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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Weathercock, 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: The Weathercock
+       Being the Adventures of a Boy with a Bias
+
+Author: George Manville Fenn
+
+Illustrator: A.W. Cooper
+
+Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21375]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WEATHERCOCK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+The Weathercock, Being the Adventures of a Boy with a Bias, by George
+Manville Fenn.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+There is actually another title to this book, "The Boy Inventer", and
+that is just the character of our sixteen-year-old hero.  He is living
+with his uncle, who is a doctor in a small Lincolnshire village.  He is
+friendly, after a fashion, with three boys who are living in the
+Rector's house, where they are being educated.
+
+Our hero, Vane Lee, is also a bit of a naturalist, as is the author of
+this book.  But some of his inventions have a way of going wrong, as for
+example when he decides to make the defective church clock work.  He
+takes it all to pieces, cleans all the parts up, and puts it all
+together again--with the exception of two vital wheels.  In the middle
+of the night the clock's bell begins to strike without cease--the signal
+in the village for a fire.  Everybody turns out and rushes about with
+fire hoses looking for the fire, and it takes a while before they find
+out that there never was a fire at all.
+
+But one day Vane is set upon by two gipsy boys, and beaten nearly to
+death.  Nobody knows who did the deed, as Vane is for a long while
+unconscious.  Eventually he comes round, and things become a little bit
+clearer, but exactly how I will not reveal here.
+
+The typography of the book we used was not very good, and there were a
+number of spelling inconsistencies. For instance "gipsy" is sometimes
+spelt "gipsey" and sometimes "gypsy".  And the unfortunate Mr Deering
+is sometimes spelt "Dearing" and sometimes "Dereing".  I hope we have
+ironed these things out, as well as making the hyphenation more
+consistent throughout the book.
+
+Read it, or listen to it--you'll enjoy it.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+THE WEATHERCOCK, BEING THE ADVENTURES OF A BOY WITH A BIAS, BY GEORGE
+MANVILLE FENN.
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+TOADSTOOLS!
+
+"Oh, I say, here's a game!  What's he up to now?"
+
+"Hi!  Vane!  Old weathercock!  Hold hard!"
+
+"Do you hear?  Which way does the wind blow?"
+
+Three salutations shouted at a lad of about sixteen, who had just shown
+himself at the edge of a wood on the sunny slope of the Southwolds, one
+glorious September morning, when the spider-webs were still glittering
+with iridescent colours, as if every tiny strand were strung with
+diamonds, emeralds and amethysts, and the thick green moss that clothed
+the nut stubbs was one glorious sheen of topaz, sapphire and gold.  Down
+in the valley the mist still hung in thick patches, but the sun's rays
+were piercing it in many directions, and there was every promise of a
+hot day, such as would make the shade of the great forest with its
+acorn-laden oaks welcome, and the whole place tempting to one who cared
+to fill pocket or basket with the bearded hazelnuts, already beginning
+to show colour in the pale green husks, while the acorns, too, were
+changing tint slightly, and growing too big for their cups.
+
+The boy, who stood with his feet deep in moss, was framed by the long
+lithe hazel stems, and his sun-browned face looked darker in the shade
+as, bareheaded, his cap being tucked in the band of his Norfolk jacket,
+he passed one hand through his short curly hair, to remove a dead leaf
+or two, while the other held a little basket full of something of a
+bright orange gold; and as he glanced at the three youths in the road,
+he hurriedly bent down to rub a little loam from the knees of his
+knickerbockers--loam freshly gathered from some bank in the wood.
+
+"Morning," he said, as the momentary annoyance caused by the encounter
+passed off.  "How is it you chaps are out so early?"
+
+"Searching after you, of course," said the first speaker.  "What have
+you got there?"
+
+"These," said the lad, holding up his basket, as he stepped down amongst
+the dewy grass at the side of the road.  "Have some?"
+
+"Have some?  Toadstools?"
+
+"Toad's grandmothers!" cried the lad.  "They're all chanterelles--for
+breakfast.  Delicious."
+
+The first of the three well-dressed youths, all pupils reading with the
+Reverend Morton Syme, at the Rectory, Mavis Greythorpe, Lincolnshire,
+gave a sidelong glance at his companions and advanced a step.
+
+"Let's look," he said.
+
+The bearer of the basket raised his left hand with his fungoid booty,
+frankly trusting, and his fellow-pupil delivered a sharp kick at the
+bottom of the wicker receptacle--a kick intended to send the golden
+chalice-like fungi flying scattered in the air.  But George Vane Lee was
+as quick in defence as the other was in attack, and his parry was made
+in the easiest and most effortless way.
+
+It was just this:--
+
+He let the basket swing down and just passed his right hand forward,
+seeming only to brush the assailant's ankle--in fact it was the merest
+touch, but sufficient to upset the equilibrium of a kicker on one leg,
+and the next moment Lance Distin was lying on his back in a perfect
+tangle of brambles, out of which he scrambled, scratched and furious,
+amidst a roar of laughter from his companions.
+
+"You beggar!" he cried, with his dark eyes flashing, and a red spot in
+each of his sallow cheeks.
+
+"Keep off!" cried the mushroom bearer, backing away.  "Lay hold of him,
+Gilmore--Aleck!"
+
+The lads addressed had already caught at the irate boy's arms.
+
+"Let go, will you!" he yelled.  "I'll let him know."
+
+"Be quiet, or we'll all sit on you and make you."
+
+"I'll half kill him--I'll nearly break his neck."
+
+"No, don't," said the boy with the basket, laughing.  "Do you want your
+leave stopped?  Nice you'd look with a pair of black eyes."
+
+"You can't give them to me," roared the lad, passionately, as he still
+struggled with those who held him, but giving them little trouble in
+keeping him back.
+
+"Don't want to.  Served you right.  Shouldn't have tried to kick over my
+basket.  There, don't be in such a temper about that."
+
+"I'll pay you for it, you miserable cad!"
+
+"Don't call names, Distie," said the lad coolly.  "Those who play at
+bowls must expect rubbers.  Let him go, boys; he won't hurt me."
+
+It was a mere form that holding; but as the detaining pair loosened
+their hold, Lance Distin gave himself a violent wrench, as if he were
+wresting himself free, and then coloured to the roots of his hair, as he
+saw the laugh in his adversary's eyes.
+
+"Distie's got no end of Trinidad sun in him yet.--What a passionate
+fellow you are, Cocoa.  I say, these are good, really.  Come home with
+me and have breakfast."
+
+Lance Distin, son of a wealthy planter in the West Indies, turned away
+scornfully, and the others laughed.
+
+"Likely," said Fred Gilmore, showing his white teeth.  "Why, I wouldn't
+poison a cat with them."
+
+"No," said Aleck Macey; "I know."
+
+"Know what?"
+
+"It's a dodge to make a job for his uncle, because the doctor can't get
+any practice."
+
+"Don't want any," said the lad, good-humouredly.  "If he did, he'd go
+back to Savile Row."
+
+"Not he," snarled Distin, pausing in his occupation of removing thorns
+from his jacket.  "Killed all his patients, and was obliged to run away
+into the country."
+
+"That's it!" said Vane Lee, with a laugh.  "What a clever chap you are,
+Distie; at least you would be if your tongue wasn't quite so sharp.
+There, shake hands, I didn't mean to hurt you."
+
+He stretched out rather a dirty hand, at which the young Creole gave a
+contemptuous glance, looked at his own white fingers, and thrust them
+into his pockets.
+
+"Ah, well, they are dirty," said Vane, laughing.  "No, they're not.
+It's only good old English soil.  Come on.  Uncle will be glad to see
+you, and then we'll all walk up to the Rectory together."
+
+_Crick_!
+
+Distin struck a match, and, with a very haughty look on his thin face,
+began to puff at a cigarette which he had taken from a little silver
+case, Vane watching him scornfully the while, but only to explode with
+mirth the next moment, for the young West Indian, though he came from
+where his father's plantations produced acres of the pungent weed, was
+not to the manner born, and at the third draw inhaled so much acrid
+smoke that he choked, and stood coughing violently till Vane gave him a
+hearty slap on his back.
+
+Down went the cigarette, as Distin made a bound forward.
+
+"You boor!" he coughed out; and, giving the lad a malevolent look, he
+turned haughtily to the others.
+
+"Are you fellows coming home to breakfast?"
+
+He did not pause for an answer, but walked off sharply in the direction
+of the Rectory, a quarter of a mile from the little sleepy town.
+
+"Oh, I say," cried Vane, in a tone full of remorse, "what an old
+pepper-pot he is!  I didn't mean to upset him.  He began it,--now,
+didn't he?"
+
+"Yes, of course," said Gilmore.  "Never mind.  He'll soon come round."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Macey.  "I shouldn't take any notice.  He'll forget it
+all before night."
+
+"But it seems so queer," said the lad, taking out and examining one of
+his mushrooms.  "I just came out for a walk, and to pick some of these
+to have cooked for breakfast; and just as I've got a nice basketful, I
+come upon you fellows, and you begin to chaff and play larks, and the
+next moment I might have been knocking all the skin off my knuckles
+against Distin's face, if I hadn't backed out--like a coward," he added,
+after a pause.
+
+"Oh, never mind," said the others.
+
+"But I do mind," cried the lad.  "I want to be friends with everyone.  I
+hate fighting and quarrelling, and yet I'm always getting into
+hot-water."
+
+"Better go and get your hands in now--with soap," said Macey, staring at
+the soil-marks.
+
+"Pooh! a rinse in the water-cress stream would take that off.  Never
+mind Distin: come home, you two."
+
+"No, not this morning," said Gilmore.
+
+"I won't ask you to taste the mushrooms: honour bright."
+
+"Wouldn't come if you did," said Macey, with a merry laugh on his
+handsome face.  "Old Distie would never forgive us if we came home with
+you now."
+
+"No," said Gilmore; "he'd keep us awake half the night preaching at you.
+Oh! here's old Syme."
+
+"Ah, gentlemen, good-morning," said a plump, florid clergyman with
+glittering glasses.  "That's right, walk before breakfast.  Good for
+stamina.  Must be breakfast time though.  What have you got there, Lee?"
+
+"Fungi, sir."
+
+"Hum! ha!" said the rector bending over the basket.  "Which?  Fungi,
+soft as you pronounce it, or Fungi--Funghi, hard, eh?"
+
+"Uncle says soft, sir," said Vane.
+
+"Hum--ha--yes," said the rector, poking at one of the vegetable growths
+with the forefinger of his gloved hand.  "He ought to know.  But,
+_vulgo_, toadstools.  You're not going to eat those, are you?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Will you try a few?"
+
+"Eh?  Try a few, Lee?  Thanks, no.  Too much respect for my gastric
+region.  And look here; hadn't you better try experiments on Jamby's
+donkey?  It's very old."
+
+"Wouldn't be any good, sir.  Nothing would hurt him," said Vane,
+laughing.
+
+"Hum! ha!  Suppose not.  Well, don't poison one of my pupils--yourself.
+Breakfast, gentlemen, breakfast.  The matutinal coffee and one of
+Brader's rolls, not like the London French, but passably good; and there
+is some cold stuffed chine."
+
+"Cold stuffed chine!" said Vane, as he walked in the other direction.
+"Why, these will be twice as good--if Martha will cook 'em.  Nasty
+prejudiced old thing!"
+
+Ten minutes later he reached a gate where the remains of a fine old
+avenue leading up to a low mossy-looking stone house, built many
+generations back; and as he neared it, a pleasant odour, suggestive of
+breakfast, saluted his nostrils, and he went round and entered the
+kitchen, to be encountered directly by quite an eager look from its
+occupant, as he made his petition.
+
+The Weathercock--by George Manville Fenn
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+AUNT AND UNCLE.
+
+"No, Master Vane, I'll not," cried cook, bridling up, and looking as if
+an insult had been offered to her stately person; "and if master and
+missus won't speak, it's time someone else did."
+
+"But I only want them just plainly stewed with a little butter, pepper,
+and salt," said Vane, with the basket in his hand.
+
+"A little butter and pepper and salt, sir!" cried cook reproachfully; "a
+little rhubar' and magneshire, you mean, to keep the nasty pysonous
+thinks from hurting of you.  Really I do wonder at you, sir, a-going
+about picking up such rubbish."
+
+"But they're good food--good to eat."
+
+"Yes, sir; for toads and frogs.  Don't tell me, sir.  Do you think I
+don't know what's good Christian food when I see it, and what isn't?"
+
+"I know you think they're no good, but I want to try them as an
+experiment."
+
+"Life isn't long enough, sir, to try sperrymens, and I'd sooner go and
+give warning at once than be the means of laying you on a bed of agony
+and pain."
+
+"Oh, well, never mind, cook, let me do them myself."
+
+"What?" cried the stout lady in such a tone of indignant surprise that
+the lad felt as if he had been guilty of a horrible breach of etiquette,
+and made his retreat, basket and all, toward the door.
+
+But he had roused Martha, who, on the strength of many years' service
+with the doctor and his lady in London, had swollen much in mind as well
+as grown stout in body, and she followed him to the kitchen-door where
+he paused without opening it, for fear of the dispute reaching the ears
+of aunt and uncle in the breakfast-room.
+
+"Look here, Martha," he said, "don't be cross.  Never mind.  I'm sorry I
+asked you."
+
+"Cross?  Cross, Master Vane?  Is it likely I should make myself cross
+about a basketful of rubbishing toadstools that you've wasted your time
+in fetching out of the woods?"
+
+"No, no, you are not cross, and I beg your pardon."
+
+"And I wouldn't have thought it of you, sir.  The idee, indeed, of you
+wanting to come and meddle here in my kitchen!"
+
+"But I don't want to, I tell you, so don't say any more about it."
+
+But before Vane could grasp the woman's intention, she had snatched the
+basket from his hand and borne it back to the table, upon which she
+thumped it with so much vigour that several of the golden chalice-like
+fungi leaped out.
+
+"Here, what are you going to do?" cried Vane.
+
+"What you told me, sir," said cook austerely, and with a great hardening
+of her face.  "I don't forget my dooties, sir, if other people do."
+
+"Oh, but never mind, cook," cried Vane.  "I'm sorry I asked you."
+
+"Pray don't say any more about it, sir.  The things shall be cooked and
+sent to table, and it's very thankful you ought to be, I'm sure, that
+master's a doctor and on the spot ready, for so sure as you eat that
+mess in the parlour, you'll all be on a bed of sickness before night."
+
+"Now, Martha," cried Vane; "that's just what you said when I asked you
+to cook the parasol mushrooms."
+
+"Paragrandmother mushrooms, sir; you might just as well call them by
+their proper name, umberrella toadstools, and I don't believe any one
+ate them."
+
+"Yes; uncle and I ate them, and they were delicious.  Cook these the
+same way."
+
+"I know how to cook them, sir, only it's an insult to proper mushrooms
+to dress them in the same way as good wholesome food."
+
+"That's good wholesome food," said Vane, "only people don't know it.  I
+wanted to bring you some big puff balls to fry for me, but you turn so
+cross about it."
+
+"And enough to make anyone turn cross, sir.  There, that will do now.
+I've said that I'd cook them, and that's enough."
+
+Vane Lee felt that there was nothing to be done now but make a retreat,
+and he went into the hall where Eliza Jane, the doctor's housemaid, was
+whisking a feather-brush about, over picture-frames, and ornaments,
+curiosities from different parts of the world, and polishing the hall
+table.  From this she flew to the stand and caught up the hat brush with
+which she attacked the different hats on the pegs, speaking over her
+shoulder at Vane in a rapid way as she went on.
+
+"Now, don't you ask me to do anything, Master Vane, because I'm all
+behind, and your aunt's made the tea and waiting for you, and your uncle
+will be back directly, for he has only gone down the garden for a walk,
+and to pick up the fallen peaches."
+
+"Wasn't going to ask you to do anything," was the reply.
+
+"But you've been asking cook to do something, and a nice fantigue she'll
+be in.  She was bad enough before.  I wouldn't have such a temper for
+all the money in the Bank of England.  What have you been asking her to
+do?--Bother the hat!"
+
+Eliza was brushing so vigorously that she sent Vane's hard felt hat,
+which she had just snatched up from where he had placed it, flying to
+the other end of the hall just as Doctor Lee, a tall, pleasant-looking
+grey-haired man, came in from the garden with a basket of his gleanings
+from beneath the south wall.
+
+"That meant for me?" he said, staring down at the hat and then at Vane.
+
+"Which I beg your pardon, sir," said the maid, hurriedly.  "I was
+brushing it, and it flew out of my hand."
+
+"Ah!  You should hold it tight," said the doctor, picking up the hat,
+and looking at a dint in the crown.  "It will require an operation to
+remove that depression of the brain-pan on the _dura mater_.  I mean on
+the lining, eh, Vane?"
+
+"Oh, I can soon put that right," said the boy merrily, as he gave it a
+punch with his fist and restored the crown to its smooth dome-like
+shape.
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, "but you see we cannot do that with a man who
+has a fractured skull.  Been out I see?" he continued, looking down at
+the lad's discoloured, dust-stained boots.
+
+"Oh, yes, uncle, I was out at six.  Glorious morning.  Found quite a
+basketful of young chanterelles."
+
+"Indeed?  What have you done with them?"
+
+"Been fighting Martha to get her to cook them."
+
+"And failed?" said the doctor quietly, as he peered into the basket, and
+turned over the soft, downy, red-cheeked peaches he had brought in.
+
+"No, uncle,--won."
+
+"Now, you good people, it's nearly half-past eight.  Breakfast--
+breakfast.  Bring in the ham, Eliza."
+
+"Good-morning, my dear," said the doctor, bending down to kiss the
+pleasantly plump elderly lady who had just opened the dining-room door,
+and keeping up the fiction of its being their first meeting that
+morning.
+
+"Good-morning, dear."
+
+"Come, Vane, my boy," cried the doctor, "breakfast, breakfast.  Here's
+aunt in one of her furious tempers because you are so late."
+
+"Don't you believe him, my dear," said the lady.  "It's too bad.  And
+really, Thomas, you should not get in the habit of telling such dreadful
+fibs even in fun.  Had a nice walk, Vane?"
+
+"Yes, aunt, and collected a capital lot of edible fungi."
+
+"The word fungi's enough to make any one feel that they are not edible,
+my dear," said Aunt Hannah.  "What sort did you get?  Not those nasty,
+tall, long-legged things you brought before?"
+
+"No, aunt; beautiful golden chanterelles.  I wanted to have them cooked
+for breakfast."
+
+"And I have told him it would be high treason," said the doctor.
+"Martha would give warning."
+
+"No, no, my dear, not quite so bad as that, but leave them to me, and
+I'll cook them for lunch myself."
+
+"No need, aunt; Martha came down from her indignant perch."
+
+"I'm glad of that," said the lady smiling; "but, one minute, before we
+go in the dining-room: there's a beautiful _souvenir_ rosebud over the
+window where I cannot reach it.  Cut it and bring it in."
+
+"At your peril, sir," said the doctor fiercely.  "The last rose of
+summer!  I will not have it touched."
+
+"Now, my dear Tom, don't be so absurd," cried the lady.  "What is the
+use of your growing roses to waste--waste--waste themselves all over the
+place."
+
+"You hear that, Vane?  There's quoting poetry.  Waste their sweetness on
+the desert air, I suppose you mean, madam?"
+
+"Yes: it's all the same," said the lady.  "Thank you, my dear," she
+continued, as Vane handed the rose in through the window.
+
+"My poor cut-down bloom," sighed the doctor; but Vane did not hear him,
+for he was setting his hat down again in the museum-like hall, close by
+the fishing-tackle and curiosities of many lands just as a door was
+opened and a fresh, maddening odour of fried ham saluted his nostrils.
+
+"Oh, murder!" cried the lad; and he rushed upstairs, three steps at a
+time, to begin washing his hands, thinking the while over his encounter
+with his Creole fellow-pupil.
+
+"Glad I didn't fight him," he muttered, as he dried his knuckles, and
+looked at them curiously.  "Better than having to ask uncle for his
+sticking-plaster."
+
+He stopped short, turning and gazing out of the bedroom window, which
+looked over the back garden toward the field with their Jersey cows; and
+just then a handsome game-cock flapped his bronzed wings and sent forth
+his defiant call.
+
+"Cock-a-doodle-doo! indeed," muttered Vane; "and he thinks me a regular
+coward.  I suppose it will have to come to a set-to some day.  I feel
+sure I can lick him, and perhaps, after all, he'll lick me."
+
+"Oh, Vane, my dear boy, don't!" cried Mrs Lee, as the lad rushed down
+again, his feet finding the steps so rapidly that the wonder was that he
+did not go headlong, and a few seconds later, he was in his place at the
+dining-room table, tastily arranged with its plate, china, and flowers.
+
+A walk before breakfast is a wonderful thing for the appetite, and Vane
+soon began with a sixteen-year-old growing appetite upon the white
+bread, home-made golden butter, and the other pleasant products of the
+doctor's tiny homestead, including brahma eggs, whose brown shells
+suggested that they must have been boiled in coffee.
+
+The doctor kept the basket he had brought in beside him on the cloth,
+and had to get up four times over to throw great fat wood-lice out of
+the window, after scooping them up with a silver tablespoon, the dark
+grey creatures having escaped from between the interstices of the
+basket, and being busily making their way in search of some dry, dark
+corner.
+
+"It is astonishing what a predilection for peaches the wood-louse has,"
+said the doctor, resuming his seat.
+
+"All your fault, uncle," said Vane, with his mouth full.
+
+"Mine! why?"
+
+"You see you catch them stealing, and then you forgive them and let them
+go to find their way back to the south wall, so that they can begin
+again."
+
+"Humph! yes," said the doctor; "they have plenty of enemies to shorten
+their lives without my help.  Well, so you found some mushrooms, did
+you?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, just in perfection."
+
+"Some more tea, dear?" said Vane's aunt.  "I hope you didn't bring many
+to worry cook with."
+
+"Only a basket full, aunty," said Vane merrily.
+
+"What!" cried the lady, holding the teapot in air.
+
+"But she is going to cook them for dinner."
+
+"Really, my dear, I must protest," said the lady.  "Vane cannot know
+enough about such things to be trusted to bring them home and eat them.
+I declare I was in fear and trembling over that last dish."
+
+"You married a doctor, my dear," said Vane's uncle quietly; "and you saw
+me partake of the dish without fear.  Someone must experimentalise,
+somebody had to eat the first potato, and the first bunch of grapes.
+Nature never labelled them wholesome food."
+
+"Then let somebody else try them first," said the lady.  "I do not feel
+disposed to be made ill to try whether this or that is good for food.  I
+am not ambitious."
+
+"Then you must forgive us: we are," said the doctor dipping into his
+basket.  "Come, you will not refuse to experimentalise on a peach, my
+dear.  There is one just fully ripe, and--dear me!  There are two
+wood-lice in this one.  Eaten their way right in and living there."
+
+He laid one lovely looking peach on a plate, and made another dip.
+
+"That must have fallen quite early in the night," said Vane, sharply,
+"slugs have been all over it."
+
+"So they have," said the doctor, readjusting his spectacles.  "Here is a
+splendid one.  No: a blackbird has been digging his beak into that.  And
+into this one too.  Really, my dear, I'm afraid that my garden friends
+and foes have been tasting them all.  No, here is one with nothing the
+matter, save the contusion consequent from its fall from the mother
+tree."
+
+"On to mother earth," said Vane laughing.  "I say, uncle, wouldn't it be
+a good plan to get a lot of that narrow old fishing net, and spread it
+out hanging from the wall, so as to catch all the peaches that fall?"
+
+"Excellent," said the doctor.
+
+"I'll do it," said Vane, wrinkling up his brow, as he began to puzzle
+his brains about the best way to suspend the net for the purpose.
+
+Soon after, the lad was in the doctor's study, going over some papers he
+had written, ready for his morning visit to the rectory; and this put
+him in mind of the encounter with his fellow-pupil, Distin, and made him
+thoughtful.
+
+"He doesn't like me," the boy said to himself; "and somehow I feel as if
+I do not like him.  I don't want to quarrel, and it always seems as if
+one was getting into hot-water with him.  He's hot-blooded, I suppose,
+from being born in the West Indies.  Well, if that's it," mused Vane,
+"he can't help it any more than I can help being cool because I was born
+in England.  I won't quarrel with him.  There."
+
+And taking up his books and papers, he strapped them together, and set
+off for the rectory, passing out of the swing-gate, going along the road
+toward the little town above which the tall grey-stone tower stood up in
+the clear autumn air with its flagstaff at the corner of the
+battlements, its secondary tower at the other corner, holding within it
+the narrow spiral staircase which led from the floor to the leads; and
+about it a little flock of jackdaws sailing round and round before
+settling on the corner stones, and the top.
+
+"Wish I could invent something to fly with," thought Vane, as he reached
+the turning some distance short of the first houses of the town.  "It
+does seem so easy.  Those birds just spread out their wings, and float
+about wherever they please with hardly a beat.  There must be a way, if
+one could only find it out."
+
+He went off into the pleasant lane to the left, and caught sight of a
+bunch of blackberries apparently within reach, and he was about to cross
+the dewy band of grass which bordered the road, when he recollected that
+he had just put on clean boots, and the result of a scramble through and
+among brambles would be unsatisfactory for their appearance in the
+rector's prim study.  So the berries hung in their place, left to ripen,
+and he went on till a great dragon-fly came sailing along the moist lane
+to pause in the sunny openings, and poise itself in the clear air where
+its wings vibrated so rapidly that they looked like a patch of clear
+gauze.
+
+Vane's thoughts were back in an instant to the problem that has puzzled
+so many minds; and as he watched the dragon-fly, a couple of swallows
+skimmed by him, darted over the wall, and were gone.  Then, flopping
+idly along in its clumsy flight, came a white butterfly, and directly
+after a bee--one of the great, dark, golden-banded fellows, with a soft,
+velvety coat.
+
+"And all fly in a different way," said Vane to himself, thoughtfully.
+"They all use wings, but all differently; and they have so much command
+over them, darting here and there, just as they please.  I wonder
+whether I could make a pair of wings and a machine to work them.  It
+doesn't seem impossible.  People float up in balloons, but that isn't
+enough.  I think I could do it, and--oh, hang it, there goes ten, and
+the rector will be waiting.  I wonder whether I can recollect all he
+said about those Greek verbs."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+IN THE STUDY.
+
+Vane reached the rectory gate and turned in with his brains in the air,
+dashing here and there like a dragon-fly, skimming after the fashion of
+a swallow, flying steadily, bumble-bee-fashion, and flopping faintly as
+the butterfly did whose wings were so much out of proportion to the size
+of its body.  Either way would do, he thought, or better still, if he
+could fly by a wide-spread membrane stretched upon steel or whalebone
+ribs or fingers like a bat.  Why not? he mused.  There could be no
+reason; and he was beginning to wonder why he had never thought of
+making some flying machine before, when he was brought back to earth
+from his imaginary soarings by a voice saying,--
+
+"Hullo! here's old Weathercock!" and this was followed by a laugh which
+brought the colour into his cheeks.
+
+"I don't care," he thought.  "Let him laugh.  Better be a weathercock
+and change about, than be always sticking fast.  Uncle says we can't
+help learning something for one's trouble."
+
+By this time he was at the porch, which he entered just as the footman
+was carrying out the breakfast things.
+
+"Rector isn't in the study then, Joseph?" said Vane.
+
+"No, sir; just coming in out of the garden.  Young gents is in there
+together."
+
+Vane felt disposed to wait and go in with the rector, but, feeling that
+it would be cowardly, he walked straight in at the study door to find
+Distin, Gilmore, and Macey seated at the table, all hard at work, but
+apparently not over their studies.
+
+"Why, gracious!" cried Macey.
+
+"Alive?" said Gilmore.
+
+"Used to it," sneered Distin.  "That sort of creature takes a deal of
+killing."
+
+"What's the matter?" said Vane, good-humouredly, taking a seat.
+
+"Why," said Gilmore, "we were all thinking of writing to our tailors to
+send us suits of mourning out of respect for you--believe it or not as
+you please."
+
+"Thankye," said Vane quietly.  "Then I will not believe it, because
+Distin wouldn't order black if I were drowned."
+
+"Who said a word about drowned?  I said poisoned," cried Gilmore.
+
+"Not a word about it.  But why?"
+
+"Because you went home and ate those toadstools."
+
+"Wrong," said Vane quietly, "I haven't eaten them yet."
+
+"Then three cheers for the tailors; there's a chance for them yet,"
+cried Macey.
+
+"Why didn't you eat them?" asked Gilmore.  "Afraid?"
+
+"I don't think so.  They'll be ready by dinner time, will you come?"
+
+Grimaces followed, as Vane quietly opened his books, and glanced round
+the rector's room with its handsome book-cases all well filled,
+chimney-piece ornamented with classic looking bronzes; and the whole
+place with its subdued lights and heavily curtained windows suggestive
+of repose for the mind and uninterrupted thought and study.
+
+Books and newly-written papers lay on the table, ready for application,
+but the rector's pupils did not seem to care about work in their tutor's
+absence, for Macey, who was in the act of handing round a tin box when
+Vane entered, now passed it on to the latter.
+
+"Lay hold, old chap," he said.  Vane opened it, and took out a piece of
+crisp dark brown stickiness generally known as "jumble," and transferred
+it to his mouth, while four lower jaws were now seen at work, giving the
+pupils the aspect of being members of that portion of the quadrupedal
+animal kingdom known as ruminants.
+
+"Worst of this stuff is," said Macey, "that you get your teeth stuck
+together.  Oh, I say, Gil, what hooks!  A whole dozen?"
+
+Gilmore nodded as he opened a ring of fine silkworm gut, and began to
+examine the points and backs of the twelve bright blue steel hooks at
+the ends of the gut lengths, and the carefully-tied loops at the other.
+
+"Where did you buy them?" continued Macey, as he gloated over the bright
+hookah.
+
+No answer.
+
+"Where did you buy them, Gil?" said Macey again.
+
+"Cuoz--duoz--ooze."
+
+"What!" cried Macey; and Distin and Vane both looked wonderingly at
+their fellow-pupil, who had made a peculiar incoherent guttural noise,
+faintly represented by the above words.
+
+Then Vane began to laugh.
+
+"What's the matter, Gil?" he said.
+
+Gilmore gave his neck a peculiar writhe, and his jaws a wrench.
+
+"I wish you fellows wouldn't bother," he cried.  "You, Macey, ought to
+know better: you give a chap that stickjaw stuff of yours, and then
+worry him to speak.  Come by post, I said.  From London."
+
+Distin gave vent to a contemptuous sniff, and it was seen that he was
+busily spreading tobacco on thin pieces of paper, and rolling them up
+into cigarettes with the nonchalant air of one used to such feats of
+dexterity, though, truth to tell, he fumbled over the task; and as he
+noticed that Vane was observing him with a quiet look of good-humoured
+contempt, his fingers grew hot and moist, and he nervously blundered
+over his task.
+
+"Well," he said with a vicious twang in his tones, "what are you staring
+at?"
+
+"You," replied Vane, with his hand holding open a Greek Lexicon.
+
+"Then mind your lessons, schoolboy," retorted Distin sharply.  "Did you
+never see a gentleman roll a cigarette before?"
+
+"No," said Vane quietly, and then, feeling a little nettled by the
+other's tone, he continued, "and I can't see one now."
+
+Distin half rose from the table, crushing a partly formed cigarette in
+his hand.
+
+"Did you mean that for another insult, sir?" he cried in a loud, angry
+voice.
+
+"Oh, I say, Distie," said Gilmore, rising too, and catching his arm,
+"don't be such a pepper-pot.  Old Weathercock didn't mean any harm."
+
+"Mind your own business," said Distin, fiercely wrenching his arm free.
+
+"That is my business--to sit on you when you go off like a firework,"
+said Gilmore merrily.  "I say, does your father grow much ginger on his
+plantation?"
+
+"I was speaking to the doctor's boy, and I'll thank you to be silent,"
+cried Distin.
+
+"Oh, I say, don't, don't, don't!" cried Macey, apostrophising all three.
+"What's the good of kicking up rows about nothing!  Here, Distie," he
+continued, holding out his box; "have some more jumble."
+
+Distin waved the tin box away majestically, and turned to Vane.
+
+"I said, sir, goo--gloo--goog--"
+
+He stepped from his place to the window in a rage, for his voice had
+suddenly become most peculiar; and as the others saw him thrust a white
+finger into his mouth and tear out something which he tried to throw
+away but which refused to be cast off, they burst into a simultaneous
+roar of laughter, which increased as they saw the angry lad suck his
+finger, and wipe it impatiently on his handkerchief.
+
+"Don't you give me any of your filthy stuff again, you.  Macey," he
+cried.
+
+"All right," said the culprit, wiping the tears out of his eyes, and
+taking the tin box from his pocket.  "Have a bit more?"
+
+Distin struck the tin box up furiously, sending it flying open, as it
+performed an arc in the air, and distributing fragments of the
+hard-baked saccharine sweet.
+
+"Oh, I say!" cried Macey, hastily stooping to gather up the pieces.
+"Here, help, Gil, or we shall have Syme in to find out one of them by
+sitting on it."
+
+"Look here, sir," cried Distin, across the table to Vane, who sat, as
+last comer, between him and the door, "I said did you mean that as an
+insult?"
+
+"Oh, rubbish!" replied Vane, a little warmly now; "don't talk in that
+manner, as if you were somebody very big, and going to fight a duel."
+
+"I asked you, sir, if you meant that remark as an insult," cried Distin,
+"and you evade answering, in the meanest and most shuffling way.  I was
+under the impression when I came down to Greythorpe it was to read with
+English gentlemen, and I find--"
+
+"Never mind what you find," said Vane; "I'll tell you what you do."
+
+"Oh, you will condescend to tell me that," sneered Distin.  "Pray what
+do I do?"
+
+"Don't tell him, Lee," said Gilmore; "and stop it, both of you.  Mr
+Syme will be here directly, and we don't want him to hear us squabbling
+over such a piece of idiotic nonsense."
+
+"And you call my resenting an insult of the most grave nature a piece of
+idiocy, do you, Mr Gilmore?"
+
+"No, Mr Distin; but I call the beginning of this silly row a piece of
+idiocy."
+
+"Of course you fellows will hang together," said Distin, with a
+contemptuous look.  "I might have known that you were not fit to trust
+as a friend."
+
+"Look here, Dis," said Gilmore, in a low, angry voice, "don't you talk
+to me like that."
+
+"And pray why, sir?" said Distin, in a tone full of contempt.
+
+"Because I'm not Vane, sir, and--"
+
+"I say, old chaps, don't, please don't," cried Macey, earnestly.  "Look
+here; I've got a tip from home by this morning's post, and I'll be a
+good feed to set all square.  Come: that's enough."  Then, imitating the
+rector's thick, unctuous voice, "Hum--ha!--silence, gentlemen, if you
+please."
+
+"Silence yourself, buffoon!" retorted Distin, sharply, and poor Macey
+sank down in his chair, startled, or assuming to be.
+
+"No, Mr Gilmore," said Distin, haughtily, "you are not Vane Lee, you
+said, and--and what?"
+
+"I'll tell you," cried the lad, with his brow lowering.  "I will not sit
+still and let you bully me.  He may not think it worth his while to hit
+out at a foreign-bred fellow who snaps and snarls like an angry dog, but
+I do; and if you speak to me again as you did just now, I'll show you
+how English-bred fellows behave.  I'll punch your head."
+
+"No, you will not, Gil," said Vane, half rising in his seat.  "I don't
+want to quarrel, but if there must be one, it's mine.  So look here,
+Distin: you've done everything you could for months past to put me out
+of temper."
+
+"He--aw!--he--aw!" cried Macey, in parliamentary style.
+
+"Be quiet, jackass," cried Distin; and Macey began to lower himself, in
+much dread, under the table.
+
+"I say," continued Vane, "you have done everything you could to put me
+out of temper, and I've put up with it patiently, and behaved like a
+coward."
+
+"He--aw, he--aw!" said Macey again; and Vane shook his fist at him
+good-humouredly.
+
+"Amen.  That's all, then," cried Macey; and then, imitating the rector
+again, "Now, gentlemen, let us resume our studies."
+
+"Be quiet, Aleck," said Gilmore, angrily; "I--"
+
+He did not go on, for he saw Distin's hand stealing toward a heavy
+dictionary, and, at that moment, Vane said firmly:--
+
+"I felt it was time to show you that I am not quite a coward.  I did
+mean it as an insult, as you call it.  What then?"
+
+"That!" cried Distin, hurling the dictionary he had picked up with all
+his might at his fellow-pupil, across the table, but without effect.
+Vane, like most manly British lads, knew how to take care of himself,
+and a quick movement to one side was sufficient to allow the big book to
+pass close to his ear, and strike with a heavy bang against the door
+panel just as the handle rattled, and a loud "Hum--ha!" told that the
+rector was coming into the room for the morning's reading.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+MARTHA'S MISTAKE.
+
+As quickly as if he were fielding a ball, Vane caught up the volume from
+where it fell, and was half-way back to his seat as the rector came in,
+looking very much astonished, partly at the noise of the thump on the
+door, partly from an idea that the dictionary had been thrown as an
+insult to him.
+
+Macey was generally rather a heavy, slow fellow, but on this occasion he
+was quick as lightning, and, turning sharply to Distin, who looked pale
+and nervous at the result of his passionate act.
+
+"You might have given the dictionary to him, Distin," he said, in a
+reproachful tone.  "Don't do books any good to throw 'em."
+
+"Quite right, Mr Macey, quite right," said the rector, blandly, as he
+moved slowly to the arm-chair at the end of the table.  "Really,
+gentlemen, you startled me.  I was afraid that the book was intended for
+me, hum--ha! in disgust because I was so late."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," cried Distin, with nervous eagerness.
+
+"Of course not, my dear Distin, of course not.  An accident--an error--
+of judgment.  Good for the binders, no doubt, but not for the books.
+And I have an affection for books--our best friends."
+
+He subsided into his chair as he spoke.
+
+"Pray forgive me for being so late.  A little deputation from the town,
+Mr Rounds, my churchwarden; Mr Dodge, the people's.  A little question
+of dispute calling for a gentle policy on my part, and--but, no matter;
+it will not interest you, neither does it interest me now, in the face
+of our studies.  Mr Macey, shall I run over your paper now?"
+
+Macey made a grimace at Vane, as he passed his paper to the rector; and,
+as it was taken, Vane glanced at Distin, and saw that his lips were
+moving as he bent over his Greek.  Vane saw a red spot in each of his
+sallow cheeks, and a peculiar twitching about the corners of his eyes,
+giving the lad a nervous, excitable look, and making Vane remark,--
+
+"What a pity it all is.  Wish he couldn't be so easily put out.  He
+can't help it, I suppose, and I suppose I can.  There, he shan't quarrel
+with me again.  I suppose I ought to pitch into him for throwing the
+book at my head, but I could fight him easily, and beat him, and, if I
+did, what would be the good?  I should only make him hate me instead of
+disliking me as he does.  Bother!  I want to go on with my Greek."
+
+He rested his head upon his hands determinedly, and, after a great deal
+of effort, managed to condense his thoughts upon the study he had in
+hand; and when, after a long morning's work, the rector smilingly
+complimented him upon his work, he looked up at him as if he thought it
+was meant in irony.
+
+"Most creditable, sir, most creditable; and I wish I could say the same
+to you, my dear Macey.  A little more patient assiduity--a little more
+solid work for your own sake, and for mine.  Don't let me feel
+uncomfortable when the Alderman, your respected father, sends me his
+customary cheque, and make me say to myself, `We have not earned this
+honourably and well.'"
+
+The rector nodded to all in turn, and went out first, while, as books
+were being put together, Macey said sharply:--
+
+"Here, Vane; I'm going to walk home with you.  Come on!"
+
+Vane glanced at Distin, who stood by the table with his eyes
+half-closed, and his hand resting upon the dictionary he had turned into
+a missile.
+
+"He's waiting to hear what I say," thought Vane, quickly.  Then
+aloud:--"All right, then, you shall.  I see through you, though.  You
+want to be asked to lunch on the toadstools."
+
+In spite of himself, Vane could not help stealing another glance at
+Distin, and read in the contempt which curled his upper lip that he was
+accusing him mentally of being a coward, and eager to sneak away.
+
+"Well, let him," he thought.  "As I am not afraid of him, I can afford
+it."
+
+Then he glanced at Gilmore who was standing sidewise to the window with
+his hands in his pockets; and he frowned as he encountered Vane's eyes,
+but his face softened directly.
+
+"I won't ask you to come with us, Gil," said Vane frankly.
+
+"All right, old Weathercock," cried Gilmore; and his face lit up now
+with satisfaction.
+
+"He doesn't think I'm afraid," said Vane to himself.
+
+"Am I to wait all day for you?" cried Macey.
+
+"No; all right, I'm coming," said Vane, finishing the strapping together
+of his books.--"Ready now."
+
+But he was not, for he hesitated for a moment, coloured, and then his
+face, too, lit up, and he turned to Distin, and held out his hand.
+
+"I'm afraid I lost my temper a bit, Distie," he said; "but that's all
+over now.  Shake hands."
+
+Distin raised the lids of his half-closed eyes, and gazed full at the
+speaker, but his hand did not stir from where it rested upon the book.
+
+And the two lads stood for some moments gazing into each other's eyes,
+till the blue-veined lids dropped slowly over Distin's, and without word
+or further look, he took his cigarette case out of his pocket, walked
+deliberately out of the study, and through the porch on to the gravel
+drive, where, directly after, they heard the sharp _crick-crack_ of a
+match.
+
+"It's all going to end in smoke," said Macey, wrinkling up his forehead.
+"I say, it isn't nice to wish it, because I may be in the same
+condition some day; but I do hope that cigarette will make him feel
+queer."
+
+"I wouldn't have his temper for anything," cried Gilmore, angrily.  "It
+isn't English to go on like that."
+
+"Oh, never mind," said Vane; "he'll soon cool down."
+
+"Yes; but when he does, you feel as if it's only a crust," cried
+Gilmore.
+
+"And that the jam underneath isn't nice," added Macey.  "Never mind.
+It's nothing fresh.  We always knew that our West India possessions were
+rather hot.  Come on, Vane.  I don't know though.  I don't want to go
+now."
+
+"Not want to come?  Why?"
+
+"Because I only wanted to keep you two from dogs delighting again."
+
+"You behaved very well, Vane, old fellow," said Gilmore, ignoring
+Macey's attempts to be facetious.  "He thinks you're afraid of him, and
+if he don't mind he'll someday find out that he has made a mistake."
+
+"I hope not," said Vane quietly.  "I hate fighting."
+
+"You didn't seem to when you licked that gipsy chap last year."
+
+Vane turned red.
+
+"No: that's the worst of it.  I always feel shrinky till I start; and
+then, as soon as I get hurt, I begin to want to knock the other fellow's
+head off--oh, I say, don't let us talk about that sort of thing; one has
+got so much to do."
+
+"You have, you mean," said Gilmore, clapping him on the shoulder.
+"What's in the wind now, Weathercock?"
+
+"He's making a balloon," said Macey, laughing.
+
+Vane gave quite a start, as he recalled his thoughts about flight that
+morning.
+
+"Told you so," cried Macey merrily; "and he's going to coax pepper-pot
+Distin to go up with him, and pitch him out when they reach the first
+lake."
+
+"No, he isn't," said Gilmore; "he's going to be on the look-out, for
+Distie's sure to want to serve him out on the sly if he can."
+
+"Coming with us?" said Vane.
+
+"No, not this time, old chap," said Gilmore, smiling.  "I'm going to be
+merciful to your aunt and spare her."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I'll come when Aleck Macey stops away.  He does eat at such a frightful
+rate, that if two of us came your people would never have us in at the
+Little Manor again."
+
+Macey made an offer as if to throw something, but Gilmore did not see
+it, for he had stepped close up to Vane and laid his hand upon his
+shoulder.
+
+"I'm going to stop with Distie.  Don't take any notice of his temper.
+I'm afraid he cannot help it.  I'll stay and go about with him, as if
+nothing had happened."
+
+Vane nodded and went off with Macey, feeling as if he had never liked
+Gilmore so much before; and then the little unpleasantry was forgotten
+as they walked along from the rectory gates, passing, as they reached
+the main road, a party of gipsies on their way to the next town with
+their van and cart, both drawn by the most miserable specimens of the
+four-legged creature known as horse imaginable, and followed by about
+seven or eight more horses and ponies, all of which found time to crop a
+little grass by the roadside as cart and van were dragged slowly along.
+
+It was not an attractive-looking procession, but the gipsies themselves
+seemed active and well, and the children riding or playing about the
+vehicles appeared to be happy enough, and the swarthy, dark-eyed women,
+both old and young, good-looking.
+
+Just in front of the van, a big dark man of forty slouched along, with a
+whip under his arm, and a black pipe in his mouth; and every now and
+then he seemed to remember that he had the said whip, and took it in
+hand, to give it a crack which sounded like a pistol shot, with the
+result that the horse in the van threw up its head, which had hung down
+toward the road, and the other skeleton-like creature in the cart threw
+up its tail with a sharp whisk that disturbed the flies which appeared
+to have already begun to make a meal upon its body, while the scattered
+drove of ragged ponies and horses ceased cropping the roadside herbage,
+and trotted on a few yards before beginning to eat again.
+
+"They're going on to some fair," said Macey, as he looked curiously at
+the horses.  "I say, you wouldn't think anyone would buy such animals as
+those."
+
+"Want to buy a pony, young gentlemen?" said the man with the pipe,
+sidling up to them.
+
+"What for?" said Macey sharply.  "Scarecrow?  We're not farmers."
+
+The man grinned.
+
+"And we don't keep dogs," continued Macey.  "Oh, I say, George, you have
+got a pretty lot to-day."
+
+The gipsy frowned and gave his whip a crack.
+
+"Only want cleaning up, master," he said.
+
+"Going to the fair?"
+
+The man nodded and went on, for all this was said without the two lads
+stopping; and directly after, driving a miserable halting pony which
+could hardly get over the ground, a couple of big hulking lads of
+sixteen or seventeen appeared some fifty yards away.
+
+"Oh, I say, Vane," cried Macey; "there's that chap you licked last year.
+You'll see how he'll smile at you."
+
+"I should like to do it again," said Vane.  "Look at them banging that
+poor pony about.  What a shame it seems!"
+
+"Yes.  You ought to invent a machine for doing away with such chaps as
+these.  They're no good," said Macey.
+
+"Oh, you brute!--I say, don't the poor beggar's sides sound hollow!"
+
+"Hollow!  Yes," cried Vane indignantly; "they never feed them, and that
+poor thing can't find time to graze."
+
+"No.  It will be a blessing for it when it's turned into leather and
+glue."
+
+"Go that side, and do as I do," whispered Vane; and they separated, and
+took opposite sides of the road, as the two gipsy lads stared hard at
+them, and as if to rouse their ire shouted at the wretched pony, and
+banged its ribs.
+
+What followed was quickly done.  Vane snatched at one stick and twisted
+it out of the lad's hand nearest to him Macey followed suit, and the
+boys stared.
+
+"It would serve you precious well right if I laid the stick about your
+shoulders," cried Vane, breaking the ash sapling across his knee.
+
+"Ditto, ditto," cried Macey doing the same, and expecting an attack.
+
+The lads looked astonished for the moment, but instead of resenting the
+act, trotted on after the pony, which had continued to advance; and, as
+soon as they were at a safe distance, one of them turned, put his hand
+to his mouth and shouted "yah!" while the other took out his knife and
+flourished it.
+
+"Soon cut two more," he cried.
+
+"There!" said Macey, "deal of good you've done.  The pony will only get
+it worse, and that's another notch they've got against you."
+
+"Pish!" said Vane, contemptuously.
+
+"Yes, it's all very well to say pish; but suppose you come upon them
+some day when I'm not with you.  Gipsies never forget, and you see if
+they don't serve you out."
+
+Vane gave him a merry look, and Macey grinned.
+
+"I hope you will always be with me to take care of me," said Vane.
+
+"Do my best, old fellow--do my best, little man.  I say, though, do you
+mean me to come and have lunch?"
+
+"It'll be dinner to-day," said Vane.
+
+"But won't your people mind?"
+
+"Mind! no.  Uncle and aunt both said I was to ask you to come as often
+as I liked.  Uncle likes you."
+
+"No; does he?"
+
+"Yes; says you're such a rum fellow."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+Macey was silent after that "oh," and the silence lasted till they
+reached the manor, for Vane was thinking deeply about the quarrel that
+morning; but, as the former approached the house, he felt no misgivings
+about his being welcome, the doctor, who was in the garden, coming
+forward to welcome him warmly, and Mrs Lee, who heard the voices,
+hastening out to join them.
+
+Ten minutes later they were at table, where Macey proved himself a
+pretty good trencherman till the plates were changed and Eliza brought
+in a dish and placed it before her mistress.
+
+"Hum!" said the doctor, "only one pudding and no sweets.  Why, Macey,
+they're behaving shabbily to you to-day."
+
+Aunt Hannah looked puzzled, and Vane stared.
+
+"Is there no tart or custard, Eliza?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Yes, sir; both coming, sir," said the maid, who was very red in the
+face.
+
+"Then what have you there?"
+
+Eliza made an unspellable noise in her throat, snatched off the cover
+from the dish, and hurried out of the room.
+
+"Dear me!" said the doctor putting on his glasses, and looking at the
+dish in which, in the midst of a quantity of brownish sauce, there was a
+little island of blackish scraps, at which Aunt Hannah gazed blankly,
+spoon in hand.
+
+"What is it, my dear?" continued the doctor.
+
+"I'm afraid, dear, it is a dish of those fungi that Vane brought in this
+morning."
+
+"Oh, I see.  You will try them, Macey?"
+
+"Well, sir, I--"
+
+"Of course he will, uncle.  Have a taste, Aleck.  Give him some, aunt."
+
+Aunt Hannah placed a portion upon their visitor's plate, and Macey was
+wonderfully polite--waiting for other people to be served before he
+began.
+
+"Oh, I say, aunt, take some too," cried Vane.
+
+"Do you wish it, my dear?  Well, I will;" and Aunt Hannah helped
+herself, as the doctor began to turn his portion over; and Macey thought
+of poisoning, doctors, and narrow escapes, as he trifled with the
+contents of his plate.
+
+"Humph!" said the doctor breaking a painful silence.  "I'm afraid, Vane,
+that cook has made a mistake."
+
+"Mistake, sir?" cried Macey, eagerly; "then you think they are not
+wholesome?"
+
+"Decidedly not," said the doctor.  "I suppose these are your
+chanterelles, Vane."
+
+"Don't look like 'em, uncle."
+
+"No, my boy, they do not.  I can't find any though," said the doctor, as
+he turned over his portion with his fork.  "No: I was wrong."
+
+"They are not the chanterelles then, uncle?"
+
+"Oh, yes, my boy, they are.  I was afraid that Martha had had an
+accident with the fungi, and had prepared a substitute from my old
+shooting boots, but I can't see either eyelet or nail.  Can you?"
+
+"Oh, my dear!" cried Aunt Hannah to her nephew; "do, pray, ring, and
+have them taken away.  You really should not bring in such things to be
+cooked."
+
+"No, no: stop a moment," said the doctor, as Macey grinned with delight;
+"let's see first whether there is anything eatable."
+
+"It's all like bits of shrivelled crackling," said Vane, "only harder."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, "much.  I'm afraid Martha did not like her job,
+and she has cooked these too much.  No," he added, after tasting, "this
+is certainly not a success.  Now for the tart--that is, if our young
+friend Macey has quite finished his portion."
+
+"I haven't begun, sir," said the visitor.
+
+"Then we will wait."
+
+"No, no, please sir, don't.  I feel as if I couldn't eat a bit."
+
+"And I as if they were not meant to eat," said the doctor, smiling.
+"Never mind, Vane; we'll get aunt to cook the rest, or else you and I
+will experimentalise over a spirit lamp in the workshop, eh?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, and we'll have Macey there, and make him do all the tasting
+for being so malicious."
+
+"Tell me when it's to be," said Macey, grinning with delight at getting
+rid of his plate; "and I'll arrange to be fetched home for a holiday."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+THE MILLER'S BOAT.
+
+Vane so frequently got into hot-water with his experiments that he more
+than once made vows.  But his promises were as unstable as water, and he
+soon forgot them.  He had vowed that he would be contented with things
+as they were, but his active mind was soon at work contriving.
+
+He and Macey had borrowed Rounds the miller's boat one day for a row.
+They were out having a desultory wander down by the river, when they
+came upon the bluff churchwarden himself, and he gave them a friendly
+nod as he stood by the roadside talking to Chakes about something
+connected with the church; and, as the boys went on, Macey said,
+laughing, "I say, Weathercock, you're such a fellow for making
+improvements, why don't you take Chakes in hand, and make him look like
+the miller?"
+
+"They are a contrast, certainly," said Vane, glancing back at the
+gloomy, bent form of the sexton, as he stood looking up sidewise at the
+big, squarely-built, wholesome-looking miller.  "But I couldn't improve
+him.  I say, what shall we do this afternoon?"
+
+"I don't know," said Macey.  "Two can't play cricket comfortably.  It's
+stupid to bowl and field."
+
+"Well, and it's dull work to bat, and be kept waiting while the ball is
+fetched.  Let's go to my place.  I want to try an experiment."
+
+"No, thank you," cried Macey.  "Don't catch me holding wires, or being
+set to pound something in a mortar.  I know your little games, Vane Lee.
+You've caught me once or twice before."
+
+"Well, let's do something.  I hate wasting time."
+
+"Come and tease old Gil; or, let's go and sit down somewhere near
+Distie.  He's in the meadows, and it will make him mad as mad if you go
+near him."
+
+"Try something better," said Vane.
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  We might go blackberrying, only one seems to be
+getting too old for that sort of thing.  Let's hire two nags, and have a
+ride."
+
+"Well, young gents, going my way?" cried the miller, from behind them,
+as he strode along in their rear.
+
+"Where are you going?" said Vane.
+
+"Down to the mill.  The wind won't blow, so I'm obliged to make up for
+it at the river mill, only the water is getting short.  That's the best
+of having two strings to your bow, my lads.  By the time the water gets
+low, perhaps the wind may rise, and turn one's sails again.  When I
+can't get wind or water there's no flour, and if there's no flour
+there'll be no bread."
+
+"That's cheerful," cried Macey.
+
+"Yes; keeps one back, my lad.  Two strings to one's bow arn't enough.
+Say, Master Lee, you're a clever sort of chap, and make all kinds of
+'ventions; can't you set me going with a steam engine thing as 'll make
+my stones run, when there's no water?"
+
+"I think I could," said Vane, eagerly.
+
+"I thowt you'd say that, lad," cried the miller, laughing; "but I've
+heard say as there's blowings-up--explosions--over your works sometimes,
+eh?"
+
+"Oh, that was an accident," cried Vane.
+
+"And accidents happen in the best regulated families, they say," cried
+the miller.  "Well, I must think about it.  Cost a mint o' money to do
+that."
+
+By this time they had reached the long, low, weather-boarded, wooden
+building, which spanned the river like a bridge, and looked curiously
+picturesque among the ancient willows growing on the banks, and with
+their roots laving in the water.
+
+It was a singular-looking place, built principally on a narrow island in
+the centre of the stream, and its floodgates and dam on either side of
+the island; while heavy wheels, all green with slimy growth, and looking
+grim and dangerous as they turned beneath the mill on either side, kept
+up a curious rumbling and splashing sound that was full of suggestions
+of what the consequences would be should anyone be swept over them by
+the sluggish current in the dam, and down into the dark pool below.
+
+"Haven't seen you, gents, lately, for a day's fishing," said the miller,
+as he entered the swing-gate, and held it open for the lads to follow,
+which, having nothing else to do, they did, as a matter of course.
+
+"No," said Macey; "been too busy over our books."
+
+The churchwarden laughed.
+
+"Oh, yes, I suppose so, sir.  You look just the sort of boy who would
+work himself to death over his learning.  Tired of fishing?"
+
+"I'm not," said Vane.  "Have there been many up here lately?"
+
+"Swarms," said the miller.  "Pool's alive with roach and chub sometimes,
+and up in the dam for hundreds of yards you may hear the big tench
+sucking and smacking their lips among the weeds, as if they was waiting
+for a bit of paste or a fat worm."
+
+"You'll give us a day's fishing any time we like to come then, Mr
+Rounds?" said Vane.
+
+"Two, if you like, my lads.  Sorry I can't fit you up with tackle, or
+you might have a turn now."
+
+"Oh, I shan't come and fish that way," cried Macey.  "I've tried too
+often.  You make all kinds of preparations, and then you come, and the
+fish won't bite.  They never will when I try."
+
+"Don't try enough, do he, Master Lee?"
+
+"Yes, I do," cried Macey.  "I like fishing with a net, or I should like
+to have a try if you ran all the water out of the dam, so that we could
+see what fish were in."
+
+"Yes, I suppose you'd like that."
+
+"Hi!  Look there, Vane," cried Macey, pointing to a newly-painted boat
+fastened by its chain to one of the willows.  "I'm ready for a row if
+Mr Rounds would lend us the boat."
+
+"Nay, you'd go and drown yourself and Master Vane too."
+
+"Pooh! as if we couldn't row.  I say, Mr Rounds, do lend us the boat."
+
+"Oh, well, I don't mind, my lads, if you'll promise to be steady, and
+not get playing any games."
+
+"Oh, I'll promise, and there's no need to ask Lee.  He's as steady as
+you are."
+
+"All right, lads; you can have her.  Oars is inside the mill.  I'll show
+you.  Want to go up or down?"
+
+"I don't care," said Macey.
+
+"If you want to go down stream, I shall have to slide the boat down the
+overshoot.  Better go up, and then you'll have the stream with you
+coming back.  Hello, here's some more of you."
+
+This was on his seeing Distin and Gilmore coming in the other direction,
+and Macey shouted directly:
+
+"Hi!  We've got the boat.  Come and have a row."
+
+Gilmore was willing at once, but Distin held off for a few moments, but
+the sight of the newly-painted boat, the clear water of the sunlit
+river, and the glowing tints of the trees up where the stream wound
+along near the edge of the wood, were too much for him, and he took the
+lead at once, and began to unfasten the chain.
+
+"You can fasten her up again when you bring her back," said the miller,
+as he led the way into the mill.
+
+"I do like the smell of the freshly-ground flour," cried Macey, as they
+passed the door.  "But, I say, Vane Lee, hadn't we better have gone
+alone?  You see if those two don't monopolise the oars till they're
+tired, and then we shall have to row them just where they please."
+
+"Never mind," said Vane; "we shall be on the water."
+
+"I'll help you pitch them in, if they turn nasty, as people call it,
+down here."
+
+"There you are, young gents, and the boat-hook, too," said the miller,
+opening his office door, and pointing to the oars.  "Brand noo uns I've
+just had made, so don't break 'em."
+
+"All right, we'll take care," said Macey; and, after a few words of
+thanks, the two lads bore out the oars, and crossed a narrow plank
+gangway in front of the mill to the island, where Distin and Gilmore
+were seated in the boat.
+
+"Who's going to row?" said Macey.
+
+"We are," replied Distin, quietly taking off his jacket, Gilmore
+following suit, and Macey gave Vane a look, which plainly said, "Told
+you so," as he settled himself down in the stern.
+
+The start was not brilliant, for, on pushing off, Distin did not take
+his time from Gilmore, who was before him, and consequently gave him a
+tremendous thump on the back with both fists.
+
+"I say," roared Gilmore, "we haven't come out crab-catching."
+
+Whereupon Macey burst into a roar of laughter, and Vane smiled.
+
+Distin, who was exceedingly nervous and excited, looked up sharply,
+ignored Macey, and addressed Vane.
+
+"Idiot!" he cried.  "I suppose you never had an accident in rowing."
+
+"Lots," said Vane, with his face flushing, but he kept his temper.
+
+"Perhaps you had better take the oar yourself."
+
+"Try the other way, Mr Distin, sir," cried the miller, in his big,
+bluff voice; and, looking up, they could see his big, jolly face at a
+little trap-like window high up in the mill.
+
+"Eh!  Oh, thank you," said Distin, in a hurried, nervous way, and,
+rising in his seat, he was in the act of turning round to sit down with
+his back to Gilmore, when a fresh roar of laughter from Macey showed him
+that the miller was having a grin at his expense.
+
+Just then the little window shut with a sharp clap, and Distin
+hesitated, and glanced at the shore as if, had it been closer, he would
+have leaped out of the boat, and walked off.  But they were a good
+boat's length distant, and he sat down again with an angry scowl on his
+face, and began to pull.
+
+"In for a row again," said Gilmore to himself.  "Why cannot a fellow
+bear a bit of banter like that!"
+
+To make things go more easily, Gilmore reversed the regular order of
+rowing, and took his time, as well as he could, from Distin, and the
+boat went on, the latter tugging viciously at the scull he held.  The
+consequence was, that, as there was no rudder and the river was not
+straight, there was a tendency on the part of the boat to run its nose
+into the bank, in spite of all that Gilmore could do to prevent it; and
+at last Macey seized the boat-hook, and put it over the stern.
+
+"Look here," he cried, "I daresay I can steer you a bit with this."
+
+But his act only increased the annoyance of Distin, who had been nursing
+his rage, and trying to fit the cause in some way upon Vane.
+
+"Put that thing down, idiot!" he cried, fiercely, "and sit still in the
+boat.  Do you think I am going to be made the laughing-stock of
+everybody by your insane antics?"
+
+"Oh, all right, Colonist," said Macey, good-humouredly; "only some
+people would put the pole down on your head for calling 'em idiots."
+
+"What!" roared Distin; "do you dare to threaten me?"
+
+"Oh, dear, no, sir.  I beg your pardon, sir.  I'm very sorry, sir.  I
+didn't come for to go for to--"
+
+"Clown!" cried Distin, contemptuously.
+
+"Oh, I say, Vane, we are having a jolly ride," whispered Macey, but loud
+enough for Distin to hear, and the Creole's dark eyes flashed at them.
