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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30966-h.zip b/30966-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee5e2dc --- /dev/null +++ b/30966-h.zip diff --git a/30966-h/30966-h.htm b/30966-h/30966-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b509deb --- /dev/null +++ b/30966-h/30966-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5297 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Miss Mouse And Her Boys, by Mrs. Molesworth. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Mouse and Her Boys, by Mrs. Molesworth + +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: Miss Mouse and Her Boys + +Author: Mrs. Molesworth + +Illustrator: L. Leslie Brooke + +Release Date: January 14, 2010 [EBook #30966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print project. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS</h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 381px;"><a name="ILL_001" id="ILL_001"></a> +<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="'OH, WHAT A LOT OF BOYS!'—p. 2. Front." title="" /> +<span class="caption">'OH, WHAT A <i>LOT</i> OF BOYS!'—p. 2. <i>Front.</i></span> +</div> + +<h1>MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS</h1> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>BY MRS. MOLESWORTH</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>ILLUSTRATED BY L. LESLIE BROOKE</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="300" height="263" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4>LONDON: MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD</h4> + +<h4>NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</h4> + +<h4>1897</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center">To the dear memory of</p> + +<p class="center">MY BROTHER-IN-LAW</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Sir CRAVEN CHARLES GORING, Bart</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">WHOSE UNFAILING INTEREST IN MY WORK</p> + +<p class="center">HAS BEEN AN ENCOURAGEMENT THROUGH MANY YEARS</p> + +<p class="center">19 <span class="smcap">Sumner Place, S.W.</span>,</p> + +<p class="center"><i>May</i> 1897.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER I</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>'<span class="smcap">What a lot of Boys</span>!'</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER II</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b><span class="smcap">Pat and Pets</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER III</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b><span class="smcap">Guests at Tea</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER IV</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b><span class="smcap">Wanted—A Sister</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER V</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b><span class="smcap">Bob</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER VI</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b><span class="smcap">Ferrets and Fairies</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER VII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b><span class="smcap">Nance's Story</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER VIII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b><span class="smcap">Nance's Story</span> (<i>Continued</i>)</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER IX</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b><span class="smcap">Miss Mouse 'At Home'</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER X</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b><span class="smcap">The Story of the Lucky Penny</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER XI</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b><span class="smcap">A Great Sacrifice</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER XII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b><span class="smcap">Out on the Moor</span></b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_001"><b>'<span class="smcap">Oh, what a <i>lot</i> of boys</span>!'</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_003"><b>'<span class="smcap">I'll take one hand and Pat one, and then we'll all run down together</span>'</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_004"><b><span class="smcap">Nance</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_005"><b>'<span class="smcap">I've plenty of stories in my head,' she said</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_006"><b>'<span class="smcap">All of a sudden he stood straight up and began throwing things at me for me to catch—it was the little suns</span>!'</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_007"><b>'<span class="smcap">Bob,' she said. He pretended not to hear her</span></b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_008"><b><span class="smcap">And—were those snow-flakes again</span>?