +he jumped up and took a couple of steps toward where Edgar sat back on +the garden seat. But his pleasant look came back, and he held out his +hand. + +"I'm not ashamed of it," he said. "I used to be at the workhouse. +Won't you shake hands!" + +Edgar sniffed contemptuously, and turned his head away. + +"Very well," said Dexter sadly. "I don't want to, if you don't." + +Edgar suddenly leaped up, and went along by the side of the river, while +Dexter, after a few moments' hesitation, began to follow him in a +lonely, dejected way, wishing all the time that he could go back home. + +Following out his previous tactics, Edgar sidled along path after path, +and in and out among the evergreen clumps, all the while taking care not +to come within sight of the house, so that his actions might be seen; +while, feeling perfectly helpless and bound to follow the caprices of +his young host, Dexter continued his perambulation of the garden in the +same unsatisfactory manner. + +"Look here," cried Edgar at last; "don't keep following me about." + +"Very well," said Dexter, as he stood still in the middle of one of the +paths, wondering whether he could slip away, and return to the doctor's. + +That seemed a difficult thing to do, for Sir James might see him going, +and call him back, and then what was he to say? Besides which, when he +reached the doctor's there would be a fresh examination, and he felt +that the excuse he gave would not be satisfactory. + +Dexter sighed, and glanced in the direction taken by Edgar. + +The boy was not within sight, but Dexter fancied that he had hidden, and +was watching him, and he turned in the other direction, looking +hopelessly about the garden, which seemed to be more beautiful and +extensive than the doctor's; but, in spite of the wealth of greenery and +flowers, everything looked cheerless and cold. + +Dexter sighed. Then a very natural boyish thought came into his head. + +"I wonder what's for dinner," he said to himself; but at the same time +he knew that it must be a long while yet to dinner-time, and, sighing +once more, he walked slowly down the path, found himself near the river +again, and went and sat on a stump close to the boat-house, where he +could look into the clear water, and see the fish. + +It was very interesting to him to watch the little things gliding here +and there, and he wished that he had a rod and line to try for some of +them, when all at once he started, for a well-aimed stone struck him +upon the side of the head, and as it reached its goal, and Dexter +started up angrily, there was a laugh and a rustle among the shrubs. + +As the pain went off, so did Dexter's anger, and he reseated himself +upon the stump, thinking, with his young wits sharpened by his early +life. + +"I don't call this coming out to enjoy myself," he said drily. "Wonder +whether all young gentleman behave like this?" + +Then he began thinking about Sam Stubbs, a boy at the workhouse school, +who was a terrible bully and tyrant, knocking all his companions about. + +But the sight of the clean-looking well-varnished boat, floating so +easily in the shade of the roof of its house, took his attention, and he +began thinking of how he should like a boat like that to push off into +the stream, and go floating along in the sunshine, looking down at the +fish, and fastening up every now and then to the overhanging trees. It +would be glorious, he thought. + +"I wish Dr Grayson had a boat," he thought. "I could learn to row it, +and--" + +_Whack_! + +Dexter jumped up again, tingling with pain; and then with his face +scarlet he sat down once more writhing involuntarily, and drawing his +breath hard, as there was a mocking laugh. + +The explanation was simple. Master Edgar was dissatisfied. It was very +pleasant to his spoiled, morbid mind to keep on slighting and annoying +his guest by making him dance attendance upon him, and dragging him +about the garden wherever he pleased to go; but it was annoying and +disappointing to find that he was being treated with a calm display of +contempt. + +Under these circumstances Master Edgar selected a good-sized stone--one +which he thought would hurt--and took excellent aim at Dexter, where he +sat contemplating the river. + +The result was most satisfactory: Dexter had winced, evidently suffered +sharp pain, but only submitted to it, and sat down again twisting +himself about. + +Edgar laughed heartily, in fact the tears stood in his eyes, and he +retreated, but only to where he could watch Dexter attentively. + +"He's a coward," said Edgar to himself. "All that sort of boys are." +And with the determination of making his visitor a kind of captive to +his bow and spear, or, in plainer English, a slave to his caprices, he +went to one of the beds where some sticks had lately been put to some +young plants, and selecting one that was new, thin, and straight, he +went back on tiptoe, watched his opportunity, and then brought the stick +down sharply across Dexter's back. + +He drew back for a few moments, his victim's aspect being menacing; but +Dexter's young spirit had been kept crushed down for a good many years, +and his custom had been under many a blow to sit and suffer patiently, +not even crying aloud, Mr Sibery objecting to any noise in the school. + +Dexter had subsided again. The flashes that darted from his eyes had +died out, and those eyes looked subdued and moist. + +For the boy was mentally, as well as bodily hurt, and he wondered what +Helen would say, and whether Sir James would correct his son if he saw +him behaving in that manner to his visitor. + +"Hey: get up!" said Edgar, growing more bold, as he found that he could +ill-use his guest with impunity; and as he spoke he gave him a rough +poke or two with the sharp end of the stick, which had been pointed with +the gardener's pruning-knife. + +His treatment of Dexter resembled that which he had been accustomed to +bestow upon an unfortunate dog he had once owned--one which became so +fond of him that at last it ran away. + +"Do you hear!" cried Edgar again. "Get up." + +"Don't: you hurt." + +"Yes: meant to hurt," said Edgar, grinning. "Get up." + +He gave Dexter so sharp a dig with the stick that the latter jumped up +angrily, and Edgar drew back; but on seeing that the visitor only went +on a few yards to where there was a garden seat, and sat down again, the +young tyrant became emboldened, and went behind the seat with a +malicious look of satisfaction in his eyes. + +"Don't do that," said Dexter quietly. "Let's have a game at something. +Do you think we might go in that boat?" + +"I should think not indeed," cried Edgar, who now seemed to have found +his tongue. "Boats are for young gentlemen, not for boys from the +Union." + +Dexter winced a little, and Edgar looked pleased. + +"Get up!" he shouted; and he made another lunge with the stick. + +"I'm always getting into trouble," thought Dexter, as the result of the +last few days' teachings, "and I don't want to do anything now." + +"Do you hear, blackguard? Get up!" + +There was another sharp poke, a painful poke, against which, as he moved +to the other end of the seat, Dexter uttered a mild protest. + +"Did you hear me say, `Get up'?" shouted Edgar. + +Dexter obeyed, and moved a little nearer to the water's edge. + +"I wish it was time to go," he said to himself. "I am so miserable +here." + +"Now, go along there," said Edgar sharply. "Go on!" + +The boy seemed to have a donkey in his mind's eye just then, for he +thrust and struck at Dexter savagely, and then hastily threw down the +stick, as an angry glow was gathering in his visitor's countenance. For +just then there was a step heard upon the gravel. + +"Ah, Eddy, my darling," said a voice; and Lady Danby walked languidly +by, holding up a parasol. "At play, my dear?" + +She did not glance at Dexter, who felt very solitary and sad as the lady +passed on, Master Eddy throwing himself on the grass, and picking it off +in patches to toss toward the water till his mother was out of sight, +when he sprang up once more, and picked the stick from where he had +thrown it upon a bed. + +As he did this he glanced sidewise, and then stood watching for a few +minutes, when he made a playful kind of charge at his visitor, and drove +the point of the stick so vigorously against his back that the cloth +gave way, making a triangular hole, and causing the owner no little +pain. + +"Don't," cried Dexter appealingly; "you hurt ever so. Let's play at +some game." + +"I'm going to," cried Edgar, with a vicious laugh. "I'm going to play +at French and English, and you're the beggarly Frenchman at Waterloo. +That's the way to charge bayonets. How do you like that, and that, and +that!" + +"Not at all," said Dexter, trying hard to be good-humoured. + +"Then you'll have to like it, and ever so much more, too. Get up, +blackguard. Do you hear?" + +Dexter rose and retreated; but, with no little agility, Edgar got before +him, and drove him toward the water, stabbing and lunging at him so +savagely, that if he had not parried some of the thrusts with his hands +his face must have been torn. + +Edgar grew more and more excited over his work, and Dexter received a +nasty dig on one hand, another in the cheek, while another grazed his +ear. + +This last was beyond bearing. The hurt was not so bad as several which +he had before received; but, perhaps from its nearness to his brain, it +seemed to rouse Dexter more than any former blow, and, with an angry +cry, he snatched at and caught the stick just as it came near his face. + +"Let go of that stick! Do you hear?" cried Edgar. + +For response Dexter, who was now roused, held on tightly, and tried to +pull the stick away. + +"Let go," cried Edgar, tugging and snatching with all his might. + +Dexter's rage was as evanescent as it was quick. It passed away, and as +his enemy made another furious tug at the stick Dexter suddenly let go, +and the consequence was the boy staggered back a few yards, and then +came down heavily in a sitting position upon the grass. + +Edgar sat and stared for a few moments, the sudden shock being anything +but pleasant; but, as he saw Dexter's mirthful face, a fit of rage +seized him, and, leaping up, he resumed his attack with the stick. + +This time his strokes and thrusts were so malicious, and given with so +decided a desire to hurt his victim as much as was possible, that, short +of running away, Dexter had to do everything possible to avoid the +blows. + +For the most part he was successful; but at last he received so numbing +a blow across the arm that he quivered with pain and anger as he sprang +forward, and, in place of retreating, seized the stick, and tried to +wrest it away. + +There was a brief struggle, but pretty full of vigour. + +Rage made Edgar strong, and he fought well for his weapon, but at the +end of a minute's swaying here and there, and twistings and heavings +innumerable, Edgar's arms felt as if they were being torn from his body, +the stick was wrenched away, and as he stood scarlet with passion, he +saw it whirled into the air, to fall with a loud splash into the river. + +Edgar ground his teeth for a moment or two, and then, as white with +anger as his adversary was red, he flew at him, swaying his arms round, +and then there was a furious encounter. + +Edgar had his own ideas about fighting manoeuvres, which he had tried +again and again upon his nurse in bygone times, and upon any of the +servants with whom he had come in contact. His arms flew round like +flails, or as if he had been transformed into a kind of human firework, +and for the next five minutes he kicked, scratched, bit, and tore at his +adversary; the next five minutes he was seated upon the grass, howling, +his nose bleeding terribly, and the crimson stains carried by his hands +all over his face. + +For Dexter was not perfect: he had borne till it was impossible to bear +more, and then, with his anger surging up, he had fought as a +down-trodden English boy will sometimes fight; and in this case with the +pluck and steadiness learned in many a school encounter, unknown to Mr +Sibery or Mr Hippetts, the keen-eyed and stern. + +Result: what might be expected. Dexter felt no pain, only an intense +desire to thrash the virulent little tyrant who had scratched his face, +kicked his shins, torn at his hair--it was too short still for a good +hold--and, finally, made his sharp, white teeth meet in his visitor's +neck. + +"Served you right!" muttered Dexter, as he knelt down by the river, and +bathed his hands and face before dabbing them dry with his +pocket-handkerchief. "No business to treat me like that." + +Then, as he stood rubbing his face--very little the worse for the +encounter--his anger all passed away, and the consequences of his act +dawned upon him. + +"Look here," he said; "it was all your fault. Come to the water; that +will soon stop bleeding." + +He held out his hand, as he bent over the fallen tyrant, meaning to help +him to rise, when, quick as lightning, Edgar caught the hand proffered +to him and carried it to his teeth. + +Dexter uttered a cry of pain, and shook him off, sending him backwards +now upon the grass, just as a shadow fell across the contending boys, +and Sir James stood frowning there. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +MASTER EDDY "HOLLERS WAHOO!" + +"What is the meaning of this!" cried Sir James furiously. + +Dexter was speechless, and he shrank back staring. + +Edgar was ready with an answer. "He's knocking me about, pa. He has +done nothing but knock me about ever since he came." + +"Oh!" cried Dexter in a voice full of indignant astonishment. "I +didn't. He begun it, and I didn't, indeed." + +"Silence, sir!" cried Sir James, in his severest magisterial tones. +"How dare you tell me such a falsehood? I saw you ill-using my son as +you held him down." + +"Why, he had got hold of my hand!" cried Dexter indignantly. + +"Got hold of your hand, sir? How dare you? How dare you, sir, I say? +I've a great mind to--" + +Sir James did not finish his speech, but made a gesture with the +walking-cane he carried; and just then there was a loud hysterical +shriek. + +For Lady Danby had realised the fact that something was wrong from the +part of the garden where she was promenading, parasol in hand, and she +came now panting up, in the full belief that some accident had happened +to her darling, and that he was drowned. + +"Eddy, Eddy!" she cried, as she came up; and then as soon as she caught +sight of his anything but pleasant-looking countenance, she shrieked +again wildly, and flung herself upon her knees beside him. "What is it? +What is it, my darling?" she sobbed, as she caught him to her heart. + +"That horrid boy! Knocking me about," he cried, stopping his howling so +as to deliver the words emphatically; and then looking at his stained +hands, and bursting into a howl of far greater power than before. + +"The wretch! The wretch!" cried Lady Danby. "I always knew it. He has +killed my darling." + +At this dire announcement Edgar shook himself free from his mother's +embrace, looked at his hands again, and then in the extremity of horror, +threw himself flat upon his back, and shrieked and kicked. + +"O my darling, my darling!" cried Lady Danby. + +"He isn't hurt much," cried Dexter indignantly. + +"How dare you, sir!" roared Sir James. + +"He's killed; he's killed!" cried Lady Danby, clasping her hands, and +rocking herself to and fro as she gazed at the shrieking boy, who only +wanted a cold sponge and a towel to set him right. + +"Ow!" yelled Edgar, as he appreciated the sympathy of his mother, but +believed the very worst of his unfortunate condition. The lady now bent +over him, said that he was killed, and of course she must have known. + +Edgar had never read _Uncle Remus_. All this was before the period when +that book appeared; but his conduct might very well be taken as a type +of that of the celebrated Brer Fox when Brer Rabbit was in doubt as to +whether he was really dead or only practising a ruse, and proceeded to +test his truth by saying, as he saw him stretched out-- + +"Brer Fox look like he dead, but he don't do like he dead. Dead fokes +hists up de behime leg, en hollers _wahoo_!" + +Edgar, according to Brer Rabbit's ideas, was very dead indeed, for he +kept on "histing up de behime leg, en hollering _wahoo_!" with the full +power of his lungs. + +By this time the alarm had spread, and there was the sound of steps upon +a gravel walk, which resulted in the appearance of the supercilious +footman. + +"Carry Master Edgar up to the house," said Sir James, in his severest +magisterial tones. + +"Carefully--very carefully," wailed her ladyship piteously; and she +looked and spoke as if she feared that as soon as the boy was touched he +would tumble all to pieces. + +Dexter looked on, with his eyes turning here and there, like those of +some captured wild animal which fears danger; and as he looked he caught +sight of the footman gazing at him with a peculiar grin upon his +countenance, which seemed to be quite friendly, and indicated that the +man rather enjoyed the plight in which his young master was plunged. + +Master Edgar howled again as he was raised, and directly after began to +indulge in what the plantation negroes used to call "playing 'possum"-- +that is to say, he suddenly became limp and inert, closing his eyes, and +letting his head roll about, as if there were no more bone left in his +body, while his mother wrung her hands, and tried then to hold the head +steady, as the footman prepared to move toward the house. + +"Now, sir," said Sir James sternly, "come here. We will have a few +words about this in my library." + +Accustomed for years past to obey, Dexter took a step forward to +accompany the stern-looking man before him to the house; but such a +panorama of troublous scenes rose before his mind's eye directly, that +he stopped short, gave one hasty glance round, and then, as Sir James +stretched forth his hand, he made one bound which landed him in a clump +of hollyhocks and dahlias; another which took him on to the grass; and +then, with a rush, he dashed into a clump of rhododendrons, went through +them, and ran as hard as he could go toward the house. + +For a few moments Sir James was too much astounded to speak. This was +something new. He was accustomed to order, and to be obeyed. + +He had ordered Dexter to come to him, and for answer the boy had dashed +away. + +As soon as Sir James could recover his breath, taken away in his +astonishment, he began to shout-- + +"Stop, sir! Do you hear? How dare you?" + +If a hundred Sir Jameses had been shouting it would not have stayed +Dexter, for he had only one idea in his head just then, and that was to +get away. + +"Put down Master Edgar, and go and fetch that boy back." + +"Carefully! Oh, pray, put him down carefully," cried Lady Danby +passionately. + +Just then Master Edgar uttered a fresh cry, and his mother wailed +loudly. + +"No, never mind," cried Sir James, "carry him up to the house; I will +fetch that young rascal." + +He strode off angrily, evidently believing in his own mind that he +really was going to fetch Dexter back; but by that time the boy had +reached the house, ran round by the side, dashed down the main street, +and was soon after approaching the bridge over the river, beyond which +lay the Union and the schools. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +AN EXPLANATION. + +For a few moments Dexter's idea was to go to the great gates, ring the +porter's bell, and take sanctuary there, for he felt that he had +disgraced himself utterly beyond retrieving his character. Certainly, +he never dared go back to the doctor's. + +He felt for a moment that he had some excuse, for Edgar Danby had +brought his punishment upon himself; but no one would believe that, and +there was no hope for the offender but to give up everything, and go +back to his former life. + +But, as the boy reached the gloomy-looking workhouse entrance, and saw +the painted bell-pull, through whose coating the rust was eating its +way, he shivered. + +For there rose up before him the stern faces of Mr Hippetts and Mr +Sibery, with the jeering crowd of schoolfellows, who could laugh at and +gibe him for his downfall, and be sure to call him Gentleman Coleby, as +long as they were together, the name, under the circumstances, being +sure to stick. + +No, he could not face them there, and beside, though it had never seemed +so before, the aspect of the great building was so forbidding that he +shrank away, and walked onward toward the outskirts of the town, and on, +and on, till he found himself by the river. + +Such a sensation of misery and despair came over him, that he began +walking along by the bank, seeing nothing of the glancing fish and +bright insects which danced above the water. He had room for nothing +but the despondent thoughts of what he should do now. + +"What would the doctor think of him? What would Helen say?" He had +been asked out to spend the day at a gentleman's house, and he had +disgraced himself, and-- + +"Hullo!" + +Dexter looked up sharply, and found that he had almost run against his +old fishing friend of the opposite side of the river. + +"Hullo!" stammered Dexter in reply. + +"Got dry again?" said the boy, who was standing just back from the +water's edge, fishing, with his basket at his side, and a box of baits +on the grass. + +"Got dry?" said Dexter wonderingly. + +"Yes! My!" cried the boy, grinning, "you did have a ducking. I ran +away. Best thing I could do." + +"Yes," said Dexter quietly; "you ran away." + +"Why, what yer been a-doing of? Your face is scratched, and your hands +too. I know: you've been climbing trees. You'll ketch it, spoiling +your clothes. That's got him." + +He struck and landed a small fish, which he took from the hook and +dropped into his basket, where there were two more. + +"They don't bite to-day. Caught any down your garden!" + +"No," said Dexter, to whom the company of the boy was very cheering just +then. "I haven't tried since." + +"You are a fellow! Why, if I had a chance like you have, I should be +always at it." + +"I say, what did you say your name was?" + +"Bob Dimsted--Bob," said the fisher, throwing in again. "I know what +yours is. You come out of the workus." + +"Yes," said Dexter sadly, as he wondered whether he did not wish he was +there now. "I came out of the workus--workhouse," he added, as he +remembered one of Helen's teachings. + +"Why don't you get your rod some day, and a basket of something to eat, +and come right up the river with me, fishing? There's whackers up +there." + +"I should like to," said Dexter thoughtfully, for the idea of the +fishing seemed to drive away the troubles from which he suffered. + +"Well, come then. I'd go any day, only you must let me have all you +caught." + +"All?" said Dexter, as he began to think of trophies. + +"Yes. As I showed you the place where they're caught, I should want to +take them home." + +"All right," said Dexter. "You could have them." + +"Ah, it's all very well," said the boy, "but there wouldn't be many that +you caught, mate. Ah! No, he's off again. Keep a little furder back." + +Dexter obeyed, and sat down on the grass, feeling in a half-despairing +mood, but as if the company of this rough boy was very pleasant after +what he had gone through, and that boys like this were more agreeable to +talk to than young tyrants of the class of Edgar Danby. + +"Fish don't half bite to-day," said Bob Dimsted. "I wish you'd got a +rod here, I could lend you a line--single hair." + +"But I haven't got a rod." + +"Well, run home and fetch it," said Bob. + +"Run home and fetch it?" How could he run home and fetch it? How could +he ever go back to the doctor's again? + +"No," he said at last, as he shook his head. "I can't go and fetch it." + +"Then you can't fish," said the boy, "and 'tain't much use. It's no fun +unless they bite, and some days it don't matter how you try, they +won't." + +"Won't they?" said Dexter, and then he started to his feet, for a +familiar voice had spoken close to his ear-- + +"Why, Dexter!" + +The voice was as full of astonishment as the pleasant face which looked +in his. + +"I thought you were at Sir James Danby's! Is Edgar out here, in the +meadows!" + +"No--no," faltered Dexter; and Bob Dimsted began to gather up his +tackle, so as to make a strategic movement, there being evidently +trouble in the rear. + +"But what does this mean?" said Helen firmly. "Who is that boy?" + +"Bob--Bob Dimsted." + +"And do you know him?" + +"He--he was fishing opposite our--your--garden the day I fell into the +river," faltered Dexter; and he looked longingly at Bob, who was quickly +moving away, and wished that those eyes did not hold him so firmly, and +keep him from doing the same. + +"Was he at your school?" + +"No," faltered Dexter. + +"Then I am sure papa would not like you to be making acquaintance with +boy's like that. But come, Dexter. What is the meaning of all this? I +left you at Sir James Danby's." + +"Yes," said Dexter, shuffling from foot to foot. + +"Then why are you not there now--playing with Edgar?" + +Dexter did not answer, but seemed to be admiring the prospect. + +"Why, Dexter, your face is all scratched!" + +Dexter looked up at her, with the scratched face scarlet. + +"How is that!" continued Helen sternly. + +"Fighting," said Dexter grimly. + +"Fighting? Oh, shame! And with that rough boy!" + +"No!" cried Dexter quickly. "He didn't knock me about." + +"Then who did!" + +"That young Danby." + +Dexter's lips were well opened now, and he went on talking rapidly. + +"I never did anything to him, but he went on for an hour walking all +round the garden, and wouldn't speak; and when I was tired and sat down, +he got a stick and knocked me about, and poked me with the point. I +stood it as long as I could, and then, when he got worse and worse, I +pitched into him, and I'm sure you would have done the same." + +Helen did not look as if she would have done the same, but stood gazing +at the young monkey before her, wondering whether he was deserving of +her sympathy, or had really misbehaved himself, and was trying to +palliate his conduct. + +"There, Dexter," she said at last. "I really do not know what to do +with you. You had better come on and see papa at once." + +She took a step toward the town, and then waited, but Dexter stood firm, +and cast a glance toward the country. + +"Dexter, did you hear what I said!" + +The boy looked at her uneasily, and then nodded sullenly. + +"Come home with me, then, at once," said Helen quickly. + +"It's no use for me to come home along of you," said Dexter surlily. +"He'll hit me, and I don't want to go." + +Helen hesitated for a few moments, and then laid her hand upon the boy's +shoulder. + +"I wish you to come, Dexter." + +He shook his head. + +"Come," she cried, "if you have been in fault confess it frankly." + +"But I haven't," cried the boy angrily. "I couldn't help fighting when +he knocked me about as he did. He bit me too. Look there!" + +He hastily drew up his sleeve, and displayed a ruddy circle on his white +skin, which bore pretty strong witness to the truth of his words. + +"Then, if you were not to blame, why should you shrink from coming to +papa?" + +"'Cause he mightn't believe me. Mr Sibery never would, neither," +muttered Dexter. + +"Tell the truth and papa will be sure to believe you," cried Helen +indignantly. + +"Think he would!" said Dexter. + +"I am sure of it, sir." + +"All right then," cried the boy quickly. "I'll come. Oh, I say!" + +"What is the matter?" + +"Look! Here he comes!" + +He pointed quickly in the direction of the town, and, wresting himself +from Helen's grasp, set off at a sharp run. + +But he had not gone a dozen yards before he turned and saw Helen gazing +after him. + +He stopped directly, and came slowly and reluctantly back. + +"Did you call me!" he said sheepishly. + +"No, Dexter; I think it must have been your conscience spoke and +upbraided you for being such a coward." + +"Yes, it was cowardly, wasn't it?" cried the boy. "I didn't mean to run +away, but somehow I did. I say, will he hit me!" + +"No, Dexter." + +"Will he be very cross with me?" + +"I am afraid he will, Dexter; but you must submit bravely, and speak the +simple truth." + +"Yes, I'm going to," said Dexter, with a sigh; and he glanced behind him +at the pleasant stretch of meadows, and far away down among the alders +and willows, with Bob Dimsted fishing, and evidently quite free from the +care which troubled him. + +The doctor strode up, looking very angry. + +"So you are there, are you, sir?" he cried austerely. "Do you know of +this disgraceful business!" + +"Dexter has been telling me," said Helen gravely. + +"Humph!" grunted the doctor. "I knew you had come down here, so I +thought I would come and tell you of the terrible state of affairs." + +"Terrible, papa!" + +"Ah! then you don't know. It was not likely he would tell you. Sir +James came straight to me, and told me everything. It seems that the +two boys were sent down the garden together to play, and that as soon as +they were alone, Dexter here began to annoy and tease Edgar." + +"Here, just say that again, will you?" cried Dexter sharply. + +"I repeat that Dexter here began to annoy and tease Edgar." + +"Oh!" ejaculated Dexter. + +"And at last, after the poor boy had tried everything to keep his +companion from the line of conduct he had pursued, he resolved to go +down and sit by the river, leaving Dexter to amuse himself. But +unfortunately the spirit of mischief was so strong in him that this boy +took out a dahlia-stick with a sharp point--Sir James showed it to me-- +and then, after stabbing at him for some time, began to use his fists, +and beat Edgar in the most cruel way." + +"Oh, my!" ejaculated Dexter; and then, giving his right foot a stamp, +"Well, of all the--Oh, my! what a whopper!" + +The low slangy expression was brought out with such an air of indignant +protest that Helen was unable to keep her countenance, and she looked +away, while the doctor, who was quite as much impressed, frowned more +severely to hide the mirth aroused by the boy's ejaculations, and turned +to him sharply-- + +"What do you mean by that, sir!" he cried. + +"Mean?" cried Dexter indignantly, and without a shade of fear in his +frank bold eyes; "why there isn't a bit of it true. He didn't like me +because I came from over yonder, and he wouldn't speak to me. Then he +kept on hitting me, and I wouldn't hit him back, because I thought it +would make her cross; but, last of all, he hurt me so that I forgot all +about everything, and then we did fight, and I whipped--and that's all." + +"Oh, that's all, is it, sir!" said the doctor, who was angry and yet +amused. + +"Yes, that's all," said Dexter; "only I've got a bite on my arm, and one +on my neck, and one on my shoulder. They didn't bleed, though, only +pinched and hurt. I only hit him one good un, and that was on the nose, +and it made it bleed." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. "Now, look here, Dexter, is every word +of that true!" + +"Yes, sir, every bit," cried the boy eagerly. "You will see if it +ain't." + +The doctor's face wrinkled a little more, as to conceal a smile he +turned to his daughter-- + +"Now," he said, "do you think this is true?" + +"I feel sure it is," said Helen. "I am convinced that Dexter would not +tell either of us a falsehood." + +"There!" cried the boy, smiling triumphantly, as he crept to Helen's +side and laid his hand in hers. "Hear that? Of course I wouldn't. I +wanted to be all right, but--I say, does my head bleed there?" + +He took off his cap, and held down his head, while Helen looked at the +spot he pointed out, and shuddered slightly. + +"That's where he stuck his nails into my head, just like a cat. It did +hurt ever so, but I soon forgot it." + +"Let's go home," said the doctor gravely. "It is unfortunate, but of +course Dexter could not submit to be trampled upon by any boy." + +"I say, you do believe me, don't you!" said Dexter quickly. + +"Yes, my boy. I believe you on your honour." + +"On my honour," said Dexter quickly. + +"That will do," said the doctor. "It is unfortunate, but unavoidable. +Let us go home to lunch." + +"And you will not send me back to the--you know!" + +"Certainly not," said the doctor. + +"And may I come out here to fish by and by!" + +"Certainly," said the doctor. "If you are a good boy." + +"No, I think not," said Helen, making a shadow cross the boy's +countenance. "Dexter cannot come out fishing alone; I will come with +him." + +Dexter gave her a meaning look, as he understood why she had said that; +and then walked quietly home with the doctor and his daughter to a far +more agreeable meal than he would have enjoyed at the baronet's house. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +A RECORD OF CARES. + +"Hang his impudence!" said the doctor. "What do you think he told me?" + +"Sir James?" + +"Yes, my dear. Told me I was a regular modern Frankenstein, and that I +had made a young monster to worry me to death. Such insolence! +Dexter's growing a very nice lad, and I feel as if I could make a +nobleman of him if I liked, but I think I'll send him to a good school +for a bit. You see, he's full of promise, Helen." + +"Yes, papa," said Helen, suppressing her mirth. + +"Ah! now you are laughing at me. I mean full of the promise that will +some day mean performance. But--yes, I will send him to a good school." + +A good school was selected, and Dexter duly sent down to it, leaving +Helen very unwillingly, but holding up manfully, and the doctor said he +would come back at the holiday-time vastly improved. + +In six weeks Dr Grayson received a letter asking him to fetch Dexter +away to save him from being expelled. + +The Doctor looked very angry as he went down to Cardley Willows, and the +inquiries took a stern, rather bitter turn. + +"Has the boy been a young blackguard?" he said. + +"No," said the principal. + +"Dishonest?" + +"Oh dear no!" + +"Well, what is it then--disobedient!" + +"Oh dear no! He'll promise anything." + +"Humph! yes," said the doctor to himself. + +"I'm very sorry, Dr Grayson," continued the principal; "but the boy is +incorrigible, and you must take him away." + +The doctor took the boy away, and he had a very stern talking-to at +home. + +Two months passed away. + +"There, Helen," said the doctor one morning; "what do you say to him +now? Wonderfully improved, has he not? Good natural boy's colour in +his cheeks--better blood, you see, and nice curly hair. Really he is +not like the same." + +"No, papa; he is greatly changed," said Helen, as she followed the +direction of her father's eyes to where Dexter was out on the lawn +watching old Dan'l, while old Dan'l, in a furtive manner, was diligently +watching him in return. + +"Greatly changed," said the doctor thoughtfully, as he scratched the +side of his nose with his penholder, "in personal appearance. Sir James +seems very sore still about that little affair. Says I ought to have +thrashed Dexter, for he behaved brutally to young Edgar." + +"And what did you say, papa?" + +"Well, not exactly all I thought. Dreadful young limb that Edgar. +Spoiled boy, but I could not tell Danby so with such a catalogue of +offences as Master Dexter has to show on my black list. You see, Helen, +we do not get any further with him." + +Helen shook her head sadly. + +"There's something wrong in his brain; or something wanting. He'll +promise amendment one hour, and go and commit the same fault the very +next." + +"It is very sad," replied Helen thoughtfully; "but I'm sure he means +well." + +"Yes, my dear; of course," said the doctor, looking perplexed; "but it's +a great drawback to one's success. But there: we must persevere. It +seems to me that the first thing to do is to wean him from that terrible +love of low companions." + +"Say companion," said Helen, smiling. + +"Well, a companion, then. I wish we could get that young fishing +scoundrel sent away; but of course one cannot do that. Oh, by the way, +what about Maria? Is she going away?" + +"No," said Helen. "I had a long talk to her about her unreasoning +dislike to Dexter, and she has consented to stay." + +"Well, it's very kind of her," said the doctor testily. "I suppose Mrs +Millett will be giving warning next." + +"Oh no," said Helen; "she finds a good deal of fault, but I think, on +the whole, she feels kindly toward the poor boy." + +"Don't!" cried the doctor, giving the writing-table so angry a slap with +his open hand that a jet of ink shot out of the stand and made half a +dozen great splashes. "Now, look there, what you've made me do," he +continued, as he began hastily to soak up the black marks with +blotting-paper. "I will not have Dexter called `the poor boy.' He is +not a poor boy. He is a human waif thrown up on life's shore. No, no: +and you are not to call him a human waif. I shall well educate him, and +place him on the high-road toward making his way properly in life as a +gentleman should, and I'll show the whole world that I'm right." + +"You shall, papa," said Helen merrily; "and I will help you all I can." + +"I know you will, my dear, and you are helping me," cried the doctor +warmly; "and it's very good of you. But I do wish we could make him +think before he does anything. His mischievous propensities are simply +horrible. And now, my dear, about his education. We must do something +more, if it is only for the sake of keeping him out of trouble. You are +doing nobly, but that is not enough. I did mean to read classics with +him myself, but I have no time. My book takes too much thought. Now, I +will not send the poor boy--" + +"`Poor boy,' papa!" said Helen merrily. + +"Eh? Did I say `poor boy'!" cried the doctor, scratching his nose +again. + +"Yes." + +"Ah, well; I did not mean it. I was going to say I will not send him to +another school. He would be under too many disadvantages, so I think we +will decide upon a private tutor." + +"Yes, papa; a very excellent arrangement." + +"Yes, I think it is; and--well, Maria, what is it!" + +"Dan'l, sir," said that young lady, who spoke very severely, as if she +could hardly contain her feelings; "and he'd be glad to know if you +could see him a minute." + +"Send him in, Maria," said the doctor; and then, as the housemaid left +the room, "Well, it can't be anything about Dexter now, because he is +out there on the--" + +The doctor's words were delivered more and more slowly as he rose and +walked toward the open window, while Helen felt uneasy, and full of +misgivings. + +"Why, the young dog was here just now," cried the doctor angrily. "Now, +really, Helen, if he has been at any tricks this time, I certainly will +set up a cane." + +"O papa!" + +"Yes, my dear, I certainly will, much as I object to corporal +punishment. Well, Daniel, what is it!" + +Old Dan'l had a straw hat in his hand--a hat that was rather ragged at +the edge, and with which, as if it was to allay some irritation, he kept +sawing one finger. + +"Beg pardon, sir--pardon, Miss," said Dan'l apologetically; "but if I +might speak and say a few words--" + +"Certainly, Daniel; you may do both," said the doctor. + +"Thanky, sir--thanky kindly, Miss," said the gardener, half-putting his +hat on twice so as to have it in the proper position for making a bow; +"which I'm the last man in the world, sir, to make complaints." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"Serving you as I have now for over twenty year, and remembering +puffickly well, Miss, when you was only a pink bit of a baby, as like +one o' my tender carnations as could be, only more like a Count dee +Parish rose." + +"Well, what's the matter, Daniel?" said the doctor hastily, for he +wanted to bring the old man's prosings to an end. + +"Well, sir, heverythink, as you may say, is the matter. Look at me, +sir; I've suffered more in that garden than mortal man would believe!" + +"Oh, have you!" said the doctor, taking off his glasses. "You don't +look so very bad, Daniel, for a man of sixty-five." + +"Sixty-four and three-quarters, begging your pardon, sir; but I have +suffered. I've laid awake nights and nights thinking of what was best +for planting them borders with s'rubs, as is now a delight to the human +eye; and I've walked that garden hundreds o' nights with a lanthorn in +search o' slugs, as comes out o' they damp meadows in in counted +millions; and I've had my cares in thrips and red spider and green fly, +without saying a word about scale and them other blights as never had no +name. But never in my life--never in all my born days--never since I +was first made a gardener, have I suffered anythink like as I've +suffered along o' that there boy." + +"Nonsense, Daniel! nonsense!" cried the doctor pettishly. + +"Well, sir, I've served you faithful, and took such a pride in that +there garden as never was, and you may call it nonsense, sir, but when I +see things such as I see, I say it's time to speak." + +"Why, you are always coming to me with some petty complaint, sir, about +that boy." + +"Petty complaint, sir!" cried Dan'l indignantly. "Is Ribstons a petty +complaint--my chycest Ribstons, as I want for dessert at Christmas? And +is my Sturmer pippins a petty complaint--them as ought to succeed the +Ribstons in Febbery and March?" + +"Why, what about them?" cried the doctor. + +"Oh, nothing, sir; only as half the town's t'other side o' the river, +and my pippins is being shovelled over wholesale." + +The doctor walked out into the hall and put on his hat, with Dan'l +following him; and, after a moment's hesitation, Helen took up a +sunshade, and went down the garden after her father. + +She overtook him as he was standing by a handsome espalier, dotted with +the tawny red-streaked Ribstons, while Dan'l was pointing to a couple of +newly-made footmarks. + +"Humph! Not all gone, then?" said the doctor, frowning. + +"Not yet!" growled Dan'l. "And see there, Miss; there was four stunners +on that there little branch this mornin', and they're all gone!" + +"Where is Master Dexter?" said the doctor. + +Dan'l made a jerking motion with his thumb over his right shoulder, and +the doctor walked on over the grass toward the bottom of the grounds. + +The little party advanced so noiselessly that they were unheard, and in +another minute they were near enough to hear Dexter exclaim-- + +"Now, then; this time--catch!" + +The doctor stopped short in time to see, according to Dan'l's version, +the Ribstons and Sturmers thrown across the river to half the town. + +"Half the town," according to Dan'l, consisted of Bob Dimsted, who had +laid down his rough fishing-rod, and was holding half an apple in one +hand, munching away the while, as he caught another deftly; and he was +in the act of stuffing it into his pocket as he caught sight of the +doctor, and stood for a few moments perfectly motionless. Then, +stooping quickly, he gathered up his tackle and ran. + +"What's the matter!" cried Dexter. + +Bob made no reply, but ran off; and as he did so, Dexter laughingly took +another apple from his pocket--a hard green Sturmer pippin, which he +threw with such force and accuracy that it struck Bob right in the +middle of the back, when the boy uttered a cry of alarm, ran more +swiftly, and Dexter stood for a moment roaring with laughter, and then +turned to find himself face to face with the trio who had come down the +garden. + +"And them pippins worth twopence apiece at Christmas, sir!" cried Dan'l. + +"What are you doing, Dexter!" cried the doctor sternly. + +"I was only giving him an apple or two," said the boy, after a few +moments' hesitation. + +"Come in, sir," cried the doctor. + +"A month's notice, if you please, sir, from to-day," said Dan'l, +frowning angrily; but no one paid any heed to him, for the doctor had +laid his hand upon Dexter's shoulder, and marched him off. + +"And I've never said nothing yet about our bees," grumbled Dan'l. "A +young tyke! Raddled 'em up with a long stick on purpose to get me stung +to death, he did, as is a massy I warn't. Well, a month to-day. Either +he goes or I do. Such whims, to have a boy like that about the place. +Well, I'm glad I've brought it to a head, for the doctor won't part with +me." + +"Now, sir," said the doctor, as he seated himself in his chair, and +Helen took up her work, carefully keeping her eyes off Dexter, who +looked at her appealingly again and again. "Now, sir, what have you to +say for yourself?" + +Dexter looked at the doctor, and his countenance was so unpleasantly +angry that the ceiling, the floor, and the various objects around seemed +preferable, and were carefully observed in turn. + +"Do you hear, sir? What have you to say for yourself!" + +"What about?" faltered Dexter at last. + +"What about, sir? Just as if you did not know! Weren't you forbidden +to touch those apples!" + +"Only by Daniel, sir; and he said I was never to touch any fruit at all; +but you said I might." + +"Yes--I did. I said you might have some fruit." + +"Apples is fruit," said Dexter. + +"_Are_ fruit--_are_ fruit, sir," cried the doctor, in an exasperated +tone. + +"Apples _are_ fruit," said Dexter. + +"But I did not tell you to pick my choice pippins and throw them across +the river to every blackguard boy you see." + +"But he hasn't got a beautiful garden like we have," protested Dexter. + +"What has that got to do with it, sir?" cried the doctor angrily. "I +don't grow fruit and keep gardeners on purpose to supply the wants of +all the little rascals in the place." + +"He asked me to get him some apples, sir." + +"Asked you to get him some, indeed! Look here, sir; I've tried very +hard to make you a decent boy by kindness, but it does no good. You +were told not to associate with that boy any more." + +"Please, sir, I didn't," cried Dexter. "I didn't, indeed, sir." + +"What? Why, I saw you talking to him, and giving him fruit." + +"Please, sir, I couldn't help it. I didn't 'sociate with him; he would +come and 'sociate with me." + +"Bah!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"And he said if I didn't give him some apples and pears he'd come and +stand in front of the windows here and shout `workus' as loud as he +could." + +"I shall have to send the police after him," said the doctor fiercely; +"and as for you, sir, I've quite made up my mind what to do. Kind words +are thrown away. I shall now purchase a cane--and use it." + +"Oh, I say, don't," cried Dexter, giving himself a writhe, as he +recalled sundry unpleasant interviews with Mr Sibery. "It does hurt +so, you don't know; and makes black marks on you afterwards, just as if +it had been dipped in ink." + +Helen bent down over the work she had taken up. + +"Don't?" said the doctor sharply. "Then what am I to do, sir? Words +are of no use. I did hope that you were going to be a better and more +tractable boy." + +"Well, but ain't I?" said Dexter, looking puzzled, and rubbing his curly +head. + +"Better? No, sir; much worse." + +Dexter rubbed his head again thoughtfully. + +"I haven't torn my clothes this week, and I haven't been down on my +knees; and I haven't been on the top of the wall, and I did want to ever +so badly." + +"No, Dexter; but you climbed right to the top of the big pear-tree," +said Helen quickly; "and it was a terribly dangerous thing to do." + +"Now you've begun at me!" said the boy in a lachrymose tone. "I'm +afraid I'm a regular bad one, and you'd better send me back again." + +The doctor looked at Helen, and she returned the glance with a very +serious aspect, but there was a merry light in her eyes, as she saw her +father's discomfiture. + +He read her looks aright, and got up from his seat with an impatient +ejaculation. + +"I'm going out, my dear," he said shortly. + +"Are you going to get a cane!" cried Dexter excitedly. "I say, don't, +and I will try so hard to do what you want." + +"I was not going to buy a cane, sir," said the doctor, who was +half-angry, half-amused by the boy's earnestness. "One of my +walking-sticks would do very well when I give you a good sound +thrashing. Here, Helen, my dear, you can speak to Dexter a bit. I will +have another talk to him to-night." + +The doctor left the room, and Dexter stood listening as his step was +heard in the hall. Then the door closed, and Helen bent thoughtfully +over her work, while the boy stood first on one foot, then on the other, +watching her. The window was open, the sun shone, and the garden with +its lawn and bright flowers looked wonderfully tempting, but duty and +the disgrace he was in acted as two chains to hold the boy there. + +"I say," he said at last. + +"Yes, Dexter," said Helen, looking up at him sadly. + +"Oh, I say, don't look at me like that," he cried. + +"You force me to, Dexter," she said gravely. + +"But ain't you going to talk to me!" + +"If I talk to you, it will only be to scold you very severely." + +Dexter sighed. + +"Well," he said, after a pause, during which he had been gazing intently +in the earnest eyes before him; "you've got to do it, so let's have it +over. I was always glad when I had been punished at school." + +"Glad, Dexter?" + +"Yes, glad it was over. It was the worst part of it waiting to have +your whack!" + +"Do you want to oblige me, Dexter?" said Helen, wincing at the boy's +words. + +"Yes, of course I do. Want me to fetch something?" + +"No. Once more I want you to promise to leave off some of those +objectionable words." + +"But it's of no use to promise," cried the boy, with a look of angry +perplexity. "I always break my word." + +"Then why do you!" + +"I dunno," said Dexter. "There's something in me I think that makes me. +You tell me to be a good boy, and I say I will, and I always mean to +be; but somehow I can't. I think it's because nobody likes me, +because--because--because I came from there." + +"Do I behave to you as if I did not like you?" said Helen reproachfully. + +The boy was on his knees beside her in a moment, holding her hand +against his cheek as he looked up at her with his lip working, and a +dumb look of pitiful pleading in his eyes. + +"I do not think I do, Dexter." + +He shook his head, and tried to speak. Then, springing up suddenly, he +ran out of the study, dashed upstairs, half-blind with the tears which +he was fighting back, and then with his head down through the open door +into his bedroom, when there was a violent collision, a shriek followed +by a score more to succeed a terrific crash, and when in alarm Helen and +Mrs Millet ran panting up, it was to find Dexter rubbing his head, and +Maria seated in the middle of the boy's bedroom with the sherds of a +broken toilet pail upon the floor, and an ewer lying upon its side, and +the water soaking into the carpet. + +"What is the matter?" cried Helen. + +"I won't--I won't--I declare I won't put up with it no longer!" cried +the maid in the intervals of sundry sobs and hysterical cries. + +"But how did it happen!" said Mrs Millet. + +"It's--sit's--sit's--sit's--sit's--sit's--his tricks again," sobbed +Maria. + +"Dexter!" cried Helen. + +"Yes--es--Miss--es--ma'am," sobbed Maria. "I'd dide--I'd dide--I'd-- +just half--half--half filled the war--war--war--ter--jug, and he ran-- +ran--ran at me with his head--dead in the chest--and then--then--then-- +then knocked me dud--dud--dud--down, and I'll go at once, I will-- +there." + +"Dexter," said Helen sternly; "was this some trick?" + +"I don't know," said the boy sadly. "I s'pose so." + +"But did you run at Maria and try to knock her down?" + +"No," said Dexter. "I was going into my room in a hurry, and she was +coming out." + +"He did it o' purpose, Miss," cried Maria viciously. + +"That will do, Maria," said Helen with dignity. "Mrs Millet, see that +these broken pieces are removed. Dexter, come down to the drawing-room +with me." + +Dexter sighed and followed, feeling the while that after all the Union +School was a happy place, and that he certainly was not happy here. + +"It is very unfortunate that you should meet with such accidents, +Dexter," said Helen, as soon as they were alone. + +"Yes," he said piteously, "ain't it? I say--" + +"Well, Dexter!" + +"It's no good. I know what he wants to do. He said he wanted to make a +gentleman of me, but you can't do it, and I'd better be 'prenticed to a +shoemaker, same as lots of boys have been." + +Helen said nothing, but looked at the boy with a troubled gaze, as she +wondered whether her father's plan was possible. + +"You had better go out in the garden again, Dexter," she said after a +time. + +The trouble had been passing off, and Dexter leaped up with alacrity; +but as he reached the window he saw Dan'l crossing the lawn, and he +stopped short, turned, and came back to sit down with a sigh. + +"Well, Dexter," said Helen, "why don't you go?" + +He gave her a pitiful look which went right to her heart, as he said +slowly-- + +"No. I shan't go. I should only get into trouble again." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE. + +"I say," said Dexter, a few days later, as he followed Helen into the +drawing-room. "What have I been doing now!" + +"I hope nothing fresh, Dexter. Have you been in mischief!" + +"I don't know," he said; "only I've been in the study, and there's a +tall gent." + +"Say gentleman, Dexter." + +"Tall gentleman with a white handkerchief round his neck, and he has +been asking me questions, and every time I answered him he sighed, and +said, `Dear me!'" + +"Indeed!" said Helen, smiling. "What did he ask you?" + +"If I knew Euclid; and when I said I didn't know him, he said, `Oh dear +me!' Then he asked me if I knew Algebra, and I said I didn't, and he +shook his head at me and said, `Dear me! dear me!' and that he would +have to pull me up. I say, what have I done to be pulled up!" + +"Don't you know that Euclid wrote a work on Geometry, and that Algebra +is a study by which calculations are made!" + +"No," said Dexter eagerly. "I thought they were two people. Then why +did he say he would have to pull me up?" + +"He meant that you were very much behind with, your studies, and that he +would have to teach you and bring you forward." + +"Oh, I see! And is he going to teach me?" + +"Yes, Mr Limpney is your private tutor now; and he is coming every day, +so I hope you will be very industrious, and try hard to learn." + +"Oh yes, I'll try. Mr Limpney; I don't think he much liked me, +though." + +"Nonsense, Dexter; you should not think such things." + +"All right. I won't then. It will be like going to school again, won't +it?" + +"Much pleasanter, I hope." + +Time glided rapidly on after its usual fashion, and Dexter grew fast. + +There was a long range of old stabling at the doctor's house, with +extensive lofts. The first part was partitioned off for a coachman's +room, but this had not been in use for half a century, and the whole +place was ruinous and decayed. Once upon a time some one with a love of +horses must have lived there, for there were stalls for eight, and a +coach-house as well, but the doctor only kept two horses, and they +occupied a new stable built in front of the old. + +The back part was one of Dexter's favourite hunting-grounds. Here he +could be quite alone, and do pretty well as he liked. Peter the groom +never noticed his goings-out and comings-in, and there was no one to +find fault with him for being untidy. + +Here then he had quite a little menagerie of his own. His pocket-money, +as supplied by the doctor, afforded him means for buying any little +thing he fancied, and hence he had in one of the lofts a couple of very +ancient pigeons, which the man of whom he bought them declared to be +extremely young; a thrush in a cage; two hedge-sparrows, which were +supposed to be linnets, in another; two mice in an old cigar-box lined +with tin; and a very attenuated rat, which had been caught by Peter in a +trap, and which was allowed to live _minus_ one foreleg that had been +cut short off close to the shoulder, but over which the skin had grown. + +No one interfered with Dexter's pets, and in fact the old range of +stabling was rarely visited, even by the gardeners, so that the place +became not only the boy's favourite resort in his loneliness, but, so to +speak, his little kingdom where he reigned over his pets. + +There was plenty of room, especially in the lofts with their cross-beams +and ties; and here, with his pets, as the only spectators, Dexter used +to go daily to get rid of the vitality which often battled for exit in +the confinement of the house. Half an hour here of the performance of +so many natural gymnastic tricks seemed to tame him down--these tricks +being much of a kind popular amongst caged monkeys, who often, for no +apparent object, spring about and hang by hands or feet, often by their +tail. + +But he had one piece of enjoyment that would have driven a monkey mad +with envy. He had discovered among the lumber a very large +old-fashioned bottle-jack, and after hanging this from a hook and +winding it up, one of his greatest pleasures was to hang from that jack, +and roast till he grew giddy, when he varied the enjoyment by buckling +on a strap, attaching himself with a hook from the waist, and then going +through either a flying or swimming movement as he spun slowly round. + +Then he had a rope-trick or two contrived by means of a long piece of +knotted together clothes-line, doubled, and hung from the rafters to +form a swing or trapeze. + +Dexter had paid his customary morning visit to his pets, and carefully +fed them according to his wont; his plan, a very regular one among boys, +being to give them twice as much as was good for them one day, and a +starving the next--a mode said to be good with pigs, and productive of +streaky bacon, but bad for domestic pets. Then he had returned to the +house to go through his lessons, and sent long-suffering Mr Limpney, +BA, almost into despair by the little progress he had made, after which +he had gone down the garden with the expectation of meeting Dan'l at +some corner, but instead had come upon Peter, busy as usual with his +broom. + +"Yer needn't look," said the latter worthy; "he's gone out." + +"What! Dan'l has?" + +"Yes; gone to see a friend who's a gardener over at Champney Ryle, to +buy some seeds." + +It was like the announcement of a holiday, and leaving the groom making +the usual long stretches with his broom, Dexter went on aimlessly to the +river-side, where, for the first time for many months, he found Bob +Dimsted fishing. + +"Hullo, old un!" was the latter's greeting, "how are you!" + +Dexter gave the required information, and hesitated for a few moments, +something in the way of a collection of Helen's warnings coming vaguely +to his hand; but the volunteered information of the boy on the other +side of the river, that he had got some "glorious red wums," and that +the fish were well on the feed, drove everything else away, and in a few +minutes Dexter was sitting upon the crown of a willow pollard, ten feet +out over the river, that much nearer to the fisher, and in earnest +conversation with him as he watched his float. + +Once more the memory of words that had been spoken to him came to +Dexter, but the bobbing of the float, and the excitement of capturing a +fish, drove the thoughts away--the fascination of the fishing, and the +pleasant excitement of meeting a companion of near his own age, cut off, +as he was, from the society of boys, being too much for him; and he was +soon eagerly listening, and replying to all that was said. + +"Ever go fishing in a boat?" said Bob, after a time. + +"No." + +"Ah! you should go in a boat," said Bob. "You sit down comfortable, +with your feet all dry, and you can float over all the deep holes and +best places in the river, and catch all the big fish. It's lovely!" + +"Did you ever fish out of a boat?" asked Dexter. + +"Did I ever fish out of a boat? Ha! ha! ha! Lots of times. I'm going +to get a boat some day, and have a saucepan and kettle and plate and +spoon, and take my fishing-tackle, and then I shall get a gun or a +pistol, and go off down the river." + +"What for!" + +"What for? Why, to live like that, catching fish, and shooting wild +ducks and geese, and cooking 'em, and eating 'em. Then you have a +'paulin and spread it over the boat of a night, and sleep under it--and +there you are!" + +Dexter looked at the adventurous being before him in wonder, while he +fished on and talked. + +"I should make myself a sail, too, and then I shouldn't have to row so +much; and then I could go right on down to the end of the river, and +sail away to foreign countries, and shoot all kinds of wonderful things. +And then you could land sometimes and kill snakes, and make yourself a +hut to live in, and do just as you liked. Ah, that is a fine life!" + +"Yes," said Dexter, whose eager young mind rapidly painted an +illustration to everything his companion described. + +"A man I know has been to sea, and he says sometimes you come to places +where there's nothing but mackerel, and you can almost ladle 'em out +with your hands. I should boil 'em over a fire. They are good then." + +Dexter's eyes grew more round. + +"Then out at sea you have long lines, and you catch big cod-fish, and +soles almost as big as the boat." + +"And are you going to have a boat?" + +"To be sure I am. I get tired of always coming out to catch little +roach and dace and eels. I mean to go soon." + +Dexter sighed. + +"That man says when you go far enough away, you come to islands where +the cocoa-nuts grow; and then, all you've got to do is go ashore and +pull your boat up on the sands, and when you are hungry you climb a tree +and get a cocoa-nut; and every one has got enough meat and drink in it +for a meal." + +"Do you?" + +"Yerrrs! That you do. That's the sort of place to go and live at. I'm +tired o' Coleby." + +"Why don't you go and live there, then!" said Dexter. + +"I'm going to, some day. It's no use to be in too much of a hurry; I +want to save a little money first, and get some more tackle. You see, +you want big hooks for big fish, and some long lines. Then you must +have a boat." + +The idea of the unknown countries made Dexter thrill, and he listened +eagerly as the boy went on prosing away while he fished, taking out his +line from time to time, and dropping the bait in likely places. + +"Haven't made up my mind what boat I shall have yet, only it must be a +good one." + +"Yes," said Dexter; "you'd want a good big boat." + +"Not such a very big un," said Bob. "I should want a nice un with +cushions, because you'd have to sit in it so long." + +"And sleep in it too?" + +"Oh yes; you'd have to sleep in it." + +"Should you light the fire, and cook in it!" said Dexter innocently. + +"Yah! No, o' course not. You'd go ashore every time you wanted to +cook, and light a fire there with a burnin'-glass." + +"But suppose the sun didn't shine!" + +"Sun always shines out there," said Bob. "That sailor chap told me, and +the birds are all sorts of colours, and the fish too, like you see in +glass globes. I mean to go." + +"When shall you go?" + +"Oh, some day when I'm ready. I know of a jolly boat as would just do." + +"Do you?" + +"Yes; I dessay you've seen it. Belongs to Danby's, down the river. +Lives in a boat-house." + +"Yes, I've seen it," said Dexter eagerly. "It is a beauty!" + +"Well, that's the sort of boat I mean to have. P'r'aps I shall have +that." + +"You couldn't have that," cried Dexter. + +"Why not? They never use it, not more'n twice a year. Dessay they'd +lend it." + +"That they wouldn't," cried Dexter. + +"Well, then, I should borrow it, and bring it back when I'd done with +it. What games you could have with a boat like that!" + +"Yes," sighed Dexter; "wish we had one!" + +"Wouldn't be such a good one as that if you had. That's just the boat +I've made up my mind to have." + +"And shall you sail right away to a foreign country!" said Dexter, from +his nest up in the willow. + +"Why, how can you sail away to another place without a mast and sail, +stoopid!" cried Bob. + +"If you call me stupid," said Dexter sharply, "I'll come and punch your +head." + +"Yah! Yer can't get at me." + +"Can't I? I could swim across in a minute, and I would, if it wasn't +for wetting my clothes." + +"Yah!" cried Bob scoffingly. "Why, I could fight yer one hand." + +"No, you couldn't." + +"Yes, I could." + +"Well, you'd see, if I came across." + +"But yer can't get across," laughed Bob. "I know of a capital mast." + +Dexter looked sulky. + +"It's part of an old boat-hook my father found floating in the river. I +shall smooth it down with my knife if I can't borrow a spokeshave." + +"And what'll you do for a sail?" said Dexter, his interest in the +expedition chasing away his anger. + +"Oh, I shall get a table-cloth or a sheet. Sheets make beautiful sails. +You just hoists 'em up, and puts an oar over the stern to steer with, +and then away you go, just where you like. Sailing along in a boat's +lovely!" + +"Ever been in a boat sailing?" asked Dexter. + +"No; but I know it is. That sailor told me. He says when you've got +all sail set, you just cruises along." + +"Do you?" + +"Yes. I know; and I mean to go some day; but it's no use to be in a +jolly hurry, and you ought to have a mate." + +"Ought you?" + +"Yes, so as he could steer while a chap went to sleep; because sometimes +you'd be a long way from the shore." + +Dexter sat very thoughtful and still, dreaming of the wonders of far-off +places, such as could be reached by Bob Dimsted and his companion, the +impracticability of such a journey never once occurring to him. Bob had +been about all his life free to go and come, while he, Dexter, seemed to +have been always shut up, as it were, in a cage, which had narrowed his +mind. + +"Some chaps would be glad of such a chance," said Bob. "It'll be a fine +time. My, what fishing I shall have!" + +"Shall you be gone long!" said Dexter, after a time. + +"Long? Why, of course I shall; years and years. I shan't come back +till I've made a fortune, and am a rich man, with heaps of money to +spend. Some chaps would be glad to go." + +"Yes, of course," said Dexter dreamily. + +"I want to get a mate who isn't afraid of anything. Dessay we should +meet lions sometimes, and big snakes." + +"What! in England!" + +"England! Yah! Who's going to stop in England? I'm going to sail away +to wonderful places all over the world." + +"But would the boat be big enough to cross the great sea?" + +"Who's going to cross the great sea?" cried Bob. "Of course I +shouldn't. I should only go out about six miles from shore, and keep +close in, so as to land every night to get grub, or anything else. +P'r'aps to go shooting. My father's got an old gun--a fine un. Think I +don't know what I'm about? Shoots hares with it, and fezzans. + +"There's another!" he exclaimed, as he hooked and landed an unfortunate +little perch, which he threw into his basket with a look of disgust. +"I'm sick of ketching such miserable little things as these. I want to +get hold of big sea-fish of all kinds, so as to fill the boat. Some +chaps would be glad to go," he said again, as he threw his line in once +more. + +"Yes," said Dexter thoughtfully; "I should like to go." + +"You!" said Bob, with a mocking laugh. "You! Why, you'd be afraid. I +don't believe you dare go in a boat!" + +"Oh yes, I dare," said Dexter stoutly. + +"Not you. You're afraid of what the doctor would say. You daren't even +come fishing with me up the river." + +"They said I was not to go with you," said Dexter quietly; "so I +couldn't." + +"Then what's the use of your saying you'd like to go. You couldn't." + +"But I should like to go," said Dexter excitedly. + +"Not you. I want a mate as has got some pluck in him. You'd be afraid +to be out all night on the water." + +"No, I shouldn't. I should like it." + +"Well, I don't know," said Bob dubiously. "I might take you, and I +mightn't. You ain't quite the sort of a chap I should want; and, +besides, you've got to stay where you are and learn lessons. Ho! ho! +ho! what a game, to be obliged to stop indoors every day and learn +lessons! I wonder you ain't ashamed of it." + +Dexter's cheeks flushed, and he looked angrily across the river with his +fists clenched, but he said nothing. + +"You wouldn't do. You ain't strong enough," said Bob at last. + +"I'm as strong as you are." + +"But you daren't come." + +"I should like to come, but I don't think they'd let me." + +"Why, of course they wouldn't, stoopid. You'd have to come away some +night quietly, and get in the boat, and then we'd let her float down the +river, and row right away till morning, and then we could set the sail, +and go just wherever we liked, because we should be our own masters." + +"Here's some one coming after you," said Bob, in a low voice; and he +shrank away, leaving Dexter perched up in the crown of the tree, where +he stopped without speaking, as he saw Helen come down the garden, and +she walked close by him without raising her eyes, and passed on. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE TROUBLE GROWS. + +Dexter got down out of the willow-tree with a seed in his brain. + +Bob Dimsted had dropped that seed into his young mind, and there it had +struck root directly, and continued to grow. A hard fight now +commenced. + +So long as he was with Helen or the doctor, he could think of nothing +but the fact that they were so kind to him, and took so much interest in +his welfare, that it would be horribly ungrateful to go away without +leave, and he vowed that he would not go. + +But so sure as he was alone, a series of dissolving views began to float +before his vivid imagination, and he saw Sir James Danby's boat managed +by Bob Dimsted and himself, gliding rapidly along through river and +along by sunlit shores, where, after catching wonderfully tinted fish, +he and the boy landed to light a fire, cook their food, and partake of +it in a delightful gipsy fashion. Then they put to sea again, and +glided on past wondrous isles where cocoa-nut palms waved in the soft +breeze. + +Try how he would, Dexter could not keep these ideas out of his head, and +the more he thought, the brighter and more attractive they became; and +day after day found him, whenever he had an opportunity, waiting about +by the river-side in the expectation of seeing Bob Dimsted. + +Bob did not come, but as Dexter climbed up into his nest in the willow +pollard his vivid imagination supplied the words he had said, and he +seemed to see himself sailing away, with the boy for his companion, down +the river, and out into the open sea; a portion of this globe which he +formed out of his own fancy, the result being wonderfully unlike the +truth. + +Bob did not come, but Helen noticed how quiet and thoughtful the boy +seemed, and also how he affected that portion of the garden. + +"Why don't you fish, Dexter?" she said to him one day, as she saw him +gazing disconsolately at the river. + +He had not thought of this as an excuse for staying down by the river, +but he snatched at the idea now, and for the next week, whenever he +could get away from his lessons or their preparation, he was down on the +bank, dividing his time between watching his float and the opposite +shore. + +But still Bob Dimsted did not come; and at last Dexter began to settle +down seriously to his fishing, as the impressions made grew more faint. + +Then all at once back they came; for as he sat watching his float one +day, a voice said sharply-- + +"Now then! why don't you strike!" + +But Dexter did not strike, and the fish went off with the bait as the +holder of the rod exclaimed-- + +"Why haven't you been fishing all this time!" + +"What was the good?" said Bob, "I was getting ready to go, and talking +to my mate, who's going with me." + +"Your mate!" exclaimed Dexter, whose heart sank at those words. + +"Yes, I know'd you wouldn't go, so. I began to look out for a chap who +would." + +"But I didn't say that I really would not go," said Dexter, as he laid +his tackle under the bushes. + +"Oh yes, you did; I could see what you meant. Do they bite to-day!" + +"I don't know," said Dexter dolefully. "But, I say, you couldn't have +that boat if you wanted to." + +"Oh yes, I could if I liked." + +"But it isn't yours." + +"Tchah! couldn't you borrow it!" + +Dexter did not see how, and he climbed into the willow, while Bob went +on fishing. + +"I hate a chap who is always trying to find out things to stop a fellow +from doing anything. Why don't you say you won't go and ha' done with +it?" + +Dexter sighed as he thought of the wonderful fish to be caught, and the +great nuts on the trees, each of which nuts would make a meal. Then of +the delight of sailing away in that beautiful boat down the river, and +then out to sea, where they could land upon the sands and light their +fire; and it seemed to him that such a life would be one long time of +delight. + +He sat in his nest picking the buds off the willow twigs, and bending +and lacing them together, furtively glancing at grubby-looking Bob +Dimsted, whose appearance was not attractive; but what were appearances +to a boy who possessed such gifts of knowledge in fishing and managing a +boat, and had learned so much about foreign lands? + +Dexter sighed again, and Bob gave him a furtive look, as with evident +enjoyment he took a red worm out of some moss and stuck his sharp hook +into it, drew the writhing creature over the shank, and then passed the +point through again and again. + +So to speak, he had impaled Dexter on a moral hook as well, the barb had +gone right in so that it could not be drawn out without tearing; and +Dexter writhed and twined, and felt as if he would have given anything +to get away. + +Bob went on fishing, throwing the twisting worm just down among the +roots of a willow-tree, and the float told directly after that the cast +was not without avail, for there was a quick bobbing movement, then a +sharp snatch, Bob struck, and, after a good deal of rushing about and +splashing, a good-sized perch was landed, with its sharp back fin erect, +and its gilded sides, with their black markings, glistening in the +sunshine. + +"What a beauty!" cried Dexter enthusiastically, as for the moment the +wonders of the boating expedition were forgotten. + +But they were brought back directly. + +"Pooh!" exclaimed Bob contemptuously. "That's nothing; only a little +perch. Why, if we went off fishing in that boat, you'd chuck a fish +like that in again." + +But Bob did not "chuck" that perch in again; he placed it in his basket, +and directly after caught up his various articles of fishing-gear and +ran off. + +Dexter was about to speak, but just then he heard a harsh cough, and, +glancing through the screen of willow twigs which surrounded him, he saw +old Dan'l coming hastily down over the grass path towards the tree. + +"Yes, I can see yer," he shouted, as he reached the water's edge; and, +to Dexter's surprise, he found that it was not he the old gardener was +addressing. "You come over there fishing again, I'll send the police +arter yer." + +Bob, safe at a distance, made a derisive gesture. + +"None of your sarse, you poaching young vagabond. I know what you came +there for. Be off with you." + +"Shan't," cried Bob, as he settled down to fish a hundred yards away. + +"Always coming here after that boy," grumbled Dan'l. "If I could have +my way I'd bundle 'em both out of the town together. Young robbers,-- +that's what they are, the pair of 'em." + +Dexter's face flushed, and he was about to respond, but the old gardener +began to move away. + +"Doctor ought to be ashamed of himself," he grumbled, as he stood for a +moment or two looking round in search of Dexter, but never looking above +the brim of his broad straw hat, and the next moment Dexter was left +alone seated in the crown of the old willow, very low-spirited and +thoughtful, as he came down from his perch, brushed the bits of green +from his clothes, and then walked slowly up toward the house, taking the +other side of the garden; but of course coming right upon Dan'l, who +followed him about till he took refuge in the doctor's study, with a +book whose contents seemed to be a history of foreign lands, and the +pictures records of the doings of one Dexter Grayson and his companion +Bob. For the old effervescence consequent upon his having been kept +down so long was passing off, and a complete change seemed to be coming +over the boy. + +Quicksilver--by George Manville Fenn + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +THE PLEASANT WAYS OF LEARNING. + +"Now, Master Grayson," said Mr Limpney, "what am I to say to the +doctor!" + +The private tutor threw himself back in his seat in the study, vacated +by the doctor, while Dexter had his lessons, placed his hands behind his +head, and, after wrinkling his forehead in lines from his brow to right +on the top, where the hair began, he stared hard at his pupil. + +"I say again, sir, what am I to tell the doctor!" + +"I don't know," said Dexter dolefully. Then, plucking up a little +spirit: "I wrote out all my history questions, and did the parsing with +a little help from Miss Grayson, and I did the sum you set me all by +myself." + +"Yes; but the Algebra, the Classics, and the Euclid! Where are they?" + +"There they are," said Dexter, pointing dismally to some books on the +table. + +"Yes, sir, there they are--on that table, when they ought to be in your +head." + +"But they won't go in my head, sir," cried Dexter desperately. + +"Nonsense, sir! you will not let them, and I warn you plainly, that if +we do not make better progress, I shall tell the doctor that I will not +continue to take his payment for nothing." + +"No; I say; don't do that," said Dexter piteously. "He wouldn't like +it." + +"I cannot help that, sir. I have my duty to perform. Anybody can do +those childish history and grammatical questions; it is the classical +and mathematical lessons in which I wish you to excel. Now, once more. +No, no, you must not refer to the book. `In any right-angled triangle, +the square of the side--' Now, go on." + +Dexter took up a slate and pencil, wrinkled up his forehead as nearly +like the tutor's as he could, and slowly drew a triangle. + +"Very good," said Mr Limpney. "Now, go on." + +Dexter stared at his sketch, then helplessly at his instructor. + +"I ought to write _ABC_ here, oughtn't I, sir?" + +"Yes, of course. Go on." + +Dexter hesitated, and then put a letter at each corner. + +"Well, have it that way if you like," said Mr Limpney. + +"I don't like it that way, sir," said Dexter. "I'll put it your way." + +"No, no. Go on your way." + +"But I haven't got any way, sir," said Dexter desperately. + +"Nonsense, nonsense! Go on." + +"Please, sir, I can't. I've tried and tried over and over again, but +the angles all get mixed up with the sides, and it is all such a muddle. +I shall never learn Euclid. Is it any use?" + +"Is it any use!" cried the tutor scornfully. "Look at me, sir. Has it +been any use to me!" + +Dexter looked at the face before him, and then right up the forehead, +and wondered whether learning Euclid had made all the hair come off the +top of his head. + +"Well, go on." + +"I can't, sir, please," sighed the boy. "I know it's something about +squares, and _ABC_, and _BAC_, and _CAB_, and--but you produce the +lines." + +"But you do not produce them, sir," cried Mr Limpney angrily; "nor +anything else! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir!" + +"I am," said Dexter innocently. "I'm a dreadfully stupid boy, sir, and +I don't think I've got any brains." + +"Are you going through that forty-seventh problem this morning, sir?" + +Dexter made a desperate attempt, floundered on a quarter of a minute, +and broke down in half. + +"Tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated Mr Limpney. "I'm sure you have not looked +at it since I was here." + +"That I have, sir," cried Dexter, in a voice full of eager protest. +"Hours and hours, sir, I walked up and down the garden with it, and then +I took the book up with me into my loft, and made a chalk triangle on +the floor, and kept on saying it over and over, but as fast as I said it +the words slipped out of my head again. I can't help it, sir, I am so +stupid." + +"Algebra!" said Mr Limpney, in a tone of angry disgust. + +"Am I not to try and say the Euclid, sir?" + +"Algebra!" cried Mr Limpney again, and he slapped the table with a thin +book. "Now then, where are these simple equations?" + +Dexter drew a half-sheet of foolscap paper from a folio, and rather +shrinkingly placed it before his tutor, who took a pair of spectacles +from his pocket, and placed them over his mild-looking eyes. + +"Let me see," he said, referring to a note-book. "The questions I gave +you were: `A spent 2 shillings and 6 pence in oranges, and says that +three of them cost as much under a shilling as nine of them cost over a +shilling. How many did he buy?'" + +Mr Limpney coughed, blew his nose loudly, as if it were a post-horn, +and then went on-- + +"Secondly: `Two coaches start at the same time for York and London, a +distance of 200 miles, travelling one at nine and a half miles an hour, +the other at nine and a quarter miles; where will they meet, and in what +time from starting?'" + +He gave his nose a finishing touch with his handkerchief, closed his +note-book, and turned to Dexter. + +"Now then," he said. "Let us see." + +He took the sheet of paper, looked at one side, turned it over and +looked at the other, and then raised his eyes to Dexter's, which avoided +his gaze directly. + +"What is this?" he cried. + +"The equations, sir," said Dexter humbly. + +"Tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated Mr Limpney. "Was there ever such a boy? +_plus_ where it ought to be _minus_, and--why, what's this!" + +"This, sir?" said Dexter. "Half-crowns." + +"But it was to be oranges. How many did he buy? and here you say he +bought ninety-seven half-crowns. I don't know how you arrived at it, or +what you mean. A man does not go to a shop to buy half-crowns. He +spent half a crown in oranges." + +"Yes, sir." + +"I believe it's sheer obstinacy. You do not want to do these +equations--simple equations too, mind you! Now then, about the +stage-coaches. When did they meet, and in what time from starting? Now +then--there are your figures, where did they meet? Look and tell me." + +Dexter took the half-sheet of paper, stared at it very doubtfully, and +then looked up. + +"Well!" said Mr Limpney. "Where did they meet?" + +"Peterborough, sir." + +"Where!" cried Mr Limpney in astonishment. + +"Peterborough, sir." + +"Now, will you have the goodness to tell me how you found out that?" + +"On the map, sir." + +"Bless my soul!" exclaimed the tutor. "Well, go on. At what time from +starting!" + +"About ten o'clock, sir." + +"Better and better," said the tutor sarcastically. "Now, will you +kindly explain--no, no, don't look at your figures--Will you kindly +explain how you arrived at this sapient conclusion?" + +Dexter hesitated, and shifted one foot over the other. + +"Well, sir, I am waiting," cried Mr Limpney, in a tone of voice which +made Dexter think very much resembled that of Mr Sibery when he was +angry. + +"I--I--" + +"Don't hesitate, sir. Have I not told you again and again that a +gentleman never hesitates, but speaks out at once? Now then, I ask you +how you arrived at this wonderful conclusion?" + +"I tried over and over again, sir, with the _a's_ and _b's_, and then I +thought I must guess it." + +"And did you guess it?" + +"No, sir, I suddenly recollected what you said." + +"And pray, what did I say!" + +"Why, sir, you always said let _x_ represent the unknown quantity, and-- +and _x_ stands for ten--ten o'clock." + +Mr Limpney snatched the paper from the boy's hand, and was about to +tear it up, when the door opened and Dr Grayson entered. + +"Well," he said pleasantly, "and how are we getting on?" + +"Getting on, sir?" said Mr Limpney tartly. "Will you have the goodness +to ask my pupil!" + +"To be sure--to be sure," said the doctor. "Well, Dexter, how are you +getting on? Eh? what's this? Oh, Algebra!" he continued, as he took +the half-sheet of paper covered with the boy's calligraphy. "Oh, +Algebra! Hah! I never was much of a fist at that." + +"Only simple equations, sir," said the tutor. + +"Ah, yes. Simple equations. Well, Dexter, how are you getting on?" + +"Very badly, sir." + +"Badly? Nonsense!" + +"But I am, sir. These things puzzle me dreadfully. I'm so stupid." + +"Stupid? Nonsense! Nothing of the kind. Scarcely anybody is stupid. +Men who can't understand some things understand others. Now, let's see. +What is the question? H'm! ah! yes, oranges. H'm! ah! yes; not +difficult, I suppose, when you know how. And--what's this? London and +York--stage-coaches. Nine and a half miles, nine and a quarter miles, +and--er--h'm, yes, of course, where would they meet?" + +"Peterborough, sir," said Mr Limpney sarcastically, and with a peculiar +look at Dexter. + +"H'm! would they now?" said the doctor. "Well, I shouldn't have thought +it! And how is he getting on with his Latin, Mr Limpney!" + +"Horribly, sir!" exclaimed the tutor sharply. "I am very glad you have +come, for I really feel it to be my duty to complain to you of the great +want of diligence displayed by my pupil." + +"Dear me! I am very sorry," exclaimed the doctor. "Why, Dexter, my +boy, how's this? You promised me that you would be attentive." + +"Yes, sir, I did." + +"Then why are you not attentive?" + +"I do try to be, sir." + +"But if you were, Mr Limpney would not have cause to complain. It's +too bad, Dexter, too bad. Do you know why Mr Limpney comes here?" + +"Yes, sir," said the boy dismally; "to teach me." + +"And you do not take advantage of his teaching. This is very serious. +Very sad indeed." + +"I am sure, Dr Grayson, that no tutor could have taken more pains than +I have to impart to him the various branches of a liberal education; but +after all these months of teaching it really seems to me that we are +further behind. He is not a dull boy." + +"Certainly not. By no means," said the doctor. + +"And I do not give him tasks beyond his powers." + +"I hope not, I am sure," said the doctor. + +"And yet not the slightest progress is made. There is only one +explanation, sir, and that is want of diligence." + +"Dear me! dear me! dear me!" exclaimed the doctor. "Now, Dexter, what +have you to say?" + +"Nothing, sir!" said the boy sadly; "only I think sometimes that my +brains must be too wet." + +"Good gracious! boy: what do you mean!" + +"I mean too wet and slippery, sir, so that they will not hold what I put +into them." + +The doctor looked at the tutor, and the tutor looked at the doctor, as +if he considered that this was impertinence. + +"I am very sorry--very sorry indeed, Dexter," said the doctor. "There, +sir, you can go now. I will have a talk to Mr Limpney. We must see if +we cannot bring you to a better frame of mind." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +DEXTER'S DUMB FRIENDS. + +Dexter went out into the hall feeling exceedingly miserable, for he had +left the occupants of the study talking about him, and, as the saying +goes, it made his ears burn. "I couldn't help it," he said dolefully: +"I did try. I'll go and tell Miss Grayson all about it, and ask her to +take my part." + +He went into the drawing-room, but Helen was not there, so he ran +upstairs, and was in the act of tapping at her bedroom door, when Maria +came out of another room. + +It was a curious fact, but there it was: Dexter always had the effect +upon Maria that a dog has upon a cat. The dog may be of the most +amiable disposition, and without the slightest desire to fight or worry, +but as soon as he is seen, up goes the cat's back in an arch, the tail +becomes plumose and the fur horrent, while, with dilated eyes and +displayed teeth glistening, puss indulges in the bad language peculiar +to cats. + +Maria being of a different physique did not display these signs of +aggression exactly, but she invariably became vicious and metaphysically +showed her teeth. + +"It's of no use your knocking there, Master Dexter. Miss Helen isn't at +home, and I'm quite sure if she was that she wouldn't approve of your +trapesing up out of the garden in your muddy and dirty shoes. I've got +enough to do here without cleaning up after you." + +"But I haven't been in the garden, Maria," said Dexter, apologetically. +"I have just come out of the study." + +"Don't I tell you she ain't at home," said Maria spitefully. + +"Do you know when she will be back!" + +"No, I don't," said Maria, and then sarcastically: "I beg your pardon, +_sir_--no I don't, _sir_." + +Maria went along the passage like a roaring wind, she made so much noise +with her skirts, and then hurried downstairs, as if in great haste to +get hold of a door that she could bang; and as soon as she did reach +one, she made so much use of her opportunity that a picture in the hall +was blown sidewise, and began swinging to and fro like a great square +pendulum. + +Dexter sighed, and felt very miserable as he stole downstairs again, and +past the study door, where the murmur of voices talking, as he knew, +about him made him shiver. + +He was obliged to pass that door to get his cap, and then he had to pass +it again to get to the garden door. + +Mr Limpney was talking, and Mr Limpney, being accustomed to lecture +and teach, spoke very loudly, so that Dexter heard him say-- + +"I must have more authority, sir, and--" + +Dexter heard no more, for he fled into the garden, but he knew that +having authority meant the same as it meant with Mr Sibery, and it +sounded like going backwards. + +He felt more miserable as he went out into the garden. + +"Nobody hardly seems to like me, or care for me here," he said +dolefully; and, led by his inclination, he began to make his way down +the long green path toward the river, half fancying that Bob Dimsted +might be fishing. + +But before he had gone far he saw Dan'l, who was busy doing up a bed, +and his appearance seemed to be the signal for the old man to put down +his tools and take out his great pruning-knife, as if he meant mischief, +but only to stoop from time to time to cut off a dead flower as an +excuse, so it seemed, for following Dexter wherever he went. + +It was impossible to go about the garden under these circumstances, so +Dexter went down a little way, passed round a large _Wellingtonia_, and +walked slowly back toward the house, but, instead of entering, went by +the open window of the study, where the voice of Mr Limpney could still +be heard talking loudly, and, as it seemed to the listening boy, +breathing out threatenings against his peace of mind. The voice sounded +so loud as he went by that he half-expected to hear himself called in, +and in great dread he hurried on by the conservatory, and round the +house to the old stable-yard. + +As he reached this he could hear a peculiar hissing noise--that which +Peter always made when he was washing the carriage, or the horses' +legs--to blow away the dust, so he said. + +For a moment Dexter felt disposed to go into the new stable and talk to +Peter, but the opportunity was not tempting, and, hurrying on, the boy +reached the old buildings, looked round for a moment, and, thus +satisfied that he was not observed, he made a spring up to a little old +window, caught the sill, scrambled up directly, and, passing through, +disappeared inside. + +He uttered a sigh as of relief, and crossing the damp stones of the +gloomy old place he reached a crazy flight of steps, which led up to a +loft, on either side of which were openings, through which, when the +stable had been in use, it had been customary to thrust down the +stored-up hay. + +Dexter stopped here in the darkness for a few minutes listening, but no +one was following him, and he walked along to a second ladder which led +to a trap-door through which he passed, closed the trap, and then, in +the long roof a place greatly resembling in shape the triangle over +whose problem of squares he had that day stumbled, he seemed once more +himself. + +His first act was to run quietly along some boards laid over the loft +ceiling, and, making a jump that would not have disgraced an acrobat, he +caught at a rope, pendent from the highest portion of the rafters, +twisted his legs about it, and swung easily to and fro. + +The motion seemed to give him the greatest satisfaction, and as the +impetus given died out, he dropped one foot, and with a few vigorous +thrusts set himself going again till he was tired. + +But that was not very soon, and he did not leave off till there were +sundry scratchings and squeakings, which drew his attention to his pets, +all of which were eager for food. + +They were a heterogeneous collection, but, for the most part, +exceedingly tame, and ready to allow themselves to be handled, constant +familiarity with the gentle hand so often thrust into their boxes or +cages having robbed it of its terrors. + +Dexter's happiest moments were passed here, saving those which Helen +continued to make pleasant to the boy; and as soon as his pets had drawn +his attention, he took off his jacket and vest, rolled up his sleeves, +and began to attend to their wants. + +His rabbits--two which he had bought through Bob Dimsted, who made a +profit of a hundred per cent, by the transaction--were lifted out of the +packing-case they occupied, and in which they were kept by the lid being +closed within half an inch, by their pink ears, and immediately stood up +on their hind-legs, with drooping fore-paws, their pink noses twitching +as they smelt their owner's legs, till he gave them a couple of red +carrots, a portion of Dan'l's last year's store. + +The next to be taken out was a hedgehog, a prize of his own discovering, +and captured one day asleep and tightly rolled up beneath one of the +Portugal laurels. + +The minute before its box was open, the hedgehog was actively +perambulating its dark prison, but the moment it was touched it became a +ball, in which form it was rolled out on to the rough floor close to a +flower-pot saucer of bread and milk, smuggled up directly after +breakfast each morning. + +Next came the large grey rat, captured originally in the steel trap, and +whose first act might have been anticipated. It did not resent its +owner's handling; but the moment it was set down it darted under the +loose boards, and remained there until tempted forth by the smell of the +bread and milk, and a tempting piece of candle-end, the former of which +it helped the hedgehog to eat. + +The mice, which lived in the old cigar-box--not white mice, nor those +furry little sleepers given to hiding away in nooks and corners for +elongated naps, but the regular grey cheese-nibblers--next, after a good +deal of scratching, took Dexter's attention. As soon as the lid was +open, and the boy's hand thrust in, they ran up his fingers, and then +along his arm to his shoulder, wonderfully active and enterprising with +their sharp little noses, one even venturing right up the boy's head +after a pause by one ear, as if it looked like the cavernous entrance to +some extremely snug hiding-place. + +"Quiet! Don't tickle," cried Dexter, as he gently put up one hand for +the mouse to run upon; and every movement was made so gently that the +little creatures were not alarmed, but rested gently upon the boy's +hand, as he lifted them down to where he had placed some scraps of +cheese and a biscuit, all articles of provender being derived from the +stores situated in his trousers-pockets, and that of his jacket. + +The list was not yet complete, for an old wire trap had been turned into +a cage, and here dwelt Dexter's greatest favourite--about the +shabbiest-looking squirrel that ever exhibited bare patches upon its +skin, and a tail from which the plume-like hair had departed. + +It cost five shillings, all the same, at a little broker's shop down in +the most poverty-stricken part of Coleby. It had been bought by the +broker at a sale in company with a parrot, a cockatoo, and a canary, all +being the property of a lady lately deceased. The canary died before he +reached home, and the parrot and cockatoo, on the strength of being able +to screech and say a few words, soon found owners, but the squirrel, +being shabby-looking, hung on hand, or rather outside the little shop, +in a canary's cage, to which it had been promoted after its own +revolving wire home had been sold, the purchaser declining to buy the +squirrel because he was so shabby. + +The poor little brute did not improve afterwards, for he rubbed the hair +off his face by constantly trying to get through either the seed or +water hole, and every time he--for the sake of exercise--whisked round +the cage, it was to the disadvantage of his tail, which daily grew more +and more like that of Dexter's rat. + +This little unfortunate might have been bought for a shilling by such a +boy as Bob Dimsted, but the superfine broadcloth of Dexter's jacket and +trousers sent it up to five, and pocket-money had to be saved for weeks +before it finally came into the boy's possession, to be watched with the +greatest attention to see if its hair would grow. + +The squirrel's nose was thrust between the bars of the old wire +rat-trap, and when this was not the case, the active little animal +performed a kind of evolution suggestive of its trying to make the +letters SS in its prison, as skaters contrive them upon the ice, till +the wire door was open, and with one bound it was upon its owner's +shoulder, then up in the rafters, along one beam and down another, till +the first wild excitement of freedom was over, when it dropped upon the +floor, and began to forage for food. + +Dexter was so truly happy among his little subjects that he sat down +upon the edge of an old box, forgetful of other claimants while he +attended to the wants of these, calling them by endearing names, giving +the rabbits oats from his pockets, a handful of which grain came now and +then from Peter. + +The boy had intuitively discovered the way to tame his various pets. +Fear will accomplish a great deal with dumb animals, but the real secret +of winning their confidence is quietness, the art of never alarming +them, but by perfectly passive behaviour, and the most gentle of +movements, accustom the timid creatures to our presence. The rest was +merely habituating them to the fact that their owner was the sole source +from which food was to be obtained. + +No one told Dexter all this; he learned it in his solitary communings +with the animal world. For somehow it seems to be the law of nature +that every moving thing goes about in dread of losing its life from +something else which either preys upon or persecutes it. The +house-sparrow, the most domestic of wild birds, gives a look-out for +squalls between every peck, but it will soon learn to distinguish the +person who does not molest and who feeds it, even to coming at his call, +while fish, those most cold-blooded of creatures, which in an ordinary +way go off like a silver flash at the sight of a shadow, will grow so +familiar that they will rise to the surface and touch the white +finger-tips placed level with the water. + +So Dexter sat smiling and almost without movement among his subjects, +with the rabbits begging, the mice coming and going, now feeding and now +taking a friendly walk up his legs and about his chest, and the squirrel +bounding to him from time to time after nuts, which were carried up to +the beam overhead, and there rasped through with its keen teeth, the rat +the while watching it from the floor till furnished with another nut, as +it had pounced upon one the squirrel dropped. + +There was yet another pet--one which had been very sluggish all through +the winter, but now in fine sunshiny days fairly active, and ready upon +this occasion to come forth and be fed. + +Dexter rose very slowly, talking gently the while to the mice, which he +coaxed to his hand with a piece of cheese, and then placed them upon the +floor, while he went to a corner where, turned upside down upon a slate, +stood one of Dan'l's large flower-pots, the hole being covered with a +piece of perforated zinc. + +The pot was lifted, slate and all, turned over, and the slate lifted +off, to display quite a nest of damp moss, which, as the boy watched, +seemed for a few minutes uninhabited, but all at once it began to heave +in one part; there was an increasing movement, as if something was +gliding through it, and then from among the soft moss a smooth +glistening head with two bright eyes appeared, and a curious little +tongue darted out through an opening between the tightly-closed jaws. + +There was no doubt of the nature of the creature, which glided forth +more and more till it developed itself into a snake of a bright olive +green, about thirty inches long, its singular markings and mottlings +looking as bright as if it had been varnished. + +Dexter watched the curious horizontal undulating movement of the little +serpent for some time before he touched it, and then taking it up very +gently, its tail hung swinging to and fro, while the front portion +curved and undulated, and searched about for a place to rest till it +found one upon the boy's arm, up which it began to glide as if the +warmth were pleasant, ending by nestling its head in the hollow of the +elbow-joint. + +Meanwhile there was another rustling and movement of the moss, but +nothing showed for a time. + +Dexter smoothed and stroked the snake, which seemed to be perfectly +content when it was moved, but soon after began to insinuate its blunt +rounded head here and there, as if in search of something, till its +owner bore it to a large pickle-jar standing upon a beam nearly level +with the floor, and upon his placing the reptile's head on a level with +the mouth, it glided in at once, inch by inch, over the side, and +through Dexter's hands, till it disappeared, the finely-graduated tail +passing over the edge, and it was gone, the jar being its larder, in +which were stored, ready for consumption, half a dozen of Dan'l's +greatest enemies--the slugs. + +As Dexter turned to the heap of moss once more, at which one of the +rabbits was sniffing, there was another heaving movement, followed by a +sharp rap on the boards, the alarm signal of the rabbit which bounded +away, while a blunt, broad head and two glistening eyes slowly appeared; +then what looked like a short sturdy arm with outstretched fingers +pressed down the moss, then another arm began to work, and by slow +degrees a huge toad, which seemed to be as broad as it was long, +extricated itself from the soft vegetable fibre, and crept away on to +the boards, all in the most deliberate manner, as if it was too fat to +move fast. + +"Hallo, Sam!" said Dexter, laughing. "Why, you've been asleep for a +month." + +The toad seemed to be looking up at him in an unblinking fashion, but +did not move, and Dexter stooped down to touch it, but the moment his +hand approached, the reptile rose on its legs, arched its back, lowered +its head, swelled itself up, and uttered a low, hissing sound. + +Dexter waited for a moment, and then softly began to scratch its side, +the result evidently being so satisfactory to the toad that it began by +leaning over toward the rubbing fingers, and then more and more, as if +the sensation were agreeable in the extreme. + +A little coaxing then induced it to crawl slowly into its master's hand, +which it more than filled, sitting there perfectly contented till it was +placed in another pickle-jar to feed, this one being furnished with +wood-lice, pill millipedes, and other luxuries dear to a toad. + +The striking of a clock roused Dexter from his communings with his pets, +and hastily restoring them to their various habitations, he resumed his +jacket, and after a quick glance round descended the steps. + +"I couldn't take them with me," he said sadly, as he stood for a few +minutes in the old dark stable; "and if I left them without setting them +at liberty they would all die." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +THE GROWING CLOUD. + +"Dexter, I want to talk to you," said Helen, a few weeks later. The boy +sighed. + +"Ah! you are afraid I am going to scold you," she said. + +"I don't mind you scolding me," he replied; "but I don't think I have +done anything this time, except--" + +"Except what?" said Helen, for the boy paused. + +"Except talk to Bob Dimsted." + +"Have you been out to meet him?" + +"No, that I haven't," cried Dexter. "He came to the bottom of the river +to fish, and he spoke to me; and if I had not answered, it would have +seemed so proud." + +Helen was silent for a few moments, not knowing what to say. + +"It was not about that," she said, at last, "but about your lessons. +Mr Limpney has again been complaining very bitterly to papa about your +want of progress." + +"Yes," said Dexter, "and he is always scolding me." + +"Then why don't you try harder?" + +"I do, but I am so stupid." + +"You are not, Dexter. You always learn easily enough with me." + +"Yes, with you," said the boy quickly, "but you don't want me to say +angle _ABC_ is equal to the angle _CBA_, and all such stuff as that." + +"Don't call it stuff," said Helen, smiling in spite of herself; "it is +Geometry." + +"But it is rum stuff all the same. What's the use of my learning about +straight lines and squares and angles?" + +"But you are behind with your Algebra too." + +"Yes," sighed Dexter, "I'm just as stupid over that." + +"Now, Dexter!" + +"But I am, quite. Why can't I go on finding out things by Arithmetic, +as we used at the schools? It was bother enough to learn that. Oh, +what a lot of caning I had over nine times!" + +"Over nine times!" said Helen. + +"Over a hundred, I should say," cried Dexter. "I mean with strokes on +the hand, and taps on the head, and over the shoulders--counting 'em +altogether; and wasn't I glad when I knew it all, and twelve times too, +and somebody else used to get it instead of me." + +"Dexter, papa wishes you to learn these things." + +"Do you?" said the boy. + +"Yes, very much. I should like to see you master them all." + +"Then I will. See if I don't," he cried. + +"That's right. Try and please Mr Limpney by being energetic." + +"Yes, I'll try," said Dexter; "but I don't think he'll be pleased." + +"I shall be. Now, get out your last lessons over which you failed so +dismally, and I'll try and help you." + +"Will you?" cried the boy, in delighted tones, and he hurriedly obtained +his folio, pens, and ink, feeling in such high spirits that if Bob +Dimsted had been at hand to continue his temptations they would have +been of no avail. + +The orange question was first debated, and tried in two or three +different ways without success. Then it was laid aside for the time +being, while the stage-coaches were rolled out and started, one from +London to York, the other from York to London. + +"Look here," said Dexter, "I'll try the one that starts from London, +while you try the one from York." + +That was only another simple equation, but in its novelty to Helen +Grayson, as difficult as if it had been quadratic, and for a time no +sound was heard but the busy scratching of two pens. + +"It's of no good," said Dexter suddenly, and with a look of despair upon +his face. "I'm so terribly stupid." + +"I'm afraid, Dexter," said Helen merrily, "if you are stupid, I am too." + +"What! can't you do it!" + +"No." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Yes, Dexter. Algebra is beyond me." + +"Hooray!" cried the boy, leaping from his seat, and dancing round the +room, ending by relieving his excitement by turning head over heels on +the hearthrug. + +"Is that to show your delight at my ignorance, Dexter?" said Helen, +smiling. + +"No," he cried, colouring up, as he stood before her out of breath. "It +was because I was glad, because I was not so stupid as I thought." + +"You are not stupid, Dexter," said Helen, smiling. "We must go back to +the beginning, and try and find out how to do these things. Does not +Mr Limpney explain them to you?" + +"Yes," said Dexter dismally, "but when he has done, I don't seem to see +what he means, and it does make me so miserable." + +"Poor boy!" said Helen gently. "There, you must not make your studies a +trouble. They ought to be a great pleasure." + +"They would be if you taught me," said Dexter eagerly. "I say, do ask +Dr Grayson to send Mr Limpney away, and you help me. I will try so +hard." + +"A pretty tutor I should make," cried Helen, laughing. "Why, Dexter, I +am as ignorant, you see, as you!" + +Dexter's face was a study. He seemed hurt and pleased at the same time, +and his face was full of reproach as he said-- + +"Ignorant as me! Oh!" + +"There, I'll speak to papa about your lessons, and he will, I have no +doubt, say a few words to Mr Limpney about trying to make your tasks +easier, and explaining them a little more." + +"Will you!" cried the boy excitedly, and he caught her hands in his. + +"Certainly I will, Dexter." + +"Then I will try so hard, and I'll write down on pieces of paper all the +things you don't want me to do, and carry 'em in my pockets, and take +them out and look at them sometimes." + +"What!" cried Helen, laughing. + +"Well, that's what Mr Limpney told me to do, so that I should not +forget the things he taught me. Look here!" + +He thrust his hand into his trousers-pocket, and brought out eagerly a +crumpled-up piece of paper, but as he did so a number of oats flew out +all over the room. + +"O Dexter! what a pocket! Now what could you do with oats?" + +"They were only for my rabbits," he said. "There, those are all nouns +that end in _us_, feminine nouns. Look, _tribus, acus, porticus_. +Isn't it stupid?" + +"It is the construction of the language, Dexter." + +"Yes; that's what Mr Limpney said. There, I shall put down everything +you don't like me to do on a piece of paper that way; and take it out +and read it, so as to remember it." + +"Try another way, Dexter." + +"How?" he said wonderingly. + +"By fixing these things in your heart, and not on paper," Helen said, +and she left the room. + +"Well, that's the way to learn them by heart," said the boy to himself +thoughtfully, as with brow knit he seated himself by a table, took a +sheet of paper, and began diligently to write in a fairly neat hand, +making entry after entry; and the principal of these was-- + +"Bob Dimsted: not to talk to him." + +The next day the doctor had a chat with Mr Limpney respecting Dexter +and his progress. + +"You see," said the doctor, "the boy has not had the advantages lads +have at good schools; and he feels these lessons to be extremely +difficult. Give him time." + +"Oh, certainly, Doctor Grayson," said Mr Limpney. "I have only one +wish, and that is to bring the boy on. He is behind to a terrible +extent." + +"Yes, yes, of course," said the doctor; "but make it as easy for him as +you can--for the present, you know. After a time he will be stronger in +the brain." + +Mr Limpney, BA, looked very stern. He was naturally a good-hearted, +gentlemanly, and scholarly man. He thoroughly understood the subjects +he professed to teach. In fact, the ordinary routine of classic and +mathematical study had, by long practice, grown so simple to him, that +he was accustomed to look with astonishment upon a boy who stumbled over +some of the learned blocks. + +In addition, year upon year of imparting knowledge to reckless and +ill-tempered as well as stupid boys had soured him, and, in consequence, +the well-intentioned words of the doctor did not fall on ground ready to +receive them quite as it should. + +"Complaining about my way of teaching, I suppose," he said to himself. +"Well, we shall see." + +The result was that Mr Limpney allowed the littleness of his nature to +come uppermost, and he laboriously explained the most insignificant +portions of the lessons in a sarcastic manner which made Dexter writhe, +for he was not slow to find that the tutor was treating him with +contempt. + +To make matters worse, about that time Dan'l watched him more and more; +Peter was unwell and very snappish; there was a little difficulty with +Mrs Millett over some very strong camomile-tea which Dexter did not +take; and on account of a broken soap-dish which Maria took it into her +head Dexter meant to lay to her charge,--that young lady refused even to +answer the boy when he spoke; lastly, the doctor seemed to be remarkably +thoughtful and stern. Consequently Dexter began to mope in his den over +the old stable, and at times wished he was back at the Union Schools. + +The wish was momentary, but it left its impression, and the thought +that, with the exception of Helen, no one liked him at the doctor's +house grew and grew and grew like the cloud that came out of the +fisherman's pot when Solomon's seal was removed, and that cloud +threatened to become the evil genii that was to overshadow the boy's +life. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +DEXTER WRITES A LETTER. + +Dexter watched his chance one afternoon when the study was empty, and +stole in, looking very guilty. + +Maria saw him going in, and went into the kitchen and told Mrs Millett. + +"I don't care," she said, "you may say what you like, but it's in him." + +"What's in him!" said the old housekeeper, raising her tortoise-shell +spectacles so as to get a good look at Maria, who seemed quite excited. + +"Master may have tutors as is clergymen to teach him, and Miss Helen may +talk and try, but he's got it in him, and you can't get it out." + +"Who are you talking about, Maria," said the old lady testily. + +"That boy," said Maria, shaking her head. "It's of no good, he's got it +in him, and nothing won't get it out." + +"Bless my heart!" cried Mrs Millett, thinking first of mustard and +water, and then of castor-oil, "has the poor fellow swallowed +something?" + +"No-o-o-o!" ejaculated Maria, drawing the word out to nearly a foot in +length. + +"But you said he'd got something in him, Maria. Good gracious me, girl! +what do you mean!" + +"Sin and wickedness, Mrs Millett. He comes of a bad lot, and Dan'l +says he's always keeping bad company." + +"Dan'l's a chattering old woman, and had better mind his slugs and +snails." + +"But the boy's always in mischief; see how he spoiled your silk dress." + +"Only spotted it, Maria, and it was clean water. I certainly thought it +rained as I went under his window." + +"Yes, and you fetched your umbrella." + +"I did, Maria. But he's better now. Give him his physic regular, and +it does him good." + +"Did you find out what was the matter with those salts and senny!" + +"No, Maria, I did not. I had to break the glass to get it out; set hard +as a stone. It was a good job he did not take it." + +Mrs Millett never did find out that Dexter had poured in cement till +the glass would hold no more, and his medicine became a solid lump. + +"Ah, you'll be tired of him soon," said Maria. + +"No, I don't think I shall, Maria. You see he's a boy, and he does +behave better. Since I told him not, he hasn't taken my basting-spoon +to melt lead for what he calls nickers; and then he hasn't repeated that +wicked cruel trick of sitting on the wall." + +"Why, I see him striddling the ridge of the old stable, with his back to +the weathercock, only yesterday." + +"Yes, Maria, but he wasn't fishing over the wall with worms to try and +catch Mrs Biggins's ducks, a very cruel trick which he promised me he +wouldn't do any more; and he hasn't pretended to be a cat on the roof, +nor yet been to me to extract needles which he had stuck through his +cheeks out of mischief; and I haven't seen him let himself down from the +stable roof with a rope; and, as I told him, that clothes-line wasn't +rope." + +"Ah, you always sided with the boy, Mrs Millett," said Maria; "but mark +my words, some of these mornings we shall get up and find that he has +let burglars into the house, and Master and Miss Helen will be robbed +and murdered in their beds." + +"Maria, you're a goose," said the old housekeeper. "Don't talk such +rubbish." + +"Ah, you may call it rubbish, Mrs Millett, but if you'd seen that boy +just now stealing--" + +"Stealing, Maria?" + +"Yes 'm, stealing into Master's study like a thief in the night--and +after no good, I'll be bound,--you wouldn't be so ready to take his +part." + +"Gone in to write his lessons," said Mrs Millett. "There, you go and +get about your work." + +Maria snorted, stuck out her chin, and left the kitchen. + +"Yes, she may talk, but I say he's after no good," muttered the +housemaid; "and I'm going to see what he's about, or my name ain't what +it is." + +Meanwhile Dexter was very busy in the study, but in a furtive way +writing the following letter in a bold, clear hand, which was, however, +rather shaky in the loops of the letters, while the capitals had an +inclination to be independent, and to hang away from the small letters +of the various words:-- + +Sir, + +Me and a friend have borrowed your boat, for we are going a long +journey; but as we may keep it all together, I send to you fourteen +shillings and a fourpny piece, which I have saved up, and if that isn't +quite quite enough I shall send you some more. I hope you won't mind +our taking your boat, but Bob Dimsted says we must have it, or we can't +get on. + +Yours af--very truly, + +Obed Coleby, or To Sir Jhames Danby, Dexter Grayson. + +Dexter's spelling was a little shaky here and there, but the letter was +pretty intelligible; and, as soon as it was done, he took out his money +and made a packet of it, and doubled it up, a task he had nearly +finished, when he became aware that the door was partly opened, and as +he guiltily thrust the packet into his pocket the door opened widely, +and Maria entered, with a sharp, short cough. + +"Did I leave my duster here, Master Dexter!" she said, looking round +sharply. + +Before Dexter could reply, she continued-- + +"No, I must have left it upstairs." + +She whisked out and closed the door with a bang, the very opposite of +the way in which she had opened it, and said to herself triumphantly-- + +"There, I knew he was doing of something wrong, and if I don't find him +out, my name ain't Maria." + +Dexter hurriedly finished his packet, laying the money in it again after +further consideration--in and out amongst the paper, so that the money +should not chink, and then placing it in the enclosure with the letter, +he tied it up with a piece of the red tape the doctor kept in a little +drawer, sealed it, and directed it in his plainest hand to Sir James +Danby. + +Dexter felt better after this was done, and the jacket-pocket a little +bulgy in which his missive was stuffed. He had previously felt a little +uneasy about the boat; but though not quite at rest now, he felt better +satisfied, and as if this was a duty done. + +That same evening, just before it grew dusk, Dexter watched his +opportunity, and stole off down the garden, after making sure that he +was not watched. + +There was no one visible on the other side, and it seemed as if Bob +Dimsted was not coming, so after waiting a few minutes Dexter was about +to go back to the house, with the intention of visiting his pets, when +there was a loud chirping whistle from across the river. + +Dexter looked sharply through the gathering gloom; but still no one was +visible, and then the chirp came again. + +"Are you there, Bob?" + +"Why, course I am," said that young gentleman, rising up from where he +had lain flat behind a patch of coarse herbage. "I'm not the sort of +chap to stay away when I says I'll come. Nearly ready!" + +"Ye-es," said Dexter. + +"No gammon, you know," said Bob. "I mean it, so no shirking out." + +"I mean to come too," said Dexter with a sigh. + +"Well, you do sound jolly cheerful; you don't know what a game it's +going to be." + +"No, not quite--yet," said Dexter. "But how are we going to manage!" + +"Well, if ever!" exclaimed Bob. "You are a rum chap, and no mistake. +Of course we shall take the boat, and I've got that table-cloth ready +for a sail, and a bit of rope to hoist it up." + +Dexter winced about that table-cloth, one which he had borrowed at Bob's +wish from the housekeeper's room. + +"But must we take that boat?" + +"Why, of course, but we shall send it back some day as good as new, +hanging behind a ship, and then have it sent up the river. I know lots +of fellows who'll put it back for me if I ask 'em." + +Dexter felt a little better satisfied, and then listened to his +companion's plans, which were very simple, but effective all the same, +though common honesty did not come in. + +The conversation was carried on across the river, and to ensure its not +being heard, Dexter lay down on the grass and put his lips close to the +water, Bob Dimsted doing the same, when, it being quite a still evening, +conversation became easy. + +"What are your people doing now?" said Bob, after they had been talking +some time. + +"Dr Grayson is writing, and Miss Grayson reading." + +"Why, we might go now--easy." + +"No," said Dexter. "If we did, it would be found out directly, and we +should be fetched back, and then, I dare say, they'd send me again to +the school." + +"And yer don't want to go there again, do you!" + +"No," said Dexter, with a shudder. "Don't forget the ball of string I +told you about?" + +"No, I've got that," replied Bob sharply. "And p'r'aps that won't be +long enough. It's very deep in the sea. Now mind, you're here." + +"Yes, I'll mind." + +"If yer don't come, I won't never forgive you for making a fool of me." + +"I won't do that," said Dexter; and then after a little more hesitation +as to something he particularly wanted to do, and which he saw no other +way of doing, he whispered-- + +"Bob!" + +"Hullo!" + +"Will you do something for me before you come!" + +"Yes, if I can. But I say, don't you forget to bring a big bundle of +your clothes and things, and if you don't want 'em all, I can wear some +of 'em." + +Dexter was silent. + +"And as much money as you can; and, I say, the old un never give you a +watch, did he?" + +"No." + +"You wouldn't like to borrow his, would you!" + +"No, of course not," said Dexter indignantly. + +"Oh, I don't want you to, unless you like. Only watches is useful at +sea. Sailors find out where they are by their watches. I don't quite +know how, but we could soon find out. Whatcher want me to do!" + +"I want you to take a little parcel to Sir James Danby's." + +"I ain't going to carry no parcels," said Bob importantly. + +"It's only a very little one, as big as your hand. You know the +letter-box in Sir James's big door!" + +"I should just think I do," said Bob, with a hoarse laugh. "Me and two +more boys put a lighted cracker in last fift' o' November." + +"I want you to go there last thing," said Dexter, as he could not help +wondering whether the cracker made a great deal of noise in the +letter-box; "and to drop the packet in just as if it was a letter. I +mean just before you come." + +"But what for?" + +"Because it must be taken there. I want it taken." + +"O very well. Where is it?" + +"Here," said Dexter, taking out his carefully tied and sealed packet. + +"Chuck it across." + +"Get up, then, and be ready to catch it." + +"All right! Now then, shy away." + +Dexter drew back from the river, and aiming carefully at where he could +see Bob's dim figure, he measured the distance with his eye, and threw. + +_Slap_! + +"Got it!" cried Bob. And then, "Oh!" + +There was a splash. + +"Just kitched on the top o' my finger, and bounced off," whispered the +boy excitedly. + +"O Bob, what have you done!" + +"Well, I couldn't help it. I ain't a howl.--How could I see in the +dark!" + +"Can't you see where it fell in!" + +"Why, ain't I a-trying. Don't be in such a fuss." + +Dexter felt as if their expedition was at an end, and he stood listening +with a breast full of despair as Bob lay down at the edge of the river, +and rolling up his sleeve began feeling about in the shallow water. + +"It's no good," he said. "It's gone." + +"O Bob!" + +"Well, what's the good of `O Bobbing' a fellow? I couldn't help it. +It's gone, and--Here: I got it!" + +Bob rose up and gave his arm a whirl to drive off some of the moisture. + +"It's all right," he said. "I'll wrap it in my hankychy, and it'll soon +dry in my pocket, I say, what's inside?" + +"Something for Sir James." + +"Oh! S'pose you don't know!" + +"Is the paper undone?" said Dexter anxiously. + +"No, it's all right, I tell yer, and it'll soon get dry." + +"And you'll be sure and take it to Sir James's." + +"Now?" + +"No, no, last thing to-night, just before you come, and don't ring, only +drop the thing in the letter-box." + +"All right. Didn't I get my arm wet! There, I'm going home to get it +dry, and put the rest of my things ready. Mind you bring yours all +right." + +Dexter did not answer, but his companion's words made him feel very +low-spirited, for he had a good deal in his mind, and he stood listening +to Bob, as that young worthy went off, whistling softly, to make his +final preparations for the journey down the river to sea, and then to +foreign lands, and the attempt seemed now to begin growing very rapidly, +till it was like a dense dark cloud rising higher and higher, and +something seemed to keep asking the boy whether he was doing right. + +He felt that he was not, but, at the same time, the idea that he was +thoroughly misunderstood, and that he would never be happy at the +doctor's, came back as strongly as ever. + +"They all look upon me as a workhouse boy," he muttered, "and Bob's +right. I'd better go away." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT. + +Dexter listened till Bob Dimsted's whistle died away, and then stole +from the place of appointment to go back to the house, where he struck +off to the left, and made his way into the loft, where he took a small +piece of candle from his pocket, lit it, and set it in an old +ginger-beer bottle. + +The light roused the various occupants of the boxes and cages. That and +the step were suggestive of food, and sundry squeakings and scratchings +arose, with, from time to time, a loud rap on the floor given by one of +the rabbits. + +There was a lonely desolate feeling in Dexter's breast as he set the rat +at liberty, for the furtive-looking creature to hurry beneath the boards +which formed the rough floor. + +Then the mice were taken out of their box, and the first movement of the +little creatures was to run all over their master, but he hurriedly took +them off him, feeling more miserable than ever, and ready to repent of +the step he was about to take. + +The rabbits were carried downstairs, and turned out into the yard, +Dexter having a belief that as they had once grown tame perhaps, many +generations back, they might now as easily grow wild, and if in the +process they made very free with old Dan'l's vegetables, until they +escaped elsewhere, it would not be very serious. + +As it was, they crept here and there over the stones for a few moments, +and then went off investigating, and evidently puzzled by their freedom. + +The hedgehog and squirrel were brought down together, and carried right +into the garden, where the former was placed upon one of the +flower-beds, and disappeared at once; the latter held up to a branch of +the ornamental spruce, into which it ran, and then there was a scuffling +noise, and Dexter ran away back to the stable, afraid to stop, lest the +little ragged jacketed animal should leap back upon him, and make him +more weak than he was. + +He climbed again to the loft, hearing a series of tiny squeaks as he +mounted--squeaks emanating from his mice, and directly after he nearly +crushed the rat, by stepping upon it as the little animal ran up to be +fed. + +He had come for the toad and snake, and hurriedly plunging his hand into +the big pot he found Sam the toad, seated right at the top, evidently +eager to start on a nocturnal ramble, but the snake was coiled up +asleep. + +It was a curious pet, that toad, but somehow, as it sat nestled up all +of a squat in the boy's warm hand, he felt as if he should like to take +it with him. It was not big, and would take up little room, and cost +nothing to feed. + +Why not? + +He hesitated as he descended and crossed the yard to the garden, and +decided that he would not. Bob Dimsted might not like it. + +He reached the garden, and crossed the lawn to the sunny verbena bed. +That seemed a suitable place for the snake, and he tenderly placed it, +writhing feebly, among the thin pegged-down strands. + +Then came the other reptile's turn. + +They had been friends and even companions together in the big +flower-pot, Dexter argued, so they should have the chance of being +friends again in the flower-bed. + +The toad was in his left hand, and going down on one knee he separated +the verbenas a little, and then placed his hand, knuckles downward, on +the soft moist earth, opening his fingers slowly the while. + +"Good-bye, Sam," he said, in a low voice. "You and I have had some good +fun together, old chap, and I hope you will be very happy when I'm +gone." + +He slowly spread his hand flat, so that his fingers and thumb ceased to +form so many posts and rails about the reptile, or a fleshly cage. In +imagination he saw the dusky grey creature crawl off his hand gladly +into the dewy bed, and it made him more sad to find how ready everything +was to be free, and he never for a moment thought about how he was going +to play as ungrateful a part, and march off too. + +"Good-bye, Sam," he said, as he recalled how he had played with and +tickled that toad, and how it had enjoyed it all, and turned over to be +rubbed. Then he seemed to see it walk in its heavy, cumbrous way slowly +off, with its bright golden eyes glistening, till it sat down in a +hollow, and watched him go. + +But it was all fancy. The toad did not crawl out of his hand among the +verbenas, nor go right away, but sat perfectly motionless where it was, +evidently, from its acting, perfectly warm, comfortable, and contented. + +"Well, Sam, why don't you go!" said Dexter softly. "Do you hear?" + +He gave his hand a jar by striking the back on the earth, but the toad +did not move, and when he touched it with his right hand, it was to find +the fat squat reptile squeezed up together like a bun. + +He stroked it, and rubbed it, as he had rubbed it scores of times +before, and the creature once more pressed up against his fingers, while +Dexter forgot everything else in the gratification of finding his ugly +pet appreciate his attentions. + +"Now then! off you go!" he cried quickly; but the creature did not stir. + +"Are you going?" said Dexter. "Come: march." + +Again it did not stir. + +"He don't want to go," cried the boy, changing it from, one hand to the +other; and the next moment he was holding it, nose downward, over his +jacket-pocket, when the toad, pretty actively for one of its kind, began +to work its legs and dived slowly down beneath the pocket-handkerchief +crumpled-up there, and settled itself at the bottom. + +"It seems to know," cried Dexter. "And it shall go with me after all." + +Curious boy! some one may say, but Dexter had had few opportunities for +turning his affections in ordinary directions, and hence it was that +they were lavished upon a toad. + +Indoors, when he stole back after setting all his pets at liberty to +shift for themselves, Dexter felt very guilty. He encountered Mrs +Millett in the hall, and a thrill ran through him as she exclaimed-- + +"Ah, there you are, Master Dexter, I just want a few words with you." + +"Found out!" thought the guilty conscience, which needs no accuser. + +"Now just you look here, sir," said the old housekeeper, in a loud +voice, as she literally button-holed the boy, by hooking one thin finger +in his jacket, so that he could not get away, "I know all." + +"You--you know everything," faltered the boy. + +"Yes, sir. Ah, you may well look 'mure. You little thought I knew." + +"How--how did you find out?" he stammered. + +"Ah! how did I find out, indeed! Now, look here, am I to go straight to +the doctor and tell him!" + +"No, no, pray don't," whispered Dexter, catching her arm. + +"Well, then, I must tell Miss Helen." + +"No, no, not this time," cried Dexter imploringly; and his tone softened +the old lady, who shook the borders of her cap at him. + +"Well, I don't know what to say," said Mrs Millett softly. "They +certainly ought to know." + +Dexter gazed at her wildly. He knew that everything must come out, but +it was to have been in a few hours' time, when he was far away, and deaf +to the angry words and reproaches. To hear them now seemed more than he +could bear. It could not be. Bob Dimsted must think and say what he +liked, and be as angry and unforgiving as was possible. It could not be +now. He must plead to the old housekeeper for pardon, and give up all +idea of going away. + +"Ah!" she said. "I see you are sorry for it, then." + +"Yes, yes," he whispered. "So sorry, and--and--" + +"You'll take it this time, like a good boy!" + +"Take it?" + +"Yes, sir. Ah! you can't deceive me. Last time I saw the empty glass I +knew as well as could be that you hadn't taken it, for the outside of +the glass wasn't sticky, and there were no marks of your mouth at the +edge. I always put plenty of sugar in it for you, and that showed." + +"The camomile-tea!" thought Dexter, a dose of which the old lady +expected him to take about once a week, and which never did him any +harm, if it never did him any good. + +"And you'll take it to-night, sir, like a good boy!" + +"Yes, yes, I will indeed," said Dexter, with the full intention of +keeping his word out of gratitude for his escape. + +"Now, that's like being a good boy," said the old lady, smiling, and +extricating her fingers from his button-hole, so as to stroke his hair. +"It will do you no end of good; and how you have improved since you have +been here, my dear, your hair's grown so nicely, and you've got such a +good pink colour in your cheeks. It's the camomile-tea done that." + +Mrs Millett leaned forward with her hands on the boy's shoulder, and +kissed him in so motherly a way that Dexter felt a catching of the +breath, and kissed her again. + +"That's right," said the old lady. "You ain't half so bad as Maria +pretends you are. `It's only a bit of mischief now and then,' I says to +her, `and he's only a boy,' and that's what you are, ain't it, my dear?" + +Dexter did not answer. + +"I shall put your dose on your washstand, and you mind and take it the +moment you get out of bed to-morrow morning." + +"Yes," said Dexter dismally. + +"No! you'll forget it. You've got to take that camomile-tea to-night, +and if you don't promise me you will, I shall come and see you take it." + +"I promise you," said Dexter, and the old lady nodded and went upstairs, +while the boy hung about in the hall. + +How was it that just now, when he was going away, people were beginning +to seem more kind to him, and something began to drag at his heart to +keep him from going? + +He could not tell. An hour before he had felt a wild kind of elation. +He was going to be free from lessons, the doctor's admonitions, and the +tame regular life at the house, to be off in search of adventure, and +with Bob for his companion, going all over the world in that boat, while +now, in spite of all he could do, he did not feel so satisfied and sure. + +There was something else he knew that he ought to do. He could not bid +Helen good-bye with his lips, but he felt that he must bid her farewell +another way, for she had always been kind to him from the day he came. + +He crept into the study again, this time without being seen. + +There was a faint light in the pleasant room, for the doctor's lamp had +been turned down, but not quite out. + +A touch sent the flame brightly round the ring, and the shade cast a +warm glow on the boy's busy fingers as he took out paper and envelope; +and then, with trembling hand, sore heart, and a pen that spluttered, he +indited another letter, this time to Helen. + + My dear Miss Grayson, + + I am afraid you will think me a very ungrateful boy, but I am obliged + to go away to seek my fortune all over the world. You have been so + kind to me, and so has Doctor Grayson sometimes, but everybody else + has hated me, and made game of me because I was a workhouse boy, and I + could not bear it any longer, and Bob Dimsted said he wouldn't if he + was me, and we are going away together not to come back again any + more.--I am, + + Your Affec Friend. + + Dexter Grayson. + + _PS_--I mean Obed Coleby, for I ought not to call myself Dexter any + more, and I would have scratched it out, only you always said it was + better not to scratch out mistakes because they made the paper look so + untidy. + + I like you very much, and Mrs Millett too, but I can't take her fiz-- + physick to-night. + + Is physick spelt with a k? + +There was a tear--a weak tear in each of Dexter's eyes as he wrote this +letter, for it brought up many a pleasant recollection of kindnesses on +Helen's part. + +He had just finished, folded and directed this, when he fancied he heard +a door open across the hall. + +Thrusting the note into his pocket so hastily that one corner went into +the toad, he caught up a piece of the doctor's foolscap, and began +rapidly to make a triangle upon it, at whose sides and points he placed +letters, and then, feeling like the miserable impostor he was, he +rapidly let his pen trace a confused line of _A's_ and _B's_ and _C's_, +and these backwards and forwards. + +This went on for some minutes, so that there was a fair show upon the +paper, when the door softly opened, Helen peered in, and then coming +behind him bent down, and, in a very gentle and sisterly way, placed her +hands over his eyes. + +"Why, my poor hard-working boy," she said gently. "So this is where you +are; and, oh dear, oh dear! Euclid again. That Mr Limpney will wear +your brains all away. There, come along, I am going to play to papa, +and then you and I will have a game at draughts." + +Dexter rose with his heart beating, and that strange sensation of +something tugging at his conscience. Why were they all so kind to him +to-night, just when he was going away? + +"Why, you look quite worn out and dazed, Dexter," said Helen merrily. +"There, come along." + +"Eh? Where was he? In mischief?" said the doctor sharply, as they +entered the drawing-room. + +"Mischief? No, papa: for shame!" cried Helen, with her arm resting on +the boy's shoulders. "In your study, working away at those terrible +sides and angles invented by that dreadful old Greek Euclid." + +"Work, eh? Ha! that's good!" cried the doctor jovially. "Bravo, +Dexter! I am glad." + +If ever a boy felt utterly ashamed of himself, Dexter did then. He +could not meet the doctor's eye, but was on his way to get a book to +turn over, so as to have something to look at, but this was not to be. + +"No, no, you have had enough of books for one day, Dexter. Come and +turn over the music for me. Why! what's that?" + +"That?" said Dexter slowly, for he did not comprehend. + +"Yes, I felt it move. You have something alive in your pocket." + +He felt prompted to lie, but he could not tell a falsehood then, and he +stood with his teeth set. + +"Whatever have you got alive in your pocket?" said the doctor. "I know. +A young rabbit, for a guinea." + +"Is it?" cried Helen. "Let me look: they are such pretty little +things." + +"Yes, out with it, boy, and don't pet those things too much. Kill them +with kindness, you know. Here, let me take it out." + +"No, no!" cried Dexter hastily. + +"Well, take it out yourself." + +A spasm of dread had run through the boy, as in imagination he saw the +doctor's hand taking out the letter in his pocket. + +"It isn't a young rabbit," he faltered. + +"Well, what is it, then? Come, out with it." + +Dexter hesitated for a few moments, and now met the doctor's eye. He +could not help himself, but slowly took out his pocket-handkerchief, as +he held the note firmly with his left hand outside the jacket. Then, +diving in again, he got well hold of Sam, who was snug at the bottom, +and, with burning cheeks, and in full expectation of a scolding, drew +the toad slowly forth. + +"Ugh!" ejaculated Helen. + +The doctor, who was in a most amiable temper, burst into a roar of +laughter. + +"Well, you are a strange boy, Dexter," he said, as he wiped his eyes. +"You ought to be a naturalist by and by. There, open the window, and +put the poor thing outside. You can find plenty another time." + +Dexter obeyed, glad to be out of his quandary, and this time, as he put +Sam down, the reptile crawled slowly away into the soft dark night. + +He closed the window, and went back to find the doctor and Helen all +smiles, and ready to joke instead of scold. Then he went to the piano, +and turned over the music, the airs and songs making him feel more and +more sad, and again and again he found himself saying-- + +"Why are they so kind to me now, just as I am going away?" + +"Shall I stop!" he said to himself, after a time. + +"No: I promised Bob I would come, and so I will." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +AN ACT OF FOLLY. + +Bedtime at last, and as Dexter bade the doctor and his daughter +"good-night," it seemed to him that they had never spoken so kindly to +him, and the place had never appeared to be so pleasant and homelike +before. + +His heart sank as he went up to his room, and he felt as if he could not +go away. The lessons Mr Limpney had given him to write out were not +done; but he had better stop and face him, and every other trouble, +including the window he had broken, and never owned to yet. + +It was impossible to go away and leave everybody who was so kind. A +harsh word would have kept him to the point; but now he wavered as he +sat down on the edge of his bed, with his mind in a whirl. + +Then, as he sat there, he pictured in his own mind the figure of Bob +Dimsted, waiting for him, laden with articles of outfit necessary for +their voyage, and behind Bob loomed up bright sunny scenes by sea and +land; and with his imagination once more excited by all that the boy had +suggested, Dexter blinded himself to everything but the object he had in +view. + +He had planned in his own mind what he would take with him, but now it +had come to the point he felt a strange compunction. Everything he +possessed seemed to him as if it belonged to the doctor, and, finally, +he resolved to take nothing with him but the clothes in which he stood. + +He began walking about the room in a listless way, looking about at the +various familiar objects that he was to see no more, and one of the +first things to strike him was a teacup on the washstand, containing +Mrs Millett's infusion, bitter, nauseous, and sweetened to sickliness; +and it struck Dexter that the mixture had been placed in a cup instead +of a glass, so as to make it less objectionable in appearance. + +He could not help smiling as he took up the cup and smelt it, seeing at +the same time the old dame's pleasant earnest face--a face that suddenly +seemed to have become very loving, now he was to see it no more. + +He set down the cup, and shook his head, and then, as if nerving himself +for the task, he went to the drawers, took out a key from his pocket, +and then, from the place where it lay, hidden beneath his clean linen, +brought forth the old clothes-line twisted and knotted together--the +line which had done duty in the loft as a swing. + +He listened as he crossed to the door, but all was still downstairs, and +it was not likely that any one would come near his room that night; but +still he moved about cautiously, and taking the line with his hands, +about two feet apart, snapped it again and again with all his might, to +try if it was likely to give way now beneath his weight. + +It seemed firm as ever, but he could not help a shiver as he laid it by +the window, and thought of a boy being found in the shrubbery beneath, +with a broken leg, or, worse still, neck. + +Then as he waited for the time to glide by, so that all might be in bed +before he made his escape, a sudden chill ran through him. + +He had remembered everything, as he thought; and yet there was one +thing, perhaps the simplest of all, forgotten. He was going to take no +bundle, no money, nothing which the doctor had in his kindness provided +for him; but he could not go without a cap, and that was hanging in the +hall, close to the drawing-room door. + +The question arose whether he should venture down to get it now, or +after the doctor had gone to bed. + +It took him some time to make up his mind; but when he had come to a +decision he opened his door softly, listened, and stole out on to the +landing. + +All was very still as he looked over the balustrade to where the lamp +shed its yellow rays all round, and to his mind more strangely upon the +object he wanted to obtain than elsewhere. + +It was a very simple thing to do, and yet it required a great deal of +nerve, for if the drawing-room door were opened just as he reached the +hat-stand, and the doctor came out, what should he say? + +Then there was the risk of being heard, for there were, he knew, two of +the old oaken stairs which always gave a loud crack when any one passed +down, and if they cracked now, some one would be sure to come out to see +what it meant. + +Taking a long catching breath he went quickly to the top of the stairs, +and was about to descend in a desperate determination to go through with +his task, when an idea struck him, and bending over the balustrade he +spread his hands, balanced himself carefully, and then slid down the +mahogany rail, round curve after curve as silently as could be, and +reaching the curl at the bottom dropped upon the mat. + +Only five or six yards now to the hat-stand, and going on tiptoe past +the entrance to the drawing-room, he was in the act of taking down the +cap, when the handle rattled, the door was thrown open, and the hall +grew more light. + +In his desperation Dexter snatched down the cap, and stood there trying +to think of what he should say in answer to the question that would be +asked in a moment-- + +"What are you doing there!" + +It was Helen, chamber-candlestick in hand, and she was in the act of +stepping out, when her step was arrested by words which seemed to pierce +into the listener's brain:-- + +"Oh, about Dexter!" + +"Yes, papa," said Helen, turning. + +"What do you think about--" + +Dexter heard no more. Taking advantage of Helen's back being turned as +she bent over towards the speaker, the boy stepped quickly to the +staircase, ran up, and had reached the first landing before Helen came +out into the hall, while before she had closed the door he was up +another flight, and gliding softly toward his own room, where he stood +panting as he closed the door, just as if he had been running a distance +which had taken away his breath. + +It was a narrow escape, and he was safe; but his ears tingled still, and +he longed to know what the doctor had said about him. + +As he stood listening, cap in hand, he heard Helen pass his door singing +softly one of the ballads he had heard that evening; and once more a +curious dull sensation of misery came over him, as he seemed to feel +that he would never hear her sing again, never feel the touch of her +soft caressing hand; and somehow there was a vague confused sense of +longing to go to one who had treated him with an affectionate interest +he had never known before, even now hardly understood, but it seemed to +him such gentleness and love as might have come from a mother. + +For a moment or two he felt that he must open the door, call to her, +throw himself upon his knees before her, and confess everything, but at +that moment the laughing, mocking face of Bob Dimsted seemed to rise +between them, and his words buzzed in his ear--words that he had often +said when listening to some account of Dexter's troubles-- + +"Bother the old lessons, and all on 'em! I wouldn't stand it if I was +you. They've no right to order you about, and scold you as they do." + +The weak moments passed, and just then there was the doctor's cough +heard, and the closing of his door, while directly after came the +chiming of the church clock--a quarter past eleven. + +Half an hour to wait and think, and then good-bye to all his troubles, +and the beginning of a new life of freedom! + +All the freedom and the future seemed to be behind a black cloud; but in +the fond belief that all would soon grow clear Dexter waited. + +Half-past eleven, and he wondered that he did not feel sleepy. + +It was time to begin though now, and he took the line and laid it out in +a serpentine fashion upon the carpet, so that there should be no kinks +in the way; and then the next thing was to fasten one end tightly so +that he could safely slide down. + +He had well thought out his plans, and, taking one end of the line, he +knotted it securely to the most substantial place he could find in the +room, passing it behind two of the bars of the grate. Then cautiously +opening his window, a little bit at a time, he thrust it higher and +higher, every faint creak sending a chill through him, while, when he +looked out upon the dark starlight night, it seemed as if he would have +to descend into a black gulf, where something blacker was waiting to +seize him. + +But he knew that the black things below were only great shrubs, and +lowering the rope softly down he at last had the satisfaction of hearing +it rustle among the leaves. + +Then he waited, and after a glance round to see that everything was +straight, and the letter laid ready upon the table, he put out the +candle. + +"For the last time!" he said to himself, and a great sigh came unbidden +from his breast. + +A quarter to twelve. + +Dexter waited till the last stroke on the bell was thrilling in the air +before setting his cap on tightly, and passing one leg over the sill. + +He sat astride for a few moments, hesitating for the last time, and then +passed the other leg, and lowered himself down till he hung by his +hands, then twisted his legs about the rope, seized it with first one +hand then the other, and hung by it with his whole weight, in the +precarious position of one trusting to an old doubled clothes-line, +suspended from a second-floor window. + +It was hard work that descent, for he could not slide on account of the +knots; and, to make his position more awkward, the rope began to +untwist--one line from the other,--and, in consequence, as the boy +descended slowly, he bore no small resemblance to a leg of mutton +turning before a fire. + +That was the only mishap which occurred to him then, for after resting +for a few moments upon the first-floor sill he continued his journey, +and reached the bottom in the midst of a great laurel, which rustled +loudly as he tried to get out, and then tripped over a horizontal +branch, and fell flat. + +He was up again in an instant, and, trembling and panting, made a couple +of bounds which took him over the gravel walk and on to the lawn, where +he stood panting and listening. + +There was a light in the doctor's room, and one in Helen's; and just +then the doctor's shadow, looking horribly threatening, was thrown upon +the blind. + +He must be coming, Dexter thought, and, turning quickly, he sped down +the lawn, avoiding the flower-beds by instinct, and the next minute had +reached the kitchen-garden, down whose winding green walk he rapidly +made his way. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +DARK DEEDS. + +It was very dark among the trees as Dexter reached the grass plot which +sloped to the willows by the river-side, but he knew his way so well +that he crept along in silence till he had one hand resting upon the +trunk he had so often climbed, and stood there gazing across the starlit +water, trying to make out the figure of his companion in the boat. + +All was silent, save that, now and then, the water as it ran among the +tree-roots made a peculiar whispering sound, and once or twice there was +a faint plash in the distance, as if from the feeding of a fish. + +"Hist! Bob! Are you there!" + +"Hullo!" came from the other side. "I was just a-going." + +"Going?" + +"Yes. I thought you wasn't a-coming, and I wasn't going to stop here +all night." + +"But you said twelve." + +"Well, it struck twelve an hour ago." + +"No; that was eleven. There--hark!" + +As proof of Dexter's assertion the church clock just then began to +chime, and the heavy boom of the tenor bell proclaiming midnight seemed +to make the soft night air throb. + +"Thought it was twelve long enough ago. Ready!" + +"Yes," said Dexter, in an excited whisper. "Got the boat?" + +"No: course I haven't. It'll take two to get that boat." + +"But you said you would have it ready." + +"Yes, I know; but we must both of us do that. I waited till you come." + +This was a shock; and Dexter said, in a disappointed tone-- + +"But how am I to get to you!" + +"Come across," said Bob coolly. + +"Come across--in the dark!" + +"Why, of course. You ain't afraid, are you? Well, you are a chap!" + +"But it's too deep to wade." + +"Well, who said it wasn't!" growled the boy. "You can swim, can't you?" + +"But I shall get so wet." + +"Yah!" ejaculated Bob in tones of disgust. "You are a fellow. Take +your clothes off, make 'em in a bundle, and swim over." + +Dexter was half-disposed to say, "You swim across to me," but nothing +would have been gained if he had, so, after a few minutes' hesitation, +and in genuine dread, he obeyed the wishes of his companion, but only to +pause when he was half-undressed. + +"I say, though," he whispered, "can't you get the boat? It's so cold +and dark." + +"Well, you are a fellow!" cried Bob. "Beginning to grumble afore we +start. It's no use to have a mate who's afraid of a drop of water, and +don't like to get wet." + +"But--" + +"There, never mind," grumbled Bob; "we won't go." + +"But I didn't say I wouldn't come, Bob," whispered Dexter desperately. +"I'll come." + +There was no answer. + +"Bob." Still silence. + +"I say, don't go, Bob. I'm very sorry. I'm undressing as fast as I +can. You haven't gone, have you?" + +Still silence, and Dexter ceased undressing, and stood there in the cold +night air, feeling as desolate, despairing, and forlorn as boy could be. + +"What shall I do?" he said to himself; and then, in a despondent +whisper, "Bob!" + +"Hullo!" + +"Why, you haven't gone!" joyfully. + +"No; but I'm going directly. It's no use for me to have a mate who +hasn't got any pluck. Now then, are you coming, or are you not!" + +"I'm coming," said Dexter. "But stop a moment. I'll be back directly." + +"Whatcher going to do!" + +"Wait a moment and I'll show you." + +Dexter had had a happy thought, and turning and running in his trousers +to the tool-shed, he dragged out a small deal box in which seeds had +come down from London that spring. It was a well-made tight box, and +quite light, and with this he ran back. + +"Why, what are you doing?" grumbled Bob, as soon as he heard his +companion's voice. + +"Been getting something to put my clothes in," whispered Dexter. "I +don't want to get them wet." + +"Oh," said Bob, in a most unconcerned way; and he began to whistle +softly, as Dexter finished undressing, tucked all his clothes tightly in +the box, and bore it down to the water's edge, where it floated like a +little boat. + +"There!" cried Dexter excitedly. "Now they'll be all dry when I've got +across. Ugh! how cold the water is," he continued, as he dipped one +foot. "I wish I'd brought a towel." + +"Yah! what does a fellow want with a towel? You soon gets dry if you +run about. Going to walk across!" + +"I can't," said Dexter; "it's too deep." + +"Well, then, swim. I could swim that with one hand tied behind." + +"I couldn't," said Dexter, hesitating, for it was no pleasant task to +plunge into the little gliding river at midnight, and with all dark +around. + +"Now then! Look alive! Don't make a splash." + +"Oh!" + +"What's the matter?" + +"It is cold." + +"Yah! Then, get back to bed with you, and let me go alone." + +"I'm coming as fast as I can," said Dexter, as he lowered himself into +the stream, and then rapidly climbed out again, as the cold water caused +a sudden catching of the breath; and a nervous shrinking from trusting +himself in the dark river made him draw right away from the edge. + +"Why, you ain't swimming," said Bob. "Here, look sharp! Why, you ain't +in!" + +"N-no, not yet," said Dexter, shivering. + +"There's a coward!" sneered Bob. + +"I'm not a coward, but it seems so dark and horrible to-night, and as if +something might lay hold of you." + +"Yes, you are a regular coward," sneered Bob. "There, jump in, or I'll +shy stones at yer till you do." + +Dexter did not speak, but tumbled all of a heap on the short turf, +shrinking more and more from his task. + +"I shall have to go without you," said Bob. + +"I can't help it," said Dexter, in a low, tremulous whisper. "It's too +horrid to get in there and swim across in the dark." + +"No, it ain't. I'd do it in a minute. There, jump in." + +"No," said Dexter sadly. "I must give it up." + +"What, yer won't do it!" + +"I can't," said Dexter sadly. "We must try some other way. I'm going +to dress again. Oh!" + +"What's the matter now!" + +"My clothes!" _Splash_! _Rush_! + +Dexter had rapidly lowered himself into the black deep stream and was +swimming hard and fast, for as he rose and sought for his garments he +suddenly recalled the fact that he had turned the box into a tiny barge, +laden it with his clothes, and placed them in the river, while now, as +he went to take them out, he found that the stream had borne the box +away, and it was going down toward the sea. + +"Try if you can see them, Bob," said Dexter, as he panted and struggled +on through the water. + +"See what?" + +"My clothes. They're floating down the river." + +Bob uttered a low chuckling laugh, and trotted along by the edge of the +river; but it was too dark for him to see anything, and Dexter, +forgetting cold and dread, swam bravely on, looking well to right and +left, without avail, till all at once, just in one of the deepest +eddies, some fifty yards down below the doctor's house, and where an +unusually large willow spread its arms over the stream, he caught sight +of something which blotted out the starlight for a moment, and then the +stars' reflection beamed out again. + +Something was evidently floating there, and he made for it, to find to +his great joy that it was the floating box, which he pushed before him +as he swam, and a couple of minutes later he was near enough to the edge +on the meadow-side to ask Bob's help. + +"Ain't got 'em, have you?" the latter whispered. + +"Yes; all right. I'll come out there. Give me a hand." + +Dexter swam to the muddy overhanging bank, and seized the hand which Bob +extended toward him. + +"Now then, shall I duck yer!" said Bob, who had lain down on the wet +grass to extend his hand to the swimmer. + +"No, no, Bob, don't. That would be cowardly," cried Dexter. "Help me +to get out my clothes without letting in the wet. It is so cold." + +"But you swam over," said Bob sneeringly. + +"Yes; but you don't know how chilly it makes you feel. Mind the +clothes." + +Bob did mind, and the next minute Dexter and the barge of dry clothes +were upon the grass together. + +"Oh, isn't it cold?" said Dexter, with his teeth chattering. + +"Cold? no. Not a bit," said Bob. "Here, whatcher going to do!" + +"Do? Dress myself. Here, give me my shirt. Oh, don't I wish I had a +towel!" + +"You leave them things alone, stoopid. You can't dress yet." + +"Not dress!" + +"No," cried Bob loudly. + +"What do you mean!" + +"You come along and I'll show yer. Why, we haven't got the boat." + +"No, but--" + +"Well, you're all ready, and you've got to swim across and get it." + +"I've got to get it!" cried Dexter in dismay. "Why, you said you would +get the boat." + +"Yes, but I didn't know then that you were going to swim across." + +"But you said it would take two to get it," protested Dexter. + +"Yes, I thought so then, but you're all ready and can swim across, and +get it directly. Here, come along!" + +"But--but," stammered Dexter, who was shivering in the chill night air. + +"What, you're cold? Well, come along. I'll carry the box. Let's run. +It'll warm yer." + +Dexter was ready with another protest, but he did not utter it. His +companion seemed to carry him along with the force of his will, but all +the same there was a troublous feeling forcing itself upon him that he +had made a mistake, and he could not help a longing for his room at the +doctor's with its warm bed, comfort, safety, and repose. + +But he knew it was too late, and he was too much hurried and confused to +do more than try to keep up with Bob Dimsted as he ran by his side +carrying the box till they had reached the meadow facing Sir James +Danby's garden; and there, just dimly seen across the river, was the low +gable-end of the boat-house beneath the trees. + +"Hush! don't make a row," whispered Bob. "Now then, slip in and fetch +it. Why, you could almost jump it." + +"But, Bob--I--I don't like to go. I'm so cold." + +"I'll precious soon warm yer if you don't look sharp," cried Bob +fiercely. "Don't you try to make a fool of me. Now then, in with you!" + +He had put the box down and gripped Dexter fiercely by the arm, causing +him so much pain that instead of alarming it roused the boy's flagging +spirit, and he turned fiercely upon his assailant, and wrested his arm +free. + +"That's right," said Bob. "In with you. And be sharp, and then you can +dress yerself as we float down." + +Dexter's instinct was to resist and give up, but he felt that he had +gone too far, and feeling that his companion might consider him a coward +if he refused to go, he lowered himself down into the water. + +"That's yer sort," said Bob, in a loud whisper. "You'll soon do it." + +"But suppose the chains are locked!" + +"They won't be locked," said Bob. "You go acrost and see." + +In the eager desire to get an unpleasant task done, Dexter let himself +glide down into the swift stream about a dozen yards above the +boat-house, and giving himself a good thrust off with his feet, he swam +steadily and easily across, the river there being about thirty yards +wide, and in a very short time he managed to touch the post at the outer +corner of the long low boat-house. Then, hardly knowing how he managed +it, he found bottom as his hand grasped the gunwale of the boat, and +walking along beside it he soon reached the chain which moored it to the +end. + +Here in his excitement and dread it seemed as if his mission was to +fail. It was dark enough outside, but in the boat-house everything +seemed to be of pitchy blackness, and try how he would he could find no +way of unfastening the chain. + +He tried toward the boat, then downwards, then upwards, and in the boat +again, and again. His teeth were chattering, his chest and shoulders +felt as if they were freezing, and his hands, as they fumbled with the +wet chain, began to grow numbed, while, to add to his excitement and +confusion, Bob kept on from time to time sending across the river a +quick hissing-- + +"I say; look sharp." + +Then he heard a sound, and he splashed through the water in retreat +toward the river, for it seemed that they were discovered, and some one +coming down the garden. + +But the sound was repeated, and he realised the fact that it was only +the side of the boat striking against a post. + +"I say, are you a-coming?" whispered Bob. + +"I can't undo the chain," Dexter whispered back. + +"Yer don't half try." + +Just then the clock chimed half-past twelve, and Dexter stopped +involuntarily; but a fresh summons from his companion roused him to +further action, and he passed once more along to the prow of the boat, +and seizing the chain felt along it till this time he felt a hook, and, +wondering how it was that he had missed it before, he began with +trembling fingers to try and get it out from the link through which it +was thrust. + +It was in very tightly, though, for the point being wedge-shaped the +swaying about and jerking to and fro of the boat had driven it further +and further in, so that it was not until he had been ready over and over +again to give up in despair that the boy got the iron free. + +Then panting with dread and excitement he found the rest easy; the chain +was passed through a ring-bolt in one of the posts at the head of the +boat-house, and through this he drew it back slowly and cautiously on +account of the rattling it made. + +It seemed of interminable length as he drew and drew, piling up the +chain in the bows of the boat till he thought he must have obtained all, +when there was a sudden check, and it would come no further. + +Simple enough in broad daylight, and to a person in the boat, but Dexter +was standing waist deep in the water, and once more he felt that the +case was hopeless. + +Another call from Bob roused him, and he followed the chain with his +hand till he had waded to the post, and found that the hook had merely +caught in the ring, and only needed lifting out, and the boat was at +liberty. + +But just at this moment there was a furious barking, and a dog seemed to +be tearing down the garden toward the boat-house. + +In an agony of horror Dexter climbed into the boat, and feeling the side +of the long shed he thrust and thrust with so much effect that he sent +the light gig well out into the stream and half-across the river. Then +seizing an oar, as the dog was now down on the bank, snapping and +barking more furiously than ever, he got it over into the water, and +after a great deal of paddling, and confused counter-action of his +efforts, forced the boat onward and along, till it touched the shore +where Bob was waiting with the box. + +"No, no, don't come out," he whispered. "Here, help me get these in." + +Dexter crept to the stern of the boat, and in his effort to embark the +box nearly fell overboard, but the treasure was safe. Then Bob handed +in a basket, and a bundle of sticks, evidently his rod, and leaping in +directly after, gave the boat sufficient impetus to send it well out +into the stream, down which it began to glide. + +"Ah, bark away, old un," said Bob contemptuously, as the sound of the +dog's alarm notes grew more distant, and then more distant still, for +they were going round a curve, and the garden side of the river was +thick with trees. + +"Is that Danby's dog!" whispered Bob. + +"I don't know," said Dexter, with his teeth chattering from cold and +excitement. + +"Why! you're a-cold," said Bob coolly. "Here, I'll send her along. You +look sharp and dress. I say, where's your bundle of things?" + +"Do you mean my clothes?" + +"No! Your bundle." + +"I didn't bring anything," said Dexter, hurriedly slipping on his shirt. + +"Well, you are a chap!" said Bob sourly, but Dexter hardly heard him, +for he was trying to get his wet body covered from the chill night air; +and he could think of nothing but the fact that he had taken a very +desperate step, and the boat was bearing them rapidly away from what +seemed now to have been a very happy home--further out, further away +from the doctor and from Helen, downward toward the sea, and over that +there was a great black cloud, beyond which, according to Bob Dimsted, +there were bright and glorious lands. + +At that moment, chill with the cold and damp, Dexter would have given +anything to have been back in his old room, but it was too late, the +boat was gliding on, and Bob had now got out the sculls. The town +lights were receding, and they were going onward toward that dark cloud +which Dexter seemed to see more dimly now, for there was a dumb +depressing sensation of despair upon him, and he turned his eyes toward +the river-bank, asking himself if he could leap ashore. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +TIMES OF DELIGHT! + +"Here we are!" said Bob Dimsted, as he sat handling the sculls very +fairly, and, as the stream was with them, sending the boat easily along. +"I think we managed that first-rate." + +Dexter made no reply, for he had his teeth fast set, and his lips +pressed together to keep the former from chattering, but he thought a +great deal, and found himself wondering what Bob had done toward getting +the boat. + +With the covering up of his goose-skinned body, and the return of some +of his surface heat, the terrible fit of despondency began to pass away, +and Dexter felt less ready to sit down in helpless misery at the bottom +of the boat. + +"Getting nice and warm, ain'tcher?" + +"Not very, yet." + +"Ah, you soon will be, and if you ain't you shall take one of these here +oars. That'll soon put you right. But what a while you was!" + +"I--I couldn't help it," shivered Dexter, drawing in his breath with a +quick hissing sound; "the chain was so hard to undo." + +"Ah, well, never mind now," said Bob, "only, if we'd got to do it again +I should go myself." + +Dexter made no protest, but he thought it sounded rather ungrateful. He +was too busy, though, with buttons, and getting his fingers to work in +their regular way, to pay much heed, and he went on dressing. + +"I say, what a jolly long while you are!" continued Bob. "Oh, and look +here! I'd forgot again: why didn't you bring your bundle with all your +clothes and things, eh!" + +"Because they weren't mine." + +"Well, you are a chap! Not yourn? Why, they were made for you, and you +wore 'em. They can't be anybody else's. I never see such a fellow as +you are! I brought all mine." + +It was an easy task, judging from the size of the bundle dimly seen in +the bottom of the boat, but Dexter said nothing. + +"How much money have you got?" said Bob, after a pause. + +"None at all." + +"What?" + +There was utter astonishment in Bob Dimsted's tones as he sat +motionless, with the sculls balanced on the rowlocks, staring wildly +through the gloom, as Dexter now sat down and fought hard with an +obstinate stocking, which refused to go on over a wet foot--a way +stockings have at such times. + +"Did you say you hadn't got any money?" cried Bob. + +"Yes. I sent it all in a letter to pay for the boat in case we kept +it." + +"What, for this boat?" cried Bob. + +"Yes." + +"And you call yourself a mate?" cried Bob, letting the scull blades drop +in the water with a splash, and pulling hard for a few strokes. "Well!" + +"I felt obliged to," said Dexter, whose perseverance was rewarded by a +complete victory over the first stocking, when the second yielded it +with a better grace, and he soon had on his shoes, and then began to dry +his ears by thrusting his handkerchief-covered finger in the various +windings of each gristly maze. + +"Felt obliged to?" + +"Yes, of course. We couldn't steal the boat." + +"Yah, steal it! Who ever said a word about stealing? We've only +borrowed it, and if we don't send it back, old Danby's got lots of +money, and he can buy another. But, got no money! Well!" + +"But we don't want money, do we!" said Dexter, whom the excitement as +well as his clothes now began to make comparatively warm. "I thought we +were going where we could soon make our fortunes." + +"Yes, of course we are, stoopid; but you can't make fortunes without +money. You can't ketch fish if yer ain't got no bait." + +This was a philosophical view of matters which took Dexter aback, and he +faltered rather as he spoke next, this time with his ears dry, his hair +not so very wet, and his jacket buttoned up to his chin. + +"I'm very sorry, Bob," he said gently. + +"Sorry! Being sorry won't butter no parsneps," growled Bob. + +"No," said Dexter mildly, "but we haven't got any parsneps to butter." + +"No, nor ain't likely to have," growled Bob, and then returning to a +favourite form of expression: "And you call yourself a mate! Here, come +and kitch holt of this scull." + +Dexter sat down on the thwart, and took the scull after Bob had +contrived to give him a spiteful blow on the back with it before he +extricated it from its rowlock. + +Dexter winced slightly, but he bore the pain without a word, and began +rowing as well as a boy does row who handles a scull for the first time +in his life. And there he sat, gazing to right and left at the dark +banks of the river, and the stars above and reflected below, as they +went slowly on along the bends and reaches of the little river, +everything looking strangely distorted and threatening to the boy's +unaccustomed eyes. + +The exercise soon began to bring a general feeling of warmth to his +chilled frame, and as the inward helplessness passed away it began to +give place to an acute sense of fear, and his eyes wandered here and +there in search of Sir James Danby, the doctor, and others more +terrible, who would charge them with stealing the boat in spite of his +protests and the money he had left behind. + +And all the time to make his trip more pleasant he had to suffer from +jarring blows upon the spine, given by the top of Bob's oar. + +In nearly every case this was intentional, and Bob chuckled to himself, +as with the customary outburst of his class he began to abuse his +companion. + +"Why don't yer mind and keep time!" he cried. "Who's to row if you go +on like that? I never see such a stoopid." + +"All right, Bob, I'll mind," said Dexter, with all the humility of an +ignorance which kept him from knowing that as he was rowing stroke Bob +should have taken his time from him. + +The blows on the back had two good effects, however: they gratified Bob, +who had the pleasure of tyrannising over and inflicting pain upon his +comrade, while Dexter gained by the rapid increase of warmth, and was +most likely saved from a chill and its accompanying fever. + +Still that night trip was not pleasant, for when Bob was not grumbling +about the regularity of Dexter's stroke, he had fault to find as to his +pulling too hard or not hard enough, and so sending the head of the boat +toward the right or left bank of the stream. In addition, the young +bully kept up a running fire of comment on his companion's shortcomings. + +"I never see such a mate," he said. "No money and no clothes. I say," +he added at the end of one grumbling fit, "what made you want to run +away!" + +"I don't know," said Dexter sadly. "I suppose it was because you +persuaded me." + +"Oh, come, that's a good un," said Bob. "Why, it was you persuaded me! +You were always wanting to go away, and you said we could take Danby's +boat, and go right down to the sea." + +"No!" protested Dexter; "it was you said that." + +"Me!" cried Bob. "Oh, come, I like that, 'pon my word I do. It was you +always begging of me to go, and to take you with me. Why, I shouldn't +never have thought of such a thing if you hadn't begun it." + +Dexter was silent, and now getting thoroughly warm he toiled on with his +oar, wondering whether Bob would be more amiable when the day came, and +trying to think of something to say to divert his thoughts and make him +cease his quarrelsome tone. + +"I never see such a mate," growled Bob again. "No money, no clothes! +why, I shall have to keep yer, I s'pose." + +"How long will it take us to get down to the sea, Bob?" said Dexter at +last. + +"I d'know. Week p'r'aps." + +"But we shall begin fishing before then, shan't we!" + +"Fishing! How are you going to fish without any rod and line? Expects +me to find 'em for yer, I s'pose!" + +"No, but I thought you would catch the fish, and I could light a fire +and cook them." + +"Oh, that's what yer thought, was it? Well, p'r'aps we shall, and +p'r'aps we shan't." + +"Do you think they will come after us!" ventured Dexter, after a time. + +"Sure to, I should say; and if they do, and they kitches us, I shall say +as it was you who stole the boat." + +"No, you won't," said Dexter, plucking up a little spirit now he was +getting more himself. "You wouldn't be such a sneak." + +"If you call me a sneak, I'll chuck you out of the boat," cried Bob +angrily. + +"I didn't call you a sneak, I only said you wouldn't be such a sneak," +protested Dexter. + +"I know what you said: yer needn't tell me, and I won't have it, so now +then. If you want to quarrel, you'd better get out and go back." + +"But I don't want to quarrel, Bob; I want to be the best of friends." + +"Then don't yer call me a sneak, because if you do it'll be the worse +for you." + +"Oh, I say, Bob," protested Dexter, as he tugged away at his oar, "don't +be so disagreeable." + +"And now he says I'm disagreeable!" cried Bob. "Well of all the chaps +as ever I see you're about the nastiest. Look here, do you want to +fight? because if you do, we'll just go ashore here and have it out." + +"I don't want to fight indeed, Bob." + +"Yes, you do; you keep egging of me on, and saying disagreeable things +as would have made some chaps give you one for yourself ever so long +ago. Lookye here, only one on us can be captain in this here boat, and +it is going to be either me or you. I don't want to be, but I ain't +going to be quite jumped upon, so we'll get ashore here, and soon see +who it's going to be." + +As Bob Dimsted spoke in a low snarling way, he gave his scull so hard a +pull that he sent the boat's head in toward the bank. + +"First you want one thing, and then you want another, and then you try +to make out that it was me who stole the boat." + +"I only said it wasn't me." + +"There," cried Bob, "hark at that! Why, who was it then?" Didn't you +take yer clothes off and swim over while I stood t'other side? + +Dexter did not answer, but went on rowing with a hot feeling of anger +rising in his breast. + +"Oh, so now you're sulky, are you? Very well, my lad, we'll soon see to +that. If you don't know who's best man, I'm going to show you. It's +dark, but it's light enough for that, so come ashore and--" + +_Whish! rush! crash_! + +"Row! pull! pull!" whispered Bob excitedly, as there was a loud breaking +of the low growth on the bank close by them, followed by the loud clap +given by a swing-gate violently dashed to. + +Dexter pulled, but against the bank, for they were too close in for them +to get a dip of the oar in the water; but what he did was not without +some effect, and, as Bob backed, the boat's head gradually glided round, +shot into the stream, and they went swiftly on again, pulling as hard as +they could. + +"Did you see him!" whispered Bob at last. + +"No, did you?" + +"No, but I nearly did. He has been creeping along the bank for ever so +long, and he nearly got hold of the boat." + +"Who was it?" whispered Dexter. + +"Pleeceman, but pull hard, and we shall get away from him yet." + +They both pulled a slow stroke for quite an hour, and by that time the +horse that had been feeding upon the succulent weedy growth close to the +water's edge had got over its fright, and was grazing peaceably once +more. + +Bob was quiet after that. The sudden alarm had cut his string of words +in two, and he was too much disturbed to take them up again to join. In +fact he was afraid to speak lest he should be heard, and he kept his +ill-temper--stirred up by the loss of a night's rest--to himself for the +next hour, when suddenly throwing in his oar he said-- + +"Look here, I'm tired, and I shall lie down in the bottom here and have +a nap. You keep a sharp look-out." + +"But I can't row two oars," said Dexter. + +"Well, nobody asked you to. You've got to sit there with the boat-hook, +and push her off if ever she runs into the bushes. The stream'll take +her down like it does a float." + +"How far are we away from the town!" + +"I d'know." + +"Well, how soon will it be morning!" + +"How should I know? I haven't got a watch, have I? If I'd had one I +should have sold it so as to have some money to share with my mate." + +"Have you got any money, Bob?" + +"Course I have. Don't think I'm such a stoopid as you, do yer!" + +Dexter was silent, and in the darkness he laid in his oar after the +fashion of his companion, and took up the boat-hook, while Bob lifted +one of the cushions from the seat, placed it in the bottom of the boat, +and then curled up, something after the fashion of a dog, and went off +to sleep. + +Dexter sat watching him as he could dimly make out his shape, and then +found that the stern of the boat had been caught in an eddy and swung +round, so that he had some occupation for a few moments trying to alter +her position in the water, which he did at last by hooking the trunk of +an overhanging willow. + +This had the required effect, and the head swung round once more; but in +obtaining this result Dexter found himself in this position--the willow +refused to give up its hold of the boat-hook. He naturally, on his +side, also refused, and, to make matters worse, the current here was +quite a race, and the boat was going rapidly on. + +He was within an ace of having to leave the boat-hook behind, for he +declined to try another bath--this time in his clothes. Just, however, +at the crucial moment the bark of the willow gave way, the hook +descended with a splash, and Dexter breathed more freely, and sat there +with the boat-hook across his knees looking first to right and then to +left in search of danger, but seeing nothing but the low-wooded banks of +the stream, which was gradually growing wider as they travelled further +from the town. + +It was a strange experience; and, comparatively happy now in the silence +of the night, Dexter kept his lonely watch, thinking how much pleasanter +it was for his companion to be asleep, but all the time suffering a +peculiar sensation of loneliness, and gazing wonderingly at the strange, +dark shapes which he approached. + +Men, huge beasts, strange monsters, they seemed sometimes right in +front, rising from the river, apparently as if to bar his way, but +always proving to be tree, bush, or stump, and their position caused by +the bending of the stream. + +Once there was a sudden short and peculiar grating, and the boat stopped +short, but only to glide on again as he realised that the river was +shallow there, and they had touched the clean-washed gravelly bottom. + +There was enough excitement now he was left to himself to keep off the +depression he had felt, for now the feeling that he was gliding away +into a new life was made more impressive by the movement of the boat, +which seemed to him to go faster and faster among dimly seen trees, and +always over a glistening path that seemed to be paved with stars. + +Once, and once only, after leaving the town behind was there any sign of +inhabited building, and that was about an hour after they started, when +a faint gleam seemed to be burning steadily on the bank, and so near +that the light shone down upon the water. But that was soon passed, and +the river ran wandering on through a wild and open district, where the +only inhabitants were the few shepherds who attended the flocks. + +On still, and on, among the low meadows, through which the river had cut +its way in bygone times. Serpentine hardly expressed its course, for it +so often turned and doubled back over the ground it had passed before; +but still it, on the whole, flowed rapidly, and by slow degrees mile +after mile was placed between the boys and the town. Twice over a +curious sensation of drowsiness came upon Dexter, and he found himself +hard at work trying to hunt out some of his pets, which seemed to him to +have gone into the most extraordinary places. + +For instance, Sam the toad had worked himself down into the very toe of +the stocking he had been obliged to take off when he went into the +water, and the more he tried to shake it out, the more tightly it clung +with its little hands. + +Then he woke with a start, and found out that he had dozed off. + +Pulling himself together he determined not to give way again, but to try +and guide the boat. + +To properly effect this he still sat fast with the boat-hook across his +knees, and in an instant he was back at the doctor's house in Coleby, +looking on while Helen was busy reading the letter which had been +brought down from the bedroom. + +Dexter could see her perfectly plainly. It seemed a thoroughly +realistic proceeding, and she was wiping her eyes as she read, while, at +the same moment, the doctor entered the room with the willow pollard +from the bottom of the garden; and lifting it up he called him an +ungrateful boy, and struck him a severe blow on the forehead which sent +him back on to the carpet. + +But it was not on to the carpet, but back into the bottom of the boat, +and certainly it was a willow branch which had done the mischief, though +not in the doctor's hand. + +Dexter got up again, feeling rather sore and confused, for the boat had +drifted under a projecting bough, just on a level with the boy's head, +but his cap had saved him from much harm. + +Dexter's first thought was that Bob would jump up and begin to bully him +for going to sleep. But Bob was sleeping heavily, and the bump, the +fall, and the rocking of the boat only acted as a lullaby to his +pleasant dreams. + +And then it seemed that a tree on the bank--a tall poplar--was very much +plainer than he had seen any tree before that night. So was another on +the other bank, and directly after came a sound with which he was +perfectly familiar at the doctor's--a sound that came beneath his window +among the laurustinus bushes. + +_Chink_--_chink_--_chink_--_chink_. + +A blackbird--answered by another. And then all at once it seemed to be +so cold that it was impossible to help shivering; and to ward off the +chilling sensation Dexter began to use the boat-hook as a pole, +thrusting it down first on one side of the boat and then on the other as +silently as he could, so as not to wake Bob. Sometimes he touched +bottom, and was able to give the boat a good impetus, but as often as +not he could not reach the river-bed. Still the exercise made his blood +circulate, and drove away the dull sense of misery that had been coming +on. + +As he toiled on with the pole, the trees grew plainer and plainer, and a +soft pearly dawn seemed to be floating over the river. The birds +uttered their calls, and then, all at once, in a loud burst of melody, +up rose a lark from one of the dewy meadows on his right. Then further +off there was another, and right away high up in the east one tiny speck +of dull red. + +Soon this red began to glow as if gradually getting hotter. Then +another and another speck appeared--then scores, fifties, hundreds--and +Dexter stood bathed in the rich light which played through the curling +river mists, as the whole of the eastern heavens became damasked with +flecks of gold. + +In a comparatively short time these faded, and a warm glow spread around +the meadows and wild country on either side, where empurpled hills rose +higher and higher, grew more and more glorious, and the river sparkled +and danced and ran in smooth curves, formed eddies, and further in +advance became one wonderful stretch of dancing golden ripples, so +beautiful that Dexter stood on the thwart with the pole balanced in his +hand wondering whether everything could be as beautiful at Coleby as he +saw it now. + +Then there was a sudden shock, so sharp that he could not save himself, +but took a kind of header, not into the water, but right on to Bob +Dimsted, landing with his knees in Bob's softest portion, and the pole +right across his neck, just as Bob tried to rise, and uttered a +tremendous yell. The wonder was that the end of the boat-hook had not +gone through the bottom of the boat. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +MASTER AND SLAVE. + +"Eee! I say! Whatcher doing of!" roared Bob, beginning to struggle, as +Dexter contrived to get his feet once more. + +"I--I couldn't help it, Bob," he said, in a shame-faced way. + +"Couldn't help it! Here, don'tcher try to wake me again that way." + +"I didn't. I--" + +"Coming jumping on a fellow." + +"I didn't, Bob. The boat stopped all at once, and I tumbled forward." + +"Then just you tumble on to some one else next time," growled Bob, +sitting up rubbing himself, and then yawning loudly. "Why, hulloa! +Whatcher been doing of now?" + +"I? Nothing Bob." + +"Yes, you have. You've got the boat aground." + +"I--I didn't indeed, Bob. It went like that all of itself," stammered +Dexter. + +"Went all of itself! You are a fellow to leave to manage a boat. I +just shut my eyes a few minutes and you get up to them games. Here, +give us holt!" + +He snatched at the boat-hook, and began to thrust with all his might: +but in vain. + +"Don't stand staring like that," he cried, becoming all at once in a +violent hurry to get on. "Come and help. D'yer want them to come and +ketch us!" + +Dexter went to his help, and by dint of thrusting together the boat was +pushed off the shallows, and gliding once more into deep water began to +float gently on. + +There was a few minutes' silence, during which Bob took the sculls and +began to pull, looking, with his eyes red and swollen up, anything but a +pleasant companion; and in spite of himself Dexter began to think that +Bob as a conversational friend across the water was a very different +being to Bob as the captain of their little vessel, armed with +authority, and ready to tyrannise over his comrade to the fullest +extent. + +Suddenly a thought occurred to Dexter as he ran his eye over the +handsome cushions of the well-varnished boat. + +"Bob!" he said. + +There was no answer. + +"Bob, did you take that parcel and drop it in Sir James's letter-box!" + +"What parcel!" said Bob sourly. + +"That one I threw over to you last night." + +"Oh! that one as fell in the water?" + +"Yes: did you take it?" + +"Why, didn't you tell me to!" + +"Yes: but did you?" + +"Why, of course I did." + +"That's right. I say, where are we now?" + +"I d'know. Somewhere down the river." + +"Hadn't we better begin to fish?" + +"Fish? What for?" + +"Because I'm getting so hungry, and want my breakfast." + +"Yes, you're a nice fellow to wantcher bragfuss. Got no money and no +clothes. I s'pose I shall have to keep yer." + +"No, no, Bob. I'll work, or fish, or do anything." + +"Yes, so it seems," said Bob sarcastically; "a-sitting there like a +gent, and letting me do everything." + +"Well, let me pull one oar." + +"No, I can do it, and you shall have some bragfuss presently. I don't +want to be took, because you've stole a boat." + +Dexter turned pale, and then red with indignation, but he did not say +anything, only waited till his lord should feel disposed to see about +getting a meal. + +This happened when they were about a couple of miles lower down the +stream, which steadily opened out and became more beautiful, till at +last it seemed to be fully double the size it was at Coleby. + +Here they came abreast of a cluster of cottages on the bank, one of +which, a long whitewashed stone building, hung out a sign such as showed +that it was a place for refreshment. + +"There," said Bob, "we'll land there--I mean you shall, and go in and +buy some bread and cheese." + +"Bread and cheese," faltered Dexter. "Shan't we get any tea or coffee, +and bread and butter?" + +"No! of course not. If we both get out they'll be asking us questions +about the boat." + +Bob backed the boat close to the shore, stern foremost, and then said-- + +"Now, look here, don't you make no mistake; but you jump out as soon as +I get close in, and go and ask for four pen'orth o' bread and cheese. +I'll row out again and wait till you come." + +Dexter did not like the task, and he could not help thinking of the +pleasant breakfast at the doctor's, but recalling the fact that a +fortune was not to be made without a struggle, he prepared to land. + +"But I haven't got any money," he said. "No, you haven't got any +money," said Bob sourly, as he tucked one oar under his knee, so as to +get his hand free to plunge into his pocket. "There you are," he said, +bringing out sixpence. "Look sharp." + +Dexter took the money, leaped ashore, and walked up to the little +public-house, where a red-faced woman waited upon him, and cut the bread +and cheese. + +"Well," she said, looking wonderingly at her customer, "don't you want +no beer!" + +Dexter shook his head, lifted up his change, and hurried out of the +place in alarm, lest the woman should ask him any more questions. + +But she did not attempt to, only came to the door to watch the boy as he +went back to the boat, which was backed in so that Dexter could jump +aboard; but Bob, whose eyes were looking sharply to right and left in +search of danger, just as a sparrow scrutinises everything in dread +while it is eating a meal, managed so badly in his eagerness to get +away, that, as Dexter leaped in, he gave a tug with the sculls, making +the boat jerk so sharply that Dexter's feet began to move faster than +his body, and the said body came down in a sitting position that was +more sudden than agreeable. + +"Well, you are a fellow!" cried Bob, grinning. "Any one would think you +had never been in a boat before." + +Dexter gathered together the portions of food which had been scattered +in the bottom of the boat, and then sat looking ruefully at his +companion. + +"If any of that there's dirty, you've got to eat it," said Bob sourly. +"I shan't." + +As he spoke he tugged as hard as he could at the sculls, rowing away +till they were well round the next bend, and quite out of sight of the +woman who stood at the door watching them, and as Bob bent down, and +pulled each stroke well home, Dexter sat watching him with a troubled +feeling which added to his hunger and discomfort. For once more it +began to seem that Bob was not half so pleasant a companion as he had +promised to be when he was out fishing, and they sat and chatted on +either side of the little river. + +But he brightened up again as Bob suddenly began to pull harder with his +left-hand scull, turning the boat's head in toward the shore where a +clump of trees stood upon the bank with their branches overhanging, and +almost touching the water. + +"Look out! Heads!" cried Bob, as the bow of the boat touched the +leafage, and they glided on through the pliant twigs; and as the sculls +were laid in, Bob rose up in his place, seized a good-sized bough, and +holding on by it worked the boat beneath, and in a position which +enabled him to throw the chain over, and securely moor the little vessel +in what formed quite a leafy arbour with the clear water for floor, and +the thwarts of the boat for seats. + +"There," cried Bob, in a satisfied tone, and with a little of his old +manner, "whatcher think o' that? Talk about a place for a bragfuss! +Why, it would do to live in." + +Dexter said it was capital, but somehow just then he began to think +about the pleasant room at the doctor's, with the white cloth and china, +and the silver coffee-pot, and the odour from the covered dish which +contained ham or bacon, or fried soles. + +"Now then!" cried Bob; "I'm as hungry as you, and we're all safe here, +so hand over." + +Dexter gave him one of the portions of bread and cheese--the better of +the two, but Bob turned it over and examined it in a dissatisfied way, +scowling at it the while, and casting an occasional glance at that which +Dexter had reserved for himself. + +"What I says is--play fair," he growled. "I don't want no more than +half." + +"But that's the bigger half, Bob." + +"I dunno so much about that." + +"And this is the one which seemed to be a little gritty." + +"Oh, is it?" said Bob surlily; and he began eating in a wolfish fashion, +making fierce snaps and bites at his food, as he held the bread in one +hand, the cheese in the other, and taking alternate mouthfuls. + +"Hunger is sweet sauce," and Dexter was not long in following Bob's +example, that is as to the eating, but as he sat there munching away at +the cakey home-made bread, and the strong cheese, in spite of its being +a glorious morning, and the sun showering down in silver pencils through +the overhanging boughs--in spite of the novelty of the scene, and the +freedom, there did not seem to be so much romance in the affair as had +been expected; and try how he would he could not help longing for a good +hot cup of coffee. + +This was not heroic, but the boy felt very miserable. He had been up +all night, going through adventures that were, in spite of their +tameness, unusually exciting, and he was suffering from a nervous +depression which robbed him of appetite as much as did his companion's +words. For instead of being merry, confidential, and companionable, Bob +scarcely opened his lips now without assuming the overbearing bullying +tone he had heard so often from his elders. + +"Come, get on with your bragfuss," said Bob sharply. "We're going on +d'rectly, and you've got to pull." + +"I can't eat much this morning," said Dexter apologetically; "and I'm +thirsty." + +"Well, why don't yer drink!" said Bob, grinning, and pointing at the +river. "Here, I'll show you how." + +He took off his cap, and placing his chest on the side of the boat, +leant over till his lips touched the clear flowing stream. + +"Hah!" he said at last, rising and passing his hand across his lips; +"that's something like water, that is. Better than tea, or drinking +water out of a mug." + +"Doesn't it taste fishy?" Dexter ventured to say. + +"Fishy! Hark at him!" cried Bob mockingly. "You try." + +Dexter's mouth felt hot and dry, and laying aside what he had not eaten +of his bread and cheese he followed his companion's example, and was +drawing in the cool sweet water, when he suddenly felt Bob's hand on the +back of his, neck, and before he could struggle up his head was thrust +down into the water over and over again. + +"Don't, don't!" he panted, as he thrust against the side of the boat and +got free. "You shouldn't do that." + +There was a flash of anger in his eyes as he faced Bob, and his fists +were clenched, but he did not strike out, he contented himself with +rubbing the water from his eyes, and then wiping his face upon his +handkerchief. + +"I shouldn't do that? Why shouldn't I do that?" said Bob threateningly. +"Serve yer right, sittin' down to bragfuss without washing yer face. +Going to have any more?" + +Dexter did not answer; but finished drying his face, and then took up +his bread and cheese. + +"Oh, that's it, is it!" said Bob. "Sulky, eh? Don't you come none o' +them games with me, young fellow, or it will be the worse for yer." + +Dexter made no reply, but went on eating, having hard work to swallow +each mouthful. + +Time back all this would not have made so much impression upon him, but +the social education he had been receiving in his intercourse with Helen +Grayson had considerably altered him, and his breast swelled as he felt +the change in his companion, and began to wish more than ever that he +had not come. + +Almost as he thought this he received a curious check. + +"It won't do for you to be sulky with me," began his tyrant. "You've +got to go along o' me now you have come. You couldn't go back after +stealing this boat." + +"Stealing!" cried Dexter, flushing up. "I didn't steal it. We borrowed +it together." + +"Oh, did we?" said Bob mockingly; "I don't know nothing about no _we_. +It was you stole it, and persuaded me to come." + +"I didn't," cried Dexter indignantly. "I only borrowed it, and you +helped me do it." + +"Oh, did I? We shall see about that. But you can't go back never no +more, so don't you think that." + +Bob's guess at his companion's thoughts was pretty shrewd; and as Dexter +sat looking at him aghast, with the full extent of his delinquency +dawning upon him, Bob began to unloose the chain. + +"Now then," he said, "finish that there bread and cheese, or else put it +in yer pocket. We're going on again, and I want to catch our dinner." + +The idea of doing something more in accordance with the object of their +trip roused Dexter into action, and, after helping to force the boat +from among the branches, he willingly took one of the sculls; and in +obedience to the frequently given orders, rowed as well as his +inexperience would allow, and they glided swiftly down the stream. + +"What are you going to do first, Bob?" said Dexter, who felt more bright +and cheerful now out in the sunshine, with the surface all ripple and +glow. + +"Why, I telled yer just now!" said the boy surlily. "Mind what yer +doing, or you'll catch a crab." + +Dexter did catch one the next moment, thrusting his oar in so deeply +that he could hardly withdraw it, and bringing forth quite a little +storm of bullying from his companion. + +"Here, I shall never make nothing o' you," cried Bob. "Give's that +there oar." + +"No, no, let me go on pulling," said Dexter good-humouredly, for his fit +of anger had passed off. "I'm not used to it like you are, but I shall +soon learn." + +He tried to emulate Bob's regular rowing, and by degrees managed to help +the boat along till toward midday, when, seeing an attractive bend where +the river ran deep and dark round by some willows, Bob softly rowed the +boat close up to the bank, moored her to the side, and then began to fit +together his tackle, a long willow wand being cut and trimmed to do duty +for a rod. + +This done, a very necessary preliminary had to be attended to, namely, +the finding of bait. + +Bob was provided with a little canvas bag, into which he thrust a few +green leaves and some scraps of moss, before leaping ashore, and +proceeding to kick off patches of the bank in search of worms. + +Dexter watched him attentively, and then his eyes fell upon a +good-sized, greenish-hued caterpillar which had dropped from a willow +branch into the boat. + +This seemed so suitable for a bait that Dexter placed it in one of Bob's +tin boxes, and proceeded to search for more; the boughs upon being +shaken yielding six or seven. + +"Whatcher doing of?" grumbled Bob, coming back to the boat, after +securing a few worms. "Yah! they're no use for bait." + +All the same, though, the boy took one of the caterpillars, passed the +hook through its rather tough skin, and threw out some distance in front +of the boat, and right under the overhanging boughs. + +There was a quick bob of the float, and then it began to glide along the +top of the water, while, as Bob skilfully checked it, there was a quick +rushing to and fro, two or three minutes' hard fight, and a half-pound +trout was drawn alongside, and hoisted into the boat. + +"That's the way I doos it," said Bob, whose success suddenly turned him +quite amiable. "Fish will take a caterpillar sometimes. Give us +another!" + +The bait was passed along to the fisherman, who threw out, and in five +minutes was again successful, drawing in, after a short struggle, a nice +little chub. + +After that, it was as if the disturbance of the water had driven the +fish away, and though Bob tried in every direction, using the +caterpillar, a worm, a bit of bread paste, and a scrap of cheese, he +could not get another bite. + +Bob tried after that till he was tired, but no fish would bite, so he +handed the rod to Dexter, who also fished for some time in vain, when a +removal was determined upon; but though they tried place after place +there were no more bites, and hunger having asserted itself once more, +they landed to prepare their dinner. + +The place chosen was very solitary, being where the river ran deeply +beneath a high limestone cliff, and landing, a few sticks were soon +gathered together ready for a fire. + +"But we have no matches," said Dexter. + +"You mean you ain't got none," sneered Bob, taking a box out of his +pocket. "I'm captain, and captains always thinks of these things. Now +then, clean them fish, while I lights this fire. Got a knife, ain't +yer!" + +Dexter had a knife, and he opened it and proceeded to perform the rather +disgusting task, while Bob lay down and began blowing at the fire to get +it into a blaze. + +That fish-cleaning was very necessary, but somehow it did not add to the +charm of the _alfresco_ preparations; and Dexter could not help thinking +once how uncomfortable it would be if it came on to rain and put out the +fire. + +But it did not come on to rain; the wood burned merrily, and after a +piece of shaley limestone had been found it was placed in the fire where +the embers were most clear, and the fish laid upon it to cook. + +The success was not great, for when the fish began to feel the heat, and +hissed and sputtered, the piece of stone began to send off splinters, +with a loud crack, from time to time. Then a pocket-knife, though +useful, is not a convenient cooking implement, especially when, for want +of lard or butter, the fish began to stick to the stone, and refused to +be turned over without leaving their skins behind. + +"Ain't it fun?" said Bob. + +Dexter said it was. He did not know why, for at that moment a piece of +green wood had sent a jet of hot, steamy smoke in his eyes, which gave +him intense pain, and set him rubbing the smarting places in a way which +made them worse. + +"Here, don't make such a fuss over a bit o' smoke," said Bob. "You'll +soon get used to that. Mind, that one's tail's burning!" + +Dexter did mind, but the fish stuck so close to the stone that its tail +was burned off before it could be moved, a mishap which drew from Bob +the remark-- + +"Well, you are a chap!" + +Before the fish were done, more and more wood had to be collected; and +as a great deal of this was green, a great smoke arose, and, whenever a +puff of wind came, this was far from agreeable. + +"How small they are getting!" said Dexter, as he watched the browning +fish. + +_Bang_! + +A great piece of the stone splintered off with a report like that of a +gun, but, fortunately, neither of the boys was hurt. + +"We shall have to buy a frying-pan and a kittle," said Bob, as soon as +examination proved that the fish were safe, but stuck all over splinters +of stone, which promised ill for the repast. "Can't do everything at +once." + +"I'm getting very hungry again," said Dexter; "and, I say, we haven't +got any bread." + +"Well, what o' that?" + +"And no salt." + +"Oh, you'll get salt enough as soon as we go down to the sea. You may +think yourself jolly lucky as you've got fish, and some one as knows how +to kitch 'em. They're done now. I'll let you have that one. 