+
+"I say, Distin," said Gilmore in a remonstrant growl, "don't be so
+precious peppery about nothing.  Aleck didn't mean any harm."
+
+"That's right!  Take his part," cried Distin, making the water foam, as
+he pulled hard.  "You fellows form a regular cabal, and make a dead set
+at me.  But I'm not afraid.  You've got the wrong man to deal with,
+and--confound the wretched boat!"
+
+He jumped up, and raising the scull, made a sharp dig with it at the
+shore, and would have broken it, had not Gilmore checked him.
+
+"Don't!" he cried, "you will snap the blade."
+
+For, having nearly stopped rowing as he turned to protest, the natural
+result was that the boat's nose was dragged round, and the sharp prow
+ran right into the soft overhanging bank and stuck fast.
+
+Vane tried to check himself, but a hearty fit of laughter would come,
+one which proved contagious, for Macey and Gilmore both joined in, the
+former rolling about and giving vent to such a peculiar set of grunts
+and squeaks of delight, as increased the others' mirth, and made Distin
+throw down his scull, and jump ashore, stamping with rage.
+
+"No, no, Distie, don't do that," cried Gilmore, wiping his eyes.  "Come
+back."
+
+"I won't ride with such a set of fools," panted Distin, hoarsely.  "You
+did it on purpose to annoy me."
+
+He took a few sharp steps away, biting his upper lip with rage, and the
+laughter ceased in the boat.
+
+"I say, Distin," cried Vane; and the lad faced round instantly with a
+vindictive look at the speaker as he walked sharply back to the boat,
+and sprang in.
+
+"No, I will not go," he cried.  "That's what you want--to get rid of me,
+but you've found your match."
+
+He sprang in so sharply that the boat gave a lurch and freed itself from
+the bank, gliding off into deep water again; and as Distin resumed his
+scull, Gilmore waited for it to dip, and then pulled, so that solely by
+his skill--for Distin was very inexperienced as an oarsman--the boat was
+kept pretty straight, and they went on up stream in silence.
+
+Macey gazed at Gilmore, who was of course facing him, but he could not
+look at his friend without seeing Distin too, and to look at the latter
+meant drawing upon himself a savage glare.  So he turned his eyes to
+Vane, with the result that Distin watched him as if he were certain that
+he was going to detect some fresh conspiracy.
+
+Macey sighed, and gazed dolefully at the bank, as if he wished that he
+were ashore.
+
+Vane gazed at the bank too, and thought of his ill luck in being at odds
+with Distin, and of the many walks he had had along there with his
+uncle.  These memories brought up plenty of pleasant thoughts, and he
+began to search for different water-plants and chat about them to Macey,
+who listened eagerly this time for the sake of having something to do.
+
+"Look!" said Vane pointing; "there's the Stratiotes."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Stratiotes.  The water-soldier."
+
+"Then he's a deserter," said Macey.  "Hold hard you two, and let's
+arrest him."
+
+"No, no; go on rowing," said Vane.
+
+"Don't take any notice of the buffoon, Gilmore," cried Distin sharply.
+"Pull!"
+
+"I say, old cock of the weather," whispered Macey, leaning over the
+side, "I'd give something to be as strong as you are."
+
+"Why?" asked Vane in the same low tone.
+
+"Because my left fist wants to punch Distie's nose, and I haven't got
+muscle enough--what do you call it, biceps--to do it."
+
+"Let dogs delight to bark and bite," said Vane, laughing.
+
+"Don't," whispered Macey; "you're making Distie mad again.  He feels
+we're talking about him.  Go on about the vegetables."
+
+"All right.  There you are then.  That's all branched bur-reed."
+
+"What, that thing with the little spikey horse-chestnuts on it?"
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Good to eat?"
+
+"I never tried it.  There's something that isn't," continued Vane,
+pointing at some vivid green, deeply-cut and ornamental leaves.
+
+"What is it?  Looks as if it would make a good salad."
+
+"Water hemlock.  Very poisonous."
+
+"Do not chew the hemlock rank--growing on the weedy bank," quoted Macey.
+"I wish you wouldn't begin nursery rhymes.  You've started me off now.
+I should like some of those bulrushes," and he pointed to a cluster of
+the brown poker-like growth rising from the water, well out of reach
+from the bank.
+
+"Those are not bulrushes."
+
+"What are they, then?"
+
+"It is the reed-mace."
+
+"They'll do just as well by that name.  I say, Distie, I want to cut
+some of them."
+
+"Go on rowing," said Distin, haughtily, to Gilmore, without glancing at
+Macey.
+
+"All right, my lord," muttered Macey.  "Halloo!  What was that? a big
+fish?"
+
+"No; it was a water-rat jumped in."
+
+"All right again," said Macey good-humouredly.  "I don't know anything
+at all.  There never was such an ignorant chap as I am."
+
+"Give me the other scull, Gilmore," said Distin, just then.
+
+"All right, but hadn't we better go a little higher first?  The stream
+runs very hard just here."
+
+Distin uttered a sound similar to that made by a turkey-cock before he
+begins to gobble--a sound that may be represented by the word _Phut_,
+and they preserved their relative places.
+
+"What are those leaves shaped like spears?" said Macey, giving Vane a
+peculiar look.
+
+"Arrowheads."
+
+"There, I do know what those are!" cried Macey, quickly as a shoal of
+good-sized fish darted of from a gravelly shallow into deep water.
+
+"Well, what are they?"
+
+"Roach and dace."
+
+"Neither," said Vane, laughing heartily.
+
+"Well, I--oh, but they are."
+
+"No."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Chub."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"By the black edge round their tails."
+
+"I say!" cried Macey; "how do you know all these precious things so
+readily?"
+
+"Walks with uncle," replied Vane.  "I don't know much but he seems to
+know everything."
+
+"Why I thought he couldn't know anything but about salts and senna, and
+bleeding, and people's tongues when they put 'em out."
+
+"Here, Macey and he had better row now," cried Distin, suddenly.  "Let's
+have a rest, Gilmore."
+
+The exchange of position was soon made, and Macey said, as he rolled up
+his sleeves over his thin arms, which were in peculiar contrast to his
+round plump face:--
+
+"Now then: let's show old pepper-pot what rowing is."
+
+"No: pull steadily, and don't show off," said Vane quietly.  "We want to
+look at the things on the banks."
+
+"Oh, all right," cried Macey resignedly; and the sculls dipped together
+in a quiet, steady, splashless pull, the two lads feathering well, and,
+with scarcely any exertion, sending the boat along at a fair pace, while
+Vane, with a naturalist's eye, noted the different plants on the banks,
+the birds building in the water-growth--reed sparrows, and bearded tits,
+and pointing out the moor-hens, coots, and an occasional duck.
+
+All at once, as they cut into a patch of the great dark flat leaves of
+the yellow water-lily, there was a tremendous swirl in the river just
+beyond the bows of the boat--one which sent the leaves heaving and
+falling for some distance ahead.
+
+"Come now, that was a pike," cried Macey, as he looked at Distin lolling
+back nonchalantly, with his eyes half-closed.
+
+"Yes; that was a pike, and a big one too," said Vane.  "Let's see,
+opposite those three pollard willows in the big horseshoe bend.  We'll
+come and have a try for him, Aleck, one of these days."
+
+It was a pleasant row, Macey and Vane keeping the oars for a couple of
+hours, right on, past another mill, and among the stumps which showed
+where the old bridge and the side-road once spanned the deeps--a bridge
+which had gradually decayed away and had never been replaced, as the
+traffic was so small and there was a good shallow ford a quarter of a
+mile farther on.
+
+The country was beautifully picturesque up here, and the latter part of
+their row was by a lovely grove of beeches which grew on a chalk ridge--
+almost a cliff--at whose foot the clear river ran babbling along.
+
+Here, all of a sudden, Macey threw up the blade of his oar, and at a
+pull or two from Vane, the boat's keel grated on the pebbly sand.
+
+"What's that for?" cried Gilmore, who had been half asleep as he sat
+right back in the stern, with his hands holding the sides.
+
+"Time to go back," said Macey.  "Want my corn."
+
+"He means his thistle," said Distin, rousing himself to utter a
+sarcastic remark.
+
+"Thistle, if you like," said Macey, good-humouredly.  "Donkey enjoys his
+thistle as much as a horse does his corn, or you did chewing sugar-cane
+among your father's niggers."
+
+It was an unlucky speech, and like a spark to gunpowder.
+
+Distin sprang up and made for Macey, with his fists doubled, but Vane
+interposed.
+
+"No," he said; "no fighting in a boat, please.  Gilmore and I don't want
+a ducking, if you do."
+
+There was another change in the Creole on the instant.  The fierce angry
+look gave place to a sneering smile, and he spoke in a husky whisper.
+
+"Oh, I see," he said, gazing at Vane the while, with half-shut eyes.
+"You prompted him to say that."
+
+Vane did not condescend to answer, but Macey cried promptly,--
+
+"That he didn't.  Made it all up out of my own head."
+
+"A miserable insult," muttered Distin.
+
+"But he had nothing to do with it, Distie," said Macey; "all my own; and
+if you wish for satisfaction--swords or pistols at six sharp, with
+coffee, I'm your man."
+
+Distin took no heed of him, but stood watching Vane, his dark half-shut
+eyes flashing as they gazed into the lad's calm wide-open grey orbs.
+
+"I say," continued Macey, "if you wish for the satisfaction of a
+gentleman--"
+
+"Satisfaction--gentleman!" raged out Distin, as he turned suddenly upon
+Macey.  "Silence, buffoon!"
+
+"The buffoon is silent," said Macey, sinking calmly down into his place;
+"but don't you two fight, please, till after we've got back and had some
+food.  I say, Gil, is there no place up here where we can buy some
+tuck?"
+
+"No," replied Gilmore; and then, "Sit down, Vane.  Come, Distie, what is
+the good of kicking up such a row about nothing.  You really are too
+bad, you know.  Let's, you and I, row back."
+
+"Keep your advice till it is asked for," said Distin contemptuously.
+"You, Macey, go back yonder into the stern.  Perhaps Mr Vane Lee will
+condescend to take another seat."
+
+"Oh, certainly," said Vane quietly, though there was a peculiar
+sensation of tingling in his veins, and a hot feeling about the throat.
+The peculiar human or animal nature was effervescing within him, and
+though he hardly realised it himself, he wanted to fight horribly, and
+there was that mastering him in those moments which would have made it a
+keen joy to have stood ashore there on the grass beneath the chalk cliff
+and pummelled Distin till he could not see to get back to the boat.
+
+But he did not so much as double his fist, though he knew that Macey and
+Gilmore were both watching him narrowly and thinking, he felt sure,
+that, if Distin struck him, he would not return the blow.
+
+As the three lads took their seats, Distin, with a lordly contempt and
+arrogance of manner, removed his jacket, and deliberately doubled it up
+to place it forward.  Then slowly rolling up his sleeves he took the
+sculls, seated himself and began to back-water but without effect, for
+the boat was too firmly aground forward.
+
+"You'll never get her off that way," cried Macey the irrepressible.
+"Now lads, all together, make her roll."
+
+"Sit still, sir!" thundered Distin--at least he meant to thunder, but it
+was only a hoarse squeak.
+
+"Yes, sir; certainly, sir," cried Macey; and then, in an undertone to
+his companions, "Shall we not sterrike for ferreedom?  Are we all--er--
+serlaves!"
+
+Then he laughed, and slapped his leg, for Distin drew in one scull,
+rose, and began to use the other to thrust the boat off.
+
+"I say, you know," cried Macey, as Gilmore held up the boat-hook to
+Distin, but it was ignored, "I don't mean to pay my whack if you break
+that scull."
+
+"Do you wish me to break yours?" retorted Distin, so fiercely that his
+words came with a regular snarl.
+
+"Oh, murder! he's gone mad," said Macey, in a loud whisper; and screwing
+up his face into a grimace which he intended to represent horrible
+dread, but more resembled the effects produced by a pin or thorn, he
+crouched down right away in the stern of the boat, but kept up a
+continuous rocking which helped Distin's efforts to get her off into
+deep water.  When the latter seated himself, turned the head, and began
+to row back, that is to say, he dipped the sculls lightly from time to
+time, so as to keep the boat straight, the stream being strong enough to
+carry them steadily down without an effort on the rower's part.
+
+Macey being right in the stern, Vane and Gilmore sat side by side,
+making a comment now and then about something they passed, while Distin
+was of course alone, watching them all from time to time through his
+half-closed eyes, as if suspicious that their words might be relating to
+him.
+
+Then a gloomy silence fell, which lasted till Macey burst out in
+ecstatic tones:
+
+"Oh, I am enjoying of myself!"
+
+Then, after a pause:
+
+"Never had such a glorious day before."
+
+Another silence, broken by Macey once more, saying in a deferential
+way:--
+
+"If your excellency feels exhausted by this unwonted exertion, your
+servant will gladly take an oar."
+
+Distin ceased rowing, and, balancing the oars a-feather, he said
+coldly:--
+
+"If you don't stop that chattering, my good fellow, I'll either pitch
+you overboard, or set you ashore to walk home."
+
+"Thankye," cried Macey, cheerfully; "but I'll take the dry, please."
+
+Distin's teeth grated together as he sat and scowled at his
+fellow-pupil, muttering, "Chattering ape;" but he made no effort to put
+his threats into execution, and kept rowing on, twisting his neck round
+from time to time, to see which way they were going; Vane and Gilmore
+went on talking in a low tone; and Macey talked to himself.
+
+"He has made me feel vicious," he said.  "I'm a chattering ape, am I?
+He'll pitch me overboard, will he?  I'd call him a beast, only it would
+be so rude.  He'd pitch me overboard, would he?  Well, I could swim if
+he did, and that's more than he could do."
+
+Macey looked before him at Vane and Gilmore, to see that the former had
+turned to the side and was thoughtfully dipping his hand in the water,
+as if paddling.
+
+"Halloo, Weathercock!" he cried.  "I know what you're thinking about."
+
+"Not you," cried Vane merrily, as he looked back.
+
+"I do.  You were thinking you could invent a machine to send the boat
+along far better than old West Indies is doing it now."
+
+Vane stared at him.
+
+"Well," he said, hesitatingly, "I was not thinking about Distin's
+rowing, but I was trying to hit out some way of propelling a boat
+without steam."
+
+"Knew it!  I knew it!  Here, I shan't read for the bar; I shall study up
+for a head boss conjurer, thought-reader, and clairvoyant."
+
+"For goodness' sake, Gilmore, lean back, and stuff your handkerchief in
+that chattering pie's mouth.  You had better; it will save me from
+pitching him into the river."
+
+Then deep silence fell on the little party, and Macey's eyes sparkled.
+
+"Yes, he has made me vicious now," he said to himself; and, as he sat
+back, he saw something which sent a thought through his brain which made
+him hug his knees.  "Let me see," he mused: "Vane can swim and dive like
+an otter, and Gil is better in the water than I am.  All right, my boy;
+you shall pitch me in."
+
+Then aloud:
+
+"Keep her straight, Distie.  Don't send her nose into the willows."
+
+The rower looked sharply round, and pulled his right scull.  Then, a
+little further on, Macey shouted:--
+
+"Too much port--pull your right."
+
+Distin resented this with an angry look; but Macey kept on in the most
+unruffled way, and, by degrees, as the rower found that it saved him
+from a great deal of unpleasant screwing round and neck-twisting, he
+began to obey the commands, and pulled a little harder, so that they
+travelled more swiftly down the winding stream.
+
+"Port!" shouted Macey.  "Port it is!  Straight on!"
+
+Then, after a minute,--
+
+"Starboard!  More starboard!  Straight on!"
+
+Again: "Pull your right--not too much.  Both hands;" and Distin calmly
+and indifferently followed the orders, till it had just occurred to him
+that the others might as well row now, when Macey shouted again:--
+
+"Right--a little more right; now, both together.  That's the way;" and,
+as again Distin obeyed, Macey shut his eyes, and drew up his knees.  To
+give a final impetus to the light craft, Distin leaned forward, threw
+back the blades of the sculls, dipped, and took hold of the water, and
+then was jerked backwards as the boat struck with a crash on one of the
+old piles of the ancient bridge, ran up over it a little way, swung
+round, and directly after capsized, and began to float down stream,
+leaving its human freight struggling in deep water.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+DISTIN IS INCREDULOUS.
+
+"Oh, murder!" shouted Macey, as he rose to the surface, and struck out
+after the boat, which he reached, and held on by the keel.
+
+Gilmore swam after him, and was soon alongside, while Vane made for the
+bank, climbed out, stood up dripping, and roaring with laughter.
+
+"Hi!  Gil!--Aleck, bring her ashore," he cried.
+
+"All right!" came back; but almost simultaneously Vane shouted again, in
+a tone full of horror:--
+
+"Here, both of you--Distin--where's Distin?"
+
+He ran along the bank as he spoke, gazing down into the river, but
+without seeing a sign of that which he sought.
+
+Macey's heart sank within him, as, for the first time, the real
+significance of that which he had done in carefully guiding the rower on
+to the old rotten pile came home.  A cold chill ran through him, and,
+for the moment, he clung, speechless and helpless, to the drifting boat.
+
+But Vane soon changed all that.
+
+"Here, you!" he yelled, "get that boat ashore, turn her over, and come
+to me--"
+
+As he spoke, he ran to and fro upon the bank for a few moments, but,
+seeing nothing, he paused opposite a deep-looking place, and plunged in,
+to begin swimming about, raising his head at every stroke, and searching
+about him, but searching in vain, for their companion, who, as far as he
+knew, had not risen again to the surface.
+
+Meanwhile, Gilmore and Macey tried their best to get the boat ashore,
+and, after struggling for a few minutes in the shallow close under the
+bank, they managed to right her, but not without leaving a good deal of
+water in the bottom.  Still she floated as they climbed in and thrust
+her off, but only for Gilmore to utter a groan of dismay as he grasped
+the helplessness of their situation.
+
+"No oars--no oars!" he cried; and, standing up in the stern, he plunged
+into the water again, to swim toward where he could see Vane's head.
+
+"What have I done--what have I done!" muttered Macey, wildly.  "Oh, poor
+chap, if he should be drowned!"
+
+For a moment he hesitated about following Gilmore, but, as he swept the
+water with his eyes, he caught sight of something floating, and, sitting
+down, he used one hand as a paddle, trying to get the boat toward the
+middle of the river to intercept the floating object, which he had seen
+to be one of the oars.
+
+Vane heard the loud splash, and saw that Gilmore was swimming to his
+help, then he kept on, looking to right and left in search of their
+companion; but everywhere there was the eddying water gliding along, and
+bearing him with it.
+
+For a time he had breasted the current, trying to get toward the deeps
+where the bridge had stood, but he could make no way, and, concluding
+from this that Distin would have floated down too, he kept on his weary,
+useless search till Gilmore swam up abreast.
+
+"Haven't seen him?" panted the latter, hoarsely.  "Shall we go lower?"
+
+"No," cried Vane; "there must be an eddy along there.  Let's go up
+again."
+
+They swam ashore, climbed out on to the bank, and, watching the surface
+as they ran, they made for the spot where the well-paved road had
+crossed the bridge.
+
+Here they stood in silence for a few moments, and Gilmore was about to
+plunge in again, but Vane stopped him.
+
+"No, no," he cried, breathing heavily the while; "that's of no use.
+Wait till we see him rise--if he is here," he added with a groan.
+
+The sun shone brightly on the calm, clear water which here looked black
+and deep, and after scanning it for some time Vane said quickly--
+
+"Look!  There, just beyond that black stump."
+
+"No; there is nothing there but a deep hole."
+
+"Yes, but the water goes round and round there, Gil; that must be the
+place."
+
+He was about to plunge in, but it was Gilmore's turn to arrest him.
+
+"No, no; it would be no use."
+
+"Yes; I'll dive down."
+
+"But there are old posts and big stones, I daren't let you go."
+
+"Ah!" shouted Vane wildly; "look--look!"
+
+He shook himself free and plunged in as Gilmore caught sight of
+something close up to the old piece of blackened oak upon which Macey
+had so cleverly steered the boat.  It was only a glimpse of something
+floating, and then it was gone; and he followed Vane, who was swimming
+out to the old post.  This he reached before Gilmore was half-way, swam
+round for a few moments, and then paddled like a dog, rose as high as he
+could, turned over and dived down into the deep black hole.
+
+In a few moments he was up again to take a long breath and dive once
+more.
+
+This time he was down longer, and Gilmore held on by the slimy post,
+gazing about with staring eyes, and prepared himself to dive down after
+his friend, when all at once, Vane's white face appeared, and one arm
+was thrust forth to give a vigorous blow upon the surface.
+
+"Got him," he cried in a half-choked voice, "Gil, help!"
+
+Gilmore made for him directly, and as he reached his companion's side
+the back of Distin's head came to the surface, and Gilmore seized him by
+his long black hair.
+
+Their efforts had taken them out of the eddy into the swift stream once
+more, and they began floating down; Vane so confused and weak from his
+efforts that he could do nothing but swim feebly, while his companion
+made some effort to keep Distin's face above water and direct him toward
+the side.
+
+An easy enough task at another time, for it only meant a swim of some
+fifty yards, but with the inert body of Distin, and Vane so utterly
+helpless that he could barely keep himself afloat, Gilmore had hard
+work, and, swim his best, he could scarcely gain a yard toward the
+shore.  Very soon he found that he was exhausting himself by his efforts
+and that it would be far better to go down the stream, and trust to
+getting ashore far lower down, though, at the same time, a chilly
+feeling of despair began to dull his energies, and it seemed hopeless to
+think of getting his comrade ashore alive.
+
+All the same, though, forced as the words sounded, he told Vane hoarsely
+that it was all right, and that they would soon get to the side.
+
+Vane only answered with a look--a heavy, weary, despairing look--which
+told how thoroughly he could weigh his friend's remark, as he held on
+firmly by Distin and struck out slowly and heavily with the arm at
+liberty.
+
+There was no doubt about Vane's determination.  If he had loosed his
+hold of Distin, with two arms free he could have saved himself with
+comparative ease, but that thought never entered his head, as they
+floated down the river, right in the middle now, and with the trees
+apparently gliding by them and the verdure and water-growth gradually
+growing confused and dim.  To Vane all now seemed dreamlike and strange.
+He was in no trouble--there was no sense of dread, and the despair of a
+few minutes before was blunted, as with his body lower in the water,
+which kept rising now above his lips, he slowly struggled on.
+
+All at once Gilmore shouted wildly,--
+
+"Vane--we can't do it.  Let's swim ashore."
+
+Vane turned his eyes slowly toward him, as if he hardly comprehended his
+words.
+
+"What can I do?" panted Gilmore, who, on his side, was gradually growing
+more rapid and laboured in the strokes he made; but Vane made no sign,
+and the three floated down stream, each minute more helpless; and it was
+now rapidly becoming a certainty that, if Gilmore wished to save his
+life, he must quit his hold of Distin, and strive his best to reach the
+bank.
+
+"It seems so cowardly," he groaned; and he looked wildly round for help,
+but there was none.  Then there seemed to be just one chance: the shore
+looked to be just in front of them, for the river turned here sharply
+round, forming a loop, and there was a possibility of their being swept
+right on to the bank.
+
+Vain hope!  The stream swept round to their right, bearing them toward
+the other shore, against which it impinged, and then shot off with
+increased speed away for the other side; and, though they were carried
+almost within grasping distance of a tree whose boughs hung down to kiss
+the swift waters, the nearest was just beyond Gilmore's reach, as he
+raised his hand, which fell back with a splash, as they were borne right
+out, now toward the middle once more, and round the bend.
+
+"I can't help it.  Must let go," thought Gilmore.  "I'm done."  Then
+aloud:
+
+"Vane, old chap! let go.  Let's swim ashore;" and then he shuddered, for
+Vane's eyes had a dull, half-glazed stare, and his lips, nostrils,--the
+greater part of his face, sank below the stream.  "Oh, help!" groaned
+Gilmore; "he has gone:" and, loosing his hold of Distin, he made a
+snatch at Vane, who was slowly sinking, the current turning him face
+downward, and rolling him slowly over.
+
+But Gilmore made a desperate snatch, and caught him by the sleeve as
+Vane rose again with his head thrown back and one arm rising above the
+water, clutching frantically at vacancy.
+
+The weight of that arm was sufficient to send him beneath the surface
+again, and Gilmore's desperate struggle to keep him afloat resulted in
+his going under in turn, losing his presence of mind, and beginning to
+struggle wildly as he, too, strove to catch at something to keep himself
+up.
+
+Another few moments and all would have been over, but the clutch did not
+prove to be at vacancy.  Far from it.  A hand was thrust into his, and
+as he was drawn up, a familiar voice shouted in his singing ears, where
+the water had been thundering the moment before:
+
+"Catch hold of the side," was shouted; and his fingers involuntarily
+closed on the gunwale of the boat, while Macey reached out and seized
+Vane by the collar, drew him to the boat, or the boat to him, and guided
+the drowning lad's cramped hand to the gunwale too.
+
+"Now!" he shouted; "can you hold on?"
+
+There was no answer from either, and Macey hesitated for a few moments,
+but, seeing how desperate a grip both now had, he seized one of the
+recovered sculls, thrust it out over the rowlock, and pulled and paddled
+first at the side, then over the stern till, by help of the current, he
+guided the boat with its clinging freight into shallow water where he
+leaped overboard, seized Gilmore, and dragged him right up the sandy
+shallow to where his head lay clear.  He then went back and seized Vane
+in turn, after literally unhooking his cramped fingers from the side,
+and dragged him through the shallow water a few yards, before he
+realised that his fellow-pupil's other hand was fixed, with what for the
+moment looked to be a death-grip, in Distin's clothes.
+
+This task was more difficult, but by the time he had dragged Vane
+alongside of Gilmore, the latter was slowly struggling up to his feet;
+and in a confused, staggering way he lent a hand to get Vane's head well
+clear of the water on to the warm dry pebbles, and then between them
+they dragged Distin right out beyond the pebbles on to the grass.
+
+"One moment," cried Macey, and he dashed into the water again just in
+time to catch hold of the boat, which was slowly floating away.  Then
+wading back he got hold of the chain, and twisted it round a little
+blackthorn bush on the bank.
+
+"I'm better now," gasped Gilmore.  And then, "Oh, Aleck, Aleck, they're
+both dead!"
+
+"They aren't," shouted Macey fiercely.  "Look!  Old Weathercock's moving
+his eyes, but I'm afraid of poor old Colonist.  Here, hi, Vane, old man!
+You ain't dead, are you?  Catch hold, Gil, like this, under his arm.
+Now, together off!"
+
+They seized Vane, and, raising his head and shoulders, dragged him up on
+to the grass, near where Distin lay, apparently past all help, and a
+groan escaped from Gilmore's lips, as, rapidly regaining his strength
+and energy, he dropped on his knees beside him.
+
+"It's all right," shouted Macey, excitedly, when a whisper would have
+done.  "Weathercock's beginning to revive again.  Hooray, old Vane!
+You'll do.  We must go to Distie."
+
+Vane could not speak, but he made a sign, which they interpreted to
+mean, go; and the next moment they were on their knees by Distin's side,
+trying what seemed to be the hopeless task of reviving him.  For the
+lad's face looked ghastly in the extreme; and, though Macey felt his
+breast and throat, there was not the faintest pulsation perceptible.
+
+But they lost no time; and Gilmore, who was minute by minute growing
+stronger, joined in his companion's efforts at resuscitation from a few
+rather hazy recollections of a paper he had once read respecting the
+efforts to be made with the apparently drowned.
+
+Everything was against them.  They had no hot flannels or water-bottles
+to apply to the subject's feet, no blankets in which to wrap him,
+nothing but sunshine, as Macey began.  After doubling up a couple of wet
+jackets into a cushion and putting them under Distin's back, he placed
+himself kneeling behind the poor fellow's head, seized his arms, pressed
+them hard against his sides, and then drew them out to their full
+stretch, so as to try and produce respiration by alternately compressing
+and expanding the chest.
+
+He kept on till he grew so tired that his motions grew slow; and then he
+gave place to Gilmore, who carried on the process eagerly, while Macey
+went to see how Vane progressed, finding him able to speak now in a
+whisper.
+
+"How is Distin?" he whispered.
+
+"Bad," said Macey, laconically.
+
+"Not dead!" cried Vane, frantically.
+
+"Not yet," was the reply; "but I wouldn't give much for the poor
+fellow's chance.  Oh, Vane, old chap, do come round, and help.  You are
+so clever, and know such lots of things.  I shall never be happy again
+if he dies."
+
+For answer to this appeal Vane sat up, but turned so giddy that he lay
+back again.
+
+"I'll come and try as soon as I can," he said, feebly.  "All the
+strength has gone out of me."
+
+"Let me help you," cried Macey; and he drew Vane into a sitting
+position, but had to leave him and relieve Gilmore, whose arms were
+failing fast.
+
+Macey took his place, and began with renewed vigour at what seemed to be
+a perfectly hopeless task, while Gilmore went to Vane.
+
+"It's no good," muttered Macey, whose heart was full of remorse; and a
+terrible feeling of despair came over him.  "It's of no use, but I will
+try and try till I drop.  Oh, if I could only bring him to, I'd never
+say an unkind word to him again!"
+
+He threw himself into his task, working Distin's thin arms up and down
+with all his might, listening intently the while for some faint
+suggestion of breathing, but all in vain; the arms he held were cold and
+dank, and the face upon which he looked down, seeing it in reverse, was
+horribly ghastly and grotesque.
+
+"I don't like him," continued Macey, to himself, as he toiled away; "I
+never did like him, and I never shall, but I think I'd sooner it was me
+lying here than him.  And me the cause of it all."
+
+"Poor old Distie!" he went on.  "I suppose he couldn't help his temper.
+It was his nature, and he came from a foreign country.  How could I be
+such a fool?  Nearly drowned us all."
+
+He bent over Distin at every pressure of the arms, close to the poor
+fellow's side; and, as he hung over him, the great tears gathered in his
+eyes, and, in a choking voice, he muttered aloud:--
+
+"I didn't mean it, old chap.  It was only to give you a ducking for
+being so disagreeable; indeed, indeed, I wish it had been me."
+
+"Oh, I say," cried a voice at his ear; "don't take on like that, old
+fellow.  We'll bring him round yet.  Vane's getting all right fast."
+
+"I can't help it, Gil, old chap," said Macey, in a husky whisper; "it is
+so horrible to see him like this."
+
+"But I tell you we shall bring him round.  You're tired, and out of
+heart.  Let me take another turn."
+
+"No, I'm not tired yet," said Macey, recovering himself, and speaking
+more steadily.  "I'll keep on.  You feel his heart again."
+
+He accommodated his movements to his companion's, and Gilmore kept his
+hand on Distin's breast, but he withdrew it again without a word; and,
+as Macey saw the despair and the hopeless look on the lad's face, his
+own heart sank lower, and his arms felt as if all the power had gone.
+
+But, with a jerk, he recommenced working Distin's arms up and down with
+the regular pumping motion, till he could do no more, and he again made
+way for Gilmore.
+
+He was turning to Vane, but felt a touch on his shoulder, and, looking
+round, it was to gaze in the lad's grave face.
+
+"How is he?"
+
+"Oh, bad as bad can be.  Do, pray, try and save him, Vane.  We mustn't
+let him die."
+
+Vane breathed hard, and went to Distin's side, kneeling down to feel his
+throat, and looking more serious as he rose.
+
+"Let me try now," he whispered, but Gilmore shook his head.
+
+"You're too weak," he said.  "Wait a bit."
+
+Vane waited, and at last they were glad to let him take his turn, when
+the toil drove off the terrible chill from which he was suffering, and
+he worked at the artificial respiration plan, growing stronger every
+minute.
+
+Again he resumed the task in his turn, and then again, after quite an
+hour of incessant effort had been persisted in; while now the feeling
+was becoming stronger in all their breasts that they had tried in vain,
+for there was no more chance.
+
+"If we could have had him in a bed, we might have done some good," said
+Gilmore, sadly.  "Vane, old fellow, I'm afraid you must give it up."
+
+But, instead of ceasing his efforts, the lad tried the harder, and, in a
+tone of intense excitement, he panted:--
+
+"Look!"
+
+"At what?" cried Macey, eagerly; and then, going down on his knees, he
+thrust in his hand beneath the lad's shirt.
+
+"Yes! you can feel it.  Keep on, Vane, keep on."
+
+"What!" shouted Gilmore; and then he gave a joyful cry, for there was a
+trembling about one of Distin's eyelids, and a quarter of an hour later
+they saw him open his eyes, and begin to stare wonderingly round.
+
+It was only for a few moments, and then they closed again, as if the
+spark of the fire of life that had been trembling had died out because
+there had been a slight cessation of the efforts to produce it.
+
+But there was no farther relaxation.  All, in turn, worked hard, full of
+excitement at the fruit borne by their efforts; and, at last, while Vane
+was striving his best, the patient's eyes were opened, gazed round once
+more, blankly and wonderingly, till they rested upon Vane's face, when
+memory reasserted itself, and an unpleasant frown darkened the Creole's
+countenance.
+
+"Don't," he cried, angrily, in a curiously weak, harsh voice, quite
+different from his usual tones; and he dragged himself away, and tried
+to rise, but sank back.
+
+Vane quitted his place, and made way for Macey, whose turn it would have
+been to continue their efforts, but Distin gave himself a jerk, and
+fixed his eyes on Gilmore, who raised him by passing one hand beneath
+his shoulders.
+
+"Better?"
+
+"Better?  What do you mean?  I haven't--Ah!  How was it the boat upset?"
+
+There was no reply, and Distin spoke again, in a singularly irritable
+way.
+
+"I said, how was it the boat upset?  Did someone run into us?"
+
+"You rowed right upon one of the old posts," replied Gilmore, and Distin
+gazed at him fixedly, while Macey shrank back a little, and then looked
+furtively from Vane to Gilmore, and back again at Distin, who fixed his
+eyes upon him searchingly, but did not speak for some time.
+
+"Here," he said at last; "give me your hand.  I can't sit here in these
+wet things."
+
+"Can you stand?" said Gilmore, eagerly.
+
+"Of course I can stand.  Why shouldn't I?  Because I'm wet?  Oh!"
+
+He clapped his hands to his head, and bowed down a little.
+
+"Are you in pain?" asked Gilmore, with solicitude.
+
+"Of course I am," snarled Distin; "any fool could see that.  I must have
+struck my head, I suppose."
+
+"He doesn't suspect me," thought Macey, with a long-drawn breath full of
+relief.
+
+"Here, I'll try again," continued Distin.  "Where's the boat?  I want to
+get back, and change these wet things.  Oh! my head aches as if it would
+split!"
+
+Gilmore offered his hand again, and, forgetting everything in his desire
+to help one in pain and distress, Vane ranged up on the other side, and
+was about to take Distin's arm.
+
+But the lad shrank from him fiercely.
+
+"I can manage," he said.  "I don't want to be hauled and pulled about
+like a child.  Now, Gil, steady.  Let's get into the boat.  I want to
+lie down in the stern."
+
+"Wait a minute or two; she's half full of water," cried Macey, who was
+longing to do something helpful.  "Come on, Vane."
+
+The latter went to his help, and they drew the boat closer in.
+
+"Oh, I say," whispered the lad, "isn't old Dis in a temper?"
+
+"Yes; I've heard that people who have been nearly drowned are terribly
+irritable when they come to," replied Vane, in the same tone.  "Never
+mind, we've saved his life."
+
+"You did," said Macey.
+
+"Nonsense; we all did."
+
+"No; we two didn't dive down in the black pool, and fetch him up.  Oh, I
+say, Vane, what a day!  If this is coming out for pleasure I'll stop at
+home next time.  Now then, together."
+
+They pulled together, and by degrees lightened the boat of more and more
+water, till they were able to get it quite ashore, and drain out the
+last drops over the side.  Then launching again, and replacing the oars,
+Macey gave his head a rub.
+
+"We shall have to buy the miller a new boat-hook," he said.  "I suppose
+the iron on the end of the pole was so heavy that it took the thing
+down.  I never saw it again.  Pretty hunt I had for the sculls.  I got
+one, but was ever so long before I could find the other."
+
+"You only just got to us in time," said Vane, with a sigh; and he looked
+painfully in his companion's eyes.
+
+"Oh, I say, don't look at a fellow like that," said Macey.  "I am
+sorry--I am, indeed."
+
+Vane was silent, but still looked at his fellow-pupil steadily.
+
+"Don't ever split upon me, old chap," continued Macey; "and I'll own it
+all to you.  I thought it would only be a bit of a lark to give him a
+ducking, for he had been--and no mistake--too disagreeable for us to put
+up with it any longer."
+
+"Then you did keep on telling him which hand to pull and steered him on
+to the pile?"
+
+Macey was silent.
+
+"If you did, own to it like a man, Aleck."
+
+"Yes, I will--to you, Vane.  I did, for I thought it would be such a
+game to see him overboard, and I felt it would only be a wetting for us.
+I never thought of it turning out as it did."
+
+He ceased speaking, and Vane stood gazing straight before him for a few
+moments.
+
+"No," he said, at last, "you couldn't have thought that it would turn
+out like it did."
+
+"No, 'pon my word, I didn't."
+
+"And we might have had to go back and tell Syme that one of his pupils
+was dead.  Oh, Aleck, if it had been so!"
+
+"Yes, but don't you turn upon me, Vane.  I didn't mean it.  You know I
+didn't mean it; and I'll never try such a trick as that again."
+
+"Ready there?" cried Gilmore.
+
+"Yes; all right," shouted Macey.  Then, in a whisper, "Don't tell
+Distie.  He'd never forgive me.  Here they come."
+
+For, sallow, and with his teeth chattering, Distin came toward them,
+leaning on Gilmore's arm; but, as he reached the boat, he drew himself
+up, and looked fixedly in Vane's face.
+
+"You needn't try to plot any more," he said, "for I shall be aware of
+you next time."
+
+"Plot?" stammered Vane, who was completely taken aback.  "I don't know
+what you mean."
+
+"Of course not," said Distin, bitterly.  "You are such a genius--so
+clever.  You wouldn't set that idiot Macey to tell me which hand to
+pull, so as to overset the boat.  But I'll be even with you yet."
+
+"I wouldn't, I swear," cried Vane, sharply.
+
+"Oh, no; not likely.  You are too straightforward and generous.  But I'm
+not blind: I can see; and if punishment can follow for your cowardly
+trick, you shall have it.  Come, Gil, you and I will row back together.
+It will warm us, and we can be on our guard against treachery this
+time."
+
+He stepped into the boat, staggered, and would have fallen overboard,
+had not Vane caught his arm; but, as soon as he had recovered his
+balance, he shook himself free resentfully and seated himself on the
+forward thwart.
+
+"Jump in," said Gilmore, in a low voice.
+
+"Yes, jump in, Mr Vane Lee, and be good enough to go right to the
+stern.  You did not succeed in drowning me this time; and, mind this, if
+you try any tricks on our way back, I'll give you the oar across the
+head.  You cowardly, treacherous bit of scum!"
+
+"No, he isn't," said Macey, boldly, "and you're all out of it, clever as
+you are.  It was not Vane's doing, the running on the pile, but mine.  I
+did it to take some of the conceit and bullying out of you, so you may
+say and do what you like."
+
+"Oh, yes, I knew you did it," sneered Distin; "but there are not brains
+enough in your head to originate such a dastardly trick.  That was Vane
+Lee's doing, and he'll hear of it another time, as sure as my name's
+Distin."
+
+"I tell you it was my own doing entirely," cried Macey, flushing up;
+"and I'll tell you something else.  I'm glad I did it--so there.  For
+you deserved it, and you deserve another for being such a cad."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Distin, threateningly.  "What I say, you
+ungrateful, un-English humbug.  You were drowning; you couldn't be
+found, and you wouldn't have been here now, if it hadn't been for old
+Weathercock diving down and fetching you up, and then, half-dead
+himself, working so hard to help save your life."
+
+"I don't believe it," snarled Distin.
+
+"Don't," said Macey, as he thrust the boat from the side, throwing
+himself forward at the same time, so that he rode out on his chest, and
+then wriggled in, to seat himself close by Vane, while Gilmore and
+Distin began to row hard, so as to get some warmth into their chilled
+bodies.
+
+They went on in silence for some time, and then Macey leaped up.
+
+"Now, Vane," he cried; "it's our turn."
+
+"Sit down," roared Distin.
+
+"Don't, Aleck," said Vane, firmly.  "You are quite right.  We want to
+warm ourselves too.  Come, Gil, and take my place."
+
+"Sit down!" roared Distin again; but Gilmore exchanged places with Vane,
+and Macey stepped forward, and took hold of Distin's oar.
+
+"Now then, give it up," he said; and, utterly cowed by the firmness of
+the two lads, Distin stepped over the thwart by Vane, and went and
+seated himself by Gilmore.
+
+"Ready?" cried Macey.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You pull as hard as you can, and let's send these shivers out of us.
+You call out, Gil, and steer us, for we don't want to have to look
+round."
+
+They bent their backs to their work, and sent the boat flying through
+the water, Gilmore shouting a hint from time to time, with the result
+that they came in sight of the mill much sooner than they had expected,
+and Gilmore looked out anxiously, hoping to get the boat moored unseen,
+so that they could hurry off and get to the rectory by the fields, so
+that their drenched condition should not be noticed.
+
+But, just as they approached the big willows, a window in the mill was
+thrown open, the loud clacking and the roar of the machinery reached
+their ears, and there was the great, full face of the miller grinning
+down at them.
+
+"Why, hallo!" he shouted; "what game's this?  Been fishing?"
+
+"No," said Vane, quietly; "we--"
+
+But, before he could finish, the miller roared:--
+
+"Oh, I see, you've been bathing; and, as you had no towels, you kept
+your clothes on.  I say, hang it all, my lads, didst ta capsize the
+boat?"
+
+"No," said Vane, quietly, as he leaped ashore with the chain; "we had a
+misfortune, and ran on one of those big stumps up the river."
+
+"Hey?  What, up yonder by old brigg?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hang it all, lads, come into the cottage, and I'll send on to fetch
+your dry clothes.  Hey, but it's a bad job.  Mustn't let you catch cold.
+Here, hi!  Mrs Lasby.  Kettle hot?"
+
+"Yes, Mester," came from the cottage.
+
+"Then set to, and make the young gents a whole jorum of good hot tea."
+
+The miller hurried the little party into the cottage, where the
+kitchen-fire was heaped up with brushwood and logs, about which the boys
+stood, and steamed, drinking plenteously of hot tea the while, till the
+messenger returned with their dry clothes, and, after the change had
+been made, their host counselled a sharp run home, to keep up the
+circulation, undertaking to send the wet things back himself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+MR. BRUFF'S PRESENT.
+
+That boating trip formed a topic of conversation in the study morning
+after morning when the rector was not present--a peculiar form of
+conversation when Distin was there--which was not regularly, for the
+accident on the river served as an excuse for several long stays in
+bed--but a free and unfettered form when he was not present.  For Macey
+soon freed Vane from any feeling of an irksome nature by insisting to
+Gilmore how he had been to blame.
+
+Gilmore looked very serious at first, but laughed directly after.
+
+"I really thought it was an accident," he said; "and I felt the more
+convinced that it was on hearing poor old hot-headed Distie accuse you,
+Vane, because, of course, I knew you would not do such a thing; and I
+thought Macey blamed himself to save you."
+
+"Thought me a better sort of fellow than I am, then," said Macey.
+
+"Much," replied Gilmore, quietly.  "You couldn't see old Weathercock
+trying to drown all his friends."
+
+"I didn't," cried Macey, indignantly.  "I only wanted to give Distie a
+cooling down."
+
+"And nicely you did it," cried Gilmore.
+
+"There, don't talk any more about it," cried Vane, who was busy
+sketching upon some exercise paper.  "It's all over, and doesn't bear
+thinking about."
+
+"What's he doing?" cried Macey, reaching across the table, and making a
+snatch at the paper, which Vane tried hurriedly to withdraw, but only
+saved a corner, while Macey waved his portion in triumph.
+
+"Hoo-rah!" he cried.  "It's a plan for a new patent steamboat, and I
+shall make one, and gain a fortune, while poor old Vane will be left out
+in the cold."
+
+"Let's look," said Gilmore.
+
+"No, no.  It's too bad," cried Vane, making a fresh dash at the paper.
+
+"Shan't have it, sir!  Sit down," cried Macey.  "How dare you, sir!
+Look, Gil!  It is a boat to go by steam, with a whipper-whopper out at
+the stern to send her along."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't be so stupid, Aleck.  Give me the paper."
+
+"Shan't."
+
+"I don't want to get up and make a struggle for it."
+
+"I should think not, sir.  Sit still.  Oh, I say, Gil, look.  Here it
+all is.  It's not steam.  It's a fellow with long arms and queer elbows
+turns a wheel."
+
+"Get out!" cried Vane, laughing; "those are shafts and cranks."
+
+"Of course they are.  No one would think it, though, would they, Gil?  I
+say, isn't he a genius at drawing?"
+
+"Look here, Aleck, if you don't be quiet with your chaff I'll ink your
+nose."
+
+"Wonderful, isn't he?" continued Macey.  "I say, how many hundred miles
+an hour a boat like that will go!"
+
+"Oh, I say, do drop it," cried Vane, good-humouredly.
+
+"I know," cried Macey; "this is what you were thinking about that day we
+had Rounds' boat."
+
+"Well, yes," said Vane, quietly.  "I couldn't help thinking how slow and
+laborious rowing seemed to be, and how little change has been made in
+all these years that are passed.  You see," he continued, warming to his
+subject, "there is so much waste of manual labour.  It took two of us to
+move that boat and not very fast either."
+
+"And only one sitting quite still to upset it," said Gilmore quietly.
+
+Macey started, as if he had been stung.
+
+"There's a coward," he cried.  "I thought you weren't going to say any
+more about it."
+
+"Slipped out all at once, Aleck," said Gilmore.
+
+"But you were quite right," said Vane.  "Two fellows toiling hard, and
+just one idea from another's brain proved far stronger."
+
+"Now you begin," groaned Macey.  "Oh, I say, don't!  I wouldn't have old
+Distie know for anything.  You chaps are mean."
+
+"Go on, Vane," cried Gilmore.
+
+"There's nothing more to go on about, for I haven't worked out the idea
+thoroughly."
+
+"I know," cried Macey, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
+
+"I thought," continued Vane dreamily, "that one might contrive a little
+paddle or screw--"
+
+"And work it with hot-water pipes," cried Macey.
+
+It was Vane's turn to wince now; and he made a pretence of throwing a
+book at Macey, who ducked down below the table, and then slowly raised
+his eyes to the level as Vane went on.
+
+"Then you could work that paddle by means of cranks."
+
+"Only want one--old Weathercock.  Best crank I know," cried Macey.
+
+"Will you be quiet," cried Gilmore.  "Go on, Vane."
+
+"That is nearly all," said the latter, thoughtfully, and looking
+straight before him, as if he could see the motive-power he mentally
+designed.
+
+"But how are you going to get the thing to work?"
+
+"Kitchen-boiler," cried Macey.
+
+Gilmore made "an offer" at him with his fist, but Macey dodged again.
+
+"Oh, one might move it by working a lever with one's hands."
+
+"Then you might just as well row," said Gilmore.
+
+"Well, then, by treadles, with one's feet."
+
+"Oh--oh--oh!" roared Macey.  "Don't! don't!  Who's going to be put on
+the tread-mill when he wants to have a ride in a boat?  Why, I--"
+
+"Pst!  Syme!" whispered Gilmore, as a step was heard.  Then the door
+opened, and Distin came in, looking languid and indifferent.
+
+"Morning," cried Gilmore.  "Better?"
+
+Distin gave him a short nod, paid no heed to the others, and went to his
+place to take up a book, yawning loudly as he did so.  Then he opened
+the book slowly.
+
+"Look!" cried Macey, with a mock aspect of serious interest.
+
+"Eh?  What at?" said Vane.
+
+"The book," cried Macey; and then he yawned tremendously.  "Oh, dear!
+I've got it now."
+
+Vane stared.
+
+"Don't you see?  You, being a scientific chap, ought to have noticed it
+directly.  Example of the contagious nature of a yawn."
+
+Oddly enough, Gilmore yawned slightly just at the moment, and, putting
+his hand to his mouth, said to himself, "Oh, dear me!"
+
+"There!" cried Macey, triumphantly, "that theory's safe.  Distie comes
+in, sits down, yawns; then the book yawns, I yawn, Gilmore yawns.  You
+might, could, would, or should yawn, only you don't, and--"
+
+"Good-morning, gentlemen.  I'm a bit late, I fear.  Had a little walk
+after breakfast, and ran against Doctor Lee, who took me in to see his
+greenhouse.  He tells me you are going to heat it by hot-water.  Why,
+Vane, you are quite a genius."
+
+Macey reached out a leg to kick Vane under the table, but it was
+Distin's shin which received the toe of the lad's boot, just as Gilmore
+moved suddenly.
+
+Distin uttered a sharp ejaculation, and looked fiercely across at
+Gilmore.
+
+"What did you do that for?" he cried.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Kick me under the table."
+
+"I did not."
+
+"Yes, you--"
+
+"Gentlemen, gentlemen," cried the rector reprovingly, "this is not a
+small boarding-school, and you are not school-boys.  I was speaking."
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," cried Gilmore.
+
+Distin was silent, and Macey, who was scarlet in the face; glanced
+across at Vane, and seemed as if he were going to choke with suppressed
+laughter, while Vane fidgeted about in his seat.
+
+The rector frowned, coughed, changed his position, smiled, and went on,
+going back a little to pick up his words where he had left off.
+
+"Quite a genius, Vane--yes, I repeat it, quite a genius."
+
+"Oh, no, sir; it will be easy enough."
+
+"After once doing, Vane," said the rector, "but the first invention--the
+contriving--is, I beg to say, hard.  However, I am intensely gratified
+to see that you are putting your little--little--little--what shall I
+call them?"
+
+"Dodges, sir," suggested Macey, deferentially.
+
+"No, Mr Macey, that is too commonplace--too low a term for the purpose,
+and we will, if you please, say schemes."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Macey, seriously--"schemes."
+
+"Schemes to so useful a purpose," continued the rector; "and I shall ask
+you to superintend the fitting up of my conservatory upon similar
+principles."
+
+"Really, sir, I--" began Vane; but the rector smiled and raised a
+protesting hand.
+
+"Don't refuse me, Vane," he said.  "Of course I shall beg that you do
+not attempt any of the manual labour--merely superintend; but I shall
+exact one thing, if you consent to do it for me.  That is, if the one at
+the manor succeeds."
+
+"Of course I will do it, if you wish, sir," said Vane.
+
+"I felt sure you would.  I said so to your uncle, and your aunt said she
+was certain you would," continued the rector; "but, as I was saying, I
+shall exact one thing: as my cook is a very particular woman, and would
+look startled if I even proposed to go into the kitchen--"
+
+He paused, and Vane, who was in misery, glanced at Macey--to see that he
+was thoroughly enjoying it all, while Distin's countenance expressed the
+most sovereign contempt.
+
+"I say, Vane Lee," said the rector again, as if he expected an answer,
+"I shall exact one thing."
+
+"Yes, sir.  What?"
+
+"That the rule of the queen of the kitchen be respected; but--ah, let me
+see, Mr Distin, I think we were to take up the introductory remarks
+made on the differential calculus."
+
+And the morning's study at the rectory went on.
+
+"Best bit of fun I've had for a long time," cried Macey, as he strolled
+out with Vane when the readings were at an end.
+
+"Yes, at my expense," cried Vane sharply.  "My leg hurts still with that
+kick."
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," cried Macey; "I kicked old Distie twice as hard by
+mistake, and he's wild with Gilmore because he thinks it's he."
+
+Vane gripped him by the collar.
+
+"No, no, don't.  I apologise," cried Macey.  "Don't be a coward."
+
+"You deserve a good kicking," cried Vane, loosing his grasp.
+
+"Yes, I know I do, but be magnanimous in your might, oh man of genius."
+
+"Look here," cried Vane, grinding his teeth, "if you call me a genius
+again, I will kick you, and hard too."
+
+"But I must.  My mawmaw said I was always to speak the truth, sir."
+
+"Yes, and I'll make you speak the truth, too.  Such nonsense!  Genius!
+Just because one can use a few tools, and scheme a little.  It's
+absurd."
+
+"All right.  I will not call you a genius any more.  But I say, old
+chap, shall you try and make a boat go by machinery?"
+
+"I should like to," said Vane, who became dreamy and thoughtful
+directly.  "But I have no boat."
+
+"Old Rounds would lend you his.  There was a jolly miller lived down by
+the Greythorpe river," sang Macey.
+
+"Nonsense!  He wouldn't lend me his boat to cut about."
+
+"Sell it you."
+
+Vane shook his head.  "Cost too much."
+
+"Then, why cut it?  You ought to be able to make a machine that would
+fit into a boat with screws, or be stuck like a box under the thwarts."
+
+"Yes, so I might.  I didn't think of that," cried Vane, eagerly.  "I'll
+try it."
+
+"There," said Macey, "that comes of having a clever chap at your elbow
+like yours most obediently.  Halves!"
+
+"Eh?"
+
+"I say, halves!  I invented part of the machine, and I want to share.
+But when are you going to begin old Syme's conservatory?"
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed Vane.  "I'd forgotten that.  Come along.  Let's try
+and think out the paddles as you propose.  I fancy one might get
+something like a fish's tail to propel a boat."
+
+"What, by just waggling?"
+
+"It seems to me to be possible."
+
+"Come on, and let's do it then," cried Macey, starting to trot along the
+road.  "I want to get the taste of Distin out of my mouth.--I say--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Don't I wish his mother wanted him so badly that he was obliged to go
+back to the West Indies at once.--Hallo!  Going to the wood?"
+
+"Yes, I don't mean to be beaten over those fungi we had the other day,"
+cried Vane; and to prove that he did not, he inveigled Macey into
+accompanying him into the woods that afternoon, to collect another
+basketful--his companion assisting by nutting overhead, while Vane
+busied himself among the moss at the roots of the hazel stubs.
+
+"Going to have those for supper?" said Macey, as they were returning.
+
+Vane shook his head.  "I suppose I mustn't take these home to-day after
+all."
+
+"Look here, come on with me to the rectory, and give 'em to Mr Syme."
+
+"Pooh!--Why, he laughed at them."
+
+"But you can tell him you had some for dinner at the Little Manor.  I
+won't say anything."
+
+"I've a good mind to, for I've read that they are delicious if properly
+cooked," cried Vane.  "No, I don't like to.  But I should like to give
+them to someone, for I don't care to see them wasted."
+
+"Do bring them to the rectory, and I'll coax Distie on into eating some.
+He will not know they are yours; and, if they upset him, he will not be
+of so much consequence as any one else."
+
+But Vane shook his head as they walked thoughtfully back.
+
+"I know," he cried, all at once; "I'll give them to Mrs Bruff."
+
+"But would she cook them?"
+
+"Let's go and see.  What time is it?"
+
+"Half-past four," said Macey.
+
+"Plenty of time before he gets home from work."
+
+Vane started off at such a rate that Macey had to cry out for respite as
+they struck out of the wood, and reached a lane where, to their
+surprise, they came plump upon the gipsies camped by the roadside, with
+a good fire burning, and their miserable horse cropping the grass in
+peace.
+
+The first objects their eyes lit upon were the women who were busily
+cooking; and Vane advanced and offered his basket of vegetable
+treasures, but they all laughed and shook their heads, and the oldest
+woman of the party grunted out the word "poison."
+
+"There," said Macey, as they went along the lane, "you hear.  They ought
+to know whether those are good or no.  If they were nice, do you think
+the gipsies would let them rot in the woods."
+
+"But, you see, they don't know," said Vane quietly, and then he gripped
+his companion's arm.  "What's that?" he whispered.
+
+"Some one talking in the wood."
+
+"Poaching perhaps," said Vane, as he peered in amongst the trees.
+
+Just then the voice ceased, and there was a rustling in amongst the
+bushes at the edge of the wood, as if somebody was forcing his way
+through, and resulting in one of the gipsy lads they had before seen,
+leaping out into the narrow deep lane, followed by the other.
+
+The lads seemed to be so astonished at the encounter that they stood
+staring at Vane and Macey for a few moments, then looked at each other,
+and then, as if moved by the same impulse, they turned and rushed back
+into the wood, and were hidden from sight directly.
+
+"What's the matter with them?" said Vane.  "They must have been at some
+mischief."
+
+"Mad, I think," said Macey.  "All gipsies are half mad, or they wouldn't
+go about, leading such a miserable life as they do.  Song says a gipsy's
+life is a merry life.  Oh, is it?  Nice life in wet, cold weather.  They
+don't look very merry, then."
+
+"Never mind: it's nothing to do with us.  Come along."
+
+Half-an-hour's walking brought them into the open fields, and as they
+stood at the end of the lane in the shade of an oak tree, Macey said
+suddenly:
+
+"I say, there's old Distie yonder.  Where has he been?  Bet twopence it
+was to see the gipsies and get his fortune told."
+
+"For a walk as far as here, perhaps, and now he is going back."
+
+Macey said it "seemed rum," and they turned off then to reach Bruff's
+cottage, close to the little town.
+
+"I don't see anything rum in it," Vane said, quietly.
+
+"Don't you?  Well, I do.  Gilmore was stopping back to keep him company,
+wasn't he?  Well, where is Gilmore?  And why is Distie cutting along
+so--at such a rate?"
+
+Vane did not reply, and Macey turned to look at him wonderingly.
+
+"Here!  Hi!  What's the matter?"
+
+Vane started.
+
+"Matter?" he said, "nothing."
+
+"What were you thinking about?  Inventing something?"
+
+"Oh, no," said Vane, confusedly.  "Well, I was thinking about something
+I was making."
+
+"Thought so.  Well, I am glad I'm not such a Hobby-Bob sort of a fellow
+as you are.  Syme says you're a bit of a genius, ever since you made his
+study clock go; but you're the worst bowler, batter, and fielder I know;
+you're not worth twopence at football; and if one plays at anything else
+with you--spins a top, or flies a kite, or anything of that kind--you're
+never satisfied without wanting to make the kite carry up a load, or
+making one top spin on the top of another, and--"
+
+"Take me altogether, I'm the most cranky, disagreeable fellow you ever
+knew, eh?" said Vane, interrupting.
+
+"Show me anyone who says so, and I'll punch his head," cried Macey,
+eagerly.
+
+"There he goes.  No; he's out of sight now."
+
+"What, old Distie?  Pooh! he's nobody, only a creole, and don't count."
+
+The gardener's cottage stood back from the road; its porch covered with
+roses, and the little garden quite a blaze of autumn flowers; and as
+they reached it, Vane paused for a moment to admire them.
+
+"Hallo!" cried Macey, "going to improve 'em?"
+
+"They don't want it," said Vane, quietly.  "I was thinking that you
+always see better flowers in cottage gardens than anywhere else."
+
+At that moment the gardener's wife came to the door, smiling at her
+visitors, and Vane recollected the object of his visit.
+
+"I've brought you these, Mrs Bruff," he said.
+
+"Toadstools, sir?" said the woman, opening her eyes widely.
+
+"No; don't call them by that name," cried Macey, merrily; "they're
+philogustators."
+
+"Kind of potaters, sir?" said the woman, innocently.  "Are they for Eben
+to grow?"
+
+"No, for you to cook for his tea.  Don't say anything, but stew them
+with a little water and butter, pepper and salt."
+
+"Oh, thank you, sir," cried the woman.  "Are they good?"
+
+"Delicious, if you cook them well."
+
+"Indeed I will, sir.  Thank you so much."
+
+She took the basket, and wanted to pay for the present with some
+flowers, but the lads would only take a rosebud each, and went their
+way, to separate at the turning leading to the rectory gate.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+A PROFESSIONAL VISIT.
+
+"Not going up to the rectory?" said the Doctor, next morning.
+
+"No, uncle," said Vane, looking up from a book he was reading.  "Joseph
+came with a note, before breakfast, to say that the rector was going
+over to Lincoln to-day, and that he hoped I would do a little private
+study at home."
+
+"Then don't, my dear," said Aunt Hannah.  "You read and study too much.
+Get the others to go out with you for some excursion."
+
+Vane looked at her in a troubled way.
+
+"He was going to excursion into the workshop.  Eh, boy?" said the
+doctor.
+
+"Yes, uncle, I did mean to."
+
+"No, no, no, my dear; get some fresh air while it's fine.  Yes, Eliza."
+
+"If you please, ma'am, cook says may she speak to you."
+
+"Yes; send her in," was the reply; and directly after Martha appeared,
+giving the last touches to secure the clean apron she had put on between
+kitchen and breakfast-room.
+
+"Cook's cross," said Vane to himself, as his aunt looked up with--
+
+"Well, cook?"
+
+"Sorry to trouble you, ma'am, but I want to know what I'm to do about my
+vegetables this morning."
+
+"Cook them," said Vane to himself, and then he repeated the words aloud,
+and added, "not like you did my poor chanterelles."
+
+"Hush, Vane, my dear," said Aunt Hannah, as the cook turned upon him
+fiercely.  "I do not understand what you mean, Martha."
+
+"I mean, ma'am," said the cook, jerkily, but keeping her eyes fixed upon
+Vane, "that Bruff sent word as he's too ill to come this morning; and I
+can't be expected to go down gardens, digging potatoes and cutting
+cauliflowers for dinner.  It isn't my place."
+
+"No, no, certainly not, Martha," said Aunt Hannah.  "Dear me!  I am
+sorry Bruff is so ill.  He was quite well yesterday."
+
+"But I want the vegetables now, ma'am."
+
+"And you shall have them, Martha," said the doctor, rising, bowing, and
+opening the door for the cook to pass out, which she did, looking
+wondering and abashed at her master, as if not understanding what he
+meant.
+
+"Dear me!" continued the doctor, rubbing one ear, and apostrophising his
+nephew, "what a strange world this is.  Now, by and by, Vane, that woman
+will leave here to marry and exist upon some working man's income, and
+never trouble herself for a moment about whether it's her place to go
+down the garden `to cut a cabbage to make an apple-pie,' as the poet
+said--or somebody else; but be only too glad to feel that there is a
+cabbage in the garden to cut, and a potato to dig.  Vane, my boy, will
+you come and hold the basket?"