</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>'WHAT A LOT OF BOYS!'</h3> + +<p>It was before the days of sailor suits and knickerbockers. Nowadays boys +would make great fun of the quaint little men in tight-fitting jackets, +and trousers buttoning on above them, that many people still living can +remember well, for it is not so very long ago after all.</p> + +<p>And whatever the difference in their clothes, the boys of then were in +themselves very like the boys of now—queer, merry, thoughtless fellows +for the most part, living in the pleasant present, caring much less for +the past or the future than their girl-companions, seldom taking trouble +of any kind to heart, or if they did, up again like a cork at the first +chance. But yet how dull the world, now as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> then, would be without them +and their bats and balls, and pockets full of rubbish, and everlasting +scrapes and mischief, and honest old hearts!</p> + +<p>I always like to hear any one, young or old, man or woman or girl, say, +as one often does hear said, 'I do love boys.'</p> + +<p>There were five of them—of the Hervey boys. They began at thirteen and +ended at three, or began at three and ended at thirteen, if you like to +put it that way. But when they were all together in the nursery, or +playroom as they called it more often—to see them, still more to hear +them, you would certainly have said there were at least ten—above all +if a scrimmage of any kind was going on, for then the number of legs and +arms all belonging to everybody apparently, seemed to be multiplied in +an astonishing manner.</p> + +<p>You would, I think, have sympathised with a small person, almost as +small as three-years-old Ger, whose first word's when the door was +opened were, in an awe-struck whisper,</p> + +<p>'Oh, what a <i>lot</i> of boys.'</p> + +<p>She was dressed in pale grey, grey all over, made rather long in the +skirt, and she had a little drawn bonnet of the same colour—a quaint +little figure;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> but we are used to quaint little figures of <i>her</i> kind +now—fashions repeat themselves, wise people say; and so they do in some +cases, though not in all. I cannot believe that boys will ever again be +buttoned up and choked as they used to be, above all in summer, when +their hot, red faces seemed on the point of bursting out of their +'nankeen' suits, held together by brass buttons.</p> + +<p>But the little grey figure standing at the doorway of the Herveys' +playroom was pretty as well as quaint, though the small face was pale, +and the eyes just a quiet grey like the colour of her clothes, and her +dark-brown hair cropped quite short.</p> + +<p>She was holding on tightly to the hand of a young lady, and as one of +the scrimmagers caught sight of this same young lady, and immediately +broke into a shout of welcome—'Aunt Mattie—boys, don't you see Aunt +Mattie?' and the noise became really deafening, our little girl squeezed +the fingers she held still more firmly, and an <i>almost</i> frightened look +crept into her eyes.</p> + +<p>'Boys, boys,' exclaimed Aunt Mattie in turn, 'don't <i>you</i> see +that—somebody you have never seen before is here? Do disentangle +yourselves if you can—Archie, Hector—I can't tell which is which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> of +you—and Ger, dear old Ger, as plump as ever, and—yes, that's right, +Justin—you and Pat really should keep the pickles in order.'</p> + +<p>Justin got red—redder even than he was already—as he pushed his way +out of the scramble.</p> + +<p>'If you knew what it was, auntie,' he said, in a tone half of despair, +half of apology. 'The pickles get worse every day, and Pat's always +asleep or nearly asleep over his books and plans. I really——'</p> + +<p>'Well, never mind about that just now,' said his aunt. 'I must introduce +you all properly,' and she led the little girl gently forward into the +room, looking round for a seat, which was not so easy to find, as every +chair was either upside down or else hoisted on to the top of another.</p> + +<p>'I'll get you one down,' Archie called out when he saw the state of +things. 'Get out of the way, Hec and Ger, can't you?'</p> + +<p>But in getting out of the way, Hec tumbled over Ger, and Ger, who was +really only a baby, though a very independent one, kicked out at Hec, +which he thought more manly than crying, though one or other he must +have done, of course, to relieve his feelings. Whereupon Aunt Mattie, +not seeming very surprised, though in her heart she was startled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> at the +look in the big grey eyes under the shade of the grey bonnet, picked him +up, still kicking, and plumped him down between herself and the little +grey person, who by this time was seated beside her, two chairs having +somehow been got at.