'Tain't +so burnt as this is. There, kitch hold!" + +A fish hissing hot and burnt on one side is not a pleasant thing to take +in a bare hand, so Dexter received his upon his pocket-handkerchief, as +it was pushed toward him with a piece of stick; and then, following his +companion's example, he began to pick off pieces with the blade of his +pocket-knife, and to burn his mouth. + +"'Lishus, ain't it?" said Bob, making a very unpleasant noise suggestive +of pigs. + +Dexter made no reply, his eyes were watering, and he was in difficulties +with a bone. + +"I said 'lishus, ain't it!" said Bob again, after more pig noise. + +"Mine isn't very nice," said Dexter. + +"Not nice? Well, you are a chap to grumble! I give you the best one, +because this here one had its tail burnt off, and now you ain't +satisfied." + +"But it tastes bitter, and as if it wants some bread and salt." + +"Well, we ain't got any, have we? Can't yer wait?" + +"Yes," said Dexter; "but it's so full of bones." + +"So are you full of bones. Go on, mate. Why, I'm half done." + +Dexter did go on, wondering in his own mind whether his companion's fish +was as unpleasant and coarse eating as the one he discussed, giving him +credit the while for his disinterestedness, he being in happy ignorance +of the comparative merits of fresh-water fish when cooked; and therefore +he struggled with his miserable, watery, insipid, bony, ill-cooked chub, +while Bob picked the fat flakes off the vertebra of his juicy trout. + +"Wish we'd got some more," said Bob, as he licked his fingers, and then +wiped his knife-blade on the leg of his trousers. + +"I don't," thought Dexter; but he was silent, and busy picking out the +thin sharp bones which filled his fish. + +"Tell you what," said Bob, "we'll--Look out!" + +He leaped up and dashed to the boat, rapidly unfastening the chain from +where it was secured to a stump. + +Dexter had needed no further telling, for he had caught sight of two men +at the same time as Bob; and as it was evident that they were running +toward the fire, and as Dexter knew intuitively that he was trespassing, +he sprang up, leaving half his chub, and leaped aboard, just as Bob +sprang from the bank, seized an oar, and thrust the boat away. + +It was pretty close, for as the stern of the boat left the shore the +foremost man made a dash at it, missed, and nearly fell into the water. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +THE LIFE OF THE FREE. + +"Here," cried the man, as he recovered himself, "it's of no use. Come +back!" + +Dexter was so influenced by the man's words that he was ready to go back +at once. But Bob was made of different stuff, and he began now to work +the boat along by paddling softly, fish-tail fashion. + +"Do you hear!" roared the man, just as the other came trotting up, quite +out of breath. + +"Yah!" cried Bob derisively, as he began to feel safe. "Come back, you +young scoundrel!" roared the man fiercely. "Here, Digges, fetch 'em +back." + +He was a big black-whiskered man in a velveteen jacket, evidently a +gamekeeper, and he spoke to his companion as if he were a dog. + +This man hesitated for a moment or two. + +"Go on! Fetch 'em back," cried the keeper. + +"But it's so wet." + +"Wet? Well, do you want me to go? In with you." + +The underkeeper jumped off the bank at once into the water, which was +about up to his knees; but by this time Bob was working the boat along +more quickly, and before the underkeeper had waded out many yards Bob +had seated himself, put out the second scull, and, helped by the stream, +was able to laugh defiance at his would-be captors. + +"Here, I ain't going any further," grumbled the underkeeper. "It will +be deep water directly," and he stopped with the current rippling just +about his thigh. + +"Are you coming back!" cried the keeper, looking round about him and +pretending to pick up a big stone. + +"No! Come arter us if you want us," cried Bob, while Dexter crouched +down watching the man's hand, ready to dodge the missile he expected to +see launched at them. + +"If you don't come back I'll--" + +The man did not finish his speech, but threw himself back as if about to +hurl the stone. + +"Yah!" cried Bob. "Y'ain't got no stone." + +"No, but I've got a boat up yonder." + +"Go and fetch it, then," cried Bob derisively. + +"You young scoundrels! Landing here and destroying our plantations. +I'll send the police after you, and have you before the magistrates, you +poaching young vagabonds!" + +"So are you!" cried Bob. + +"Hush, don't!" whispered Dexter. + +"Who cares for them?" cried Bob. "We weren't doing no harm." + +"Here, come out, Digges, and you run across and send the men with a boat +that way. I'll go and get ours. We'll soon have 'em!" + +The man slowly waded out while the keeper trampled on the fire, stamping +all over it, to extinguish the last spark, so that it should not spread, +and then they separated, going in different directions. + +"Row, Bob; row hard," cried Dexter, who was in agony. + +"Well, I am a-rowing, ain't I? We warn't doing no harm." + +"Let me have an oar." + +"Ketch hold, then," cried Bob; and as soon as Dexter was seated they +began to row as if for their lives, watching in turn the side of the +river and the reach they were leaving behind in expectation of seeing +the pursuers and the party who were to cut them off. + +Dexter's horror increased. He pictured himself seized and taken before +a magistrate, charged with damaging, burning, and trespassing. The +perspiration began to stand out in beads upon each side of his nose, his +hair grew wet, and his cap stuck to his forehead as he toiled away at +his oar, trying hard to obey the injunctions of his companion to pull +steady--to keep time--not to dip his scull so deep, and the like. + +As for Bob, as he rowed he was constantly uttering derisive and defiant +remarks; but all the same his grubby face was rather ashy, and he too +grew tremendously hot as he worked away at his scull for quite an hour, +during which time they had not seen anything more formidable than half a +dozen red oxen standing knee-deep in the water, and swinging their tails +to and fro to drive away the tormenting flies. + +"They hadn't got no boat," said Bob at last. "I know'd it all the time. +Pretended to throw a stone at us when there wasn't one near, only the +one we tried to cook with, flee him take hold of it and drop it again!" + +"No." + +"I did. Burnt his jolly old fingers, and serve him right. We never +said nothing to him. He ain't everybody." + +"But let's get further away." + +"Well, we're getting further away, stream's taking us down. You are a +coward." + +"You were frightened too." + +"No, I wasn't. I laughed at him. I'd ha' give him something if he'd +touched me." + +"Then why did you run away?" + +"'Cause I didn't want no bother. Here, let's find another good place, +and catch some more fish." + +"It won't be safe to stop yet, Bob." + +"Here, don't you talk to me, I know what I'm about. We'll row round +that next bend, and I'll show you a game then." + +"Hadn't we better go on till we can buy some bread and butter?" said +Dexter; and then as he saw some cattle in a field a happy +hunger-engendered thought occurred to him,--"And perhaps we can get some +milk." + +"You're allus thinking of eating and drinking," cried Bob. "All right! +We'll get some, then." + +They rowed steadily on, with Dexter rapidly improving in the management +of his oar, till a farm-house was sighted near the bank; but it was on +the same side as that upon which they had had their adventure. + +They were afraid to land there, so rowed on for another quarter of a +mile before another building was sighted. + +This proved to be a farm, and they rowed up to a place where the cattle +came down to drink, and a plank ran out on to a couple of posts, +evidently for convenience in landing from a boat, or for dipping water. + +"Here, I'll go this time," said Bob, as the boat glided up against the +posts. "No games, you know." + +"What games!" + +"No going off and leaving a fellow!" + +"Don't be afraid," said Dexter. + +"I ain't," said Bob, with a malicious grin. "Why, if a fellow was to +serve me such a trick as that I should half-kill him." + +Bob landed, and as Dexter sat there in the swift-streamed Devon river +gazing at the rippling water, and the glorious green pastures and +quickly sloping hills, everything seemed to him very beautiful, and he +could not help wishing that he had a pleasanter companion and some +dinner. + +Bob soon returned with a wine bottle full of milk and half a loaf, and a +great pat of butter of golden yellow, with a wonderful cow printed upon +it, the butter being wrapped in a rhubarb leaf, and the bread swung in +Bob's dirty neckerchief. + +"Here y'are!" he cried, as he stepped into the boat and pushed off +quickly, as if he felt safer when they were on the move. "We'll go +lower down, and then I'll show you such a game." + +"Let's have some bread and butter first," said Dexter. + +"No, we won't; not till we get further away. We'll get some fish first +and light a fire and cook 'em, and--pull away--I'll show yer." + +Dexter obeyed; but his curiosity was excited. + +"Going to catch some more fish!" + +"You wait and you'll see," was the reply; and in the expectation of a +hearty meal matters looked more bright, especially as the day was +glorious, and the scenery beautiful all round. + +No signs of pursuit being seen, Dexter was ready to laugh with his +companion now. + +"I knew all the time," said Bob, with superior wisdom in every +intonation of his voice; "I should only have liked to see them come." + +Dexter said nothing, and the next minute, as they were in a curve of the +river, where it flowed dark and deep, they ran the boat in once more +beside a meadow edged with pollard willows. + +"Now then, I'll show you some fishing," cried Bob, as he secured the +boat. + +"No, not now: let's have something to eat first," protested Dexter. + +"Just you look here, young un, I'm captain," cried Bob. "Do you know +what cray-fish are!" + +Dexter shook his head. + +"Well, then, I'm just going to show yer." + +The water was about two feet deep, and ran slowly along by a +perpendicular clayey bank on the side where they were, and, deliberately +undressing, Bob let himself down into the river, and then began to grope +along by the side, stooping from time to time to thrust his hand into +some hole. + +"Here, undo that chain, and let her drift by me," he cried. "I shall +fish all along here." + +Dexter obeyed--it seemed to be his fate to obey; and taking the +boat-hook he held on easily enough by tree after tree, for there was +scarcely any stream here, watching intently the while, as Bob kept on +thrusting his hand into some hole. + +"Oh!" cried Bob suddenly, as he leaned down as far as he could reach, +and then rose slowly. + +"Got one?" + +"No: I missed him. It was an eel; I just felt him, and then he dodged +back. Such a big un! They're so jolly hard to hold." + +This was exciting, and now Dexter began for the first time to be glad +that he had come. + +"I've got him now!" cried Bob excitedly; and, rising from a stooping +position, in which his shoulder was right underneath, he threw a +dingy-looking little fresh-water lobster into the boat. + +Dexter examined it wonderingly, and was favoured with a nip from its +claws for his attention. + +"Here's another," said Bob, and he threw one much larger into the boat, +its horny shell rattling on the bottom. + +"Are they good to eat?" said Dexter. + +"Good to eat? Why, they're lovely. You wait a bit. And, I say, you +look how I do it; I shall make you always catch these here, so you've +got to learn." + +Dexter paid attention to the process, and felt that there was not much +to learn: only to find out a hole--the burrow of the cray-fish,--and +then thrust in his hand, and, if the little crustacean were at home, +pull it out. The process was soon learned, but the temptation to begin +was not great. + +Bob evidently found the sport exciting, however, for he searched away +with more or less success, and very soon there were a dozen cray-fish of +various sizes crawling about the bottom of the boat. + +"There's thousands of them here," cried Bob, as he searched away all +along beneath the steep bank, which was full of holes, some being the +homes of rats, some those of the cray-fish, and others of eels which he +touched twice over--in one case for the slimy fish to back further in, +but in the other, for it to make a rush out into the open water, and +swim rapidly away. + +The pursuit of the cray-fish lasted till the row of willows came to an +end, and with them the steep bank, the river spreading out again, and +becoming stony and shallow. + +"How many are there?" said Bob, as he climbed out upon the grass, after +washing his clayey arm. + +"Twenty-one," said Dexter. + +"Ah, just you wait a bit till I'm dressed." + +Bob said no more, but indulged in a natural towel. That is to say, he +had a roll on the warm grass, and then rose and ran to and fro in the +glowing sunshine for about five minutes, after which he rapidly slipped +on his things, which were handed to him from the boat. + +"Now," he cried, as he stepped in once more and seized an oar, "I'll +show you something." + +They rowed on for some distance, till a suitable spot was found at the +edge of a low, scrubby oak wood which ran up a high bank. + +The place was extremely solitary. There was plenty of wood, and as soon +as the boat had been moored Dexter was set to work collecting the sticks +in a heap, close up to where there was a steep bare piece of stony bank, +and in a few minutes the dry leaves and grass first collected caught +fire, then the twigs, and soon a good glowing fire was burning. + +The bread and butter and bottle of milk were stood on one side, and +close by them there was a peculiar noise made by the unhappy cray-fish +which were tied up in Bob's neckerchief, from which the bread had been +released. + +"Going to cook 'em!" he said; "in course I am. Wait a bit and I'll show +yer. I say! this is something like a place, ain't it!" + +Dexter agreed that it was, for it was a sylvan nook which a lover of +picnics would have considered perfect, the stream ran swiftly by, a few +yards away the stony bank rose up, dotted with patches of brown furze +and heath, nearly perpendicularly above their heads, and on either side +they were shut in by trees and great mossy stones. + +The fire burned brightly, and sent up clouds of smoke, which excited +dread in Dexter's breast for a few moments, but the fear was forgotten +directly in the anticipation of the coming feast, in preparation for +which Bob kept on adding to the central flame the burnt-through pieces +of dead wood, while Dexter from time to time fetched more from the ample +store beneath the trees, and broke them off ready for his chief. + +"What are you going to do, Bob!" he said at last. + +"Going to do? You want to know too much." + +"Well, I'm so hungry." + +"Well, I'll tell yer. I'm going to roast them cray-fish, that's what +I'm going to do." + +"How are you going to kill them!" + +"Going to kill 'em? I ain't going to kill 'em." + +"But you won't roast them alive." + +"Won't I? Just you wait till there's plenty of hot ashes and you'll +see." + +Dexter had made pets of so many creatures that he shrank from inflicting +pain, and he looked on at last with something like horror as Bob untied +his kerchief, shot all the cray-fish out on the heathy ground, and then, +scraping back the glowing embers with his foot till he had left a bare +patch of white ash, he rapidly thrust in the captives, which began to +hiss and steam and whistle directly. + +The whistling noise might easily have been interpreted to mean a cry of +pain, but the heat was so great that doubtless death was instantaneous, +and there was something in what the boy said in reply to Dexter's +protests. + +"Get out! It don't hurt 'em much." + +"But you might have killed them first." + +"How was I to kill 'em first?" snarled Bob, as he sat tailor fashion and +poked the cray-fish into warmer places with a piece of burning stick. + +"Stuck your knife into them." + +"Well, wouldn't that have hurt 'em just as much?" + +"Let them die before you cooked them." + +"That would hurt 'em ever so much more, and took ever so much longer." + +"Well I shan't like to eat them," said Dexter. + +"More for me, then. I say! don't they smell good?" + +Dexter had a whiff just then, and they certainly did smell tempting to a +hungry boy; but he made up his mind to partake only of bread and butter, +and kept to his determination for quite five minutes after Bob had +declared the cookery complete, and picked the tiny lobsters out of the +hot ashes with his burnt stick. + +"They're too hot to touch yet," he said. "Wait a bit and I'll show you. +Cut the bread." + +Dexter obeyed with alacrity, and was soon feasting away on what might +very well be called "Boy's Delight," the honest bread and butter which +has helped to build up our stalwart race. + +Bob helped himself to a piece of bread, spread it thickly with butter, +and, withdrawing a little way from the fire, hooked a hot cray-fish to +his side, calmly picking out the largest; and as soon as he could handle +it he treated it as if it were a gigantic shrimp, dividing the shell in +the middle by pulling, and holding up the delicate hot tail, which drew +easily from its armour-like case. + +"Only wants a bit of salt," he cried, smacking his lips over the little +_bonne bouche_, and then proceeding to pick out the contents of the +claws, and as much of the body as he deemed good to eat. + +Dexter looked on with a feeling of disgust, while Bob laughed at him, +and finished four of the cray-fish, throwing the shells over his +shoulder towards the river. + +Then Dexter picked up one, drew off the shell, smelt it, tasted it, and +five minutes later he was as busy as Bob, though when they finished the +whole cooking he was seven fish behind. + +"Ain't they 'lishus?" cried Bob. + +"Yes," said Dexter, unconsciously repeating his companion's first +remark, "only want a bit of salt." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +AN AWKWARD PURSUER. + +It was wonderful how different the future looked after that picnic +dinner by the river-side. The bread and butter were perfect, and the +cray-fish as delicious as the choicest prawns. The water that glided +past the bank was like crystal; the evening sun lit up the scene with +orange and gold; and as the two boys lolled restfully upon the bank +listening to the murmur of the running water, the twitter of birds, and +the distant lowing of some ox, they thoroughly appreciated everything, +even the rest after their tiring night's work and toilsome day. + +"Are we going on now!" said Dexter at last. + +"What for?" asked Bob, as he lay upon his back, with his head in a tuft +of heath. + +"I don't know." + +"What's the good of going on? What's the good o' being in a hurry?" + +"I'm not in a hurry, only I should like to get to an island where +there's plenty of fruit." + +"Ah, we shan't get to one to-day!" said Bob, yawning. Then there was +silence; and Dexter lay back watching the beautiful river, and the brown +boat as it swung easily by its chain. + +Soon a butterfly flitted by--a beautiful orange brown butterfly covered +with dark spots, dancing here and there over the sylvan nook, and the +next minute Dexter as he lay on his back felt cool, and began wondering +while he looked straight up at the stars, fancying he had been called. + +He felt as if he had never seen so many stars before glittering in the +dark purple sky, and he began wondering how it was that one minute he +had been looking at that spotted butterfly, and the next at the stars. + +And then it dawned upon him that he must have been fast asleep for many +hours, and if he had felt any doubt about this being the right solution +of his position a low gurgling snore on his left told that Bob Dimsted +was sleeping still. + +It was a novel and curious sensation that of waking up in the silence +and darkness, with the leaves whispering, and that impression still upon +him that he had been called. + +"It must have been old Dan'l," he had thought at first. "Perhaps he was +in search of them," and he listened intently. Or it might have been the +men who had come upon them where they had the first fire, and they had +seen this one. + +"No, they couldn't see this one, for it was out." + +Dexter was about to conclude that it was all imagination, when, from far +away in the wood he heard, in the most startling way:--_Hoi hoi_--_hoo +hoo_! + +He started to his feet, and was about to waken Bob, when a great +ghostly-looking bird came sweeping along the river, turned in at the +nook quite low down, and then seemed to describe a curve, passing just +over his head, and uttered a wild and piercing shriek that was +appalling. + +Dexter's blood ran cold, as the cry seemed to thrill all down his spine, +and in his horror he made a rush to run away anywhere from the terrible +thing which had startled him. + +But his ill luck made him once more startle Bob from his slumbers, for, +as he ran blindly to reach the shelter of the wood, he fell right over +the sleeping boy, and went down headlong. + +"Here! I--oh, please sir, don't sir--don't sir,--it was that other boy, +sir, it wasn't me, sir. It was--was--it was--why, what games are you up +to now!" + +"Hush! Bob. Quick! Let's run." + +"Run!" said Bob excitedly, as the frightened boy clung to him. "I +thought they'd come." + +"Yes, they're calling to one another in the wood," whispered Dexter +excitedly; "and there was a horrid something flew up, and shrieked out." + +"Why, I heerd it, and dreamed it was you." + +"Come away--come away!" cried Dexter. "There, hark!" + +_Hoi hoi_--_hoi hoi_! came from not far away. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Bob. "You are a one!" and putting his hands to +his mouth, to Dexter's great astonishment he produced a very good +imitation of the cry. + +"Why, you'll have them hear us and come," he whispered. + +"Yah! you are a coward! Why, it's an old howl." + +"Owl! calling like that!" + +"Yes, to be sure. I've heerd 'em lots o' times when I've been late +fishing up the river." + +"But there was a big thing flew over my head, and it shrieked out." + +"That was a howl too. Some of 'em shouts, and some of 'em screeches. I +say, I hope you've kept a heye on the boat!" + +"Are you sure that other was an owl too!" said Dexter excitedly. + +"Course I am. Think I've been out in the woods with father after the +fezzans, and stopping out all night, without knowing a howl?" + +Dexter felt quite warm now. + +"I never heard one before, and it frightened me." + +"Yes, you're easily frightened," said Bob contemptuously. "You haven't +been to sleep, have you!" + +"Yes, I have." + +"Then you oughtn't to have been. If you've been to sleep and let that +boat go, I'll never forgive you." + +Bob had hardly uttered the words when Dexter, who had forgotten all +about the boat, ran to the water's edge feeling sure that it was gone. + +But it was quite safe, and he went back to Bob. + +"What shall we do now!" he said. + +"Do?" said Bob, yawning. "You sit and keep watch while I go to sleep +for a quarter of an hour. Then you may call me, and I'll take my turn." + +Bob curled himself up after the fashion of a dog, and went off to sleep +directly, while, as Dexter, who felt chilly, began to walk up and down +between the water's edge and the steep cliff-like bank, he could not +help once more wishing that he was in his comfortable bed at the +doctor's. + +He waited for long over a quarter of an hour, keeping his lonely watch, +but Bob slept on and snored. + +At the end of about an hour and a half he thought it would only be fair +to call his companion to take his turn, but he called in vain. + +Then he tried shaking, but only to elicit growls, and when he persevered +Bob hit out so savagely that Dexter was fain to desist. + +"I'll let him sleep half an hour longer," he said to himself; and he +walked to and fro to keep himself warm. + +It must have been after an hour that he called Bob again. + +"All right," said that worthy. + +"But it isn't all right," cried Dexter. "It ain't fair. Come: get up." + +"All right! I'll get up directly. Call me in about ten minutes." + +Dexter waited a little while, and called his companion. But in vain. + +And so it went on, with the sleeper sometimes apologetic, sometimes +imploring, till it was broad daylight; and then Bob rose and shook +himself. + +"I say, 'tain't fair," said Dexter ill-humouredly. + +"Well, why didn't you make me get up!" + +"I did try, lots of times." + +"But you didn't half try. You should have got me quite awake." + +"It's too bad, and I'm as sleepy as can be," grumbled Dexter. + +"Here! whatcher going to do?" cried Bob. + +"Lie down and sleep till breakfast-time." + +"Oh, are yer?" cried Bob. "We've got to go and catch our breakfasts." + +"What, now?" + +"To be sure. I'm getting hungry. Come along. I'll find a good place, +and it's your turn now to get some cray-fish." + +"But I'm so cold and sleepy." + +"Well, that'll warm yer. There, don't look sulky." + +Bob got into the boat and unfastened the chain, so that there was +nothing left for Dexter to do but follow; and they rowed away down the +river, which was widening fast. + +The exercise and the rising sun sent warmth and brighter thoughts into +Dexter, so that he was better able to undertake the task of searching +the holes for cray-fish when the boat was brought up under a suitable +bank, and urged on by Bob he had to undress and take an unwilling bath, +and a breakfast-hunt at the same time. + +He was clumsy, and unaccustomed to the task, but driven by Bob's +bullying tones, and helped by the fact that the little crustaceans were +pretty plentiful, he managed to get a dozen and a half in about an hour. + +"There, come out, and dress now," said Bob ill-humouredly. "It's more +trouble to tell you than to have got 'em myself. I'd ha' found twice as +many in the time." + +Dexter shivered, and then began to enjoy the warmth of his garments +after as good a wipe as he could manage with a pocket-handkerchief. But +it was the row afterwards that gave the required warmth--a row which was +continued till another farm-house was seen beside a great cider orchard. + +Here Dexter had to land with sixpence and the empty bottle. + +"I promised to take that there bottle back," said Bob, with a grin, "but +I shan't now. Lookye here. You make 'em give you a good lot of bread +and butter for the sixpence, and if they asks you any questions, you say +we're two gentlemen out for a holiday." + +Dexter landed, and went up to the farm-house, through whose open door he +could see a warm fire, and inhale a most appetising odour of cooking +bacon and hot coffee. + +A pleasant-faced woman came to the door, and her ways and looks were the +first cheery incidents of Dexter's trip. + +"Sixpennyworth of bread and butter, and some milk?" she said. "Yes, of +course." + +She prepared a liberal exchange for Dexter's coin, and then after +filling the bottle put the boy's chivalry to the test. + +"Why, you look as if you wanted your breakfast," she said. "Have a cup +of warm coffee?" + +Dexter's eyes brightened, and he was about to say _yes_. But he said +_no_, for it seemed unfair to live better than his comrade, and just +then the vision of Bob Dimsted looking very jealous and ill-humoured +rose before him. + +"I'm in a hurry to get back," he said. + +The woman nodded, and Dexter hastened back to the water-side. + +"I was just a-going without yer," was his greeting. "What a while +you've been!" + +"I was as quick as I could be," said Dexter apologetically. + +"No, you weren't, and don't give me none of your sarce," said Bob. +"Kitch holt o' that scull and pull. D'yer hear!" + +Dexter obeyed, and they rowed on for about a mile before a suitable +place was found for landing and lighting a fire, when, after a good deal +of ogreish grumbling, consequent upon Bob wanting his breakfast, a +similar meal to that of the previous day was eaten, and they started +once more on their journey down-stream to the sea, and the golden land +which would recompense Dexter, as he told himself, for all this +discomfort, the rough brutality of his companion, and the prickings of +conscience which he felt whenever Coleby occurred to his mind, and the +face of Helen looked reproach into the very depth of his inner +consciousness. + +All that morning, when they again started, he found the river widen and +change. Instead of being clear, and the stones visible at the bottom, +the banks were further away, so were the hills, and the water was muddy. +What was more strange to Dexter was that instead of the stream carrying +them along it came to meet them. + +At last Bob decided that they would moor by the bank, and begin once +more to fish. + +They landed and got some worms, and for a time had very fair sport, +taking it in turns to catch some small rounded silvery and creamy +transparent fish, something like dace, but what they were even Bob did +not know. He was never at a loss, however, and he christened them +sea-gudgeon. + +Dexter was just landing one when a sour-looking man in a shabby old +paintless boat came by close to the shore, and looked at them +searchingly. But he looked harder at the boat as he went by, turned in, +as it seemed, and rowed right into the land. + +"There must be a little river there," Bob said. "We'll look presently. +I say, didn't he stare!" + +Almost as he spoke the man came out again into the tidal river and rowed +away, went up some distance, and they had almost forgotten him when they +saw him come slowly along, close inshore. + +"Bob," whispered Dexter, "he's after us." + +To which Bob responded with a contemptuous-- + +"Yah!" + +"Much sport?" said the man, passing abreast of their boat about half a +dozen yards away, and keeping that by dipping his oars from time to +time. + +"Pretty fair," said Bob, taking the rod. "'Bout a dozen." + +"What fish are they!" said Dexter eagerly, and he held up one. + +"Smelts," said the man, with a peculiar look. "Come fishing?" + +"Yes," said Bob sharply. "We've come for a day or two's fishing." + +"That's right," said the man, with a smile that was a little less +pleasant than his scowl. "I'm a fisherman too." + +"Oh, are yer?" said Bob. + +"Yes, that's what I am." + +"He ain't after us," whispered Bob. "It's all right." + +Dexter did not feel as if it was. He had an innate dislike to the man, +who looked furtive and underhanded. + +"Got a tidy boat there," said the man at last. + +"Yes, she's a good un to go along," said Bob. + +"Wouldn't sell her, I s'pose!" said the man. + +"What should we sell her for?" said Bob, hooking and landing a fish +coolly enough. + +"I d'know. Thought you might want to part with her," said the man. "I +wouldn't mind giving fifteen shillings for a boat like that." + +"Yah!" cried Bob mockingly. "Why, she's worth thirty at least." + +"Bob!" whispered Dexter excitedly. "You mustn't sell her." + +"You hold your tongue." + +"I wouldn't give thirty shillings for her," said the man, coming close +now and mooring his own crazy craft by holding on to the gunwale of the +gig. "She's too old." + +"That she ain't," cried Bob. "Why, she's nearly new." + +"Not she. Only been varnished up, that's all. I'll give you a pound +for her." + +"No," said Bob, to Dexter's great relief. + +"I'll give you a pound for her, and my old 'un chucked in," said the +man. "It's more than she's worth, but I know a man who wants such a +boat as that." + +"You mustn't sell her, Bob," whispered Dexter, who was now in agony. + +"You hold your row. I know what I'm a-doing of." + +"Look here," said the man, "I'm going a little farder, and I'll fetch +the money, and then if you like to take it we'll trade. It's more'n +she's worth, though, and you'd get my little boat in, as is as good a +boat as ever swum." + +He pushed off and rowed away, while, as soon as he was out of sight, +Dexter attacked his companion with vigour. + +"We mustn't sell her, Bob," he said. + +"Why not? She's our'n now." + +"No, she isn't; and we've promised to take her back." + +"Look here!" said Bob, "have you got any money?" + +"No, but we shan't want any as soon as we get to the island." + +"Yes, we shall, and a pound would be no end of good." + +"But we would have to give up our voyage." + +"No, we shouldn't. We'd make his boat do." + +"But it's such a shabby one. We mustn't sell the boat, Bob." + +"Look here! I'm captain, and I shall do as I like." + +"Then I shall tell the man the boat isn't ours." + +"If you do I'll knock your eye out. See if I don't," cried Bob +fiercely. + +Dexter felt hot, and his fists clenched involuntarily, but he sat very +still. + +"If I like to sell the boat I shall. We want the money, and the other +boat will do." + +"I say it won't," said Dexter sharply. + +"Why, hullo!" cried Bob, laughing. "Here's cheek." + +"I don't care, it would be stealing Sir James's boat, and I say it +shan't be done." + +"Oh, yer do--do yer!" said Bob, in a bullying tone. + +"You won't be happy till I've given you such a licking as'll make yer +teeth ache. Now, just you hold your row, and wait till I gets yer +ashore, and you shall have it. I'd give it to yer now, only I should +knock yer overboard and drown'd yer, and I don't want to do that the +first time." + +Bob went on fishing, and Dexter sat biting his lip, and feeling as he +used to feel when he had had a caning for something he had not done. + +"I shall do just as I please," said Bob, giving his head a waggle, as if +to show his authority. "So you've got to sit still and look on. And if +you says anything about where the boat came from, I shall tell the man +you took it." + +"And, if you do, I shall tell him it's a lie," cried Dexter, as fiercely +as his companion; and just then he saw the man coming back. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +BOB ASKS A QUESTION. + +"Caught any more?" said the man. + +"Only one," replied Bob. + +"Ah! I could show you a place where you could pull 'em up like +anything. I say, though, the boat ain't worth a pound." + +"Oh yes, she is," said Bob. + +"Not a pound and the boat too." + +"Yes, she is," said Bob, watching Dexter the while out of the corner of +one eye. + +"I wouldn't give a pound for her, only there's a man I know wants just +such a boat." + +Dexter sat up, looking very determined, and ready to speak when he +thought that the proper time had come, and Bob kept on watching him. + +"Look here!" said the man, "as you two's come out fishing, I'll give you +fifteen shillings and my boat, and that's more than yours is worth." + +"No, you won't," said Bob. + +"Well, sixteen, then. Come, that's a shilling too much." + +Bob shook his head, hooked, and took a good-sized smelt off his hook. + +"It's more than I care to give," said the man, who grew warm as Bob +seemed cold. "There, I'll go another shilling--seventeen." + +Bob still shook his head, and Dexter sat ready to burst out into an +explosion of anger and threat if his companion sold the boat. + +"Nineteen, then," said the man. "Nineteen, and my old un as rides the +water like a duck. You won't?" + +"No," said Bob. + +"Well, then," cried the man, "I'm off." + +"All right," said Bob coolly. + +"There, I'll give you the twenty shillings, but you'll have to give me +sixpence back. Look here! I've got the money." + +He showed and rattled the pound's worth of silver he had. + +"Come on. You get into my boat, and I'll get into yours." + +"No, yer won't," said Bob. "I won't sell it." + +"What!" cried the man angrily, and he raised one of his oars from the +water. + +"I won't sell," cried Bob, seizing the oars as he dropped his rod into +the boat. + +"You mean to tell me that you're going to make a fool of me like that!" + +He began to pull the little tub in which he sat toward the gig, but Bob +was too quick for him. The gig glided through the water at double the +rate possible to the old craft, and though it was boy against man, the +former could easily hold his own. + +Fortunately they were not moored to the bank or the event might have +been different, for the man had raised his oar as if with the intention +of striking the boat in which the boys were seated. + +"Here, you, stop!" he shouted. + +Bob replied in dumb show with his sculls, dipping them as fast as he +could, and looking very pale the while, till they were well out of +reach, when he rested for a moment, and yelled back in defiant tones the +one word-- + +"Yah!" + +"All right, my lads," shouted the fellow. "I know yer. You stole that +boat, that's what you've done!" + +"Row hard, Bob!" whispered Dexter. + +"It's all very fine to say row hard. You kitch hold and help." + +Dexter readily seized the second scull, and began to pull with so much +energy and effect that they had soon passed the muddy creek up which the +man had gone and come, and before long he was out of sight. + +"It was all your fun, Bob," said Dexter, as they went on. "I thought +you meant to sell the boat." + +"So I did," grumbled Bob; "only you were so disagreeable about it. How +are we to get on for money when mine's all done!" + +"I don't know," said Dexter dolefully. "Can't we work for some?" + +"Yah! How can we work? I say, though, he knew you'd stolen the boat." + +"I didn't steal it, and it isn't stolen," said Dexter indignantly. "I +wrote and told Sir James that we had only borrowed it, and I sent some +money, and I shall send some more if we cannot find a way to get it +back." + +"See if they don't call it stealing," said Bob grimly. "Look there at +the her'ns." + +He nodded toward where a couple of the tall birds were standing +heel-deep in the shallow water, intent upon their fishing, and so well +accustomed to being preserved that they did not attempt to rise from +their places. + +Dexter was so much interested in the birds that he forgot all about +their late adventure. + +Then they rowed on for about a couple of hours, and their next +proceeding was to look out for a suitable spot for their meal. + +There were no high cliff-like banks now, but here and there, alternating +with meadows, patches of woodland came down to the water's edge, and at +one of these they stopped, fastened the boat to a tree where it was +quite out of sight; and now for the first time they began to see boats +passing along. + +So far the little tub in which the would-be purchaser of their gig was +seated was the only one they had seen on the water, but they were +approaching a village now, and in low places they had seen high posts a +short distance from the water's edge, on which were festooned long nets +such as were used for the salmon at the time they run. + +As soon as they had landed, a fire was lit, the fish cleaned, and the +remainder of the bread and butter left from the last meal brought +ashore. After which, as an experiment, it was decided to roast the +smelts before the blaze, a task they achieved with more or less success. + +As each fish was deemed sufficiently cooked it was eaten at once--a +piece of bread forming the plate--and, with the exception of wanting +salt, declared to be delicious. + +"Ever so much better than chub, Bob," said Dexter, to which for a wonder +that young gentleman agreed. + +Evening soon came on, and as it was considered doubtful whether they +could find as satisfactory a place for their night's rest as that where +they were, it was decided to stop, and go on at sunrise next morning. + +"We shall get to the sea to-morrow," said Bob, as he began to yawn. +"I'm jolly glad of it, for I'm tired of the river, and I want to catch +cod-fish and soles, and something big. Whatcher yawning for?" + +"I'm tired and sleepy," said Dexter, as he sat upon the roots of an old +tree, three or four yards from the water's edge. + +"Yah! you're always sleepy," said Bob. + +"But I had to keep watch while you slept." + +"So you will have to again." + +"But that isn't fair," said Dexter, in ill-used tones. "It's your turn +to watch now." + +"Well, I'll watch half the night, if you watch the other," said Bob. +"That's fair, isn't it?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I shall lie down now, and you can call me when it's twelve +o'clock." + +"But I shan't know when it is," protested Dexter. + +"Well, I ain't particular," said Bob, stretching himself beneath the +tree. "Guess what you think's fair half, and I'll get up then." + +"But will you get up!" said Dexter. + +"Of course I will, if you call loud enough. There, don't bother, I'm +ever so tired with rowing, and I shall go to sleep at once." + +Bob kept his word as soon as darkness had set in, and Dexter sat +listening to the lapping of the water, and wondered whether, if they +camped out like this in a foreign land, crocodiles would come out of the +rivers and attack them. + +He sat down, for he soon grew tired of standing and walking about, and +listened to Bob's heavy breathing, for the boy had gone off at once. + +It was very dark under the trees, and he could only see the glint of a +star from time to time. It felt cold too, but as he drew himself close +together with his chin down upon his knees he soon forgot that, and +began thinking about the two owls he had heard the past night. Then he +thought about the long-legged herons he had seen fishing in the water; +then about their own fishing, and what capital fish the smelts were. + +From that he began to think about hunting out the cray-fish from the +banks, and how one of the little things had nipped his fingers quite +sharply. + +Next he began to wonder what Helen Grayson thought about him, and what +the doctor had said, and whether he should ever see them again, and +whether he should like Bob any better after a time, when camping out +with him, and how long it would be before they reached one of the +beautiful hot countries, where you could gather cocoa-nuts off the trees +and watch the lovely birds as they flitted round. + +And then he thought about how long it would be before he might venture +to call Bob. + +And then he began thinking about nothing at all. + +When he opened his eyes next it was morning, with the sun shining +brightly, and the birds singing, and Bob Dimsted had just kicked him in +the side. + +"Here, I say, wake up," he cried. "Why, you've been to sleep." + +"Have I!" said Dexter sheepishly, as he stared helplessly at his +companion. + +"Have yer? Yes; of course yer have," cried Bob angrily. "Ain't to be +trusted for a moment. You're always a-going to sleep. Whatcher been +and done with that there boat!