+
+"No, uncle; I'll soon dig a few, and cut the cauliflower," said Vane,
+hastily; and he hurried toward the door.
+
+"I'll go with you, my boy," said the doctor; and he went out with his
+nephew, who was in a state of wondering doubt, respecting the gardener's
+illness.  For suppose that chanterelles were, after all, not good to
+eat, and he had poisoned the man!
+
+"Come along, Vane.  We can find a basket and fork in the tool-house."
+
+The doctor took down his straw hat, and led the way down the garden,
+looking very happy and contented, but extremely unlike the Savile Row
+physician, whom patients were eager to consult only a few years before.
+
+Then the tool-house was reached, and he shouldered a four-pronged fork,
+and Vane took the basket; the row of red kidney potatoes was selected,
+and the doctor began to dig and turn up a root of fine, well-ripened
+tubers.
+
+"Work that is the most ancient under the sun, Vane, my boy," said the
+old gentleman, smiling.  "Pick them up."
+
+But Vane did not stir.  He stood, basket in hand, thinking; and the more
+he thought the more uneasy he grew.
+
+"Ready?  Pick them up!" cried the doctor.  "What are you thinking about,
+eh?"
+
+Vane gave a jump.
+
+"I beg your pardon, uncle, I was thinking."
+
+"I know that.  What about?"
+
+"Bruff being ill."
+
+"Hum!  Yes," said the doctor, lifting the fork to remove a potato which
+he had accidentally impaled.  "I think I know what's the matter with
+Master Bruff."
+
+"So do I, uncle.  Will you come on and see him, as soon as we have got
+enough vegetables?"
+
+"Physician's fee is rather high for visiting a patient, my boy; and
+Bruff only earns a pound a week.  What very fine potatoes!"
+
+"You will come on, won't you, uncle?  I'm sure I know what's the matter
+with him."
+
+"Do you?" said the doctor, turning up another fine root of potatoes.
+"Without seeing him?"
+
+"Yes, uncle;" and he related what he had done on the previous afternoon.
+
+"Indeed," said the doctor, growing interested.  "But you ought to know a
+chanterelle if you saw one.  Are you sure what you gave Mrs Bruff were
+right?"
+
+"Quite, uncle; I am certain."
+
+"Dear me!  But they are reckoned to be perfectly wholesome food.  I
+don't understand it.  There, pick up the potatoes, and let's cut the
+cauliflowers.  I'll go and see what's wrong."
+
+Five minutes after the basket was handed in to Martha; and then the
+doctor washed his hands, changed his hat, and signified to Aunt Hannah
+where they were going.
+
+"That's right, my dear, I thought you would," said the old lady,
+beaming.  "Going too, Vane, my dear?"
+
+"Yes, aunt."
+
+"That's right.  I hope you will find him better."
+
+Vane hoped so, too, in his heart, as he walked with his uncle to the
+gardener's cottage, conjuring up all kinds of suffering, and wondering
+whether the man had been ill all the night; and, to make matters worse,
+a deep groan came from the open bedroom window as they approached.
+
+Vane looked at his uncle in horror.
+
+"Good sign, my boy," said the doctor cheerfully.  "Not very bad, or he
+would not have made that noise.  Well, Mrs Bruff," he continued, as the
+woman appeared to meet them at the door, "so Ebenezer is unwell?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir, dreadful.  He was took badly about two o'clock, and he
+has been so queer ever since."
+
+"Dear me," said the doctor.  "Do you know what has caused it?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the woman, beginning to sob; "he says it's those nasty
+toadstools Master Vane brought, and gave me to cook for his tea.  Ah,
+Master Vane, you shouldn't have played us such a trick."
+
+Vane looked appealingly at his uncle, who gave him a reassuring nod.
+
+"You cooked them then?" said the doctor.
+
+"Oh, yes, sir, and we had them for tea, and the nasty things were so
+nice that we never thought there could be anything wrong."
+
+"What time do you say your husband was taken ill?"
+
+"About two o'clock, sir."
+
+"And what time were you taken ill?"
+
+"Me, sir?" said the woman staring.  "I haven't been ill."
+
+"Ah!  You did not eat any of the--er--toadstools then?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I did, as many as Ebenezer."
+
+"Humph!  What time did your husband come home last night?"
+
+"I don't know, sir, I was asleep.  But I tell you it was about two when
+he woke me up, and said he was so bad."
+
+"Take me upstairs," said the doctor shortly; and he followed the woman
+up to her husband's room, leaving Vane alone with a sinking heart, and
+wishing that he had not ventured to give the chanterelles to the
+gardener's wife.
+
+He could not sit down but walked about, listening to the steps and
+murmur of voices overhead, meaning to give up all experiments in edible
+fungi for the future, and ready to jump as he heard the doctor's heavy
+step again crossing the room, and then descending the stairs, followed
+by Bruff's wife.
+
+"Do you think him very bad, sir?" she faltered.
+
+"Oh, yes," was the cheerful reply; "he has about as splitting a headache
+as a poor wretch could have."
+
+"But he will not die, sir?"
+
+"No, Mrs Bruff," said the doctor.  "Not just yet; but you may tell him,
+by-and-by, when you get him downstairs, feeling penitent and miserable,
+that, if he does not leave off going to the Chequers, he'll have to
+leave off coming to the Little Manor."
+
+"Why, sir, you don't think that?" faltered the woman.
+
+"No, I do not think, because I am quite sure, Mrs Bruff.  He was not
+hurt by your cookery, but by what he took afterward.  You understand?"
+
+"Oh, sir!"
+
+"Come along, Vane.  Good-morning, Mrs Bruff," said the doctor, loud
+enough for his voice to be heard upstairs.
+
+"I am only too glad to come and help when any one is ill; but I don't
+like coming upon a fool's errand."
+
+The doctor walked out into the road, looking very stern and leaving the
+gardener's wife in tears, but he turned to Vane with a smile before they
+had gone far.
+
+"Then you don't think it was the fungi, uncle?" said the lad, eagerly.
+
+"Yes, I do, boy, the produce of something connected with yeast fungi;
+not your chanterelles."
+
+Vane felt as if a load had been lifted off his conscience.
+
+"Very tiresome, too," said the doctor, "for I wanted to have a chat with
+Bruff to-day about that greenhouse flue.  He says it is quite useless,
+for the smoke and sulphur get out into the house and kill the plants.
+Now then, sir, you are such a genius at inventing, why can't you
+contrive the way to heat the greenhouse without causing me so much
+expense in the way of fuel, eh?  I mean the idea you talked about
+before.  I told Mr Syme it was to be done."
+
+Vane was not ready with an answer to that question, and he set himself
+to think it out, just as they encountered the gipsy vans again, and the
+two lads driving the lame pony, at the sight of which the doctor
+frowned, and muttered something about the police, while the lads
+favoured Vane with a peculiar look.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+HOW TO HEAT THE GREENHOUSE.
+
+"Vane, my boy, you are like my old friend Deering," said the doctor one
+morning.
+
+"Am I, uncle?" said the lad.  "I'll have a good look at him if ever I
+see him."
+
+The doctor laughed.
+
+"I mean he is one of those men who are always trying to invent something
+fresh; he is a perfect boon to the patent agents."
+
+Vane looked puzzled.
+
+"You don't understand the allusion?"
+
+"No, uncle, I suppose it's something to do with my being fond of--"
+
+"Riding hobbies," said the doctor.
+
+"Oh, I don't want to ride hobbies, uncle," said Vane, in rather an
+ill-used tone.  "I only like to be doing things that seem as if they
+would be useful."
+
+"And quite right, too, my dear," said Aunt Hannah, "only I do wish you
+wouldn't make quite such a mess as you do sometimes."
+
+"Yes, it's quite right, mess or no mess," said the doctor pleasantly.
+"I'm glad to see you busy over something or another, even if it does not
+always answer.  Better than wasting your time or getting into mischief."
+
+"But they always would answer, uncle," said Vane, rubbing one ear in a
+vexed fashion--"that is, if I could get them quite right."
+
+"Ah, yes, if you could get them quite right.  Well, what about the
+greenhouse?  You know I was telling the parson the other day about your
+plans about the kitchen-boiler and hot-water."
+
+Vane looked for a moment as if he had received too severe a check to
+care to renew the subject on which he had been talking; but his uncle
+looked so pleasant and tolerant of his plans that the boy fired up.
+
+"Well, it was like this, uncle: you say it is a great nuisance for any
+one to have to go out and see to the fire on wet, cold, dark nights."
+
+"So it is, boy.  Any one will grant that."
+
+"Yes, uncle, and that's what I want to prevent."
+
+"Well, how?"
+
+"Stop a moment," said Vane.  "I've been thinking about this a good deal
+more since you said you must send for the bricklayer."
+
+"Well, well," said the doctor, "let's hear."
+
+"I expect you'll laugh at me," said Vane; "but I've been trying somehow
+to get to the bottom of it all."
+
+"Of course; that's the right way," said the doctor; and Aunt Hannah gave
+an approving nod.
+
+"Well," said Vane; "it seems to me that one fire ought to do all the
+work."
+
+"So it does, my boy," said the doctor; "but it's a devouring sort of
+monster and eats up a great deal of coal."
+
+"But I mean one fire ought to do for both the kitchen and the
+greenhouse, too."
+
+"What, would you have Martha's grate in among the flowers, and let her
+roast and fry there?  That wouldn't do."
+
+"No, no, uncle.  Let the greenhouse be heated with hot-water pipes."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"And connect them, as I said before, with the kitchen-boiler."
+
+"As I told Syme," said the doctor.
+
+"No, no, no," cried Aunt Hannah, very decisively.  "I'm quite sure that
+wouldn't do; and I'm certain that Martha would not approve of it."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor.  "I'm afraid our Martha does not approve
+of doing anything but what she likes.  But that would not do, boy.  I
+told Syme so, but he was hot over it--boiler-hot."
+
+"Well, then, let it be by means of a small boiler fitted somewhere at
+the side of the kitchen range, uncle; then the one fire will do
+everything; and, with the exception of a little cost at first, the
+greenhouse will always afterwards be heated for nothing."
+
+"Come, I like that idea," said the doctor, rubbing his nose.  "There's
+something in that, eh, my dear?  Sounds well."
+
+"Yes," said Aunt Hannah, "it sounds very well, but so do all Vane's
+plans; and, though I like to encourage him so long as he does not make
+too much mess, I must say that they seldom do anything else but sound."
+
+"Oh, aunt!"
+
+"Well, it's quite true, my dear, and you know it.  I could name a dozen
+things."
+
+"No, no, don't name 'em, aunt," said Vane hurriedly.  "I know I have
+made some mistakes; but then everyone does who tries to invent."
+
+"Then why not let things be as they are, my dear.  I'm sure the old
+corkscrew was better to take out corks than the thing you made."
+
+"It would have been beautiful, aunt," cried Vane, "if--"
+
+"It hadn't broken so many bottles," said the doctor with a humorous look
+in his eyes.  "It wouldn't have mattered if it had been aunt's cowslip
+wine, but it always chose my best port and sherry."
+
+"And then there was that churn thing," continued Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Oh, come, aunt, that was a success."
+
+"What, a thing that sent all the cream flying out over Martha when she
+turned the handle!  No, my dear, no."
+
+"But you will not see, aunt, that it was because the thing was not
+properly made."
+
+"Of course I do, my dear," said Aunt Hannah.  "That's what I say."
+
+"No, no, aunt, I mean made by a regular manufacturer, with tight lids.
+That was only a home-made one for an experiment."
+
+"Yes, I know it was, my dear; and I recollect what a rage Martha was in
+with the thing.  I believe that if I had insisted upon her going on
+using that thing, she would have left."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't keep on calling it a thing, aunt," said Vane, in an
+ill-used tone; "it was a patent churn."
+
+"Never mind, boy," said the doctor, "yours is the fate of all inventors.
+People want a deal of persuading to use new contrivances; they always
+prefer to stick to the old ones."
+
+"Well, my dear, and very reasonably, too," said Aunt Hannah.  "You know
+I like to encourage Vane, but I cannot help thinking sometimes that he
+is too fond of useless schemes."
+
+"Not useless, aunt."
+
+"Well, then, schemes; and that it would be better if he kept more to his
+Latin and Greek and mathematics with Mr Syme, and joining the other
+pupils in their sports."
+
+"Oh, he works hard enough at his studies," said the doctor.
+
+"I'm very glad to hear you say so, my dear," said Aunt Hannah; "and as
+to the rather unkind remark you made about the churn--"
+
+"No, no, my dear, don't misunderstand me.  I meant that people generally
+prefer to keep to the old-fashioned ways of doing things."
+
+"But, my dear," retorted Aunt Hannah, who had been put out that morning
+by rebellious acts on the part of Martha, "you are as bad as anyone.
+See how you threw away Vane's pen-holder that he invented, and in quite
+a passion, too.  I did think there was something in that, for it is very
+tiresome to have to keep on dipping your pen in the ink when you have a
+long letter to write."
+
+"Oh, aunty, don't bring up that," said Vane, reproachfully.
+
+But it was too late.
+
+"Hang the thing!" cried the doctor, with a look of annoyance and
+perplexity on his countenance; "that was enough to put anyone out of
+temper.  The idea was right enough, drawing the holder up full like a
+syringe, but then you couldn't use it for fear of pressing it by
+accident, and squirting the ink all over your paper, or on to your
+clothes.  'Member my new shepherd's-plaid trousers, Vane?"
+
+"Yes, uncle; it was very unfortunate.  You didn't quite know how to
+manage the holder.  It wanted studying."
+
+"Studying, boy!  Who's going to learn to study a pen-holder.
+Goose-quill's good enough for me.  They don't want study."
+
+Vane rubbed his ear, and looked furtively from one to the other, as Aunt
+Hannah rose, and put away her work.
+
+"No, my dear," she said, rather decisively; "I'm quite sure that Martha
+would never approve of anyone meddling with her kitchen-boiler."
+
+She left the room, and Vane sat staring at his uncle, who returned his
+gaze with droll perplexity in his eyes.
+
+"Aunt doesn't take to it, boy," said the doctor.
+
+"No, uncle, and I had worked it out so thoroughly on paper," cried Vane.
+"I'm sure it would have been a great success.  You see you couldn't do
+it anywhere, but you could here, because our greenhouse is all against
+the kitchen wall.  You know how well that rose grows because it feels
+the heat from the fireplace through the bricks?"
+
+"Got your plans--sketches--papers?" said the doctor.
+
+"Yes, uncle," cried the boy, eagerly, taking some sheets of note-paper
+from his breast.  "You can see it all here.  This is where the pipe
+would come out of the top of the boiler, and run all round three sides
+of the house, and go back again and into the boiler, down at the
+bottom."
+
+"And would that be enough to heat the greenhouse?"
+
+"Plenty, uncle.  I've worked it all out, and got a circular from London,
+and I can tell you exactly all it will cost--except the bricklayers'
+work, and that can't be much."
+
+"Can't it?" cried the doctor, laughing.  "Let me tell you it just can be
+a very great deal.  I know it of old.  There's a game some people are
+very fond of playing at, Vane.  It's called bricks and mortar.  Don't
+you ever play at it much; it costs a good deal of money."
+
+"Oh, but this couldn't cost above a pound or two."
+
+"Humph!  No.  Not so much as building a new flue, of course.  But, look
+here: how about cold, frosty nights?  The kitchen-fire goes out when
+Martha is off to bed."
+
+"It does now, uncle," said the lad; "but it mustn't when we want to heat
+the hot-water pipes."
+
+"But that would mean keeping up the fire all night."
+
+"Well, you would do that if you had a stove and flue, uncle."
+
+"Humph, yes."
+
+"And, in this case, the fire on cold winters' nights would be indoors,
+and help to warm the house."
+
+"So it would," said the doctor, who went on examining the papers very
+thoughtfully.
+
+"The pipes would be nicer and neater, too, than the brick flue, uncle."
+
+"True, boy," said the doctor, still examining the plans very
+attentively.  "But, look here.  Are you pretty sure that this hot-water
+would run all along the pipes?"
+
+"Quite, uncle, and I did so hope you would let me do it, if only to show
+old Bruff that he does not know everything."
+
+"But you don't expect me to put my hand in my pocket and pay pounds on
+purpose to gratify your vanity, boy--not really?" said the doctor.
+
+"No, uncle," cried Vane; "it's only because I want to succeed."
+
+"Ah, well, I'll think it over," said the doctor; and with that promise
+the boy had to rest satisfied.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+VANE'S WORKSHOP.
+
+But Vane went at once to the kitchen with the intention of making some
+business-like measurements of the opening about the range, and to see
+where a boiler could best be placed.  A glance within was sufficient.
+Martha was busy about the very spot; and Vane turned back, making up his
+mind to defer his visit till midnight, when the place would be solitary,
+and the fire out.
+
+There was the greenhouse, though; and, fetching a rule, he went in
+there, and began measuring the walls once more, to arrive at the exact
+length of piping required, when he became conscious of a shadow cast
+from the open door; and, looking up, there stood Bruff, with a grin upon
+his face--a look so provocative that Vane turned upon him fiercely.
+
+"Well, what are you laughing at?" he cried.
+
+"You, Mester."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I was thinking as you ought to hev been a bricklayer or carpenter, sir,
+instead of a scollard, and going up to rectory.  Measuring for that
+there noo-fangle notion of yours?"
+
+"Yes, I am," cried Vane; "and what then?"
+
+"Oh, nowt, sir, nowt, only it wean't do.  Only throwing away money."
+
+"How do you know, Bruff?"
+
+"How do I know, sir?  Why, arn't I been a gardener ever since I was born
+amost, seeing as my father and granfa' was gardeners afore me.  You tak'
+my advice, sir, as one as knows.  There's only two ways o' heating
+places, and one's wi' a proper fireplace an' a flue, and t'other's
+varmentin wi' hot manner."
+
+"Varmentin with hot manner, as you call it.  Why, don't they heat the
+vineries at Tremby Court with hot-water?"
+
+"I've heered you say so, sir, but I niver see it.  Tak' my advice, sir,
+and don't you meddle with things as you don't understand.  Remember them
+taters?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I remember the potatoes, Bruff; and I daresay, if the truth
+was known, you cut all the eyes out, instead of leaving the strongest,
+as I told you."
+
+"I don't want no one to teach me my trade," said the man, sulkily; and
+he shuffled away, leaving Vane wondering why he took so much trouble,
+only to meet with rebuffs from nearly everyone.
+
+"I might just as well be fishing, or playing cricket, or lying on my
+back in the sun, like old Distin does.  Nobody seems to understand me."
+
+He was standing just inside the door, moodily tapping the side-post with
+the rule, when he was startled by a step on the gravel, and, looking up
+sharply, he found himself face to face with a little, keen, dark,
+well-dressed man, who had entered the gate, seen him standing in the
+greenhouse, and walked across the lawn, whose mossy grass had silenced
+his footsteps till he reached the path.
+
+"Morning," he said.  "Doctor at home?"
+
+"Yes," replied Vane, looking at the stranger searchingly, and wondering
+whether he was a visitor whom his uncle would be glad to see.
+
+The stranger was looking searchingly at him, and he spoke at once:--
+
+"You are the nephew, I suppose?"
+
+Vane looked at him wonderingly.
+
+"Yes, I thought so.  Father and mother dead, and the doctor bringing you
+up.  Lucky fellow!  Here, what does this mean?" and he pointed to the
+rule.
+
+"I was measuring," said Vane, colouring.
+
+"Ah!  Thought you were to be a clergyman or a doctor.  Going to be a
+carpenter?"
+
+"No," replied Vane sharply, and feeling full of resentment at being
+questioned so by a stranger.  "I was measuring the walls."
+
+"What for?" said the stranger, stepping into the greenhouse and making
+the lad draw back.
+
+"Well, if you must know, sir--"
+
+"No, I see.  Old flue worn-out;--measuring for a new one."
+
+Vane shook his head, and, in spite of himself, began to speak out
+freely, the stranger seeming to draw him.
+
+"No; I was thinking of hot-water pipes."
+
+"Good!  Modern and better.  Always go in for improvements.  Use large
+ones."
+
+"Do you understand heating with hot-water, sir?"
+
+"A little," said the stranger, smiling.  "Where are you going to make
+your furnace?"
+
+"I wasn't going to make one."
+
+"Going to do it with cold hot-water then?" said the stranger, smiling
+again.
+
+"No, of course not.  The kitchen-fireplace is through there," said Vane,
+pointing with his rule, "and I want to put a boiler in, so that the one
+fire will answer both purposes."
+
+"Good!  Excellent!" said the stranger sharply.  "Your own idea?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Do it, then, as soon as you can--before the winter.  Now take me in to
+your uncle."
+
+Vane looked at him again, and now with quite a friendly feeling for the
+man who could sympathise with his plans.
+
+He led the stranger to the front door, and was about to ask him his
+name, when the doctor came out of his little study.
+
+"Ah, Deering," he said quietly, "how are you?  Who'd have thought of
+seeing you."
+
+"Not you, I suppose," said the visitor quietly.  "I was at Lincoln on
+business, and thought I would come round your way as I went back to
+town."
+
+"Glad to see you, man: come in.  Vane, lad, find your aunt, and tell her
+Mr Deering is here."
+
+"Can't see that I'm much like him," said Vane to himself, as he went in
+search of his aunt, and saw her coming downstairs.
+
+"Here's Mr Deering, aunt," he said, "and uncle wants you."
+
+"Oh, dear me!" cried Aunt Hannah, looking troubled, and beginning to
+arrange her collar and cuffs.
+
+"Why did uncle say that I was like Mr Deering, aunt?" whispered Vane.
+"I'm not a bit.  He's dark and I'm fair."
+
+"He meant like him in his ways, my dear: always dreaming about new
+inventions, and making fortunes out of nothing.  I do hope your uncle
+will not listen to any of his wild ideas."
+
+This description of the visitor excited Vane's curiosity.  One who
+approved of his plans respecting the heating of the greenhouse was
+worthy of respect, and Vane was in no way dissatisfied to hear that Mr
+Deering was quite ready to accept the doctor's hospitality for a day or
+two.
+
+That afternoon, as Aunt Hannah did not show the least disposition to
+leave the doctor and his guest alone, the latter rose and looked at
+Vane.
+
+"I should like a walk," he said.  "Suppose you take me round the garden,
+squire."
+
+Vane followed him out eagerly; and as soon as they were in the garden,
+the visitor said quickly:--
+
+"Got a workshop?"
+
+Vane flushed a little.
+
+"Only a bit of a shed," he said.  "It was meant to be a cow-house, but
+uncle lets me have it to amuse myself in."
+
+"Show it to me," said the visitor.
+
+"Wouldn't you rather come round the grounds to have a look at uncle's
+fruit?" said Vane hurriedly.
+
+"No.  Why do you want to keep me out of your den?"
+
+"Well, it's so untidy."
+
+"Workshops generally are.  Some other reason."
+
+"I have such a lot of failures," said Vane hurriedly.
+
+"Blunders and mistakes, I suppose, in things you have tried to make?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Show me."
+
+Vane would far rather have led their visitor in another direction, but
+there was a masterful decided way about him that was not to be denied,
+and the lad led him into the large shed which had been floored with
+boards and lined, so as to turn it into quite a respectable workshop, in
+which were, beside a great heavy deal table in the centre, a carpenter's
+bench, and a turning lathe, while nails were knocked in everywhere,
+shelves ran from end to end, and the place presented to the eye about as
+strange a confusion of odds and ends as could have been seen out of a
+museum.
+
+Vane looked at the visitor as he threw open the door, expecting to hear
+a derisive burst of laughter, but he stepped in quietly enough, and
+began to take up and handle the various objects which took his
+attention, making remarks the while.
+
+"You should not leave your tools lying about like this: the edges get
+dulled, and sometimes they grow rusty.  Haven't you a tool-chest?"
+
+"There is uncle's old one," said Vane.
+
+"Exactly.  Then, why don't you keep them in the drawers?--Humph!
+Galvanic battery!"
+
+"Yes; it was uncle's."
+
+"And he gives it to you to play with, eh?"
+
+Vane coloured again.
+
+"I was trying to perform some experiments with it."
+
+"Oh, I see.  Well, it's a very good one; take care of it.  Little
+chemistry, too, eh?"
+
+"Yes: uncle shows me sometimes how to perform experiments."
+
+"But he does not show you how to be neat and orderly."
+
+"Oh, this is only a place to amuse oneself in!" said Vane.
+
+"Exactly, but you can get ten times the amusement out of a shop where
+everything is in its place and there's a place for everything.  Now,
+suppose I wanted to perform some simple experiment, say, to show what
+convection is, with water, retort and spirit lamp?"
+
+"Convection?" said Vane, thoughtfully, as if he were searching in his
+mind for the meaning of a word he had forgotten.
+
+"Yes," said the visitor, smiling.  "Surely you know what convection is."
+
+"I've forgotten," said Vane, shaking his head.  "I knew once."
+
+"Then you have not forgotten.  You've got it somewhere packed away.
+Head's untidy, perhaps, as your laboratory."
+
+"I know," cried Vane--"convection: it has to do with water expanding and
+rising when it is hot and descending when it is cold."
+
+"Of course it has," said the visitor, laughing, "why you were lecturing
+me just now on the art of heating greenhouses by hot-water circulating
+through pipes; well, what makes it circulate?"
+
+"The heat."
+
+"Of course, by the law of convection."
+
+Vane rubbed one ear.
+
+"You had not thought of that?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Ah, well, you will not forget it again.  But, as I was saying--suppose
+I wanted to try and perform a simple experiment to prove, on a small
+scale, that the pipes you are designing would heat.  I cannot see the
+things I want, and I'll be bound to say you have them somewhere here."
+
+"Oh, yes: I've got them all somewhere."
+
+"Exactly.  Take my advice, then, and be a little orderly.  I don't mean
+be a slave to order.  You understand?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Vane, annoyed, but at the same time pleased, for he felt
+that the visitor's remarks were just.
+
+"Humph!  You have rather an inventive turn then, eh?"
+
+"Oh, no," cried Vane, disclaiming so grand a term, "I only try to make a
+few things here sometimes on wet days."
+
+"Pretty often, seemingly," said the visitor, peering here and there.
+"Silk-winding, collecting.  What's this?  Trying to make a steam
+engine?"
+
+"No, not exactly an engine; but I thought that perhaps I might make a
+little machine that would turn a wheel."
+
+"And supply you with motive-power.  Well, I will tell you at once that
+it would not."
+
+"Why not?" said Vane, with a little more confidence, as he grew used to
+his companion's abrupt ways.
+
+"Because you have gone the wrong way to work, groping along in the dark.
+I'll be bound to say," he continued, as he stood turning over the
+rough, clumsy contrivance upon which he had seized--a bit of mechanism
+which had cost the boy a good many of his shillings, and the blacksmith
+much time in filing and fitting in an extremely rough way--"that
+Newcomen and Watt and the other worthies of the steam engine's early
+days hit upon exactly the same ideas.  It is curious how men in
+different places, when trying to contrive some special thing, all start
+working in the same groove."
+
+"Then you think that is all stupid and waste of time, sir?"
+
+"I did not say so.  By no means.  The bit of mechanism is of no use--
+never can be, but it shows me that you have the kind of brain that ought
+to fit you for an engineer, and the time you have spent over this has
+all been education.  It will teach you one big lesson, my lad.  When you
+try to invent anything again, no matter how simple, don't begin at the
+very beginning, but seek out what has already been done, and begin where
+others have left off--making use of what is good in their work as a
+foundation for yours."
+
+"Yes, I see now," said Vane.  "I shall not forget that."
+
+Their visitor laughed.
+
+"Then you will be a very exceptional fellow, Vane Lee.  But, there, I
+hope you will not forget.  Humph!" he continued, looking round, "You
+have a capital lot of material here: machinery and toys.  No, I will not
+call them toys, because these playthings are often the parents of very
+useful machines.  What's that--balloon?"
+
+"An attempt at one," replied Vane.
+
+"Oh, then, you have been trying to solve the flying problem."
+
+"Yes," cried Vane excitedly; "have you?"
+
+"Yes, I have had my season of thought over it, my lad; and I cannot help
+thinking that it will some day be mastered or discovered by accident."
+
+Vane's lips parted, and he rested his elbows on the workbench, placed
+his chin in his hands, and gazed excitedly in his companion's face.
+
+"And how do you think it will be done?"
+
+"Ah, that's a difficult question to answer, boy.  There is the problem
+to solve.  All I say is, that if we have mastered the water and can
+contrive a machine that will swim like a fish--"
+
+"But we have not," said Vane.
+
+"Indeed!  Then what do you call an Atlantic liner, with the propeller in
+its tail?"
+
+"But that swims on the top of the water."
+
+"Of course it does, because the people on board require air to breathe.
+Otherwise it could be made to swim beneath the water as a fish does, and
+at twenty miles an hour."
+
+"Yes: I did not think of that."
+
+"Well, as we have conquered the water to that extent, I do not see why
+we should not master the air."
+
+"We can rise in balloons."
+
+"Yes, but the balloon is clumsy and unmanageable.  It will not do."
+
+"What then, sir?"
+
+"That's it, my boy, what then?  It is easy to contrive a piece of
+mechanism with fans that will rise in the air, but when tried on a large
+scale, to be of any real service, I'm afraid it would fail."
+
+"Then why not something to fly like a bird or a bat?" said Vane eagerly.
+
+"No; the power required to move the great flapping wings would be too
+weighty for it; and, besides, I always feel that there is a something in
+a bird or bat which enables it to make itself, bulk for bulk, the same
+weight as the atmosphere."
+
+"But that seems impossible," said Vane.
+
+"Seems, but it may not be so.  Fifty years ago the man would have been
+laughed at who talked about sending a message to Australia and getting
+the answer back the same day, but we do not think much of it now.  We
+would have thought of the Arabian Nights, and magicians, if a man had
+spoken to some one miles away, then listened to his tiny whisper
+answering back; but these telephonic communications are getting to be
+common business matters now.  Why, Vane, when I was a little boy
+photography or light-writing was only being thought of: now people buy
+accurate likenesses of celebrities at a penny a piece on barrows in
+London streets."
+
+Vane nodded.
+
+"To go back to the flying," continued his companion, "I have thought and
+dreamed over it a great deal, but without result.  I am satisfied,
+though, of one thing, and it is this, that some birds possess the power
+of gliding about in the air merely by the exercise of their will.  I
+have watched great gulls floating along after a steamer at sea, by
+merely keeping their wings extended.  At times they would give a slight
+flap or two, but not enough to affect their progress--it has appeared to
+me more to preserve their balance.  And, again, in one of the great
+Alpine passes, I have watched the Swiss eagle--the Lammergeyer--rise
+from low down and begin sailing round and round, hardly beating with his
+wings, but always rising higher and higher in a vast spiral, till he was
+above the mountain-tops which walled in the sides of the valley.  Then I
+have seen him sail right away.  There is something more in nature
+connected with flight, which we have not yet discovered.  I will not say
+that we never shall, for science is making mighty strides.  There," he
+added, merrily, "end of the lecture.  Let's go out in the open air."
+
+Vane sighed.
+
+"I came from London, my boy, where all the air seems to be second-hand.
+Out here on this slope of the wolds, the breeze gives one life and
+strength.  Take me for a walk, out in the woods, say, it will do me
+good, and make me forget the worries and cares of life."
+
+"Are you inventing something?"
+
+Mr Deering gave the lad a sharp look, and nodded his head.
+
+"May I ask what, sir?"
+
+"No, my boy, you may not," said Mr Deering, sadly.  "Perhaps I am going
+straightway on the road to disappointment and failure; but I must go on
+now.  Some day you will hear.  Now take me where I can breathe.  Oh, you
+happy young dog!" he cried merrily.  "What a thing it is to be a boy!"
+
+"Is it?" said Vane, quietly.
+
+"Yes, it is.  And you, sir, think to yourself, like the blind young mole
+you are, what a great thing it is to be a man.  There, come out into the
+open air, and let's look at nature; I get very weary sometimes of art."
+
+Vane looked wonderingly at his new friend and did not feel so warmly
+toward him as he had a short time before, but this passed off when they
+were in the garden, where he admired the doctor's fruit, waxed eloquent
+over the apples and pears, and ate one of the former with as much
+enjoyment as a boy.
+
+He was as merry as could be, too, and full of remarks as the doctor's
+Jersey cow and French poultry were inspected, but at his best in the
+woods amongst the gnarled old oaks and great beeches, seeming never
+disposed to tire.
+
+That night Mr Deering had a very long consultation with the doctor; and
+Vane noted that his aunt looked very serious indeed, but she said
+nothing till after breakfast the next morning, when their visitor had
+left them for town, and evidently in the highest spirits.
+
+"Let that boy go on with his whims, doctor," he said aloud, in Vane's
+hearing.  "He had better waste a little money in cranks and eccentrics
+than in toffee and hard-bake.  Good-bye."
+
+And he was gone as suddenly, so it seemed to Vane, as he had come.
+
+It was then that Vane heard his aunt say:
+
+"Well, my dear, I hope it is for the best.  It will be a very serious
+thing for us if it should go wrong."
+
+"Very," said the doctor drily; and Vane wondered what it might be.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+OILING THE CLOCK.
+
+The plan of the town of Mavis Greythorpe was very simple, being one long
+street with houses on either side, placed just as the builders pleased.
+Churchwarden Rounds' long thatched place stood many yards back, which
+was convenient, for he liked to grow roses that his neighbours could see
+and admire.  Crumps the cowkeeper's, too, stood some distance back, but
+that was handy, for there was room for the cowshed and the dairy close
+to the path.  Dredge, the butcher, had his open shop, too--a separate
+building from the house at the back--close to the path, where customers
+could see the mortal remains of one sheep a week, sometimes two, and in
+the cold weather a pig, and a half or third of a "beast," otherwise a
+small bullock, the other portions being retained by neighbouring
+butchers at towns miles away, where the animal had been slain.  But at
+fair time and Christmas, Butcher, or, as he pronounced it, Buttcher
+Dredge, to use his own words, "killed hissen" and a whole bullock was on
+exhibition in his open shop.
+
+The houses named give a fair idea of the way in which architecture was
+arranged for in Mavis; every man who raised a house planted it where it
+seemed good in his own eyes; and as in most cases wayfarers stepped down
+out of the main street into the front rooms, the popular way of building
+seemed to have been that the builder dug a hole and then put a house in
+it.
+
+Among those houses which were flush with the main street was that of
+Michael Chakes, clerk and sexton, who was also the principal shoemaker
+of Mavis, and his place of business was a low, open-windowed room with
+bench and seat, where, when not officially engaged, he sat at work,
+surrounded by the implements and products of his trade, every now and
+then opening his mouth and making a noise after repeating a couple of
+lines, under the impression that he was singing.  Upon that point
+opinions differed.
+
+Vane Lee wanted a piece of leather, and as there was nothing at home
+that he could cut up, saving one of the doctor's Wellington boots, which
+were nearly new, he put on his cap, thrust his hands in his pockets, and
+set off for the town street, as eagerly as if his success in life
+depended upon his obtaining that piece of leather instanter.
+
+The place was perfectly empty as he reached the south end, the shops
+looked nearly the same, save that at Grader the baker's there were four
+covered glasses, containing some tasteless looking biscuits full of
+holes; a great many flies, hungry and eager to get out, walking in all
+directions over the panes; and on the lowest shelf Grader's big tom-cat,
+enjoying a good sleep in the sun.
+
+Vane did not want any of those biscuits, but just then he caught sight
+of Distin crossing the churchyard, and to avoid him he popped in at the
+baker's, to be saluted by a buzz from the flies, and a slow movement on
+the part of the cat who rose, raised his back into a high arch, yawned
+and stretched, and then walked on to the counter, and rubbed his head
+against Vane's buttons, as the latter thrust his hands into his pocket
+for a coin, and tapped on the counter loudly once, then twice, then the
+third time, but there was no response, for the simple reason that Mrs
+Grader had gone to talk to a neighbour, and John Grader, having risen at
+three to bake his bread, and having delivered it after breakfast, was
+taking a nap.
+
+"Oh, what a sleepy lot they are here!" muttered Vane, as he went to the
+door which, as there was no sign of Distin now, and he did not want any
+biscuits, he passed, and hurried along the street to where Michael
+Chakes sat in his open window, tapping away slowly at the heavy sole of
+a big boot which he was ornamenting with rows of hob-nails.
+
+Vane stepped in at once, and the sexton looked up, nodded, and went on
+nailing again.
+
+"Oughtn't to put the nails so close, Mike."
+
+"Nay, that's the way to put in nails, Mester Vane!" said the sexton.
+
+"But if they were open they'd keep a man from slipping in wet and
+frost."
+
+"Don't want to keep man from slipping, want to make 'em weer."
+
+"Oh, all right; have it your own way.  Here, I want a nice strong new
+bit of leather, about six inches long."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Never you mind what for, get up and sell me a bit."
+
+"Nay, I can't leave my work to get no leather to-day, Mester.  Soon as
+I've putt in these here four nails, I'm gooing over to belfry."
+
+"What for?  Some one dead?"
+
+"Nay, not they.  Folk weant die a bit now, Mester Vane.  I dunno whether
+it's Parson Syme's sarmints or what, but seems to me as if they think
+it's whole dooty a man to live to hundred and then not die."
+
+"Nonsense, cut me my bit of leather, and let me go."
+
+"Nay, sir, I can't stop to coot no leather to-day.  I tellee I'm gooin'
+to church."
+
+"But what for?"
+
+"Clock's stopped."
+
+"Eh!  Has it?" cried Vane eagerly.  "What's the matter with it?"
+
+"I d'know sir.  Somethin' wrong in its inside, I spect.  I'm gooing to
+see."
+
+"Forgotten to wind it up, Mike."
+
+"Nay, that I arn't, sir.  Wound her up tight enew."
+
+"Then that's it.  Wound up too tight, perhaps."
+
+"Nay, she's been wound up just the same as I've wound her these
+five-and-twenty year, just as father used to.  She's wrong inside."
+
+"Goes stiff.  Wants a little oil.  Bring some in a bottle with a feather
+and I'll soon put it right."
+
+The sexton pointed with his hammer to the chimney-piece where a small
+phial bottle was standing, and Vane took it up at once, and began
+turning a white fowl's feather round to stir up the oil.
+
+"You mean to come, then?" said the sexton.
+
+"Of course.  I'm fond of machinery," cried Vane.
+
+"Ay, you be," said the sexton, tapping away at the nails, "and you'd
+like to tak' that owd clock all to pieces, I know."
+
+"I should," cried Vane with his eyes sparkling.  "Shall I?"
+
+"What?" cried the sexton, with his hammer raised.  "Why, you'd never get
+it put together again."
+
+"Tchah! that I could.  I would somehow," added the lad.  "Ay somehow;
+but what's the good o' that!  Suppose she wouldn't goo when you'd putt
+her together somehow.  What then?"
+
+"Why, she won't go now," cried Vane, "so what harm would it do?"
+
+"Well, I don't know about that," said the sexton, driving in the last
+nail, and pausing to admire the iron-decorated sole.
+
+"Now, then, cut my piece of leather," cried Vane.
+
+"Nay, I can't stop to coot no pieces o' leather," said the sexton.
+"Church clock's more consekens than all the bits o' leather in a
+tanner's yard.  I'm gooing over yonder now."
+
+"Oh, very well," said Vane, as the man rose, untied his leathern apron,
+and put on a very ancient coat, "it will do when we come back."
+
+"Mean to go wi' me, then?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+The sexton chuckled, took his hat from behind the door, and stepped out
+on to the cobble-stone pathway, after taking the oil bottle and a bunch
+of big keys from a nail.
+
+The street looked as deserted as if the place were uninhabited, and not
+a soul was passed as they went up to the church gate at the west end of
+the ancient edifice, which had stood with its great square stone
+fortified tower, dominating from a knoll the tiny town for five hundred
+years--ever since the days when it was built to act as a stronghold to
+which the Mavis Greythorpites could flee if assaulted by enemies, and
+shoot arrows from the narrow windows and hurl stones from the
+battlements.  Or, if these were not sufficient, and the enemy proved to
+be very enterprising indeed, so much so as to try and batter in the
+hugely-thick iron-studded belfry-door, why there were those pleasant
+openings called by architects machicolations, just over the entrance,
+from which ladlesful of newly molten lead could be scattered upon their
+heads.
+
+Michael Chakes knew the bunch of keys by heart, but he always went
+through the same ceremony--that of examining them all four, and blowing
+in the tubes, as if they were panpipes, keeping the one he wanted to the
+last.
+
+"Oh, do make haste, Mike," cried the boy.  "You are so slow."
+
+"Slow and sewer's my motter, Mester Vane," grunted the sexton, as he
+slowly inserted the key.  "Don't you hurry no man's beast; you may hev
+an ass of your own some day."
+
+"If I do I'll make him go faster than you do.  I say, though, Mike, do
+you think it's true about those old bits of leather?"
+
+As he spoke, Vane pointed to a couple of scraps of black-looking,
+curl-edged hide, fastened with broad headed nails to the belfry-door.
+
+"True!" cried the sexton, turning his grim, lined, and not over-clean
+face to gaze in the frank-looking handsome countenance beside him.
+"True!  Think o' that now, and you going up to rectory every day, to do
+your larning along with the other young gents, to Mester Syme.  Well,
+that beats all."
+
+"What's that got to do with it?" cried Vane, as the sexton ceased from
+turning the key in the door, and laid one hand on the scraps of hide.
+
+"Got to do wi' it, lad?  Well I am!  And to call them leather."
+
+"Well, so they are leather," said Vane.  "And do you mean to say,
+standing theer with the turn-stones all around you as you think anything
+bout t'owd church arn't true?"
+
+"No, but I don't think it's true about those bits of leather."
+
+"Leather, indeed!" cried the sexton.  "I'm surprised at you, Mester
+Vane--that I am.  Them arn't leather but all that's left o' the skins o'
+the Swedums and Danes as they took off 'em and nailed up on church door
+to keep off the rest o' the robbin', murderin' and firin' wretches as
+come up river in their ships and then walked the rest o' the way across
+the mash?"
+
+"Oh, but it might be a bit of horse skin."
+
+"Nay, nay, don't you go backslidin' and thinking such a thing as that,
+mester.  Why, theer was a party o' larned gentlemen come one day all
+t'way fro' Lincoln, and looked at it through little tallerscope things,
+and me standing close by all the time to see as they didn't steal nowt,
+for them sort's terruble folk for knocking bits off wi' hammers as they
+carries in their pockets and spreadin' bits o' calico over t' brasses,
+and rubbin' 'em wi' heel balls same as I uses for edges of soles; and
+first one and then another of 'em says--`Human.'  That's what they says.
+Ay, lad, that's true enough, and been here to this day."
+
+"Ah, well, open the door, Mike, and let's go in.  I don't believe people
+would have been such wretches as to skin a man, even if he was a Dane,
+and then nail the skin up there.  But if they did, it wouldn't have
+lasted."
+
+The sexton shook his head very solemnly and turned the great key, the
+rusty lock-bolt shooting back reluctantly, and the door turning slowly
+on its hinges, which gave forth a dismal creak.
+
+"Here, let's give them a drop of oil," cried Vane; but the sexton held
+the bottle behind him.
+
+"Nay, nay," he said; "they're all right enew.  Let 'em be, lad."
+
+"How silent it seems without the old clock ticking," said Vane, looking
+up at the groined roof where, in place of bosses to ornament the
+handsome old ceiling of the belfry, there were circular holes intended
+to pour more lead and arrows upon besiegers, in case they made their way
+through the door, farther progress being through a narrow lancet archway
+and up an extremely small stone spiral staircase toward which Vane
+stepped, but the sexton checked him.
+
+"Nay, Mester, I go first," he said.
+
+"Look sharp then."
+
+But the only thing sharp about the sexton were his awls and cutting
+knives, and he took an unconscionably long time to ascend to the floor
+above them where an opening in the staircase admitted them to a square
+chamber, lighted by four narrow lancet windows, and into which hung down
+from the ceiling, and through as many holes, eight ropes, portions of
+which were covered with worsted to soften them to the ringers' hands.
+
+Vane made a rush for the rope of the tenor bell, but the sexton uttered
+a cry of horror.
+
+"Nay, nay, lad," he said, as soon as he got his breath, "don't pull:
+'twould make 'em think there's a fire."
+
+"Oh, all right," said Vane, leaving the rope.
+
+"Nay, promise as you weant touch 'em, or I weant go no further."
+
+"I promise," cried Vane merrily.  "Now, then, up you go to the clock."
+
+The sexton looked relieved, and went to a broad cupboard at one side of
+the chamber, opened it, and there before them was the great pendulum of
+the old clock hanging straight down, and upon its being started
+swinging, it did so, but with no answering _tic-tac_.
+
+"Where are the weights, Mike?" cried Vane, thrusting in his head, and
+looking up.  "Oh, I see them."
+
+"Ay, you can see 'em, lad, wound right up.  There, let's go and see."
+
+The sexton led the way up to the next floor, but here they were stopped
+by a door, which was slowly opened after he had played his tune upon the
+key pipes.
+
+"Oh I say, Mike, what a horrible old bore you are," cried the boy,
+impatiently.
+
+"Then thou shouldstna hev coom, lad," said the sexton as they stood now
+in a chamber through which the bell ropes passed and away up through
+eight more holes in the next ceiling, while right in the middle stood
+the skeleton works of the great clock, with all its wheels and
+escapements open to the boy's eager gaze, as he noted everything, from
+the portion which went out horizontally through the wall to turn the
+hands on the clock's face, to the part where the pendulum hung, and on
+either side the two great weights which set the machine in motion, and
+ruled the striking of the hours.
+
+The clock was screwed down to a frame-work of oaken beams, and looked,
+in spite of its great age and accumulation of dust, in the best of
+condition, and, to the sexton's horror, Vane forgot all about the eight
+big bells overhead, and the roof of the tower, from which there was a
+magnificent view over the wolds, and stripped off his jacket.
+
+"What are you going to do, lad?" cried the sexton.
+
+"See what's the matter.  Why the clock won't go."
+
+"Nay, nay, thou must na touch it, lad.  Why, it's more than my plaace is
+worth to let anny one else touch that theer clock."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!  Here, give me the oil."
+
+Vane snatched the bottle, and while the sexton looked on, trembling at
+the sacrilege, as it seemed to him, the lad busily oiled every bearing
+that he could reach, and used the oil so liberally that at last there
+was not a drop left, and he ceased his task with a sigh.
+
+"There, Mike, she'll go now," he cried.  "Can't say I've done any harm."
+
+"Nay, I wean't say that you hev, mester, for I've been standing ready to
+stop you if you did."
+
+Vane laughed.
+
+"Now, then, start the pendulum," he said; "and then put the hands
+right."
+
+He went to the side to start the swinging regulator himself but the
+sexton again stopped him.
+
+"Nay," he said; "that's my job, lad;" and very slowly and cautiously he
+set the bob in motion.
+
+"There, I told you so," cried Vane; "only wanted a drop of oil."
+
+For the pendulum swung _tic_--_tac_--_tic_--_tac_ with beautiful
+regularity.  Then, as they listened it went _tic_--_tic_.  Then _tic_
+two or three times over, and there was no more sound.
+
+"Didn't start it hard enough, Mike," cried Vane; and this time, to the
+sexton's horror, he gave the pendulum a good swing, the regular
+_tic_--_tac_ followed, grew feeble, stopped, and there was an outburst
+as if of uncanny laughter from overhead, so real that it was hard to
+think that it was only a flock of jackdaws just settled on the
+battlements of the tower.
+
+"Oh, come, I'm not going to be beaten like this," cried Vane, "I know I
+can put the old clock right."
+
+"Nay, nay, not you," said the sexton firmly.
+
+"But I took our kitchen clock to pieces, and put it together again; and
+now it goes splendidly--only it doesn't strike right."
+
+"Mebbe," said the sexton, "but this arn't a kitchen clock.  Nay, Master
+Vane, the man 'll hev to come fro Lincun to doctor she."
+
+"But let me just--"
+
+"Nay, nay, you don't touch her again."
+
+The man was so firm that Vane had to give way and descend, forgetting
+all about the piece of leather he wanted, and parting from the sexton at
+the door as the key was turned, and then walking back home, to go at
+once to his workshop and sit down to think.
+
+There was plenty for him to do--any number of mechanical contrivances to
+go on with, notably the one intended to move a boat without oars, sails,
+or steam, but they were not church clocks, and for the time being
+nothing interested him but the old clock whose hands were pointing
+absurdly as to the correct time.
+
+All at once a thought struck Vane, and he jumped up, thrust a pair of
+pliers, a little screw-wrench and a pair of pincers into his pockets and
+went out again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+THOSE TWO WHEELS.
+
+As Vane walked along the road the tools in his pocket rattled, and they
+set him thinking about Mr Deering, and how serious he had made his
+uncle look for a few days.  Then about all their visitor had said about
+flying, and that set him wondering whether it would be possible to
+contrive something which might easily be tested.
+
+"I could go up on to the leads of the tower, step off and float down
+into the churchyard."
+
+Vane suddenly burst out laughing.
+
+"Why, if I had said that yonder," he thought, "old Macey would tell me
+that it would be just in the right place, for I should be sure to break
+my neck."
+
+Then he began thinking about Bruff the gardener, for he passed his
+cottage; and about his coming to work the next day after being ill, and
+never saying another word about the chanterelles.
+
+Directly after his thoughts turned in another direction, for he came
+upon the two gipsy lads, seated under the hedge, with their legs in the
+ditch, proof positive that the people of their tribe were somewhere not
+very far away.
+
+The lads stared at him very hard, and Vane stared back at them, thinking
+what a curious life it seemed--for two big strong boys to be always
+hanging about, doing nothing but drive a few miserable worn-out horses
+from fair to fair.
+
+Just as he was abreast of the lads, one whispered something to the
+other, but what it was Vane could not understand, for it sounded mere
+gibberish.
+
+Then the other replied, without moving his head, and Vane passed on.
+
+"I don't believe it's a regular language they talk," he said to himself.
+"Only a lot of slang words they've made up.  What do they call it?
+Rum--Rum--Romany, that is it.  Well, it doesn't sound Roman-like to me."
+
+About a hundred yards on he looked back, to see that the two gipsy lads
+were in eager converse, and one was gesticulating so fiercely, that it
+looked like quarrelling.
+
+But Vane had something else to think about, and he went on, holding the
+tools inside his pockets, to keep them from clicking together as he
+turned up toward the rectory, just catching sight of the gipsy lads
+again, now out in the road and slouching along toward the town.
+
+"Wonder whether Mr Symes is at home again," thought Vane, but he did
+not expect that he would be, as it was his hour for being from the
+rectory, perhaps having a drive, so that he felt pretty easy about him.
+But he kept a sharp look-out for Gilmore and the others.
+
+"Hardly likely for them to be in," he thought; and then he felt annoyed
+with himself because his visit seemed furtive and deceptive.
+
+As a rule, he walked up to the front of the house, feeling quite at
+home, and as if he were one of its inmates, whereas now there was the
+feeling upon him that he had no business to go upon his present mission,
+and that the first person he met would ask him what right he had to come
+sneaking up there with tools in his pockets.
+
+For a moment he thought he would go back, but he mastered that, and went
+on, only to hesitate once more, feeling sure that he had heard faintly
+the rector's peculiar clearing of his voice--"Hah-errum!"
+
+His active brain immediately raised up the portly figure of his tutor
+before him, raising his eyebrows, and questioning him about why he was
+there; but these thoughts were chased away directly after, as he came to
+an opening in the trees, through which he could look right away to where
+the river went winding along through the meadows, edged with pollard
+willows, and there, quite half-a-mile away, he could see a solitary
+figure standing close to the stream.
+
+"That's old Macey," muttered Vane, "fishing for perch in his favourite
+hole."
+
+Feeling pretty certain that the others would not be far away, he stood
+peering about till he caught sight of another figure away to his right.
+
+"Gilmore surely," he muttered; and then his eyes wandered again till
+they lighted upon a figure seated at the foot of a tree close by the one
+he had settled to be Gilmore.
+
+"Old Distie," said Vane, with a laugh.  "What an idle fellow he is.
+Never happy unless he is sitting or lying down somewhere.  I suppose
+it's from coming out of a hot country, where people do lie about a great
+deal."
+
+"That's all right," he thought, "they will not bother me, and I needn't
+mind, for it's pretty good proof that the rector is out."
+
+Feeling fresh confidence at this, but, at the same time, horribly
+annoyed with himself because of the shrinking feeling which troubled
+him, he went straight up the path to the porch and rang.
+
+Joseph, the rector's footman, came hurrying into the hall, pulling down
+the sides of his coat, and looked surprised and injured on seeing that
+it was only one of "Master's pupils."
+
+"I only wanted the keys of the church, Joe," said Vane, carelessly.
+
+"There they hang, sir," replied the man, pointing to a niche in the
+porch.
+
+"Yes, I know, but I didn't like to take them without speaking," said
+Vane; and the next minute he was on his way to the churchyard through
+the rectory garden, hugging the duplicate keys in his pocket, and
+satisfied that he could reach the belfry-door without being seen by the
+sexton.
+
+It was easy enough to get there unseen.  Whether he could open the door
+unheard was another thing.
+
+There was no examining each key in turn, and no whistling in the pipes,
+but the right one chosen at once and thrust in.
+
+"_Tah_!" came from overhead loudly; and Vane started back, when quite a
+chorus arose, and the flock of jackdaws flew away, as if rejoicing at
+mocking one who was bent upon a clandestine visit to the church.
+
+"How stupid!" muttered Vane; but he gave a sharp glance round to see if
+he were observed before turning the key, and throwing open the door.
+
+"Why didn't he let me oil it?" he muttered, for the noise seemed to be
+twice as loud now, and after dragging out the key the noise was louder
+still, he thought, as he thrust to the door, and locked it on the
+inside.
+
+Then, as he withdrew the key again, he hesitated and stood listening.
+
+Everything look strange and dim, and he felt half disposed to draw back,
+but laughing to himself at his want of firmness, he ran up the winding
+stairs again, as fast as the worn stones would let him, passed the
+ringers' chamber, and went on up to the locked door, which creaked
+dismally, as he threw it open.  The next moment he was by the clock.
+
+But he did not pause here.  Drawing back into the winding staircase he
+ascended to where the bells hung, and had a good look at the one with
+the hammer by it--that on which the clock struck the hours--noted how
+green it was with verdigris, and then hurried down to the clock-chamber,
+took out his tools, pulled off his jacket and set to work.
+
+For there was this peculiarity about the doctor's nephew--that he gave
+the whole of his mind and energies to any mechanical task which took his
+fancy, and, consequently, there was neither mind nor energy left to
+bestow upon collateral circumstances.
+
+Another boy would have had a thought for the consequences of what he was
+attempting--whether it was right for him to meddle, whether the rector
+would approve.  Vane had not even the vestige of a thought on such
+matters.  He could only see wheels and pinions taken out after the
+removal of certain screws, cleaned, oiled, put back, and the old clock
+pointing correctly to the time of day and, striking decently and in
+order, as a church clock should.
+
+Pincers, pliers and screw-driver were laid on the floor and the
+screw-wrench was applied here and there, after which a cloth or rag was
+required to wipe the different wheels, and pivots; but unfortunately
+nothing of the kind was at hand, so a clean pocket-handkerchief was
+utilised, not to its advantage--and the work went on.
+
+Vane's face was a study as he used his penknife to scrape and pare off
+hardened oil, which clogged the various bearings; and as some pieces of
+the clock, iron or brass, was restored to its proper condition of
+brightness, the lad smiled and looked triumphant.
+
+Time went on, though that clock stood still, and all at once, as he set
+down a wheel and began wishing that he had some one to help him remove
+the weights, it suddenly dawned upon him that it was getting towards
+sunset, that he had forgotten all about his dinner, and that if he
+wanted any tea, he must rapidly replace the wheels he had taken out, and
+screw the frame-work back which he had removed.
+
+He had been working at the striking part of the clock, and he set to at
+once building up again, shaking his head the while at the parts he had
+not cleaned, having been unable to remove them on account of the line
+coiled round a drum and attached to a striking weight.
+
+"A clockmaker would have had that weight off first thing, I suppose," he
+said to himself, as he toiled away.  "I'll get Aleck to come and help me
+to-morrow and do it properly, while I'm about it."
+
+"It's easy enough," he said half-aloud at the end of an hour.  "I
+believe I could make a clock in time if I tried.  There you are," he
+muttered as he turned the final screw that he had removed.  "Hullo, what
+a mess I'm in!"
+
+He looked at his black and oily hands, and began thinking of soap and
+soda with hot-water as he rose from his knees after gathering up his
+tools, and then he stopped staring before him at a ledge beneath the
+back of the clock face.
+
+"Why, I forgot them," he said, taking from where they lay a couple of
+small cogged wheels which he had cleaned very carefully, and put on one
+side early in his task.
+
+"Where do they belong to?" he muttered, as he looked from them to the
+clock and back again.
+
+There seemed to be nothing missing: every part fitted together, but it
+was plain enough that these two wheels had been left out, and that to
+find out where they belonged and put them back meant a serious task gone
+over again.
+
+"Well, you two will have to wait," said the boy at last.  "It doesn't so
+much matter as I'm going to take the clock to pieces again, but all the
+same, I don't like missing them."
+
+He hesitated for a few moments, as to what he should do with the wheels,
+and ended by reaching in and laying them just beneath the works on one
+of the squared pieces of oak to which the clock was screwed.
+
+Ten minutes later he was at the rectory porch, where he hung up the keys
+just inside the hall, and then trotted home with his hands in his
+pockets to hide their colour.
+
+He was obliged to show them in the kitchen though, where he went to beg
+a jug of hot-water and some soda.
+
+"Why, where have you been, sir?" cried Martha; "and the dinner kept
+waiting a whole hour, and orders from your aunt to broil chicken for
+your tea, as if there wasn't enough to do, and some soda?  I haven't got
+any."
+
+"But you've got some, cookie," said Vane.
+
+"Not a bit, if you speak to me in that disrespectful way, sir.  My
+name's Martha, if you please.  Well, there's a bit, but how a young
+gentleman can go on as you do making his hands like a sweep's I don't
+know, and if I was your aunt I'd--"
+
+Vane did not hear what, for he had hurried away with the hot-water and
+soda, the odour of the kitchen having had a maddening effect upon him,
+and set him thinking ravenously of the dinner he had missed and the
+grilled chicken to come.
+
+But there was no reproof for him when, clean and decent once more, he
+sought the dining-room.  Aunt Hannah shook her head, but smiled as she
+made the tea, and kissed him as he went to her side.
+
+"Why, Vane, my dear, you must be starving," she whispered.  But his
+uncle was deep in thought over some horticultural problem and did not
+seem to have missed him.  He roused up, though, over the evening meal,
+while Vane was trying to hide his nails, which in spite of all his
+efforts looked exceedingly black and like a smith's.
+
+It was the appetising odour of the grilled chicken that roused the
+doctor most, for after sipping his tea and partaking of one piece of
+toast he gave a very loud sniff and began to look round the table.
+
+Vane's plate and the dish before him at once took his attention.
+
+"Meat tea?" he said smiling pleasantly.  "Dear me! and I was under the
+impression that we had had dinner just as usual.  Come, Vane, my boy,
+don't be greedy.  Remember your aunt; and I'll take a little of that.
+It smells very good."
+
+"But, my dear, you had your dinner, and Vane was not there," cried Aunt
+Hannah.
+
+"Oh! bless my heart, yes," said the doctor.  "Really I had quite
+forgotten all about it."
+
+"Hold your plate, uncle," cried Vane.
+
+"Oh, no, thank you, my boy.  It was all a mistake, I was thinking about
+the greenhouse, my dear, you know that the old flue is worn-out, and
+really something must be done to heat it."
+
+"Oh, never mind that," said Aunt Hannah, but Vane pricked up his ears.
+
+"But I must mind it, my dear," said the doctor.  "It does not matter
+now, but the cold weather will come, and it would be a pity to have the
+choice plants destroyed."
+
+"I think it is not worth the trouble," said Aunt Hannah.  "See how
+tiresome it is for someone to be obliged to come to see to that fire
+late on cold winter nights."
+
+"There can be no pleasure enjoyed, my dear, without some trouble," said
+the doctor.  "It is tiresome, I know, all that stoking and poking when
+the glass is below freezing point, and once more, I say I wish there
+could be some contrivance for heating the greenhouse without farther
+trouble."
+
+Vane pricked up his ears again, and for a few moments his uncle's words
+seemed about to take root; but those wheels rolled into his mind
+directly after, and he was wondering where they could belong to, and how
+it was that he had not missed them when he put the others back.
+
+Then the grilled chicken interfered with his power of thinking, and the
+greenhouse quite passed away.
+
+The evenings at the Little Manor House were very quiet, as a rule.  The
+doctor sat and thought, or read medical or horticultural papers; Aunt
+Hannah sat and knitted or embroidered and kept looking up to nod at Vane
+in an encouraging way as he was busy over his classics or mathematics,
+getting ready for reading with the rector next day; and the big cat
+blinked at the fire from the hearthrug.
+
+But, on this particular night, Vane hurried through the paper he had to
+prepare for the next day, and fetched out of the book-cases two or three
+works which gave a little information on horology, and he was soon deep
+in toothed-wheels, crown-wheels, pinions, ratchets, pallets,
+escapements, free, detached, anchor, and half-dead.  Then he read on
+about racks, and snails; weights, pendulums, bobs, and compensations.
+
+Reading all this was not only interesting, but gave the idea that taking
+a clock to pieces and putting it together again was remarkably easy; but
+there was no explanation about those missing wheels.
+
+Bedtime at last, and Vane had another scrub with the nail-brush at his
+hands before lying down.