</p> + +<p>Ger was too surprised to go on kicking, <i>or</i> to cry. He just opened his +mouth wide and stared. Then 'Aunt-ie,' he began slowly, in a tone of +reproach, 'thoo——'</p> + +<p>But he got no further.</p> + +<p>'Ger,' said auntie gravely, 'I'm ashamed of you. You haven't even said +"How do you do?" or shaken hands with this young lady. She isn't +accustomed to see little boys fighting and kicking each other.'</p> + +<p>'I diddun fight,' said Ger, 'I on'y kicked. Hec begunned.'</p> + +<p>'I!' exclaimed Hec, ready to swell up with indignation like an angry +turkey-cock, '<i>I</i>— I were fetchin' a chair and——'</p> + +<p>'Stop, boys,' said Aunt Mattie again. 'Now let's go on nicely. This is +Ger, and he wants to be very polite now and shake hands—eh, Ger?'</p> + +<p>Ger's round blue eyes were fixed on the small stranger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Her's not a young lady,' he said at last. 'Ger 'ud rather kith her.'</p> + +<p>The little girl leaned forward at once, and kissed his firm, plump +cheek.</p> + +<p>'Thoo ith tho thoft,' he said, and he stroked her cape and the +chinchilla muff she was holding. 'I know—thoo's a <i>mouse</i>.'</p> + +<p>He said the 's' quite plainly, for his lisp was a very changeable one, +and already he was on the way to lose it altogether.</p> + +<p>Everybody laughed. Ger liked the sound of the laugh—it was not making +fun of him.</p> + +<p>'Yeth,' he went on, 'uth'll call thoo'—with some effort—'Mith Mouse.'</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse leant forward a second time and kissed him again.</p> + +<p>'You funny little boy,' she said. 'You may call me "Miss Mouse" if you +please, but wouldn't you like to know my proper name?'</p> + +<p>Ger shook his head.</p> + +<p>'No thank thoo. I like Mith Mouse best.'</p> + +<p>'But <i>we'd</i> like to know your real name,' said Archie. 'Wouldn't +we—Justin and Hec, and—oh Pat's asleep over a book again, I suppose.'</p> + +<p>'I'm not,' growled a voice from an opposite corner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Well then, behave properly. Come out of there, can't you? Aunt Mattie, +make him.'</p> + +<p>'Patrick,' said Aunt Mattie, and Pat got up and came slowly forward. He +was not like Justin, and Hec, and Ger, who were all fair and ruddy; he +was dark-haired and dark-eyed and pale, while Archie, the best-looking +of the five, came between the two, for he had bright brown hair and +merry hazel eyes.</p> + +<p>'Now,' said Aunt Mattie, 'now, dear, you see them all— Ger, you have +shaken hands with, or rather, kissed. Ger is three and three quarters, +and his real name is Gervais. Hector is—let me see—six and a half—no, +seven, just struck. Shake hands, Hec, if you're too big to be kissed.'</p> + +<p>'I'm not,' said Hec, and he stretched up his rosy mouth to Miss Mouse, +and then, like Ger, he stroked her chinchilla muff softly.</p> + +<p>'And Archie,' Aunt Mattie proceeded. Archibald is nearly ten,' and +Archie held out a rather grimy paw and shook hands heartily. 'Next comes +Patrick, eleven past.' Pat's mouth was shut tight, and he only just +touched the little girl's fingers. '<i>And</i>, last and eldest, Justin, who +is thirteen and——' she hesitated.</p> + +<p>'Thirteen and a quarter,' said Justin cheerily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Then,' said Miss Mouse, speaking almost for the first time, '<i>I</i> come +between Pat and Archie. I'm nine—nine past, my birthday was last +Christmas.'</p> + +<p>'Are you staying with Aunt Mattie?' asked Justin. 'When did you come? +You weren't there on Sunday.'</p> + +<p>The little girl turned to the young lady with a puzzled look.</p> + +<p>'Don't they know?' she said in a half whisper.</p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie smiled and shook her head slightly.</p> + +<p>'Didn't your mother tell you that I was expecting a visitor, Justin?' +she asked, turning to the eldest boy, who was now employing the time of +waiting for his question to be answered by tilting another unfortunate +chair as far back as he could get it to go without tumbling over.</p> + +<p>'Expecting a visitor,' he repeated. 'Oh yes, she said something +about—about—a girl, but I thought she meant somebody like you used to +be, auntie, before you were married—a grown-up girl. And I forgot about +it with her being away. Papa and mamma went away yesterday, you know, +and——' Over went the chair, its patience at an end, with a good +clatter. The chairs in the playroom were pretty stout, as they needed to +be.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>'O Justin,' said Aunt Mattie, 'do be quiet for a minute and leave the +chairs alone. How is it that you and Pat and Archie aren't at school +this afternoon?'</p> + +<p>'Half-holiday,' said Justin.