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +IN DIRE STRAITS. + +"Done with the boat?" + +"I haven't done anything with the boat." + +"Then where is it?" + +"Fastened up to that old tree." + +"Oh, is it!" cried Bob derisively. "I should like to see it, then. +Come and show me!" + +Dexter ran to the water's edge, and found the place on the bark where +the chain had rubbed the trunk, but there was no sign of the boat. + +"Now then," cried Bob fiercely, "where is it?" + +"I don't know," said Dexter dolefully. "Yes, I do," he cried. "The +chain must have come undone, and it's floating away." + +"Oh, is it?" said Bob derisively. "Then you'd better go and find it!" + +"Go and find it?" + +"Yes; we can't go to sea in our boots, can we, stoopid?" + +"But which way shall I go, Bob? Sometimes the tide runs up, and +sometimes it runs down." + +"Yes, and I'll make you run up and down. You're a nice un, you are! I +just shet my eyes for a few minutes, and trust you to look after the +boat, and when I wake up again you're fass asleep, and the boat gone." + +"I'm very sorry, Bob, but I was so tired." + +"Tired! You tired! What on? Here, go and find that boat!" + +Dexter started off, and ran along the bank in one direction, while Bob +went in the other, and at the end of half an hour Dexter came back +feeling miserable and despondent as he had never felt before. + +"Found it, Bob!" he said. + +For answer his companion threw himself down upon his face, and began +beating the ground with his fists, as if it were a drum. + +"I've looked along there as far as I could go," said Dexter sadly. +"What shall we do!" + +"I wish this here was your stoopid head," snarled Bob, as he hammered +away at the bare ground beneath the tree. "I never see such a chap!" + +"But what shall we do?" said Dexter again. + +"Do? I dunno, and I don't care. You lost the boat, and you've got to +find it." + +"Let's go on together and walk all along the bank till we find somebody +who has seen it." + +"And when we do find 'em d'yer think they'll be such softs as to give it +to us back again!" This was a startling question. + +"I know 'em," said Bob. "They'll want to know where we got it from, and +how we come by it, and all sorts o' nonsense o' that kind. Say we ain't +no right to it. I know what they'll say." + +"But p'r'aps it's floating about?" + +"P'r'aps you're floating about!" cried Bob, with a snarl. "Boat like +that don't go floating about without some one in it, and if it does some +one gets hold of it, and says it's his." + +This was a terrible check to their adventurous voyage, as unexpected as +it was sudden, and Dexter looked dolefully up in his companion's face. + +"I know'd how it would be, and I was a stoopid to bring such a chap as +you," continued Bob, who seemed happiest when he was scolding. "You've +lost the boat, and we shall have to go back." + +"Go back!" cried Dexter, with a look of horror, as he saw in imagination +the stern countenance of the doctor, his tutor's searching eyes, Helen's +look of reproach, and Sir James Danby waiting to ask him what had become +of the boat, while Master Edgar seemed full of triumph at his downfall. + +"Go back?" No he could not go back. He felt as if he would rather jump +into the river. + +"We shall both get a good leathering, and that won't hurt so very much." + +A good leathering! If it had been only the thrashing, Dexter felt that +he would have suffered that; but his stay at the doctor's had brought +forth other feelings that had been lying dormant, and now the thrashing +seemed to him the slightest part of the punishment that he would have to +face. No: he could not go back. + +"Well, whatcher going to do!" said Bob at last, with provoking coolness. +"You lost the boat, and you've got to find it." + +"I will try, Bob," said Dexter humbly. "But come and help me." + +"Help yer? Why should I come and help yer? You lost it, I tell yer." + +Bob jumped up and doubled his fists. + +"Now then," he said; "get on, d'yer hear? get on--get on!" + +At every word he struck out at Dexter, giving him heavy blows on the +arms--in the chest--anywhere he could reach. + +Dexter's face became like flame, but he contented himself with trying to +avoid the blows. + +"Look here!" he cried suddenly. + +"No, it's you've got to look here," cried Bob. "You've got to find that +there boat." + +Dexter had had what he thought was a bright idea, but it was only a +spark, and it died out, leaving his spirit dark once more, and he seemed +now to be face to face with the greatest trouble of his life. All his +cares at the Union, and then at the doctor's, sank into insignificance +before this terrible check to their adventure. For without the boat how +could they get out of England? They could not borrow another. There +was a great blank before him just at this outset of his career, and try +how he would to see something beyond he could find nothing: all was +blank, hopeless, and full of despair. + +Had his comrade been true to him, and taken his share of the troubles, +it would have been bad enough; but it was gradually dawning upon Dexter +that the boy he had half-idolised for his cleverness and general +knowledge was a contemptible, ill-humoured bully--a despicable young +tyrant, ready to seize every opportunity to oppress. + +"Are you a-going?" cried Bob, growing more brutal as he found that his +victim made no resistance, and giving him a blow on the jaw which sent +him staggering against one of the trees. + +This was too much; and recovering himself Dexter was about to dash at +his assailant when he stopped short, for an idea that seemed +incontrovertible struck him so sharply that it drove away all thought of +the brutal blow he had received. + +"I know, Bob," he cried. + +"Know? What d'yer know?" + +"Where the boat is." + +"Yer do?" + +"Yes: that man followed us and took it away." + +Bob opened his mouth, and half-closed his eyes to stare at his +companion, as he balanced this idea in his rather muddy brain. + +"Don't you see?" cried Dexter excitedly. + +"Come arter us and stole it!" said Bob slowly. + +"Yes: he must have watched us, and waited till we were asleep." + +"Go on with you!" + +"He did. I feel as sure as sure," cried Dexter. + +There was a pause during which Bob went on balancing the matter in his +mind. + +"He has taken it up the river, and he thinks we shall be afraid to go +after it." + +"Then he just thinks wrong," said Bob, nodding his head a good deal. "I +thought something o' that kind a bit ago, but you made me so wild I +forgot it again." + +"But you see now, Bob." + +"See? O' course I do. I'll just let him know--a thief. Here, come on, +and we'll drop on to him with a policeman, and show him what stealing +boats means." + +"No, no, Bob, we can't go with a policeman. Let's go ourselves, and +make him give it up." + +"But s'pose he won't give it to us!" + +"We should have to take it," said Dexter excitedly. + +"Come on, then. He's got my fishing-tackle too, and--why just look at +that! Did you put them there?" + +He darted to where his bundle and rough fishing-rod lay among the trees. + +"No; he must have thrown them out. Let's make haste. We know where the +boat is now!" + +The boys started at once, and began to tramp back along the side of the +river in the hope of finding the place where the boat was moored; but +before they had gone far it was to find that floating down with the +stream, or even rowing against the tide, was much easier work than +forcing their way through patches of alder-bushes, swampy meadows, +leaping, and sometimes wading, little inlets and ditches and the like. + +Their progress was very slow, the sun very hot, and at least a dozen +times now they came upon spots which struck both as being the muddy bank +off which they had captured the smelts. + +It was quite afternoon before they were convinced, for their further +passage was stopped by the muddy inlet up which they had seen the man +row, and not a hundred yards away was the bank under which they had +fished. + +"Sure this is the place?" said Bob, as he crouched among some osiers and +looked cautiously round. + +"Yes," said Dexter; "I'm certain this is the place. I saw him row up +here. But--" + +"But what?" + +"He'd be quite sure not to take the boat up here." + +"Why not?" + +"For fear we should come after it." + +"Get out! Where would he take it, then?" + +"He'd hide it somewhere else; perhaps on the other side. Look!" + +Dexter pointed up the river to where, about a couple of hundred yards +further on, a boat could be seen just issuing from a bed of reeds. + +Bob seized Dexter's arm to force him lower down among the osiers, but it +was not necessary, for they were both well concealed; and as they +continued there watching it was to see the boat come slowly toward them, +and in a few minutes they were satisfied that it was the man they +sought, propelling it slowly toward where they stooped. + +The fellow came along in a furtive manner, looking sharply round from +time to time, as if scanning the river to see if he was observed. + +He came on and on till he reached the creek at whose mouth the boys were +hidden, and as he came so close that they felt it impossible that they +could remain unseen he suddenly ceased rowing, and stood up to shade his +eyes from the sunshine, and gaze sharply down the river for some +minutes. + +Then giving a grunt as of satisfaction he reseated himself, and rowed +slowly up the creek, till he disappeared among the osiers and reeds +which fringed its muddy banks. + +As he passed up he disturbed a shoal of large fish which came surging +down, making quite a wave in the creek, till they reached the river, +where all was still. + +"The boat's up there, Bob," said Dexter, after a long silence, so as to +give the man time to get well out of hearing. + +"Yes, but how are we to get to it?" + +"Wade," said Dexter laconically. "'Tain't deep, only muddy." + +To cross the creek was necessary, and Bob softly let himself down from +the bank till his feet were level with the water, then taking hold of a +stout osier above his head he bent it down, and then dropped slowly into +the water, which came nearly to his waist. + +"Come on!" he said, and after getting to the end of the osier he used +his rod as a guide to try the depth, and with some difficulty, and the +water very nearly to his chest, he got over. + +Dexter did not hesitate, but followed, and began to wade, feeling his +feet sink at every step into the sticky mud, and very glad to seize hold +of the end of the rod Bob was civil enough to hold to him from the +further bank, up which they both crept, dripping like water-rats, and +hid among the osiers on the other side. + +"Come on," whispered Bob, and with the mud and water trickling from them +they crept along through quite a thicket of reeds, osiers, and the +red-flowered willow-herb, while great purple patches of loosestrife +blossomed above their heads. + +Every step took them further from the enemy, but they kept down in their +stooping position, and a few yards from the bank of the river, feeling +sure that they could not miss their way; and so it proved, for after +what seemed to be an interminable journey they found themselves stopped +by just such another creek as that which they had left, save and except +that the mouth was completely hidden by a bed of reeds some of which +showed where a boat had lately passed through. + +Whether their boat was there or not they could not tell, but it seemed +easy to follow up the creek from the side they were on, and they crept +along through the water-growth, which was thicker here than ever, but +keeping as close as they could to the side, the scarped bank being about +eight feet above the water. + +The creek was not above twenty feet wide, and, from the undisturbed +state of the vegetation which flourished down its banks to where the +tide seemed to rise, it seemed as if it was a rare thing for a boat to +pass along. + +They stopped at every few yards to make sure that they were not passing +that of which they were in search, looking carefully up and down, while +the creek twined so much that they could never see any extent of water +at a time. + +They must have wound in and out for quite three hundred yards, when, all +at once, as they stooped there, panting and heated with the exercise, +and with the hot sun beating down upon their heads, Dexter, who was in +front, stopped short, for on his right the dense growth of reeds +suddenly ceased, and on peering out it was to see a broad opening where +they had been cut down, while within thirty yards stood a large stack of +bundles, and beside it a rough-looking hut, toward which the man they +had seen rowing up the other creek was walking. + +They had come right upon his home, which seemed to be upon a reedy +island formed by the two creeks and the river. + +The boys crouched down, afraid to stir, and watching till they saw the +man enter the rough reed-thatched hut, when, moving close to the edge of +the bank, they crept on again after a few moments' hesitation, connected +with an idea of making a retreat. + +Their perseverance was rewarded, for not fifty yards further on they +looked down upon what seemed to be a quantity of reeds floating at the +side of the creek, but one bundle had slipped off, and there, plainly +enough, was the gunwale of the boat, the reeds having been laid across +it to act as a concealment in case any one should glance carelessly up +the creek. + +"Come on, Bob," whispered Dexter; and he let himself slide down into the +muddy water as silently as he could, and began to tumble the bundles of +reeds off into the creek. + +Bob followed his example, and, to their great delight, they found that +the sculls and boat-hook were still in their places, while the +boat-chain was secured to a stake thrust down into the mud. + +This was soon unloosed after they had climbed in, dripping, and covering +the cushions with mud, but all that was forgotten in the delight of +having found the boat. + +"Now, Bob, you row softly down and I'll use the boat-hook," whispered +Dexter, as he stood up in the stern, while Bob sat down, seized the +oars, and laid them in the rowlocks, ready to make the first stroke, +when high above them on the bank they heard a quick, rushing noise, and +directly after, to their horror, there stood, apparently too much +dumbfounded to speak, the man they had seen a few minutes before going +into the reed hut. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +SECOND-HAND STEALING. + +"Here, you, sir! stop!" he roared. + +"Pull away, Bob!" whispered Dexter, for Bob had paused, half-paralysed +by the nearness of the danger. But he obeyed the second command, and +tugged at the oars. + +"D'yer hear!" roared the man, with a furious string of oaths. "Hold +hard or I'll--" + +He did not say what, but made a gesture as if striking with a great +force. + +"Don't speak, Bob: pull hard," whispered Dexter, bending forward in the +boat so as to reach the rower, and encourage him to make fresh efforts, +while, for his part, he kept his eyes upon the man. + +"D'yer hear what I say?" he roared again. "What d'yer mean by coming +here to steal my boat?" + +"'Tain't yours," cried Dexter. + +"What? Didn't I buy it of yer and pay for it?" + +"You came and stole it while we were asleep, you thief!" cried Dexter +again. + +"Say I stole yer boat and I'll drown'd yer," cried the man, forcing his +way through the reeds and osiers so as to keep up with them. "If you +don't take that back it'll be the worse for yer. Stop! D'yer hear? +Stop!" + +Bob stopped again, for the man's aspect was alarming, and every moment +he seemed as if he was about to leap from the high bank. + +Fortunately for all parties he did not do this, as if he had reached the +edge of the boat he must have capsized it, and if he had leaped into the +bottom, he must have gone right through. + +Bob did not realise all this; but he felt certain that the man would +jump, and, with great drops of fear upon his forehead he kept on +stopping as the man threatened, and, but for Dexter's urging, the boat +would have been given up. + +"I can hear yer," the man roared, with a fierce oath. "I hear yer +telling him to row. Just wait till I get hold of you, my gentleman!" + +"Row, Bob, row!" panted Dexter, "as soon as we're out in the river we +shall be safe." + +"But he'll be down upon us d'reckly," whispered Bob. + +"Go on rowing, I tell you, he daren't jump." + +"You won't stop, then, won't yer?" cried the man. "If yer don't stop +I'll drive a hole through the bottom, and sink yer both." + +"No, he won't," whispered Dexter. "Row, Bob, row! He can't reach us, +and he has nothing to throw." + +Bob groaned, but he went on rowing; and in his dread took the boat so +near the further side that he kept striking one scull against the muddy +bank, and then, in his efforts to get room to catch water, he thrust the +head of the boat toward the bank where the man was stamping with fury, +and raging at them to go back. + +This went on for a hundred yards, and they were still far from the open +river, when the man gave a shout at them and ran on, disappearing among +the low growth on the bank. + +"Now, Bob, he has gone," said Dexter excitedly, "pull steadily, and as +hard as you can. Mind and don't run her head into the bank, or we shall +be caught." + +Bob looked up at him with a face full of abject fear and misery, but he +was in that frame of weak-mindedness which made him ready to obey any +one who spoke, and he rowed on pretty quickly. + +Twice over he nearly went into the opposite bank, with the risk of +getting the prow stuck fast in the clayey mud, but a drag at the left +scull saved it, and they were getting rapidly on now, when all at once +Dexter caught sight of their enemy at a part of the creek where it +narrowed and the bank overhung a little. + +The man had run on to that spot, and had lain down on his chest, so as +to be as far over as he could be to preserve his balance, and he was +reaching out with his hands, and a malicious look of satisfaction was in +his face, as the boat was close upon him before Dexter caught sight of +him, Bob of course having his back in the direction they were going. + +"Look out, Bob," shouted Dexter. "Pull your right! pull your right!" + +Bob was so startled that he looked up over his shoulder, saw the enemy, +and tugged at the wrong oar so hard that he sent the boat right toward +the overhanging bank. + +"I've got yer now, have I, then?" roared the man fiercely; and as the +boat drifted towards him he reached down and made a snatch with his hand +at Dexter's collar. + +As a matter of course the boy ducked down, and the man overbalanced +himself. + +For a moment it seemed as if he would come down into the boat, over +which he hung, slanting down and clinging with both hands now, and +glaring at them with his mouth open and his eyes starting, looking for +all the world like some huge gargoyle on the top of a cathedral tower. + +"Stop!" he roared; and then he literally turned over and came so nearly +into the boat that he touched the stern as it passed, and the water he +raised in a tremendous splash flew all over the boys. + +"Now, Bob, pull, pull, pull!" cried Dexter, stamping his foot as he +looked back and saw the man rise out of the water to come splashing +after them for a few paces; but wading through mud and water was not the +way to overtake a retreating boat, and to Dexter's horror he saw the +fellow struggle to the side and begin to scramble up the bank. + +Once he slipped back; but he began to clamber up again, and his head was +above the edge when, in obedience to Bob's tugging at the sculls, the +boat glided round one of the various curves of the little creek and shut +him from their view. + +"He'll drown'd us. He said he would," whimpered Bob. "Let's leave the +boat and run." + +"No, no!" cried Dexter; "pull hard, and we shall get out into the river, +and he can't follow us." + +"Yes, he can," cried Bob, blubbering now aloud. "He means it, and he'll +half-kill us. Let's get out to this side and run." + +"Pull! I tell you, pull!" cried Dexter furiously; and Bob pulled +obediently, sending the boat along fast round the curves and bends, but +not so fast but that they heard a furious rustling of the osiers and +reeds, and saw the figure of the man above them on the bank. + +"There, I told you so," whimpered Bob. "Let's get out t'other side." + +"Row, I tell you!" roared Dexter; and to his surprise the man did not +stop, but hurried on toward the mouth of the creek. + +"There!" cried Bob. "He's gone for his boat, and he'll stop us, and +he'll drown'd us both." + +"He daren't," said Dexter stoutly, though he felt a peculiar sinking all +the time. + +"But he will, he will. It's no use to row." + +Dexter felt desperate now, for theirs was an awkward position; and to +his horror he saw that Bob was ceasing to row, and looking up at the +bank on his left. + +"You go on rowing," cried Dexter fiercely. + +"I shan't," whimpered Bob; "it's of no use. I shan't row no more." + +_Thud_! + +Bob yelled out, more in fear than in pain, for the sound was caused by +Dexter swinging the boat-hook round and striking his companion a sharp +rap on the side of the head. + +"Go on rowing," cried Dexter, "and keep in the middle." + +Bob howled softly; but, like a horse that has just received an +admonition from the whip, he bent to his task, and rowed with all his +might, blubbering the while. + +"That's right," cried Dexter, who felt astonished at his hardihood. "We +can't be far now. Pull--pull hard. There, I can see the river. +Hurray, Bob, we're nearly there!" + +Bob sobbed and snuffled, and bent down over his oars, rowing as if for +life or death. The boat was speeding swiftly through the muddy water, +the opening with its deep fringe of reeds was there, and Dexter was +making up his mind to try and direct Bob to pull right or left so as to +get to the thinnest place that the boat might glide right out, when he +saw something. + +"No, Bob, only a little way," he had said. "Pull with all your might." + +Then he stopped short and stared aghast. + +Fortunately Bob was bending down, sobbing, and straining every nerve, as +if he expected another blow, otherwise he would have been chilled by +Dexter's look of dread, for there, just as if he had dropped from the +bank and begun wading, was their enemy, who, as the boat neared, took up +his position right in the middle of the creek, where the water was +nearly to his chest, and, with the reeds at his back, waited to seize +the boat. + +Dexter stood holding the boat-hook, half-paralysed for a few moments, +and then, moved by despair, he stepped over the thwart toward Bob. + +"No, no," cried the latter, ducking down his head. "I will pull--I will +pull." + +He did pull too, with all his might, and the boat was going swiftly +through the water as Dexter stepped right over the left-hand scull, +nearly toppled over, but recovered himself, and stood in the bows of the +boat, as they were now within twenty yards of the man, who, wet and +muddy, stood up out of the creek like some water monster about to seize +the occupants of the boat for a meal. + +"Pull, Bob, hard!" whispered Dexter, in a low, excited voice; and Bob +pulled. + +The boat sped on, and the man uttered a savage yell, when, with a cry of +horror, Bob ceased rowing. + +But the boat had plenty of impetus, and it shot forward so swiftly that, +to avoid its impact, the man drew a little on one side as he caught at +the gunwale. + +_Whop_! + +Dexter struck at him with the light ash pole he held in his hand--struck +at their enemy with all his might, and then turned and sat down in the +boat, overcome with horror at what he had done, for he saw the man fall +backward, and the water close over his head. + +Then there was a loud hissing, rustling sound as the boat glided through +the reeds, which bent to right and left, and rose again as they passed, +hiding everything which followed. + +The next moment the force given to the boat was expended, and it stopped +outside the reeds, but only to commence another movement, for the tide +bore the bows round, and the light gig began to glide softly along. + +"I've killed him," thought Dexter; and he turned cold with horror, +wondering the while at his temerity and what would follow. + +"Was that his head?" said Bob, in rather a piteous voice, as he sat +there resting upon his oars. + +"Yes," said Dexter, in a horror-stricken whisper. "I hit him right on +the head." + +"You've been and gone and done it now, then," whimpered Bob. "You've +killed him. That's what you've done. Never did see such a chap as +you!" + +"I couldn't help it," said Dexter huskily. + +"Yes, that's what you always says," cried Bob, in an ill-used tone. "I +wish I hadn't come with yer, that I do. I say, ought we to go and pick +him up? It don't matter, do it?" + +"Yes, Bob; we must go back and pull him out," said Dexter, with a +shudder. "Row back through the reeds. Quick, or he may be drowned!" + +"He won't want any drowning after that whack you give him on the head. +I don't think I shall go back. Look! look!" + +Dexter was already looking at the frantic muddy figure upon the bank, up +which it had climbed after emerging from the reeds. The man was +half-mad with rage and disappointment, and he ran along shaking his +fists, dancing about in his fury, and shouting to the boys what he would +do. + +His appearance worked a miraculous effect upon the two boys. Dexter +felt quite light-hearted in his relief, and Bob forgot all his +sufferings and dread now that he was safely beyond their enemy's reach. +Laying the blades of the sculls flat, as the boat drifted swiftly on +with the tide, he kept on splashing the water, and shouting derisively-- + +"Yah! yah! Who cares for you? Yah! Go home and hang yourself up to +dry! Yah! Who stole the boat!" + +Bob's derision seemed to be like oil poured upon a fire. The man grew +half-wild with rage. He yelled, spat at them, shook his fists, and +danced about in his impotent fury; and the more he raged, the more +delighted Bob seemed to be. + +"Yah! Who stole the boat!" he kept on crying; and then added mocking +taunts. "Here! hi!" he shouted, his voice travelling easily over the +water, so that the man heard each word. "Here! hi! Have her now? +Fifteen shillings. Come on. Yah!" + +"Quick, Bob, row!" cried Dexter, after several vain efforts to stop his +companion's derisive cries. + +"Eh?" said Bob, suddenly stopping short. + +"Row, I tell you! Don't you see what he's going to do!" + +The man had suddenly turned and disappeared. + +"No," said Bob. "I've scared him away." + +"You haven't," said Dexter, with his feeling of dread coming back. +"He's running across to the other creek to get the boat." + +Bob bent to his oars directly, and sent the gig rapidly along, and more +and more into the swift current. He rowed so as to incline toward the +further shore, and soon after they passed the mouth of the other creek. + +"Get out with yer," said Bob. "He ain't coming. And just you look +here, young un; you hit me offull on the head with that there boat-hook, +and as soon as ever I gits you ashore I'll make you go down on your +knees and cry _chi_--_ike_; you see if I don't, and--" + +"There he is, Bob," said Dexter excitedly; and looking toward the other +creek, there, sure enough, was the man in his wretched little tub of a +boat, which he was forcing rapidly through the water, and looking over +his shoulder from time to time at the objects of his pursuit. + +Bob pulled with all his might, growing pallid and muddy of complexion as +the gig glided on. Matters had been bad enough before. Now the map +would be ten times worse, while, to make things as bad as they could be, +it soon became evident that the tide was on the turn, and that, unless +they could stem it in the unequal battle of strength, they would be +either swept back into their enemy's arms or else right up the river in +a different direction to that which they intended to go, and, with the +task before them, should they escape, of passing their enemy's lair once +again. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. + +THE CROWNING POINT OF THE TRIP. + +"Come and lay hold o' one scull," said Bob, whose eyes seemed to be +fixed as he stared at the back of their enemy. "Oh, do be quick!" + +Dexter slipped into his place, took the scull, and began to row. + +"Getting closer, ain't he?" whispered Bob hoarsely. "Yes. I'm afraid +so." + +"Pull, pull!" + +Dexter needed no telling, and he tugged away at the oar as the boat +glided a little more swiftly on. + +"Ain't leaving him behind, are we!" growled Bob, whose face now grew +convulsed with horror. "No; I'm afraid he's coming nearer." + +"Oh dear, oh dear!" groaned Bob. "He'll half-kill me, and it's all your +fault. Let's stop rowing and give him the boat." + +"That we won't," cried Dexter, setting his teeth. "I'll row till I die +first." + +"But it'll only make him more savage," growled Bob. "I wish I was safe +at home." + +"You're not half-pulling, Bob." + +"It's of no use, matey. He's sure to ketch us, and the furder we rows, +the more wild he'll be." + +"I don't care," cried Dexter; "he shan't have it if I can help it. +Row!" + +In his most cowardly moments Bob was obedience itself, and breaking out +into a low sobbing whimper, as if it were a song to encourage him in his +task, he rowed on with all his might, while only too plainly it could be +seen that the man was gaining steadily upon them in spite of the +clumsiness of his boat; and consequently it was only a question of time +before the boys were overtaken, for the muscles of the man were certain +to endure longer than those of Dexter, untrained as they were to such +work. + +"He's closer, ain't he?" whined Bob. + +"Yes, ever so much," replied Dexter, between his set teeth. + +"Well, jest you recollect it was you hit him that whack on the head. I +didn't do nothing." + +"Yes, you did," said Dexter sharply. "You said, _yah_! at him, and +called him names." + +"No, I didn't. Don't you be a sneak," whined Bob. "You were ever so +much worse than me. Is he coming closer?" + +"Yes." + +It was a fact, closer and closer, and the tide ran so strongly now that +the boys had hard work to make much progress. They did progress, +though, all the same, for their boat was narrow and sharp. Still the +current was dead against them, and their want of movement added to their +despair. + +Bad as it was for them, however, it was worse for the man in his heavy +little broadly-bowed tub; and so it happened that just as Bob began to +row more slowly, and burst into a fit of howling, which made Dexter feel +as if he would like to turn and hit him over the head with his oar--a +contact of scull against skull--the man suddenly ceased rowing, turned +in his seat, and sat shaking his fist at them, showing his teeth in his +impotent rage. + +"There!" cried Bob, who was transformed in an instant. "We've bet him. +He can't pull no further. Yah! yah!" + +Bob changed back to his state of cowardly prostration, and began to tug +once more at his oar, for his derisive yell galvanised the man once more +into action, and the pursuit was continued. + +"Oh!" howled Bob. "Who'd ha' thought o' that?" + +"Who's stupid now?" panted Dexter, as he too rowed with all his might. + +Bob did nothing but groan, and the pursuit and flight were once more +continued, each moment with despair getting a stronger hold of the +fugitives. The oar felt hot in Dexter's blistered hands, a peculiar +sensation of heaving was in his chest, his eyes began to swim, and he +was just about to cease rowing, when he could hardly believe his +starting eyes--their enemy had once more given up the pursuit, and was +sitting wrenched round, and staring after them. + +"Don't, pray, don't shout at him this time, Bob," panted Dexter. + +"I won't if you're afraid," said the young scoundrel. + +"Keep on rowing, or he'll come after us again." + +Bob's scull was dipped again directly, and the motion of the boat was +kept up sufficiently to counteract the drift of the tide, while the man +in the little tub was swept rapidly away. + +"Let's get over the other side to those trees," said Dexter, as he felt +that he could row no further, and the boat's head was directed +half-across the stream so as to reach the clump of willows indicated, +where, after a much heavier pull than they had anticipated, the gig was +made fast, and Bob's first act after laying down his scull was to lean +over the side and drink heartily of the muddy water. + +Dexter would gladly have lain down to rest, but there was a watch to +keep up. + +Bob mocked at the idea. + +"Yah!" he said; "he won't some any more. I say, are you nearly dry?" + +"Nearly," said Dexter, "all but my boots and socks." + +These he took off, and put in the sun to dry, as he sat there with his +elbows on his knees, and his chin on his hands, watching till Bob was +asleep. + +He was faint and hungry, and the idea was strong in his mind that the +man would steal down upon them when he was not expected. This thought +completely drove away all drowsiness, though it did not affect his +companion in the slightest degree. + +The next thing ought to have been to get some food, but there was no +likely place within view, and though several boats and a barge or two +passed, the fear of being questioned kept the watcher from hailing them, +and asking where he could get some bread and milk. + +The hours glided slowly by, but there was no sign of the shabby little +boat. The tide ran up swiftly, and the gig swung easily from its chain; +and as Dexter sat there, hungry and lonely, he could not keep his +thoughts at times from the doctor's comfortable house. + +Towards evening the socks and boots were so dry that Dexter replaced +them, looking down the while rather ruefully at his mud-stained +trousers. He rubbed them and scratched the patches with his nails; but +the result was not satisfactory, and once more he sat gazing up the +river in expectation of seeing their enemy come round the bend. + +It was getting late, and the tide had turned, as Dexter knew at once by +the way in which the boat had swung round with its bows now pointing +up-stream. And now seemed the time when the man might appear once more +in pursuit. + +The thought impressed him so that he leaned over and shook Bob, who sat +up and stared wonderingly about. + +"Hallo!" he said. "What time is it!" + +"I don't know, but the tide has turned, and that man may come after us +again." + +"Nay, he won't come any more," said Bob confidently. "Let's go and get +something to eat." + +It was a welcome proposal, and the boat being unmoored, Dexter took one +of the sculls, and as they rowed slowly down with the tide he kept his +eyes busy watching for the coming danger, but it did not appear. + +Bob went ashore at a place that looked like a ferry, where there was a +little public-house, and this time returned with a small loaf, a piece +of boiled bacon, and a bottle of cider. + +"I'd ha' brought the bacon raw, and we'd ha' cooked it over a fire," +said Bob, "only there don't seem to be no wood down here, and there's +such lots of houses." + +Dexter did not feel troubled about the way in which the bacon was +prepared, but sat in the boat, as it drifted with the tide, and ate his +portion ravenously, but did not find the sour cider to his taste. + +By the time they had finished, it was growing dark, and lights were +twinkling here and there on either bank, showing that they were now in a +well-populated part. + +"Where are we to sleep to-night, Bob?" said Dexter at last. + +"Dunno yet. Can't see no places." + +"We must be near the sea now, mustn't we?" + +"Yes, pretty handy to it," said Bob, with the confidence of one in utter +ignorance. "We shall be there to-morrow, and then we can catch heaps of +cod-fish, and soles, and mack'rel, and find oysters. It'll be all right +then." + +This was encouraging, but somehow Dexter did not feel so much confidence +in his companion as of old. + +But Bob's rest, and the disappearance of danger had brought him back to +his former state, and he was constantly making references to the +departed enemy. + +"I should just liked to have ketched him touching me!" he said. "I'd +ha' give his shins such a kicking as would soon have made him cry `Leave +off.'" + +Dexter sat and stared through the gloom at the young Gascon. + +"I'd ha' soon let him know what he'd get if he touched me." + +"Hi, Bob! look out!" + +Bob uttered a cry of dread, and nearly jumped overboard as something +still and dark suddenly loomed up above him. Then there was a bump, +which nearly finished what the boy had felt disposed to do; and then +they were gliding along by the side of a vessel anchored in midstream. + +As they swept past the stern the boat bumped again against something +black and round, which proved to be a floating tub. With this they +seemed to have become entangled, for there was a rasping grating noise, +then the boat's chain began to run rapidly over the bows, the boat swung +round, and their further progress was checked. A piece of the chain +with the hook had been left hanging over, and when they had touched the +tub buoy the hook had caught, and they were anchored some little +distance astern the large vessel. + +"Here's a game!" cried Bob, as soon as he had recovered from his +astonishment. "Well, we can't go on in the dark. Let's stop here." + +"But we've got to find a place to sleep, Bob," protested Dexter. + +"Yah! you're always wanting to go to sleep. There ain't no place to +sleep ashore, so let's sleep in the boat. Why, we shall always have to +bunk down there when we get out to sea." + +"But suppose the boat should sink?" + +"Yah! suppose it did. We'd swim ashore. Only mind you don't get outer +bed in the night and walk into the water. I don't want to go to sleep +at all." + +Dexter did not feel drowsy, but again he could not help thinking of his +room with the white hangings, and of how pleasant it would be to take +off his clothes once more and lie between sheets. + +"Some chaps is always thinking about going to bed," said Bob jauntily. +"Long as I gets a nap now and then, that's all I want." + +Dexter did not know it, but Bob Dimsted was a thorough-paced second-hand +boy. Every expression of this kind was an old one, such as he had heard +from his father, or the rough men who consorted with him, from the +bullying down to the most playful remark. But, as aforesaid, Dexter did +not realise all this. He had only got as far as the fact that Bob was +not half so nice as he used to be, and that, in spite of his boasting +and bullying, he was not very brave when put to the test. + +"There, I shan't go to sleep yet. You can have one o' them cushins +forward," said Bob at last; and, suffering now from a sudden feeling of +weariness, Dexter took one of the cushions forward, placed it so as to +be as comfortable as possible, realising as he did this that, in spite +of his words, Bob was doing the same with two cushions to his one, and +before he had been lying there long, listening to the rippling of the +water, and gazing up at the stars, a hoarse, wheezing noise proclaimed +the fact that Bob Dimsted was once more fast asleep. + +Dexter was weary now in the extreme, the exertion and excitement he had +gone through had produced, in connection with the irregular feeding, a +state of fatigue that under other circumstances might have resulted in +his dropping off at once, but now he could only lie and listen, and keep +his eyes dilated and wide open, staring for some danger which seemed as +if it must be near. + +He did not know what the danger might be, unless it was that man with +the boat, but something seemed to threaten, and he could not sleep. + +Then, too, he felt obliged to think about Bob and about their journey. +Where they were going, what sort of a place it would be, and whether +they would be any more happy when they got to some beautiful island; for +he was fain to confess that matters were very miserable now, and that +the more he saw of Bob Dimsted the less he liked him. + +He was in the midst of one of his thoughtful moods, with Bob for his +theme, and asking himself what he should do if Bob did begin to thrash +him first time they were on shore; and he had just come to the +conclusion that he would not let Bob thrash him if he could help it, +when Bob suddenly leaped forward and hit him a round-handed sort of +blow, right in the back of the neck. + +This so enraged him that he forgot directly all about companionship, and +the sort of tacit brotherly compact into which they had entered, and +springing at his assailant he struck him a blow in the chest, which sent +him staggering back. + +For a moment or two Bob seemed to be beaten; then he came at him +furiously, the turf was trampled and slippery, and they both went down; +then they got up again, and fought away, giving and taking blows, every +one of which sounded with a loud slap. + +That fight seemed as if it would never end, and Dexter felt as if he +were getting the worst of it, consequent upon an inherent dislike to +inflict pain, and his having passed over again and again opportunities +for administering effective blows. At last they joined in what became +little more than a wrestle, and Dexter felt the ground giving way +beneath his feet; the back of his neck hurt him terribly, and he was +about to give in, when the boys began to cheer, Mr Sibery ran up with +the cane, and the doctor came looking stern and frowning, while he saw +Helen Grayson put her hand to her eyes and turn away. + +"It's all Bob Dimsted's fault," he cried passionately; and he woke up +with the words upon his lips, and a crick in the back of his neck, +consequent upon the awkward cramped-up position in which he had lain. + +It was broad daylight, and for a few moments he was too much confused to +understand where he was; but as he realised it all, and cast a quick +look round in search of danger, he saw that they were hooked on to the +slimy buoy, that twenty yards further there was the hull of an old +schooner, against which they had been nearly capsized the previous +evening, and four or five hundred yards beyond that, slowly paddling +along, was their enemy, looking over his shoulder as if he had seen +them, and meant to make sure of them now. + +Dexter hesitated between wakening Bob and setting the boat adrift. + +He decided on doing the latter, and hauling on the chain, he drew the +boat right up to the buoy, followed the chain with his hands till he +could touch the hook, and after some difficulty, his efforts reminding +him of the night when he unfastened the chain in the boat-house--he +dragged the hook from where it clung to a great rusty link, and all the +time his eyes were as much fixed upon the man in the boat as upon the +task he had in hand. + +Clear at last, and drifting away again. That was something towards +safety, and he now stepped over the thwarts and shook Bob. + +Bob was too comfortable to open his eyes, and no matter what his +companion did he could get no reply till he bent lower, and, inspired by +the coming danger, shouted in his ear-- + +"I've got yer at last." + +Bob sprang up as if electrified, saw who spoke, and was about to burst +into a torrent of angry abuse, when he followed the direction of +Dexter's pointing hand, caught the approaching danger, and seized an +oar. + +It was none too soon, for as Dexter seized the other, the man evidently +realised that his prey was about to make another effort to escape, and, +bending to his work, he sent the little tub-like boat surging through +the water. + +"Pull, Bob!" said Dexter excitedly, an unnecessary order, for Bob had +set his teeth, and, with his face working, was tugging so hard that it +needed all Dexter's efforts to keep the boat from being pulled into the +right-hand shore. + +The chase had begun in full earnest, and for the next hour, with very +little alteration in their positions, it kept on. Then the pace began +to tell on the boys. They had for some time been growing slower in +their strokes, and they were not pulled so well home. Bob engaged every +now and then in a dismal, despairing howl, usually just at the moment +when Dexter thrust his oar too deeply in the water, and had hard work to +get it out. + +But their natural exhaustion was not of such grave consequence as might +have been imagined, for their pursuer was growing weary too, and his +efforts were greatly wanting in the spirit he displayed at first. On +the other hand, though the man came on slowly, he rowed with a steady, +stubborn determination, which looked likely to last all the morning, and +boded ill for those of whom he was in chase. + +Bob's face was a study, but Dexter's back was toward him, and he could +not study it. The enemy was about two hundred yards behind, and +whenever he seemed to flag a little Bob's face brightened; but so sure +as the man glanced over his shoulder, and began to pull harder, the +aspect of misery, dread, and pitiable helplessness Bob displayed was +ludicrous; and at such times he glanced to right and left to see which +was the nearest way to the shore. + +As Bob rowed he softly pushed off his boots. Soon after he made three +or four hard tugs at his oar, and then, by a quick movement, drew one +arm out of his jacket. Then rowing with one hand he shook himself quite +clear of the garment, so as to be unencumbered when he began to swim, +for that was his intention as soon as the man overtook them, and his +peril became great. + +"He wants most of all to get the boat," he thought to himself; and soon +after he opened his heart to Dexter. + +"Lookye here!" he said, "he wants to get the boat; and if he can get +that he won't come after us. Let's row pretty close to the bank, and +get ashore and run." + +"What! and leave the boat?" cried Dexter. "That I'm sure I will not." + +Dexter pulled all the harder after hearing this proposal, and Bob +uttered a moan. + +All that morning the flight and pursuit were kept up, till on both sides +it became merely a light dipping of the oars, so as to keep the boats' +heads straight, the tide carrying them along. + +It was plain enough now that they were getting toward the mouth of the +river, which was now quite broad. Houses were growing plentiful, barges +lay at wharves or moored with other boats in the stream, and care had to +be exercised to avoid coming in collision with the many obstacles in +their way. + +But they kept on; and though at Bob's piteous suggestion they wound in +and out among the many crafts in the hope of shaking off their pursuer, +it was all in vain, for he kept doggedly on after them, with the +matter-of-fact determination of a weasel after a rabbit, sure of its +scent, and certain that before long the object of the pursuit would +resign itself to its fate. + +On still in a dreary mechanical way. Dexter could hardly move his arms, +and Bob was, in spite of his long experience, almost as helpless. + +"It's of no use," the latter said at last; and he ceased rowing. + +"No, no, Bob; don't give in!" cried Dexter excitedly. "We shall soon +tire him out now. Row! Row!" + +"Can't," said Bob drearily. "I haven't another pull in me." + +"Then give me the other scull, and let me try." + +"Yah! you couldn't pull both," cried Bob. "There, I'm going to try a +hundred more strokes, and then I shall swim ashore. I ain't going to +let him catch me." + +"Pull, then, a hundred more," cried Dexter excitedly. "Oh, do make it +two, Bob! He'll be tired out by then." + +"I'm a-going to pull a hundred," grumbled Bob, "and then give it up. +Now then!" + +The sculls splashed the water almost together, and for a few strokes the +boys pulled vigorously and well; but it was like the last bright flashes +of an expiring candle, and long before the half-hundred was reached the +dippings of the blades grew slower and slower. Then they became +irregular, while, to add to the horror of the position, the man in +pursuit seemed to have been keeping a reserve of strength ready for such +an emergency, and he now came on rapidly. + +Bob would have proposed putting ashore once more, but, in avoiding the +various crafts, they had now contrived to be about midstream, and in his +horror and dread of the coming enemy all thought of scheming seemed to +have been driven out of his head. + +He uttered a despairing yell, and began to tug at his oar once more; +Dexter followed his example, and the distance again increased. + +But only for a few minutes, then they seemed to be growing weaker, their +arms became like lead; their eyes grew dim, and the end was very near. + +"Ah, I've got yer at last, have I?" shouted the man, who was not forty +yards away now. + +"Not yet," muttered Dexter. "Pull, Bob, pull!" + +Bob responded by going through the motion of rowing, but his scull did +not dip into the water, and, meeting with no resistance, he went +backwards off the seat, with his heels in the air. + +Dexter jumped up, seized his companion's scull, and, weary as he was, +with all the stubborn English pluck which never knows when it is beaten, +he reseated himself, shipped his scull, and bent forward to try, +inexperienced as he was, to make another effort for escape. + +As he seated himself, breathless and panting hard, he gave one glance at +his enemy, then another over his shoulder at a boat on ahead, which it +would be his duty to avoid, for it seemed to be going right across his +track. + +Then he began to row, putting the little strength he had left into his +last strokes. + +"Ah, it's no good," cried the man triumphantly. "I've got yer at last." + +"How--ow!" yelled Bob, with a cry like a Newfoundland dog shut out on a +cold night. + +"Drop that there rowing, or I'll--" + +Dexter heard no more. He was pulling frantically, but making hardly any +way. Then he heard voices ahead, glanced round with his sculls raised, +and found that he was running right toward the craft just ahead. + +Another moment and there was a bump. + +The man had driven his little tub right into the stern of the gig, and +as he laid hold he snarled out-- + +"I knew I should ketch yer." + +"How--ow!" yelled Bob again, from where he lay on his back in the bottom +of the boat, his legs still over the seat. + +_Bump_! + +There was another shock, and Dexter started up, saw that he had run into +the boat ahead, and that one of the two sailors, who had been rowing, +had taken hold of the bows. + +He saw that at a glance, but he also saw something else which seemed to +freeze the blood in his breast. + +For there, seated in the stern of that large boat into which he had run, +were the Doctor, Sir James Danby, old Dan'l, and Peter. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. + +BROUGHT TO BOOK. + +Dexter did not pause a moment. It did not occur to him that he was +utterly exhausted, and could hardly move his arms. All he realised was +the fact that on the one side was the man whom he had half-killed with +the boat-hook, just about to stretch out his hand to seize him, on the +other, those whom he dreaded far more, and with one quick movement he +stepped on to the thwart of the gig, joined his hands, dived in, and +disappeared from sight, in the muddy water. + +For a few moments there was the silence of utter astonishment, and then +the man who had pursued the boys down the river began to take advantage +of the general excitement by keeping hold of the side of the gig and +beginning to draw it away; but Bob set up such a howl of dismay that it +drew Peter's attention, and he too seized the boat from the other end, +caught out the chain, and hooked it on to a ring-bolt of the big boat in +which he sat. + +"You drop that there, will yer!" cried the man. "It's my boat." + +"How--ow!" cried Bob, in the most canine of yelps; and at the same +moment the gig was literally jerked from the man's hold, for the two +sailors had given a tremendous tug at their oars to force the boat in +the direction that Dexter was likely to take after his rise, and the +next minute a dozen yards were between the tub and the gig. + +"For heaven's sake, mind! stop!" cried the doctor excitedly. "Don't +row, men, or you may strike him down." + +The men ceased rowing, and every eye began to search the surface of the +water, but no sign of Dexter could be seen. + +"He could not sink like that," cried Sir James. "He must rise +somewhere." + +But must or no, Dexter did not rise, and the men began to paddle softly +down-stream, while the doctor stood up in the boat gazing wildly round. + +"It was all my doing," he said to himself. "Poor boy! poor boy!" + +A feeling of horror that was unbearable seemed to be creeping over the +occupants of the great boat. Even Dan'l, who looked upon Dexter as his +mortal enemy, and who had suggested, in the hope of seeing him sent to +prison, that the surest way of capturing the boys was to go down to the +mouth of the river--even Dan'l felt the chill of horror as he mentally +said-- + +"'Tain't true. Them as is born to be hanged is sometimes drowned." + +But just then there was a tremendous splash, and the big boat rocked to +and fro, the captive gig danced, and Bob uttered another of his canine +yelps, for Peter had suddenly stepped on to the gunwale, dived in after +something he had seen touch the surface of the water twenty yards lower +down, where it had been rolled over and over by the rapid tide, and a +minute later, as he swam vigorously, he shouted--"I've got him!" + +And he was seen holding the boy's head above the water, as he turned to +try and stem the current, and swim back to the boat. + +The task was not long, for the two sailors sent her down with a few +vigorous sweeps of their oars, and Dexter and his rescuer were dragged +over the side, as the man with the tub slowly backed away. + +No time was lost in reaching the shore, and the insensible boy was +carried up to the principal hotel in the port, where quite an hour +elapsed before the surgeon whose services were sought was able to pause +from his arduous task, and announce that his patient would live. + +For it was a very narrow escape, and the surgeon said, as he shook hands +with Dr Grayson-- + +"Some men would have given it up in despair, sir. But there he is, safe +and sound, and, I dare say, boy-like, it will not be very long before he +gets into some mischief again." + +Sir James Danby coughed, and Doctor Grayson frowned as he met his +friend's peculiar look. But nothing was said then till the surgeon had +been up to see his patient once more, after which he returned, reported +that Dexter had sunk into a sound slumber, and then took his leave. + +"I suppose we shall not go back to Coleby to-night?" said Sir James. + +"I shall not," said the doctor; "but, my dear Danby, pray don't let me +keep you." + +"Oh! you will not keep me," said Sir James quietly. "I've got to make +arrangements about my boat being taken up the river." + +"Why not let my men row it back!" said the doctor. + +"Because I did not like to impose on your kindness." + +"Then they may take it?" + +"I shall only be too grateful," said Sir James. + +Nothing more was said till they had ordered and sat down to a snug +dinner in the hotel, when Sir James opened the ball. + +"Now, Grayson," he said, "I happen to be a magistrate." + +"Yes, of course," said the doctor uneasily. + +"Well, then, I want to have a few words with you about those two boys." + +The doctor nodded. + +"Your groom is with your _protege_, and your old gardener has that other +young scoundrel in charge." + +"In charge?" said the doctor. + +"Yes; you may call it so. I told him not to lose sight of the young +rascal, and I also told your groom to exercise the same supervision over +the other." + +"But surely, my dear Danby, you do not mean to--" + +"Deal with them as I would with any other offender? Why not?" + +The doctor had no answer ready, so Sir James went on-- + +"I valued that boat very highly, and certainly I've got it back--with +the exception of the stains upon the cushions--very little the worse. +But this was a serious theft, almost as bad as horse-stealing, and I +shall have to make an example of them." + +"But one of them has been terribly punished," said the doctor eagerly. + +"Pooh! not half enough, sir. Come, Grayson, of course this has +completely cured you of your mad folly!" + +"My mad folly!" cried the doctor excitedly. "May I ask you what you +mean?" + +"Now, my dear Grayson, pray don't be angry. I only say, as an old +friend and neighbour, surely you must be ready to agree that your wild +idea of making a gentleman out of this boy--one of the dregs of our +civilisation--is an impossibility?" + +"Nothing of the sort, sir," cried the doctor angrily. "I never felt +more certain of the correctness of my ideas." + +"Tut--tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated Sir James. "Really, Grayson, this is +too much." + +"Too much, sir? Nothing of the kind. A boyish escapade. Nothing +more." + +"Well!" said Sir James drily, "when such cases as this are brought +before us at the bench, we are in the habit of calling them thefts." + +"Theft: pooh! No, no!" cried the doctor stubbornly. "A boyish prank. +He would have sent the boat back." + +"Would he?" said Sir James drily. "I suppose you think his companion +would have done the same?" + +"I have nothing to do with the other boy," said the doctor shortly. "It +was a most unfortunate thing that Dexter should have made his +acquaintance." + +"Birds of a feather flock together, my dear Grayson," said Sir James. + +"Nothing of the kind, sir. It was my fault," cried the doctor. "I +neglected to let the boy have suitable companions of his own age; and +the consequence was that he listened to this young scoundrel, and +allowed himself to be led away." + +"Do I understand aright, from your defence of the boy, that you mean to +forgive him and take him back!" + +"Certainly!" said the doctor. + +"Grayson, you amaze me! But if I prove to you that you are utterly +wrong, and that the young dog is an arrant thief, what then?" + +"Then," said the doctor, "I'm afraid I should have to--No, I wouldn't. +I would try and reform him." + +"Well," said Sir James, "if you choose to be so ultra lenient, Grayson, +you must; but I feel that I have a duty to do, and as soon as we have +had our wine I propose that we have the prisoners here, and listen to +what they have to say." + +"Prisoners?" + +"Yes. What else would you call them?" + +Before the doctor could stand up afresh in Dexter's defence a waiter +entered the room. + +"Beg pardon, sir, but your groom says would you be good enough to step +upstairs?" + +"Bless my heart!" cried the doctor. "Is it a relapse?" + +He hurried up to the room where Dexter had been sleeping, to find that, +instead of being in bed, he was fully dressed, and lying on the floor, +with Peter the groom holding him down. + +"Why, what's the matter!" cried the doctor, as he entered the room +hastily, followed by Sir James. + +"Matter, sir?" said Peter, "matter enough. If I hadn't held him down +like this here I believe he'd 'a' been out o' that window." + +"Why, Dexter!" cried the doctor. + +The boy struggled feebly, and then, seeing the futility of his efforts, +he lay still and closed his eyes. + +"Went off fast asleep, sir, as any one would ha' thought," said Peter. +"And seeing him like that I thought I'd just go down and fetch myself a +cup o' tea; but no sooner was I out o' the room than he must have +slipped out and dressed hisself--shamming, you know--and if I hadn't +come back in the nick o' time he'd have been gone." + +The doctor frowned, and Sir James looked satisfied, as he gave him a +nod. + +"Going to run away, eh!" + +"Yes, Sir James," said the groom; "and it was as much as I could do to +hold him." + +"Get up, Peter," said the doctor. + +The groom rose, and Dexter leapt up like a bit of spring, and darted +toward the door. + +But Sir James was close to it, and catching the boy by the arm he held +him. + +"Take hold, of him, my man," he said; "and don't let him go." + +Peter obeyed, getting a tight grip of Dexter's wrist. + +"Now, you give in," he whispered. "It's no good, for I shan't let go." + +"Bring him down," said Sir James sternly. + +Peter shook his head warningly at Dexter, and then, as Sir James and the +doctor went down to their room, Peter followed with his prisoner, who +looked over the balustrade as if measuring the distance and his chance +if he made a jump. + +"Now," said Sir James, as the boy was led into the room; "stand there, +sir, and I warn you that if you attempt to run away I shall have in the +police, and be more stern. You, my man, go and tell the gardener to +bring up the other boy." + +Peter left the room after giving Dexter a glance, and the doctor began +to walk up and down angrily. He wanted to take the business into his +own hands, but Sir James was a magistrate, and it seemed as if he had a +right to take the lead. + +There was a painful silence, during which Dexter stood hanging his head, +and feeling as if he wished he had been drowned, instead of being +brought round to undergo such a painful ordeal as this. + +Ten minutes must have elapsed before a scuffling was heard upon the +stairs, and Bob Dimsted's voice whimpering-- + +"You let me alone, will yer? I never done nothing to you. Pair o' +great cowards, y'are. Don't knock me about, or it'll be the worse for +yer. Hit one o' your own size. I never said nothing to you." + +This was continued and repeated right into the room, Dan'l looking very +severe and earnest, and holding on by the boy's collar, half-dragging +him, while Peter pushed behind, and then closed the door, and stood +before it like a sentry. + +"You have not been striking the boy, I hope!" said the doctor. + +"Strike him, sir? no, not I," said Dan'l; "but I should like to. Been +a-biting and kicking like a neel to get away." + +Sir James had never seen an eel kick, but he accepted the simile, and +turning to Bob, who was whimpering and howling--"knocking me +about"--"never said nothing to him"--"if my father was here," etc. + +"Silence!" roared Sir James, in his severest tones; and Bob gave quite a +start and stared. + +"Now, sir," said Sir James. "Here, both of you; stand together, and +mind this: it will be better for both of you if you are frank and +straightforward." + +"I want to go home," whimpered Bob. "Y'ain't no business to stop me +here." + +"Silence!" roared Sir James; and Bob jumped. + +Dexter did not move, but stood with his eyes fixed to the floor. + +"Now!" said Sir James, gazing fiercely at Bob; "you know, I suppose, why +you are here." + +"No! I don't," whimpered Bob. "And y'ain't no business to stop me. I +want to go home." + +"Silence, sir!" roared Sir James again. "You do not know? Well, then, +I will tell you. You are before me, sir, charged with stealing a boat." + +"Oh!" ejaculated Bob, in a tone of wondering innocence. + +"And I perhaps ought to explain," said Sir James, looking hard at Dr +Grayson, and speaking apologetically, "that in an ordinary way, as the +boat was my property, I should feel called upon to leave the bench; but +as this is only a preliminary examination, I shall carry it on myself. +Now, sir," he continued, fixing Bob's shifty eyes, "what have you to +say, sir, for stealing my boat?" + +"Stealing your boat!" cried Bob volubly; "me steal your boat, sir? I +wouldn't do such a thing." + +"Why, you lying young dog!" + +"No, sir, I ain't, sir," protested Bob, as Dexter slowly raised his head +and gazed at him. "It wasn't me, sir. It was him, sir. That boy, sir. +I begged him not to, sir; but he would do it." + +"Oh, it was Dexter Grayson, was it?" said Sir James, glancing at the +doctor, who was gnawing his lip and beating the carpet with his toe. + +"Yes, sir; it was him, sir. I was t'other side o' the river one day, +sir," rattled off Bob, "and he shouts to me, sir, `Hi!' he says, just +like that, sir, and when I went to him, sir, he says, `Let's steal the +old cock's boat and go down the river for a game.'" + +"Well?" said Sir James. + +"Well, sir, I wouldn't, sir," continued Bob glibly. "I said it would be +like stealing the boat; and I wouldn't do that." + +"Oh!" said Sir James. + +"Is this true, Dexter!" said the doctor sternly. + +"No, sir. He wanted me to take the boat." + +"Oh, my!" cried Bob. "Hark at that now! Why, I wouldn't ha' done such +a thing." + +"No, you look a nice innocent boy," said Sir James. + +"Yes, sir; and he was allus at me about that boat, and said he wanted to +go to foreign abroad, he did, and the best way, he said, was to steal +that there boat and go." + +"Oh," said Sir James. "And what more have you to say, sir?" + +"It isn't true, sir," said Dexter, making an effort to speak, and he +gazed angrily at his companion. "Bob here wanted me to go with him, and +he persuaded me to take the boat." + +"Oh! only hark at him!" cried Bob, looking from one to the other. + +"And I thought it would be like stealing the boat to take it like that." + +"Well, rather like it," said Sir James sarcastically. + +"And so I sent that letter and that money to pay for it, sir, and I +meant to send the rest if it wasn't quite enough." + +"Ah!" ejaculated the doctor eagerly. + +"What letter? What money?" said Sir James. + +"That money I sent by Bob Dimsted, sir, to put in your letter-box." + +"I never received any money," cried Sir James. "You sent some money!" + +"Yes, sir; before we took the boat, sir." + +"Ah!" ejaculated the doctor again. + +"And you sent it by this boy?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then where is the money?" cried Sir James, turning upon Bob. + +"I dunno, sir. I never had no money." + +"You did, Bob, in a letter I gave you," cried Dexter excitedly. + +"Oh!" ejaculated Bob, with an astonished look. "Well, if ever!" + +"This is getting interesting," said Sir James. "Now, sir, where's that +money?" + +"He never give me none, sir," cried Bob indignantly. "I never see no +letter." + +"You did. The one I threw across the river to you!" said Dexter. + +"Oh, what a cracker!" cried Bob. "I never had no letter, gen'lemen, and +I never see no money. Why don't you tell the truth, and the kind +gentlemen won't be so hard on you?" + +"I am telling the truth," cried Dexter, "It was you asked me to take the +boat." + +"Only hark at him!" cried Bob. "Why yer'd better say yer didn't take +all yer clothes off and swim acrost and get it." + +"I did," said Dexter; "but you made me. You said you'd go." + +"Oh, you can tell 'em!" cried Bob. + +"And I did give you the money to take." + +"Oh, well, I've done," said Bob. "I never did hear a chap tell lies +like you can!" + +"I think that will do," said Sir James, with a side glance at the +doctor, who sat with his brows knit, listening. "Now, you will both go +back to the room where you are to sleep, and I warn you that if you +attempt to escape, so surely will you be taken by the police, and then +this matter will assume a far more serious aspect. You, my men, will +have charge of these two boys till the morning. They are not to speak +to each other, and I look to you to take them safely back to Coleby by +the early train. That will do." + +Dexter darted one glance at the doctor, but his face was averted. + +"Please, sir," he began. + +"Silence!" cried Sir James. "I think Dr Grayson understands your +character now, and I must say I never heard a more cowardly attempt to +fasten a fault upon another. No: not a word. Go!" + +Bob Dimsted was already outside with Dan'l's knuckles in the back of his +neck. + +Peter was more gentle with his prisoner as he led him away. + +"You've been and done it now, young fellow," he said. "I would ha' told +the truth." + +Dexter turned to him with bursting heart, but he could not speak, and as +soon as he was in his bedroom he threw himself before a chair, and +buried his face in his hands, so as to try and shut out the reproachful +face of Helen, which he seemed to see. + +"I wish I had not been saved," he cried at last passionately, and then +he glanced at the window, and listened, while downstairs Sir James was +saying quietly-- + +"There, Grayson, I think you understand the boy's character now." + +"No," said the doctor shortly. "I don't think I do." + +"What!" + +"And I'd give a hundred pounds," said the doctor, "to know the truth." + +"Really," said Sir James, laughing. "You are the most obstinate man I +ever knew." + +"Yes," said the doctor. "I suppose I am." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY. + +"HUZZA! WE'RE HOMEWARD BOUND!" + +The first wet day there had been for a month. It seemed as if Mother +Nature had been saving up all her rain in a great cistern, and was then +letting it out at once. + +No glorious sapphire seas and brilliant skies; no golden sunshine +pouring down on tawny sands, over which waved the long pinnate leaves of +the cocoa-nuts palms; no brilliant-coloured fish that seemed to be +waiting to be caught; no glorious life of freedom, with their boat to +enable them to glide from isle to isle, where it was always summer; but +rain, rain, rain, always rain, pouring down from a lead-black sky. + +A dreary prospect, but not half so dreary as Dexter's spirits, as he +thought of what was to come. + +If ever boy felt miserable, he did that next morning, for they were all +going back to Coleby. The romantic adventure was at an end, and he was +like a prisoner. + +Why had he left the doctor's? What had he gained by it but misery and +wretchedness. Bob had turned out one of the most contemptible cowards +that ever stepped. He had proved to be a miserable tyrannical bully +when they were alone; and in the face of danger a wretched cur; while +now that they were caught he was ready to tell any lie to save his own +skin. + +What would Helen say to him, and think of him? What would Mr Hippetts +say--and Mr Sibery? + +He would be sent back to the Union of course; and one moment he found +himself wishing that he had never left the schools to be confronted with +such misery as he felt now. + +They were on their way back by rail. The doctor, who had not even +looked at him, was in a first-class carriage with Sir James, and the +plans being altered, and the boat sent up to Coleby by a trustworthy +man, Bob and Dexter were returning in a second-class carriage, with +their custodians, Peter and old Dan'l. + +They were the sole occupants of the carriage, and soon after starting +Bob turned to Dexter-- + +"I say!" he exclaimed. + +Dexter started, and looked at him indignantly--so angrily, in fact, that +Bob grinned. + +"Yer needn't look like that," he said. "If I forgives yer, and begins +to talk to yer, what more d'yer want!" + +Dexter turned away, and looked out of the window. + +"There's a sulky one!" said Bob, with a coarse laugh; and as he spoke it +was as if he were appealing to old Dan'l and Peter in turn. "He would +do it. I tried to hold him back, but he would do it, and he made me +come, and now he turns on me like that." + +"You're a nice un," said Peter, staring hard at the boy. + +"So are you!" said the young scamp insolently. "You mind yer own +business, and look arter him. He's got to look arter me--ain't yer, +sir!" + +"Yes," said old Dan'l sourly; "and I'm going to stuff a hankychy or +something else into your mouth if you don't hold your tongue." + +"Oh, are yer!" said Bob boldly. "I should just like to see yer do it." + +"Then you shall if you don't keep quiet." + +Bob was silent for a few minutes, and then amused himself by making a +derisive grimace at Dan'l as soon as he was looking another way. + +"It was all his fault," he said sullenly. "He would take the boat." + +"Ah, there was about six o' one of you, and half a dozen of the other," +said Peter, laughing. "You'll get it, young fellow. Six weeks hard +labour, and then four years in a reformatory. That's about your dose." + +"Is it?" said Bob derisively. "That's what he'll get, and serve him +right--a sneak." + +Dexter's cheeks, which were very pale, began to show spots of red, but +he stared out of the window. + +"I shouldn't have gone, only he was allus at me," continued Bob. +"Allus. Some chaps ain't never satisfied." + +Old Dan'l filled his pipe, and began to smoke. + +"You'll get enough to satisfy you," said Peter. "I say, Dan'l, you +wouldn't mind, would you?" + +"Mind what?" grunted Dan'l. + +"Giving me one of the noo brooms. One out o' the last dozen--the long +switchy ones. I could just cut the band, and make about three reg'lar +teasers out of one broom." + +"What, birch-rods?" said Dan'l, with a sort of cast-iron knocker smile. + +"Yes," said Peter. + +"Mind? no, my lad, you may have two of 'em, and I should like to have +the laying of it on." + +"Yah! would yer!" said Bob defiantly. "Dessay you would. I should like +to see yer." + +"But you wouldn't like to feel it," said Peter. "My eye, you will open +that pretty mouth of yours! Pig-ringing'll be nothing to it." + +"Won't be me," said Bob. "It'll be him, and serve him right." + +Dexter's cheeks grew redder as he pictured the disgrace of a flogging +scene. + +"Not it," continued Peter. "You'll get all that. Sir James'll give it +you as sure as a gun. Won't he, Dan'l!" + +"Ah!" ejaculated the old gardener. "I heerd him say over and over again +that ha wouldn't lose that boat for a hundred pounds. You'll get it, my +gentleman!" + +"No, I shan't, 'cause I didn't do it. He'll give it to him, and sarve +him right, leading me on to go with him, and boasting and bouncing +about, and then pretending he wanted to buy the boat, and saying he sent +me with the money." + +"So I did," cried Dexter, turning sharply round; "and you stole it, and +then told lies." + +"That I didn't," said Bob. "I never see no money. 'Tain't likely. +It's all a tale you made up, and--oh!" + +Bob burst into a regular bellow of pain, for, as he had been speaking, +he had edged along the seat a little from his corner of the carriage, to +bring himself nearer Dexter, who occupied the opposite diagonal corner. +As Bob spoke he nodded his head, and thrust his face forward at Dexter +so temptingly, that, quick as lightning, the latter flung out his right, +and gave Bob a back-handed blow in the cheek. + +"Oh! _how_!" cried Bob; and then menacingly, "Here, just you do that +again!" + +Dexter's blood was up. There was a long course of bullying to avenge, +and he did that again, a good deal harder, with the result that the yell +Bob emitted rose well above the rattle of the carriage. + +"Well done, young un," cried Peter delightedly. "That's right. Give it +him again. Here, Dan'l, let 'em have it out, and we'll see fair!" + +"No, no, no!" growled the old gardener, stretching out one hand, and +catching Bob by the collar, so as to drag him back into his corner--a +job he had not the slightest difficulty in doing. "None o' that. +They'd be blacking one another's eyes, and there'd be a row." + +"Never mind," cried Peter, with all the love of excitement of his class. + +"No, no," said Dan'l. "No fighting;" and he gave Dexter a grim look of +satisfaction, which had more kindness in it than any the boy had yet +seen. + +"Here, you let me get at him!" cried Bob. + +"No, no, you sit still," said Dan'l, holding him back with one hand. + +The task was very easy. A baby could have held Bob, in spite of the +furious show of struggling that he made, while, on the other hand, Peter +sat grinning, and was compelled to pass one arm round Dexter, and clasp +his own wrist, so as to thoroughly imprison him, and keep him back. + +"Better let 'em have it out, Dan'l," he cried. "My one's ready." + +"Let me go. Let me get at him," shrieked Bob. + +"Yes, let him go, Dan'l," cried Peter. + +But Dan'l shook his head, and as Bob kept on struggling and uttering +threats, the old man turned upon him fiercely-- + +"Hold your tongue, will you?" he roared. "You so much as say another +word, and I'll make you fight it put." + +Bob's jaw dropped, and he stared in astonishment at the fierce face +before him, reading therein so much determination to carry the threat +into effect that he subsided sulkily in his corner, and turned away his +face, for every time he glanced at the other end of the carriage it was +to see Peter grinning at him. + +"Ah!" said Peter at last; "it's a good job for us as Dan'l held you +back. You made me shiver." + +Bob scowled. + +"He's thoroughbred game, he is, Dan'l." + +Dan'l chuckled. + +"He'd be a terrible chap when his monkey was up. Oh, I am glad. He'd +ha' been sure to win." + +"Let him alone," growled Dan'l, with a low chuckling noise that sounded +something like the slow turning of a weak watchman's rattle; and then +muttering something about white-livered he subsided into his corner, and +solaced himself with his pipe. + +Meanwhile Peter sat opposite, talking in a low tone to Dexter, and began +to ask him questions about his adventures, listening with the greatest +eagerness to the short answers he received, till Dexter looked up at him +piteously. + +"Don't talk to me, please, Peter," he said. "I want to sit and think." + +"And so you shall, my lad," said the groom; and he too took out a pipe, +and smoked till they reached Coleby. + +Dexter shivered as he stepped out upon the platform. It seemed to him +that the stationmaster and porters were staring at him as the boy who +ran away, and he was looking round for a way of retreat, so as to escape +what was to come, when Sir James and the doctor came up to them. + +"You can let that boy go," said the doctor to Dan'l. + +"Let him go, sir?" cried the gardener, looking at both the gentlemen in +turn. + +Sir James nodded. + +Bob, whose eyes had been rat-like in their eager peering from face to +face, whisked himself free, darted to the end of the platform, and +uttered a loud yell before he disappeared. + +"Look here, Dexter," said the doctor coldly; "I have been talking to Sir +James on our way here. Now sir, will you give me your word not to try +and escape?" + +Dexter looked at him for a moment or two. + +"Yes, sir," he said at last, with a sigh. + +"Then come with me." + +"Come with you, sir?" + +Dexter looked at his stained and muddy clothes. + +"Yes," said the doctor; "come with me." + +Sir James shrugged his shoulders slightly, and gave the doctor a meaning +look. + +"Good-bye, Grayson," he said, and he shook hands. + +"As for you, sir," he added sternly, as he turned to Dexter, "you and +your companion have had a very narrow escape. If it had not been for +your good friend here, matters would have gone ill with you--worse +perhaps than you think." + +Dexter hung his head, and at a sign from the doctor went to his side, +and they walked out of the station with Dan'l and Peter behind. + +The doctor stopped. + +"You have given me your word, sir, that you will come quietly up to the +house," he said coldly. + +"Yes, sir," said Dexter sadly. + +The doctor, signed to Dan'l and Peter to come up to them. + +"You can go on first," he said; and the men passed on. + +"I don't want you to feel as if you were a prisoner, Dexter," said the +doctor gravely. "It is one of the grandest things in a gentleman--his +word--which means his word of honour." + +Dexter had nothing he could say; and with a strange swelling at the +throat he walked on beside the doctor, gazing at the pavement a couple +of yards in front of him, and suffering as a sensitive boy would suffer +as he felt how degraded and dirty he looked, and how many people in the +town must know of his running away, and be gazing at him, now that he +was brought back by the doctor, who looked upon him as a thief. + +Every house and shop they passed was familiar. There were several of +the tradespeople too standing at their doors ready to salute the doctor, +and Dexter's cheeks burned with shame. His punishment seemed more than +he could bear. + +In another ten minutes they would be at the house, where Maria would +open the door, and give him a peculiar contemptuous look--the old look +largely intensified; and but for the doctor's words, and the promise +given, the boy felt that he must have run away down the first +side-turning they passed. + +Then, as Maria faded from his mental vision, pleasant old Mrs Millett +appeared, with her hands raised, and quite a storm of reproaches ready +to be administered to him, followed, when she had finished and forgiven +him, as he knew she would forgive him, by a dose of physic, deemed by +her to be absolutely necessary after his escapade. + +The house at last, and everything just as Dexter had anticipated. Maria +opened the door, and then wrinkled up her forehead and screwed up her +lips in a supercilious smile. + +"Your mistress in!" said the doctor. + +"Yes, sir, in the drawing-room, sir." + +"Hah!" ejaculated the doctor. + +"Found him, sir? _And_ brought him back!" cried a familiar voice; and +Mrs Millett hurried into the hall. "O you bold, bad boy!" she cried. +"How dare you? And you never took your medicine that night. Oh, for +shame! for shame!" + +"Hush, hush, Mrs Millett!" said the doctor sternly. "That will do." + +He signed to the old lady, and she left the hall, but turned to shake +her head at the returned culprit as she went, while Maria gave him a +meaning smile as soon as the doctor's back was turned, and then passed +through the baize door. + +The doctor stood there silent and frowning for a few minutes, with his +eyes fixed upon the floor, while Dexter awaited his sentence, painfully +conscious, and longing for the doctor to speak and put him out of his +misery. + +"Now, sir," he said at last; "you had better go in and speak to Miss +Grayson. She is waiting, I suppose, to see you in that room. I sent +word we were coming." + +"No, no," said Dexter quickly. "Don't send me in there, sir. You'd +better send me back to the school, sir. I'm no good, and shall only get +into trouble again; please send me back. I shouldn't like to see Miss +Grayson now." + +"Why not!" said the doctor sternly. + +"Because you don't believe me, sir, and she won't, and--and--you had +better send me back." + +"I am waiting to see you here, Dexter," said Helen gravely, and the boy +started away with a cry, for the drawing-room door had opened silently, +and Helen was standing on the mat. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY ONE. + +HOW THE DOCTOR PUNISHED. + +Dexter's interview with Helen was long and painful, for at first it +seemed as if she had lost all confidence and hope in the boy, till, +realising all this, he cried in a wild outburst of grief--"I know how +wrong it all was, but nearly everybody here seemed to dislike me, and I +did tell the truth about the boat, but no one believes. Do--do ask him +to send me away." + +There was a long silence here, as, for the first time, in spite of a +hard fight, Dexter could not keep back his tears. + +The silence was broken by Helen, who took his hand, and said gently-- + +"I believe you, Dexter. I am sure you would not tell a lie." + +In an instant his arms were round her neck, and he was clinging to her +unable to speak, but his eyes, his convulsed face, telling the doctor's +daughter that she was right. + +That evening, feeling very strange and terribly depressed, Dexter had +gone to his old bedroom, thinking it must be for the last time, and +wondering how Mr Sibery would treat him. + +Helen had sat talking to him for quite a couple of hours, winning from +him a complete account of his adventures, and in return relating to him +how concerned every one had been on the discovery of his evasion, and +how bitterly the doctor had been mortified on learning later on that the +boat had been taken. Who were the culprits was known in the course of +the day, with the result that, acting on the suggestion already alluded +to, the doctor had gone down to the mouth of the river to wait the +coming of the borrowers of the boat. + +Helen had exacted no promises from Dexter. He had made none, but sat +there with her, his hand in hers, wondering and puzzled how it was that +he could have run away, but the more he thought, the more puzzled he +grew. + +"Well," said the doctor that evening, as he sat with his daughter, "I +told Danby that I was more determined than ever; that it was only a +boyish escapade which he must look over to oblige me, and he agreed +after making a great many bones about it. But I feel very doubtful, +Helen, and I may as well confess it to you." + +"Doubtful?" she said. + +"Yes, my dear. I could have forgiven everything if the boy had been +frank and honest--if he had owned to his fault in a straightforward way; +but when he sought to hide his own fault by trying to throw it on +another, I couldn't help feeling disgusted." + +"But, papa--" + +"Let me finish, my dear. I know what you are about to say. Woman-like, +you are going to take his part. It will not do. The lying and deceit +are such ugly blemishes in the boy's character that I am out of heart." + +"Indeed, papa?" said Helen, smiling. "Ah, it's all very well for you to +laugh at me because I have failed over my hobby; but I feel I'm right +all the same, and I tell you that his ignorance, vulgarity--" + +"Both of which are wonderfully changed." + +"Yes, my dear, granted, and he does not talk so much about the +workhouse. He was a great deal better, and I could have forgiven this +mad, boyish prank--though what could have influenced him, I don't know." + +"I can tell you," said Helen. "A boy's love of adventure. The idea of +going off in a boat to discover some wonderful island where he could +live a Robinson Crusoe kind of life." + +"A young donkey!" cried the doctor. "But there, it's all off. I could +have forgiven everything, but the cowardly lying." + +"Then, poor fellow, he is forgiven." + +"Indeed, no, my dear. He goes back to the Union to-morrow; but I shall +tell Hippetts to apprentice him to some good trade at once, and I will +pay a handsome premium. Confound Hippetts! He'll laugh at me." + +"No, he will not, papa." + +"Yes, he will, my dear. I know the man." + +"But you will not be laughed at." + +"Why not?" + +"Because you will not send Dexter back." + +"Indeed, my dear, but I shall. I am beaten, and I give up." + +"But you said you would forgive everything but the deceit and +falsehood." + +"Yes, everything." + +"There is no deceit and falsehood to forgive." + +"What?" + +"Dexter has told me everything. The simple truth." + +"But he should have told it before, and said he took the boat." + +"He told the truth in every respect, papa." + +"My dear Helen," said the doctor pettishly, "you are as obstinate as I +am. The lying young dog--" + +"Hush, papa, stop!" said Helen gently. "Dexter is quite truthful, I am +sure." + +"That is your weak woman's heart pleading for him," said the doctor. +"No, my dear, no; it will not do." + +"I am quite certain, papa," said Helen firmly, "that he spoke the +truth." + +"How do you know, my dear?" + +"Because Dexter told me again and again before he went up to bed." + +"And you believe him?" + +"Yes, and so will you." + +"Wish I could," said the doctor earnestly. "I'd give a hundred pounds +to feel convinced." + +"You shall be convinced for less than that, papa," said Helen merrily. +"Give me a kiss for my good news." + +"There's the kiss in advance, my dear. Now, where is the news?" + +"Here, papa. If Dexter were the hardened boy you try to make him--" + +"No, no: gently. He makes himself one." + +"--he would have gone up to bed to-night careless and indifferent after +shedding a few fictitious tears--" + +"Very likely." + +"--and be sleeping heartily by now." + +"As he is, I'll be bound," cried the doctor energetically. + +"Of course, I may be wrong," said Helen, "but Dexter strikes me as being +so sensitive a boy--so easily moved, that, I am ready to say, I am sure +that he is lying there half-heartbroken, crying bitterly, now he is +alone." + +"I'll soon prove that," said the doctor sharply; and, crossing the room +in his slippers, he silently lit a candle and went upstairs to Dexter's +door, where he stood listening for a few minutes, to find that all was +perfectly still. Then turning the handle quietly, he entered, and it +was quite half an hour before he came out. + +"Well, papa?" said Helen, as the doctor returned to the drawing-room. + +"You're a witch, my dear," he said. + +"I was right?" + +"You always are, my dear." + +"And you will not send him back to the Union schools!" + +"Send him back!" said the doctor contemptuously. + +"Nor have him apprenticed?" said Helen, with a laughing light in her +eyes. + +"Have him ap--Now that's too bad, my dear," cried the doctor. "Danby +will laugh at me enough. You need not join in. Poor boy! I'm glad I +went up." + +There was a pause, during which the doctor sat back in his chair. + +"Do you know, my dear, I don't feel very sorry that the young dog went +off." + +"Not feel sorry, papa!" + +"No, my dear. It shows that the young rascal has plenty of energy and +spirit and determination." + +"I hope you did not tell him so!" + +"My dear child, what do you think me?" cried the doctor testily. "By +the way, though, he seems to thoroughly see through his companion's +character now. I can't help wishing that he had given that confounded +young cad a sound thrashing." + +"Papa!" + +"Eh? No, no: of course not," said the doctor. "I was only thinking +aloud." + +Helen sat over her work a little longer, feeling happier than she had +felt since Dexter left the house; and then the lights were extinguished, +and father and daughter went up to bed. + +The doctor was very quiet and thoughtful, and he stopped on the stairs. + +"Helen, my dear," he whispered, "see the women-servants first thing in +the morning, and tell them I strictly forbid any allusion whatever to be +made to Dexter's foolish prank." + +Helen nodded. + +"I'll talk to the men myself," he said. "And whatever you do, make Mrs +Millett hold her tongue. Tut--tut--tut! Now, look at that!" + +He pointed to a tumbler on a little papier-mache tray standing at +Dexter's door. + +"Never mind that, dear," said Helen, smiling. "I dare say it is only +camomile-tea, and it shows that the poor boy has not lost his place in +dear old Millett's heart." + +Helen kissed her father, and stopped at her own door feeling half-amused +and half-tearful as she saw the old man go on tiptoe to Dexter's room, +where, with the light of the candle shining on his silver hair and +beard, he tapped gently with his knuckles. + +"Asleep, Dexter?" + +There was a faint "No, sir!" from within. + +"Make haste and go to sleep," said the doctor. "Good-night, my boy. +God bless you!" + +Helen saw him smile as he turned away from the door, and it may have +been fancy, but she thought she saw a glistening as of moisture in one +corner of his eye. + +"Poor Dexter!" she said softly, as she entered her room, while the boy, +as he lay there in the cool, soft sheets, utterly wearied out, but +restless and feverish with excitement, felt the doctor's last words +send, as it were, a calm, soothing, restful sensation through his brain, +and five minutes later he was sleeping soundly, and dreaming that some +one bent over him, and said, "Good-night. God bless you!" once again. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY TWO. + +BOB DIMSTED'S MEDICINE. + +It was some time before Dexter could summon up courage to go down to the +breakfast-room. That he was expected, he knew, for Mrs Millett had +been to his door twice, and said first that breakfast was ready, and, +secondly, that master was waiting. + +When he did go in, he could hardly believe that he had been away, for +there was a kiss from Helen, and a frank "Good morning," and shake of +the hand from the doctor, not the slightest allusion being made to the +past till breakfast was nearly over, when Maria brought in a note. + +"Hah! From Limpney," said the doctor. "I sent Peter on to say that +Dexter was back, and that I should like the lessons to be resumed this +morning." + +Dexter's eyes lit up. The idea of being busy over lessons once more +seemed delightful. + +"Confound his impudence!" said the doctor angrily, as he ran through the +note. "Hark here, Helen: `Mr Limpney's compliments, and he begs to +decline to continue the tuition at Dr Grayson's house.'" + +Helen made a gesture, and glanced at her father meaningly-- + +"Eh? Oh! Ah! Yes, my dear. Well, Dexter, you'll have to amuse +yourself in the garden this morning. Go and have a few hours' fishing." + +"If you please, sir, I'd rather stay in here if I might, and read." + +"No, no, no," said the doctor cheerily. "Fine morning. Get Peter to +dig you some worms, and I'll come and look at you presently. It's all +right, my boy. We said last night we'd draw a veil over the past, eh? +You go and have a good morning's fishing." + +Dexter was at his side in a moment, had thrust his hand in the doctor's, +and then fled from the room. + +"Want to show him we've full confidence in him again. Bah, no! That +boy couldn't look you in the face and tell you a lie. My dear Helen, +I'm as certain of my theory being correct as of anything in the world. +But hang that Limpney for a narrow-minded, classic-stuffed, +mathematic-bristling prig! We'll have a better." + +Dexter felt a strange hesitancy; but the doctor evidently wished him to +go and fish, so he took his rod, line, and basket, and was crossing the +hall when he encountered Mrs Millett. + +"It was very nice of you, my dear, and I'm sure it will do you good. +You did take it all now, didn't you?" + +"Yes, every drop," said Dexter, smiling; and the old lady went away +evidently highly gratified. + +Old Dan'l was busy tidying up a flower-bed as he reached the lawn, and, +to Dexter's astonishment, he nodded and gave him another of his +cast-iron smiles. + +Further down the garden Peter was at work. + +"Dig you up a few worms, Master Dexter? Course I will. Come round to +the back of the old frames." + +A curious sensation of choking troubled Dexter for a few moments, but it +passed off, and in a short time he was furnished with a bag of red +worms, and walking down to the river he sat down and began to fish with +his mind going back to the night of his running away, and he seemed to +see it all again; the undressing, the hesitation, and the cold plunge +after his clothes, and all the rest of the miserable dreary time which +had proved so different from what he had pictured in his mind. + +Peter had said that the fish would "bite like fun at them worms." + +But they did not, for they had no chance. The worms crawled round and +round the canvas bag, and played at making Gordian knots with each +other, while several fish came and looked at the unbaited hook which +Dexter offered for their inspection, but preferred to leave the barbed +steel alone. + +For quite half an hour Dexter sat there dreamily gazing at his float, +but seeing nothing but the past, when he started to his feet, for there +was a splash in the water close to his feet, the drops flying over him, +and there, across the river, grinning and looking very dirty, was Bob +Dimsted. + +"Yah! Who stole the boat?" he cried. + +Dexter flushed up, but he made no reply. Only took out his line, and +this time he baited it and threw in again. + +"Yah; who stole the boat!" cried Bob again. "I say, ain't he been +licked? Ain't his back sore?" + +Dexter set his teeth hard and stared at his float, as Bob baited his own +line, and threw in just opposite, to begin fishing just as if nothing +had happened. + +It was a painful position. To go on fishing was like taking up with Bob +again; to go away seemed like being afraid. + +But Dexter determined upon this last, drew out his line, and was +stooping to pick up his basket, when Bob broke into a derisive +war-dance-- + +"Yah, yah!" he cried. "Yer 'bliged to go. Yah! yer miserable, +white-faced sneak! g'ome! g'ome! yah!" + +Dexter banged down his basket again, and threw in his line with a big +splash, as his eyes flashed defiance across the stream. + +"Ah! it's all very fine," said Bob; "but yer dussen't do that if it +weren't for the river. Why, if I'd got yer here I'd bung both yer eyes +up for yer. Yah! yer sneak!" + +"Here, you just be off. D'yer hear!" cried an angry voice; and Peter +came up, broom in hand. + +"She yarn't," cried Bob? "Who are you? This ain't your field. Stop as +long as I like. Yah!" + +"Wish I was over the other side and I'd pitch you in, you sarcy young +vagabond." + +"So are you!" cried Bob. "You dussen't touch me. Fish here as long as +I like. Pair o' cowards, that's what you are--pair o' cowards. Fight +either of yer one hand." + +"Wish we was over there," said Peter; "and we'd make you sing another +song, my fine fellow." + +"Would yer? Yah! who cares for you!" + +"Look here, you've no business to come opposite our place to fish!" +cried Peter, "so be off!" + +"Yah! 'tain't your place. Stop and fish here as long as I like; and if +ever I meet him anywheres I'll give him such a licking as'll make him +squeal." + +"You be off!" + +"Shan't." + +"Oh, you won't, won't you?" cried a gruff voice; and old Dan'l came from +behind a laurustinus clump. "You, Peter--you go and get a basket full +o' them brickbats from down by the frames, and we'll soon see whether +he'll stop there." + +"Yah! go on with your old brickbats. Who cares for you!" cried Bob. +"Yah! look at him! Who stole the boat, and cried to go home again? Who +stole the boat?" + +"Oh, if I could only get across!" said Dexter, in a hoarse low voice. + +"Would you give it him if you could!" said old Dan'l, with a grim laugh. + +"Yes," said Dexter, between his teeth. + +"Ay, he would, Dan'l," said Peter excitedly. "I wish he was over +yonder." + +"Yah! yah! look at the old caterpillar-killers," cried Bob. "Who stole +the boat? Yah!" + +These last were farewell shots. + +"They won't bite here," cried Bob, moving off, "but don't you think you +frightened me away. Come as often as I like. Yah! take him home!" + +Dexter's face was scarlet as he watched his departing enemy, thinking +the while of his own folly in leaving his friends for such a wretched +young cur as that. + +"Think he would?" said Peter. + +"Ay, two on him," said Dan'l, after glancing cautiously up toward the +house. + +"Shall us?" + +"Ay, if you like, my lad," said Dan'l. "Say, youngster, if we help you +acrost will you go and start him outer the west medder?" + +"Yes," cried Dexter excitedly. + +"All right. Don't make a row." + +Old Dan'l went off, and Peter followed, to return in five minutes with a +great shallow wooden cistern across the long barrow, old Dan'l looking +very grim as he walked by his side, and carrying the familiar +clothes-prop. + +"There, that's as good as a punt," he said. "Look here! You'd better +kneel down on it; I should take off my jacket and weskit, and roll up my +sleeves, if I was you." + +Dexter's eyes sparkled as he followed this bit of advice, while Dan'l +took one end of the cistern, Peter the other, and they gently launched +it in the little river. + +"Ain't scared of him, are yer!" said Dan'l. + +Dexter gave him a sharp look. + +"That he ain't," said Peter. "Look here, Master Dexter," he whispered, +"don't let him hug you, but give it him right straight out, and he'll be +down and howl in two two's." + +Dexter made no reply, but stepped into the great shallow punt-like +contrivance, seized the prop handed to him, and prepared to use it, but +the strong steady thrust given by Peter sent him well on his journey, +and in less than a minute he was across. + +"Come on, Dan'l," cried Peter. "Don't I wish we was acrost too!" + +They crept among the trees at the extreme corner of the garden, where +they could hold on by the boughs, and crane their necks over the river, +so as to see Dexter tearing along the opposite bank into the next meadow +where Bob was fishing, in happy ignorance of the approach of danger; +and, to further take off his attention, he had just hooked a good-sized +perch, and was playing it, when Dexter, boiling over with the +recollection of many injuries culminating in Bob's cowardly lies, came +close up and gave a formal announcement of his presence by administering +a sounding crack on the ear. + +Bob dropped his rod into the river, and nearly jumped after it as he +uttered a howl. + +"Look at that!" cried Peter, giving one of his legs a slap. "Oh, I wish +I was there!" + +Bob was as big a coward as ever stepped. So is a rat; but when driven +to bay a rat will fight. + +Bob was at bay, and he, being in pain, began to fight by lowering his +head and rushing at his adversary. + +Dexter avoided the onslaught, and gave Bob another crack on the ear. + +Then, trusting in his superior size and strength, Bob dashed at Dexter +again, and for a full quarter of an hour there was a fierce up and down +fight, which was exceedingly blackguardly and reprehensible no doubt, +but under the circumstances perfectly natural. + +Dexter got a good deal knocked about, especially whenever Bob closed +with him; but he did not get knocked about for nothing. Very soon there +were a number of unpleasant ruddy stains upon his clean white shirt, but +the blood was Bob's, and consequent upon a sensation of his nose being +knocked all on one side. + +There was a tooth out--a very white one on the grass, but that tooth was +Bob's, and, in addition, that young gentleman's eyes wore the aspect of +his having been interviewing a wasps' nest, for they were rapidly +closing up, and his whole face assuming the appearance of a very large +and puffy unbaked bun. + +Then there was a cessation of the up and down fighting; Bob was lying on +his back howling after his customary canine fashion, and Dexter was +standing over him with his doubled fists, his face flushed, his eyes +flashing, teeth set, and his curly hair shining in the sun. + +"It's splendid, Dan'l, old man," cried Peter, slapping his +fellow-servant on the back. "I wouldn't ha' missed it for half a +crown." + +"No," said Dan'l. "Hang him! he's got some pluck in him if he ain't got +no breed. Brayvo, young un! I never liked yer half--" + +Dan'l stopped short, and Peter stepped back against the dividing fence. + +"Beg pardon, sir?" + +"I said how did that boy get across the river!" said the doctor sternly. + +There was no reply. + +"Now no subterfuges," said the doctor sharply. + +Peter looked at Dan'l in dismay, but Dan'l spoke out-- + +"Well, sir, beg pardon, sir, that young cub come up to the side abusing +Master Dexter, and calling him names, and he let us have it too." + +"Yes; go on." + +"Well, sir, Master Dexter was a-chafing like a greyhound again his +collar, and Peter and me fetched the old wooden cistern, and let him +punt hisself across, and the way he went into him, sir--boy half as big +again as hisself, and--" + +"That will do," said the doctor sternly. "Here, Dexter! Come here, +sir!" + +Dexter turned in dismay, and came faltering back. + +"The moment he is home again!" said the doctor angrily. + +"Yah! Coward! G'ome, g'ome!" yelled Bob, jumping up on seeing his +enemy in retreat. "Come here again and I'll knock yer silly. Yah!" + +"Dexter!" roared the doctor; "go back and knock that young blackguard's +head off. Quick! Give it him! No mercy!" + +Dexter flew back, but Bob flew faster to the hedge, where he leaped and +stuck; Dexter overtaking him then, and administering one punch which +drove his adversary through, and he got up and ran on again. + +"Hi! Dexter!" shouted the doctor; and the boy returned slowly, as Peter +stood screwing up his face to look serious, and Dan'l gave his master +one of his cast-iron smiles. + +"Well, yes, Dan'l, it was excusable under the circumstances," said the +doctor. "But I do not approve of fighting, and--er--don't say anything +about it indoors." + +"No, sir, cert'nly not, sir," said the men, in a breath; and just then +Dexter stood on the far bank looking anxiously across. + +"Mind how you come," cried the doctor. "That's right; be careful. Give +me your hand. Bless my soul! the skin's off your knuckles. We shall +have to tell Miss Grayson after all." + +Dexter looked up at him wildly. He could not speak. + +"Better put that cistern back," said the doctor quickly; and then to +Dexter-- + +"There, slip on your things, and go up to your room and bathe your face +and hands. No, stop! I'll go on first, and shut the drawing-room +door." + +The doctor hurried away, and as soon as he was out of sight, Dexter, who +had slowly put on his waistcoat and jacket, gazed disconsolately at the +two men. + +"What shall I do?" he said dolefully. + +"Do!" cried Peter; "why, you did it splendid: he won't come no more." + +"But the doctor!" faltered Dexter, with the spirit and effervescence all +gone. + +"What, master!" cried Dan'l. "He won't say no more. Here, shake hands, +my lad. It was fine." + +"Hi! Dexter! Here, my boy, quick!" came the doctor's voice. "It's all +right. She has gone out." + +"There!" said Dan'l, laughing; and Dexter ran in. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY THREE. + +THE RIGHT PLACE FOR A BACKWARD BOY. + +"Where's Dexter?" said the doctor. + +"Down the garden," said Helen. + +"Humph! Hope he is not getting into fresh mischief." + +"I hope not, papa," said Helen; "and really I think he is trying very +hard." + +"Yes," said the doctor, going on with his writing. "How are his +knuckles now? can he hold a pen?" + +"I think I would let him wait another day or two. And, papa, have you +given him a good talking to about that fight?" + +"No. Have you?" + +"Yes, two or three times; and he has promised never to fight again." + +"My dear Helen, how can you be so absurd?" cried the doctor testily. +"That's just the way with a woman. You ask the boy to promise what he +cannot perform. He is sure to get fighting again at school or +somewhere." + +"But it seems such a pity, papa." + +"Pooh! pish! pooh! tchah!" ejaculated the doctor, at intervals. "He +gave that young scoundrel a good thrashing, and quite right too. Don't +tell him I said so." + +The doctor had laid down his pen to speak, but he took it up again and +began writing, but only to lay it aside once more. + +"Dear me! dear me!" he muttered. "I don't seem to get on with my book +as I should like." + +He put down his pen again, rose, took a turn or two up and down the +room, and then picked up the newspaper. + +"Very awkward of that stupid fellow Limpney," he said, as he began +running down the advertisements. + +"What did he say, papa, when you spoke to him?" + +"Say? Lot of stuff about losing _prestige_ with his other pupils. Was +sure Lady Danby did not like him to be teaching a boy of Dexter's class +and her son. Confound his impudence! Must have a tutor for the boy of +some kind." + +Helen glanced uneasily at her father, and then out into the garden. + +"Plenty of schools; plenty of private tutors," muttered the doctor +scanning the advertisements. "Hah!" + +"What is it, papa!" + +The doctor struck the paper in the middle, doubled it up, and then +frowned severely as he thrust his gold spectacles up on to his forehead. + +"I've made a mistake, my dear,--a great mistake." + +"About Dexter!" + +"Yes: a very great mistake." + +"But I'm sure he will improve," said Helen anxiously. + +"So am I, my dear. But our mistake is this: we took the boy from the +Union schools, and we kept him here at once, where every one knew him +and his late position. We ought to have sent him away for two or three +years, and he would have come back completely changed, and the past +history forgotten." + +"Sent him to a boarding-school!" + +"Well--er! Hum! No, not exactly," said the doctor, pursing up his +lips. "Listen here, my dear. The very thing! just as if fate had come +to my help." + +The doctor rustled the paper a little, and then began to read-- + +"`Backward and disobedient boys.'" + +"But Dexter--" + +"Hush, my dear; hear it all. Dexter is backward, and he is disobedient; +not wilfully perhaps, but disobedient decidedly. Now listen-- + +"`Backward and disobedient boys.--The Reverend Septimus Mastrum, MA +Oxon, receives a limited number of pupils of neglected education. Firm +and kindly treatment. Extensive grounds. Healthy situation. For terms +apply to the Reverend Septimus Mastrum, Firlands, Longspruce Station.'" + +"There! What do you say to that?" said the doctor. + +"I don't know what to say, papa," said Helen rather sadly. "Perhaps you +are right." + +"Right!" cried the doctor. "The very thing, my dear. I'll write to Mr +Mastrum at once. Three or four years of special education will be the +making of the boy." The doctor sat down and wrote. + +The answer resulted in a meeting in London, where the Reverend Septimus +Mastrum greatly impressed the doctor. Terms were agreed upon, and the +doctor came back. + +"Splendid fellow, my dear. Six feet high. Says Mrs Mastrum will act +the part of a mother to the boy." + +"Does he seem very severe, papa?" + +"Severe, my dear? Man with a perpetual smile on his countenance." + +"I do not like men with perpetual smiles on their countenances, papa." + +"My dear Helen, do not be so prejudiced," said the doctor angrily. "I +have seen Mr Mastrum: you have not. I have told him everything about +Dexter; he applauds my plan, and assures me that in two or three years I +shall hardly know the boy, he will be so improved." Helen sighed. + +"We had a long discussion about my book, and he agrees that I am quite +right. So pray do not begin to throw obstacles in the way." + +Helen rose and kissed her father's forehead. + +"I am going to do everything I can to aid your plans, papa," she said, +smiling. "Of course I do not like parting with Dexter, and I cannot +help feeling that there is some truth in what you say about a change +being beneficial for a time; but Dexter is a peculiar boy, and I would +rather have had him under my own eye." + +"Yes, of course, my dear. Very good of you," said the doctor; "but this +way is the best. Of course he will have holidays, and we shall go to +see him, and so on." + +"When is he to go, papa?" + +"Directly." + +"Directly?" + +"Well, in a day or two." + +Helen was silent for a moment or two, and then she moved toward the +door. + +"Where are you going!" said the doctor sharply. + +"To make preparations, and warn Mrs Millett. He must have a good box +of clothes and linen." + +"To be sure, of course," said the doctor. "Get whatever is necessary. +It is the right thing, my dear, and the boy shall go at once." + +The doctor was so energetic and determined that matters progressed very +rapidly, and the clothes and other necessaries increased at such a rate +in Dexter's room that most boys would have been in a state of intense +excitement. + +Dexter was not, and he avoided the house as much as he could, spending a +great deal of time in the garden and stables. + +"So they're going to send you off to school, eh, Master Dexter?" said +Peter, pausing to rest on his broom-handle. + +"Yes, Peter." + +"And you don't want to go? No wonder! I never liked school. Never had +much on it, neither; but I know all I want." + +"Hullo!" said a voice behind them; and, turning, Dexter saw Dan'l +standing behind him, with the first dawn of a smile, on his face. + +Dexter nodded, and began to move away. + +"So you're going off, are yer!" said Dan'l. "Two floggings a day for a +year. You're in for it, youngster." + +"Get out," said Dexter. "They don't flog boys at good schools." + +"Oh, don't they?" said Dan'l. "You'll see. Well, never mind! And, +look here, I'll ask master to let me send you a basket o' apples and +pears when they're ripe." + +"You will, Dan'l!" cried Dexter excitedly. + +"Ay: Peter and me'll do you up a basket, and take it to the station. Be +a good boy, and no more Bob Dimsted's." + +Dan'l chuckled as if he had said something very funny, and walked away. + +"Here, don't look dumpy about it, my lad," said Peter kindly. "'Tain't +for ever and a day." + +"No, Peter," said Dexter gloomily, "it isn't for ever." + +"Sorry you're going, though, my lad." + +"Are you, Peter!" + +"Am I? Course I am. A man can't help liking a boy as can fight like +you." + +Matters were growing harder for Dexter indoors now that his departure +was so near. Mrs Millett was particularly anxious about him; and so +sure as the boy went up to his room in the middle of the day, it was to +find the old housekeeper on her knees, and her spectacles carefully +balanced, trying all his buttons to see if they were fast. + +"Now I'm going to put you up two bottles of camomile tea, and pack them +in the bottom of your box, with an old coffee-cup without a handle. It +just holds the right quantity, and you'll promise me, won't you, Master +Dexter, to take a dose regularly twice a week!" + +"Yes; I'll promise you," said Dexter. + +"Now, that's a good boy," cried the old lady, getting up and patting his +shoulder. "Look here," she continued, leading him to the box by the +drawers, "I've put something else in as well." + +She lifted up a layer of linen, all scented with lavender, and showed +him a flat, round, brown-paper parcel. + +"It's not a very rich cake," she said, "but there are plenty of currants +and peel in, and I'm sure it's wholesome." + +Even Maria became very much interested in Master Dexter's boots and +shoes, and the parting from the doctor's house for the second time +promised to be very hard. + +It grew harder as the time approached, for, with the gentleness of an +elder sister, Helen exercised plenty of supervision over the +preparation. Books, a little well-filled writing-case and a purse, were +among the things she added. + +"The writing-case is for me, Dexter," she said, with a smile. + +"For you?" he said wonderingly. + +"Yes, so that I may have, at least, two letters from you every week. +You promise that?" + +"Oh yes," he said, "if you will not mind the writing." + +"And the purse is for you," she said. "If you want a little more money +than papa is going to allow you weekly, you may write and ask me." + +It grew harder still on the morning of departure, and Dexter would have +given anything to stay, but he went off manfully with the doctor in the +station fly, passing Sir James Danby and Master Edgar on the road. + +"Humph!" grunted the doctor. "See that, Dexter!" + +"I saw Sir James laugh at you when he nodded." + +"Do you know why!" + +Dexter was silent for a few minutes. + +"Because he thinks you are foolish to take so much trouble over me." + +"That's it, Dexter," said the doctor eagerly. "So, now, I'll tell you +what I want you to do." + +"Yes, sir?" + +"Show him that I'm right and he's wrong." Dexter looked a promise, for +he could not speak just then, nor yet when they had passed through +London that afternoon, reached Longspruce station, and been driven to +the Reverend Septimus Mastrum's house, five miles away among the +fir-trees and sand of that bleak region. + +Here the doctor bade him "Good-bye," and Dexter, as he was standing in +the great cold hall, felt that he was commencing a new phase in his +existence. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FOUR. + +PETER CRIBB SEES A GHOST. + +Helen rang the bell one evening and Maria answered the summons. + +"Papa thinks he would like a little supper, Maria, as we dined early +to-day. Bring up a tray. There is a cold chicken, I think!" + +"Yes, 'm," said Maria, and disappeared, but was back in a few minutes. + +"If you please, 'm, Mrs Millett says there is no cold chicken, 'm." + +"Indeed?" said Helen wonderingly. "Very well, then, the cold veal pie." + +"Yes, 'm." + +Maria disappeared, and came back again. "Please, 'm, Mrs Millett says +there is no veal pie." + +"Then tell her to make an omelette." + +"Yes, 'm." Maria left the room and came back. "Please, 'm, Mrs +Millett says there's no eggs, and it's too late to get any more." + +"Ask Mrs Millett to come here," said Helen; and the old lady came up, +looking very red. + +"Why, Millett," said Helen, "this is very strange. I don't like to find +fault, but surely there ought to have been a chicken left." + +"I'm very glad you have found fault, Miss," said Mrs Millett, "for it's +given me a chance to speak. Yes; there ought to have been a chicken, +and the veal pie too; but I'm very sorry to say, Miss, they're gone." + +"Gone?" + +"Yes, Miss. I don't know how to account for it, but the things have +begun to go in the most dreadful way. Bread, butter, milk, eggs, meat, +everything goes, and we've all been trying to find out how, but it's no +good." + +"This is very strange, Millett. Have you no idea how it is they go?" + +"No, Miss; but Dan'l fancies it must be that rough boy who led Master +Dexter away. He says he's sure he caught sight of him in the dark last +night. Somebody must take the things, and he seems to be the most +likely, knowing the place as he does." + +"This must be seen to," said Helen; and she told the doctor. +Consequently a watch was kept by the gardener and the groom, but they +found nothing, and the contents of the larder continued to disappear. + +"If it were a man," said the doctor, on being told of what was going on, +"I'd set the police to work, but I hate anything of that kind with a +boy. Wait a bit, and he will get more impudent from obtaining these +things with impunity, and then he will be more easily caught." + +"And then, papa?" said Helen. + +"Then, my dear? Do you know that thin Malacca cane in the hall? Yes, +you do. Well, my dear, the law says it is an assault to thrash a boy, +and that he ought to be left to the law to punish, which means prison +and degradation. I'm going to take that cane, my dear, and defy the +law." + +But somehow or another Master Bob Dimsted seemed to be as slippery as an +eel. He saw Peter one day and grinned at him from the other side of the +river. Two days later he was seen by Dan'l, who shook his fist at him, +and Bob said-- + +"Yah!" + +"Have you heard from Master Dexter, Miss!" said Mrs Millett one +morning. + +"No, Millett, and I am rather surprised. He promised so faithfully to +write." + +"Ah, yes, Miss," said the old lady; "and he meant it, poor boy, when he +promised, but boys are such one's to forget." + +Helen went into the library where she found the doctor biting the end of +his pen, and gazing up into a corner of the room. + +"I don't seem to be getting on as I could wish, my dear. By the way, we +haven't heard from that young dog lately. He promised me faithfully to +write regularly." + +Helen thought of Mrs Millett's words, but said nothing, and at that +moment Maria entered with the letters. + +"From Dexter?" said Helen eagerly. + +"Humph! No! But from Longspruce! I see: from Mr Mastrum." + +The doctor read the letter and frowned. + +Helen read it, and the tears stood in her eyes. + +"The young scoun--" + +"Stop, papa!" said Helen earnestly. "Do not condemn him unheard." + +"Then I shall have to go on without condemning him, for we've seen the +last of him, I suppose." + +"O papa!" + +"Well, it looks like it, my dear; and I'm afraid I've made a great +mistake, but I don't like to own it." + +"Wait, papa, wait!" said Helen. + +"What does he say? Been gone a fortnight, and would not write till he +had had the country round thoroughly searched. Humph! Afraid he has +got to Portsmouth, and gone to sea." + +Helen sighed. + +"`Sorry to give so bad an account of him,'" muttered the doctor, reading +bits of the letter--"`treated him as his own son--seemed to have an +undercurrent of evil in his nature, impossible to eradicate--tried +everything, but all in vain--was beginning to despair, but still hopeful +that patience might overcome the difficulty--patience combined with +affectionate treatment, but it was in vain--after trying to persuade his +fellow-pupils one by one, and failing, he threatened them savagely if +they dared to betray him, and then he escaped from the grounds, and has +not been seen since.'" + +There was a painful silence in the doctor's library for a few minutes. + +"`Patience combined with affectionate treatment,'" read the doctor +again. "Helen, I believe that man has beaten and ill-used poor Dexter +till he could bear it no longer, and has run away." + +"I'm sure of it, papa," cried Helen excitedly. "Do you think he will +come back!" + +"I don't know," said the doctor. "Yes, I do. No; he would be afraid. +I'd give something to know how to go to work to find him." + +"If you please, sir, may I come in?" said a pleasant soft voice. + +"Yes, yes, Millett, of course. What is it?" + +"Dan'l has been to say, sir, that he caught sight of that boy, Bob +Dimsted, crawling in the garden last night when it was dark, and chased +him, but the boy climbed one of the trained pear-trees, got on the wall, +and escaped." + +"Confound the young rascal!" cried the doctor. + +"And I'm sorry to say, sir, that two blankets have been stolen off +Master Dexter's bed." + +There was a week of watching, but Bob Dimsted was not caught, and the +doctor sternly said that he would not place the matter in the hands of +the police. But all the same the little pilferings went on, and Mrs +Millett came one morning, with tears in her eyes, to say that she +couldn't bear it any longer, for only last night a whole quartern loaf +had been taken through the larder bars, and, with it, one of the large +white jars of black-currant jam. + +Mrs Millett was consoled with the promise that the culprit should soon +be caught, and two nights later Peter came in to announce to the doctor +that he had been so near catching Bob Dimsted that he had touched him as +he chased him down the garden, and that he would have caught him, only +that, without a moment's hesitation, the boy had jumped into the river +and swum across, and so escaped to the other side. + +"Next time I mean to have him," said Peter confidently, and this he +repeated to Mrs Millett and Maria, being rewarded with a basin of the +tea which had just come down from the drawing-room. + +It was just two days later that, as Helen sat with her work under the +old oak-tree in the garden--an old evergreen oak which gave a pleasant +shade--she became aware of a faint rustling sound. + +She looked up, but could see nothing, though directly after there was a +peculiar noise in the tree, which resembled the chopping of wood. + +Still she could see nothing, and she had just resumed her work, thinking +the while that Dexter would some day write, and that her father's +correspondence with the Reverend Septimus Mastrum had not been very +satisfactory, when there was a slight scratching sound. + +She turned quickly and saw that a ragged-looking squirrel had run down +the grey trunk of the tree, while, as soon as it saw her, it bounded +off, and to her surprise passed through the gateway leading into the +yard where the old stable stood. + +Helen Grayson hardly knew why she did so, but she rose and followed the +squirrel, to find that she was not alone, for Peter the groom was in the +yard going on tiptoe toward the open door of the old range of buildings. + +He touched his cap on seeing her. + +"Squir'l, Miss," he said. "Just run in here." + +"I saw it just now," said Helen. "Don't kill the poor thing." + +"Oh no, Miss; I won't kill it," said Peter, as Helen went back into the +garden. "But I mean to catch it if I can." + +Peter went into the dark old building and looked round, but there was no +sign of the squirrel. Still a little animal like that would be sure to +go upwards, so Peter climbed the half-rotten ladder, and stood in the +long dark range of lofts, peering among the rafters and ties in search +of the bushy-tailed little creature. + +He walked to the end in one direction, then in the other, till he was +stopped by an old boarded partition, in which there was a door which had +been nailed up; but he remembered that this had a flight of steps, or +rather a broad-stepped old wood ladder, on the other side, leading to a +narrower loft right in the gable. + +"Wonder where it can be got," said Peter to himself; and then he turned +round, ran along the loft, dropped down through the trap-door, and +nearly slipped and fell, so hurried was his flight. + +Half-across the yard he came upon Dan'l wheeling a barrow full of mould +for potting. + +"Hallo! what's the matter?" + +Peter gasped and panted, but said nothing. + +"Haven't seen a ghost, have you?" said Dan'l. + +"Ye-es. No," panted Peter. + +"Why, you white-faced, cowardly noodle!" cried Dan'l. "What d'yer +mean?" + +"I--I. Come out of here into the garden," whispered Peter. + +Dan'l was going down the garden to the potting-shed, so he made no +objection, and, arrived there, Peter, with solemn emphasis, told how he +had gone in search of the squirrel, and that there was something up in +the loft. + +"Yes," said old Dan'l contemptuously--"rats." + +"Yes; I know that," said Peter excitedly; and his eyes looked wild and +dilated; "but there's something else." + +Dan'l put down the barrow, and sat upon the soft mould as he gave his +rough stubbly chin a rub. + +"Lookye here, Peter," he said; "did yer ever hear tell about ghosts +being in old buildings?" + +"Yes," said Peter, with an involuntary shiver, and a glance across the +wall at a corroded weathercock on the top of the ancient place. + +"Well, my lad, ghosts never comes out in the day-time: only o' nights; +and do you know what they are?" + +Peter shook his head. + +"Well, then, my lad, I'll tell you. I've sin several in my time. Them +as you hears and don't see's rats; and them as you sees and don't hear's +howls. What d'yer think o' that?" + +"It wasn't a rat, nor it wasn't a howl, as I see," said Peter solemnly; +"but something gashly horrid, as looked down at me from up in the +rafters of that there dark place, and it made me feel that bad that I +didn't seem to have no legs to stand on." + +"Tchah!" cried the gardener. "What yer talking about?" + +"Anything the matter?" said the doctor, who had come up unheard over the +velvety lawn. + +"Hush!" whispered Peter imploringly. + +"Shan't hush. Sarves you right," growled Dan'l. "Here's Peter, sir, +just seen a ghost." + +"Ah! has he?" said the doctor. "Where did you see it, Peter?" + +"I didn't say it were a ghost, sir, I only said as I see something +horrid up at end of the old loft when I went up there just now after a +squir'l." + +"Squirrel!" said the doctor angrily. "What are you talking about, man? +Squirrels live in trees, not in old lofts. You mean a rat." + +"I know a squir'l when I see one, sir," said Peter; "and I see one go +'crost the yard and into that old stable." + +"Nonsense!" said the doctor. + +"Did you find it, Peter!" said Helen from under the tree. + +"Find what?" said the doctor. + +"A squirrel that ran from here across the yard." + +Peter looked from one to the other triumphantly, as he said-- + +"No, Miss, I didn't." + +"Humph!" grunted the doctor. "Then there was a squirrel!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And you saw something strange!" + +"Yes, sir, something awful gashly, in the dark end, sir." + +"Bah!" cried the doctor. "There, go and get your stable lanthorn and +we'll see. Helen, my dear, we've got a ghost in the old stable loft: +like to come and see it!" + +"Very much, papa," said Helen, smiling in a way that put Peter on his +mettle, for the moment before he had been ready to beg off. + +He went pretty quickly to get his stable lanthorn, and came back with it +alight, and looking very pale and sickly, while he bore a stout +broomstick in the other hand. + +"For shame, man! Put away that absurd thing," said the doctor, as he +led the way through the gate in the wall, followed by Helen, Peter and +Dan'l coming behind. + +"Go first with the lanthorn," said the doctor to the old gardener, but +Peter was stirred to action now. + +"Mayn't I go first, sir!" he said. + +"Oh yes, if you have enough courage," said the doctor; and Peter, +looking very white, led the way to the foot of the ladder, went up, and +the others followed him to the loft, and stood together on the old +worm-eaten boards. + +The lanthorn cast a yellow glow through its horn sides, and this, +mingling with the faint pencils of daylight which came between the +tiles, gave a very peculiar look to the place, festooned as the +blackened beams were with cobwebs, which formed loops and pockets here +and there. + +"There's an old door at the extreme end there, or ought to be," said the +doctor. "Go and open it." + +Peter went on in advance. + +"Mind the holes, my dear," said the doctor. "What's that?" + +A curious rustling noise was heard, and, active as a young man, Dan'l +ran back to the top of the ladder and descended quickly. + +"Well 'tain't me as is skeart now," said Peter triumphantly. + +Just then there was a sharp clap from somewhere in front, as if a small +trap-door had been suddenly closed, and Dan'l's voice came up through +the boards. + +"Look out!" he shouted, and his voice sounded distant. "There's some +one up in the far loft there. He tried to get down into one of the +hay-racks, but I frightened him back." + +"Stop there!" said the doctor. "We'll soon see who it is. Go on, +Peter, and open that door. That young larder thief for a guinea, my +dear," he continued to Helen, as Peter went on in advance. + +"Door's nailed up, sir," said the latter worthy, as he reached the old +door, and held the lanthorn up and down. + +"How came it nailed up?" said the doctor, as he examined the place. "It +has no business to be. Go and get an iron chisel or a crowbar. Are you +there, Daniel?" + +"Yes, sir," came from below. "I'm on the look-out. It's that there +young poacher chap, Bob Dimsted." + +Peter set the lanthorn on the floor and hurried off, leaving the little +party watching and listening till he returned, but not a sound broke the +silence, and there was nothing to see but the old worm-eaten wood and +blackened tiles. + +"I've brought both, sir," said Peter breathlessly, and all eagerness +now, for he was ashamed of his fright. + +"Wrench it open, then," said the doctor; and after a few sharp cracks +the rotten old door gave way, and swung upon its rusty hinges, when a +strange sight met the eyes of those who pressed forward into the further +loft. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FIVE. + +A STARTLING DISCOVERY. + +The rough loft had been turned into a kind of dwelling-place, for there +was a bed close under the tiles, composed of hay, upon which, neatly +spread, were a couple of blankets. On the other side were a plate, a +knife, a piece of bread, and a jam-pot, while in the centre were some +rough boxes and an old cage, on the top of which sat the ragged +squirrel. + +"There," said Peter triumphantly, as he pointed to the squirrel. + +The doctor was looking eagerly round in search of the dweller in this +dismal loft, but there was no one visible. + +"Found him, sir?" came from below. + +"No, not yet," replied the doctor. "Here, Peter, go up that other +place." + +There was no hesitation on the groom's part now. He sprang up the +second ladder and went along under the roof, but only to come back +shaking his head. + +"No one up there, sir." + +"Are you sure he did not come down!" cried the doctor, as Peter lifted a +rough trap at the side, through which, in bygone days, the horses' hay +had been thrust down. + +"Quite sure, sir," shouted back Dan'l. "I just see his legs coming +down, and he snatched 'em up again, and slammed the trap." + +"The young rascal!" said the doctor; "he's here somewhere. There must +be some loose boards under which he is hidden." + +But there was not a loose board big enough to hide Bob Dimsted; and +after another search the doctor rubbed his head in a perplexed manner. + +"Shall I come up, sir, and have a look?" said Dan'l. + +"No, no. Stay where you are, and keep a sharp look-out," cried the +doctor. "Why, look here," he continued to Helen; "the young scoundrel +has been leading a nice life here, like a Robinson Crusoe in an +uninhabited island. Ah! at last!" shouted the doctor, staring straight +before him; "there he is. Here, Peter, hand me the gun!" + +Peter stared at his master, whose eyes twinkled with satisfaction, for +his feint had had the desired effect--that of startling the hiding +intruder. + +As the doctor's words rang out there was a strange rustling sound +overhead; and, as they all looked up, there came a loud crack, then +another and another, and right up, nearly to the ridge of the roof, a +leg came through, and then its fellow, in company with a shower of +broken tiles, which rattled upon the rough floor of the loft. + +The owner of the legs began to make a desperate effort to withdraw them, +and they kicked about in a variety of peculiar evolutions; but before +they could be extricated, Peter had climbed up to an oaken beam, which +formed one of the roof ties, and from there reached out and seized one +of the legs by the ankle. + +"I've got him," he cried gleefully. "Which shall we do, sir--pull him +through, or get the ladder up to the roof and drag him out?" + +"Here, Daniel! Come up," said the doctor. + +The old gardener came up eagerly; and one of his cast-iron grins +expanded his face as he grasped the situation. + +"Brayvo, Peter!" he cried. "That's the way to ketch a ghost. Hold him +tight, lad!" + +The doctor smiled. + +"Don't let them hurt him, papa," whispered Helen. + +"Oh no; they shall not hurt him," said the doctor quietly. Then, +raising his voice--"Now, sir, will you come down quietly, or shall I +send for the police to drag you out on to the roof?" + +An indistinct murmur came down, after a vigorous struggle to get free. + +"Woho! Woho, kicker!" cried Peter, speaking as if to a horse. + +"What does he say!" said the doctor. + +"Says he'll come down if I'll let go." + +"Don't you trust him, sir," cried Dan'l excitedly. + +"I do not mean to," said the doctor. "Will you come down quietly?" he +shouted. + +There was another murmur. + +"Says `_yes_,' sir," cried Peter. + +"Then, look here," said the doctor, "you hold him tight, and you," he +continued to the gardener, "climb up on that beam and push off a few +tiles. Then you can draw him down through there." + +"All right, sir," cried Dan'l; and as Peter held on to the leg, the old +gardener, after a good deal of grunting and grumbling, climbed to his +side, and began to let in daylight by thrusting off tile after tile, +which slid rattling down the side of the roof into the leaden guttering. + +The opening let in so much daylight that the appearance of the old loft +was quite transformed, but the group on the worm-eaten beam was the +principal object of attention till just as Dan'l thrust off the fourth +tile, when there was a loud crack, a crash, and gardener, groom, and +their prisoner lay in a heap on the floor of the loft, while pieces of +lath and tile rattled about their heads. + +The old tie had given way, and they came down with a rush, to the +intense astonishment of all; but the distance to fall was only about +five feet, and the wonder connected with the fall was as nothing to that +felt by Helen and her father, as the smallest figure of the trio +struggled to his feet, and revealed the dusty, soot-smeared face of +Dexter, with his eyes staring wildly from the Doctor to Helen and back +again. + +"Dexter!" cried Helen. + +"You, sir!" cried the doctor. + +"Well, I _ham_!" ejaculated Peter, getting up and giving his thigh a +slap. + +Dan'l sat on the floor rubbing his back, and he uttered a grunt as his +face expanded till he displayed all his front teeth--a dismal array of +four, and not worth a bite. + +"Are you hurt?" cried Helen. + +Dexter shook his head. + +"Are either of you hurt?" said the doctor frowning. + +"Screwed my off fetlock a bit, sir," said Peter, stooping to feel his +right ankle. + +"Hurt?" growled Dan'l. "Well, sir, them's 'bout the hardest boards as +ever I felt." + +"Go and ask Mrs Millett to give you both some ale," said the doctor; +and the two men smiled as they heard their master's prescription. "Then +go on and tell the builder to come and patch up this old roof. Here, +Dexter, come in." + +Dexter gave Peter a reproachful look, and limped after the doctor. + +"Well, let's go and have that glass o' beer Peter," said Dan'l. "Talk +about pickles!" + +"My!" said Peter, slapping his leg again. "Why, it were him we see +every night, and as swum across the river. Why, he must ha' swum back +when I'd gone. I say, Dan'l, what a game!" + +"Hah!" ejaculated the old gardener, wiping his mouth in anticipation. +"It's my b'lief, Peter, as that there boy'll turn out either a reg'lar +good un, or 'bout the wust as ever stepped." + +"Now, sir!" said the doctor, as he closed the door of the library, and +then with a stern look at the grimy object before him took a seat +opposite Helen. "What have you to say for yourself!" + +Dexter glanced at Helen, who would not meet his gaze. + +"Nothing, sir." + +"Oh, you have nothing to say! Let me see, now. You were sent to a good +school to be taught by a gentleman, and treated as a special pupil. You +behaved badly. You ran away. You came here and made yourself a den; +you have been living by plunder ever since, and you have nothing to +say!" + +Dexter was silent, but his face was working, his lips quivering, and his +throat seemed to swell as his breath came thick and fast. + +At last his words came in a passionate appeal, but in a broken, +disjointed way; and it seemed as if the memory of all he had suffered +roused his nature into a passionate fit of indignation against the +author of all the trouble. + +"I--I couldn't bear it," he cried; "I tried so hard--so cruel--said he +was to break my spirit--that I was bad--he beat me--seven times--I did +try--you wanted me to--Miss Grayson wanted me to--I was always trying-- +punished me because--so stupid--but I tried--I took a bit of candle--I +was trying to learn the piece--the other boys were asleep--he came up-- +he caned me till I--till I couldn't bear it--break my spirit--he said +he'd break it--I dropped from the window--fell down and sprained my +ankle--but I walked--back here--then I was--afraid to tell you, and I +hid up there." + +There were no tears save in the boy's voice; but there was a ring of +passionate agony and suffering in every tone and utterance; and, as +Helen read in the gaunt figure, hollow eyes, and pallor of the cheeks +what the boy must have gone through, she turned in her chair, laid her +arm on the back, her face went down upon it, and the tears came fast. + +The doctor was silent as the boy went on; his lips were compressed and +his brow rugged; but he did not speak, till, with wondering eyes, he saw +Dexter turn, go painfully toward where Helen sat with averted face, look +at her as if he wanted to speak, but the words would not come, and, with +a sigh, he limped toward the door. + +"Where are you going, sir!" said the doctor roughly. + +"Up there, sir," said Dexter, in a low-toned weary voice, which sounded +as if all the spirit had gone. + +"Up there!" cried the doctor. + +"Yes," said Dexter feebly; and without turning round--"to Mr Hippetts, +and to Mr Sibery, sir. To take me back. It's no good. I did try so-- +hard--so hard--but I never had--no mother--no father--not like--other +boys--and--and--" + +He looked wildly round, clutching at vacancy, and then reeled and fell +heavily upon the carpet. + +For Mr Mastrum had done his work well. His system for breaking the +spirit of unruly boys, and making them perfectly tame, seemed to have +reached perfection. + +With a cry of horror Helen Grayson sprang from her seat, and sank upon +her knees by Dexter's side, to catch his head to her breast, while the +doctor tore at the bell. + +"Bring brandy--water, quick!" he said; "the boy has fainted." + +It was quite true, and an hour elapsed before he looked wildly round at +those about him. + +He tried to rise, and struggled feebly. Then as they held him back he +began to talk in a rapid disconnected way. + +"'Bliged to take it--so hungry--yes, sir--please, sir--I've come back, +sir--come back, Mr Sibery, sir--if Mr Hippetts will let me stay-- +where's Mother Curdley--where's nurse!" + +"O father!" whispered Helen excitedly! "Poor, poor boy! what does this +mean?" + +"Fever," said the doctor gently, as he laid his hand upon the boy's +burning forehead and looked down in his wild eyes. "Yes," he said +softly, "fever. He must have suffered terribly to have been brought to +this." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SIX. + +FEVER WORKS WONDERS. + +Doctor Grayson's book stood still. + +For many years past he had given up the practice of medicine, beyond +writing out a prescription for his daughter or servants, but he called +in the services of no other medical man for poor Dexter. + +"No, my dear," he said. "It is my fault entirely that the boy is in +this state, and if such knowledge as I possess can save him, he shall +come down hale and strong once more." + +So Dexter had the constant attention of a clever physician and two +nurses, who watched by him night and day, the doctor often taking his +turn to relieve Helen or Mrs Millett, so that a little rest might be +theirs. + +And all through that weary time, while the fever was culminating, those +who watched learned more of the poor fellow's sufferings at the +scholastic establishment, during his flight, when he toiled homeward +with an injured foot, and afterwards when he had taken possession of his +old den, and often nearly starved there, in company with his squirrel-- +his old friend whom he found established in the loft, whence it sallied +forth in search of food, as its master was obliged to do in turn. + +One night Helen went up to relieve Mrs Millett, and found Maria leaning +against the door outside, crying silently, and this impressed her the +more, from the fact that Peter and Dan'l had each been to the house +three times that day to ask how Master Dexter was. + +Maria hurried away, and Helen entered, to find old Mrs Millett standing +by the bedside, holding one of the patient's thin white hands, and +watching him earnestly. + +"Don't say he's worse," whispered Helen. + +"Hush, my dear," whispered the old woman. "Ring, please, Miss; master +said I was to if I saw any change." + +Helen glided to the bell, and then ran back to the bed, to stand +trembling with her hands clasped, and her eyes tearless now. + +The doctor's step was heard upon the stairs, and he entered +breathlessly, and without a word crossed to the bed, to bend down over +the sufferer as he held his wrist. + +The silence in that room was terrible to two of the inmates, and the +suspense seemed to be drawn out until it was almost more than could be +borne. + +At last the doctor turned away, and sank exhausted in a chair; and as +Helen caught his hand in hers, and questioned him with her eyes, he said +in a low and reverent voice-- + +"Yes, Helen, our prayers have been heard. Poor fellow! he will live." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN. + +CONVALESCENCE. + +"Get out," said Dan'l, some weeks later. "Tired? Why, I could pull +this here inv'lid-chair about the garden all day, my lad, and not know +it." + +"But why not rest under one of the trees for a bit?" said Dexter. + +"'Cause I don't want to rest; and if I did, it might give you a chill. +Why, you're light as light, and this is nothing to the big roller." + +"I'm afraid I'm a great deal of trouble to you all," said Dexter, as he +sat back, supported by a pillow, and looking very white, while from time +to time he raised a bunch of Dan'l's choicest flowers to his nose. + +"Trouble? Tchah! And, look here! master said you was to have as much +fruit as you liked. When'll you have another bunch o' grapes!" + +"Oh, not yet," said Dexter smiling, and he looked at the grim face of +the old gardener, who walked slowly backwards as he drew the chair. + +"Well, look here," said Dan'l, after a pause. "You can do as you like, +but you take my advice. Peter's gone 'most off his head since master +said as you might go out for a drive in a day or two; but don't you be +in no hurry. I can draw you about here, where it's all nice and warm +and sheltered, and what I say is this: if you can find a better place +for a inv'lid to get strong in than my garden, I should like to see it. +Humph! There's Missus Millett working her arms about like a mad +windmill. Got some more jelly or blammondge for you, I s'pose. Lookye +here, Master Dexter, just you pitch that sorter thing over, and take to +beef underdone with the gravy in it. That'll set you up better than +jelleries and slops." + +Dan'l was right. Mrs Millett was waiting with a cup of calves'-feet +jelly; and Maria had brought out a rug, because it seemed to be turning +cold. + +Two days later Dan'l was called away to visit a sick relative, and +Peter's face was red with pleasure as he brought the invalid chair up to +the door after lunch, and helped deposit the convalescent in his place, +Helen and the doctor superintending, and Mrs Millett giving additional +orders, as Maria formed herself into a flesh and blood crutch. + +"There, Dexter," said the doctor; "we shall be back before it's time for +you to come in." + +He nodded, and Helen bent down and kissed the boy. Then there was the +crushing of the wheels on the firm gravel, and Dexter lay back breathing +in health. + +"Thought I was never going to have a pull at the chair, Mas' Dexter," +said Peter. "Old Dan'l gets too bad to live with. Thinks nobody can't +take care of you but him. Let's see, though; he said I was to cut you a +bunch of them white grapes in Number 1 house, and there was two green +figs quite ripe if you liked to have them." + +Peter pulled the carriage up and down the garden half a dozen times, +listening the while till he heard the dull bang of the front door. + +"They're gone," he said gleefully. "Come on!" + +He went down the garden at a trot, and then carefully drew the +wheeled-chair on to the grass at the bottom. + +"Peter, did you feed the squirrel!" said Dexter suddenly. + +Peter looked round very seriously, and shook his head. + +"Oh!" ejaculated Dexter. "Why didn't you feed the poor thing?" + +"Wait a minute and you'll see," said the groom; and, drawing the chair a +little further, until it was close to the brink of the bright river, he +turned round-- + +"Thought you'd like to feed him yourself, so I brought him down." + +There, on a willow branch, hung the old cage, with the squirrel inside, +and Peter thrust his hand into his pocket to withdraw it full of nuts. + +But Peter had not finished his surprise, for he left the chair for a few +moments and returned with Dexter's rod and line, and a bag of worms. + +"Going to fish?" said Dexter eagerly. + +"No, but I thought you'd like to now you was better," said Peter. +"There, you can fish as you sit there, and I'll put on your bait, and +take 'em off the hook." + +Dexter fished for half an hour, but he did not enjoy it, for he could +not throw in his line without expecting to see Bob Dimsted on the other +side. So he soon pleaded fatigue, and was wheeled out into the +sunshine, and to the door of the vinery, up which he had scrambled when +he first came to the doctor's house. + +A week later he was down at Chale, in the Isle of Wight, where the +doctor had taken a house; and here, upon the warm sands, Dexter sat and +lay day after day, drinking in the soft sea air, and gaining strength, +while the doctor sat under an umbrella to think out fresh chapters for +his book, and Helen either read to her invalid or worked. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT. + +THE PROOF OF THE DOCTOR'S THEORY. + +Three years, as every one knows, look like what they are--twenty-six +thousand two hundred and eighty long hours from one side, and they look +like nothing from the other. They had passed pleasantly and well, for +the doctor had been so much pleased with his Isle of Wight house that he +had taken it for three years, and transported there the whole of his +household, excepting Dan'l, who was left in charge at Coleby. + +"You see, my dear," the doctor had said; "it's a mistake for Dexter to +be at Coleby until he has gone through what we may call his caterpillar +stage. We'll take him back a perfect--" + +"Insect, papa?" said Helen, smiling. + +"No, no. You understand what I mean." + +So Dexter did not see Coleby during those three years, in which he +stayed his terms at a school where the principal did not break the +spirit of backward and unruly boys. On the contrary, he managed to +combine excellent teaching with the possession of plenty of animal +spirits, and his new pupil gained credit, both at home and at the +school. + +"Now," said the doctor, on the day of their return to the old home, as +he ran his eye proudly over the sturdy manly-looking boy he was taking +back; "I think I can show Sir James I'm right, eh, my dear?" + +Old Dan'l smiled a wonderful smile as Dexter went down the garden +directly he got home. + +"Shake hands with you, my lad?" he said, in answer to an invitation; +"why, I'm proud. What a fine un you have growed! But come and have a +look round. I never had such a year for fruit before." + +Chuckling with satisfaction, the doctor was not content until he had +brought Sir James and Lady Danby to the house to dinner, in company with +their son, who had grown up into an exceedingly tall, thin, pale boy +with a very supercilious smile. + +No allusion was made to the doctor's plan, but the dinner-party did not +turn out a success, for the boys did not seem to get on together; and +Sir James said in confidence to Lady Danby that night, precisely what +Dr Grayson said to Helen-- + +"They never shall be companions if I can help it. I don't like that +boy." + +Over the dessert, too, Sir James managed to upset Dexter's equanimity by +an unlucky speech, which brought the colour to the boy's cheeks. + +"By the way, young fellow," he said, "I had that old friend of yours up +before me, about a month ago, for the second time." + +Dexter looked at him with a troubled look, and Sir James went on, as he +sipped his claret. + +"You know--Bob Dimsted. Terrible young blackguard. Always poaching. +Good thing if they had a press-gang for the army, and such fellows as he +were forced to serve." + +It was at breakfast the next morning that the doctor waited till Dexter +had left the table, and then turned to Helen-- + +"I shall not forgive Danby that unkind remark," he said. "I could +honestly do it now, and say, `There, sir, I told you I could make a +gentleman out of any material that I liked to select; and I've done it.' +But no: I'll wait till Dexter has passed all his examinations at +Sandhurst, and won his commission, and then--Yes, Maria--what is it!" + +"Letter, sir, from the Union," said Maria. + +"Humph! Dear me! What's this? Want me to turn guardian again, and I +shall not. Eh, bless my heart! Well, well, I suppose we must." + +He passed the letter to Helen, and she read Mr Hippetts formal piece of +diction, to the effect that one of the old inmates, a Mrs Curdley, was +in a dying state, and she had several times asked to see the boy she had +nursed--Obed Coleby. During the doctor's absence from the town the +master had not felt that he could apply; but as Dr Grayson had +returned, if he would not mind his adopted son visiting the poor old +woman, who had been very kind to him as a child, it would be a +Christian-like deed. + +"Yes; yes, of course, of course," said the doctor; and he called Dexter +in. + +"Oh yes!" cried the lad, as he heard the request. "I remember all she +did for me so well, and--and--I have never been to see her since." + +"My fault--my fault, my boy," said the doctor hastily. "There, we shall +go and see her now." + +There were only two familiar faces for Dexter to encounter, first, +namely, those of Mr Hippetts and the schoolmaster, both of whom +expressed themselves as being proud to shake their old pupil's hand. + +Then they ascended to the infirmary, where the old nurse lay very +comfortable and well cared for, and looking as if she might last for +months. + +Her eyes lit up as she saw Dexter; and, when he approached, she held out +her hand, and made him sit down beside her. + +"And growed such a fine chap!" she said, again and again. + +She had little more to say, beyond exacting a promise that he would come +and see her once again, and when he was about to leave she put a small, +dirty-looking, brown-paper packet in his hand. + +"There," she said. "I'd no business to, and he'd ha' took it away if +he'd ha' known; but he didn't; and it's yours, for it was in your +father's pocket when he come here and died." + +The "he" the poor old woman meant was the workhouse master, and the +packet was opened in his presence, and found to contain a child's linen +under-garment plainly marked--"Max Vanburgh, 12," and a child's +highly-coloured toy picture-book, frayed and torn, and further +disfigured by having been doubled in half and then doubled again, so +that it would easily go in a man's pocket. + +It was the familiar old story of Little Red Riding-Hood, but the +particular feature was an inscription upon the cover written in a +delicate feminine hand-- + + "For my darling Max on his birthday, June 30th, 18--. + Alice Vanburgh, The Beeches, Daneton." + +"But you told me the boy's father was a rough, drunken tramp, who died +in the infirmary." + +"Yes, sir, I did," said Mr Hippetts, when he had a private interview +with the doctor next day. "But it seems strange." + +"Very," said the doctor. + +Helen also agreed that it was very strange, and investigations followed, +the result of which proved, beyond doubt, that Dexter Grayson, otherwise +Obed Coleby, was really Maximilian Vanburgh, the son of Captain Vanburgh +and Alice, his wife, both of whom died within two years of the day when, +through the carelessness of a servant, the little fellow strayed away +out through the gate and on to the high-road, where he was found far +from home, crying, by the rough, tipsy scoundrel who passed that way. + +The little fellow's trouble appealed to what heart there was left in the +man's breast, and he carried him on, miles away, careless as to whom he +belonged to, and, day by day, further from the spot where the search was +going on. The child amused him; and in his way he was kind to it, while +the little fellow was of an age to take to any one who played with and +petted him. Rewards and advertisements were vain, for they never +reached the man's eyes, and his journeyings were on and on through a +little-frequented part of the country, where it was nobody's business to +ask a rough tramp how he came by the neglected-looking, ragged child, +who clung to him affectionately enough. The little fellow was happy +with him for quite three months, as comparison of dates proved, and what +seemed strange became mere matter of fact--to wit, that Dexter was a +gentleman by birth. + +All this took time to work out, but it was proved incontestably, the old +nurse having saved all that the rough fellow had left of his little +companion's belongings; and when everything was made plain, there was +the fact that Dexter was an orphan, and that he had found a home that +was all a boy could desire. + +"There, papa! what have you to say now?" said Helen to the doctor one +day. + +"Say?" he said testily. "Danby will laugh at me when he knows, and +declare my theory is absurd. I shall never finish that book." + +"But you will not try such an experiment again?" said Helen laughingly. + +Just then Dexter came in sight, bright, frank, and manly, and merrily +whistling one of Helen's favourite airs. + +"No," said the doctor sharply; and then--"God bless him! Yes: if it was +to be the making of such a boy as that!" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Quicksilver, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUICKSILVER *** + +***** This file should be named 21363.txt or 21363.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/3/6/21363/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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