+
+It was a lovely night, nearly full-moon, and the room looked so light
+after the candle was out that Vane gave it the credit of keeping him
+awake.  For, try how he would, he could not get to sleep.  Now he was on
+his right side, but the pillow grew hot and had to be turned; now on his
+left, with the pillow turned back.  Too many clothes, and the
+counterpane stripped back.  Not enough: his uncle always said that
+warmth was conducive to sleep, and the counterpane pulled up.  But no
+sleep.
+
+"Oh, how wakeful I do feel!" muttered the boy impatiently, as he tossed
+from side to side.  "Is it the chicken?"
+
+No; it was not the chicken, but the church clock, and those two wheels,
+which kept on going round and round in his mind without cessation.  He
+tried to think of something else: his studies, Greek, Latin, the
+mathematical problems upon which he was engaged; but, no: ratchets and
+pinions, toothed-wheels, free and detached, pendulums and weights, had
+it all their own way, and at last he jumped out of bed, opened the
+window and stood there, looking out, and cooling his heated, weary head
+for a time.
+
+"Now I can sleep," he said to himself, triumphantly, as he returned to
+his bed; but he was wrong, and a quarter of an hour after he was at the
+washstand, pouring himself out a glass of water, which he drank.
+
+That did have some effect, for at last he dropped off into a fitful
+unrefreshing sleep, to be mentally borne at once into the chamber of the
+big stone tower, with the clockwork tumbled about in heaps all round
+him; and he vainly trying to catch the toothed-wheels, which kept
+running round and round, while the clock began to strike.
+
+Vane started up in bed, for the dream seemed real--the clock was
+striking.
+
+No: that was not a clock striking, but one of the bells, tolling rapidly
+in the middle of the night.
+
+For a moment the lad thought he was asleep, but the next he had sprung
+out of bed and run to the window to thrust out his head and listen.
+
+It was unmistakable: the big bell was going as he had never heard it
+before--not being rung, but as if someone had hold of the clapper and
+were beating it against the side--_Dang, dang, dang, dang_--stroke
+following stroke rapidly; and, half-confused by the sleep from which he
+had been awakened, Vane was trying to make out what it meant, when
+faintly, but plainly heard on the still night air, came that most
+startling of cries--
+
+"Fire!  Fire!  Fire!"
+
+The Weathercock--by George Manville Fenn
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+A DISTURBED NIGHT.
+
+Just as Vane shivered at the cry, and ran to hurry on some clothes,
+there was the shape of the door clearly made out in lines of light, and
+directly after a sharp tapping.
+
+"Vane, my boy, asleep?"
+
+"No, uncle; dressing."
+
+"You heard the bell, then.  I'm afraid it means fire."
+
+"Yes, fire, fire!  I heard them calling."
+
+"I can't see anything, can you?"
+
+"No, uncle, but I shall be dressed directly, and will go and find out
+where it is?"
+
+"O hey!  Master Vane!" came from the outside.  "Fire!"
+
+It was the gardener's voice, and the lad ran to the window.
+
+"Yes, I heard.  Where is it?"
+
+"Don't know yet, sir.  Think it's the rectory."
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" came from Vane's door.  "Hi, Vane, lad, I'll dress
+as quickly as I can.  You run on and see if you can help.  Whatever you
+do, try and save the rector's books."
+
+Vane grunted and went on dressing, finding everything wrong in the dark,
+and taking twice as long as usual to get into his clothes.
+
+As he dressed, he kept on going to the window to look out, but not to
+obtain any information, for the gardener had run back at a steady trot,
+his steps sounding clearly on the hard road, while the bell kept up its
+incessant clamour, the blows of the clapper following one another
+rapidly as ever, and with the greatest of regularity.  But thrust his
+head out as far as he would, there was no glare visible, as there had
+been the year before when the haystack was either set on fire or ignited
+spontaneously from being built up too wet.  Then the whole of the
+western sky was illumined by the flames, and patches of burning hay rose
+in great flakes high in air, and were swept away by the breeze.
+
+"Dressed, uncle.  Going down," cried Vane, as he walked into the
+passage.
+
+"Shan't be five minutes, my boy."
+
+"Take care, Vane, dear," came in smothered and suggestive tones.  "Don't
+go too near the fire."
+
+"All right, aunt," shouted the boy, as he ran downstairs, and, catching
+up his cap, unfastened the front door, stepped out, ran down the path,
+darted out from the gate, and began to run toward where the alarm bell
+was being rung.
+
+It was no great distance, but, in spite of his speed, it seemed to be
+long that night; and, as Vane ran, looking eagerly the while for the
+glow from the fire, he came to the conclusion that the brilliancy of the
+moon was sufficient to render it invisible, and that perhaps the blaze
+was yet only small.
+
+"Hi!  Who's that?" cried a voice, whose owner was invisible in the
+shadow cast by a clump of trees.
+
+"I--Vane Lee.  Is the rectory on fire, Distin?"
+
+"I've just come out of it, and didn't see any flames," said the youth
+contemptuously.
+
+"Here, hi!  Distie!" came from the side-road leading to the rectory
+grounds.  "Wait for us.  Who's that?  Oh, you, Vane.  What's the
+matter?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Vane.  "I jumped out of bed when I heard the
+alarm bell."
+
+"So did we, and here's Aleck got his trousers on wrong way first."
+
+"I haven't," shouted Macey; "but that's my hat you've got."
+
+As he spoke, he snatched the hat Gilmore was wearing, and tossed the one
+he held toward his companion.
+
+"Are you fellows coming?" said Distin, coldly.
+
+"Of course we are," cried Macey.  "Come on, lads; let's go and help them
+get out the town squirt."
+
+They started for the main street at a trot, and Vane panted out:--
+
+"I'll lay a wager that the engine's locked up, and that they can't find
+the keys."
+
+"And when they do, the old pump won't move," cried Gilmore.
+
+"And the hose will be all burst," cried Macey.
+
+"I thought we were going to help," said Distin, coldly.  "If you fellows
+chatter so, you'll have no breath left."
+
+By this time they were among the houses, nearly everyone of which showed
+a light at the upper window.
+
+"Here's Bruff," cried Vane, running up to a group of men, four of whom
+were carrying poles with iron hooks at the end--implements bearing a
+striking family resemblance to the pole drags said to be "kept in
+constant readiness," by wharves, bridges, and docks.
+
+"What have you got there, gardener?" shouted Gilmore.
+
+"Hooks, sir, to tear off the burning thack."
+
+"But where is the burning thatch?" cried Vane.
+
+"I dunno, sir," said the gardener.  "I arn't even smelt fire yet."
+
+"Have they got the engine out?"
+
+"No, sir.  They arn't got the keys yet.  Well, did you make him hear?"
+continued Bruff, as half-a-dozen men came trotting down the street.
+
+"Nay, we can't wacken him nohow."
+
+"What, Chakes?" cried Vane.
+
+"Ay; we've been after the keys."
+
+"But he must be up at the church," said Vane.  "It's he who is ringing
+the bell."
+
+"Nay, he arn't theer," chorused several.  "We went theer first, and
+doors is locked."
+
+By this time there was quite a little crowd in the street, whose
+components were, for the most part, asking each other where the fire
+was; and, to add to the confusion, several had brought their dogs, some
+of which barked at the incessant ringing of the big bell, while three
+took part in a quarrel, possibly induced by ill-temper consequent upon
+their having been roused from their beds.
+
+"Then he must have locked himself in," cried Vane.
+
+"Not he," said Distin.  "Go and knock him up; he's asleep still."
+
+"Well," said Bruff, with a chuckle, as he stood his hook pole on end,
+"owd Mike Chakes can sleep a bit, I know; but if he can do it through
+all this ting dang, he bets me."
+
+"Come and see," cried Vane, making for the church-tower.
+
+"No; come and rout him out of bed," cried Distin.
+
+Just then a portly figure approached, and the rector's smooth, quick
+voice was heard asking:--
+
+"Where is the fire, my men?"
+
+"That's what we can't none on us mak' out, Parson," said a voice.  "Hey!
+Here's Mester Rounds; he's chutch-waarden; he'll know."
+
+"Nay, I don't know," cried the owner of the name; "I've on'y just got
+out o' bed.  Who's that pullin' the big bell at that rate?"
+
+"We think it's saxton," cried a voice.
+
+"Yes, of course.  He has locked himself in."
+
+"Silence!" cried the rector; and, as the buzz of voices ceased, he
+continued, "Has anyone noticed a fire?"
+
+"Nay, nay, nay," came from all directions.
+
+"But at a distance--at either of the farms?"
+
+"Nay, they're all right, parson," said the churchwarden.  "We could see
+if they was alight.  Hi! theer!  How'd hard!" he roared, with both hands
+to his mouth.  "Don't pull the bell down."
+
+For the clangour continued at the same rate,--_Dang, dang dang, dang_.
+
+"Owd Mikey Chakes has gone mad, I think," said a voice.
+
+"Follow me to the church," said the rector; and, leading the way with
+his pupils, the rector marched the little crowd up the street, amidst a
+buzz of voices, many of which came from bedroom windows, now all
+wide-open, and with the occupants of the chambers gazing out, and
+shouting questions to neighbours where the fire might be.
+
+A few moments' pause was made at the sexton's door, but all was silent
+there, and no response came to repeated knocks.
+
+"He must be at the church, of course," said the rector; and in a few
+minutes all were gathered at the west door, which was tried, and, as
+before said, found to be fastened.
+
+"Call, somebody with a loud voice."
+
+"We did come and shout, sir, and kicked at the door."
+
+"Call again," said the rector.  "The bell makes so much clamour the
+ringer cannot hear.  Hah! he has stopped."
+
+For, as he spoke, the strokes on the bell grew slower, and suddenly
+ceased.
+
+A shout was raised, a curious cry, composed of
+"Mike"--"Chakes!"--"Shunk" and other familiar appellations.
+
+"Hush, hush!" cried the rector.  "One of you--Mr Rounds, will you have
+the goodness to summon the sexton."
+
+"Hey! hey!  Sax'on!" shouted the miller in a voice of thunder; and he
+supplemented his summons by kicking loudly at the door.
+
+"Excuse me, Mr Rounds," said the rector; "the call will suffice."
+
+"But it don't suffice, Parson," said the bluff churchwarden.  "Hi,
+Chakes, man, coom down an' open doooor!"
+
+"Straange and queer," said the butcher.  "Theer arn't nobody, or they'd
+say summat."
+
+There was another shout.
+
+"Plaace arn't harnted, is it?" said a voice from the little crowd.
+
+"Will somebody have the goodness to go for my set of the church keys,"
+said the rector with dignity.  "You?  Thank you, Mr Macey.  You know
+where they hang."
+
+Macey went off at a quick pace; and, to fill up the time, the rector
+knocked with the top of his stick.
+
+By this time the doctor had joined the group.
+
+"It seems very strange," he said.  "The sexton must have gone up
+himself, nobody else had keys."
+
+"And there appears to be nothing to cause him to raise an alarm," said
+the rector.  "Surely the man has not been walking in his sleep."
+
+"Tchah!" cried the churchwarden; "not he, sir.  Wean't hardly walk a
+dozen steps, even when he's awake.  Why, hallo! what now?"
+
+"Here he is!  Here he is!" came excitedly from the crowd, as the sexton
+walked deliberately up with a lantern in one hand, a bunch of keys in
+the other.
+
+"Mr Chakes," said the rector sternly, "what is the meaning of this?"
+
+"Dunno, sir.  I come to see," replied the sexton.  "I thowt I heerd bell
+tolling, and I got up and as there seems to be some'at the matter I
+comed."
+
+"Then, you did not go into the belfry to ring the alarm," cried the
+doctor.
+
+"Nay, I ben abed and asleep till the noise wackened me."
+
+"It is very strange," said the rector.  "Ah, here is Mr Macey.  Have
+the goodness to open the door; and, Mr Rounds, will you keep watch over
+the windows to see if any one escapes.  This must be some trick."
+
+As the door was opened the rector turned to his pupils.
+
+"Surely, young gentlemen," he said in a whisper, "you have not been
+guilty of any prank."
+
+They all indignantly disclaimed participation, and the rector led the
+way into the great silent tower, where he paused.
+
+"I'm afraid I must leave the search to younger men," he said.  "That
+winding staircase will be too much for me."
+
+Previously all had hung back out of respect to the rector, but at this a
+rush was made for the belfry, the rectory pupils leading, and quite a
+crowd filling the chamber where the ropes hung perfectly still.
+
+"Nobody here, sir," shouted Distin, down the staircase.
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed the rector; who was standing at the foot, almost
+alone, save that he had the companionship of the doctor and that they
+were in close proximity to the churchwarden and the watchers outside the
+door.
+
+"Go up higher.  Perhaps he is hiding by the clock or among the bells."
+
+This necessitated Chakes going up first, and unlocking the clock-chamber
+door, while others went higher to see if any one was hidden among the
+bells or on the roof.
+
+"I know'd there couldn't be no one in here," said Chakes solemnly, as he
+held up his lantern, and peered about, and round the works of the clock.
+
+"How did you know?" said Distin suspiciously.
+
+"That's how," replied the sexton, holding up his keys.  "No one couldn't
+get oop here, wi'out my key or parson's."
+
+This was received with a solemn murmur, and after communications had
+been sent to and fro between the rector and Distin, up and down the
+spiral staircase, which made an excellent speaking-tube, the rector
+called to everyone to come back.
+
+He was obeyed, Chakes desiring the pupils to stay with him while he did
+the locking up; and as he saw a look exchanged between Macey and
+Gilmore, he raised his keys to his lips, and blew down the pipes.
+
+"Here, hallo!" cried Gilmore, "where's the show and the big drum?  He's
+going to give us Punch and Judy."
+
+"Nay, sir, nay, I always blows the doost out.  You thought I wanted you
+to stay because--Nay, I arn't scarred.  On'y thought I might want
+someone to howd lantern."
+
+He locked the clock-chamber door, and they descended to the belfry,
+where several of the people were standing, three having hold of the
+ropes.
+
+"Nay, nay, you mustn't pull they," shouted Chakes.  "Bell's been ringing
+'nuff to-night.  Latt 'em be."
+
+"Why, we never looked in those big cupboards," cried Macey suddenly,
+pointing to the doors behind which the weights hung, and the pendulum,
+when the clock was going, swung to and fro.
+
+"Nay, there's nowt," said the sexton, opening and throwing back the door
+to show the motionless ropes and pendulum.
+
+Vane had moved close up with the others, and he stood there in silence
+as the doors were closed again, and then they descended to join the
+group below, the churchwarden now coming to the broad arched door.
+
+"Well?" he cried; "caught 'em?"
+
+"There's no one there," came chorused back.
+
+"Then we must all hev dreamed we heard bell swing," said the
+churchwarden.  "Let's all goo back to bed."
+
+"It is very mysterious," said the rector.
+
+"Very strange," said the doctor.  "The ringing was of so unusual a
+character, too."
+
+"Owd place is harnted," said a deep voice from the crowd, the speaker
+having covered his mouth with his hand, so as to disguise his voice.
+
+"Shame!" said the rector sternly.  "I did not think I had a parishioner
+who could give utterance to such absurd sentiments."
+
+"Then what made bell ring?" cried another voice.
+
+"I do not know yet," said the rector, gravely; "but there must have been
+some good and sufficient reason."
+
+"Perhaps one of the bells was left sticking up," said Macey--a remark
+which evoked a roar of laughter.
+
+"It is nearly two o'clock, my good friends," said the rector, quietly;
+"and we are doing no good discussing this little puzzle.  Leave it till
+daylight, and let us all return home to our beds.  Chakes, have the
+goodness to lock the door.  Good-night, gentlemen.  Doctor, you are
+coming my way; young gentlemen, please."
+
+He marched off with the doctor, followed by his four pupils, till Distin
+increased his pace a little, and contrived to get so near that the
+doctor half turned and hesitated for Distin to come level.
+
+"Perhaps you can explain it, my young friend," he said; and Distin
+joined in the conversation.
+
+Meanwhile Gilmore and Macey were talking volubly, while Vane seemed to
+be listening.
+
+"It's all gammon about haunting and ghosts and goblins," said Gilmore.
+"Chaps who wrote story-books invented all that kind of stuff, same as
+they did about knights in full armour throwing their arms round
+beautiful young ladies, and bounding on to their chargers and galloping
+off."
+
+"Oh, come, that's true enough," said Macey.
+
+"What!" cried Gilmore, "do you mean to tell me that you believe a fellow
+dressed in an ironmonger's shop, and with a big pot on his head, and a
+girl on his arm, could leap on a horse?"
+
+"Yes, if he was excited," cried Macey.
+
+"He couldn't do it, without the girl."
+
+"But they did do it."
+
+"No, they didn't.  It's impossible.  If you want the truth, read some of
+the proper accounts about the armour they used to wear.  Why, it was so
+heavy that--"
+
+"Yes, it was heavy," said Macey, musingly.
+
+"Yes, so heavy, that when they galloped at each other with big
+clothes-prop things, and one of 'em was knocked off his horse, and lay
+flat on the ground, he couldn't get up again without his squires to help
+him."
+
+"You never read that."
+
+"Well, no, but Vane Lee did.  He told me all about it.  I suppose, then,
+you're ready to believe that the church-tower's haunted?"
+
+"I don't say that," said Macey, "but it does seem very strange."
+
+"Oh, yes, of course it does," said Gilmore mockingly.  "Depend upon it
+there was a tiny chap with a cloth cap, ending in a point sitting up on
+the timbers among the bells with a big hammer in his hands, and he was
+pounding away at the bell till he saw us coming, and then off he went,
+hammer and all."
+
+"I didn't say I believed that," said Macey; "but I do say it's very
+strange."
+
+"Well, good-night, Syme," said the doctor, who had halted at the turning
+leading up to the rectory front door.  "It is very curious, but I can't
+help thinking that it was all a prank played by some of the town lads to
+annoy the sexton.  Well, Vane, my boy, ready for bed once more?"
+
+Vane started out of a musing fit and said good-night to his tutor and
+fellow-pupils to walk back with his uncle.
+
+"I can't puzzle it out, Vane.  I can't puzzle it out," the doctor said,
+and the nephew shivered, for fear that the old gentleman should turn
+upon him suddenly and say, "Can you?"
+
+But no such question was asked, for the doctor began to talk about
+different little mysteries which he had met with in his career, all of
+which had had matter-of-fact explanations that came in time, and then
+they reached the house, to find a light in the breakfast-room, where
+Aunt Hannah was dressed, and had prepared some coffee for them.
+
+"Oh, I have been so anxious," she cried.  "Whose place is burned?"
+
+"No one's," said the doctor, cheerily; and then he related their
+experience.
+
+"I'm very thankful it's no worse," said Aunt Hannah.  "Some scamps of
+boys must have had a string tied to the bell, I suppose."
+
+Poor old lady, she seemed to think of the great tenor bell in the old
+tower as if it were something which could easily be swung by hand.
+
+They did not sit long; and, ill at ease, and asking himself whether he
+was going to turn into a disingenuous cowardly cur, Vane gladly sought
+his chamber once more to sit down on the edge of his bed, and ponder
+over his day's experience.
+
+"It must have been through leaving out those two wheels," he muttered,
+"that made something go off, and start the weight running down as fast
+as it could.  I must speak about it first thing to-morrow morning, or
+the people will think the place is full of ghosts.  Yes, I'll tell uncle
+in the morning and he can do what he likes."
+
+On coming to this resolve Vane undressed and slipped into bed once more,
+laid his head on the pillow, and composed himself to sleep; but no sleep
+came, and with his face burning he glided out of bed again, put on a few
+things, and then stole out of his bedroom into the passage, where he
+stood hesitating for a few minutes.
+
+"No," he muttered as he drew a deep breath, "I will not be such a
+coward;" and, creeping along the passage, he tapped softly on the next
+bedroom door.
+
+"Eh?  Yes.  Someone ill?" cried the doctor.  "Down directly."
+
+"No, no, uncle, don't get up," cried Vane hoarsely.  "I only wanted to
+tell you something."
+
+"Tell me something?  Well, what is it?"
+
+"I wanted to say that I had been trying to clean the church clock this
+afternoon, and I left out two of the wheels."
+
+"What!" roared the doctor.  "Hang it all, boy, I think nature must have
+left out two of your wheels."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+MACEY IN DIFFICULTIES.
+
+"Well, no," said the doctor emphatically, after hearing Vane's
+confession at breakfast next morning.  "No harm was done, so I think we
+will make it a private affair between us, Vane, for the rector would
+look upon it as high treason if he knew."
+
+"I'll go and tell him if you say I am to, uncle."
+
+"Then I do not say you are to, boy.  By the way, do your
+school-fellows--I beg their pardons--your fellow-pupils know?"
+
+"I have only told you and aunt, sir."
+
+"Ah, well, let it rest with us, and I daresay the clockmaker will have
+his own theory about how the two wheels happened to be missing from the
+works of the clock.  Only don't you go meddling with things which do not
+belong to your department in future or you may get into very serious
+trouble indeed."
+
+The doctor gave his nephew a short sharp nod which meant dismissal, and
+Vane went off into the conservatory to think about his improvement of
+the heating apparatus.
+
+But the excitement of the previous night and the short rest he had had
+interfered with his powers of thought, and the greenhouse was soon left
+for the laboratory, and that place for the rectory, toward which Vane
+moved with a peculiarly guilty feeling.
+
+He wished now that the doctor had given him leave to speak out, for then
+he felt that he could have gone more comfortably to the study, instead
+of taking his seat imagining that the rector suspected him, or that he
+had been told that his pupil had been seen going into the church-tower
+with Chakes, and afterwards alone.
+
+"He can't help knowing," Vane said to himself, as he neared the grounds;
+"and I shall have to confess after all."
+
+But he did not, for on reaching the rectory Joseph met him with the
+announcement that master was so unwell that he had decided not to get
+up.
+
+"Then there will be no study this morning, Joseph?"
+
+"No, sir, not a bit, and the young gents have gone off--rabbiting, I
+think."
+
+"Which way?"
+
+"Sowner's woods, sir.  I think if you was to look sharp you'd ketch 'em
+up."
+
+Vane felt quite disposed to "look sharp," and overtake the others, one
+reason being that he hoped to find Distin more disposed to become
+friendly again, for he argued it was so stupid for them, working
+together at the same table, to be separated and to carry on a kind of
+feud.
+
+It was about a couple of miles to Sowner's wood, and with the intention
+of taking all the short cuts, and getting there in less than half an
+hour, Vane hurried on, feeling the soft sweet breeze upon his cheeks and
+revelling in the joy of being young, well and hearty.  The drowsy
+sensations he had felt at breakfast were rapidly passing off, and his
+spirits rose as he now hoped that there would be no trouble about his
+escapade with the clock, as he had done the right thing in explaining
+matters to the doctor.
+
+It was a glorious morning, with the country round looking lovely in the
+warm mellow light of early autumn, and, gaze which way he would, some
+scene of beauty met his eye.
+
+His course was along the main road for some distance, after which he
+would have to turn down one of the many narrow lanes of that part of the
+country--lanes which only led from one farm to another, and for the most
+part nearly impassable in winter from the scarcity of hard material for
+repairing the deep furrows made by the waggon-wheels.
+
+But these lanes were none the less beautiful with their narrow borders
+of grass in the place of paths, each cut across at intervals, to act as
+a drain to the road, though it was seldom that they did their duty and
+freed the place from the pools left by the rain.
+
+The old Romans, when they made roads, generally drew them straight.  The
+Lincolnshire farmers made them by zigzagging along the edge of a man's
+land, so that there was no cause for surprise to Vane when after going
+along some distance beneath the overhanging oak trees he came suddenly
+upon his old friends the gipsies once more, with the miserable horses
+grazing, the van and cart drawn up close to the hedge, and the women
+cooking at their wood fire as of old.
+
+They saluted him with a quiet nod, and as Vane went on, he was cognisant
+of the fact that they were watching him; but he would not look back till
+he had gone some distance.  When he did the little camp was out of
+sight, but the two gipsy lads were standing behind as if following him.
+As soon as they saw that they were observed, they became deeply intent
+upon the blackberries and haws upon the hedges, picking away with great
+eagerness, but following again as Vane went on.
+
+"I suppose they think I'm going rabbiting or fishing, and hope to get a
+job," thought Vane.  "Well, they'll be disappointed, but they must find
+it out for themselves."
+
+He was getting hot now, for the sun came down ardently, and there was no
+wind down in the deeply-cut lane, but he did not check his pace for he
+was nearing Sowner's woods now, and eager to find out the object which
+had brought his three fellow-pupils there.
+
+"What are they after?" he said.  "Distin wouldn't stoop to go
+blackberrying or nutting.  He doesn't care for botany.  Rabbiting!  I'll
+be bound to say they've got a gun and are going to have a day at them.
+
+"Well, I don't mind," he concluded after a pause, "but I don't believe
+old Distin would ever hit a rabbit if he tried, and--"
+
+He stopped short, for, on turning a corner where the lane formed two
+sides of a square field, he saw that the two great hulking lads were
+slouching along after him still, and had lessened the distance between
+them considerably.
+
+Vane's musings had been cut short off and turned into another track.
+
+"Well," he said, "perhaps they may have a chance to hunt out wounded
+rabbits, or find dead ones, and so earn sixpence a piece."
+
+Then, as he hurried on, taking off his hat now to wipe his steaming
+brow, he began to wonder who had given the pupils leave for a day's
+rabbit-shooting, and came to the conclusion at last that Churchwarden
+Rounds, who had some land out in this direction had obtained permission
+for them.
+
+"Don't matter," he said; "perhaps they're not after rabbits after all."
+
+Soon after the lane turned in another direction and, as he passed round
+the corner, thinking of what short cuts any one might make who did not
+mind forcing his way through or leaping hedges, he once more glanced
+back at the gipsy lads, and found that he was only being followed by
+one.
+
+"The other has given it up as a bad job," he said to himself, and then,
+"How much farther is it? and what a wild-goose chase I am coming.  They
+may have gone in quite another direction, for Joseph couldn't be sure."
+
+Just then, though, an idea occurred to him--That he would easily find
+out where they were when they fired.
+
+"I wonder whose gun they have borrowed?"  For, knowing that they owned
+none, he began to run over in his mind who would be the most ready to
+lend a gun in the expectation of getting half a crown for its use.
+
+"Gurner's got one, because he goes after the wild geese in the winter,"
+thought Vane; "and Bruff has that big flint-lock with the pan lined with
+silver.  He'd lend it to anybody for a shilling and be glad of it.--
+Well, look at that!  Why he must have made a regular short cut so as to
+get there.  Why did he do that?"
+
+This thought was evoked by Vane suddenly catching sight of the second
+gipsy lad turned into the first.  In other words, the one whom he
+supposed to have gone back, had gone on, and Vane found himself in that
+narrow lane with high banks and hedges on either side and with one of
+these great lawless lads in front, and the other behind.
+
+For the first time it now occurred to Vane that the place was very
+lonely, and that the nearest farm was quite a mile away, right beyond
+Sowner wood, whose trees now came in view, running up the slope of a
+great chalk down.
+
+"Whatever do they mean?" thought Vane, for the gipsy lad in front had
+suddenly stopped, turned round, and was coming toward him.
+
+"Why, he has a stick," said Vane to himself, and looking sharply round
+he saw that the other one also carried a stick.
+
+For a moment a feeling of dread ran through him, but it passed off on
+the instant, and he laughed at himself for a coward.
+
+"Pooh!" he said, "they want to beat for rabbits and that's why they have
+got their sticks."
+
+In spite of himself Vane Lee wondered why the lads had not been seen to
+carry sticks before; then, laughing to himself as he credited them with
+having had them tucked up somewhere under their clothes, he walked on
+boldly.
+
+"What nonsense!" he thought; "is it likely that those two fellows would
+be going to attack me!"
+
+But all the same their movements were very suggestive, for there was a
+furtive, peculiar action on the part of the one in front, who was
+evidently uneasy, and kept on looking behind him and to right and left,
+as if in search of danger or a way of escape, and in both a peculiar
+hesitancy that struck Vane at once.
+
+Under the circumstances, he too, had hard work to keep from looking
+about for a way of escape, should the lads mean mischief: but he did
+not, for fear that they should think him cowardly, and walked steadily
+on, with the result that the boy in front stopped short and then began
+slowly to retreat.
+
+"They are up to some game," thought Vane with his heart beginning to
+beat hard, and a curious feeling of excitement running through him as he
+thought of his chances against two strong lads armed with sticks if they
+did dare to attack him.  But again he cast aside the thought as being
+too absurd, and strode boldly on.
+
+"These are not the days for footpads and highwaymen," he said to
+himself, and just then the lad in front gave vent to a peculiar whistle,
+made a rush up the bank on his left, looked sharply round, ducked down,
+whistled again, and disappeared.
+
+"I'd give something to know what game they call this," said Vane to
+himself, as he watched the spot where the lad had disappeared; and then
+he turned sharply round to question the one who was following him, but,
+to his astonishment, he found that the lane behind him was vacant.
+
+Vane paused for a few moments and then made a dash forward till he
+reached the trampled grass and ferns where the first boy had scrambled
+up the bank, climbed to the top, and stood looking round for him.  But
+he was gone, and there was not much chance for anyone not gifted with
+the tracking power of an Indian to follow the fugitive through the rough
+tangle of scrub oak, ferns, brambles and gorse which spread away right
+to the borders of the wood.
+
+Just as he was standing on the highest part of the bank looking sharply
+round, he heard a shout.  Then--
+
+"Weathercock, ahoy!  Coo-ee!"
+
+He looked in the direction, fully expecting to see Macey, whose voice he
+recognised, but for some minutes he was invisible.  Then he saw the tall
+ferns moving, and directly after he caught sight of his fellow-pupil's
+round face, and then of his arms waving, as he literally waded through
+the thick growth.
+
+Vane gave an answering shout, and went to meet him, trying the while to
+arrive at a settlement of the gipsy lads' conduct, and feeling bound to
+come to the conclusion that they had meant mischief; but heard Macey
+coming, perhaps the others, for he argued that they could not be very
+far away.
+
+Vane laughed to himself, as he advanced slowly, for he knew the part he
+was in well enough, and it amused him as he fought his way on, to think
+of the struggles Macey, a London boy, was having to get through the
+tangle of briar and furze.  For he had often spent an hour in the place
+with the doctor, collecting buckthorn and coral-moss, curious lichens,
+sphagnum, and the round, and long-leaved sundews, or butterwort: for all
+these plants abounded here, with the bramble and bracken.  There were
+plenty of other bog plants, too, in the little pools and patches of
+water, while the dry, gravelly and sandy mounds here and there were well
+known to him as the habitat of the long-legged parasol mushrooms, whose
+edible qualities the doctor had taught him in their walks.
+
+"Poor old Macey!" he said, as he leaped over or parted the great thorny
+strands of the brambles laden with their luscious fruit which grew here
+in abundance, and then he stopped short and laughed, for a yell came
+from his fellow-pupil, who had also stopped.
+
+"Come on," cried Vane.
+
+"Can't!  I'm caught by ten million thorns.  Oh, I say, do come and help
+a fellow out."
+
+Vane backed a little way, and selecting an easier path, soon reached the
+spot where Macey was standing with his head and shoulders only visible.
+
+"Why didn't you pick your way?" he cried.
+
+"Couldn't," said Macey dolefully; "the thorns wouldn't let me.  I say,
+do come."
+
+"All right," said Vane, confidently, but the task was none too easy, for
+Macey had floundered into the densest patch of thorny growth anywhere
+near, and the slightest movement meant a sharp prick from blackberry,
+rose, or furze.
+
+"Whatever made you try to cross this bit?" said Vane, who had taken out
+his knife to divide some of the strands.
+
+"I was trying to find the lane.  Haven't seen one about anywhere, have
+you?"
+
+"Why, of course I have," said Vane, laughing at his friend's doleful
+plight.  "It's close by."
+
+"I began to think somebody had taken it away.  Oh!  Ah!  I say--do mind;
+you're tearing my flesh."
+
+"But I must cut you out.  Now then, lift that leg and put your foot on
+this bramble."
+
+"It's all very fine to talk, but I shall be in rags when I do get out."
+
+"That's better: now the other.  There, now, put your hand on my shoulder
+and give a jump."
+
+"I daren't."
+
+"Nonsense--why?"
+
+"I should leave half my toggery behind."
+
+"You wouldn't: come along.  Take my hands."
+
+Macey took hold of his companion's hands, there was a bit of a struggle,
+and he stood bemoaning his injuries; which consisted of pricks and
+scratches, and a number of thorns buried deeply beneath his clothes.
+
+"Nice place this is," he said dolefully.
+
+"Lovely place for botanists," said Vane, merrily.
+
+"Then I'm thankful I'm not a botanist."
+
+"Where are the others?" asked Vane.
+
+"I don't know.  Distin wanted to lie down in the shade as soon as we
+reached the edge of the wood, and Gil wouldn't leave him, out of
+civility."
+
+"Then you didn't come rabbit-shooting?"
+
+"Rabbit-grandmothering!  We only came for a walk, and of course I didn't
+want to sit down and listen to Distin run down England and puff the West
+Indies, so I wandered off into the wood and lost myself."
+
+"What, there too?"
+
+"Yes, and spent my time thinking about you."
+
+"What!  Because you wanted me to act as guide?"
+
+"No, I didn't: it was because I got into a part where the oak trees and
+fir trees were open, and there was plenty of grass.  And there I kept on
+finding no end of toadstools such as you delight in devouring."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Vane eagerly.  "Where was it?"
+
+"Oh, you couldn't find the place again.  I couldn't, but there were such
+big ones; and what do you think I said?"
+
+"How should I know?" said Vane, trampling down the brambles, so as to
+make the way easier for his companion.
+
+"I said I wish the nasty pig was here, and he could feast for a month."
+
+"Thank you," said Vane.  "I don't care.  I can only pity ignorant
+people.  But whereabouts did you leave Gil and Distin?"
+
+"I don't know, I tell you.  Under an oak tree."
+
+"Yes, but which?"
+
+"Oh, somewhere.  I had a pretty job to find my way out, and I didn't
+till I had picked out a great beech tree to sleep in to-night, and began
+thinking of collecting acorns for food."
+
+"Why didn't you shout?"
+
+"I did, till I was so hoarse I got down to a whisper.  Oh, I say, why
+did you let that bit of furze fly back?"
+
+"Couldn't help it."
+
+"I'm getting sick of Greythorpe.  No police to ask your way, no gas
+lamps, no cabs."
+
+"None at all.  It's a glorious place, isn't it, Aleck?"
+
+"Well, I suppose it is when you know your way, and are not being pricked
+with thorns."
+
+"Ah, you're getting better," cried Vane.  "What shall we do--go back
+alone, or try and find them?"
+
+"Go back, of course.  I'm not going through all that again to-day to
+find old Distin, and hear him sneer about you.  He's always going on.
+Says Syme has no business to have you at the rectory to mix with
+gentlemen."
+
+"Oh, he says that, does he?"
+
+"Yes, and I told him you were more of a gentleman than he was, and he
+gave me a back-handed crack over the mouth."
+
+"And what did you do--hit him back?"
+
+"Not with my fist.  With my tongue.  Called him a nigger.  That hits him
+hardest, for he's always fancying people think there's black blood in
+his veins, though, of course, there isn't, and it wouldn't matter if
+there were, if he was a good fellow.  Let's get on.  Where's the lane?"
+
+"Just down there," said Vane; and they reached it directly after, but
+there were no signs of the gipsies, and Vane said nothing about them
+then, feeling that he must have been mistaken about their intentions,
+which could only have been to beg.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+TWO BUSY DAYS.
+
+It is curious to study the different things which please boys.
+
+Anything less likely to form a fortnight's amusement for a lad than the
+iron-pipes, crooks, bends, elbows, syphons and boiler delivered by
+waggon from the nearest railway, it would be hard to conceive.  But to
+Vane they were a source of endless delight, and it thoroughly puzzled
+him to find Bruff, the gardener, muttering and grumbling about their
+weight.
+
+"It arn't gardener's work, sir, that's why I grumbled," said the man.
+"My work's flowers and vegetables and sech.  I arn't used to such jobs
+as that."
+
+"Why, what difference does it make?" cried Vane.
+
+"A deal, sir.  Don't seem respectful to a man whose dooty's flowers and
+vegetables and sech, to set him hauling and heaving a lot o' iron-pipes
+just got down for your pranks."
+
+"Well, of all the ungrateful, grumbling fellows!" cried Vane.  "Isn't it
+to save you from coming up here on cold, frosty nights to stoke the
+fire?"
+
+"Nay, bud it wean't," said Bruff, with a grin.  "Look here, Mester Vane,
+I've sin too many of your contraptions not to know better.  You're going
+to have the greenhouse pulled all to pieces, and the wall half knocked
+down to try your bits o' tricks, and less than a month they'll all have
+to be pulled out again, and a plain, good, old English flue 'll have to
+be put up as ought to be done now."
+
+"You're a stubborn old stick-in-the-way, Bruff.  Why, if you could have
+done as you liked, there would never have been any railway down here.
+Mind! don't break that.  Cast-iron's brittle."
+
+"Brittle!  It's everything as is bad, sir.  But you're right, theere.
+Niver a bit o' railway would I hev hed.  Coach and waggon was good enew
+for my feyther, and it was good enew for me."
+
+"Come along," said Vane; "let's get all in their places, as they'll be
+in the greenhouse."
+
+"Ay, we'll get 'em in, I suppose," grumbled the gardener, "bud you mark
+my words, Mester Vane; them water pipes 'll nivver get hot, and, when
+they do, they'll send out a nasty, pysonous steam as'll kill ivery
+plahnt in the greenhouse.  Now, you see?"
+
+"Grumble away," said Vane; and Bruff did grumble.  He found fault at
+being taken away from his work to help in Master Vane's whims, murmured
+at having to help move the boiler, and sat down afterwards, declaring
+that he had hurt his back, and could do no more that day; whereupon
+Vane, who was much concerned, was about to fetch the doctor, but Bruff
+suddenly felt a little better, and gradually came round.
+
+Matters had gone as far as this when voices were heard in the avenue,
+and Gilmore and Macey made their appearance.
+
+Vane's first movement was to run and get his jacket to put on; but he
+stopped himself, and stood fast.
+
+"I don't mind their seeing me," he muttered.  But he did, and winced as
+the joking began, Gilmore taking a high tone, and asking Vane for an
+estimate for fitting up a vinery for him.
+
+Gilmore and Macey both saw that their jokes gave annoyance; and, to turn
+them off, offered to help, Macey immediately taking off his coat,
+hanging it over the greenhouse door, and seizing the end of a pipe to
+move it where it was not wanted.
+
+"Don't be jealous, Bruff," he cried, as he saw the gardener stare.
+"I'll leave a little bit of work for you to do."
+
+Bruff grinned and scratched his head.
+
+"Oh, if it comes to that, Mester Macey," he said, "you come here any
+time, and I'll give you some sensible work to do, diggin' or sweeping."
+
+"I say," whispered Vane, the next minute, when he had contrived to get
+Macey alone, "what made you take off your coat?"
+
+"So as to help."
+
+"No, it wasn't, or not alone for that.  You were thinking about what
+Distin said about my not being fit to associate with gentlemen."
+
+Macey flushed a little, like a girl.
+
+"Nonsense!" he said.
+
+"Now, confess.  The truth!"
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  Well, perhaps.  Here, come along, or we shan't get
+done to-day."
+
+They did not get done that day; in fact they had hardly begun when it
+was time to leave off; and though there was plenty of fun and joking and
+banging together of pieces of iron-pipe and noise which brought out the
+doctor to see, and Aunt Hannah in a state of nervousness to make sure
+that nobody was hurt, Vane did not enjoy his work, for he could not help
+glancing at his dirty hands, and asking himself whether Distin was not
+right.  And at these times his fellow-pupil's fastidiously clean hands
+and unruffled, prim and dandified aspect came before him, making him
+feel resolved to be more particular as to the character of the hobbies
+he rode.
+
+At parting, when Gilmore and Macey were taking leave after a visit to
+Vane's room and a plenteous application of soap and nail-brushes, in
+spite of their declaration that they had had a jolly day, their leader--
+their foreman of the works, as Gilmore called him--had quite made up his
+mind that he would let the bricklayer and blacksmith finish the job.  In
+consequence of his resolve, he was up by six o'clock next morning when
+the men came, meaning to superintend, but he soon lapsed, and was as
+busy as either of them.
+
+Vane fully expected a severe encounter with Martha apropos of her
+kitchen-fire being left unlit, and the litter of brick and mortar
+rubbish made by the bricklayer; but to his surprise the cook did not
+come into the kitchen, and during breakfast Vane asked why this was.
+
+"Aunt's diplomancy," said the doctor, merrily.
+
+"No, no, my dear.  Your uncle's," cried Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Ah, well, halves," cried the doctor.  "Martha wanted a holiday to visit
+her friends, and she started last night for two days.  Can you get the
+boiler set and all right for Mrs Bruff to clean up before Martha comes
+back?"
+
+"You must, my dear, really," cried Aunt Hannah.  "You must."
+
+"Oh, very well, aunt, if the bricklayer will only work well, it shall be
+done."
+
+"Thank you, my dear, for really I should not dare to meet Martha if
+everything were not ready; and pray, pray, my dear, see that nothing is
+done to interfere with her kitchen-fire."
+
+The doctor laughed.  Vane promised, and forgetful entirely of
+appearances he deputed his uncle to go to the rectory and excuse him for
+two days, and worked like a slave.  The result was that not only was the
+boiler set in the wall behind the kitchen-fire, and all put perfectly
+straight before the next night, but the iron-pipes, elbows, and syphons
+were joined together with their india-rubber rings, and supported on
+brick piers, the smith having screwed in a couple of taps for turning
+off the communication in hot weather, and the fitting of the boiler; and
+pipes through the little iron cistern at the highest point completing
+the work.
+
+"Ought by rights, sir, to stand for a few days for the mortar to set,"
+said the bricklayer on leaving; and this opinion being conveyed to Aunt
+Hannah, she undertook that Martha, should make shift in the back kitchen
+for a day or two--just as they had during her absence.
+
+"She will not like it, my dear," said Aunt Hannah, "but as there is no
+muddle to clean up, and all looks right, I don't mind making her do
+that."
+
+"Real tyrant of the household, Vane," said the doctor.  "Don't you ever
+start housekeeping and have a cook."
+
+Everything had been finished in such excellent time, consequent upon
+certain bribery and corruption in the shape of half-crowns, that early
+in the evening, Vane, free from all workmanlike traces, was able to
+point triumphantly to the neat appearance of the job, and explain the
+working of the supply cistern, and of the stop-cocks between the boiler
+and the pipes to his aunt and uncle.
+
+"I thought there ought only to be one tap," said Vane; "but they both
+declared that there ought to be one to each pipe, so as to stop the
+circulation; and as it only cost a few shillings more I didn't stop the
+smith from putting it in."
+
+"Humph!" said the doctor as Vane turned first one and then the other tap
+on and off, "seems to work nice and easy."
+
+"And it does look very much neater than all those bricks," said Aunt
+Hannah.  "But I must say one thing, my dear, though I don't like to damp
+your project, it does smell very nasty indeed."
+
+"Oh, aunt, dear," cried Vane merrily; "that's nothing: only the
+Brunswick black with which they have painted the pipes.  That smell will
+all go off when it's hard and dry.  That wants to dry slowly, too, so
+you'll be sure and tell Martha about not lighting the fire."
+
+"Oh, yes, my dear, I'll see to that."
+
+"Then now I shall go up to the rectory and tell them I'm coming to
+lessons in the morning, and--" he hesitated--"I think I shall give up
+doing rough jobs for the future."
+
+"Indeed," said the doctor with a humorous twinkle in his eye; "wouldn't
+you like to take the church clock to pieces, and clean it and set it
+going again?"
+
+Vane turned sharply on his uncle with an appealing look.
+
+"Now really, my dear, you shouldn't," cried Aunt Hannah.  "Don't, don't,
+pray, set the boy thinking about doing any more such dirty work."
+
+"Dirty work? quite an artist's job.  I only mentioned it because Mr
+Syme told me that a man would be over from Lincoln to-morrow to see to
+the clock.  Quite time it was done."
+
+Vane hurried off to escape his uncle's banter, and was soon after in the
+lane leading up to the rectory, where, as luck had it, he saw Distin
+walking slowly on in front, and, acting on the impulse of the moment, he
+ran after him.
+
+"Evening," he cried.
+
+Distin turned his head slowly, and looked him coldly in the face.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he drawled, "were you speaking to me?"
+
+"Oh, hang it, Distie, yes," cried Vane.  "What's the good of us two
+being out.  Shake hands.  I'm sorry if I said anything to offend you and
+hope you'll forgive me if there is anything to forgive."
+
+Distin stared at him haughtily.
+
+"Really," he said in rather a drawling manner, "I am at a loss to
+understand what you mean by addressing me like this, sir."
+
+"Oh, I say, Distie, don't take that queer tone to a fellow," cried Vane,
+who could not help feeling nettled.  "Here, shake hands--there's a good
+fellow."
+
+He held out his own once more for the other to take, but Distin ignored
+it, and half turning away he said:--
+
+"Have the goodness to address me next time when I have spoken to you.  I
+came down here to read with Mr Syme, and I shall go on doing so, but I
+presume it is open to me to choose whom I please for my associates, and
+I shall select gentlemen."
+
+"Well," said Vane, shortly, "my father was a gentleman; and do you mean
+to insinuate that my uncle and aunt are not a gentleman and lady?"
+
+"I refuse to discuss matters with every working-class sort of boy I am
+forced to encounter," said Distin, haughtily.  "Have the goodness to
+keep yourself to yourself, and to associate with people of your own
+class.  Good-evening."
+
+"Have the goodness to associate with people of your own class!" said
+Vane, unconsciously repeating his fellow-pupil's words.  "I don't like
+fighting, but, oh, how he did make my fingers itch to give him one good
+solid punch in the head."
+
+Vane stood looking at the retiring figure thoroughly nettled now.
+
+"Ugh!" he exclaimed, "what a nasty mean temper to have.  It isn't manly.
+It's like a spiteful boarding-school girl.  Well, I'm not going down on
+my knees to him.  I can get on without Distin if he can get on without
+me.  But it is so petty and mean to go on about one liking to do a bit
+of mechanical work.  One can read classics and stick to one's
+mathematics all the same, and if I can't write a better paper than he
+can it's a queer thing."
+
+Vane turned to go back to the Little Manor, for, in spite of his
+defiant, careless way of treating Distin's words, he could not help
+feeling too much stung to care about continuing his journey to the
+rectory, for the feeling would come to the front that his fellow-pupil
+had some excuse for what he had said.
+
+"I suppose I did look like a blacksmith's or bricklayer's boy to-day,"
+he said to himself.  "But if I did, what business is it of his?  There's
+nothing disgraceful in it, or uncle would soon stop me.  And, besides,
+Gilmore and Macey don't seem to mind, and their families are far higher
+than Distin's.  There: I don't care.  I was going to give up all kind of
+work that dirties one's hands, but now I will not, just out of spite.
+Dirty work, indeed!  I'll swear I never looked half so dirty over my
+carpentering and turning and scheming as I've seen him look after a game
+at football on a wet day."
+
+But all the same, the evening at the Little Manor seemed to be a very
+dull one; and when, quite late, the carrier's cart stopped at the gate,
+and cook got down, Vane felt no interest in knowing what she would say
+about the alterations in her kitchen, nor in knowing whether Aunt Hannah
+had spoken to her about not lighting the kitchen-fire.
+
+But he revived a little after his supper, and was eager to take a candle
+and go out of the hall-door and along the gravel-path, shading the
+light, on his way to the greenhouse, where he had a good quiet
+inspection of his work, and was delighted to find that the india-rubber
+joints hardly leaked in the least, and no more than would be cured by
+the swelling of the caoutchouc, as soon as the pipes were made hot, and
+the rings began to fit more tightly, by filling up the uneven places in
+the rough iron.
+
+Everything looked delightfully fresh and perfect; the pipes glistened of
+an ebon blackness; the two brass taps shone new and smooth; and the
+various plants and flowers exhaled their scent and began to master that
+of the Brunswick black.
+
+Soon after satisfying himself that all was right, he made his way up to
+his bedroom, so thoroughly tired out by the bodily exertion of the two
+past days that he dropped off at once into a heavy, dreamless sleep,
+which was brought to an end about eight o'clock the next morning by a
+sensation of his having been seized by a pair of giant hands and thrown
+suddenly and heavily upon the bedroom floor.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+A LESSON ON STEAM.
+
+Half-stunned, confused, and wondering, Vane Lee awoke to the fact that
+he really was lying upon the carpet at the side of his bed, and for a
+few moments, he felt that he must have fallen out; but, in an indistinct
+fashion, he began to realise that he had heard a tremendous noise in his
+sleep, and started so violently that he had rather thrown himself than
+fallen out of bed, while to prove to him that there was something
+terribly wrong, there were loud shrieks from the lower part of the
+house, and from the passage came his uncle's voice.
+
+"Vane, my lad, quick! jump up!"
+
+"It's an earthquake," panted Vane, as he hurried on his clothes,
+listening the while with fear and trembling, to the screams which still
+rose at intervals from below.
+
+"That's Eliza's voice," he thought, and directly after as he waited,
+full of excitement, for the next shock, and the crumbling down of the
+house, "That's cook."
+
+Almost at the same moment a peculiar odour came creeping in beneath and
+round the door; and Vane, as he forced a reluctant button through the
+corresponding hole with fumbling fingers took a long sniff.
+
+"'Tisn't an earthquake," he thought; "that's gunpowder!"
+
+The next moment, after trying to think of what gunpowder there was on
+the premises, and unable to recall any, he was for attributing the
+explosion, for such he felt it to be, to some of the chemicals in the
+laboratory.
+
+That idea he quickly dismissed, for the screams were from the kitchen,
+and he was coming round to the earthquake theory again, when a thought
+flashed through his brain, and he cried aloud in triumph, just as the
+doctor threw open his door:--
+
+"It is gunpowder."
+
+"Smells like it, boy," cried the doctor, excitedly, "but I had none.
+Had you?"
+
+"No, uncle," cried Vane, as a fresh burst of screaming, arose; "but it's
+cook.  She has been blowing up the copper hole to make the fire draw."
+
+"Come along!  That's it!" cried the doctor.  "Stupid woman!  I hope she
+is not much burned."
+
+This all took place as they were hurrying down into the hall, where the
+odour was stifling now: that dank, offensive, hydrogenous smell which is
+pretty familiar to most people, and as they hurried on to the kitchen
+from which the cries for help came more faintly now, they entered upon a
+dimly-seen chaos of bricks, mortar, broken crockery, and upset kitchen
+furniture.
+
+"A pound of powder at least," cried the doctor, who then began to sneeze
+violently, the place being full of steam, and dust caused by the ceiling
+having been pretty well stripped of plaster.  "Here, cook--Eliza--where
+are you?"
+
+"Oh, master, master, master!"
+
+"Help!--help!--help!"
+
+Two wild appeals for aid from the back kitchen, where the copper was
+set, and into which uncle and nephew hurried, expecting to find the two
+maids half buried in _debris_.  But, to the surprise of both, that
+office was quite unharmed, and cook was seated in a big Windsor chair,
+sobbing hysterically, while Eliza was on the floor, screaming faintly
+with her apron held over her face.
+
+"How could you be so foolish!--how much powder?--where did you get it?--
+where are you hurt?" rattled out the doctor breathlessly.
+
+"Anything the matter, cook?" said Bruff, coming to the door.
+
+"Matter?  Yes," cried the doctor, growing cool again.  "Here, help me
+lift Eliza into a chair."
+
+"No, no, don't touch me; I shall fall to pieces," sobbed the maid
+wildly.
+
+"Nonsense!  Here, let me see where you are hurt," continued the doctor,
+as Eliza was lifted carefully.
+
+"Oh, Master Vane--oh, Master Vane!  Is it the end of the world?" groaned
+cook, as the lad took one of her hands, and asked her where she was
+injured.
+
+"No, no," cried Vane.  "Tell me where you are harmed."
+
+"I don't know--I don't know--I don't know," moaned the trembling woman,
+beginning in a very high tone and ending very low.  "It's all over--It's
+all over now."
+
+"Give her water," said the doctor.  "She's hysterical.  Here, cook," he
+cried sternly, "how came you to bring powder into the house?"
+
+"I don't know--I don't know--I don't know," moaned the trembling woman.
+"Oh, master, give me something.  Don't let me die just yet."
+
+"Die! nonsense!" cried the doctor.  "Be quiet, Eliza.  Hang it, women, I
+can't do anything if you cry out like this.  Wherever are you hurt?
+You, Eliza, speak."
+
+His firm way had its effect; and as Bruff and Vane stood looking on, the
+maid faltered:--
+
+"I was a-doing the breakfast-room, sir, when it went off; and, soon as I
+heered cook scream, I tried to get to her, but had to go round by the
+back."
+
+"Did you know she was going to blow up the copper hole with gunpowder?"
+
+"No, sir.  Last time I see her, she was lighting the kitchen-fire."
+
+"What!" yelled Vane.
+
+"Yes, sir," cried cook, sitting up suddenly, and speaking indignantly:
+"and I won't stop another day in a house where such games is allowed.
+I'd got a good fire by half-past six, and was busy in the back kitchen
+when it went off.  Me get powder to blow up copper holes?  I scorn the
+very idee of it, sir.  It's that master Vane put powder among the coals
+to play me a trick."
+
+"I didn't," cried Vane.
+
+"Don't say that, sir," interposed Bruff, "why, I see the greenhouse
+chockfull o' smoke as I come by."
+
+Vane had turned quite cold, and was staring at his uncle, while his
+uncle with his face full of chagrin and perplexity was staring at him.
+
+"You've done it this time, my boy," said the doctor, sadly.
+
+"Is anybody killed?--is anybody killed?" cried Aunt Hannah from the
+hall.  "I can't come through the kitchen.  My dear Vane! oh, do speak."
+
+"No one hurt," shouted the doctor.  "Come, Vane."
+
+He led the way through the shattered kitchen, which was a perfect wreck;
+but before he could reach the hall, Vane had passed him.
+
+"Aunt!  Aunt!" he cried; "did you tell cook not to light the
+kitchen-fire?"
+
+"Oh, dear me!" cried Aunt Hannah; "what a head I have.  I meant to, but
+I quite forgot."
+
+There was silence in the hall for a few moments, only broken by a sob or
+two from the back kitchen.  Then Aunt Hannah spoke again.
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry, my dear.  But is anybody very badly hurt?"
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, dryly.  "Vane is--very."
+
+"My dear, my dear!  Where?" cried Aunt Hannah, catching the lad by the
+arm.
+
+"Only in his _amour propre_" said the doctor, and Vane ran out of the
+hall and through the front door to get round to the greenhouse, but as
+he opened the door of the glass building the doctor overtook him, and
+they entered in silence, each looking round eagerly for the mischief
+done.
+
+Here it was not serious: some panes of glass were broken, and two or
+three pipes nearest to the wall were blown out of their places; but
+there was the cause of all mischief, the two taps in the small tubes
+which connected the flow and return pipes were turned off, with the
+consequence, that there was no escape for the steam, and the closed
+boiler had of course exploded as soon as sufficient steam had generated,
+with the consequences seen.
+
+"Pretty engineer you are, sir," cried the doctor, "to have both those
+stop-cocks turned."
+
+"There ought not to have been a second one, uncle," said Vane dolefully.
+"I let them get the better of me yesterday, and put in the second.  If
+it had not been for that, one pipe would have been always open, and
+there could have been no explosion."
+
+"Humph!  I see," said the doctor.
+
+"But I ought to have left them turned on, and I should have done so,
+only I did not think that there was going to be any fire this morning."
+
+"Here, come back, and let's see the extent of the mischief in the
+kitchen.  That piece of new wall is blown out, you see."
+
+He pointed to the loose bricks and mortar thrust out into quite a bow;
+and then they walked sadly back into the house, where cook's voice could
+be heard scolding volubly, mingled with Aunt Hannah's milder tones,
+though the latter could hardly be heard as they entered the devastated
+kitchen, from which the smoke and dust had now pretty well disappeared,
+making the damage plain to see.  And very plain it was: the new boiler
+stood in front of the grate, with a hole ripped in one side, the wrought
+iron being forced out by the power of the steam, just as if it had been
+composed of paper; the kitchen range was broken, and the crockery on the
+dresser exactly opposite to the fireplace looked as if it had been swept
+from the shelves and smashed upon the floor.  Chairs were overturned;
+the table was lying upon its side; tins, coppers, graters, spoons and
+ladles were here, there, and everywhere.  The clock had stopped, and the
+culinary implements that ornamented the kitchen chimney-piece had
+evidently flown up to the ceiling.  In short, scarcely a thing in the
+place had escaped some damage, while dust and fragments of plaster
+covered every object, and the only witness of the explosion, the cat,
+which had somehow been sheltered and escaped unhurt, was standing on the
+top of the cupboard, with its eyes glowering and its tail standing
+straight up, feathered out like a plume.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear, what a scene!" cried Aunt Hannah, piteously.
+"Vane must never perform any more experiments here."
+
+She had just come to the back kitchen-door, and was looking in.
+
+"Oh, Aunt!  Aunt!" cried Vane.
+
+"All very well to blame the poor boy," said the doctor with mock
+severity.  "It was your doing entirely."
+
+"Mine, Thomas!" faltered Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Of course it was.  You were told not to have the kitchen-fire lit."
+
+"Yes--yes," wailed Aunt Hannah; "and I forgot it."
+
+"It was not only that, Aunt, dear," said Vane, going to her side, and
+taking her hand.  "It was my unlucky experiment was the principal
+cause."
+
+"Not another day, Eliza," came from the back kitchen.  "No, no, not if
+they went down on their bended knees and begged me to stop."
+
+"What, amongst all this broken crockery?" cried the doctor.  "Hold your
+tongue, you stupid woman, and send Bruff to ask his wife to come and
+help clear up all this mess."
+
+Cook, invisible in the back, uttered a defiant snort.
+
+"Ah!" shouted the doctor.  "Am I master here.  See to a fire there at
+once, and I should like one of those delicious omelettes for my
+breakfast, cook.  Let's have breakfast as soon as you can.  There, no
+more words.  Let's be very thankful that you were neither of you badly
+scalded.  You heard what I said, Bruff?"
+
+"Yes, sir, of course."
+
+"Then go and fetch your wife directly.  Cook will give you some
+breakfast here."
+
+Bruff scurried off, and Eliza entered the kitchen, wiping her eyes.
+
+"Bit of a fright for you, eh, my girl?" said the doctor, taking her
+hand, and feeling her pulse.  "Well done!  Brave little woman.  You are
+as calm as can be again.  You're not going to run away at a moment's
+notice."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," cried Eliza eagerly.
+
+"Nor cook neither," said the doctor aloud.  "She's too fond of us to go
+when we are in such a state as this."
+
+There was a sniff now from the back kitchen and the doctor gave Vane a
+humorous look, as much as to say, "I can manage cook better than your
+aunt."
+
+"There, my dear," he said, "it's of no use for you to cry over spilt
+milk.  Better milk the cow again and be more careful.  See what is
+broken by and by, and then come to me for a cheque.  Vane, my boy, send
+a letter up at once for another boiler."
+
+"But surely, dear--" began Aunt Hannah.
+
+"I am not about to have the boiler set there again?  Indeed I am.  Vane
+is not going to be beaten because we have had an accident through
+trusting others to do what we ought to have done for ourselves.  There,
+come and let's finish dressing; and cook!"
+
+"Yes, sir," came very mildly from the back kitchen, in company with the
+crackling of freshly-lit wood.
+
+"You'll hurry the breakfast all you can."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Don't feel any the worse now, do you?"
+
+"No, sir, only a little ketchy about the throat."
+
+"Oh, I'll prescribe for that."
+
+"Thank you, sir, but it will be better directly," said cook hastily.
+
+"After you've taken my dose, make yourself a good strong cup of tea.
+Come along, my dear.  Now, Vane, your face wants washing horribly, my
+boy.  Hannah, my dear, you understand now the tremendous force of
+steam."
+
+"Yes, my dear," said Aunt Hannah, sorrowfully.  "I do indeed."
+
+"And if ever in the future you see anyone sitting upon the safety valve
+to get up speed, don't hesitate for a moment, go and knock him off."
+
+"My dear Thomas," said Aunt Hannah, dolefully, "this is no subject for
+mirth."
+
+"Eh?  Isn't it?  I think it is.  Why, some of us might have been scalded
+to death, and we have all escaped.  Don't you call that a cause for
+rejoicing?  What do you say, Vane?"
+
+"I say, sir, that I shall never forgive myself," replied the lad sadly.
+
+"Not your place, Weathercock, but mine, and your aunt's.  I'll forgive
+you freely, and as for your aunt, she can't help it because she was
+partly to blame."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+ANXIETIES.
+
+"Hallo, boiler-burster," cried Gilmore, next time they met, while Macey
+ran into a corner of the study to turn his face to the wall and keep on
+exploding with laughter, "when are you going to do our conservatory up
+here?"
+
+"Oh, I say, don't chaff me," cried Vane, "I have felt so vexed about it
+all."
+
+"Distie has been quite ill ever since with delight at your misfortune.
+It has turned him regularly bilious."
+
+"Said it was a pity you weren't blown up, too," cried Macey.
+
+"Bah! don't tell ugly tales," said Gilmore.
+
+"I wish I could feel that he did not," thought Vane, who had a weakness
+for being good friends with everybody he knew.
+
+He had to encounter plenty of joking about the explosion, and for some
+time after, Bruff used to annoy him by turning away when they met, and
+shaking his shoulders as if convulsed with mirth, but after a sharp
+encounter with Vane, when he had ventured to say he knew how it would
+be, he kept silence, and later on he was very silent indeed.
+
+For the new boiler came down, and was set without any objection being
+made by cook, who was for some time, however, very reluctant to go near
+the thing for fear it should go off; but familiarity bred contempt, and
+she grew used to it as it did not go off, and to Bruff's great disgust
+it acted splendidly, heating the greenhouse in a way beyond praise, and
+with scarcely any trouble, and an enormous saving of fuel.