</p> + +<p>'Of course— I forgot,' Aunt Mattie replied, thinking to herself that if +she had remembered what day it was, she would have chosen some quieter +time for introducing her little guest to the Herveys. She had expected +only to find the two younger ones with their nursery governess. 'Where +is Miss Ward?' she went on.</p> + +<p>'Got a headache,' said Hector. 'Leave off, Ger,' he went on. 'It's my +turn,' for the two had been stroking the chinchilla muff with great +satisfaction while Aunt Mattie had been speaking to the elder boys.</p> + +<p>Ger gave a yell. Hec had nipped his fingers to make him give up his +share of the muff. Miss Mouse's face grew red, and she very quietly took +her hands out of the muff, and put it behind her, between her shoulders +at the back of her chair, though without speaking. Aunt Mattie saw what +she did and smiled to herself. Hector and Gervais only stared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>'If you will be quiet, Justin—you and Pat and Archie, I will explain +about Rosamond,' and she put her arm round the little girl +affectionately.</p> + +<p>'Her's Mith Mouse, not Lotha—wubbish,' said Ger.</p> + +<p>'Hold your——' began Justin.</p> + +<p>Ger shut his mouth up tight.</p> + +<p>'Miss Mouse then,' said Aunt Mattie, 'is my niece, just as you are my +nephews, only she's not your cousin.'</p> + +<p>'Why not?' said Pat, suddenly waking up. This sounded rather like a +riddle, or a puzzle of some kind, and Pat loved puzzles.</p> + +<p>'Because she is Uncle Ted's niece—she is my niece now because I am +married to Uncle Ted, but that doesn't make her your cousin.'</p> + +<p>'Then she <i>isn't</i> your niece the same as we're your nephews,' said Pat, +preparing for a good argument.</p> + +<p>'Well, no, not exactly. But still she <i>is</i> my niece, just as much as +Uncle Ted is your uncle, and you wouldn't like any one to say he is not +your proper uncle, would you, for I know you are very fond of him?'</p> + +<p>There was no reply to this for a moment or two. The boys <i>were</i> very +fond of Uncle Ted, but yet the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> relationship was a little perplexing. +They had never thought of it before, and even Pat felt that it might +seem rude if he did not agree that Uncle Ted was as much an uncle as +Aunt Mattie was an aunt.</p> + +<p>It was Miss Mouse who came to the rescue.</p> + +<p>'I know what,' she said, and her voice was very clear indeed, 'I know +what, boys—we'll settle that I <i>am</i> to be your cousin, and that'll make +it all right. Uncle Ted and Aunt Mattie will be our uncle and aunt to +all of us just the same, once we're cousins.'</p> + +<p>'All right,' said Justin and Archie, who were longing to begin another +scrimmage of some kind. 'All right,' said Pat, not quite so heartily, +for he was disappointed of his argument with Aunt Mattie. 'All zight,' +said Hec and Ger—Ger adding, 'but thoo'll be Mith Mouse <i>always</i>. Are +thoo goin' to live here in thit houth?'</p> + +<p>All the boys stopped short at this. It had never struck them till this +moment that such a thing was possible. They had only thought of the +little girl as just coming in to see them for a short time, as other +children did now and then, and Rosamond herself looked up at her aunt in +surprise at their not understanding. For she herself was an only child<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +accustomed to hear a good deal more of the family plans than were the +Hervey boys.</p> + +<p>'Oh no,' she began to say, 'oh no, Ger, dear. I'm not going to live in +your house. I've come to stay with Uncle Ted and Aunt Mattie for a—for +a long time,' and there was a slight tremble in her voice at the last +words.</p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie felt a little vexed at having to speak of what she knew must +be sad for her young guest.</p> + +<p>'I thought your mother had told you something,' she said, turning to +Justin. 'Most likely she did, and that it was you who did not listen. +You are so very scatter-brained. Rosamond's father and mother have gone +to India, a few weeks ago, and she is going to stay with Uncle Ted and +me till they come back again.'</p> + +<p>The little girl's face had grown red while Aunt Mattie was speaking, and +at the last few words she squeezed tightly the kind hand she had managed +to get hold of.</p> + +<p>'Oh,' said the boys, two or three of them at once, in a tone of some +awe, and looking at Miss Mouse with increased respect. For India, and +goings-to and comings-from there, were not nearly such every-day matters +forty or fifty years ago as they are now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Will they come back thoon?' asked Ger, looking up in Rosamond's face +with his innocent baby-blue eyes. 'I don't want them to, 'cos——' and +here he suddenly stopped. 