+
+Vane was so busy over the hot-water apparatus, and had so much to think
+about with regard to the damages in connection with the explosion, that
+he had forgotten all about the adventure in the lane just prior to
+meeting Macey, till one day, when out botanising with the doctor, they
+came through that very lane again, and in their sheltered corner, there
+were the gipsies, looking as if they had never stirred for weeks.
+There, too, were the women cooking by the fire, and the horses and
+ponies grazing on the strips of grass by the roadside.
+
+But closer examination would have proved that the horses which drew cart
+and van were different, and several of the drove of loose ones had been
+sold or changed away.
+
+There, too, were the boys whose duty it was to mind the horses slouching
+about the lane, and their dark eyes glistened as the doctor and Vane
+came along.
+
+"Dear me!" said the doctor suddenly.
+
+"What, uncle?"
+
+"I thought I saw someone hurry away through the furze bushes as we came
+up, as if to avoid being seen.  Your friend Macey I think."
+
+"Couldn't have been, uncle, or he would have stopped."
+
+"I was mistaken perhaps.--A singular people these, so wedded to their
+restless life.  I should like to trace them back and find out their
+origin.  It would be a curious experience to stay with them for a year
+or two," continued the doctor, after a long silence, "and so find out
+exactly how they live.  I'm afraid that they do a little stealing at
+times when opportunity serves.  Fruit, poultry, vegetables, any little
+thing they can snap up easily.  Then, too, they have a great knowledge
+of herbs and wild vegetables, with which, no doubt, they supplement
+their scanty fare.  Like to join them for a bit, Vane?"
+
+"Oh, no," said the boy laughing.  "I don't think I should care for that.
+Too fond of a comfortable bed, uncle, and a chair and table for my
+meals."
+
+"If report says true, their meals are not bad," continued the doctor.
+"Their women are most clever at marketing and contrive to buy very
+cheaply of the butchers, and they are admirable cooks.  They do not
+starve themselves."
+
+"Think there's any truth about the way they cook fowls or pheasants,
+uncle?"
+
+"What, covering them all over with clay, and then baking them in the hot
+embers of a wood fire?  Not a doubt about it, boy.  They serve squirrels
+and hedgehogs in the same way, even a goose at times.  When they think
+it is done, the clay is burned into earthenware.  Then a deft blow with
+a stick or stone cracks the burnt clay and the bird or animal is turned
+out hot and juicy, the feathers or bristles remaining in the clay."
+
+"Don't think I could manage hedgehog or squirrel, uncle."
+
+"I should not select them for diet.  They are both carnivorous, and the
+squirrel, in addition, has its peculiar odorous gland like the pole-cat
+tribe."
+
+"But a squirrel isn't carnivorous, uncle," said Vane, "he eats nuts and
+fruit."
+
+"And young birds, too, sometimes, my boy.  Flesh-eating things are not
+particularly in favour for one's diet.  Even the American backwoodsman
+who was forced to live on crows did not seem very favourably impressed.
+You remember?"
+
+"No, uncle; it's new to me."
+
+"He was so short of food, winter-game being scarce, that he had to shoot
+and eat crows.  Someone asked him afterwards whether they were nice, and
+he replied that he `didn't kinder hanker arter 'em.'"
+
+"Well, I don't `kinder hanker arter' squirrel," said Vane, merrily, "and
+I don't `kinder hanker arter' being a gipsy king ha--ha--as the old song
+says.  You'll have to make me an engineer, uncle."
+
+"Steam engineer, boy?" said the doctor, smiling.
+
+"Oh, anything, as long as one has to be contriving something new.
+Couldn't apprentice me to an inventor, could you?"
+
+"To Mr Deering, for instance?"
+
+Vane shook his head.
+
+"I don't know," he said, dubiously.  "I liked--You don't mind my
+speaking out, uncle?"
+
+"No, boy, speak out," said the doctor, looking at him curiously.
+
+"I was going to say that I liked Mr Deering for some things.  He was so
+quick and clever, but--"
+
+"You didn't like him for other things?"
+
+Vane nodded, and the doctor looked care-worn and uneasy; his voice
+sounded a little husky, too, as he said sharply:--
+
+"Oh, he is a very straightforward, honourable man.  We were at school
+together, and I could trust Deering to any extent.  But he has been very
+unfortunate in many ways, and I'm afraid has wasted a great deal of his
+life over unfruitful experiments with the result that he is still poor."
+
+"But anyone must have some failures, uncle.  All schemes cannot be
+successful."
+
+"True, but there is such a large proportion of disappointment that I
+should say an inventor is an unhappy man."
+
+"Not if he makes one great hit," cried Vane warmly.  "Oh, I should like
+to invent something that would do a vast deal of good, and set everyone
+talking about it.  Why, it would mean a great fortune."
+
+"And when you had made your great fortune, what then?"
+
+"Well, I should be a rich man, and I could make you and aunt happy."
+
+"I don't know that, Vane," said the doctor, laying his hand upon the
+lad's shoulder.  "I saved a pleasant little competence out of my hard
+professional life, and it has been enough to keep us in this pleasant
+place, and bring up and educate you.  I am quite convinced that if I had
+ten times as much I should be no happier, and really, my boy, I don't
+think I should like to see you a rich man."
+
+"Uncle!"
+
+"I mean it, Vane.  There, dabble in your little schemes for a bit, and
+you shall either go to college or to some big civil engineer as a pupil,
+but you must recollect the great poet's words."
+
+"What are they, uncle?" said Vane, in a disappointed tone.
+
+  "`There is a divinity that shapes our ends,
+  Rough-hew them how we may.'
+
+"Now let's have a little more botany.  What's that?"
+
+"Orange peziza," said Vane, pouncing upon a little fungus cup; and this
+led the doctor into a dissertation on the beauty of these plants,
+especially of those which required a powerful magnifying glass to see
+their structure.
+
+Farther on they entered a patch of fir-wood where a little search
+rewarded them with two or three dozen specimens of the orange milk
+mushroom, a kind so agreeable to the palate that the botanists have
+dubbed it delicious.
+
+"Easy enough to tell, Vane," said the doctor, as he carefully removed
+every scrap of dirt and grass from the root end of the stem, and
+carefully laid the neatly-shaped dingy-green round-table shaped fungi in
+his basket upon some moss.  "It is not every edible fungus that proves
+its safety by invariably growing among fir trees and displaying this
+thick rich red juice like melted vermilion sealing-wax."
+
+"And when we get them home, Martha will declare that they are rank
+poison," said Vane.
+
+"And all because from childhood she has been taught that toadstools are
+poison.  Some are, of course, boy, so are some wild fruits, but it would
+be rather a deprivation for us if we were to decline to eat every kind
+of fruit but one."
+
+"I should think it would," cried Vane, "or two."
+
+"And yet, that is what people have for long years done in England.
+Folks abroad are wiser.  There, it's time we went back."
+
+Vane was very silent on his homeward way, for the doctor had damped him
+considerably, and the bright career which he had pictured for himself as
+an inventor was beginning to be shrouded in clouds.
+
+"Civil engineer means a man who surveys and measures land for roads and
+railways, and makes bridges," said Vane to himself.  "I don't think I
+should like that.  Rather go to a balloon manufactory and--"
+
+He stopped to think of the subject which the word balloon brought up,
+and at last said to himself:
+
+"Oh, if I could only invent the way how to fly."
+
+"The boy has too much gas in his head," the doctor said to himself, as
+they reached home; "and he must be checked, but somehow he has spoiled
+my walk."
+
+He threw himself into an easy chair after placing his basket on the
+table, and into which Aunt Hannah peeped as Vane went up to his room.
+
+"Botanical specimens, my dear," she said.
+
+"Yes, for the cook," said the doctor dreamily.
+
+"Oh, my dear, you should not bring them home.  You know how Martha
+dislikes trying experiments.  My dear, what is the matter?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--nothing, only Vane was talking to me, and it set me
+thinking whether I have done right in trusting Deering as I have."
+
+Aunt Hannah looked as troubled as the doctor now, and sighed and shook
+her head.
+
+"No," cried the doctor firmly, "I will not doubt him.  He is a
+gentleman, and as honest as the day."
+
+"Yes," said Aunt Hannah quietly, "but the most honourable people are not
+exempt from misfortune."
+
+"My dear Hannah," cried the doctor, "don't talk like that.  Why it would
+ruin Vane's prospects if anything went wrong."
+
+"And ours too," said Aunt Hannah sadly, just as Vane was still thinking
+of balloons.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+A TELL-TALE SHADOW.
+
+"What's going on here?" said Vane to himself, as he was walking up the
+town, and then, the colour rose to his cheeks, and he looked sharply
+round to see if he was observed.
+
+But Greythorpe town street was as empty as usual.  There was Grader's
+cat in the window, a dog asleep on a step, and a few chickens picking
+about in front of the carrier's, while the only sounds were the clink,
+clink of the blacksmith's hammer upon his anvil, and the brisk tapping
+made by Chakes, as he neatly executed repairs upon a pair of shoes.
+
+A guilty conscience needs no accuser, and, if it had not been for that
+furtive visit to the clock, Vane would not have looked round to see if
+he was observed before hurrying up to the church, and entering the
+tower, for the open door suggested to him what was going on.
+
+He mounted the spiral staircase, and, on reaching the clock-chamber, its
+door being also open, Vane found himself looking at the back of a
+bald-headed man in his shirt-sleeves, standing with an oily rag in his
+hand, surrounded by wheels and other portions of the great clock.
+
+Vane stopped short, and there was a good deal of colour in his face
+still, as he watched the man till he turned.
+
+"Come to put the clock right, Mr Gramp?" he said.
+
+"How do, sir; how do?  Yes, I've come over, and not before it was
+wanted.  Clocks is like human beings, sir, and gets out of order
+sometimes.  Mr Syme sent word days ago, but I was too busy to come
+sooner."
+
+"Ah!" said Vane, for the man was looking at him curiously.
+
+"I hear she went a bit hard the other night, and set all the bells
+a-ringing."
+
+"No, only one," said Vane, quickly.
+
+"And no wonder, when folks gets a-meddling with what they don't
+understand.  Do you know, sir--no, you'll never believe it--watch and
+clock making's a hart?"
+
+"A difficult art, too," said Vane, rather nervously.
+
+"Eggs--actly, sir, and yet, here's your shoemaker--bah! your cobbler,
+just because the church clock wants cleaning, just on the strength of
+his having to wind it up, thinks he can do it without sending for me.
+No, you couldn't believe it, sir, but, as true as my name's Gramp, he
+did; and what does he do?  Takes a couple of wheels out, and leaves 'em
+tucked underneath.  But, as sure as his name's Chakes, I'm going
+straight up to the rectory as soon as I'm done, and if I don't--"
+
+"No, no, don't," cried Vane, excitedly, for the turn matters had taken
+was startling.  "It was not Chakes, Mr Gramp; it was I."
+
+"You, Mr Lee, sir?  You?" cried the man, aghast with wonder.  "Whatever
+put it into your head to try and do such a thing as that?  Mischief?"
+
+"No, no, it was not that; the clock wouldn't go, and I came up here all
+alone, and it did seem so tempting that I began to clean a wheel or two,
+and then I wanted to do a little more, and a little more, and I got the
+clock pretty well all to pieces; and then--somehow--well, two of the
+wheels were left out."
+
+The clockmaker burst into a hearty fit of laughter.
+
+"I should think they were left out," he cried.  "Then I must use your
+name instead of Chakes, eh?"
+
+"No, no, Mr Gramp; pray don't do that; the rector doesn't know.  I only
+told my uncle, and I wasn't thinking about you when I tried to set it
+going."
+
+"But, you see, sir, it was such a thing to do--to meddle with a big
+church clock.  If it had been an old Dutch with wooden works and sausage
+weights, or a brass American, I shouldn't have said a word; but my
+church clock, as I've tended for years! really, sir, you know it's too
+bad a deal."
+
+"Yes, Mr Gramp, it was too bad; a great piece of--of--assumption."
+
+"Assumption, sir; yes, sir, that's the very word.  Well, really, I
+hardly know what to say."
+
+"Say nothing, Mr Gramp."
+
+"You did tell the doctor, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I told uncle."
+
+"Hum!  I'm going to call at the Little Manor to see the doctor about the
+tall eight-day.  Perhaps I'd better consult him."
+
+"Well, yes, speak to uncle if you like, but go by what he says."
+
+The clockmaker nodded, and went on with his work, and from looking on,
+Vane came to helping, and so an hour passed away, when it suddenly
+occurred to him that Aunt Hannah had said something about a message she
+wanted him to take, so he had unwillingly to leave the clock-chamber.
+
+"Good-day, sir, good-day.  I shall see you this evening."
+
+"Yes, of course," said Vane; and then, as he hurried down the stairs, it
+seemed as if there was to be quite a vexatious re-opening of the case.
+
+"I do wish I had not touched the old thing," muttered Vane, as he went
+back.  "I couldn't offer him half-a-crown to hold his tongue.
+Clockmaker's too big."
+
+But he did not see the clockmaker again that day, for, as he entered the
+little drawing-room--
+
+"My dear," cried Aunt Hannah, "I was wishing that you would come.  I
+want you to go over to Lenby for me, and take this packet--a bottle,
+mind, for Mrs Merry.  It's a liniment your uncle has made up for her
+rheumatism."
+
+"Mrs Merry, aunt?"
+
+"Yes, my dear, at the far end of the village; she's quite a martyr to
+her complaint, and I got your uncle to call and see her last time you
+were out for a drive.  Have the pony if you like."
+
+"Yes, take her, boy," said the doctor.  "She is getting too fat with
+good living.  No; I forgot she was to be taken to the blacksmith's to be
+shod this afternoon."
+
+"All right, uncle, I'll walk over," cried Vane, "I shall enjoy it."
+
+"Well, it will not do you any harm.  Go across the rough land at the
+edge of the forest.  You may find a few ferns worth bringing for the
+greenhouse.  And pray try for a few fungi."
+
+Vane nodded, thrust the packet in his breast, and, taking trowel and
+basket, he started for his three-miles cross-country walk to Lenby, a
+tiny village, famous for its spire, which was invisible till it was
+nearly reached, the place lying in a nook in the wold hills, which, in
+that particular part, were clothed with high beeches of ancient growth.
+
+The late autumn afternoon was glorious, and the little town was soon
+left behind, the lane followed for a time, but no gipsy van or cart
+visible, though there was the trace of the last fire.  Being deep down
+in the cutting-like hollow, Vane could not see over the bank, where a
+donkey was grazing amongst the furze, while, completely hidden in a
+hollow, there was one of those sleeping tents, formed by planting two
+rows of willow sticks a few feet apart and then bending over the tops,
+tying them together, and spreading a tilt over all.
+
+This was invisible to the boy and so were the heads of the two stout
+gipsy lads, who peered down at him from a little farther on, and then
+drew softly away to shelter themselves among the bushes and ferns till
+they were beyond hearing.  When, stooping low, they ran off towards the
+wood, but in a stealthy furtive manner as if they were trying to stalk
+some wild animal and cut it off farther on, where the place was most
+solitary and wild.
+
+In happy ignorance of the interest taken in his proceedings, Vane
+trudged along till it seemed to him that it was time to climb up out of
+the lane by the steep sand bank, and this he did, but paused half-way
+without a scientific or inventive idea in his head, ready to prove
+himself as boyish as anyone of his years, for he had come upon a
+magnificent patch of brambles sending up in the hot autumn sunshine cone
+after cone of the blackest of blackberries such as made him drive his
+toes into the loose sand to get a better foothold, and long for a
+suitable basket, the one he carried being a mere leather bag.
+
+"Aunt would like a lot of these," he thought, and resisting the
+temptation to have a feast he left them on the chance of finding them
+next day when he could come provided with a basket.  For blackberries
+found as much favour with Aunt Hannah as the doctor's choicest plums or
+apples.
+
+A little higher, though, Vane paused again to stain his fingers and lips
+with the luscious fruit, which, thanks to the American example, people
+have just found to be worthy of cultivation in their gardens.
+
+"'Licious," said Vane, with a smack of the lips, and then, mounting to
+the top of the bank he stood for a few moments gazing at the glorious
+prospect, all beautiful cultivation on his right, all wild grass, fern,
+and forest on his left.
+
+This last took most of his attention, as he mapped out his course by the
+nearest way to the great clump of beeches which towered above the oaks,
+and then at once strode onward, finding an easy way where a stranger
+would soon have found himself stuck fast, hedged in by thorns.
+
+"I'll come back by the road," thought Vane.  "After all it's better and
+less tiring."
+
+But with the beeches well in view, he made light of the difficulties of
+the little trodden district, which seemed to be quite a sanctuary for
+the partridges, three coveys rising, as he went on, with a tremendous
+rush and whirr of wing, to fly swiftly for a distance, and then glide on
+up and down, rising at clumps of furze, and clearing them, to descend
+into hollows and rise again apparently, after the first rush, without
+beat of wing.
+
+"It's very curious, that flying," said Vane to himself, as he stood
+sheltering his eyes to watch the last covey till it passed out of
+sight--"ten of them, and they went along just as if they had nothing to
+do but will themselves over the ground.  It must be a fine thing to fly.
+Find it out some day," he said; and he hurried on again to reach the
+spot where a little rill made a demarcation between the sand and bog he
+had traversed, and the chalk which rose now in a sharp slope on the
+other side.
+
+He drew back a little way, took a run and leaped right across the
+cress-bordered clear water, alighting on hard chalk pebbles, and causing
+a wild splashing and rustling as a pair of moor-hens rose from amongst
+the cress, their hollow wings beating hard, their long green legs and
+attenuated toes hanging apparently nerveless beneath them, and giving a
+slight glimpse of their coral-coloured beak, and crests and a full view
+of the pure white and black of their short barred tail ere they
+disappeared amongst the bulrushes which studded one side of the winding
+stream.
+
+Vane watched them for a moment or two, and shook his head.
+
+"Partridges beat them hollow.  Wonder whether I can find uncle any
+truffles."
+
+He made for the shade of the beeches, passing at once on to a crackling
+carpet of old beech-mast and half rotten leaves, while all around him
+the great trees sent up their wonderfully clean, even-lined trunks, and
+boughs laden with dark green leaves, and the bronzy brown-red cases of
+the tiny triangular nuts, the former ready now to gape and drop their
+sweet contents where those of the past year had fallen before.
+
+"Pity beech-nuts are so small," he said, as he stood looking up in the
+midst of a glade where the tall branches of a dozen regularly planted
+trees curved over to meet those of another dozen, and touching in the
+centre, shutting out the light, and forming a natural cathedral nave,
+such as might very well have suggested a building to the first gothic
+architect for working the design in stone.
+
+"Ought to be plenty here," said Vane to himself after drinking his fill
+of the glorious scene with its side aisles and verdant chapels all
+around; and stooping down at the foot of one tree, he began with the
+little trowel which he had taken from his pocket to scrape away the
+black coating of decayed leaves, and then dig here and there for the
+curious tubers likely to be found in such a place, but without result.
+
+"Hope uncle hasn't bought a turkey to stuff with truffles," he said with
+a laugh, as he tried another place; "the basket does not promise to be
+very heavy."
+
+He had no better luck here, and he tried another, in each case carefully
+scratching away the dead leaves to bare the soft leaf-mould, and then
+dig carefully.
+
+"Want a truffle dog, or a pig," he muttered; and then he pounced upon a
+tuber about twice as large as a walnut, thrusting it proudly into his
+basket.
+
+"Where one is, there are sure to be others," he said; and he resumed his
+efforts, finding another and another, all in the same spot.
+
+"Why, I shall get a basketful," he thought, and he began to dwell
+pleasantly upon the satisfaction the sight of his successful foray would
+give the doctor, who had a special penchant for truffles, and had often
+talked about what expensive delicacies they were for those who dwelt in
+London.
+
+Encouraged then by his success, he went on scraping and grubbing away
+eagerly with more or less success, while the task grew more mechanical,
+and after feeling that his bottle was safe in his breast-pocket, he
+began to think that it was time to leave off, and go on his mission; but
+directly after, as he was rubbing the clean leaf-mould from off a tuber,
+his thoughts turned to Distin, and the undoubted enmity he displayed.
+
+"If it was not such a strong term," he said to himself, "I should be
+ready to say he hates me, and would do me any ill-turn he could."
+
+He had hardly thought this, and was placing his truffle in the basket,
+when a faint noise toward the edge of the wood where the sun poured in,
+casting dark shadows from the tree-trunks, made him look sharply in that
+direction.
+
+For a few moments he saw nothing, and he was about to credit a rabbit
+with the sound, when it suddenly struck him that one of the shadows cast
+on the ground not far distant had moved slightly, and as he fixed his
+eyes upon it intently, he saw that it was not a shadow cast by a tree,
+unless it was one that had a double trunk for some distance up and then
+these joined.  The next moment he was convinced:--for it was the shadow
+of a human being hiding behind a good-sized beech, probably in profound
+ignorance that his presence was clearly shown to the person from whom he
+was trying to hide.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+VANE IS MISSING.
+
+Aunt Hannah had been very busy devoting herself according to her custom
+in watching attentively while Eliza bustled about, spreading the cloth
+for high tea--a favourite meal at the Little Manor.  She had kept on
+sending messages to Martha in the kitchen till that lady had snorted and
+confided to Eliza, "that if missus sent her any more of them aggrawating
+orders she would burn the chicken to a cinder."
+
+For Aunt Hannah's great idea in life was to make those about her
+comfortable and happy; and as Vane would return from his long walk tired
+and hungry, she had ordered roast chicken for tea with the sausages Mrs
+Rounds had sent as a present after the pig-killing.
+
+That was all very well.  Martha said "yes, mum," pleasantly and was
+going to do her best; but unfortunately, Aunt Hannah made a remark which
+sent the cook back to her kitchen, looking furious.
+
+"As if I ever did forget to put whole peppers in the bread sauce," she
+cried to Eliza with the addition of a snort, and from that minute there
+were noises in the kitchen.  The oven door was banged to loudly;
+saucepans smote the burning coals with their bottoms heavily; coals were
+shovelled on till the kitchen became as hot as Martha's temper, and the
+plates put down to heat must have had their edges chipped, so hardly
+were they rattled together.
+
+But in the little drawing-room Aunt Hannah sat as happy and placid as
+could be till it was drawing toward the time for Vane's return, when she
+took her keys from her basket, and went to the store-room for a pot of
+last year's quince marmalade and carried it into the dining-room.
+
+"Master Vane is so fond of this preserve, Eliza," she said.  "Oh, and,
+by the way, ask Martha to send in the open jam tart.  I dare say he
+would like some of that."
+
+"I did tell Martha so, ma'am."
+
+"That was very thoughtful of you, Eliza."
+
+"But she nearly snapped my head off, ma'am."
+
+"Dear, dear, dear, I do wish that Martha would not be so easily put
+out."
+
+Aunt Hannah gave a glance over the table, and placing a fresh bunch of
+flowers in a vase in the centre, and a tiny bowl of ornamental leaves,
+such as the doctor admired, by his corner of the table, smiled with
+satisfaction to see how attractive everything looked.  Then she went
+back to her work in the drawing-room, but only to pop up again and go to
+the window, open it, and look out at where the doctor was busy with his
+penknife and some slips of bass, cutting away the old bindings and
+re-tying some choice newly-grafted pears which had begun to swell and
+ask for more room to develop.
+
+"It's getting very nearly tea-time, my dear," she cried.  "Bruff went
+half an hour ago."
+
+"Yes, quarter of an hour before his time," said the doctor.  "That's a
+curious old silver watch of his, always fast, but he believes in it more
+than he does in mine."
+
+"But it is time to come in and wash your hands, love."
+
+"No.  Another quarter of an hour," said the doctor.  "Vane come back?"
+
+"No, dear, not yet.  But he must be here soon."
+
+"I will not keep his lordship waiting," said the doctor, quietly going
+on with his tying; and Aunt Hannah toddled back to look at the
+drawing-room mantel-clock.
+
+"Dear me, yes," she said; "it is nearly a quarter to six."  Punctually
+to his time, the doctor's step was heard in the little hall, where he
+hung up his hat before going upstairs to change his coat and boots and
+wash his hands.  Then descending.
+
+"Time that boy was back, isn't it?" he said going behind Aunt Hannah,
+who was looking out of the window at a corner which afforded a glimpse
+of the road.
+
+"Oh, my dear, how you startled me!" cried Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Can't help it, my dear.  I always was an ugly man."
+
+"My dear, for shame! yes, it's quite time he was back.  I am growing
+quite uneasy."
+
+"Been run over perhaps by the train."
+
+"Oh, my dear!" cried Aunt Hannah in horrified tones.  "But how could he
+be?  The railway is not near where he has gone."
+
+"Of course it isn't.  There, come and sit down and don't be such an old
+fidget about that boy.  You are spoiling him."
+
+"That I am sure I am not, my dear."
+
+"But you are--making a regular Molly of him.  He'll be back soon.  I
+believe if you had your own way you would lead him about by a string."
+
+"Now that is nonsense, my dear," cried Aunt Hannah.  "How can I help
+being anxious about him when he is late?"
+
+"Make more fuss about him than if he was our own child."
+
+Aunt Hannah made no reply, but sat down working and listening intently
+for the expected step, but it did not come, and at last she heaved a
+sigh.
+
+"Yes, he is late," said the doctor, looking at his watch.  "Not going
+anywhere else for you, was he?"
+
+"Oh, no, my dear; he was coming straight back."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor; "thoughtless young dog!  I want my tea."
+
+"He can't be long now," said Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Humph!  Can't be.  That boy's always wool-gathering instead of thinking
+of his duties."
+
+Aunt Hannah's brow wrinkled and she looked five years older as she rose
+softly to go to the window, and look out.
+
+"That will not bring him here a bit sooner, Hannah," said the doctor
+drily.  "I dare say he has gone in at the rectory, and Syme has asked
+him to stay."
+
+"Oh, no, my dear, I don't think he would do that, knowing that we should
+be waiting."
+
+"Never did, I suppose," said the doctor.
+
+Aunt Hannah was silent.  She could not deny the impeachment, and she sat
+there with her work in her lap, thinking about how late it was; how
+hungry the doctor would be, and how cross it would make him, for he
+always grew irritable when kept waiting for his meals.
+
+Then she began to think about going and making the tea, and about the
+chicken, which would be done to death, and the doctor did not like
+chickens dry.
+
+Just then there was a diversion.
+
+Eliza came to the door.
+
+"If you please 'm, cook says shall she send up the chicken?  It's
+half-past six."
+
+Aunt Hannah looked at the doctor, and the doctor looked at his watch.
+
+"Wait a minute," he said; and then: "No, I'll give him another quarter
+of an hour."
+
+"What a tantrum Martha will be in," muttered Eliza, as she left the
+room.
+
+"Oh, that poor chicken!" thought Aunt Hannah, and then aloud:--
+
+"I hope Vane has not met with any accident."
+
+"Pshaw!  What accident could he meet with in walking to the village with
+a bottle of liniment and back, unless--"
+
+"Yes?" cried Aunt Hannah, excitedly; "unless what, my dear?"
+
+"He has opened the bottle and sat down by the roadside to drink it all."
+
+"Oh, my dear, surely you don't think that Vane would be so foolish."
+
+"I don't know," cried the doctor, "perhaps so.  He is always
+experimentalising over something."
+
+"But," cried Aunt Hannah, with a horrified look, "it was liniment for
+outward application only!"
+
+"Exactly: that's what I mean," said the doctor.  "He has not been
+content without trying the experiment of how it would act rubbed on
+inside instead of out."
+
+"Then that poor boy may be lying somewhere by the roadside in the
+agonies of death--poisoned," cried Aunt Hannah in horror; but the doctor
+burst out into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Oh, it's too bad, my dear," cried Aunt Hannah, tearfully.  "You are
+laughing at me and just, too, when I am so anxious about Vane."
+
+"I'm not: a young rascal.  He has met those sweet youths from the
+rectory, and they are off somewhere, or else stopping there."
+
+The doctor rose and rang the bell.
+
+"Are you going to send up to see, my dear?"
+
+"No, I am not," said the doctor, rather tartly.  "I am going to--"
+
+Eliza entered the room.
+
+"We'll have tea directly, Eliza," said the doctor; and Aunt Hannah
+hurried into the dining-room to measure out so many caddy spoonfuls into
+the hot silver pot, and pour in the first portion of boiling water, but
+listening for the expected footstep all the time.
+
+That meal did not go off well, for, in spite of the doctor's assumed
+indifference, he was also anxious about his nephew.  Aunt Hannah could
+not touch anything, and the doctor's appetite was very little better;
+but he set this down to the chicken being, as he said, dried to nothing,
+and the sausages being like horn--exaggerations, both--for, in spite of
+Martha's threats, she was too proud of her skill in cooking to send up
+anything overdone.
+
+The open jam tart was untouched, and the opening of that pot of last
+year's quince marmalade proved to have been unnecessary; for, though
+Aunt Hannah paused again and again with her cup half-way to her lips, it
+was not Vane's step that she heard; and, as eight o'clock came, she
+could hardly keep back her tears.
+
+All at once the doctor rose and went into the hall, followed by Aunt
+Hannah, who looked at him wistfully as he put on a light overcoat, and
+took hat and stick.
+
+"I'll walk to the rectory," he said, "and bring him back."
+
+Aunt Hannah laid her hand upon his arm, as he reached the door.
+
+"Don't be angry with him, my dear," she whispered.
+
+"Why not?  Is that boy to do just as he pleases here?  I'll give him a
+good sound thrashing, that's what I'll do with him."
+
+Aunt Hannah took away the doctor's walking stick, which he had made
+whish through the air and knock down one of Vane's hats.
+
+"There, I'll do it with my fist," cried the doctor.  "You cannot
+amputate that."
+
+"My dear!" whispered Aunt Hannah, handing back the stick.
+
+"All right, I will not hit him, but I'll give him a most tremendous
+tongue thrashing, as they call it here."
+
+"No, no; there is some reason for his being late."
+
+"Very well," cried the doctor.  "I shall soon see."
+
+The door closed after him, and Aunt Hannah began to pace the
+drawing-room, full of forebodings.
+
+"I am sure there is something very wrong," she said, "or Vane would not
+have behaved like this."
+
+She broke down here, and had what she called "a good cry."  But it did
+not seem to relieve her, and she recommenced her walking once more.
+
+At every sound she made for the door, believing it was Vane come back,
+and, truth to tell, thinking very little of the doctor, but every time
+she hurried to the door and window she was fain to confess it was fancy,
+and resumed her weary agitated walk up and down the room.
+
+At last, though, there was the click of the swing-gate, and she hurried
+to the porch where she was standing as the doctor came up.
+
+"Yes, dear," she cried, before he reached the door.  "Has he had his
+tea?"
+
+The doctor was silent, and came into the hall where Aunt Hannah caught
+his arm.
+
+"There is something wrong?" she cried.
+
+"No, no, don't be agitated, my dear," said the doctor gently.  "It may
+be nothing."
+
+"Then he is there--hurt?"
+
+"No, no.  They have not seen him."
+
+"He has not been with the pupils?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear, what does it mean?" cried Aunt Hannah.
+
+"It is impossible to say," said the doctor, "but we must be cool.  Vane
+is not a boy to run away."
+
+"Oh, no."
+
+"So I have sent Bruff over to ask what time he got to Lenby, and what
+time he left, and, if possible, to find out which way he returned.
+Bruff may meet him.  We don't know what may have kept him.  Nothing
+serious, of course."
+
+But the doctor's words did not carry conviction; and, as if sympathising
+with his wife, he took and pressed her hand.
+
+"Come, come," he whispered, "try and be firm.  We have no reason for
+thinking that there is anything wrong."
+
+"No," said Aunt Hannah, with a brave effort to keep down her
+emotion.--"Yes, Eliza, what is it?"
+
+There had been a low whispering in the hall, followed by Eliza tapping
+at the door and coming in.
+
+"I beg pardon, ma'am," said the maid, hastily, "but cook and me's that
+anxious we hoped you wouldn't mind my asking about Master Vane."
+
+A curious sound came from the passage, something between a sigh and a
+sob.
+
+"There is nothing to tell you," said the doctor, "till Bruff comes back.
+Mr Vane has been detained; that's all."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Eliza.  "It was only that we felt we should like
+to know."
+
+In spite of the trouble she was in there was room for a glow of
+satisfaction in Aunt Hannah's mind on finding how great an interest was
+felt by the servants; and she set herself to wait as patiently as she
+could for news.
+
+"It will not be so very long, will it dear?" she whispered, for she
+could not trust herself to speak aloud.
+
+"It must be two hours," said the doctor gravely.  "It is a long way.  I
+am sorry I did not make Bruff drive, but I thought it would take so long
+to get the pony ready that I started him at once;" and then ready to
+reprove his wife for her anxiety and eagerness to go to door or window
+from time to time, the doctor showed himself to be just as excited, and
+at the end of the first hour, he strode out into the hall.
+
+Aunt Hannah followed him.
+
+"I can't stand it any longer, my dear," he cried.  "I don't believe I
+care a pin about the young dog, for I am sure he is playing us some
+prank, but I must go and meet Bruff."
+
+"Yes, do, do," cried Aunt Hannah, hurriedly getting the doctor's hat and
+stick.  "But couldn't I go, too?"
+
+The doctor bent down, and kissed her.
+
+"No, no, my dear, you would only hinder me," he said, tenderly, and to
+avoid seeing her pained and working face he hurried out and took the
+road for Lenby, striking off to the left, after passing the church.
+
+But after walking sharply along the dark lane, for about a couple of
+miles, it suddenly occurred to the doctor that the chances were, that
+Bruff, who knew his way well, would take the short cuts, by the fields,
+and, after hesitating for a few minutes, he turned and hurried back.
+
+"A fool's errand," he muttered.  "I ought to have known better."
+
+As matters turned out, he had done wisely in returning, and the walk had
+occupied his mind, for, as he came within hearing of the Little Manor
+again, he fancied that a sound in front was the click of the swing-gate.
+
+It was: for he reached the door just as Eliza was on her way to the
+drawing-room to announce that Bruff had come back.
+
+"Bring him here," said the doctor, who had entered.  "No: stop: I'll
+come and speak to him in the kitchen."
+
+But Aunt Hannah grasped his hand.
+
+"No, no," she whispered firmly now.  "I must know the worst."
+
+"Send Bruff in," said the doctor, sternly, and the next minute the
+gardener was heard rubbing his boots on the mat, and came into the hall,
+followed by the other servants.
+
+"Well, Bruff," said the doctor, in a short, stern way, "you have not
+found him?"
+
+"No, sir, arn't seen or heard nowt."
+
+"But he had been and left the medicine?"
+
+"Nay, sir, not he.  Nobody had seen nowt of him.  He hadn't been there."
+
+Aunt Hannah uttered a faint gasp.
+
+"But didn't you ask at either of the cottages as you passed?" asked the
+doctor sharply.
+
+"Cottages, sir?  Why, there arn't none.  I cut acrost the fields
+wherever I could, and the only plaace nigh is Candell's farm--that's
+quarter of a mile down a lane."
+
+"Yes, yes, of course," said the doctor.  "I had forgotten.  Then you
+have brought no news at all?"
+
+"Well, yes, sir; a bit as you may say."
+
+"Well, what is it, man?  Don't keep us in suspense."
+
+"Seems like news to say as he arn't been nowheres near Lenby."
+
+"Can you form any idea of where he is likely to have gone?"
+
+Bruff looked in his hat and pulled the lining out a little way, and
+peered under that as if expecting to find some information there, but
+ended by shaking his head and looking in a puzzled fashion at the
+doctor.
+
+"Come with me," said the latter, and turning to Aunt Hannah, he
+whispered: "Go and wait patiently, my dear.  I don't suppose there is
+anything serious the matter.  I daresay there is a simple explanation of
+the absence if we could find it; but I feel bound to try and find him,
+if I can, to-night."
+
+"But how long will you be?"
+
+"One hour," said the doctor, glancing at his watch.  "If I am not back
+then you will have a message from me in that time, so that you will be
+kept acquainted with all I know."
+
+"Please, sir, couldn't we come and help?" said cook eagerly.  "Me and
+'Liza's good walkers."
+
+"Thank you," said the doctor; "the best help you can render is to sit up
+and wait, ready to attend to your mistress."
+
+He turned to Aunt Hannah who could not trust herself to speak, but
+pressed his hand as he passed out into the dark night, followed by
+Bruff.
+
+"The rectory," he said briefly; and walked there rapidly to ring and
+startle Joseph, who was just thinking of giving his final look round
+before going to bed.
+
+"Some one badly, sir?" he said, as he admitted the doctor and gardener,
+jumping at the conclusion that his master was wanted at a sick person's
+bedside.
+
+"No.  Have you seen Mr Vane since he left after lessons this morning?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Where is the rector?"
+
+"In his study, sir."
+
+"And the young gentlemen?"
+
+"Just gone up to bed, sir."
+
+"Show me into the study."
+
+Joseph obeyed, and the rector, who was seated with a big book before
+him, which he was not reading, jumped up in a startled way.
+
+"Vane Lee?" he cried.
+
+"Yes: I'm very anxious about Vane.  He was sent over to Lenby, this
+afternoon and has not returned.  I want to ask Macey and Gilmore if they
+know anything of his whereabouts."
+
+"But some one came long ago.  They have not seen him since luncheon."
+
+"Tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated the doctor.
+
+"Not been back then?"
+
+The doctor shook his head, and the rector suggested that he had stayed
+at Lenby and half a dozen other things which could be answered at once.
+
+"Would you mind sending for the lads to come down?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Of course," cried the rector; and he rang and sent up a
+message.
+
+"I don't suppose they are in bed," he said.  "They always have a good
+long gossip; and, as long as they are down in good time I don't like to
+be too strict.  But, my dear Lee.  You don't think there is anything
+serious?"
+
+"I don't know what to think, Syme," cried the doctor, agitatedly.
+
+"Is it an escapade--has he run off?"
+
+"My dear sir, you know him almost as well as I do.  Is he the sort of
+boy to play such a prank?"
+
+"I should say, no.  But, stop, you have had some quarrel.  You have been
+reproving him."
+
+"No--no--no," cried the doctor.  "Nothing of the kind.  If there had
+been I should have felt more easy."
+
+"But, what can have happened?  A walk to Lenby and back by a boy who
+knows every inch of the way."
+
+"That is the problem," said the doctor.  "Ah, here is someone."
+
+For there was a tap at the door, and Macey entered, to look wonderingly
+from one to the other.
+
+"Aleck, my boy," said the doctor, "Vane is missing.  Can you suggest
+anything to help us?  Do you know of any project that he had on hand or
+of any place he was likely to have gone to on his way to Lenby?"
+
+"No," said Macey, quickly.
+
+"Take time, my dear boy, and think," said the rector.
+
+"But I can't think, sir, of anything," cried Macey.  "No.  Unless--"
+
+"Yes," cried the doctor; "unless what?"
+
+"He was going to Lenby, you say."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, mightn't he have stopped there?"
+
+"No, no, my boy," cried the doctor, in disappointed tones, as Gilmore
+came in, and directly after Distin, both looking wonderingly round.  "We
+sent there."
+
+"Then I don't know," said Macey, anxiously.  "He might have gone over
+the bit of moor though."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor; "he could have gone that way."
+
+"Well, sir, mightn't he have been caught among the brambles, or lost his
+way?"
+
+"No, my boy, absurd!"
+
+"I once did, sir, and he came and helped me out."
+
+"Oh, no," cried the doctor; "impossible."
+
+"But there are some very awkward pieces of bog and peat and water-holes,
+sir," said Gilmore; and as he said this Distin drew a deep breath, and
+took a step back from the shaded lamp.
+
+The rector also drew a deep breath, and looked anxiously at the doctor,
+who stood with his brow contracted for a few moments, and then shook his
+head.
+
+"He was too clever and active for that," he cried.  "No, Gilmore, that
+is not the solution.  He is not likely to have come upon poachers?
+There are a great many pheasants about there?"
+
+"No poachers would be about in the afternoon," said the rector.  "My
+dear Lee, I do not like to suggest so terrible a thing, but I must say,
+I think it is our duty to get all the help we can, and search the place
+armed with lanterns."
+
+The doctor looked at him wildly.
+
+"Of course we'll help.  What do you say?"
+
+"Yes," said the doctor hoarsely.  "Let us search."
+
+The rector rang the bell, and Joseph answered directly.
+
+"Wait a moment," cried the doctor.  "Mr Distin, you have not spoken
+yet.  Tell me: what is your opinion.  Do you think Vane can have come to
+harm in the moor strip yonder?"
+
+Distin shrank back as he was addressed, and looked round wildly, from
+one to the other.
+
+"I--I?" he faltered.
+
+"Yes, you--my dear boy," said the rector, sharply.  "Answer at once, and
+do, pray, try to master that nervousness."
+
+Distin passed his tongue over his lips, and his voice sounded very husky
+as he said, almost inaudibly at first, but gathering force as he went
+on:--
+
+"I don't know.  I have not seen him since this morning."
+
+"We know that," said the doctor; "but should you think it likely, that
+he has met with an accident, or can you suggest anywhere likely for him
+to have gone?"
+
+"No, sir, no," said Distin, firmly now.  "I can't think of anywhere, nor
+should I think he is likely to have sunk in either of the bog holes,
+though he is very fond of trying to get plants of all kinds when he is
+out."
+
+"Yes, yes," said the doctor, hoarsely.  "I taught him;" and as he spoke
+Distin gave a furtive look all round the room, to see that nearly
+everyone was watching him closely.
+
+"We must hope for the best, Lee," said the doctor, firmly.  "Joseph,
+take Doctor Lee's man with you, go down the town street and spread the
+alarm.  We want men with lanterns as quickly as possible.  That place
+must be searched."
+
+The two men started at once, and the rector, after an apology, began to
+put on his boots once more.
+
+"I promised to go or send word to the Manor," said the doctor, "but I
+feel as if I had not the heart to go."
+
+"To tell Mrs Lee, sir?" said Distin, quickly.
+
+"Yes, to say that we are all going to search for Vane," said the doctor,
+"but not what we suspect."
+
+"I understand," said Distin, quickly; and, as if glad to escape, he
+hurried out of the room, and directly after they heard the closing of
+the outer door, and his steps on the gravel as he ran.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+NO NEWS.
+
+"Distin seems curiously agitated and disturbed," said the doctor.
+
+"Yes: he is a nervous, finely-strung youth," replied the rector.  "The
+result of his birth in a tropical country.  It was startling, too, his
+being fetched down from bed to hear such news."
+
+"Of course--of course," said the doctor; and preparations having been
+rapidly made by the rector, who mustered three lanterns, one being an
+old bull's-eye, they all started.
+
+"Better go down as far as the church, first, and collect our forces.
+Then we'll make a start for the moor.  But who shall we have for guide?"
+
+"Perhaps I know the place best," said the doctor; and they started in
+silence, passing down the gravel drive, out at the gate, and then along
+the dark lane with the lights dancing fitfully amongst the trees and
+bushes on either side, and casting curiously weird shadows behind.
+
+As they reached the road, Macey, who carried one lantern, held it high
+above his head and shouted.
+
+"Hush--hush!" cried the doctor, for the lad's voice jarred upon him in
+the silence.
+
+"Distin's coming, sir," said Macey.
+
+There was an answering hail, and then the _pat-pat_ of steps, as Distin
+trotted after and joined them.
+
+By the time the church was reached, there was plenty of proof of Vane's
+popularity, for lanterns were dancing here and there, and lights could
+be seen coming from right up the street, while a loud eager buzz of
+voices reached their ears.  Ten minutes after the doctor found himself
+surrounded by a band of about forty of the townsfolk, everyone of whom
+had some kind of lantern and a stick or pole, and all eager to go in
+search of the missing lad.
+
+Rounds the miller was one of the foremost, and carried the biggest
+lantern, and made the most noise.  Chakes the sexton, was there, too,
+with his lantern--a dim, yellow-looking affair, whose sides were of horn
+sheets, with here and there fancy devices punched in the tin to supply
+air to the burning candle within.
+
+Crumps, from the dairy, Graders the baker, and John Wrench the
+carpenter, all were there, and it seemed a wonder to Macey where all the
+lanterns had come from.  But it was no wonder, for Greythorpe was an
+ill-lit place, where candles and oil-lamps took the place of gas even in
+the little shops, and there were plenty of people who needed the use of
+a stable-light.
+
+There were two policemen stationed in Greythorpe, but they were off on
+their nightly rounds, and it was not until the weird little procession
+of light-bearers had gone half a mile from the town that there was a
+challenge from under a dark hedge, and two figures stepped out into the
+road.
+
+"Eh?  Master Vane Lee lost?" said one of the figures, the lights
+proclaiming them to be the policemen, who had just met at one of their
+appointed stations; "then we'd better jyne you."
+
+This added two more lanterns to the bearers of light, but for a long
+time they were not opened, but kept as a reserved force--ready if
+wanted.
+
+At last, in almost utter silence, the moor was reached, the men were
+spread out, and the search began.  But it was ended after an hour's
+struggling among the bushes, and an extrication of Chakes, and Wrench
+the carpenter, from deep bog holes into which they had suddenly stepped,
+and, on being drawn out, sent home.
+
+Then Rounds spoke out in his loud, bluff way.
+
+"Can't be done, doctor, by this light.  It's risking the lives of good
+men and true.  I want to find young Mester, and I'll try as if he was a
+son of my own, but we can't draw this mash to-night."
+
+There was a dead silence at this, and then the rector spoke out.
+
+"I'm afraid he is right, Lee.  I would gladly do everything possible,
+but this place really seems impassable by night."
+
+The doctor was silent, and the rector spoke again:
+
+"What do you say, constable?"
+
+"As it can't be done, sir, with all respect to you as the head of the
+parish."
+
+"Seems to me like getting up an inquess, sir," said Dredge the butcher,
+"with ooz all dodging about here with our lights, like so many
+will-o'-the-wispies."
+
+"Ay, I was gooin' to say as theered be job for owd Chakes here 'fore
+morning if he gets ower his ducking."
+
+"I'm afraid you are right," said the doctor, sadly.  "If I were sure
+that my nephew was somewhere here on the moor, I should say keep on at
+all hazards, but it is too dangerous a business by lantern light."
+
+"Let's give a good shout," cried the miller; "p'r'aps the poor lad may
+hear it.  Now, then, all together: one, two three, and _Ahoy_!"
+
+The cry rang far out over the moor, and was faintly answered, so plainly
+that Macey uttered a cry of joy.
+
+"Come on," he cried; "there he is."
+
+"Nay, lad," said the miller; "that was on'y the echo."
+
+"No, no," said Macey; "it was an answer."
+
+"It did sound like it," said the rector; and the doctor remained in
+doubt.
+
+"You listen," said the miller; and, putting his hands on either side of
+his mouth, he gave utterance to a stentorian roar.
+
+"Vane, ho!"
+
+There was a pause, and a "ho!" came back.
+
+"All right?" roared the miller.
+
+"Right!" came back.
+
+"Good-night!" shouted the miller again.
+
+"Night!"
+
+"There, you see.  Only an echo," said the miller.  "Wish it wasn't.
+Why, if it had been his voice, lads, we'd soon ha' hed him home."
+
+"Yes, it's an echo, Aleck," said Gilmore, sadly.
+
+"But we could stop, and go on searching, sir," cried Macey.  "It's such
+a pity to give up."
+
+"Only till daybreak, my lad," said the doctor, sadly.  "We can do no
+good here, and the risk is too great."
+
+Gilmore uttered a low sigh, and Macey a groan, as, after a little more
+hesitation, it was decided to go back to the town, and wait till the
+first dawn, when the search could be resumed.
+
+"And, look here, my lads," cried the miller; "all of you as can had
+better bring bill-hooks and sickles, for it's bad going through these
+brambles, even by day."
+
+"And you, constables," said the rector; "you are on duty along the
+roads.  You will keep a sharp look-out."
+
+"Of course, sir, and we'll communicate with the other men we meet from
+Lenby and Riby, and Dunthorpe.  We shall find him, sir, never fear."
+
+The procession of lanterns was recommenced, but in the other direction
+now, and in utter despondency the doctor followed, keeping with the
+rector and his pupils, all trying in turn to suggest some solution of
+the mystery, but only for it to close in more darkly round them, in
+spite of all.
+
+The police then left them at the spot where they had been encountered,
+and promised great things, in which nobody felt any faith; and at last,
+disheartened and weary, the churchyard was reached, and the men
+dismissed, all promising to be ready to go on at dawn.  Then there was a
+good deal of opening of lanterns, the blowing out of candle and lamp,
+the closing of doors, and an unpleasant, fatty smell, which gradually
+dispersed as all the men departed but the miller.
+
+"Hope, gentlemen," he said, in his big voice, "you don't think I hung
+back from helping you."
+
+"No, no, Rounds," said the doctor, sadly; "you are not the sort of man
+to fail us in a pinch."
+
+"Thankye, doctor," said the bluff fellow, holding out his hand.  "Same
+to you.  I aren't forgot the way you come and doctored my missus when
+she was so bad, and you not a reg'lar doctor, but out o' practice.  But
+nivver you fear; we'll find the lad.  I shan't go to bed, but get back
+and light a pipe.  I can think best then; and mebbe I'll think out wheer
+the young gent's gone."
+
+"Thank you, Rounds," said the doctor.  "Perhaps we had all better go and
+try and think it out, for Heaven grant that it may not be so bad as we
+fear."
+
+"Amen to that!" cried the miller, "as clerk's not here.  And say,
+parson, I'll goo and get key of owd Chakes, and, at the first streak o'
+daylight, I'll goo to belfry, and pull the rope o' the ting-tang to
+rouse people oop.  You'll know what it means."
+
+He went off; and the rest of the party, preceded by Joseph Bruff having
+sought his cottage, walked slowly back, all troubled by the same
+feeling, omitting Distin, that they had done wrong in giving up so
+easily, but at the same time feeling bound to confess that they could
+have done no good by continuing the search.
+
+As they reached the end of the rectory lane and the doctor said
+"good-night," the rector urged him to come up to the rectory and lie
+down on a couch till morning, but Doctor Lee shook his head.
+
+"No," he said, "it is quite time I was back.  There is someone sorrowing
+there more deeply than we can comprehend.  Till daybreak, Syme.
+Good-night."
+
+Macey stood listening to the doctor's retiring footsteps and then ran
+after him.
+
+"Hi!  Macey!" cried Gilmore.
+
+"Mr Macey, where are you going?" cried the rector.
+
+But the boy heard neither of them as he ran on till the doctor heard the
+footsteps and stopped.
+
+"Yes," he said, "what is it?"
+
+"Only me--Aleck Macey, sir."
+
+"Yes, my lad?  Have you brought a message from Mr Syme?"
+
+"No, sir; I only wanted--I only thought--I--I--Doctor Lee, please let me
+come and wait with you till it's time to start."
+
+Macey began falteringly, but his last words came out with a rush.
+
+"Why not go back to bed, my lad, and get some rest--some sleep?"
+
+"Rest?--sleep?  Who is going to sleep when, for all we know, poor old
+Vane's lying helpless somewhere out on the moor.  Let me come and stop
+with you."
+
+For answer the doctor laid his hand upon Macey's shoulder, and they
+reached the Little Manor swing-gate and passed up the avenue without a
+word.
+
+There were lights burning in two of the front windows, and long before
+they reached the front door in the porch, it was opened, and a warm glow
+of light shone out upon the advancing figures.  It threw up, too, the
+figure of Aunt Hannah, who, as soon as she realised the fact that there
+were two figures approaching, ran out and before the doctor could
+enlighten her as to the truth, she flung her arms round Macey's neck,
+and hugged him to her breast, sobbing wildly.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear, where have you been--where have you been?"
+
+As she spoke, she buried her face upon the lad's shoulder, while Macey
+looked up speechlessly at the doctor, and he, choked with emotion as he
+was, could not for some moments find a word to utter.
+
+Still, clinging to him in the darkness Aunt Hannah now took tightly hold
+of the boy's arm, as if fearing he might again escape from her, and
+drawing him up toward the door from which the light shone now, showing
+Eliza and Martha both waiting, she suddenly grasped the truth, and
+uttered a low wail of agony.
+
+"Not found?" she cried.  "Oh, how could you let me, how could you!  It
+was too cruel, indeed, indeed!"
+
+Aunt Hannah's sobs broke out loudly now; and, unable to bear more, Macey
+glided away, and did not stop running after passing the gate till he
+reached the rectory door.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+IN THE EARLY MORNING.
+
+Churchwarden Rounds kept his word, for at the first break of day his
+vigorous arms sent the ting-tang ringing in a very different way to that
+adopted by old Chakes for the last few minutes before service commenced
+on Sunday morning and afternoon.  And he did not ring in vain, for
+though the search was given up in the night the objections were very
+genuine.  Everyone was eager to help so respected a neighbour as the
+doctor, and to a man the searchers surrounded him as he walked up to the
+church; even Wrench the carpenter, and Chakes the sexton putting in an
+appearance in a different suit to that worn over-night and apparently
+none the worse for the cold plunge into peaty water they had had.
+
+The rector was not present, and the little expedition was about to
+start, when Macey came running up to say that Mr Syme was close behind.
+
+This decided the doctor to pause for a few minutes, and while it was
+still twilight the rector with Gilmore and Distin came up, the former
+apologising for being so late.
+
+"I'm afraid that I fell asleep in my chair, Lee," he whispered.  "I'm
+very sorry."
+
+"There is no need to say anything," said the doctor sadly.  "It is
+hardly daybreak even now."
+
+Gilmore looked haggard, and his face on one side was marked by the
+leather of the chair in which he had been asleep.  Macey looked red-eyed
+too, but Distin was perfectly calm and as neat as if he had been to bed
+as usual to enjoy an uninterrupted night's rest.
+
+When the start was made, it having been decided to follow the same
+course as over-night, hardly a word was said, for in addition to the
+depression caused by the object in view, the morning felt chilly, and
+everything looked grim and strange in the mist.
+
+The rector and doctor led the way with the churchwarden, then followed
+the rector's three pupils, and after them the servants and townspeople
+in silence.
+
+Macey was the first of the rectory trio to speak, and he harked back to
+the idea that Vane must be caught in the brambles just as he had been
+when trying to make a short cut, but Gilmore scouted the notion at once.
+
+"Impossible!" he said, "Vane wouldn't be so stupid.  If he is lost on
+the moor it is because he slipped into one of those black bog holes, got
+tangled in the water-weeds and couldn't get out."
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed Macey with a shudder.  "Oh, I say: don't talk like
+that.  It's too horrid.  You don't think so, do you, Distie?  Why it has
+made you as white as wax to hear him talk like that."
+
+Distin shivered as if he were cold, and he forced a smile as he said
+hastily:--
+
+"No: of course I don't.  It's absurd."
+
+"What is?" said Gilmore.
+
+"Your talking like this.  It isn't likely.  I think it's a great piece
+of nonsense, this searching the country."
+
+"Why, what would you do?" cried Macey.
+
+"I--I--I don't know," cried Distin, who was taken aback.  "Yes, I do.  I
+should drive over to the station to see if he took a ticket for London,
+or Sheffield, or Birmingham, or somewhere.  It's just like him.  He has
+gone to buy screws, or something, to make a whim-wham to wind up the
+sun."
+
+"No, he hasn't," said Macey sturdily; "he wouldn't go and upset the
+people at home like that; he's too fond of them."
+
+"Pish!" ejaculated Distin contemptuously.
+
+"Distie's sour because he is up so early, Gil," continued Macey.  "Don't
+you believe it.  Vane's too good a chap to go off like that."
+
+"Bah! he is always changing about.  Why, you two fellows call him
+Weathercock."
+
+"Well!" cried Gilmore; "it isn't because we don't like him."
+
+"No," said Macey, "only in good-humoured fun, because he turns about so.
+I wish," he added dolefully, "he would turn round here now."
+
+"You don't think as the young master's really drownded, do you?" said a
+voice behind, and Macey turned sharply, to find that Bruff had been
+listening to every word.
+
+"No, I don't," he cried angrily; "and I'll punch anybody's head who says
+he is.  I believe old Distie wishes he was."
+
+"You're a donkey," cried Distin, turning scarlet.
+
+"Then keep away from my heels--I might kick.  It makes me want to with
+everybody going along as cool as can be, as if on purpose, to fish the
+best chap I ever knew out of some black hole among the bushes."
+
+"Best chap!" said Distin, contemptuously.
+
+"Yes: best chap," retorted Macey, whose temper was soured by the cold
+and sleeplessness of the past night.
+
+Further words were stopped by the churchwarden's climbing up the sandy
+bank of the deep lane, and stopping half-way to the top to stretch out
+his hand to the rector whom he helped till he was amongst the furze,
+when he turned to help the doctor, who was, however, active enough to
+mount by himself.
+
+The rest of the party were soon up in a group, and then there was a
+pause and the churchwarden spoke.
+
+"If neither of you gentlemen, has settled what to do," he said, "it
+seems to me the best thing is to make a line of our-sens along top of
+the bank here, and then go steady right along towards Lenby--say twenty
+yards apart."
+
+The doctor said that no better plan could be adopted, but added:--
+
+"I should advise that whenever a pool is reached the man who comes to it
+should shout.  Then all the line must stop while I come to the pool and
+examine it."
+
+"But we've got no drags or hooks, mester," whispered the churchwarden,
+and the doctor shuddered.
+
+"No," he said hastily, "but I think there would certainly be some marks
+of struggling at the edge--broken twigs, grass, or herbage torn away."
+
+"Look at Distie," whispered Gilmore.
+
+"Was looking," replied Macey who was gazing fixedly at his
+fellow-pupil's wild eyes and hollow cheeks.  "Hasn't pitched, or shoved
+him in, has he?"
+
+"Hush!  Don't talk like that," whispered Gilmore again; and just then
+the object of their conversation looked up sharply, as if conscious that
+he was being canvassed, and gazed suspiciously from one to the other.
+
+Meanwhile the miller who had uncovered so as to wipe his brow, threw his
+staring red cotton handkerchief sharply back into the crown of his hat
+and knocked it firmly into its place.
+
+"Why, of course," he said: "That's being a scientific gentleman.  I
+might have thought of that, but I didn't."
+
+Without further delay half the party spread out toward the wood which
+formed one side of the moor, while the other half spread back toward the
+town; and as soon as all were in place the doctor, who was in the
+centre, with Rounds the miller on his right, and the rector on his left,
+gave the word.  The churchwarden shouted and waved his hat and with the
+soft grey dawn gradually growing brighter, and a speck or two of orange
+appearing high up in the east, the line went slowly onward towards
+Lenby, pausing from time to time for pools to be examined and for the
+more luckless of the party to struggle out of awkward places.
+
+The rector's three pupils were on the right--the end nearest the town,
+Distin being the last in the line and in spite of Macey's anticipations,
+he struggled on as well as the best man there.
+
+Patches of mist like fleecy clouds, fallen during the night, lay here
+and there; and every now and then one who looked along the line could
+see companions walk right into these fogs and disappear for minutes at a
+time to suddenly step out again on to land that was quite clear.
+
+Hardly a word was spoken, the toil was sufficient to keep every one
+silent.  For five minutes after a start had been made every one was
+drenched with dew to the waist, and as Macey afterwards said if they had
+forded the river they could not have been more wet.
+
+Every now and then birds were startled by someone, to rise with a loud
+_whirr_ if they were partridges, with a rapid beating of pinions and
+frightened quacking if wild-fowl; and for a few moments, more than once,
+both Macey and Gilmore forgot the serious nature of their mission in
+interest in the various objects they encountered.
+
+For these were not few.
+
+Before they had gone a quarter of a mile there was a leap and a rush,
+and unable to contain himself, Bruff, who was next on Macey's left
+suddenly shouted "_loo_--_loo_--_loo_--_loo_."
+
+"See him, Mester Macey!" he cried.  "Oh, if we'd had a greyhound."
+
+But they had no long-legged hound to dart off after the longer-eared
+animal; and the hare started from its form in some dry tussock grass,
+went off with its soft fur streaked to its sides with the heavy dew, and
+was soon out of reach.
+
+Then a great grey flapped-wing heron rose from a tiny mere and sailed
+heavily away.
+
+That pool had to be searched as far as its margin was concerned; and as
+it was plainly evident that birds only had visited it lately, the line
+moved on again just as the red disk of the sun appeared above the mist,
+and in one minute the grim grey misty moor was transformed into a vast
+jewelled plain spangled with myriads upon myriads of tiny gems,
+glittering in all the colours of the prism, and sending a flash of
+hopeful feeling into the boys' breasts.
+
+"Oh!" cried Macey; "isn't it lovely!  I am glad I came."
+
+"Yes," said Gilmore; and then correcting himself.  "Who can feel glad on
+a morning like this!"
+
+"I can," said Macey, "for it all makes me feel now that we are stupid to
+think anything wrong can have happened to poor old Weathercock.  He's
+all right somewhere."
+
+Something akin to Macey's feeling of light-heartedness had evidently
+flashed into the hearts of all in the line, for men began to shout to
+one another as they hurried on with more elasticity of tread; they made
+lighter of their difficulties, and no longer felt a chill of horror
+whenever Rounds summoned all to a halt, while the doctor passed along
+the line to examine some cotton-rush dotted margin about a pool.
+
+Working well now, the line pressed on steadily in the direction of
+Lenby, and a couple of miles must have been gone over when a halt was
+called, and after a short discussion in the centre, the churchwarden
+came panting along the line giving orders as he went till he reached the
+end where the three pupils were.
+
+"Now, lads," he cried, "we're going to sweep round now, like the
+soldiers do--here by this patch of bushes.  You, Mr Distin, will march
+right on, keeping your distance as before, and go the gainest way for
+the wood yonder, where you'll find the little stream.  Then you'll keep
+back along that and we shall sweep that side of the moor till we get to
+the lane again."
+
+"But we shall miss ever so much in the middle," cried Gilmore.
+
+"Ay, so we shall, lad, but we'll goo up along theer afterwards, and
+back'ards, and forwards till we've been all over."
+
+"But, I say," cried Macey, "you don't think we shall find him here, do
+you?"
+
+"Nay, I don't, lad; but the doctor has a sort of idee that we may, and
+I'm not the man to baulk him.  He might be here, you see."
+
+"Yes," said Macey; "he might.  There: all right, we'll go on when you
+give the word."
+
+"Forrard, then, my lads; there it is, and I wish we may find him.  Nay,
+I don't," he said, correcting himself, "for, poor lad he'd be in a bad
+case to have fallen down here for the night.  Theer's something about it
+I can't understand, and if I were you, Mr Distin, sir, I'd joost chuck
+an eye now and then over the stream towards the edge of the wood."
+
+Distin nodded and the line was swung round, so as to advance for some
+distance toward the wood which began suddenly just beyond the stream.
+There another shout, and the waving of the miller's hat, altered the
+direction again, and with Distin close by the flowing water, the line
+was marched back toward the lane with plenty of repetitions of their
+outward progress but it was at a slower rate, for the tangle was often
+far more dense.
+
+And somehow, perhaps from the brilliancy of the morning, and the
+delicious nature of the pure soft air, the lads' spirits grew higher,
+and they had to work hard to keep their attention to the object they had
+in view, for nature seemed to be laying endless traps for them,
+especially for Macey, who certainly felt Vane's disappearance most at
+heart, but was continually forgetting him on coming face to face with
+something fresh.  Now it was an adder coiled up in the warm sunshine on
+a little dry bare clump among some dead furze.  It was evidently
+watching him but making no effort to get out of his way.
+
+He had a stick, and it would have been easy to kill the little reptile,
+but somehow he had not the heart to strike at him, and he walked on
+quickly to overtake the line which had gone on advancing while he lagged
+behind.
+
+Ten minutes later he nearly stepped upon a rabbit which bounded away, as
+he raised his stick to hurl it after the plump-looking little animal
+like a boomerang.
+
+But he did not throw, and the rabbit escaped.  He did not relax his
+efforts, but swept the tangle of bushes and brambles from right to left
+and back to the right, always eagerly trying to find something, if only
+a footprint to act as a clue that he might follow, but there was no
+sign.
+
+All at once in a sandy spot amongst some furze bushes he stopped again,
+with a grim smile on his lip.
+
+"Very evident that he hasn't been here," he muttered, as he looked at
+some scattered specimens of a fungus that would have delighted Vane, and
+been carried off as prizes.  They were tall-stemmed, symmetrically
+formed fungi, with rather ragged brown and white tops, which looked as
+if in trying to get them open into parasol shape the moorland fairies
+had regularly torn up the outer skin of the tops with their little
+fingers; those unopened though showed the torn up marks as well, as they
+stood there shaped like an egg stuck upon a short thin stick.
+
+"Come on!" shouted Gilmore.  "Found anything?"
+
+Macey shook his head, and hurried once more onward to keep the line, to
+hear soon afterwards _scape, scape_, uttered shrilly by a snipe which
+darted off in zigzag flight.
+
+"Oh, how poor old Vane would have liked to be here on such a morning!"
+thought Macey, and a peculiar moisture, which he hastily dashed away,
+gathered in his eyes and excused as follows:--
+
+"Catching cold," he said, quickly.  "No wonder with one's feet and legs
+so wet, why, I'm soaking right up to the waist.  Hallo! what bird's
+that?"
+
+For a big-headed, thick-beaked bird flew out of a furze bush, showing a
+good deal of white in its wings.
+
+"Chaffinch, I s'pose.  No; can't be.  Too big.  Oh, I do wish poor old
+Vane was here: he knows everything of that kind.  Where can he be?
+Where can he be?"
+
+It was hot work that toiling through the bushes, but no one murmured or
+showed signs of slackening as he struggled along.  There were halts
+innumerable, and the doctor could be seen hurrying here and hurrying
+there along the straggling line till at last a longer pause than usual
+was made at some pool, and heads were turned toward those who seemed to
+be making a more careful examination than usual; while, to relieve the
+tedium of the halt, Distin suddenly went splashing through the shallow
+stream on to the pebbly margin on the other side.
+
+"Shan't you get very wet?" shouted Gilmore.
+
+"Can't get wetter than I am," was shouted back then.  "I say it's ten
+times better walking here.  Look out!  Moor-hens!"
+
+"And wild ducks," cried Gilmore, as a pair of pointed-winged mallards
+flew up with a wonderfully graceful flight.
+
+But the birds passed away unnoticed, for just then Distin uttered a cry
+which brought Macey tearing over the furze and brambles following
+Gilmore, who was already at the edge of the stream, and just then the
+signal was given by the miller to go on.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+VANE IS TAKEN AT A DISADVANTAGE.
+
+Vane felt for the moment quite startled, the place being so silent and
+solitary, but the idea of danger seemed to him absurd, and he stood
+watching the shadow till all doubt of its being human ceased, for an arm
+was raised and then lowered as if a signal was being made.
+
+"What can it mean?" he thought.  And then:--"I'll soon see."
+
+Just as he had made up his mind to walk forward, there was a slight
+movement and a sharp crack as of a twig of dead wood breaking under the
+pressure of a foot, and he who caused the sound, feeling that his
+presence must be known, stepped out from behind the tree.
+
+"Why, I fancied it was Distie," said Vane to himself with a feeling of
+relief that he would have found it hard to explain, for it was one of
+the gipsy lads approaching him in a slow, furtive way.
+
+"Thought they were gone long enough ago," he said to himself; and then
+speaking: "Hi! you, sir; come here!--Make him try and dig some up.
+Wonder they don't hunt for truffles themselves," he added.  "Don't think
+they are wholesome, perhaps."
+
+The lad came slowly toward him, but apparently with great unwillingness.
+
+"Come on," cried Vane, "and I'll give you a penny.  Hallo!  Here's the
+other one!"
+
+For the second lad came slouching along beneath the trees.
+
+"Here, you two," cried Vane, waving his trowel; "come along and dig up
+some of these.  That's right.  You've got sticks.  You can do it with
+the points."
+
+The second boy had come into sight from among the trees to Vane's left,
+and advanced cautiously now, as if doubtful of the honesty of his
+intentions.
+
+"That's right," cried Vane.  "Come along, both of you, and I'll give you
+twopence a piece.  Do you hear?  I shan't hurt you."
+
+But they did not hasten their paces, advancing very cautiously, stick in
+hand, first one and then the other, glancing round as if for a way of
+escape, as it seemed.
+
+"Why, they're as shy as rabbits," thought Vane, laughing to himself.
+"It's leading such a wild life, I suppose.  Here," he cried to the first
+lad, who was now within a yard of him, while the other was close behind;
+"see these?  I want some of them.  Come on, and I'll show you how to
+find them.  Why, what did you do that for?"
+
+Vane gave a bound forward, wincing with pain, for he had suddenly
+received a heavy blow on the back from the short cudgel the boy behind
+him bore, and as he turned fiercely upon him, thrusting the trowel into
+his basket and doubling his fist to return the blow, the first boy
+struck him heavily across the shoulder with his stick.
+
+If the gipsy lads imagined that the blows would cow Vane, and make him
+an easy victim for the thrashing they had evidently set themselves to
+administer, they were sadly mistaken.  For uttering a cry of rage as the
+second blow sent a pang through him, Vane dashed down his basket and
+trowel, spun round and rushed at his second assailant, but only to
+receive a severe blow across one wrist while another came again from
+behind.
+
+"You cowards!" roared Vane; "put down those sticks, or come in front."
+
+The lads did neither, and finding in spite of his rage the necessity for
+caution, Vane sprang to a tree, making it a comrade to defend his back,
+and then struck out wildly at his assailants.
+
+So far his efforts were in vain.  Sticks reach farther than fists, and
+his hands both received stinging blows, one on his right, numbing it for
+the moment and making him pause to wonder what such an unheard-of attack
+could mean.
+
+Thoughts fly quickly at all times, but with the greatest swiftness in
+emergencies, and as Vane now stood at bay he could see that these two
+lads had been watching him for some time past, and that the attack had
+only been delayed for want of opportunity.
+
+"I always knew that gipsies could steal," he thought, "but only in a
+little petty, pilfering way.  This is highway robbery, and if I give
+them all I've got they will let me go."
+
+Then he considered what he had in his pockets--about seven shillings,
+including the half-pence--and a nearly new pocket-knife.  He was just
+coming to the conclusion that he might just as well part with this
+little bit of portable property and escape farther punishment, when one
+of the boys made a feint at his head and brought his stick down with a
+sounding crack, just above his left knee, while the other struck him on
+the shoulder.
+
+Vane's blood was up now, and forgetting all about compromising, he
+dashed at one of his assailants, hitting out furiously, getting several
+blows home, in spite of the stick, and the next minute would have torn
+it from the young scoundrel's grasp if the other had not attacked him so
+furiously behind that he had to turn and defend himself there.
+
+This gave the boy he was beating time to recover himself, and once more
+Vane was attacked behind and had to turn again.
+
+All this was repeated several times, Vane getting far the worst of the
+encounter, for the gipsy lads were as active as cats and wonderfully
+skilful at dealing blows; but all the same they did not escape
+punishment, as their faces showed, Vane in his desperation ignoring the
+sticks and charging home with pretty good effect again and again.
+
+"It's no good; I shall be beaten," he thought as he now protected
+himself as well as he could by the shelter afforded by the tree he had
+chosen, though poor protection it was, for first one and then the other
+boy would dart in feinting with his stick and playing into the other's
+hand and giving him an opportunity to deliver a blow.  "I shall have to
+give in, and the young savages will almost kill me."
+
+And all this time he was flinching, dodging and shrinking here and
+there, and growing so much exhausted that his breath came thick and
+fast.
+
+"Oh, if I only had a stick!" he panted, as he avoided a blow on one side
+to receive one on the other; and this made him rush savagely at one of
+the lads; but he had to draw back, smarting from a sharp blow across the
+left arm, right above the elbow, and one which half numbed the member.
+
+But though he cast longing eyes round, there was no sticks save those
+carried by the boys, who, with flashing eyes, kept on darting in and
+aiming wherever they could get a chance.  There was one fact, however,
+which Vane noticed, and which gave him a trifle of hope just when he was
+most despairing: his adversaries never once struck at his head,
+contenting themselves by belabouring his arms, back and legs, which
+promised to be rendered quite useless if the fight went on.
+
+And all the time neither of the gipsy lads spoke a word, but kept on
+leaping about him, making short runs, and avoiding his blows in a way
+that was rapidly wearing him out.
+
+Should he turn and run?  No, he thought; they would run over the ground
+more swiftly than he, and perhaps get him down.
+
+Then he thought of crying for help, but refrained, for he felt how
+distant they were from everyone, and that if he cried aloud he would
+only be expending his breath.
+
+And lastly, the idea came again that he had better offer the lads all he
+had about him.  But hardly had the thought crossed his brain, than a
+more vicious blow than usual drove it away, and he rushed from the
+shelter of the tree-trunk at the boy who delivered that blow.  In trying
+to avoid Vane's fist, he caught his heel, staggered back, and in an
+instant his stick was wrested from his hand, whistled through the air,
+and came down with a sounding crack, while what one not looking on might
+have taken to be an echo of the blow sounded among the trees.
+
+But it was not an echo, only the real thing, the second boy having
+rushed to his brother's help, and struck at Vane's shoulder, bringing
+him fiercely round to attack in turn, stick-armed now, and on equal
+terms.  For Vane's blow had fallen on the first boy's head, and he went
+down half-stunned and bleeding, to turn over and then begin rapidly
+crawling away on hands and knees.
+
+Vane saw this, and he forgot that he was weak, that his arms were numbed
+and tingling, and that his legs trembled under him.  If victory was not
+within his grasp, he could take some vengeance for his sufferings; and
+the next minute the beechen glade was ringing with the rattle of stick
+against stick, as in a state of blind fury now, blow succeeded blow,
+many not being fended off by the gipsy lad's stick, but reaching him in
+a perfect hail on head, shoulders, arms, everywhere.  They flew about
+his head like a firework, making him see sparks in a most startling way
+till Vane put all his remaining strength into a tremendous blow which
+took effect upon a horizontal bough; the stick snapped in two close to
+his hand, and he stood defenceless once more, but the victor after all,
+for the second boy was running blindly in and out among the trees, and
+the first was quite out of sight.
+
+As he grasped the position, Vane uttered a hoarse shout and started in
+pursuit, but staggered, reeled, tried to save himself, and came down,
+heavily upon something hard, from which he moved with great rapidity and
+picked up to look at in dismay.
+
+It was the trowel.
+
+A faint, rustling sound amongst the leaves overhead roused Vane to the
+fact that he must have been sitting there some time in a giddy,
+half-conscious state, and, looking up, he could see the bright eyes of a
+squirrel fixed upon him, while its wavy bushy tail was twitching, and
+the little animal sounded as if it were scolding him for being there;
+otherwise all was still, and, in spite of his sufferings, it seemed very
+comical to Vane that the pretty little creature should be abusing him,
+evidently looking upon him as a thief come poaching upon the winter
+supply of beech-nuts.
+
+Then the giddy feeling grew more oppressive, the trees began to slowly
+sail round him, and there appeared to be several squirrels and several
+branches all whisking their bushy tails and uttering that peculiar sound
+of theirs--_chop, chop, chop_,--as if they had learned it from the noise
+made by the woodman in felling trees.
+
+What happened then Vane did not know, for when he unclosed his eyes
+again, it was to gaze at the level rays of the ruddy sun which streamed
+in amongst the leaves and twigs of the beeches, making them glorious to
+behold.
+
+For a few minutes he lay there unable to comprehend anything but the
+fact that his head was amongst the rough, woody beech-mast, and that one
+hand grasped the trowel while the other was full of dead leaves; but as
+his memory began to work more clearly and he tried to move, the sharp
+pains which shot through him chased all the mental mists away and he
+sprang up into a sitting posture unable to resist uttering a groan of
+pain as he looked round to see if either of the gipsy boys was in sight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+WHERE VANE SPENT THE NIGHT.
+
+The squirrel and the squirrel only.  There was not even a sound now.
+Vane could see the basket he had brought and the two pieces of the
+strong ash stick which he had broken over the fight with the second boy.
+The ground was trampled and the leaves kicked up, but no enemy was
+near, and he naturally began to investigate his damages.
+
+"They haven't killed me--not quite," he said, half-aloud, as he winced
+in passing his hand over his left shoulder and breast; and then his eyes
+half-closed, a deathly feeling of sickness came over him and he nearly
+fainted with horror, for at the touch of his hand a severe pain shot
+through his shoulder, and he could feel that his breast and armpit was
+soaking wet.
+
+Recovering from the shock of the horrible feeling he took out his
+handkerchief to act as a bandage, for he felt that he must be bleeding
+freely from one of the blows, and he knew enough from his uncle's books
+about injured arteries to make him set his teeth and determine to try
+and stop that before he attempted to get to his feet and start for home.
+
+His first effort was to unbutton his Norfolk jacket and find the injury
+which he felt sure must be a cut across the shoulder, but at the first
+touch of his hand he winced again, and the sick feeling came back with a
+faint sensation of horror, for there was a horrible grating sound which
+told of crushed bone and two edges grinding one upon the other.
+
+Again he mastered his weakness and boldly thrust his hand into his
+breast, withdrew it, and burst out into a wild hysterical laugh as he
+gave a casual glance at his hand before passing it cautiously into his
+left breast-pocket and bringing out, bit by bit, the fragments of the
+bottle of preparation which the doctor had dispensed, and that it had
+been his mission to deliver that afternoon.  For in the heat of the
+struggle, a blow of one of the sticks had crushed the bottle, saturating
+his breast and side with the medicament, and suggesting to his excited
+brain a horrible bleeding wound and broken bones.
+
+"Oh, dear!" he groaned; and he laughed again, "how easy it is to deceive
+oneself;" and he busied himself, as he spoke, in picking out the remains
+of the bottle, and finally turned his pocket inside out and shook it
+clear.
+
+"Don't smell very nice," he said with a sigh; "but I hope it's good for
+bruises.  Well, it's of no use for me to go on now, so I may as well get
+back."
+
+He was kneeling now and feeling his arms and shoulders again, and then
+he cautiously touched his face and head.  But there was no pain, no
+trace of injury in that direction, and he began softly passing his hands
+up and down his arms, and over his shoulders, wincing with agony at
+every touch, and feeling that he must get on at once if he meant to
+reach home, for a terrible stiffness was creeping over him, and when at
+last he rose to his feet, he had to support himself by the nearest tree,
+for his legs were bruised from hip to ankle, and refused to support his
+weight.
+
+"It is of no good," he said at last, after several efforts to go on, all
+of which brought on a sensation of faintness.  "I can't walk; what shall
+I do?"
+
+He took a step or two, so as to be quite clear of the broken bottle, and
+then slowly lowered himself down upon the thick bed of beech-mast and
+leaves, when the change to a recumbent position eased some of his
+sufferings, and enabled him to think more clearly.  And one of the
+results of this was a feeling of certainty that it would be impossible
+for him to walk home.
+
+Then he glanced round, wondering whether his assailants had gone right
+away or were only watching prior to coming back to finish their work.
+
+"I don't know what it means," he said, dolefully.  "I can't see why they
+should attack me like this.  I never did them any harm.  It must be for
+the sake of money, and they'll come back when I'm asleep."
+
+Vane ground his teeth, partly from rage, partly from pain, as he thrust
+his hand into his pocket, took out all the money he had, and then after
+looking carefully round, he raised the trowel, scraped away the leaves,
+dug a little hole and put in the coins, then covered them up again,
+spreading the leaves as naturally as possible, and mentally making marks
+on certain trees so as to remember the spot.
+
+At the same time he was haunted by the feeling that his every act was
+being watched, and that the coins would be found.
+
+"Never mind," he muttered, "they must find them," and he lay back once
+more to think about getting home, and whether he could manage the task
+after a rest, but he grew more and more certain that he could not, for
+minute by minute he grew cooler, and in consequence his joints and
+muscles stiffened, so that at last he felt as if he dared not stir.
+
+He lay quite still for a while, half-stunned mentally by his position,
+and glad to feel that he was not called upon to act in any way for the
+time being, all of which feeling was of course the result of the
+tremendous exertion through which he had passed, and the physical
+weakness and shock caused by the blows.
+
+It was a soft, deliciously warm evening, and it was restful to lie
+there, gazing through the trees at the glowing west, which was by slow
+degrees paling.  The time had gone rapidly by during the last two hours
+or so, and it suddenly occurred to him in a dull, hazy way that the
+evening meal, a kind of high tea, would be about ready now at the little
+manor; that Aunt Hannah would be getting up from her work to look out of
+the window and see if he was coming; and that after his afternoon in the
+garden, the doctor would have been up to his bedroom and just come down
+ready to take his seat at the snug, comfortable board.
+
+"And they are waiting for me," thought Vane.
+
+The idea seemed more to amuse than trouble him in his half-stupefied
+state, for everything was unreal and dreamy.  He could not fully realise
+that he was lying there battered and bruised, but found himself thinking
+as of some one else in whose troubles he took an interest.
+
+It was a curious condition of mind to be in, and, if asked, he could not
+have explained why he felt no anxiety nor wonder whether, after waiting
+tea for a long time, the doctor would send to meet him, and later on
+despatch a messenger to the village, where no news would be forthcoming.
+Perhaps his uncle and aunt would be anxious and would send people in
+search of him, and if these people were sent they would come along the
+deep lane and over the moorland piece, thinking that perhaps he would
+have gone that way for a short cut.
+
+Perhaps.  It all seemed to be perhaps, in a dull, misty way, and it was
+much more pleasant to lie listening to the partridges calling out on the
+moor--that curiously harsh cry, answered by others at a distance, and
+watch the sky growing gradually grey, and the clouds in the west change
+from gold to crimson, then to purple, and then turn inky black, while
+now from somewhere not far away he heard the flapping of wings and a
+hoarse, crocketing sound which puzzled him for the moment, but as it was
+repeated here and there, he knew it was the pheasants which haunted that
+part of the forest, flying up to their roosts for the night, to be safe
+from prowling animals--four-legged, or biped who walked the woods by
+night armed with guns.
+
+For it did not matter; nothing mattered now.  He was tired; and then all
+was blank.
+
+Sleep or stupor, one or the other.  Vane had been insensible for hours
+when he woke up with a start to find that lie was aching and that his
+head burned.  He was puzzled for a few minutes before he could grasp his
+position.  Then all he had passed through came, and he lay wondering
+whether any search had been made.
+
+But still that did not trouble him.  He wanted to lie still and listen
+to the sounds in the wood, and to watch the bright points of light just
+out through the narrow opening where he had seen the broad red face of
+the sun dip down, lower and lower out of sight.  The intense darkness,
+too, beneath the beeches was pleasant and restful, and though there were
+no partridges calling now, there were plenty of sounds to lie and listen
+to, and wonder what they could be.
+
+At another time he would have felt startled to find himself alone out
+there in the darkness, but in his strangely dulled state now every
+feeling of alarm was absent, and a sensation akin to curiosity filled
+his brain.  Even the two gipsy lads were forgotten.  He had once fancied
+that they might return, but he had had reasoning power enough left to
+argue that they would have come upon him long enough before, and to feel
+that he must have beaten them completely,--frightened them away.
+
+And as he lay he awoke to the fact that all was not still in that black
+darkness, for there was a world of active, busy life at work.  Now there
+came, like a whispering undertone, a faint clicking noise as the leaves
+moved.  There were tiny feet passing over him; beetles of some kind that
+shunned the light; wood-lice and pill millipedes, hurrying here and
+there in search of food; and though Vane could not see them he knew that
+they were there.
+
+Again there was the soft rustling movement of a leaf, and then of
+another a short distance away on the other side of his head.  And Vane
+smiled as he lay there on his back staring up at the overhanging boughs
+through which now and then he could catch sight of a fine bright ray.
+
+For he knew that sound well enough.  It was made by great earth worms
+which reached out of their holes in the cool, moist darkness, feeling
+about for a soft leaf which they could seize with their round looking
+mouths, hold tightly, and draw back after them into the hole from which
+their tails had not stirred.
+
+Vane lay listening to this till he was tired, and then waited for some
+other sound of the night.
+
+It was not long in coming--a low, soft, booming buzz of some beetle,
+which sailed here and there, now close by, now so distant that its hum
+was almost inaudible, but soon came nearer again till it was right over
+his head, when there was a dull flip, then a tap on the dry beech-mast.
+
+"Cockchafer," said Vane softly, and he knew that it had blundered up
+against some twig and fallen to earth, where, though he could not see
+it, he knew that it was lying upon its back sprawling about with its
+awkward-looking legs, vainly trying to get on to them again and start
+upon another flight.
+
+Once more there was silence, broken only by a faint, fine hum of a gnat,
+and the curious wet crackling or rustling sound which rose from the
+leaves.
+
+Then Vane smiled, for in the distance there was a resonant, "Hoi, hoi,"
+such as might have been made by people come in search of him.  But he
+knew better, as the shout rose up, and nearer and nearer still at
+intervals, for it was an owl sailing along on its soft, silent pinions,
+the cry being probably to startle a bird from its roost or some
+unfortunate young bird or mouse into betraying its whereabouts, so that
+a feathered leg might suddenly be darted down to seize, with four keen
+claws all pointing to one centre, and holding with such a powerful grip
+that escape was impossible.
+
+The owl passed through the dark shadowy aisles, and its cry was heard
+farther and farther away till it died out; but there was no sense of
+loneliness in the beech-wood.  There was always something astir.
+
+Now it was a light tripping sound of feet over the dead leaves, the
+steps striking loudly on the listener's ear.  Then they ceased, as if
+the animal which made the sounds were cautious and listening for danger.
+Again trip, trip, trip, plainly heard and coming nearer, and from
+half-a-dozen quarters now the same tripping sounds, followed by pause
+after pause, and then the continuation as if the animals were coming
+from a distance to meet at some central spot.
+
+_Rap_!
+
+A quick, sharp blow of a foot on the ground, followed by a wild, tearing
+rush of rabbits among the trees, off and away to their burrows, not one
+stopping till its cotton-wool-like tail had followed its owner into some
+sandy hole.
+
+Another pause with the soft petillation of endless life amongst the dead
+leaves, and then from outside the forest, down by the sphagnum margined
+pools, where the cotton-rushes grew and the frogs led a cool, soft
+splashing life, there came a deep-toned bellowing roar, rising and
+falling with a curious ventriloquial effect as if some large animal had
+lost its way, become bogged, and in its agony was calling upon its owner
+for rescue.
+
+No large quadruped, only a brown-ruffed, long necked, sharp-billed
+bittern, the now rare marsh bird which used to haunt the watery
+solitudes with the heron, but save here and there driven away by
+drainage and the naturalist's gun.
+
+And as Vane lay and listened, wondering whether the bird uttered its
+strange, bellowing song from down by a pool, or as it sailed round and
+round, and higher and higher, over the boggy mere, he recalled the
+stories Chakes had told him of the days when "bootherboomps weer as
+plentiful in the mash as wild ducks in winter."  And then he tried to
+fit the bird's weird bellowing roar with the local rustic name--"boomp
+boomp--boother boomp!" but it turned out a failure, and he lay listening
+to the bird's cry till it grew fainter and less hoarse.  Then fainter
+still, and at last all was silent, for Vane had sunk once more into a
+half-insensible state, it could hardly be called sleep, from which he
+was roused by the singing of birds and the dull, chattering wheezing
+chorus kept up by a great flock of starlings, high up in the beech tops.
+
+The feverish feeling which had kept him from being cold had now passed
+off, and he lay there chilled to the bone, aching terribly and
+half-puzzled at finding himself in so strange a place.  But by degrees
+he recalled everything, and feeling that unless he made some effort to
+crawl out of the beech-wood he might lie there for many hours, perhaps
+days, he tried to turn over so as to get upon his knees and then rise to
+his feet.
+
+He was not long in finding that the latter was an impossibility, for at
+the slightest movement the pain was intense, and he lay still once more.
+
+But it was terribly cold; he was horribly thirsty, and fifty yards away
+the beech trees ended and the sun was shining hotly on the chalky bank,
+while just below there was clear water ready for scooping up with his
+hand to moisten his cracked lips.  In addition, there were blackberries
+or, if not, dew-berries which he might reach.  Only a poor apology for
+breakfast, but delicious now if he could only get some between his lips.
+
+He tried again, then again, each time the pain turning him sick; but
+there was a great anxiety upon him now.  His thoughts were no longer
+dull and strained in a selfish stupor; he was awake, fully awake, and in
+mental as well as bodily agony.  For his thoughts were upon those at the
+little manor, and he knew that they must have passed a sleepless night
+on his account, and he knew, too, that in all probability his uncle had
+been out with others searching for him, certain that some evil must have
+befallen or he would have returned.
+
+It was a terrible wrench, and he felt as if his muscles were being torn;
+but with teeth set, he struggled till he was upon hands and knees, and
+then made his first attempt to crawl, if only for a foot or two.
+
+At last, after shrinking again and again, he made the effort, and the
+start made, he persevered, though all the time there was a singing in
+his ears, the dead leaves and blackened beech-mast seemed to heave and
+fall like the surface of the sea, and a racking agony tortured his
+limbs.  But he kept on foot by foot, yard by yard, with many halts and a
+terrible drag upon his mental powers before he could force himself to
+recommence.  How long that little journey of fifty or sixty yards took
+he could not tell; all he knew was that he must get out of the forest
+and into the sunshine, where he might be seen by those who came in
+search of him; and there was water there--the pure clear water which
+would be so grateful to his parched lips and dry, husky throat.
+
+The feeling of chill was soon gone, for his efforts produced a burning
+pain in every muscle, but in a dim way he knew that he was getting
+nearer the edge, for it was lighter, and a faint splashing sound and the
+beating of wings told of wild-fowl close at hand in that clear water.
+
+On then again so slowly, but foot by foot, till the last of the huge
+pillar-like trunks which had seemed to bar his way was passed, and he
+slipped down a chalky bank to lie within sight of the water but unable
+to reach it, utterly spent, when he heard a familiar voice give the
+Australian call--"Coo-ee!" and he tried to raise a hand but it fell
+back.
+
+Directly after a voice cried:
+
+"Hi!  Here he is!"
+
+The voice was Distin's, and as he heard it Vane fainted dead away.
+
+The Weathercock--by George Manville Fenn
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+THE LAW ASKS QUESTIONS.
+
+Seeing the rush made by Gilmore and Macey, Bruff hesitated for a few
+moments, and then turned and shouted to Joseph, the next man.
+
+"They've fun suthin," and ran after them.
+
+Joseph turned and shouted to Wrench, the carpenter.
+
+"They've got him," and followed Bruff.
+
+Wrench shouted to Chakes and ran after Joseph, and in this
+House-that-Jack-built fashion the news ran along the line to the doctor
+and rector, and right to the end, with the result that all came hurrying
+along in single-file, minute by minute increasing the size of the group
+about where Vane lay quite insensible now.
+
+"Poor old chap," cried Macey, dropping on his knees by his friend's
+side, Gilmore kneeling on the other, and both feeling his hands and
+face, which were dank and cold, while Distin stood looking down grimly
+but without offering to stir.
+
+"Don't say he's dead, sir," panted Bruff.
+
+"No, no, he's not dead," cried Macey.  "Fetch some water; no, run for
+the doctor."
+
+"He's coming, sir," cried Joseph, shading his eyes to look along the
+line.  "He won't be long.  Hi--hi--yi!  Found, found, found!" roared the
+man, and his cry was taken up now and once more the news flew along the
+line, making all redouble their exertions, even the rector, who had not
+done such a thing for many years, dropping into the old football pace of
+his youth, with his fists up and trotting along after the doctor.
+
+But the progress was very slow.  It was a case of the more haste the
+worst speed, for a bee-line through ancient gorse bushes and brambles is
+not perfection as a course for middle-aged and elderly men not
+accustomed to go beyond a walk.  Every one in his excitement caught the
+infection, and began to run, but the mishaps were many.  Chakes, whose
+usual pace was one mile seven furlongs per hour, more or less, tripped
+and went down; and as nobody stopped to help him, three men passed him
+before he had struggled up and began to look about for his hat.  The
+next to go down was Rounds, the miller, who, after rushing several
+tangles like an excited rhinoceros, came to grief over an extra tough
+bramble strand, and went down with a roar.
+
+"Are you hurt, Mr Rounds?" panted the doctor.
+
+"Hurt!" cried the churchwarden, "I should think I am, sir.  Five hundred
+million o' thorns in me.  But don't you wait.  You go on, and see to
+that boy," he continued, as he drew himself into a sitting position.
+"Dessay he wants you more than I do."
+
+"Then I will go on, Mr Rounds; forgive me for leaving you."
+
+"All right, sir, and you too, parson; goo on, niver mind me."
+
+The rector seemed disposed to stay, for he was breathless, but he
+trotted on, and was close to the doctor, as he reached the group on the
+other side of the stream.
+
+"Not dead?" panted the doctor.
+
+"Oh no, sir," cried Macey, "but he's very bad; seems to have tumbled
+about among the trees a great deal.  Look at his face."
+
+The doctor knelt down after making the men stand back.
+
+"Must have fallen heavily," he said, as he began his examination.  "Head
+cut, great swelling, bruise across his face, and eye nearly closed.
+This is no fall, Mr Syme.  Good heavens! look at his hand and wrist.
+The poor fellow has been horribly beaten with sticks, I should say."
+
+"But tell me," panted the rector; "he is not--"
+
+"No, no, not dead; insensible, but breathing."
+
+"Found him, gentlemen?" said a voice; and as the rector looked up, it
+was to see the two police constables on their way to join them.
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the rector; "but, tell me, was there any firing in the
+night--any poachers about?"
+
+"No, sir; haven't seen or heard of any lately; we keep too sharp a
+look-out.  Why, the young gent has got it severely.  Some one's been
+knocking of him about."
+
+"Don't stop to talk," cried the doctor.  "I must have him home
+directly."
+
+"Here, how is he?" cried a bluff voice; and Rounds now came up, dabbing
+his scratched and bleeding face with his handkerchief.
+
+"Bad, bad, Rounds," said the doctor.
+
+"Bad?  Ay, he is.  But, halloo, who is been doing this?"
+
+He looked around at his fellow-townsmen, and then at Vane's
+fellow-pupils so fiercely that Gilmore said quickly:
+
+"Not I, Mr Rounds."
+
+"Silence!" cried the doctor angrily.  "It is of vital importance that my
+nephew should be carried home at once."
+
+"Oh, we'll manage that, sir," said one of the constables as he slipped
+off his greatcoat and spread it on the ground.  "Now, if we lift him and
+lay him upon that, and half-a-dozen take hold of the sides and try to
+keep step, we can get him along."
+
+"Yes, that's right," cried the doctor, superintending the lifting, which
+drew a faint groan from Vane.  "Poor lad!" he said; "but I'm glad to
+hear that.  Now then, better keep along this side of the stream till we
+can cut across to the lane.  Here, I want a good runner."
+
+"I'll go," said Gilmore quickly.
+
+"Yes, you," said the doctor, "go and tell my wife to have Vane's bed
+ready.  Say we have found him hurt, but not very badly."
+
+"Why not take him to the rectory?" said Mr Syme.  "It is nearer."
+
+"Thank you, but I'll have him at home," said the doctor.
+
+"One moment, gentlemen," said the first constable, book in hand.  "I
+want to know exactly where he was found."
+
+"Here, man, here," cried the doctor.  "Now then, lift him carefully, and
+keep step.  If I say stop, lower him directly."
+
+"Yes, sir; go on," said the constable.  "We must have a look round
+before we come away.  P'r'aps you'd stop along with us, Mr
+Churchwarden, sir, and maybe one of you young gents would stay," he
+continued, addressing Distin.
+
+"Me--me stay!" said the lad starting, and flushing to his brow.
+
+"Yes, sir.  Young gents' eyes are sharp and see things sometimes."
+
+"Yes, Distin, my dear boy," said the rector, "stop with them.  You are
+going to search?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  That young gent couldn't have got into that state all by
+himself, and we want to find out who did it."
+
+The man glanced sharply at Distin again as he spoke, and the young
+Creole avoided his eye with the result that the constable made a note in
+his book with a pencil which seemed to require wetting before it would
+mark.
+
+"I think," said the rector, "it is my duty to stay here, as this matter
+is assuming a serious aspect."
+
+"Thank ye, sir; I should be glad if you would," said the constable.  "It
+do begin to look serious."
+
+"Joseph, run on after Dr Lee, and tell him why I am staying.  Say that
+he is to use the carriage at once if he wishes to send for help or
+nurse.  I shall not be very long."
+
+Joseph ran off at a sharp trot after the departing group, and the
+constable went slowly forward after carefully examining the ground where
+Vane had been found.
+
+"Keep back, everybody, please.  Plenty of footprints here," he said,
+"but all over, I'm afraid.  Hah!  Look here, sir," he continued,
+pointing down at the loose sand and pebbles; "he crawled along here on
+his hands and knees."
+
+Distin looked sallow and troubled now, and kept on darting furtive looks
+at those about, several of the men having stopped back to see what the
+constable might find.
+
+"Don't see no steps but his," said the constable, who seemed to be
+keenly observant for so rustic-looking a man.  "Hah, that's where he
+come down, regularly slipped, you see."
+
+He pointed to the shelving bank of chalk, on the top of which the
+beeches began, and over which their long, lithe branches drooped.
+
+"Steady, please.  I'll go on here by myself with you two gents.  You see
+as no one else follows till I give leave."
+
+The second constable nodded, and the bank was climbed, the rector
+telling Distin to hold out a hand to help him--a hand that was very wet
+and cold, feeling something like the tail of a codfish.
+
+Here the constable had no difficulty in finding Vane's track over the
+dead leaves and beech-mast for some distance, and then he uttered an
+ejaculation as he pounced upon a broken stick, one of the pieces being
+stained with blood.
+
+"It's getting warm," he said.  "Oh, yes, don't come forward, gentlemen.
+Here we are: ground's all trampled and kicked up, and what's this here?
+Little trowel and a basket and--"
+
+He turned over the contents of the basket with a puzzled expression.
+
+"Aren't taters," he said, holding the basket to the rector.
+
+"No, my man, they are truffles."
+
+"Oh, yes, sir, I can see they're trifles."
+
+"Truffles, my man, troofles," said the rector.  "The poor fellow must
+have been digging them up."
+
+"But no one wouldn't interfere with him for digging up that stuff, sir.
+I mean keepers or the like.  And there's been two of 'em here, simminly.
+Oh, yes, look at the footmarks, only they don't tell no tales.  I like
+marks in soft mud, where you can tell the size, and what nails was in
+the boots.  Stuff like this shows nothing.  Halloo, again."
+
+"Found something else?" cried the rector excitedly.
+
+"Bits o' broken glass, sir,--glass bottle.  There's a lot of bits
+scattered about."
+
+The constable searched about the grass of the beech grove where the
+struggle had taken place, but not being gifted with the extraordinary
+eyes and skill of an American Indian, he failed to find the track of
+Vane's assailants going and coming, and he was about to give up when the
+rector pointed to a couple of places amongst the dead leaves which
+looked as if two hands had torn up some of the dead leaves.
+
+"Ay, that's someat," said the constable quickly.  "I see, sir, you're
+quite right.  Some one went down here and--Phee-ew!" he whistled as he
+picked up a leaf.  "See that, sir?"
+
+The rector looked, shuddered and turned away, but Distin pressed forward
+with a curious, half-fascinated aspect, and stared down at the leaf the
+constable held out, pointing the while to several more like it which lay
+upon the ground.
+
+"Blood?" said Distin in a hoarse voice.
+
+"Yes, sir, that's it.  Either the young gent or some one else had what
+made that.  Don't look nice, do it?"
+
+Distin shuddered, and the constable made another note in his book,
+moistening his pencil over and over again and glancing thoughtfully at
+Distin as he wrote in a character that might have been called
+cryptographic, for it would have defied any one but the writer to have
+made it out.
+
+"Well, constable," said the rector at last, "what have you discovered?"
+
+"That the young gent was out here, sir, digging up them tater things as
+he was in the habit of grubbing up--weeds and things.  I've seen him
+before."
+
+"Yes, yes," said the rector.  "Well?"
+
+"And then some one come and went at him."
+
+"Some one," said the rector, "I thought you said two."
+
+"So I did, sir, and I thought so at first, but I don't kind o' find
+marks of more than one, and he broke this stick about Mr Vane, and the
+wonder to me is as he hasn't killed him.  Perhaps he has."
+
+"But what motive?  It could not have been the keepers."
+
+"Not they, sir.  They liked him."
+
+"Could it be poachers?"
+
+"Can't say, sir.  Hardly.  What would they want to 'tack a young gent
+like that for?"
+
+"Have there been any tramps about who might do it for the sake of
+robbery?"
+
+"Ha'n't been a tramp about here for I don't know how long, sir.  We're
+quite out of them trash.  Looks to me more like a bit o' spite."
+
+"Spite?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Young gent got any enemies as you know on?"
+
+The rector laughed and Distin joined in, making the constable scratch
+his head.
+
+"Oh, no, my man, we have no enemies in my parish.  You have not got the
+right clue this time.  Try again."
+
+"I'm going to, sir, but that's all for to-day," said the man, buttoning
+up his book in his pocket.  "I think we'll go back to the town now."
+
+"By all means," said the rector.  "Very painful and very strange.  Come,
+Distin."
+
+As he spoke he walked from under the twilight of the great beech-wood
+out into the sunshine, where about a dozen of the searchers were waiting
+impatiently in charge of the second constable for a report of what had
+been done.
+
+As the rector went on, Distin looked keenly round and then bent down
+over the leaves which bore the ugly stains, and without noticing that
+the constable had stolen so closely to him, that when he raised his head
+he found himself gazing full in the man's searching eyes.
+
+"Very horrid, sir, aren't it," he said.
+
+"Yes, yes, horrible," cried Distin, hastily, and he turned sharply round
+to follow the rector.
+
+At that moment the constable touched him on the shoulder with the broken
+stick, and Distin started round and in spite of himself shivered at the
+sight of the pieces.
+
+"Yes," he said hoarsely, as his face now was ghastly.  "You want to
+speak to me?"
+
+"Yes, sir, just a word or two.  Would you mind telling me where you was
+yesterday afternoon--say from four to six o'clock?"
+
+"I--I don't remember," said Distin.  "Why do you ask?"
+
+"The law has a right to ask questions, sir, and doesn't always care
+about answering of them," said the man with a twinkle of the eye.  "You
+say you don't know where you was?"
+
+"No.  I am not sure.  At the rectory, I think."
+
+"You aren't sure, sir, but at the rectory, you think.  Got rather a bad
+memory, haven't you, sir?"
+
+"No, excellent," cried Distin desperately.
+
+"You says as you was at the rectory yesterday afternoon when this here
+was done?"
+
+"How do you know it was done in the afternoon," said Distin, quickly.
+
+"Reason one, 'cause the young gent went in the afternoon to Lenby.
+Reason two, 'cause he was digging them trifles o' taters, and young
+gents don't go digging them in the dark.  That do, sir?"
+
+"Yes.  I feel sure now that I was at the rectory," said Distin, firmly.
+
+"Then I must ha' made a mistake, sir--eyes nothing like so good as they
+was."
+
+"What do you mean," cried Distin, changing colour once more.
+
+"Oh, nothing, sir, nothing, only I made sure as I see you when I was out
+in my garden picking apples in the big old tree which is half mine, half
+my mate's.  But of course it was my mistake.  Thought you was going down
+the deep lane."
+
+"Oh, no, I remember now," said Distin, carelessly; "I go out so much to
+think and study, that I often quite forget.  Yes, I did go down the
+lane--of course, and I noticed how many blackberries there were on the
+banks."
+
+"Ay, there are a lot, sir--a great lot to-year.  The bairns gets quite
+basketsful of 'em."
+
+"Are you coming, Distin?" cried the rector.
+
+"Yes, sir, directly," cried Distin; and then haughtily, "Do you want to
+ask me any more questions, constable?"
+
+"No, sir, thankye; that will do."
+
+"Then, good-morning."
+
+Distin walked away with his head up, and a nonchalant expression on his
+countenance, leaving the constable looking after him.
+
+"Want to ask me any more questions, constable," he said, mimicking
+Distin's manner.  "Then good-morning."
+
+He stood frowning for a few minutes, and nodded his head decisively.
+
+"Well," he said, "you're a gentleman, I suppose, and quite a scholard,
+or you wouldn't be at parson's, but if you aren't about as artful as
+they make 'em, I'm as thick-headed as a beetle.  Poor lad!  Only a sort
+o' foreigner, I suppose.  What a blessing it is to be born a solid
+Englishman.  Not as I've got a word again your Irishman and Scotchman,
+or your Welsh, if it comes to that, but what can you expect of a lad
+born out in a hot climate that aren't good for nobody but blacks?"
+
+He took a piece of string out of his pocket, and very carefully tied the
+trowel and pieces of broken stick together as firmly as if they were to
+be despatched on a long journey.  Then he opened the basket, peeped in,
+and frowned at the truffles, closed it up and went out.
+
+"Any of you as likes can go in now," he said, and shaking his head
+solemnly as questions began to pour upon him from all sides respecting
+the stick and basket, he strode off with his colleague in the direction
+of the town, gaining soon upon the rector, who was too tired and faint
+to walk fast, for it was not his habit to pass the night out of bed, and
+take a walk of some hours' duration at early dawn.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+BATES IS OBSTINATE.
+
+Gilmore reached the Little Manor to find Aunt Hannah ready to hurry out
+and meet him, and he shrank from giving his tidings, fearing that it
+would be a terrible shock.
+
+But he could keep nothing back with those clear, trusting eyes fixed
+upon him, and he gave his message.
+
+"You would not deceive me, Mr Gilmore?" she said.  "You are sure that
+he is only badly hurt; the doctor--my husband--hasn't sent you on to
+soften worse news to come?"
+
+"Indeed no," cried Gilmore warmly.  "Don't think that.  He is very bad.
+It is not worse."
+
+Aunt Hannah closed her eyes, and he saw her lips move for a few moments.
+He could not hear the words she spoke, but he took off his hat, and
+bent his head till she laid her hand upon his arm.
+
+"Thank God!" she said fervently.  "I feared the worst.  They are coming
+on, you say?"
+
+"Yes, but it will be quite an hour before they can get here.  You will
+excuse me, Mrs Lee, I want to get back to poor old Vane's side."
+
+"Yes, go," she said cheerfully.  "I shall be very busy getting ready for
+him.  The doctor did not say that you were to take anything back?"
+
+"No," said Gilmore; and he hurried away, admiring the poor little lady's
+fortitude, for he could see that she was suffering keenly, and only too
+glad to be alone.
+
+As he hurried back to the town he was conscious for the first time that
+his lower garments were still saturated and patched with dust; that his
+hands were torn and bleeding, and that his general aspect was about as
+disordered as it could possibly be.  In fact he felt that he looked as
+if he had been spending the early morning trying to drag a pond, and
+that every one who saw him would be ready to jeer.
+
+On the contrary, though he met dozens of people all eager to question
+him about Vane, no one appeared to take the slightest notice of his
+clothes, and he could not help learning how popular his friend was among
+the townsfolk, as he saw their faces assume an aspect of joy and relief.
+
+"I wonder whether they would make so much fuss about me," he said to
+himself; and, unable to arrive at a self-satisfying conclusion, he began
+to think what a blank it would have made in their existence at the
+rectory if Vane had been found dead.  From that, as he hurried along, he
+began to puzzle himself about the meaning of it all, and was as far off
+from a satisfactory conclusion as when he began, on coming in sight of
+the little procession with the doctor walking on one side of Vane, and
+Macey upon the other.
+
+He had not spoken, but lay perfectly unconscious, and there was not the
+slightest change when, followed by nearly the whole of the inhabitants
+of Greythorpe, he was borne in at the Little Manor Gate, the crowd
+remaining out in the road waiting for such crumbs of news as Bruff
+brought to them from time to time.
+
+There was not much to hear, only that the doctor had carefully examined
+Vane when he had been placed in bed, and found that his arms and
+shoulders were horribly beaten and bruised, and that the insensibility
+still lasted, while Doctor Lee had said something about fever as being a
+thing to dread.
+
+They were the words of wisdom, for before many hours had passed Vane was
+delirious and fighting to get out of bed and defend himself against an
+enemy always attacking him with a stick.
+
+He did not speak, only shrank and cowered and then attacked in turn
+fiercely, producing once more the whole scene so vividly that the doctor
+and Aunt Hannah could picture everything save the enemy who had
+committed the assault.
+
+The next evening, while the rector sat thinking over the bad news he had
+heard from the Little Manor half-an-hour before, Joseph tapped at the
+door to announce a visitor, and the rector said that he might be shown
+in.
+
+Macey was at the Little Manor.  Gilmore and Distin were in the grounds
+when the visitor was seen entering the gate, and the latter looked
+wildly round, as if seeking for the best way to escape; but mastering
+himself directly, he stood listening to Gilmore, who exclaimed:
+
+"Hallo! here's Mr PC.  Let's go and ask him if he has any news about
+the brute who nearly killed poor old Vane."
+
+"No," said Distin, hoarsely; "let's wait till he comes out."
+
+"All right," replied Gilmore; and he stood in the gloom beneath the
+great walnut tree watching the constable go up to the porch, ring, and,
+after due waiting, enter, his big head, being seen soon after, plainly
+shown against the study shaded lamp.
+
+"Well, constable," said the rector; "you have news for me?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"About the assailant of my poor pupil?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and I should have been here before, only it was Magistrates'
+day, and I had to go over to the town to attend a case."
+
+"Well, what have you found out?  Do you know who the person was that
+assailed Mr Vane Lee?"
+
+"Yes, sir: I'm pretty sure."
+
+"Not some one in this town?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Surely not.  I cannot think that any one would be so cruel."
+
+"Sorry to say it is so, sir, as far as I know; and I'm pretty sure now."
+
+"But who?  We have so few black sheep here, I am thankful to say.  Not
+Tompkins?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Jevell?"
+
+"No, sir, some one much nigher home than that, sir, I'm sorry to say."
+
+"Well, speak, and put me out of my suspense."
+
+"Some one here, sir," said the constable, after drawing a long breath.
+
+"What!"
+
+"Fact, sir.  Some one as lives here at the rectory."
+
+"In the name of common sense, man," cried the rector, angrily, "whom do
+you mean--me?"
+
+"No, sir, that would be too bad," said the constable.
+
+"Whom, then?"
+
+"Your pupil, sir, Mr Distin."
+
+Had a good solid Japanese earthquake suddenly shaken down all the walls
+of the rectory and left the Reverend Morton Syme seated in his easy
+chair unhurt and surrounded by debris and clouds of dust, he could not
+have looked more astonished.  He stared at the constable, who stood
+before him, very stiff, much buttoned up and perfectly unmoved, as a man
+would stand who feels his position unassailable.
+
+Then quietly and calmly taking out his gold-rimmed spring eye-glasses,
+the rector drew a white pocket-handkerchief from his breast, carefully
+polished each glass, put them on and stared frowningly at his visitor,
+who returned the look for a time, and then feeling his position irksome
+and that it called for a response, he coughed, saluted in military
+fashion and settled his neck inside his coat collar.
+
+"You seem to be perfectly sober, Bates," said the rector at last.
+
+"Sober, sir?" said the man quickly.  "Well, I think so, sir."
+
+"Then, my good man, you must be mad."
+
+The constable smiled.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir.  That's just what criminals make a point of saying
+when you charge 'em.  Not as I mean, sir," he added hastily, "that you
+are a criminal, far from it."
+
+"Thank you, my man, I hope not.  But what in the name of common sense
+has put it into your head that my pupil, Mr Distin, could be guilty of
+such a terrible deed?  Oh, it's absurd--I mean monstrous."
+
+The constable looked at him stolidly, and then said slowly:
+
+"Suckumstarnces, sir, and facks."
+
+"But, really, my good man, I--Stop!  You said you had been over to the
+town and met your chief officer.  Surely you have not started this
+shocking theory there."
+
+"Oh, yes, sir.  In dooty bound.  I told him my suspicions."
+
+"Well, what did he say?"
+
+The constable hesitated, coughed, and pulled himself tightly together.
+
+"I asked you what your chief officer said, sir."
+
+"Well, sir, if I must speak I must.  He said I was a fool."
+
+"Ah, exactly," cried the rector, eagerly.  Then, checking himself, he
+said with a deprecating smile: "No, no, Bates, I do not endorse that,
+for I have always found you a very respectable, intelligent officer, who
+has most efficiently done his duty in Greythorpe; and unless it were for
+your benefit, I should be very sorry to hear of your being removed."
+
+"Thankye, sir; thankye kindly," said the constable.
+
+"But in this case, through excess of zeal, I am afraid you have gone
+much too far.  Mr Lance Distin is a gentleman, a student, and of very
+excellent family.  A young man of excellent attainments, and about as
+likely to commit such a brutal assault as you speak of, as--as, well,
+for want of a better simile, Bates, as I am."
+
+The constable shook his head and looked very serious.
+
+"Now, tell me your reasons for making such a charge."
+
+The explanations followed.
+
+"Flimsy in the extreme, Bates," said the rector triumphantly, and as if
+relieved of a load.  "And you show no more common sense than to charge a
+gentleman with such a crime solely because you happened to see him
+walking in that direction."
+
+"Said he wasn't out, sir."
+
+"Well, a slip--a piece of forgetfulness.  We might either of us have
+done the same.  But tell me, why have you come here?"
+
+"Orders was to investigate, and if I found other facts, sir, to
+communicate with the chief constable."
+
+"Of course.  Now, you see, my good man, that what I say is correct--that
+through excess of zeal you are ready to charge my pupil--a gentleman
+entrusted to my charge by his father in the West Indies--a pupil to
+whom, during his stay in England, I act _in loco parentis_--and over
+whose career I shall have to watch during his collegiate curriculum--
+with a crime that must have been committed by some tramp.  You
+understand me?"
+
+"Yes, sir, all except the French and the cricklum, but I daresay all
+that's right."
+
+The rector smiled.
+
+"Now, are you satisfied that you have made a mistake?"
+
+"No, sir, not a bit of it," said the constable stolidly.
+
+The rector made a deprecating gesture with his hand, rose and rang the
+bell.  Then he returned to his seat, sat back and waited till the bell
+was answered.
+
+"Have the goodness, Joseph, to ask Mr Distin to step here."
+
+"If I might make so bold, sir," interposed the constable, "I should like
+you to have 'em all in."
+
+"One of my pupils, Mr Macey, is at the manor."
+
+"Macey?  That's the funny one," said the constable.  "Perhaps you'd have
+in them as is at home."
+
+"Ask Mr Gilmore to step in too."
+
+Joseph withdrew, and after a painful silence, steps were heard in the
+porch.
+
+"By the way, Bates," said the rector, hastily, "have you spread this
+charge?"
+
+"No, sir; of course not."
+
+"Does not Doctor Lee know?"
+
+"Not yet, sir.  Thought it my dooty to come fust to you."
+
+"I thank you, Bates.  It was very considerate of you.  Hush!"
+
+Distin's voice was heard saying something outside in a loud, laughing
+way, and the next moment he tapped and entered.
+
+"Joseph said you wished to see me, sir."  Then, with an affected start
+as he saw the constable standing there, "Have you caught them?"
+
+"Be good enough to sit down, Distin.  Gilmore, take a chair."  Then,
+after a pause:
+
+"You are here, Gilmore, at the constable's request, but the matter does
+not affect you.  My dear Distin, it does affect you, and I want you to
+help me convince this zealous but wrong-headed personage that he is
+labouring under a delusion."
+
+"Certainly, sir," replied Distin, cheerfully.  "What is the delusion?"
+
+"In plain, simple English, my dear boy, he believes that you committed
+that cruel assault upon poor Vane Lee."
+
+"Oh," exclaimed Distin, springing up and gazing excited at the
+constable, his eyes full of reproach--a look which changed to one of
+indignation, and with a stamp of the foot like one that might be given
+by an angry girl, he cried: "How dare he!"
+
+"Ah, yes!  How dare he," said the rector.  "But pray do not be angry, my
+dear boy.  There is no need.  Bates is a very good, quiet, sensible man
+who comes here in pursuance of what he believes to be his duty, and I am
+quite convinced that as soon as he realises the fact that he has made a
+great mistake he will apologise, and there will be an end of it."
+
+The constable did not move a muscle, but stood gazing fixedly at Distin,
+who uttered a contemptuous laugh.
+
+"Well, Mr Syme," he said, "what am I to do?  Pray give me your advice."
+
+"Certainly, and it is my duty to act as your counsel; so pray forgive me
+for asking you questions which you may deem unnecessary--for I grant
+that they are as far as I am concerned, but they are to satisfy this
+man."
+
+"Pray ask me anything you like, sir," cried Distin with a
+half-contemptuous laugh.
+
+"Then tell me this, on your honour as a gentleman: did you assault Vane
+Lee?"
+
+"No!" cried Distin.
+
+"Did you meet him in the wood the day before yesterday?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Did you encounter him anywhere near there, quarrel with and strike
+him?"
+
+"No, no, no," cried Distin, "and I swear--"
+
+"There is no need to swear, Mr Distin.  You are on your honour, sir,"
+said the rector.
+
+"Well, sir, on my honour I did not see Vane Lee from the time he left
+this study the day before yesterday till I found him lying below the
+chalk-bank by that stream."
+
+"Thank you, Distin.  I am much obliged for your frank disclaimer," said
+the rector, gravely.  "As I intimated to you all this was not necessary
+to convince me, but to clear away the scales from this man's eyes.  Now,
+Bates," he continued, turning rather sternly to the constable, "are you
+satisfied?"
+
+"No, sir," said the man bluntly, "not a bit."
+
+"Why, you insolent--"
+
+"Silence, Mr Distin," said the rector firmly.
+
+"But, really, sir, this man's--"
+
+"I said silence, Mr Distin.  Pray contain yourself.  Recollect what you
+are.  I will say anything more that I consider necessary."
+
+He cleared his throat, sat back for a few moments, and then turned to
+the constable.
+
+"Now, my good fellow, you have heard Mr Distin's indignant repudiation
+of this charge, and you are obstinately determined all the same."
+
+"Don't know about obstinate, sir," replied the constable, "I am only
+doing my duty, sir."
+
+"What you conceive to be your duty, Bates.  But you are wrong, my man,
+quite wrong.  You are upon the wrong scent.  Now I beg of you try to
+look at this in a sensible light and make a fresh start to run down the
+offender.  You see you have made a mistake.  Own to it frankly, and I am
+sure that Mr Distin will be quite ready to look over what has been
+said."
+
+Just then there was a tap at the door.
+
+"May I come in, sir?"
+
+"Yes, come in, my dear boy.  You have just arrived from the Manor?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Macey.
+
+"How is Vane?"
+
+Macey tried to answer, but something seemed to rise in his throat, and
+when he did force out his words they sounded low and husky.
+
+"Awfully bad, sir.  The doctor took me up, but he doesn't know anybody.
+Keeps going on about fighting."
+
+"Poor lad," said the rector, with a sigh.  "But, look here, Macey, you
+must hear this.  The constable here--Bates--has come to announce to me
+his belief that the assault was committed by your fellow-pupil."
+
+"Distin?" cried Macey, sharply, and as he turned to him the Creole's jaw
+dropped.
+
+"Yes, but it is of course a mistake, and has been disproved.  I was
+pointing out to Bates here the folly of an obstinate persistence in such
+an idea, when you entered."  Then turning once more to the constable,
+"Come, my man, you see now that you are in the wrong."
+
+"No, sir," said the constable, "I didn't see it before, but I feel surer
+now that I'm right."
+
+"What?"
+
+"That young gent thinks so too."
+
+"Mr Macey?  Absurd!"
+
+"See how he jumped to it directly, sir."
+
+"Nonsense, man!  Nonsense," cried the rector.  "Here, Macey, my dear
+boy, I suppose, as a man of peace, I must strive to convince this
+wrong-headed personage.  Tell him that he is half mad."
+
+"For thinking Distin did it, sir?" replied Macey, slowly.
+
+"Exactly--yes."
+
+"It wouldn't be quite fair, sir, because I'm afraid I thought so, too."
+
+The constable gave his leg a slap.
+
+"You--you dare to think that," cried Distin.
+
+"Hush! hush! hush!" said the rector, firmly.  "Macey, my dear boy, what
+cause have you for thinking such a thing."
+
+"Distin hates him."
+
+The constable drew a long breath, and he had hard work to preserve his
+equanimity in good official style.
+
+"My dear Macey," cried the rector reproachfully, "surely you are not
+going, on account of a few boyish disagreements, to think that your
+fellow-pupil would make such a murderous attack.  Come, you don't surely
+believe that?"
+
+"No," said Macey slowly, "I don't now: I can't believe that he would be
+such a wretch."
+
+"There!" cried the rector, triumphantly.  "Now, constable, there is no
+more to say, except that I beg you will not expose me and mine to
+painful trouble, and yourself to ridicule by going on with this baseless
+charge."
+
+"Can't say, sir, I'm sure," replied the constable.  "I want to do my
+dooty, and I want to show respect to you, Mr Syme, sir, as has always
+been a good, kind gentleman to me; but we're taught as no friendly or
+personal feelings is to stand in the way when we want to catch
+criminals.  So, with all doo respect to you, I can't make no promises."
+
+"I shall not ask you, my man," replied the rector; "what I do say is go
+home and think it over.  In a day or two I hope and trust that my pupil
+Vane Lee will be well enough to enlighten us as to who were his
+assailants."
+
+"I hope so, sir.  But suppose he dies?"
+
+"Heaven forbid! my man.  There, do as I say: go back and think over this
+meeting seriously, and believe me I shall be very glad to see you come
+to me to-morrow and say frankly, from man to man--I have been in the
+wrong.  Don't shrink from doing so.  It is an honour to anyone to avow
+that he was under a misapprehension."
+
+"Thankye, sir, and good-night," said the constable, as the rector rang
+for Joseph to show him out; and the next minute all sat listening to his
+departing steps on the gravel, followed by the _click click click click_
+of the swing-gate.
+
+The rector looked round as if he were about to speak, but he altered his
+mind, and the three pupils left the room, Distin going up to his chamber
+without a word, while attracted by the darkness Gilmore and Macey
+strolled out through the open porch into the grounds.
+
+"Suppose he dies?" said Macey, almost unconsciously repeating the
+constable's words.
+
+"Oh, I say, don't talk like that," cried Gilmore.  "It isn't likely, and
+you shouldn't have turned against poor old Distie as you did."
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Macey, sadly.  "You'd have thought the same
+if the doctor had let you go up to see poor old Weathercock.  It was
+horrid.  His face is dreadful, and his arms are black and blue from the
+wrist to the shoulder."
+
+"But Dis declared that he hadn't seen him," cried Gilmore.
+
+"I hope he hadn't, for it's too horrid to think a fellow you mix with
+could be such a wretch."
+
+Gilmore turned sharply round to his companion, but it was too dark to
+see his face.  There was something, however, in his tone of voice which
+struck him as being peculiar.  It did not sound confident of Distin's
+innocence.  There was a want of conviction in his words too, and this
+set Gilmore thinking as to the possibility of Distin having in a fit of
+rage and dislike quarrelled with and then beaten Vane till the stick was
+broken and his victim senseless.
+
+The idea grew rapidly as he stood there beside Macey in the darkness,
+and he recalled scores of little incidents all displaying Distin's
+dislike of his fellow-pupil; and as Gilmore thought on, a conscious
+feeling of horror, almost terror, crept over him till his common sense
+began to react and argue the matter out so triumphantly that in a voice
+full of elation he suddenly and involuntarily exclaimed:
+
+"It's absurd!  He couldn't."
+
+"What's absurd?  Who couldn't," cried Macey, starting from a reverie.
+
+"Did I say that aloud?" said Gilmore, wonderingly.
+
+"Why, you shouted it."
+
+"I was thinking about whether it was possible that the constable was
+right."
+
+"That's queer," said Macey; "I was thinking just the same."
+
+"And that Distie had done it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, don't you see that it is impossible?"
+
+"No, I wish I could," said Macey sadly; "can you?"
+
+"Why, of course.  Vane's as strong as Distie, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, quite."
+
+"And he can use his fists."
+
+"I should rather think he can.  I put on the gloves with him one day and
+he sent me flying.  But what has that got to do with it?"
+
+"Everything.  Do you think Distie could have pitched into Vane with a
+stick and not got something back?"
+
+"Why, of course he couldn't."
+
+"Well, there you are, then.  He hasn't got a scratch."
+
+"Hist!  What's that," said Macey, softly.
+
+"Sounded like a window squeaking."
+
+"Come away," whispered Macey taking his companion by the arm, and
+leading him over the turf before he stopped some distance now from the
+house.
+
+"What is it?" said Gilmore then.
+
+"That noise; it was old Distie at his window.  I could just make him
+out.  He had been listening to what we said."
+
+"Listeners never hear--" began Gilmore.
+
+"Any good of themselves," said Macey, finishing the old saying.
+
+"Well, I don't mind."
+
+"More don't I."
+
+And the two lads went in.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+SYMPATHY.
+
+Those were sad and weary hours at the Little Manor, and when Vane's
+delirium was at its height and he was talking most rapidly, Doctor Lee
+for almost the first time in his life felt doubtful of his own knowledge
+and ability to treat his patient.  He was troubled with a nervous
+depression, which tempted him to send for help, and he turned to
+white-faced, red-eyed Aunt Hannah.
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not treating him correctly," he whispered.  "I think I
+will send Bruff over to the station to telegraph for help."
+
+But Aunt Hannah shook her head.
+
+"If you cannot cure him, dear," she said firmly, "no one can.  No, do
+not send."
+
+"But he is so very bad," whispered the doctor; "and when this fever
+passes off he will be as weak as a babe."
+
+"Then we must nurse him back to strength," said Aunt Hannah.  "No, dear,
+don't send.  It is not a case of doubt.  You know exactly what is the
+matter, and of course how to treat him for the best."
+
+The doctor was silenced and stood at the foot of the bed, while Aunt
+Hannah laid her cool, soft hand upon the sufferer's burning brow.
+
+Neither aunt nor uncle troubled to think much about the causes of the
+boy's injuries; their thoughts were directed to the nursing and trying
+to allay the feverish symptoms, for the doctor was compelled to own that
+his nephew's condition was grave, the injuries being bad enough alone
+without the exposure to the long hours of a misty night just on the
+margin of a moor.
+
+It was not alone in the chamber that sympathetic conversation went on,
+for work was almost at a standstill in house and garden.  For the three
+servants talked together, as they found out how much Vane had had to do
+with their daily life, and what a blank his absence on a bed of sickness
+had caused.
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed Martha, "poor, poor fellow!"
+
+The tears were rolling down her cheeks, and to keep up an ample supply
+of those signs of sorrow she took a very long sip of warm tea, for the
+pot had been kept going almost incessantly since Vane had been borne up
+to his bed.
+
+"Yes, it is.--Oh, dear," sighed Eliza.  "Poor dear!  Only to think of it
+and him only as you may say yesterday alive and well."
+
+"Ay, and so it is, and so it always will be," said Bruff, who was
+standing by the kitchen-door turning some ale round and round in the
+bottom of a mug.
+
+"Ah!" sighed Martha.
+
+"Ah, indeed!" sighed Eliza.
+
+"And me so ready to make a fuss about the poor dear because he'd made a
+litter sometimes with his ingenuous proceedings."
+
+"And me too," sighed Eliza, "and ready to bite my very tongue off now
+for saying the things I did."
+
+"Yes, as Mr Syme says, we're a many of us in black darkness," muttered
+Bruff.  "Why, that there hot-water apparatus is a boon and a blessin' to
+men, as the song says."
+
+"About the pens?" added Eliza.
+
+"You can most see the things grow."
+
+"Ah," sighed Martha.
+
+"He weer as reight as reight.  It was all them turning off the
+scape-yokes."
+
+"And Missus forgetting to tell Martha about not lighting the fire."
+
+"And if he'd only get well again," sobbed Martha, wiping her eyes, "the
+biler might be busted once a week, and not a word would I say."
+
+"No," sighed Bruff giving his ale another twist round and slowly pouring
+it down his throat.  "There's a rose tree in the garden as he budded
+hisself, though I always pretended it was one of my doing, and sorry I
+am now."
+
+"Ah," sighed Martha, "we all repents when it's too late."
+
+Pop!
+
+A cinder flew out of the fire on to the strip of carpet lying across the
+hearth, and a pungent odour of burning wool arose.  But Bruff stooped
+down and using his hardened fingers as tongs, picked up the cinder and
+tossed it inside the fender.
+
+Martha started as the cinder flew out and looked aghast at Eliza, her
+ruddy face growing mottled, while the housemaid's cheeks were waxen as
+the maids gave themselves up to the silly superstition that, like many
+more, does not die hard but absolutely refuses to die at all.
+
+"Oh, my poor dear!" cried Martha, sobbing aloud, while Eliza buried her
+face in her apron, and the reason thereof suddenly began to dawn upon
+Bruff, who turned to the fireplace again, stooped down and carefully
+picked up the exploded bubble of coke and gas, turned it over two or
+three times, and then by a happy inspiration giving it a shake and
+producing a tiny tinkling noise.
+
+Bruff's face expanded into a grin.
+
+"Why, it aren't," he cried holding out the cinder; "it's a puss o'
+money."
+
+"No, no," sighed Martha, "that isn't the one."
+
+"That it is," cried Bruff, sturdily.  "I'm sure on it.  Look 'Liza."
+
+The apron was slowly drawn away from the girl's white face and she fixed
+her eyes on the hollow cinder, but full of doubt.
+
+"It is.  Hark!" cried Bruff, and he shook the cinder close to Eliza's
+ear.  "Can't you hear?"
+
+"It does tinkle," she said.  "But are you sure that's the one?"
+
+"Of course I am, and it's a sign as he'll get well again, and be rich
+and happy."
+
+"No, no; that isn't the one, that isn't the one," sobbed Martha.
+
+"Tell you it is," cried Bruff so fiercely that the cook doubtingly took
+the piece of cinder, shook it, and by degrees a smile spread over her
+countenance and she rose and put the scrap on the chimney-piece between
+two bright brass candlesticks.
+
+"For luck," she said; and this time she wiped her eyes dry and examined
+a saucepan of beef tea which she had stewed down.  "In case it's
+wanted," she said confidentially, though there was not the slightest
+likelihood thereof for some time to come.
+
+"Well," said Bruff at last, "I suppose I had better go out to work."
+
+But he only looked out of the kitchen window at the garden and shook his
+head.
+
+"Don't seem to hev no 'art in it," he said, looking from one to the
+other, as if this were quite a new condition for him to be in.  "Seems
+to miss him so, and look wheer you will theer's a something as puts you
+in mind of him.  Well, all I says is this, and both of you may hear it,
+only let him get well and he may do any mortal thing in my garden, and I
+won't complain."
+
+Bruff took up his mug, looked inside it, and set it down again with a
+frown.
+
+"My missus is coming up to see if she can do owt for you 's afternoon."
+
+"Ah!" sighed cook, "you never know what neighbours is till you're in
+trouble, 'Liza."
+
+"No."
+
+"Go up, soft like, and ask missus if I may send her a cup o' tea."
+
+"No," said Eliza, decisively; "pour one out and I'll take it up.  And I
+say, dear, you know what a one master is for it; why don't you send him
+up the little covered basin o' beef tea.  There, I'll go and put a
+napkin over a tray."
+
+Perhaps it was due to being called "dear," perhaps to the fact there was
+an outlet for the strong beef tea she had so carefully prepared; at any
+rate Martha smiled and went to the cupboard for the pepper, and then to
+the salt-box, to season the beef tea according to her taste.
+
+Five minutes later the tray was borne up with the herbaceous and the
+flesh tea, and in addition some freshly-made crisp brown toast.
+
+The refreshments were most welcome, for both the doctor and Aunt Hannah
+were exhausted and faint, and as soon as they were alone again, and
+Eliza gone down with the last bulletin, Aunt Hannah shed a few tears.
+
+"So sympathetic and thoughtful of the servants, dear," she said.
+
+The doctor nodded, and then as he dipped the dry toast in the beef tea
+he thought to himself that Vane had somehow managed to make himself a
+friend everywhere.
+
+But an enemy, too, he thought directly after, and he set himself to try
+and think out who it could be--an occupation stopped by messengers from
+the rectory, Gilmore, Distin and Macey having arrived to ask how the
+patient was getting on.  While on their way back, they met Bates, the
+constable, looking very solemn as he saluted them and went on, thinking
+a great deal, but waiting until Vane recovered his senses before
+proceeding to act.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+VANE RECOLLECTS.
+
+"Hah, that's better," said the doctor one fine morning, "feel stronger,
+don't you?"
+
+"Oh yes, uncle," said Vane rather faintly, "only my head feels weak and
+strange, and as if I couldn't think."
+
+"Then don't try," said the doctor, and for another day or two Vane was
+kept quiet.
+
+But all the time there was a curious mental effervescence going on as
+the lad lay in bed, the object of every one's care; and until he could
+clearly understand why he was there, there was a constant strain and
+worry connected with his thoughts.
+
+"Give him time," the doctor used to say to Aunt Hannah, "and have
+confidence in his medical man.  When nature has strengthened him enough
+his mind will be quite clear."
+
+"But are you sure, dear?" said Aunt Hannah piteously; "it would be so
+sad if the poor fellow did not quite recover his memory."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor, "this comes of having some one you know
+by heart for medical attendant.  You wouldn't have asked Doctor White or
+Doctor Black such a question as that."
+
+"It is only from anxiety, my dear," said Aunt Hannah; "I have perfect
+confidence in you.  It is wonderful how he is improved."
+
+Just then two visitors arrived in the shape of Gilmore and Macey.
+
+They had come to make inquiries on account of the rector, they said; and
+on hearing the doctor's report, Macey put in a petition on his own
+account.
+
+"Let you go up and sit with him a bit?" said the doctor.  "Well, I
+hardly know what to say.  He knows us now; but will you promise to be
+very quiet?"
+
+"Oh, of course, sir," cried Macey.
+
+"I can't let two go up," said the doctor.
+
+Macey looked at Gilmore.
+
+"I'll give way if you'll promise to let me have first turn next time."
+
+"Agreed," said Macey; and Gilmore went off back to give the doctor's
+report to the rector, while Macey was led upstairs gently by Aunt
+Hannah, and after again promising to be very quiet, let into Vane's
+room, and the door closed behind him.
+
+Vane was lying, gazing drowsily at the window, but the closing of the
+door made him turn his eyes toward the new comer, when his face lit up
+directly.
+
+"What, Aleck!" he said faintly.
+
+"What, old Weathercock!" cried Macey, running to the bed.  "Oh, I say,
+old chap, it does one good to see you better, I say you're going to be
+quite well now, aren't you?"
+
+"Yes, I am better.  But have they caught them?"
+
+"Eh?  Caught what?"
+
+"Those two young scoundrels of gipsies," said Vane quickly.  Then, as he
+realised what he had said, he threw his arms out over the sheet.  "Why,
+that's what I've been trying to think of for days, and now it's come.
+Have they caught them?"
+
+"What for?" said Macey, wonderingly.
+
+"For knocking me about as they did.  They ought to be punished; I've
+been very ill, haven't I?"
+
+"Awful," said Macey, quickly.  "But, I say, was it those two chaps?"
+
+Vane looked at him half wonderingly.
+
+"Yes, of course," he said.  "I remember it all now.  It's just as if a
+cloud had gone away from the back of my head, and I could see clearly
+right back now."
+
+"Why did they do it?" cried Macey, speaking out, but feeling dubious,
+for Vane's manner was rather strange, and he might still be wandering.
+
+"I don't know," said Vane; "I was getting truffles for uncle when they
+came along, and it was fists against sticks.  They won, I suppose."
+
+"Well, rather so I think," said Macey, edging toward the door.
+
+"Don't go, old chap.  You've only just come."
+
+"No, but you're talking too much, and you're to be kept quiet."
+
+"Well, I'm lying quiet.  But, tell me, have they caught those two
+fellows for knocking me about last night?"
+
+"No, not yet; and I must go now, old fellow."
+
+"But tell me this: What did Syme say this morning because I didn't
+come?"
+
+"Oh, nothing much; he was tackling me.  I got it horribly for being so
+stupid."
+
+"Not you.  But tell him I shall be back in the morning."
+
+"All right.  Good-bye."
+
+They shook hands, and Macey hurried down to the doctor and Mrs Lee.
+
+"Here, he's ever so much better and worse, too, sir," cried Macey.
+
+The doctor started up in alarm.
+
+"Oh, no, sir; he's quiet enough, but he thinks it was only last night
+when he was knocked about."
+
+"Convalescents are often rather hazy about their chronology," said the
+doctor.
+
+"But he's clear enough in one thing, sir; he says it was the two gipsy
+lads who set upon him with sticks."
+
+"Ah!" cried the doctor.
+
+"And I came down to ask you if these two fellows ought not to be
+caught."
+
+"Yes, yes, of course," cried the doctor.  "But first of all we must be
+sure whether he is quite clear in his head.  This may be an illusion."
+
+"Well, sir, it may be," replied Macey, "but if I'd had such a knocking
+about as poor Vane, I shouldn't make any mistake about it as soon as I
+could begin to think."
+
+"Stay here," said the doctor.  "I'll go up and see him."
+
+He went up and all doubt about his nephew's clearness of memory was at
+an end, for Vane began at once.
+
+"I've been lying here some time, haven't I, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my boy; a long while."
+
+"I was very stupid just now when Macey was here.  It seemed to me that
+it was only last night that I was in the wood getting truffles, when
+those two gipsy lads attacked me, but, of course, I've been very ill
+since."
+
+"Yes, my boy, very."
+
+"The young scoundrels!  There was the basket and trowel, I remember."
+
+"Yes, my boy, they brought them home."
+
+"That's right.  It was your little bright trowel, and--oh, of course I
+remember that now.  I was taking the bottle of liniment, and one of the
+lad's sticks struck me on the breast, where I had the bottle in my
+pocket, and shivered it."
+
+"Struck you with his stick?"
+
+"Yes.  I made as hard a fight of it as I could, but they were too much
+for me."
+
+"Don't think about it any more now, but try and have a nap," said the
+doctor quietly.  "I want to go down."
+
+Vane sighed.
+
+"What's the matter, boy, fresh pain?"
+
+"No, I was thinking what a trouble I am to you, uncle."
+
+"Trouble, boy?  Why, it's quite a treat," said the doctor, laughing.  "I
+was quite out of practice, and I'm in your debt for giving me a little
+work."
+
+"Don't thank me, uncle," said Vane with a smile, though it was only the
+shadow of his usual hearty laugh.  "I wouldn't have given you the job if
+I could have helped it."
+
+The doctor nodded, patted the boy's shoulder and went down, for Vane in
+his weakness willingly settled himself off to sleep, his eyes being
+half-closed as the doctor shut the door.
+
+"Well, sir," cried Macey, eagerly, as the doctor entered the
+drawing-room, "he's all right in the head again, isn't he?"
+
+"I don't think there's a doubt of it, my lad," said the doctor.  "You
+are going close by, will you ask the policeman to come down?"
+
+"Yes; I'll tell him," cried Macey, eagerly.
+
+"No, no, leave me to tell him.  I would rather," said the doctor,
+"because I must speak with some reserve.  It is not nice to arrest
+innocent people."
+
+"But I may tell Mr Syme and Gilmore?"
+
+"Oh, yes, you can tell what you know," replied the doctor; and,
+satisfied with this concession, Macey rushed off.
+
+As he reached the lane leading to the rectory, habit led him up it a few
+yards.  Then recollecting himself, he was turning back when he caught
+sight of Distin and Gilmore coming toward him, and he waited till they
+came up.
+
+"It's all right," he cried.  "Vane knows all about it now, and he told
+me and the doctor who it is that he has to thank for the knocking
+about."
+
+"What! he knows?" cried Distin, eagerly; and Gilmore caught his
+companion's arm.
+
+"Yes," he cried, catching Distin's arm in turn, "come on with me."
+
+"Where to?" said Distin, starting.
+
+"To the police--to old Bates."
+
+Distin gave Macey a curious look, and then walked on beside him, Macey
+repeating all he knew as they went along toward Bates' cottage, where
+they found the constable looking singularly unofficial, for he was in
+his shirt-sleeves weeding his garden.
+
+"Want me, gents?" he said with alacrity as he rose and looked from one
+to the other, his eyes resting longest upon Distin, as if he had some
+doubt about him that he could not clear up.
+
+"We don't, but the doctor does," cried Macey.  "I've just come from
+there."
+
+"Phee-ew!" whistled the constable.  "They been at his fowls again?  No;
+they'd have known in the morning.  Why--no--yes--you don't mean to say
+as Mr Vane's come round enough to say who knocked him about?"
+
+"The doctor told me to tell you he wanted you to step down to see him,"
+said Macey coolly; "so look sharp."
+
+The constable ran to the pump to wash his hands, and five minutes after
+he was on the way to the Little Manor.
+
+"I'm wrong," he muttered as he went along--"ever so wrong.  Somehow you
+can't be cock-sure about anything.  I could ha' sweered as that
+yallow-faced poople had a finger in it, for it looked as straight as
+straight; but theer, it's hard work to see very far.  Now, let's hear
+what the doctor's got to say."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+ROWING SUPERSEDED.
+
+"That there Mr Distin 'll have his knife into me for what I said about
+him.  Oh, dear me, what a blunder I did make!"
+
+"Yes, wrong as wrong," said Constable Bates, as he came away from the
+Little Manor, "and me niver to think o' they two lungeing looking young
+dogs.  Why, of course it was they.  I can see it clear now, as clear--a
+child could see it.  Well, I'll soon run them down."
+
+Easier said than done, for the two gipsy lads seemed to have dropped
+quite out of sight, and in spite of the help afforded by members of the
+constabulary all round the county the two furtive, weasel-like young
+scamps could not be heard of.  They and their gang had apparently
+migrated to some distant county, and the matter was almost forgotten.
+
+"It doesn't matter," Vane said, as he grew better.  "I don't want to
+punish the scamps, I want to finish my boat;" and as soon as he grew
+strong he devoted all his spare time to the new patent water-walker as
+Macey dubbed it, and at which Distin now and then delivered a covert
+sneer.
+
+For this scheme was the outcome of the unfortunate ride on the river
+that day when Vane sat dreaming in the boat and watching the laborious
+work of those who wielded the oars and tried to think out a means of
+sending a boat gliding through the water almost without effort.
+
+He had thought over what had already been done as far as he knew, and
+pondered over paddle-wheels and screws with the mighty engines which set
+them in motion, but his aquatic mechanism must need neither fire nor
+steam.  It must be something simple, easily applicable to a small boat,
+and either depend upon a man's arm or foot, as in the treadle of a
+lathe, or else be a something that he could wind up like old Chakes did
+the big clock, with a great winch key, and then go as long as he liked.
+
+It took so much thinking, and he was so silent indoors, that Aunt Hannah
+told the doctor in confidence one night that she was sure poor Vane was
+sickening for something, and she was afraid that it was measles.
+
+"Yes," said the doctor with a laugh, "sort of mental measles.  You'll
+see he will break out directly with a rash--"
+
+"Oh, my dear," cried Aunt Hannah, "then hadn't he better be kept in a
+warm bed?"
+
+"Hannah, my beloved wife," said the doctor, solemnly, "is it not time
+you learned to wait till your ill-used husband has finished his speech
+before you interrupt him?  I was saying break out directly with a rash
+desire to spend more money upon a whim-wham to wind up the sun."
+
+"Ah, now you are joking," said Aunt Hannah.  "Then you do not think he
+is going to be ill again?"
+
+"Not a bit."
+
+It all came out in a day or two, and after listening patiently to the
+whole scheme--
+
+"Well," said the doctor, "try, only you are not to go beyond five pounds
+for expenses."
+
+"Then you believe in it, uncle," cried Vane, excitedly.
+
+"I am not going to commit myself, boy," said the doctor.  "Try, and if
+you succeed you may ride us up and down the river as often as you like."
+
+Vane went off at once to begin.
+
+"Five pounds, my dear," said Aunt Hannah, shaking her head, "and you do
+not believe in it.  Will it not be money wasted."
+
+"Not more so than five pounds spent in education," replied the doctor,
+stoutly.  "The boy has a turn for mechanics, so let him go on.  He'll
+fail, but he will have learned a great deal about ics, while he has been
+amusing himself for months."
+
+"About Hicks?" said Aunt Hannah, innocently, "is he some engineer?"
+
+"Who said _Hicks_?" cried the doctor, "I said ics--statics, and dynamics
+and hydraulics, and the rest of their nature's forces."
+
+"Oh," said Aunt Hannah, "I understand," which can only be looked upon as
+a very innocent fib.
+
+Meanwhile Vane had hurried down to the mill, for five pounds does not go
+very far in mechanism, and there would be none to spare for the purchase
+of a boat.
+
+"Hallo, squire," roared the miller, who saw him as he approached the
+little bridge, "you're too late."
+
+"What for--going out?"
+
+"Going out?  What, with all this water on hand.  Nay, lad, mak' your hay
+while the sun shines.  Deal o' grinding to do a day like this."
+
+"Then why did you say I was too late?" said Vane.
+
+"For the eels running.  They weer coming down fast enew last night.  Got
+the eel trap half full.  Come and look."
+
+He led the way down through a flap in the floor to where, in a
+cellar-like place close to the big splashing mill wheel, there was a tub
+half full of the slimy creatures, anything but a pleasant-looking sight,
+and Vane said so.
+
+"Reight, my lad," said the miller, "but you wait till a basketful goes
+up to the Little Manor and your Martha has ornamented 'em with eggs and
+crumbs and browned 'em and sent 'em up on a white napkin, with good
+parsley.  Won't be an unpleasant sight then, eh?  Come down to fish?"
+
+"No," said Vane, hesitating now.
+
+"Oh, then, you want the boat?"
+
+"Yes, it was about the boat."
+
+"Well, lad, there she is chained to the post.  You're welcome, only
+don't get upset again and come back here like drowned rats."
+
+"I don't want to row," said Vane.  "I--er--that is--oh, look here, Mr
+Rounds," he cried desperately, "you can only say no.  I am inventing a
+plan for moving boats through the water without labour."
+
+"Well, use the oars; they aren't labour."
+
+"But I mean something simpler or easier."
+
+"Nay, theer aren't no easier way unless you tak a canoe and paddle."
+
+"But I'm going to invent an easier way, and I want you to lend me the
+boat for an experiment."
+
+"What!" roared the miller, "you want to coot my boat to pieces for some
+new fad o' yourn.  Nay, lad, it aren't likely."
+
+"But I don't want to cut it up."
+
+"Say, coot, lad, coot; don't chop your words short; sounds as if you
+were calling puss wi' your cat."
+
+"Well, then I don't want to coot up the boat, only to fit my machine in
+when it's ready, and propel the boat that way."
+
+"Oh, I see," said the miller, scratching his big head.  "You don't want
+to coot her aboot."
+
+"No, not at all; I won't even injure the paint."
+
+"Hum, well, I don't know what to say, lad.  You wouldn't knock her
+aboot?"
+
+"No; only bring my machine and fit it somewhere in the stern."
+
+"Sort o' windmill thing?"
+
+"Oh, no."
+
+"Oh, I see, more like my water-mill paddles, eh?"
+
+"Well, I don't quite know yet," said Vane.
+
+"What, aren't it ready?"
+
+"No; I haven't begun."
+
+"Oh.  Mebbe it never will be."
+
+"Oh, yes, I shall finish it," said Vane.
+
+"Hey, what a lad thou art for scheming things; I wish you'd mak' me a
+thing to grind corn wi'out weering all the face off the stones, so as
+they weant bite."
+
+"Perhaps I will some day."
+
+"Ay, there'd be some sense in that, lad.  Well, thou alway was a lad o'
+thy word when I lent you the boat, so you may have her when you like;
+bood I'll lay a wager you don't get a machine done as'll row the boat
+wi' me aboard."
+
+"We'll see," cried Vane, excitedly.
+
+"Ay, we will," said the miller.  "Bood, say, lad, what a one thou art
+for scheming!  I say I heered some un say that it was one o' thy tricks
+that night when church clock kep' on striking nine hundred and nineteen
+to the dozen."
+
+"Well, Mr Round--"
+
+"I know'd: thou'd been winding her oop wi' the kitchen poker, or some
+game o' that sort, eh?"
+
+"No, I only tried to clean the clock a little, and set it going again."
+
+"Ay, and left all ta wheels out.  Haw--haw--haw!"
+
+The miller's laugh almost made the mill boards rattle.
+
+"I say, don't talk about it, Mr Round," cried Vane; "and, really, I
+only forgot two."
+
+The miller roared again.
+
+"On'y left out two!  Hark at him!  Why, ivery wheel has some'at to do
+wi' works.  Theer, I weant laugh at thee, lad, only don't fetch us all
+oot o' bed another night, thinking the whole plaace is being bont aboot
+our ears.  Theer tak' the boat when you like; you're welcome enew."
+
+Vane went off in high glee, and that day he had long interviews with
+Wrench the carpenter, and the blacksmith, who promised to work out his
+ideas as soon as he gave them models or measurements, both declaring
+that they had some splendid "stooff" ready to "wuck off," and Vane went
+back to his own place and gave every spare moment to his idea.
+
+That propeller took exactly two months to make, for the workmen always
+made the parts entrusted to them either too short or too long, and in
+fact just as a cobbler would make a boot that ought to have been the
+work of a skilful veteran.
+
+"It's going to be a rum thing," said Macey, who helped a great deal by
+strolling down from the rectory, sitting on a box, and drumming his
+heels on the side, while he made disparaging remarks, and said that the
+whole affair was sure to fail.
+
+The doctor came in too, and nodded as the different parts were
+explained; but as the contrivance was worked out, Vane found that he had
+to greatly modify his original ideas; all the same though, he brought so
+much perseverance to bear that the blacksmith's objections were always
+overridden, and Wrench the carpenter's growls suppressed.
+
+One of the greatest difficulties encountered was the making the machine
+so self-contained that it could be placed right in the stern of the boat
+without any need for nails or stays.
+
+But Vane had a scheme for every difficulty, and at last the day came
+when the new propeller was set up in the little workshop, and Distin,
+brought by curiosity, accompanied Gilmore and Macey to the induction.
+
+Vane was nervous enough, but proud, as he took his fellow-pupils into
+the place, and there, in the middle, fixed upon a rough, heavy bench,
+stood the machine.
+
+"Why, you never got that made for five pounds?" cried Gilmore.
+
+"N-no," said Vane, wincing a little, "I'm afraid it will cost nearly
+fifteen.  I had to make some alterations."
+
+"Looks a rum set-out," continued Gilmore, and Distin stood and smiled.
+"Oh, I say, while I remember," cried Gilmore, "there was a little girl
+wanted you this morning, Dis.  Said she had a message for you."
+
+"Oh, yes, I saw her," said Distin, nonchalantly.  "Begging--I saw her."
+
+"She'll always be following you," said Macey.  "Why, that makes four
+times she has been after you, Dis."
+
+"Oh, well, poor thing, what can one do," said Distin, hurriedly; "some
+mother or sister very ill, I believe.  But I say, Vane," he continued,
+as if eager to change the conversation, "where is this thing to go?"
+
+"In the stern of the boat."
+
+"Stern?  Why, it will fill the boat, and there will not be room for
+anything else."
+
+"Oh, but the future ones will be made all of iron, and not take up half
+the space."
+
+Gilmore touched a lever and moved a crank.
+
+"Don't, don't," yelled Macey, running to the door, "it will go off."
+
+There was a roar of laughter, in which all joined, and Vane explained
+the machine a little more, and above all that this was only a tentative
+idea and just to see if the mechanism would answer its purpose.
+
+"But, I say," cried Gilmore, "it looks like a wooden lathe made to turn
+water."
+
+"Or a mangle," said Distin, with a sneer of contempt.
+
+"Wrong, both of you," cried Macey, getting toward the door, so as to be
+able to escape if Vane tried to get at him.  "I'll tell you what it's
+like--a knife-grinder's barrow gone mad."
+
+"All right," said Vane, "laugh away.  Wait till you see how it works."
+
+"When are you going to try it?" said Gilmore.
+
+"To-morrow afternoon.  Mr Round's going to send a cart for it and four
+of his men to get it down."
+
+"We will be there," said Macey with a scowl such as would be assumed by
+the wicked man in a melodrama, and then the workshop was locked up.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+TRYING AN EXPERIMENT.
+
+"Pray, pray, be careful, Vane, my dear," cried Aunt Hannah, the next
+afternoon, when the new propeller had been carefully lifted on to the
+miller's cart, and the inventor rushed in to say good-bye and ask the
+doctor and his aunt to come down for the trial, which would take place
+in two hours' time exactly.
+
+Then he followed the cart, but only to be overtaken by the rector's
+other three pupils, Macey announcing that Mr Syme was going to follow
+shortly.
+
+Vane did not feel grateful, and he would have rather had the trial all
+alone, but he was too eager and excited to mind much, and soon after the
+boat was drawn up to the side of the staging, at the end of the dam, the
+ponderous affair lifted from the cart, and the miller came out to form
+one of the group of onlookers.
+
+"Why, hey, Vane Lee, my lad, she's too big enew.  She'll sink the boat."
+
+"Oh, no," cried Vane.  "It looks heavier than it is."
+
+"Won't be much room for me," said the miller, with a chuckle.
+
+"You mustn't come," cried Vane in alarm.  "Only Macey and I are going in
+the boat.  We work the pedals and hand cranks.  This is only an
+experiment to see if it will go."
+
+"Hey bood she'll goo reight enew," said the miller, seriously, "if I get
+in.  Reight to the bottom, and the mill 'll be to let."
+
+There was a roar of laughter at this, and Macey whispered:--
+
+"I say, Weathercock, if they're going to chaff like this I shall cut
+off."
+
+"No, no, don't be a coward," whispered back Vane; "it's only their fun.
+It don't hurt."
+
+"Oh, doesn't it.  I feel as if gnats were stinging me."
+
+"That theer boat 'll never carry her, my lad," said the miller.
+
+"It will, I tell you," cried Vane, firmly.
+
+"Aw reight.  In wi' her then, and when she's at the bottom you can come
+and fish for her.  It's straange and deep down there."
+
+"Now then, ready?" cried Vane after a due amount of preparation.
+
+An affirmative answer was given; the frame-work with its cranks was
+carefully lifted on to the platform and lowered into the boat's stern,
+which it fitted exactly, and Vane stepped in, and by the help of a
+screw-hammer fitted some iron braces round the boat, screwed them up
+tightly.  The machine was fairly fixed in its place and looked extremely
+top-heavy, and with Vane in the stern as well, sent the boat's gunwale
+down within four inches of the surface and the bows up correspondingly
+high.
+
+By this time the rector and the Little Manor people had arrived, while
+quite a little crowd from the town had gathered to stand on the edge of
+the dam and for the most part grin.
+
+"There," said Vane as he stood up covered with perspiration from his
+efforts.  "That's about right.  In a boat made on purpose the machine
+would be fitted on the bottom and be quite out of the way."
+
+"Couldn't be, lad," said the miller.  "But goo on, I want to see her
+move."
+
+"Wish there was another boat here, Gil," said Distin.  "You and I would
+race them."
+
+"Let them talk," said Vane, to encourage Macey, who looked very solemn,
+and as he spoke he carefully examined the two very small paddles which
+dropped over each side, so arranged that they should, when worked by the
+cranks and hand levers, churn up the water horizontally instead of
+vertically like an ordinary paddle wheel.
+
+There were a good many other little things to do, such as driving in a
+few wedges between the frame-work and side of the boat, to get all
+firmer, but Vane had come provided with everything necessary, and when
+he could no longer delay the start, which he had put off as long as
+possible, and when it seemed as if Macey would be missing if they
+stopped much longer, the lad rose up with his face very much flushed and
+spoke out frankly and well, explaining that it was quite possible that
+his rough machine would not work smoothly at first, but that if the
+principle was right he would soon have a better boat and machine.
+
+Hereupon Gilmore cried, "Hooray!" and there was a hearty cheer,
+accompanied by a loud tapping of the rector's walking stick, on the
+wooden gangway.
+
+"Now, Vane, lad, we're getting impatient," cried the doctor, who was
+nearly as anxious as his nephew.  "Off with you!"
+
+"Well said, doctor," cried the miller; "less o' the clapper, my lads,
+and more of the spinning wheels and stones."
+
+"Ready, Macey?" whispered Vane.
+
+"No," was whispered back.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I'm in such an awful stew."
+
+"Get out.  It's all right.  Now then.  You know.  Come down and sit in
+your place steadily."
+
+Macey stepped down into the boat, which gave a lurch, and went very near
+the water, as far as the gunwale was concerned.
+
+"Hi theer; howd hard," cried the miller; "he's too heavy.  Coom out,
+lad, and I'll tak thy place."
+
+There was another roar of laughter at this.
+
+"Oh, I say, Mr Round, don't chaff us or we can't do it," whispered Vane
+to the jolly-looking great twenty-stone fellow.
+
+"Aw reight, lad.  I'll be serious enew now.  Off you go!  Shall I give
+you a shove?"
+
+"No," said Vane.  "I want to prove the boat myself.  Now, Macey, you sit
+still till I've worked her round even, and then when I say off, you keep
+on stroke for stroke with me."
+
+"All right," cried Macey, and Vane began to work his crank and paddle on
+the boat's starboard side with the result that they began to move and
+curve round.  Then, applying more force and working hard, he gave
+himself too much swing in working his lever, with the result that his
+side rose a little.  In the midst of the cheering that had commenced the
+little horizontal paddle came up level with the surface, spun round at a
+great rate, and sent a tremendous shower of spray all over those on the
+gangway, Distin getting the worst share, and in his effort to escape it
+nearly going off into the dam.
+
+"You did that on purpose," he roared furiously, his voice rising above
+the shout of laughter.
+
+"Oh, I've had enough of this," said Macey.  "Let me get out."
+
+"No, no, sit still.  It's all right," whispered Vane.  Then, aloud, "I
+didn't, Dis, it was an accident.  All right, Aleck, keep the boat level.
+Now we're straight for the river.  Work away."
+
+Macey tugged at his lever and pushed with his feet; his paddle now
+revolved, and though the boat swayed dangerously, and Aunt Hannah was in
+agony lest it should upset, the paddles kept below the surface, and
+cheer after cheer arose.
+
+For the two lads, in spite of the clumsiness and stiffness of the
+mechanism, were sending the boat steadily right out of the dam and into
+the river, where they ran it slowly for some four hundred yards before
+they thought it time to turn, and all the while with a troop of lads and
+men cheering with all their might.
+
+"Sit steady; don't sway," said Vane, "she's rather top-heavy."
+
+"I just will," responded Macey.  "She'd be over in a moment.  But, I
+say, isn't it hard work?"
+
+"The machinery's too stiff," said Vane.
+
+"My arms are," said Macey, "and I don't seem to have any legs."
+
+"Never mind."
+
+"But I do."
+
+"Stop now," said Vane, and the boat glided on a little way and then the
+stream checked her entirely, right in the middle.
+
+"That's the best yet," said Macey, with a sigh of relief.
+
+But there was no rest for him.
+
+"Now," cried Vane, "we're going back."
+
+"Can't work 'em backwards."
+
+"No, no, forward," said Vane.  "I'll work backwards.  Work away."
+
+Macey obeyed, and a fresh burst of cheers arose as, in obedience to the
+reverse paddling, the boat turned as if on a pivot.  Then as soon as it
+was straight for the mill, Vane reversed again, and accompanied by their
+sympathisers on the bank and working as hard as they could, the two
+engineers sent the boat slowly along, right back into the pool, and by
+judicious management on Vane's part, alongside of the wooden staging
+which acted as a bridge to the mill on its little island.
+
+Here plenty more cheers saluted the navigators.
+
+"Bravo! bravo!" cried the rector.
+
+"Well done, Vane," cried the doctor.
+
+"Viva," shouted Distin, with a sneering look at Vane, who winced as if
+it had been a physical stab, and he did not feel the happier for knowing
+that the cheers were for nothing, since he did not want Macey's words to
+tell him that his machine was a failure from the amount of labour
+required.
+
+"Why, I could have taken the boat there and back home myself with a pair
+of sculls, and nearly as fast again," whispered the boy.
+
+It was quite correct, and Vane felt anything but happy, as he stepped on
+to the top of the camp-shed, where the others were.
+
+"Can't wark it by mysen," said the miller.  "Won't join me, I suppose,
+doctor?"
+
+"Any one else, not you," said the doctor, merrily.
+
+"Come," said the rector, "another trial.  Gilmore, Distin, you have a
+turn."
+
+"All right, sir," cried Gilmore, getting into the boat; "come on, Dis."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said the young creole.
+
+"He's afraid," said Macey, mischievously, and just loud enough for
+Distin to hear.
+
+The latter darted a furious look at him, and then turned to Gilmore.
+
+"Oh, very well," he said in a careless drawl.  "I don't mind having a
+try."
+
+"It'll take some of the fat conceit out of him, Weathercock," said
+Macey, wiping his streaming brow.  "Oh, I say, I am hot."
+
+Gilmore had taken off his jacket and vest before getting into the boat.
+Distin kept his on, and stepped down, while Vane held the boat's side
+from where he kneeled on the well-worn planks.
+
+"Take off your things, man," said Gilmore, as Distin sat down.
+
+"Work the levers steadily, Gil," said Vane.
+
+"All right, old fellow."
+
+"I dare say we can manage; thank you," said Distin, in a low, sarcastic
+tone, meant for Vane's ears alone, for, saving the miller, the others
+were chatting merrily about the success of the trial.  "It does not seem
+to be such a wonderfully difficult piece of performance."
+
+"It isn't," said Vane, frankly.  "Only trim the boat well she's
+top-heavy."
+
+"Thank you once more," said Distin, as he took off jacket and vest, and
+began to fold them.
+
+"I'll give her head a push off," said Vane, taking up the boat-hook and
+beginning to thrust the boat's head out so that the fresh engineers
+could start together.
+
+"Thank you again," said Distin, sarcastically, as the bows went round,
+and Vane after sending the prow as far as he could, ran and caught the
+stern, and drew that gently round till the boat was straight for the
+river and gliding forward.
+
+"Ready, Dis?" said Gil, who had hold of his lever, and foot on the
+treadle he had to work.
+
+"One moment," said Distin, rising in the boat to place his carefully
+folded clothes behind him, and it was just as Vane gave the boat a final
+thrust and sent it gliding.
+
+"Give us a shout, you fellows," cried Gilmore.  "Steady Dis!" he roared.
+
+"Hooray!" came from the little crowd.
+
+"Oh, what a lark!" shouted Macey, but Aunt Hannah uttered a shriek.
+
+Vane's thrust had not the slightest thing to do with the mishap, for the
+boat was already so crank that the leverage of Distin's tall body, as he
+stood up, was quite enough to make it settle down on one side.  As this
+disturbed his balance, he made a desperate effort to recover himself,
+placed a foot on the gunwale, and the next moment, in the midst of the
+cheering, took a header right away into the deep water, while the boat
+gradually continued its motion till it turned gently over, and floated
+bottom upwards, leaving Gilmore slowly swimming to the side, where he
+clung to the camp-shedding laughing, till it seemed as if he would lose
+his hold.
+
+"Help! help!" cried Aunt Hannah.
+
+"All right, ma'am," said the miller, snatching the boat-hook from Vane.
+
+"Mr Distin!  Mr Distin," shrieked Aunt Hannah.
+
+The miller literally danced with delight.
+
+"Up again directly, ma'am," he said, "only a ducking, and the water's
+beautifully clean.  There he is," he continued, as Distin's head
+suddenly popped up with his wet black hair streaked over his forehead,
+and catching him deftly by the waistband of his trowsers with the
+boat-hook, the miller brought the panting youth to the gangway, and
+helped him out.
+
+"You did that on purpose," cried Distin, furiously; but the miller only
+laughed the more, and soon after the boat had been drawn to its
+moorings, and righted, it was chained up, so that it should do no more
+mischief, the miller said.
+
+That brought the experiment to a conclusion, and when the machine had
+been taken back dry to the workshop, as it had been proved that it was
+only labour in a novel way and much increased, Vane broke it up, and the
+doctor, when the bills were paid, said quietly:
+
+"I think Vane will have a rest now for a bit."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+MONEY TROUBLES.
+
+"Going out, Vane?"
+
+"Only to the rectory, uncle; want me?"
+
+"No, my boy, no," said the doctor, sadly.  "Er--that is, I do want to
+have a chat with you, but another time will do."
+
+"Hadn't you better tell me now, uncle," said Vane.  "I don't like to go
+on waiting and thinking that I have a scolding coming, and not know what
+it's about."
+
+The doctor, who was going out into the garden, smiled as he turned,
+shook his head, and walked back to his chair.
+
+"You have not been doing anything, Vane, my lad," he said quickly and
+sadly.  "If anyone deserves a scolding it is I; and your aunt
+persistently refuses to administer it."
+
+"Of course," said Aunt Hannah, looking up from her work, "you meant to
+do what was right, my dear.  I am sorry more on your account than on my
+own, dear," and she rose and went behind the doctor's chair to place her
+hands on his shoulder.
+
+He took them both and pressed them together to hold them against his
+cheek.
+
+"Thank you, my dear," he said, turning his head to look up in her eyes.
+"I knew it would make no difference in you.  For richer or poorer, for
+better or worse, eh?  There, go and sit down, my dear, and let's have a
+chat with Vane here."
+
+Aunt Hannah bowed her head and went back to her place, but contrived so
+that she might pass close to Vane and pass her hand through his curly
+hair.
+
+"Vane, boy," said the doctor sharply and suddenly, "I meant to send you
+to college for the regular terms."
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"And then let you turn civil engineer."
+
+"Yes, uncle, I knew that," said the lad, wonderingly.
+
+"Well, my boy, times are altered.  I may as well be blunt and
+straightforward with you.  I cannot afford to send you to college, and
+you will have to start now, beginning to earn your own living, instead
+of five or six years hence."
+
+Vane looked blank and disappointed for a few moments, and then, as he
+realised that his aunt and uncle were watching the effect of the
+latter's words keenly, his face lit up.
+
+"All right, uncle," he said; "I felt a bit damped at first, for I don't
+think I shall like going away from home, but as to the other, the
+waiting and college first, I shan't mind.  I am sorry though that you
+are in trouble.  I'm afraid I've been a great expense to you."
+
+"There, don't be afraid about that any longer, my boy," said the doctor,
+rising.  "Thank you, my lad--thank you.  That was very frank and manly
+of you.  There, you need not say anything to your friends at present,
+and--I'll talk to you another time."
+
+The doctor patted Vane on the shoulder, then wrung his hand and hurried
+out into the garden.
+
+"Why, auntie, what's the matter?" cried Vane, kneeling down by the old
+lady's chair, as she softly applied her handkerchief to her eyes.
+
+"It's money, my dear, money," she said, making an effort to be calm.  "I
+did hope that we were going to end our days here in peace, where, after
+his long, anxious toil in London, everything seems to suit your uncle
+so, and he is so happy with his botany and fruit and flowers; but Heaven
+knows what is best, and we shall have to go into quite a small cottage
+now."
+
+"But I thought uncle was ever so rich, aunt," cried Vane.  "Oh, if I'd
+known I wouldn't have asked him for money as I have for my schemes."
+
+"Oh, my dear, it isn't that," cried Aunt Hannah.  "I was always afraid
+of it, but I did not like to oppose your uncle."
+
+"It?  What was it?" cried Vane.
+
+"Perhaps I ought not to tell you, dear, but I don't know.  You must know
+some time.  It was that Mr Deering.  Your uncle has known him ever
+since they were boys at school together; and then Mr Deering, who is a
+great inventor, came down and told your uncle that he had at last found
+the means of making his fortune over a mechanical discovery, if some one
+would be security for him.  Your uncle did not like to refuse."
+
+"Oh, dear!" muttered Vane.
+
+"You see it was not to supply him with money then, only to be security,
+so that other people would advance him money and enable him to start his
+works and pay for his patents."
+
+"Yes, aunt, I understand," cried Vane.  "And now--"
+
+"His invention has turned out to be a complete failure, and your poor
+uncle will have to pay off Mr Deering's liabilities.  When that is
+done, I am afraid we shall be very badly off, my dear."
+
+"That you shan't, auntie," cried Vane, quickly; "I'll work for you both,
+and I'll make a fortune somehow.  I don't see why I shouldn't invent."
+
+"No, no, don't, boy, for goodness' sake," said the doctor, who had heard
+part of the conversation as he returned.  "Let's have good hard work, my
+lad.  Let someone else do the inventing."
+
+"All right, uncle," said Vane, firmly; "I'll give up all my wild ideas
+now about contriving things, and set to work."
+
+"That's right, boy," said the doctor.  "I'm rather sick of hearing
+inventions named."
+
+"Don't say that, dear," said Aunt Hannah, quietly and firmly; "and I
+should not like all Vane's aspirations to be damped because Mr Deering
+has failed.  Some inventions succeed: the mistake seems to me to be when
+people take it for granted that everything must be a success."
+
+"Hear! hear!" cried the doctor, thumping the table.  "Here hi!  You
+Vane, why don't you cheer, sir, when our Queen of Sheba speaks such
+words of wisdom.  Your aspirations shall not be stopped, boy.  There, no
+more words about the trouble.  It's only the loss of money, and it has
+done me good.  I was growing idle and dyspeptic."
+
+"You were not, dear," said Aunt Hannah, decidedly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I was, my dear, and this has roused me up.  There, I don't
+care a bit for the loss, since you two take it so bravely.  And, perhaps
+after all, in spite of all the lawyers say, matters may not turn out
+quite so badly.  Deering says he shall come down, and I like that: it's
+honourable and straightforward of him."
+
+"I wish he would not come," said Aunt Hannah, "I wish we had never seen
+his face."
+
+"No, no! tut, tut," said the doctor.
+
+"I'm sure I shall not be able to speak civilly to him," cried Aunt
+Hannah.
+
+"You will, dear, and you will make him as welcome as ever.  His
+misfortune is as great as ours--greater, because he has the additional
+care of feeling that he has pretty well ruined us and poor Vane here."
+
+"Oh, it hasn't ruined me, uncle," cried Vane.  "I don't so much mind
+missing college."
+
+"But, suppose I had some money to leave you, my boy, and it is all
+gone."
+
+"Oh," cried Vane, merrily, "I'm glad of that.  Mr Syme said one day
+that he always pitied a young man who had expectations from his elders,
+for, no matter how true-hearted the heir might be, it was always a
+painful position for him to occupy, that of waiting for prosperity till
+other people died.  It was something like that, uncle, but I haven't
+given it quite in his words."
+
+"Humph!  Syme is a goose," said the doctor, testily.  "I'm sure you
+never wanted me dead, so as to get my money, Vane."
+
+"Why, of course not, uncle.  I never thought about money except when I
+wanted to pay old Wrench or Dance for something he made for me."
+
+"There, I move that this meeting be adjourned," cried the doctor.  "One
+moment, though, before it is carried unanimously.  How will Aunt behave
+to poor Deering, when he comes down."
+
+"Same as she behaves to every one, uncle," cried Vane, laughing.
+
+"There, old lady," said the doctor, "and as for the money, bah! let it
+take wings and fly away, and--"
+
+The doctor's further speech was checked by Aunt Hannah throwing her arms
+about his neck and burying her face in his breast, while Vane made a
+rush out into the garden and then ran rapidly down the avenue.
+
+"If I'd stopped a minute longer, I should have begun blubbering like a
+great girl," he muttered.  "Why, hanged if my eyes aren't quite wet."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.
+
+Vane made his way straight to the rectory, with a fixed intention in his
+mind.  The idea had been growing for days: now it was quite ripe,
+consequent, perhaps, on the state of mind produced by the scene at the
+manor.
+
+"It will be more frank and manly," he said to himself.  "He's different
+to us and can't help his temper, so I'll look over everything, and say
+`what's the good of our being bad friends.  Shake hands and forgive me.
+I'm a rougher, coarser fellow than you are, and I dare say I've often
+said things that hurt you when I didn't mean it.'"
+
+"Come, he can't get over that," said Vane, half-aloud, and full of
+eagerness to get Distin alone, he turned up the rectory lane, and came
+at once upon Gilmore and Macey.
+
+"Hullo, Weathercock," cried the latter, "which way does the wind blow?"
+
+"Due east."
+
+"That's rectory way."
+
+"Yes; is Distie in?"
+
+"No; what do you want with him.  He doesn't want you.  Come along with
+us," said Gilmore.
+
+"No, I want to see Distie--which way did he go?"
+
+"Toward the moor," said Macey, with an air of mock mystery.  "There's
+something going on, old chap."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"A little girl came and waited about the gate till we were in the
+grounds, and then she began to signal and I went to her.  But she didn't
+want me.  She said she wanted to give this to that tall gentleman."
+
+"This?" said Vane.  "What was this?"
+
+"A piece of stick, with notches cut in it," said Macey.
+
+"You're not chaffing, are you?"
+
+"Not a bit of it.  I went and told Distie, and he turned red as a
+bubby-jock and went down to the gate, took the stick, stuck it in his
+pocket, and then marched off."
+
+"Why, what does that mean?" cried Vane.
+
+"I don't know," said Macey.  "Distie must belong to some mysterious bund
+or verein, as the Germans call it.  Perhaps he's a Rosicrucian, or a
+member of a mysterious sect, and this was a summons to a meeting."
+
+"Get out," cried Vane.
+
+"Well, are you coming with us?  Aleck has had a big tip from home, and
+wants to spend it."
+
+"Yes; do come, Vane."
+
+"No, not to-day," cried the lad, and he turned off and walked away
+sharply to avoid being tempted into staying before he had seen Distin,
+and "had it out," as he termed it.
+
+"Hi!  Weathercock!" shouted Macey, "better stop.  I've invented
+something--want your advice."
+
+"Not to be gammoned," shouted back Vane; and he went off at a sharp
+trot, leaped a stile and went on across the fields, his only aim being
+to get away from his companions, but as soon as he was out of sight, he
+hesitated, stopped, and then went sharply off to his left.
+
+"I'll follow Distie," he muttered.  "The moor's a good place for a row.
+He can shout at me there, and get in a passion.  Then he'll cool down,
+and we shall be all right again--and a good job too," he added.  "It is
+so stupid for two fellows studying together to be bad friends."
+
+By making a few short cuts, and getting over and through hedges, Vane
+managed to take a bee-line for the moor, and upon reaching it, he had a
+good look round, but there was no sign of Distin.
+
+"He may be lying down somewhere," thought Vane, as he strode on, making
+his way across the moor in the direction of the wood, but still there
+was no sign of Distin, even after roaming about for an hour, at times
+scanning the surface of the long wild steep, at others following the
+line of drooping trees at the chalk-bank edge, but for the most part
+forgetting all about the object of his search, as his attention was
+taken up by the flowers and plants around.  There was, too, so much to
+think about in the scene at home, that afternoon, and as he recalled it
+all, Vane set his teeth, and asked himself whether the time was not
+coming when he must set aside boyish things, and begin to think
+seriously of his future as a man.
+
+He went on and on, so used to the moor that it seemed as if his legs
+required no guidance, but left his brain at liberty to think of other
+things than the course he was taking, while he wondered how long it
+would be before he left Greythorpe, and whether he should have to go to
+London or some one of the big manufacturing towns.
+
+There was Mr Deering, too, ready to take up a good deal of his thought.
+And now it seemed cruel that this man should have come amongst them to
+disturb the current of a serene and peaceful life.
+
+"I think he ought to be told so, too," said Vane to himself; "but I
+suppose that it ought not to come from me."
+
+He had to pause for a few moments to extricate himself from a tangle of
+brambles consequent upon his having trusted his legs too much, and,
+looking up then, he found that he was a very short distance from the
+edge of the beech-wood, and a second glance showed him that he was very
+near the spot where he had dug for the truffles, and then encountered
+the two gipsy lads.
+
+A feeling of desire sprang up at once in him to see the spot again, and,
+meaning to go in among the trees till he had passed over the ground on
+his way along the edge of the wood to where he could strike across to
+the deep lane, he waded over the pebbles of the little stream, dried his
+boots in the soft, white sand on the other side, and ran lightly up the
+bank, to step at once in among the leaves and beech-mast.
+
+It was delightfully cool and shady after the hot sunshine of the moor,
+and he was winding in and out among the great, smooth tree-trunks,
+looking for the spot where he had had his struggle, when he fancied that
+he heard the murmur of voices not far away.
+
+"Fancy--or wood pigeons," he said to himself; and, involuntarily
+imitating the soft, sweet _too roochetty coo roo_ of the birds, he went
+on, but only to be convinced directly after that those were voices which
+he had heard; and, as he still went on in his course, he knew that,
+after all, he was going to encounter Distin, for it was undoubtedly his
+voice, followed by a heavy, dull utterance, like a thick, hoarse
+whisper.
+
+Vane bore off a little to the left.  His curiosity was deeply stirred,
+for he knew that Distin had received some kind of message, and he had
+followed him, but it was with the idea of meeting him on his return.
+For he could not play the eavesdropper; and, feeling that he had
+inadvertently come upon business that was not his, he increased his
+pace, only to be arrested by an angry cry, followed by these words,
+distinctly heard from among the trees:
+
+"No, not another sixpence; so do your worst!"
+
+The voice was Distin's, undoubtedly; and, as no more was said, Vane
+began to hurry away.  He had nothing to do with Distin's money matters,
+and he was walking fast when there was the rapid beat of feet away to
+his right, but parallel with the way he was going.  Then there was a
+rush, a shout, a heavy fall, and a half-smothered voice cried "Help!"
+
+That did seem to be Vane's business, and he struck off to the right
+directly, to bear through a denser part of the wood, and come to an
+opening, which struck him at once as being the one where he had had his
+encounter with the gipsy lads.  The very next moment, with every nerve
+tingling, he was running toward where he could see his two enemies
+kneeling upon someone they had got down; and, though he could not see
+the face, he knew it was Distin whom they were both thumping with all
+their might.
+
+"Now will you?" he heard, as he rushed forward toward the group, all of
+whose constituents were so much excited by their struggle that they did
+not hear his approach.
+
+"No," shouted Vane, throwing himself upon them, but not so cleverly as
+he had meant, for his toe caught in a protruding root, and he pitched
+forward more like a skittle-ball than a boy, knocking over the two gipsy
+lads, and himself rolling over amongst the beech-mast and dead leaves.
+
+Distin's two assailants were so startled and astonished that they, too,
+rolled over and over hurriedly several times before they scrambled to
+their feet, and dived in among the trees.
+
+But Vane was up, too, on the instant.
+
+"Here, Dis!" he shouted; "help me take them."
+
+Distin had risen, too, very pale everywhere in the face but about the
+nose, which was very ruddy, for reasons connected with a blow, but, as
+Vane ran on, he did not follow.
+
+"Do you hear?  Come on!" cried Vane, looking back.  "Help me, and we can
+take them both."
+
+But Distin only glanced round for a way of retreat, and, seeing that
+Vane was alone, the two gipsy lads dodged behind a tree, and cleverly
+kept it between them as he rushed on, and then sprang out at him, taking
+him in the rear, and getting a couple of blows home as he turned to
+defend himself.
+
+"History repeats itself," he muttered, through his set teeth; "but they
+haven't got any sticks;" and, determined now to make a prisoner of one
+of them, he attacked fiercely, bringing to bear all the strength and
+skill he possessed, for there was no sign of shrinking on the part of
+the two lads, who came at him savagely, as if enraged at his robbing
+them of their prey.
+
+There were no sticks now, as Vane had said; it was an attack with
+nature's weapons, but the two gipsy lads had had their tempers whetted
+in their encounter with Distin, and, after the first fright caused by
+Vane's sudden attack, they met him furiously.
+
+They were no mean adversaries, so long as spirit nerved them, for they
+were active and hard as cats, and had had a long experience in giving
+and taking blows.  So that, full of courage and indignation as he was,
+Vane soon began to find that he was greatly overmatched, and, in the
+midst of his giving and taking, he looked about anxiously for Distin,
+but for some time looked in vain.
+
+All at once, though, as he stepped back to avoid a blow he saw Distin
+peering round the trunk of one of the trees.
+
+"Oh, there you are," he panted, "come on and help me."
+
+Distin did not stir, and one of the gipsy lads burst into a hoarse
+laugh.
+
+"Not he," cried the lad.  "Why, he give us money to leather you before."
+
+Distin made an angry gesture, but checked himself.
+
+"Take that for your miserable lie," cried Vane, and his gift was a
+stinging blow in the lad's mouth, which made him shrink away, and make
+room for his brother, who seized the opportunity of Vane's arm and body
+being extended, to strike him full in the ear, and make him lose his
+balance.
+
+"'Tarn't a lie," cried this latter.  "He did give us three shillin'
+apiece to leather you."
+
+The lad speaking followed up his words with blows, and Vane was pretty
+hard set, while a conscious feeling of despair came over him on hearing
+of Distin's treachery.
+
+But he forced himself not to credit it, and struck out with all his
+might.
+
+"I don't believe it," he roared, "a gentleman wouldn't do such a thing."
+
+"But he aren't a gent," said the first lad, coming on again, with his
+lips bleeding.  "Promised to pay us well, and he weant."
+
+"Come and show them it's all a lie, Dis," cried Vane, breathlessly.
+"Come and help me."
+
+But Distin never stirred.  He only stood glaring at the scene before
+him, his lips drawn from his white teeth, and his whole aspect
+betokening that he was fascinated by the fight.
+
+"Do you hear?" roared Vane at last, hoarsely.  "You're never going to be
+such a coward as to let them serve me as they did before."
+
+Still Distin did not stir, and a burst of rage made the blood flush to
+Vane's temples, as he ground his teeth and raged out with:
+
+"You miserable, contemptible cur!"
+
+He forgot everything now.  All sense of fear--all dread of being beaten
+by two against one--was gone, and as if he had suddenly become possessed
+with double his former strength, he watchfully put aside several of the
+fierce blows struck at him, and dodged others, letting his opponents
+weary themselves, while he husbanded his strength.
+
+It was hard work, though, to keep from exposing himself in some fit of
+blind fury, for the lads, by helping each other, kept on administering
+stinging blows, every one of which made Vane grind his teeth, and long
+to rush in and close with one or the other of his adversaries.
+
+But he mastered the desire, knowing that it would be fatal to success,
+for the gipsies were clever wrestlers, and would have the advantage,
+besides which, one of them could easily close and hold while the other
+punished him.
+
+"I wouldn't have believed it.  I wouldn't have believed it," he kept on
+muttering as he caught sight of Distin's pallid face again and again,
+while avoiding the dodges and attempts to close on the part of the
+gipsies.
+
+At last, feeling that this could not go on, and weakened by his efforts,
+Vane determined to try, and, by a sudden rush, contrive to render one of
+his adversaries _hors de combat_, when, to his great delight, they both
+drew off, either for a few minutes' rest, or to concoct some fresh mode
+of attack.
+
+Whatever it might be, the respite was welcome to Vane, who took
+advantage of it to throw off his Norfolk jacket; but watching his
+adversaries the while, lest they should make a rush while he was
+comparatively helpless.
+
+But they did not, and tossing the jacket aside he rapidly rolled up his
+sleeves, and tightened the band of his trousers, feeling refreshed and
+strengthened by every breath he drew.
+
+"Now," he said to himself as the gipsies whispered together, "let them
+come on."
+
+But they did not attack, one of them standing ready to make a rush,
+while the other went to the edge of the wood to reconnoitre.
+
+"It means fighting to the last then," thought Vane, and a shiver ran
+through him as he recalled his last encounter.
+
+Perhaps it was this, and the inequality of the match which made him turn
+to where Distin still stood motionless.
+
+"I say, Dis," he cried, appealingly, "I won't believe all they said.
+We'll be friends, when it's all over, but don't leave me in the lurch
+like this."
+
+Distin looked at him wildly, but still neither spoke nor stirred, and
+Vane did not realise that he was asking his fellow-pupil that which he
+was not likely to give.  For the latter was thinking,--
+
+"Even if he will not believe it, others will," and he stared wildly at
+Vane's bruised and bleeding face with a curious feeling of envy at his
+prowess.
+
+"Right," shouted the gipsy lad who had been on the look-out, and running
+smartly forward, he dashed at Vane, followed by his brother, and the
+fight recommenced.
+
+"If they would only come on fairly, I wouldn't care," thought Vane, as
+he did his best to combat the guerilla-like warfare his enemies kept up,
+for he did not realise that wearisome as all their feinting, dodging and
+dropping to avoid blows, and their clever relief of each other might be,
+a bold and vigorous closing with them would have been fatal.  And, oddly
+enough, though they had sought to do this at first, during the latter
+part of the encounter they had kept aloof, though perhaps it was no
+wonder, for Vane had given some telling blows, such as they did not wish
+to suffer again.
+
+"I shall have to finish it, somehow," thought Vane, as he felt that he
+was growing weaker; and throwing all the vigour and skill into his next
+efforts, he paid no heed whatever to the blows given him by one of the
+lads, but pressed the other heavily, following him up, and at last, when
+he felt nearly done, aiming a tremendous left-handed blow at his cheek.
+
+As if to avoid the blow, the lad dropped on his hands and knees, but
+this time he was a little too late; the blow took effect, and his
+falling was accelerated so that he rolled over and over, while unable to
+stop himself, Vane's body followed his fist and he, too, fell with a
+heavy thud, full on his adversary's chest.
+
+Vane was conscious of both his knees coming heavily upon the lad, and he
+only saved his face from coming in contact with the ground by throwing
+up his head.
+
+Then, he sprang up, as, for the first time during the encounter, Distin
+uttered a warning cry.
+
+It warned Vane, who avoided the second lad's onslaught, and gave him a
+smart crack on the chest and another on the nose.
+
+This gave him time to glance at his fallen enemy, who did not try to get
+up.
+
+It was only a momentary glance, and then he was fighting desperately,
+for the second boy seemed to be maddened by the fate of the first.
+Casting off all feinting now, he dashed furiously at Vane, giving and
+receiving blows till the lads closed in a fierce wrestling match, in
+which Vane's superior strength told, and in another moment or two, he
+would have thrown his adversary, had not the lad lying unconscious on
+the dead leaves, lent his brother unexpected aid.  For he was right in
+Vane's way, so that he tripped over him, fell heavily with the second
+gipsy lad upon his chest, holding him down with his knees and one hand
+in his collar, while he raised the other, and was about to strike him
+heavily in the face, when there was a dull sound and he fell over upon
+his brother, leaving Vane free.
+
+"Thankye, Dis," he panted, as he struggled to his knees; "that crack of
+yours was just in time," and the rector's two pupils looked each other
+in the face.
+
+It was only for a moment, though, and then Vane seated himself to
+recover breath on the uppermost of his fallen foes.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+HAVING IT OUT.
+
+"Now," said Vane, after sitting, panting for a few minutes, "I came out
+to-day on purpose to find you, and ask you to shake hands.  Glad I got
+here in time to help you.  Shake hands, now."
+
+"No," said Distin, slowly; "I can't do that."
+
+"Nonsense!  I say these two have got it.  Why not?"
+
+"Because," said Distin, with almost a groan, "I'm not fit.  My hands are
+not clean."
+
+"Wash 'em then, or never mind."
+
+"You know what I mean," said Distin.  "What they said was true."
+
+Vane stared at him in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, it's quite true," said Distin, bitterly.  "I've behaved like a
+blackguard."
+
+Just at that moment, the top gipsy began to struggle, and Vane gave him
+a tremendous clout on the ear.
+
+"Lie still or I'll knock your head off," he cried, fiercely.
+
+"You don't mean to say you set these two brutes to knock me about with
+sticks?"
+
+"Yes, he did," cried the top boy.
+
+"Yes, I did," said Distin, after making an effort as if to swallow
+something.  "I paid them, and they have pestered me for money ever
+since.  They sent to me to-day to come out to them, and I gave them
+more, but they were not satisfied and were knocking me about when you
+came."
+
+The lower prisoner now began to complain, and with cause, for his
+brother was lying across his chest, so that he had the weight of two to
+bear; but Vane reached down suddenly and placed his fist on the lad's
+nose, with a heavy grinding motion.
+
+"You dare to move, that's all," he growled, threateningly, and the lad
+drew a deep breath, and lay still, while Distin went on as if something
+within him were forcing this confession.
+
+"There," he said, "it's all over now.  They've kept out of sight of the
+police all this time, and sent messages to me from where they were in
+hiding, and I've had to come and pay them.  I've been like a slave to
+them, and they've degraded me till I've felt as if I couldn't bear it."
+
+"And all for what?" said Vane, angrily.  "I never did you any harm."
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Distin.  "I hated you, I suppose.  I tell
+you, I've behaved like a blackguard, and I suppose I shall be punished
+for it, but I'd rather it was so than go on like I have lately."
+
+"Look here," cried Vane, savagely, and he raised himself up a little as
+if he were riding on horseback, and then nipped his human steed with his
+knees, and bumped himself down so heavily that both the gipsy lads
+yelled.  "Yes, I meant to hurt you.  I say, look here, I know what you
+both mean.  You are going to try and heave me off, and run for it, but
+don't you try it, my lads, or it will be the worse for you.  It's my
+turn this time, and you don't get away, so be still.  Do you hear?  Lie
+still!"
+
+Vane's voice sounded so deep and threatening that the lads lay perfectly
+quiescent, and Distin went on.
+
+"Better get out your handkerchief," he said, taking out his own, "and
+we'll tie their hands behind them, and march them to Bates' place."
+
+"You'll help me then?" said Vane.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Might as well have helped me before, and then I shouldn't have been so
+knocked about."
+
+Distin shook his head, and began to roll up his pocket-handkerchief to
+form a cord.
+
+"There's no hurry," said Vane, thoughtfully.  "I want a rest."
+
+The lowermost boy uttered a groan, for his imprisonment was painful.
+
+"Better let's get it over," said Distin, advancing and planting a foot
+on a prisoner who looked as if he were meditating an attempt to escape.
+
+"No hurry," said Vane, quietly, "you haven't been fighting and got
+pumped out.  Besides, it wants thinking about.  I don't quite understand
+it yet.  I can't see why you should do what you did.  It was so
+cowardly."
+
+"Don't I know all that," cried Distin, fiercely.  "Hasn't it been eating
+into me?  I'm supposed to be a gentleman, and I've acted toward you like
+a miserable cad, and disgraced myself forever.  It's horrible and I want
+to get it over."
+
+"I don't," said Vane, slowly.
+
+"Can't you see how maddening it is.  I've got to go with you to take
+these beasts--no, I will not call them that, for I tempted them with
+money to do it all, and they have turned and bitten me."
+
+"Yes: that was being hoist with your own petard, Mr Engineer," cried
+Vane, merrily.
+
+"Don't laugh at me," cried Distin with a stamp of the foot.  "Can't you
+see how I'm degraded; how bitter a sting it was to see you, whom I tried
+to injure, come to my help.  Isn't it all a judgment on me?"
+
+"Don't know," said Vane looking at him stolidly and then frowning and
+administering a sounding punch in the ribs to his restive seat, with the
+effect that there was another yell.
+
+"You make light of it," continued Distin, "for you cannot understand
+what I feel.  I have, I say, to take these brutes up to the police--"
+
+"No, no," cried the two lads, piteously.
+
+"--And then go straight to Syme, and confess everything, and of course
+he'll expel me.  Nice preparation for a college life; and what will they
+say at home?"
+
+"Yes," said Vane, echoing the other's words; "what will they say at
+home?  You mean over in Trinidad?"
+
+Distin bowed his head, his nervous-looking face working from the anguish
+he felt, and his lower lip quivering with the mental agony and shame.
+
+"Trinidad's a long way off," said Vane, thoughtfully.
+
+"No place is far off now," cried Distin, passionately.  "And if it were
+ten times as far, what then?  Don't I know it?  Do you think I can ever
+forget it all?"
+
+"No," said Vane; "you never will.  I suppose it must have made you
+uncomfortable all along."
+
+"Don't--don't talk about it," cried Distin, piteously.  "There, come
+along, you must be rested now."
+
+"Look here," cried one of the lads, shrilly; "if you tak' us up to
+Greytrop we'll tell all about it."
+
+Vane gave another bump.
+
+"What's the good of that, stupid," he said.  "Mr Distin would tell
+first."
+
+"Yes," said the young fellow firmly; and as Vane looked at his
+determined countenance, he felt as if he had never liked him so well
+before; "I shall tell first.  Come what may, Vane Lee, you shan't have
+it against me that I did not speak out openly.  Now, come."
+
+"Not yet," said Vane, stubbornly.  "I'm resting."
+
+There was a pause, and one of the gipsy lads began to snivel.
+
+"Oh, pray, good, kind gen'l'man, let us go this time, and we'll never do
+so any more.  Do, please, good gen'l'man, let us go."
+
+"If you don't stop that miserable, pitiful, cowardly howling, you cur,"
+cried Vane so savagely that the lad stared at him with his mouth open,
+"I'll gag that mouth of yours with moss.  Lie still!"
+
+Vane literally yelled this last order at the lad, and the mouth shut
+with a snap, while its owner stared at him in dismay.
+
+"I only wish I could have you standing up and lying down too," cried
+Vane, "or that it wasn't cowardly to punch your wretched heads now you
+are down."
+
+There was another pause, during which the lowermost boy began to groan,
+but he ceased upon Vane giving a fresh bump.
+
+"I shall be obliged now, Mr Lee," said Distin, quickly, "by your
+helping to tie those two scoundrels."
+
+"No more a scoundrel than you are," said the lowermost boy fiercely; and
+Vane gave another bump.
+
+"Don't hurt him," said Distin.  "He only spoke the truth.  Come, let's
+turn this one over."
+
+Vane did not stir, but sat staring hard in Distin's face.
+
+"Look here," he said at last; "you mean what you say about the police
+and Mr Syme?"
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"And you understand what will follow?"
+
+Distin bowed as he drew his breath hard through his teeth.
+
+"You will not be able to stop at the rectory even if that busybody Bates
+doesn't carry it over to the magistrates."
+
+"I know everything," said Distin, firmly, and he drew a long breath now
+of relief.  "I am set upon it, even if I never hold up my head again."
+
+"All right," said Vane in his peculiar, hard, stubborn way.  "You've
+made up your mind; then I've made up mine."
+
+"What do you mean?" said Distin.
+
+"Wait and see," said Vane, shortly.
+
+"But I wish to get it over."
+
+"I know you do.  But you're all right.  Look at me, I can't see, but
+expect my face is all puffy; and look at my knuckles.  These fellows
+have got heads like wood."
+
+"I am sorry, very sorry," said Distin, sadly; "but I want to make all
+the reparation I can."
+
+"Give me that handkerchief," said Vane sharply; and he snatched it from
+Distin's hand.  "No, no, keep back.  I'll do what there is to do.
+They're not fit to touch.  Ah, would you!"
+
+The top boy had suddenly thrown up his head in an effort to free
+himself.  But his forehead came in contact with Vane's fist and he
+dropped back with a groan.
+
+"Hurt, did it!" said Vane, bending down, and whispering a few words.
+Then aloud, as he rose.  "Now, then, get up and let me tie your hands
+behind you."
+
+The lad rose slowly and painfully.
+
+"Turn round and put your hands behind you," cried Vane.
+
+The lad obeyed, and then as if shot from a bow he leaped over his
+prostrate brother with a loud whoop and dashed off among the trees.
+
+"No, no, it's of no use," cried Vane as Distin started in pursuit; "you
+might just as well try to catch a hare.  Now you, sir, up with you."
+
+The second lad rose, groaning as if lame and helpless, turning his eyes
+piteously upon his captor; and then, quick as lightning, he too started
+off.
+
+"Loo, loo, loo!" shouted Vane, clapping his hands as if cheering on a
+greyhound.  "I say, Distie, how the beggars can run."
+
+A defiant shout answered him, and Vane clapped his hands to his mouth
+and yelled:
+
+"Po-lice--if you ever come again."
+
+"Yah!" came back from the wood, and Distin cried, angrily:
+
+"You let them go on purpose."
+
+"Of course I did," said Vane.  "Here's your handkerchief.  You don't
+suppose I would take them up, and hand them over to the police, and let
+you lower yourself like you said, do you?"
+
+"Yes--yes," cried Distin, speaking like a hysterical girl.  "I will tell
+everything now; how I was tempted, and how I fell."
+
+"Bother!" cried Vane, gruffly.  "That isn't like an English lad should
+speak.  You did me a cowardly, dirty trick, and you confessed to me that
+you were sorry for it.  Do you think I'm such a mean beast that I want
+to take revenge upon you!"
+
+"But it is my duty--I feel bound--I must speak," cried Distin, in a
+choking voice.
+
+"Nonsense!  It's all over.  I'm the person injured, and I say I won't
+have another word said.  I came out this afternoon to ask you to make
+friends, and to shake hands.  There's mine, and let the past be dead."
+
+Vane stood holding out his hand, but it was not taken.
+
+"Do you hear?" he cried.  "Shake hands."
+
+"I can't," groaned Distin, with a piteous look.  "I told you before mine
+are not clean."
+
+"Mine are," said Vane, meaning, of course, metaphorically; "and
+perhaps--no, there is no perhaps--mine will clean yours."
+
+Vane took the young Creole's hand almost by force, and gave it a painful
+grip, releasing it at last for Distin to turn to the nearest tree, lay
+his arm upon the trunk, and then lean his forehead against it in
+silence.
+
+Vane stood looking at him, hesitating as to what he should say or do.
+Then, with a satisfied nod to himself, he said, cheerily:
+
+"I'm going down to the stream to have a wash.  Come on soon."
+
+It was a bit of natural delicacy, and the sensitive lad, born in a
+tropic land, felt it as he stood there with his brain filled with
+bitterness and remorse, heaping self-reproaches upon himself, and more
+miserable than he had ever before been in his life.
+
+"I do believe he's crying," thought Vane, as he hurried out of the
+woodland shade, and down to the water's edge, where, kneeling down by a
+little crystal pool, he washed his stained and bleeding hands, and then
+began to bathe his face and temples.
+
+"Not quite so hot as I was," he muttered; "but, oh, what a mess I'm in!
+I shan't be fit to show myself, and must stop out till it's dark.  What
+would poor aunt say if she saw me!  Frighten her nearly into fits."
+
+He was scooping up the fresh, cool water, and holding it to his bruises,
+which pained him a good deal, but, in spite of all his sufferings, he
+burst into a hearty fit of laughter at last, and, as his eyes were
+closed, he did not notice that a shadow was cast over him, right on to
+the water.
+
+It was Distin, for he had come quietly down the bank, and was standing
+just behind him.
+
+"Are you laughing at me?" he said, bitterly.
+
+"Eh?  You there?" cried Vane, raising his head.  "No, I was grinning at
+the way those two fellows scuttled off.  They made sure they were going
+to be in the lock-up to-night."
+
+"Where they ought to have been," said Distin.
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  They're half-wild sort of fellows--very cunning, and
+all that sort of thing.  I daresay I should have done as they did if I
+had been a gipsy.  But, never mind that now.  They'll keep away from
+Greythorpe for long enough to come."
+
+He began dabbing his face with his handkerchief, and looking merrily at
+Distin.
+
+"I say," he cried; "I didn't know I could fight like that.  Is my face
+very queer?"
+
+"It is bruised and swollen," said Distin, with an effort.  "I'm afraid
+it will be worse to-morrow."
+
+"So am I, but we can't help it.  Never mind, it will be a bit of a
+holiday for me till the bruises don't show; and I can sit and think out
+something else.  Come and see me sometimes."
+
+"I can't, Vane, I can't," cried Distin, wildly.  "Do you think I have no
+feeling?"
+
+"Too much, I should say," cried Vane.  "There, why don't you let it go?
+Uncle says life isn't long enough for people to quarrel or make enemies.
+That's all over; and, I say, I feel ever so much more comfortable now.
+Haven't got such a thing as a tumbler in your pocket, have you?"
+
+Distin looked in the bruised and battered face before him, wondering at
+the lad's levity, as Vane continued:
+
+"No, I suppose you haven't, and my silver cup is on the sideboard.
+Never mind: here goes.  Just stand close to me, and shout if you see any
+leeches coming."
+
+As he spoke, he lay down on his chest, reaching over another clear
+portion of the stream.
+
+"I must drink like a horse," he cried; and, placing his lips to the
+surface, he took a long draught, rose, wiped his lips, drew a deep
+breath, and exclaimed, "Hah!  That was good."
+
+Then he reeled, caught at the air, and would have fallen, but Distin
+seized him, and lowered him to the ground, where he lay, looking very
+ghastly, for a few minutes.
+
+"Only a bit giddy," he said, faintly.  "It will soon go off."
+
+"I'll run and fetch help," cried Distin, excitedly.
+
+"Nonsense!  What for?  I'm getting better.  There: that's it."
+
+He sat up, and, with Distin's help, struggled to his feet.
+
+"How stupid of me!" he said, with a faint laugh.  "I suppose it was
+leaning over the water so long.  I'm all right now."
+
+He made a brave effort, and the two lads walked toward the lane, but,
+before they had gone many yards, Vane reeled again.
+
+This time the vertigo was slighter, and, taking Distin's arm, he kept
+his feet.
+
+"Let's walk on," he said.  "I daresay the buzzy noise and singing in my
+head will soon pass off."
+
+He was right: it did, and they progressed slowly till they reached the
+lane, where the walking was better, but Vane was still glad to retain
+Distin's help, and so it happened that, when they were about a mile from
+the rectory, Gilmore and Macey, who were in search of them, suddenly saw
+something which made them stare.
+
+"I say," cried Macey; "'tisn't real, is it?  Wait till I've rubbed my
+eyes."
+
+"Why, they've made it up," cried Gilmore.  "I say, Aleck, don't say a
+word."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I mean don't chaff them or Dis may go off like powder.  You know what
+he is."
+
+"I won't speak a word, but, I say, it's Weathercock's doing.  He has
+invented some decoction to charm creoles, and henceforth old Dis will be
+quite tame."
+
+As they drew nearer, Gilmore whispered:
+
+"They've been having it out."
+
+"Yes, and Weathercock has had an awful licking; look at his phiz."
+
+"No," said Gilmore.  "Vane has licked; and it's just like him, he hasn't
+hit Dis in the face once.  Don't notice it."
+
+"Not I."
+
+They were within speaking distance now; and Distin's sallow countenance
+showed two burning red spots in the cheeks.
+
+"Hullo!" cried Vane.  "Come to meet us?"
+
+"Yes," said Gilmore; "we began to think you were lost."
+
+"Oh, no," said Vane, carelessly.  "Been some distance and the time soon
+goes.  I think I'll turn off here, and get home across the meadows.
+Good-evening, you two.  Good-night, Dis, old chap."
+
+"Good-night," said Distin, huskily, as he took the bruised and slightly
+bleeding hand held out to him.  Then turning away, he walked swiftly on.
+
+"Why, Vane, old boy," whispered Gilmore, "what's going on?"
+
+Vane must have read of Douglas Jerrold's smart reply, for he said,
+merrily:
+
+"I am; good-night," and he was gone.
+
+"I'm blest!" cried Macey; giving his leg a slap.
+
+"He has gone in back way so as not to be seen," cried Gilmore.
+
+"That's it," cried Macey, excitedly.  "Well, of all the old Weathercocks
+that ever did show which way the wind blew--"
+
+He did not finish that sentence, but repeated his former words--
+
+"I'm blest!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
+
+IN HIDING.
+
+Vane meant to slip in by the back after crossing the meadows, but as a
+matter of course he met Bruff half-way down the garden, later than he
+had been there for years.
+
+"Why, Master Vane!" he cried, "you been at it again."
+
+"Hush!  Don't say anything," cried the lad.  But Bruff's exclamation had
+brought Martha to the kitchen-door; and as she caught sight of Vane's
+face, she uttered a cry which brought out Eliza, who shrieked and ran to
+tell Aunt Hannah, who heard the cry, and came round from the front,
+where, with the doctor, she had been watching for the truant, the doctor
+being petulant and impatient about his evening meal.
+
+Then the murder was out, and Vane was hurried into the little
+drawing-room, where Aunt Hannah strove gently to get him upon the couch.
+
+"No, no, no," cried Vane.  "Uncle, tell Bruff and those two that they
+are not to speak about it."
+
+The doctor nodded and gave the order, but muttered, "Only make them
+talk."
+
+"But what has happened, my dear?  Where have you been?"
+
+"Don't bother him," said the doctor, testily.  "Here, boy, let's look at
+your injuries."
+
+"They're nothing, uncle," cried Vane.  "Give me some tea, aunt, and I'm
+as hungry as a hunter.  What have you got?"
+
+"Oh, my dear!" cried Aunt Hannah; "how can you, and with a face like
+that."
+
+"Nothing the matter with him," said the doctor, "only been fighting like
+a young blackguard."
+
+"Couldn't help it, uncle," said Vane.  "You wouldn't have had me lie
+down and be thrashed without hitting back."
+
+"Oh, my dear!" cried Aunt Hannah, "you shouldn't fight."
+
+"Of course not," said the doctor, sternly.  "It is a low, vulgar,
+contemptible, disgraceful act for one who is the son of a gentleman--
+to--to--Did you win?"
+
+"Yes, uncle," cried Vane; and he lay back in the easy chair into which
+he had been forced by Aunt Hannah, and laughed till the tears rolled
+down his cheeks.
+
+Aunt Hannah seized him and held him.
+
+"Oh, my love," she cried to the doctor, "pray give him something:
+sal-volatile or brandy: he's hysterical."
+
+"Nonsense!" cried the doctor.  "Here--Vane--idiot, you leave off
+laughing, sir?"
+
+"I can't, uncle," cried Vane, piteously; "and it does hurt so.  Oh my!
+oh my!  You should have seen the beggars run."
+
+"Beggars?  You've been fighting beggars, Vane!" cried Aunt Hannah.  "Oh,
+my dear! my dear!"
+
+"Will you hold your tongue, Hannah," cried the doctor, sternly.  "Here,
+Vane, who ran?  Some tramps?"
+
+"No, uncle: those two gipsy lads."
+
+"What! who attacked you before?"
+
+"Yes, and they tried it again.  Aunt, they got the worst of it this
+time."
+
+"You--you thrashed them?" cried the doctor, excitedly.
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"Alone?"
+
+"Oh, yes: only with someone looking on."
+
+"But you beat them alone; gave them a thorough good er--er--licking, as
+you call it, sir?"
+
+"Yes, uncle; awful."
+
+"Quite beat them?"
+
+"Knocked them into smithereens; had them both down, one on the other,
+and sat on the top for half an hour."
+
+The doctor caught Vane's right hand in his left, held it out, and
+brought his own right down upon it with a sounding spank, gripped it,
+and shook the bruised member till Vane grinned with pain.
+
+"Oh, my dear!" remonstrated Aunt Hannah, "you are hurting him, and you
+are encouraging him in a practice that--"
+
+"Makes perfect," cried the doctor, excitedly.  "By George!  I wish I had
+been there!"
+
+"My dear!"
+
+"I do, Hannah.  It makes me feel quite young again.  But come and have
+your tea, you young dog--you young Roman--you Trojan, you--well done,
+Alexander.  But stop!--those two young scoundrels.  Hi! where's Bruff?"
+
+"Stop, uncle," cried Vane, leaping up and seizing the doctor's
+coat-tails.  "What are you going to do?"
+
+"Send Bruff for Bates, and set him on the young scoundrels' track.  I
+shan't rest till I get them in jail."
+
+"No, no, uncle, sit down," said Vane, with a quiver in his voice.  "We
+can't do that."
+
+Then he told them all.
+
+As Vane ended his narrative, with the doctor pacing up and down the
+room, and Martha fussing because the delicate cutlets she had prepared
+were growing cold, Aunt Hannah was seated on the carpet by her nephew's
+chair, holding one of his bruised hands against her cheek, and weeping
+silently as she whispered, "My own brave boy!"
+
+As she spoke, she reached up to press her lips to his, but Vane shrank
+away.
+
+"No, no, aunt dear," he said, "I'm not fit to kiss."
+
+"Oh, my own brave, noble boy," she cried; and passing her arms about his
+neck, she kissed him fondly.
+
+"Who's encouraging the boy in fighting now?" cried the doctor, sharply.
+
+"But, how could he help it, my dear?" said Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Of course; how could he help it."  Then changing his manner, he laid
+his hand upon Vane's shoulder.
+
+"You are quite right, Vane, lad.  Let them call you Weathercock if they
+like, but you do always point to fair weather, my boy, and turn your
+back on foul.  No: there must be no police business.  The young
+scoundrels have had their punishment--the right sort; and Mr Distin has
+got his in a way such a proud, sensitive fellow will never forget."
+
+"But ought not Vane to have beaten him, too?" said Aunt Hannah, naively.
+
+"What!" cried the doctor, in mock horror.  "Woman!  You are a very
+glutton at revenge.  Three in one afternoon?  But to be serious.  He was
+beaten, then, my dear--with forgiveness.  Coals of fire upon his enemy's
+head, and given him a lesson such as may form a turning point in his
+life.  God bless you, my boy!  You've done a finer thing to-day than it
+is in your power yet to grasp.  You'll think more deeply of it some day,
+and--Hannah, my darling, are you going to stand preaching at this poor
+boy all the evening, when you see he is nearly starved?"
+
+Aunt Hannah laughed and cried together, as she fondled Vane.
+
+"I'll go and fetch you a cup of tea, my dear.  Don't move."
+
+The doctor took a step forward, and gave Vane a slap on the back.
+
+"Cup of tea--brought for him.  Come along, boy.  Aunt would spoil us
+both if she could, but we're too good stuff, eh?  Now, prize-fighter,
+give your aunt your arm, and I'll put some big black patches on your
+nose and forehead after tea."
+
+Vane jumped up and held out his arm, but Aunt Hannah looked at him
+wildly.
+
+"You don't think, dear, that black patches--oh!"
+
+"No, I don't," said the doctor gaily; "but we must have some pleasant
+little bit of fiction to keep him at home for a few days.  Little poorly
+or--I know.  Note to the rectory asking Syme to forgive me, and we'll
+have the pony-carriage at six in the morning, and go down to Scarboro'
+for a week, till he is fit to be seen."
+
+"Yes," said Aunt Hannah, eagerly, "the very thing;" and to her great
+delight, save that his mouth was stiff and sore, Vane ate and drank as
+if nothing whatever had been the matter.  The next morning they started
+for their long drive, to catch the train.
+
+"Third-class now, my boy," said the doctor, sadly; "economising has
+begun."
+
+"And I had forgotten it all," thought Vane.  "Poor uncle!--poor aunt!  I
+must get better, and go to work."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
+
+THE MOUSE AND THE LION.
+
+The stay at Scarboro' was short, for a letter came from Aunt Hannah,
+announcing that Mr Deering was coming down, and adding rather
+pathetically that she wished he would not.
+
+The doctor tossed the letter over to Vane, who was looking out of the
+hotel window, making a plan for sliding bathing machines down an
+inclined plane; and he had mentally contrived a delightful arrangement
+when he was pulled up short by the thought that the very next north-east
+gale would send in breakers, and knock his inclined plane all to pieces.
+
+"For me to read, uncle," he said.
+
+The doctor nodded.
+
+"Then you'll want to go back."
+
+"Yes, and you must stay by yourself."
+
+Vane rose and went to the looking-glass, stared at his lips, made a
+grimace and returned.
+
+"I say, uncle, do I look so very horrid?" he said.
+
+"That eye's not ornamental, my boy."
+
+"No, but shall you mind very much?"
+
+"I?  Not at all."
+
+"Then I shall come back with you."
+
+"Won't be ashamed to be seen?"
+
+"Not I," said Vane; "I don't care, and I should like to be at home when
+Mr Deering comes."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"He may be able to get me engaged somewhere in town."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor.  "Want to run away from us then, now we
+are poor."
+
+"Uncle!" shouted Vane, fiercely indignant; but he saw the grim smile on
+the old man's countenance, and went close up and took his arm.  "You
+didn't mean that," he continued.  "It's because I want to get to work so
+as to help you and aunt now, instead of being a burden to you."
+
+"Don't want to go, then?"
+
+Vane shook his head sadly.  "No, uncle, I've been so happy at home, but
+of course should have to go some day."
+
+"Ah, well, there is no immediate hurry.  We'll wait.  I don't think that
+Mr Deering is quite the man I should like to see you with in your first
+start in life.  I'm afraid, Vane, boy, that he is reckless.  Yesterday,
+I thought him unprincipled too, but he is behaving like a man of honour
+in coming down to see me, and show me how he went wrong.  It's a sad
+business, but I daresay we shall get used to it after a time."
+
+The journey back was made so that they reached home after dark, Vane
+laughingly saying that it would screen him a little longer, and almost
+the first person they encountered was Mr Deering himself.
+
+"Hah, Doctor," he said quietly, "I'm glad you're come back.  I only
+reached here by the last train."
+
+The doctor hesitated a moment, and then shook hands.
+
+"Well, youngster," said the visitor, "I suppose you have not set the
+Thames on fire yet."
+
+"No," said Vane, indignantly, for their visitor's manner nettled him,
+"and when I try to, I shall set to work without help."
+
+Deering's eyes flashed angrily.
+
+"Vane!" said Aunt Hannah, reproachfully.
+
+"You forget that Mr Deering is our guest, Vane," said the doctor.
+
+"Yes, uncle, I forgot that."
+
+"Don't reprove him," said Deering.  "I deserve it, and I invited the
+taunt by my manner toward your nephew."
+
+"Dinner's ready," said Aunt Hannah, hastily.
+
+"Or supper," said the doctor, and ten minutes later they were all seated
+at the meal, talking quietly about Scarboro', its great cliffs and the
+sea, Mr Deering showing a considerable knowledge of the place.  No
+allusion whatever was made to the cause of their guest's visit till they
+had adjourned to the drawing-room, Mr Deering having stopped in the
+hall to take up a square tin box, and another which looked like a case
+made to contain rolled up plans.
+
+The doctor frowned, and seeing that some business matters were imminent,
+Aunt Hannah rose to leave the room, and Vane followed her example.
+
+"No, no, my dear Mrs Lee," said Deering, "don't leave us, and there is
+nothing to be said that the lad ought not to hear.  It will be a lesson
+to him, as he is of a sanguine inventive temperament like myself, not to
+be too eager to place faith in his inventions."
+
+"Look here, Deering," said the doctor, after clearing his voice, "this
+has been a terrible misfortune for us, and, I believe, for you too."
+
+"Indeed it has," said Deering, bitterly.  "I feel ten years older, and
+in addition to my great hopes being blasted, I know that in your eyes,
+and those of your wife, I must seem to have been a thoughtless,
+designing scoundrel, dishonest to a degree."
+
+"No, no, Mr Deering," said Aunt Hannah, warmly, "nobody ever thought
+that of you."
+
+"Right," said the doctor, smiling.
+
+"I have wept bitterly over it, and grieved that you should ever have
+come down here to disturb my poor husband in his peaceful life, where he
+was resting after a long laborious career.  It seemed so cruel--such a
+terrible stroke of fate."
+
+"Yes, madam, terrible and cruel," said Deering, sadly and humbly.
+
+"There now, say no more about it," said the doctor.  "It is of no use to
+cry over spilt milk."
+
+"No," replied Deering, "but I do reserve to myself the right to make
+some explanations to you both, whom I have injured so in your worldly
+prospects."
+
+"Better let it go, Deering.  There, man, we forgive you, and the worst
+we think of you is that you were too sanguine and rash."
+
+"Don't say that," cried Deering, "not till you have heard me out and
+seen what I want to show you; but God bless you for what you have said.
+Lee, you and I were boys at school together; we fought for and helped
+each other, and you know that I have never willingly done a dishonest
+act."
+
+"Never," said the doctor, reaching out his hand, to which the other
+clung.  "You had proof of my faith in you when I became your bondman."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Then, now, let's talk about something else."
+
+"No," said Deering, firmly.  "I must show you first that I was not so
+rash and foolish as you think.  Mrs Lee, may I clear this table?"
+
+"Oh, certainly," said Aunt Hannah, rather stiffly.  "Vane, my dear, will
+you move the lamp to the chimney."
+
+Vane lifted it and placed it on the mantelpiece, while Mr Deering moved
+a book or two and the cloth from the round low table, and then opening a
+padlock at the end of the long round tin case, he drew out a great roll
+of plans and spread them on the table, placing books at each corner, to
+keep them open.
+
+"Here," he said, growing excited, "is my invention.  I want you all to
+look--you, in particular, Vane, for it will interest you from its
+similarity to a plan you had for heating your conservatory."
+
+Vane's attention was centred at once on the carefully drawn and coloured
+plans, before which, with growing eagerness, their visitor began to
+explain, in his usual lucid manner, so that even Aunt Hannah became
+interested.
+
+The idea was for warming purposes, and certainly, at first sight,
+complicated, but they soon grasped all the details, and understood how,
+by the use of a small furnace, water was to be heated, and to circulate
+by the law of convection, so as to supply warmth all through public
+buildings, or even in houses where people were ready to dispense with
+the ruddy glow of fire.
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, after an hour's examination of the drawings;
+"that all seems to be quite right."
+
+"But the idea is not new," said Vane.
+
+"Exactly.  You are quite right," said Deering; "it is only a new
+adaptation in which I saw fortune, for it could be used in hundreds of
+ways where hot-water is not applicable now.  I saw large works springing
+up, and an engineering business in which I hoped you, Vane, would share;
+for with your brains, my boy, I foresaw that you would be invaluable to
+me, and would be making a great future for yourself.  There, now, you
+see my plans, Lee.  Do I seem so mad and reckless to you both?  Have I
+not gone on step by step, and was I not justified in trying to get
+monetary help to carry out my preparations for what promised so clearly
+to be a grand success?"
+
+"Well, really, Deering, I can't help saying yes," said the doctor.  "It
+does look right, doesn't it, my dear?"
+
+"Yes," said Aunt Hannah, with a sigh; "it does certainly look right."
+
+"I would not go far till, as I thought, I had tested my plans in every
+way."
+
+"That was right," said the doctor.  "Well, what's the matter--why hasn't
+it succeeded?"
+
+"Ah, why, indeed?" replied Deering.  "Some law of nature, which, in
+spite of incessant study, I cannot grasp, has been against me."
+
+Vane was poring over the plans, with his forehead full of lines and his
+mouth pursed up, and, after bringing sheet after sheet to the top, he
+ended by laying the fullest drawing with all its colourings and
+references out straight, and, lifting the lamp back upon it in the
+centre of the table to give a better light; and while his aunt and untie
+were right and left, Mr Deering was facing him, and he had his back to
+the fire:
+
+"But you should have made models, and tested it all thoroughly."
+
+"I did, Lee, I did," cried Mr Deering, passionately.  "I made model
+after model, improving one upon the other, till I had reached, as I
+thought, perfection.  They worked admirably, and when I was, as I
+thought, safe, and had obtained my details, I threw in the capital, for
+which you were security, started my works, and began making on a large
+scale.  Orders came in, and I saw, as I told you, fortune in my grasp."
+
+"Well, and what then?"
+
+"Failure.  That which worked so well on a small scale was useless on a
+large."
+
+Vane was the only one standing, and leaning his elbows on the great
+drawing, his chin upon his hands, deeply interested in the pipes,
+elbows, taps, furnace, and various arrangements.
+
+"But that seems strange," said the doctor.  "I should have thought you
+were right."
+
+"Exactly," said Deering, eagerly.  "You would have thought I was right.
+I felt sure that I was right.  I would have staked my life upon it.  If
+I had had a doubt, Lee, believe me I would not have risked that money,
+and dragged you down as I have."
+
+"I believe you, Deering," said the doctor, more warmly than he had yet
+spoken; "but, hang it, man, I wouldn't give up.  Try again."
+
+"I have tried again, till I feel that if I do more my brain will give
+way--I shall go mad.  No: nature is against me, and I have made a
+terrible failure."
+
+Aunt Hannah sighed.
+
+"There is nothing for me but to try and recover my shattered health, get
+my nerves right again, and then start at something else."
+
+"Why not have another try at this?" said the doctor.
+
+"I cannot," said Deering.  "I have tried, and had disastrous explosions.
+In one moment the work of months has been shattered, and now, if I want
+men to work for me again, they shake their heads, and refuse.  It is of
+no use to fence, Lee.  I have staked my all, and almost my life, on that
+contrivance, and I have failed."
+
+"It can't be a failure," said Vane, suddenly.  "It must go."
+
+Deering looked at him pityingly.
+
+"You see," he said to Aunt Hannah, "your nephew is attracted by it, and
+believes in it."
+
+"Yes," said Aunt Hannah, with a shudder.  "Roll up the plans now, my
+dear," she added, huskily; "it's getting late."
+
+"All right, aunt.  Soon," said Vane, quietly; and then, with some show
+of excitement, "I tell you it must go.  Why, it's as simple as simple.
+Look here, uncle, the water's heated here and runs up there and there,
+and out and all about, and comes back along those pipes, and gradually
+gets down to the coil here, and is heated again.  Why, if that was
+properly made by good workmen, it couldn't help answering."
+
+Deering smiled sadly.
+
+"You didn't have one made like that, did you?"
+
+"Yes.  Six times over, and of the best material."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"No, my boy, ill.  There was a disastrous explosion each time."
+
+Vane looked searchingly in the inventor's face.
+
+"Why, it couldn't explode," cried Vane.
+
+"My dear Vane, pray do not be so stubborn," said Aunt Hannah.
+
+"I don't want to be, aunt, but I've done lots of things of this kind,
+and I know well enough that if you fill a kettle with water, solder down
+the lid, and stop up the spout, and then set it on the fire, it will
+burst, just as our boiler did; but this can't.  Look, uncle, here is a
+place where the steam and air can escape, so that it can't go off."
+
+"But it did, my boy, it did."
+
+"What, made from that plan?"
+
+"No, not from that, but from the one I had down here," said Mr Deering;
+and he took out his keys, opened the square tin box, and drew out a
+carefully folded plan, drawn on tracing linen, and finished in the most
+perfect way.
+
+"There," said the inventor, as Vane lifted the lamp, and this was laid
+over the plan from which it had been traced; "that was the work-people's
+reference--it is getting dirty now.  You see it was traced from the
+paper."
+
+"Yes, I see, and the men have followed every tracing mark.  Well, I say
+that the engine or machine, or whatever you call it, could not burst."
+
+The inventor smiled sadly, but said no more, and Vane went on poring
+over the coloured drawing, with all its reference letters, and sections
+and shadings, while the doctor began conversing in a low tone.
+
+"Then you really feel that it is hopeless?" he said.
+
+"Quite.  My energies are broken.  I have not the spirit to run any more
+risks, even if I could arrange with my creditors," replied Deering,
+sadly.  "Another such month as I have passed, and I should have been in
+a lunatic asylum."
+
+The doctor looked at him keenly from beneath his brows, and
+involuntarily stretched out a hand, and took hold of his visitor's
+wrist.
+
+"Yes," he said, "you are terribly pulled down, Deering."
+
+"Now, Vane, my dear," said Aunt Hannah, softly; "do put away those
+dreadful plans."
+
+"All right, aunt," said the boy; "just lift up the lamp, will you?"
+
+Aunt Hannah raised the lamp, and Vane drew the soiled tracing linen from
+beneath, while, as the lamp was heavy, the lady replaced it directly on
+the spread-out papers.
+
+Vane's face was a study, so puckered up and intent it had grown, as he
+stood there with the linen folded over so that he could hold it beneath
+the lamp-shade, and gaze at some detail, which he compared with the
+drawing on the paper again and again.
+
+"My dear!" whispered Aunt Hannah; "do pray put those things away now;
+they give me quite a cold shudder."
+
+Vane did not answer, but drew a long breath, and fixed his eyes on one
+particular spot of the pencilled linen, then referred to the paper
+beneath the lamp, which he shifted a little, so that the bright circle
+of light shed by the shade was on one spot from which the tracing had
+been made.
+
+"Vane," said Aunt Hannah, more loudly, "put them away now."
+
+"Yes," said Deering, starting; "it is quite time.  They have done their
+work, and to-morrow they shall be burned."
+
+"No," yelled Vane, starting up and swinging the linen tracing round his
+head as he danced about the room.  "Hip, hip, hip, hurray, hurray,
+hurray!"
+
+"Has the boy gone mad?" cried the doctor.
+
+"Vane, my dear child!" cried Aunt Hannah.
+
+"Hip, hip, hip, hurray," roared Vane again, leaping on the couch, and
+waving the plan so vigorously, that a vase was swept from a bracket and
+was shivered to atoms.
+
+"Oh, I didn't mean that," he cried.  "But of course it burst."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Deering, excitedly.
+
+"Look there, look here!" cried Vane, springing down, doubling the linen
+tracing quickly, so that he could get his left thumb on one particular
+spot, and then placing his right forefinger on the plan beneath the
+lamp.  "See that?"
+
+"That?" cried Deering, leaning over the table a little, as he sat facing
+the place lately occupied by Vane.  "That?" he said again, excitedly,
+and then changing his tone, "Oh, nonsense, boy, only a fly-spot in the
+plan, or a tiny speck of ink."
+
+"Yes, smudged," cried Vane; "but, look here," and he doubled the tracing
+down on the table; "but they've made it into a little stop-cock here."
+
+"What?" roared Deering.
+
+"And if that wasn't in your machine, of course it blew up same as my
+waterpipes did in the conservatory, and wrecked the kitch--"
+
+Vane did not finish his sentence, for the inventor sprang up with the
+edge of the table in his hands, throwing up the top and sending the lamp
+off on to the floor with a crash, while he fell backward heavily into
+his chair, as if seized by a fit.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
+
+MRS. LEE IS INCREDULOUS.
+
+"Help, help," cried Aunt Hannah, excitedly, as the lamp broke on the
+floor, and there was a flash of flame as the spirit exploded, some
+having splashed into the fire, and for a few minutes it seemed as if the
+fate of the Little Manor was sealed.
+
+But Vane only stared for a moment or two aghast at the mischief, and
+then seized one end of the blazing hearthrug.  Mr Deering seized the
+other, and moved by the same impulse, they shot the lamp into the
+hearth, turned the rug over, and began trampling upon it to put out the
+flame.
+
+"Get Mrs Lee out," shouted Deering.  "Here, Vane, the table cover;
+fetch mats."
+
+The fire was still blazing up round the outside of the rug; there was a
+rush of flame up the chimney from the broken lamp; and the room was
+filling fast with a dense black evil-smelling smoke.
+
+But Vane worked well as soon as the doctor had half carried out Mrs
+Lee, and kept running back with door-mats from the hall; and he was on
+his way with the dining-room hearthrug, when Martha's voice came from
+kitchen-ward, full of indignation:
+
+"Don't tell me," she said evidently to Eliza, "it's that boy been at his
+sperriments again, and it didn't ought to be allowed."
+
+Vane did not stop to listen, but bore in the great heavy hearthrug.
+
+"Here, Vane, here," cried the doctor; and the boy helped to spread it
+over a still blazing patch, and trampled it close just as Aunt Hannah
+and Eliza appeared with wash-hand jug of water and Martha with a pail.
+
+"No, no," cried the doctor; "no water.  The fire is trampled out."
+
+The danger was over, and they all stood panting by the hall-door, which
+was opened to drive out the horrible black smoke.
+
+"Why, Vane, my boy," cried the doctor, as the lad stood nursing his
+hands, "not burned?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, a little," said Vane, who looked as if he had commenced
+training for a chimney-sweep; "just a little.  I shan't want any excuse
+for not going to the rectory for a few days."
+
+"Humph!" muttered the doctor, as Mr Deering hurried into the smoke to
+fetch out his drawings and plans; "next guest who comes to my house had
+better not be an inventor."  Then aloud: "But what does this mean, Vane,
+lad, are you right?"
+
+"Right?--yes," cried Deering, reappearing with his blackened plans,
+which he bore into the dining-room, and then, regardless of his sooty
+state, he caught the doctor's hands in his and shook them heartily
+before turning to Aunt Hannah, who was looking despondently at her
+ruined drawing-room.
+
+"Never mind the damage, Mrs Lee," he cried, as he seized her hands.
+"It's a trifle.  I'll furnish your drawing-room again."
+
+"Oh, Mr Deering," she said, half-tearfully, half in anger, "I do wish
+you would stop in town."
+
+"Hannah, my dear!" cried the doctor.  Then, turning to Deering: "But;
+look here, has Vane found out what was wrong?"
+
+"Found out?" cried Deering, excitedly; "why, his sharp young eyes
+detected the one little bit of grit in the wheel that stopped the whole
+of the works.  Lee, my dear old friend, I can look you triumphantly in
+the face again, and say that your money is not lost, for I can return
+it, tenfold--Do you hear, Mrs Lee, tenfold, twentyfold, if you like;
+and as for you--You black-looking young rascal!" he cried, turning and
+seizing Vane's hand, "if you don't make haste and grow big enough to
+become my junior partner, why I must take you while you are small."
+
+"Oh, oh!" shouted Vane; "my hands, my hands!"
+
+"And mine too," said Deering, releasing Vane's hands to examine his own.
+"Yes, I thought I had burned my fingers before, but I really have this
+time.  Doctor, I place myself and my future partner in your hands."
+
+Aunt Hannah forgot her blackened and singed hearthrugs and broken lamp
+as soon as she realised that there was real pain and suffering on the
+way, and busily aided the doctor as he bathed and bandaged the rather
+ugly burns on Vane's and Mr Deering's hands.  And at last, the smoke
+having been driven out, all were seated once more, this time in the
+dining-room, listening to loud remarks from Martha on the stairs, as she
+declared that she was sure they would all be burned in their beds, and
+that she always knew how it would be--remarks which continued till Aunt
+Hannah went out, and then there was a low buzzing of voices, and all
+became still.
+
+And now, in spite of his burns, Deering spread out his plans once more,
+and compared them for a long time in silence, while Vane and the doctor
+looked on.
+
+"Yes," he said at last, "there can be no mistake.  Vane is right.  This
+speck was taken by the man who traced it for a stop-cock, and though
+this pipe shows so plainly here in the plan, in the engine itself it is
+right below here, and out of sight.  You may say that I ought to have
+seen such a trifling thing myself; but I did not, for the simple reason
+that I knew every bit of mechanism by heart that ought to be there; but
+of this I had no knowledge whatever.  Vane, my lad, you've added I don't
+know how many years to my life, and you'll never do a better day's work
+as long as you live.  I came down here to-day a broken and a wretched
+man, but I felt that, painful as it would be, I must come and show my
+old friend that I was not the scoundrel he believed."
+
+The doctor uttered a sound like a low growl, and just then Aunt Hannah
+came back looking depressed, weary, and only half-convinced, to hear
+Deering's words.
+
+"There is not a doubt about it now, Mrs Lee," he cried, joyfully.
+"Vane has saved your little fortune."
+
+"And his inheritance," said the doctor, proudly.
+
+"No," cried Deering, clapping Vane on the shoulder, "he wants no
+inheritance, but the good education and training you have given him.
+Speak out, my lad, you mean to carve your own way through life?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," cried Vane; "you almost take my breath away.  I only
+found out that little mistake in your plans."
+
+"And that was the hole through which your uncle's fortune was running
+out.  Now, then, answer my question, boy.  You mean to fight your own
+way in life?"
+
+"Don't call it fighting," said Vane, raising one throbbing hand.  "I've
+had fighting enough to last me for years."
+
+"Well, then, _carve_ your way, boy?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir, I mean to try.  I say, uncle, what time is it?"
+
+"One o'clock, my boy," said the doctor, heartily; "the commencement of
+another and I hope a brighter day."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
+
+"I AM GLAD."
+
+Trivial as Vane's discovery may seem, it was the result of long months
+and study of applied science, and certain dearly bought experiences, and
+though Mr Deering blamed himself for not having noticed the little
+addition which had thwarted all his plans and brought him to the verge
+of ruin, he frankly avowed over and over again that he was indebted to
+his old friend's nephew for his rescue from such a perilous strait.
+
+He was off back to town that same day, and in a week the doctor, who was
+beginning to shake his head and feel doubtful whether he ought to expect
+matters to turn out so well, received a letter from the lawyer, to say
+that there would be no need to call upon him for the money for which he
+had been security.
+
+"But I do not feel quite safe yet, Vane, my boy," he said, "and I shall
+not till I really see the great success.  Who can feel safe over an
+affair which depends on the turning on or off of a tap."
+
+But he need not have troubled himself, for he soon had ample surety that
+he was perfectly safe, and that he need never fear having to leave the
+Little Manor.
+
+Meanwhile matters went on at the rectory in the same regular course, Mr
+Syme's pupils working pretty hard, and there being a cessation of the
+wordy warfare that used to take place with Distin, Macey, and Gilmore,
+and their encounters, in which Vane joined, bantering and being bantered
+unmercifully; but Distin was completely changed.  The sharp bitterness
+seemed to have gone out of his nature, and he became quiet and subdued.
+Vane treated him just the same as of old, but there was no warm display
+of friendship made, only on Distin's part a steady show of deference and
+respect till the day came when he was to leave Greythorpe rectory for
+Cambridge.
+
+It was just at the last; the good-byes had been said, and the fly was
+waiting to take him to the station, when he asked Vane to walk on with
+him for a short distance, and bade the fly-man follow slowly.
+
+Vane agreed readily enough, wondering the while what his old
+fellow-pupil would say, and he wondered still more as they walked on and
+on in silence.
+
+Then Vane began to talk of the distance to Cambridge; the college life;
+and of how glad he would be to get there himself; starting topics till,
+to use his own expression, when describing the scene to his uncle, he
+felt "in a state of mental vacuum."
+
+A complete silence had fallen upon them at last, when they were a couple
+of miles on the white chalky road, and the fly-man was wondering when
+his passenger was going to get in, as Vane looked at his watch.
+
+"I say, Dis, old chap," he said, "you'll have to say good-bye if you
+mean to catch that train."
+
+"Yes," cried Distin, hoarsely, as he caught his companion's hand.  "I
+had so much I wanted to say to you, about all I have felt during those
+past months, but I can't say it.  Yes," he cried passionately, "I must
+say this: I always hated you, Vane.  I couldn't help it, but you killed
+the wretched feeling that day in the wood, and ever since I have fought
+with myself in silence, but so hard."
+
+"Oh, I say," cried Vane; "there, there, don't say any more.  I've
+forgotten all that."
+
+"I must," cried Distin; "I know.  I always have felt since that you
+cannot like me, and I have been so grateful to you for keeping silence
+about that miserable, disgraceful episode in my life--no, no, look me in
+the face, Vane."
+
+"I won't.  Look in your watch's face," cried Vane, merrily, "and don't
+talk any more such stuff, old chap.  We quarrelled, say, and it was like
+a fight, and we shook hands, and it was all over."
+
+"With you, perhaps, but not with me," said Distin.  "I am different.
+I'd have given anything to possess your frank, manly nature."
+
+"Oh, I say, spare my blushes, old chap," cried Vane, laughing.
+
+"Be serious a minute, Vane.  It may be years before we meet again, but I
+must tell you now.  You seem to have worked a change in me I can't
+understand, and I want you to promise me this--that you will write to
+me.  I know you can never think of me as a friend, but--"
+
+"Why can't I?" cried Vane, heartily.  "I'll show you.  Write?  I should
+think I will, and bore you about all my new weathercock schemes.  Dis,
+old chap, I'm such a dreamer that I've no time to see what people about
+me are like, and I've never seen you for what you really are till now
+we're going to say good-bye.  I am glad you've talked to me like this."
+
+Something very like a sob rose in Distin's throat as they stood, hand
+clasped in hand, but he was saved from breaking down.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," said the fly driver, "but we shan't never catch that
+train."
+
+"Yes; half a sovereign for you, if you get me there," cried Distin,
+snatching open the fly, and leaping in; "good-bye, old chap!" he cried
+as Vane banged the door and he gripped hands, as the latter ran beside
+the fly, "mind and write--soon--good-bye--good-bye."
+
+And Vane stood alone in the dusty road looking after the fly till it
+disappeared.
+
+"Well!" he cried, "poor old Dis!  Who'd have thought he was such a good
+fellow underneath all that sour crust.  I _am_ glad," and again as he
+walked slowly and thoughtfully back:--"I _am_ glad."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
+
+STAUNCH FRIENDS.
+
+Time glided on, and it became Gilmore's turn to leave the rectory.
+Other pupils came to take the places of the two who had gone, but Macey
+said the new fellows, did not belong, and could not be expected to
+cotton to the old inhabitants.
+
+"And I don't want 'em to," he said one morning, as he was poring over a
+book in the rectory study, "for this is a weary world, Weathercock."
+
+"Eh?  What's the matter?" cried Vane, wonderingly, as he looked across
+the table at the top of Macey's head, which was resting against his
+closed fists, so that the lad's face was parallel with the table.  "Got
+a headache?"
+
+"Horrid.  It's all ache inside.  I don't believe I've got an ounce of
+brains.  I say, it ought to weigh pounds, oughtn't it?"
+
+"Here, what's wrong?" said Vane.  "Let me help you."
+
+"Wish you would, but it's of no good, old fellow.  I shall never pass my
+great-go when I get to college."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I shall never pass the little one.  I say, do I look like a
+fool?"
+
+He raised his piteous face as he spoke, and Vane burst into a roar of
+laughter.
+
+"Ah, it's all very well to laugh.  That's the way with you clever chaps.
+I say, can't you invent a new kind of thing--a sort of patent
+oyster-knife to open stupid fellows' understanding?  You should practice
+with it on me."
+
+"Come round this side," said Vane, and Macey came dolefully round with
+the work on mathematics, over which he had been poring.  "You don't want
+the oyster-knife."
+
+"Oh, don't I, old fellow; you don't know."
+
+"Yes, I do.  You've got one; every fellow has, if he will only use it."
+
+"Where abouts?  What's it like--what is it?"
+
+"Perseverance," said Vane.  "Come on and let's grind this bit up."
+
+They "ground" that bit up, and an hour after, Macey had a smile on his
+face.  The "something attempted" was "something done."
+
+"That's what I do like so in you, Vane," he cried.
+
+"What?"
+
+"You can do all sorts of things so well, and work so hard.  Why you beat
+the busy bee all to bits, and are worth hives of them."
+
+"Why?" said Vane, laughing.
+
+"You never go about making a great buzz over your work, as much as to
+say: `Hi! all of you look here and see what a busy bee I am,' and better
+still, old chap, you never sting."
+
+"Ever hear anything of Mr Deering now, uncle?" said Vane, one morning,
+as he stood in his workshop, smiling over some of his models and
+schemes, the inventor being brought to his mind by the remark he had
+made when he was there, about even the attempts being educational.
+
+"No, boy; nothing now, for some time; I only know that he has been very
+successful over his ventures; has large works, and is prospering
+mightily, but, like the rest of the world, he forgets those by whose
+help he has risen."
+
+"Oh, I don't think he is that sort of man, uncle.  Of course, he is
+horribly busy."
+
+"A man ought not to be too busy to recollect those who held the ladder
+for him to climb, Vane," said the doctor, warmly.  "You saved him when
+he was in the lowest of low water."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, uncle, I only saw what a muddle his work-people had made,
+just as they did with our greenhouse, and besides, don't you remember it
+was settled that I was to carve--didn't we call it--my own way."
+
+The doctor uttered a grunt.
+
+"That's all very well," began the doctor, but Vane interrupted him.
+
+"I say, uncle, I've been thinking very deeply about my going to
+college."
+
+"Well, what about it.  Time you went, eh?"
+
+"No, uncle, and I don't think I should like to go.  Of course, I know
+the value of the college education, and the position it gives a man; but
+it means three years' study--three years waiting to begin, and three
+years--"
+
+"Well, sir, three years what?"
+
+"Expense to you, uncle."
+
+"Now, look here, Vane," said the doctor, sternly, "when I took you, a
+poor miserable little fatherless and motherless boy, to bring up--and
+precious ugly you were--I made up my mind to do my duty by you."
+
+"And so you have, uncle, far more than I deserved," said Vane, merrily.
+
+"Silence, sir," cried the doctor, sternly.  "I say--"
+
+But whatever it was, he did not say it, for something happened.
+
+Strange coincidences often occur in everyday life.  One thinks of
+writing to a friend, and a letter comes from that friend, or a person
+may have formed the subject of conversation, and that person appears.
+
+Somehow, just as the doctor had assumed his sternest look, the door of
+Vane's little atelier was darkened, and Mr Deering stood therein,
+looking bright, cheery of aspect, and, in appearance, ten years younger
+than on the night when he upset the table, and the Little Manor House
+was within an inch of being burned down.
+
+"Mrs Lee said I should find you here," he said.  "Why, doctor, how well
+you look.  I'll be bound to say you never take much of your own physic.
+Glad to see you again, old fellow," he cried, shaking hands very warmly.
+"But, I beg your pardon, I did not know you were engaged with a
+stranger.  Will you introduce me?"
+
+"Oh, I say, Mr Deering," cried Vane.
+
+"It is!  The same voice grown gruff.  The weathercock must want oiling.
+Seriously, though, my dear boy, you have grown wonderfully.  It's this
+Greythorpe air."
+
+The doctor welcomed his old friend fairly enough, but a certain amount
+of constraint would show, and Deering evidently saw it, but he made no
+sign, and they went into the house, where Aunt Hannah met them in the
+drawing-room, looking a little flustered, consequent upon an encounter
+with Martha in the kitchen, that lady having declared that it would be
+impossible to make any further preparations for the dinner, even if a
+dozen gentlemen had arrived, instead of one.
+
+"Ah, my dear Mrs Lee," said Deering, "and I have never kept my word
+about the refurnishing of this drawing-room.  What a scene we had that
+night, and how time has gone since!"
+
+Vane looked on curiously all the rest of that day, and could not help
+feeling troubled to see what an effort both his uncle and aunt made to
+be cordial to their guest, while being such simple, straightforward
+people, the more they tried, the more artificial and constrained they
+grew.
+
+Deering ignored everything, and chatted away in the heartiest manner;
+declared that it was a glorious treat to come down in the country;
+walked in the garden, and admired the doctor's flowers and fruit, and
+bees, and made himself perfectly at home, saying that he had come down
+uninvited for a week's rest.
+
+Vane began at last to feel angry and annoyed; but seizing his
+opportunity, the doctor whispered:--
+
+"Don't forget, boy, that he is my guest.  Prosperity has spoiled him,
+but I am not entertaining the successful inventor; I am only thinking of
+my old school-fellow whom I helped as a friend."
+
+"All right, uncle, I'll be civil to him."
+
+Six days glided slowly by, during which Deering monopolised the whole of
+everybody's time.  He had the pony-carriage out, and made Vane borrow
+Miller Round's boat and row him up the river, and fish with him,
+returning at night to eat the doctor and Mrs Lee's excellent dinner,
+and drink the doctor's best port.
+
+And now the sixth day--the evening--had arrived, and Aunt Hannah had
+said to Vane:--
+
+"I am so glad, my dear.  To-morrow, he goes back to town."
+
+"And a jolly good job too, aunt!" cried Vane.
+
+"Yes, my dear, but do be a little more particular what you say."
+
+They were seated all together in the drawing-room, with Deering in the
+best of spirits, when all of a sudden, he exclaimed:--
+
+"This is the sixth day!  How time goes in your pleasant home, and I've
+not said a word yet about the business upon which I came.  Well, I must
+make up for it now.  Ready, Vane?"
+
+"Ready for what, sir,--game at chess?"
+
+"No, boy, work, business; you are rapidly growing into a man.  I want
+help badly and the time has arrived.  I've come down to settle what we
+arranged for about my young partner."
+
+Had a shell fallen in the little drawing-room, no one could have looked
+more surprised.
+
+Deering had kept his word.
+
+In the course of the next morning a long and serious conversation
+ensued, which resulted evidently in Deering's disappointment on the
+doctor's declining to agree to the proposal.
+
+"But, it is so quixotic of you, Lee," cried Deering, angrily.
+
+"Wrong," replied the doctor, smiling in his old school-fellow's face;
+"the quixotism is on your side in making so big a proposal on Vane's
+behalf."
+
+"But you are standing in the boy's light."
+
+"Not at all.  I believe I am doing what is best for him.  He is far too
+young to undertake so responsible a position."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"I think it sense," said the doctor, firmly.  "Vane shall go to a large
+civil engineer's firm as pupil, and if, some years hence, matters seem
+to fit, make your proposition again about a partnership, and then we
+shall see."
+
+Deering had to be content with this arrangement, and within the year
+Vane left Greythorpe, reluctantly enough, to enter upon his new career
+with an eminent firm in Great George Street, Westminster.
+
+But he soon found plenty of change, and three years later, long after
+the rector's other pupils had taken flight, Vane found himself busy
+surveying in Brazil, and assisting in the opening out of that vast
+country.
+
+It was hard but delightful work, full at times of excitement and
+adventure, till upon one unlucky day he was stricken down by malarious
+fever on the shores of one of the rivers.
+
+Fortunately for him it happened there, and not hundreds of miles away in
+the interior, where in all probability for want of help his life would
+have been sacrificed.
+
+His companions, however, got him on board a boat, and by easy stages he
+was taken down to Rio, where he awoke from his feverish dream, weak as a
+child, wasted almost to nothing, into what appeared to him another
+dream, for he was in a pleasantly-shaded bedroom, with someone seated
+beside him, holding his hand, and gazing eagerly into his wandering
+eyes.
+
+"Vane," he said, in a low, excited whisper; "do you know me."
+
+"Distin!" said Vane feebly, as he gazed in the handsome dark face of the
+gentleman bending over him.
+
+"Hah!" was ejaculated with a sigh of content; "you'll get over it now;
+but I've been horribly afraid for days."
+
+"What's been the matter?" said Vane, feebly.  "Am I at the rectory?
+Where's Mr Syme?  And my uncle?"
+
+"Stop; don't talk now."
+
+Vane was silent for a time; then memory reasserted itself.  He was not
+at Greythorpe, but in Brazil.
+
+"Why, I was taken ill up the river.  Have you been nursing me?"
+
+"Yes, for weeks," said Distin, with a smile.
+
+"Where am I?"
+
+"At Rio.  In my house.  I am head here of my father's mercantile
+business."
+
+"But--"
+
+"No, no, don't talk."
+
+"I must ask this: How did I get here?"
+
+"I heard that you were ill, and had you brought home that's all.  I was
+told that the overseer with the surveying expedition was brought down
+ill--dying, they said, and then I heard that his name was Vane Lee.  Can
+it be old Weathercock?  I said; and I went and found that it was, and--
+well, you know the rest."
+
+"Then I have you to thank for saving my life."
+
+"Well," said Distin, "you saved mine.  There, don't talk; I won't.  I
+want to go and write to the doctor that you are mending now.  By-and-by,
+when you are better, we must have plenty of talks about the old
+Lincolnshire days."
+
+Distin was holding Vane's hands as he spoke, and his voice was cheery,
+though the tears were in his eyes.
+
+"And so," whispered Vane, thoughtfully, "I owe you my life."
+
+"I owe you almost more than that," said Distin, huskily.  "Vane, old
+chap, I've often longed for us to meet again."
+
+It was a curious result after their early life.  Vane often corresponded
+with Gilmore and Macey, but somehow he and Distin became the staunchest
+friends.
+
+"I can't understand it even now," Vane said to him one day when they
+were back in England, and had run down to the old place again.  "Fancy
+you and I being companions here."
+
+"The wind has changed, old Weathercock," cried Distin, merrily.  Then,
+seriously: "No, I'll tell you, Vane; there was some little good in me,
+and you made it grow."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Weathercock, by George Manville Fenn
+
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