'Her's c'ying,' he announced to his brothers +in a half whisper.</p> + +<p>'No, I'm not,' said Miss Mouse in her clear voice. 'At least I'm not +going to cry. I've promised I wouldn't.'</p> + +<p>'Dear,' said Aunt Mattie, 'you can't help it a little, sometimes. No,' +she went on, 'her papa and mamma can't come home for a good while. India +is a long way off, you know. Why don't you want them to come back, Ger? +It isn't very kind to say that.'</p> + +<p>'Yeth, it is', said Ger, 'it's 'cos I want her to stay here. I like Mith +Mouse.'</p> + +<p>This made Rosamond smile through the tears which had nearly dried up +already.</p> + +<p>'I am glad of that,' said Aunt Mattie. 'For I want you all to be very +kind to Rosamond, and make up to her for her papa and mamma being away.'</p> + +<p>'Does she mind so much?' said Hec, poking his curly head very close +under the grey bonnet. 'I don't think I would—not so very much.'</p> + +<p>''Cos you've got no feelings,' said Archie, pulling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> him back, 'and +you're as rude as rude too. I say, Miss Mouse,' he went on, 'would you +like to come out and see some of the animals?'</p> + +<p>'What?' said Rosamond; 'do you mean Noah's Ark animals?'</p> + +<p>Justin and Pat, though Pat was again in his corner with a book, both +began to laugh, and Archie's indignation was now turned on them.</p> + +<p>'You're ruder than Hec,' he said, ''cos he's little and you're big.'</p> + +<p>'None of your impertinence,' began Justin, seconded by a growl from Pat. +'I'll teach you to meddle with——'</p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie rose to her full height, and she was tall. Somehow her +nephews struck her to-day in a new light. She had known they were wild +and unruly, but the waves of expression that followed each other over +Rosamond's face almost startled her—the child had never seen this rough +side of boy-life, if indeed boy-life at all. Aunt Mattie felt as if she +had made a mistake in bringing her into it, and almost ashamed of Justin +and his brothers.</p> + +<p>'Boys,' she said, speaking to the two elder ones, 'you may not like +Archie's interfering, but what he says is perfectly true; you are both +very rude, though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> perhaps you don't mean it. But you know very well how +angry you'd be if any one laughed at <i>you</i>. I tell you plainly that +unless you can be gentle and more polite I will take Rosamond away, and +find other playfellows for her while she is living with your uncle and +me.'</p> + +<p>Pat said nothing, but Justin got red.</p> + +<p>'Oh come now, auntie,' he said. 'You know very well we didn't mean it, +and I don't believe Miss Mouse minds. Do you?' he went on, turning to +Rosamond.</p> + +<p>The little girl hesitated.</p> + +<p>'I— I don't know,' she began, 'but,' as a bright idea struck her, 'I'd +like to see your animals and then I'd understand.'</p> + +<p>Justin turned to his aunt in triumph.</p> + +<p>'There now,' he exclaimed, 'I told you so! Can't she come out with us +now? You needn't <i>all</i> come,' he added to the others; 'I don't want the +kids, but they'd get into mischief if we leave them here alone,' and he +glanced at Hec and Ger doubtfully.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>PAT AND PETS</h3> + +<p>Aunt Mattie smiled again to herself at Justin's last words. She felt +very much inclined to say that in <i>her</i> opinion the two youngest boys +were much less likely to get into mischief if left by themselves than +under the elders' care. But just now, for Rosamond's sake, she thought +it better to say nothing which would lead to any more discussions. So +after a moment's thought she turned again to Justin.</p> + +<p>'I will stay here with the little ones,' she said, 'if you take Rosamond +out to see your pets——'</p> + +<p>'Oh!' interrupted Miss Mouse. 'It's <i>pets</i> you mean! I didn't think of +pets when you said "animals."'</p> + +<p>"Pets" is a girl's word, you see,' said Justin loftily, for he was +already quite getting over his aunt's snub.</p> + +<p>'Now, Justin,' said Aunt Mattie quietly, 'I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> haven't finished. If you +take Rosamond out, she is under your charge, you understand? You mustn't +let the dogs jump on her, or let her be teased or frightened in any +way.'</p> + +<p>'All right,' said Justin. 'Come along, Miss Mouse.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond got up and half timidly took the hand which the boy held out to +her.</p> + +<p>'I'm coming too,' said Archie, at which the little girl's face +brightened up.</p> + +<p>'Don't till——' began Justin, stopping short, however, when he caught +his aunt's eye, for Aunt Mattie's control over the boys was no new +thing.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' she said. 'Archie may go too, certainly, and remember, both of +you, that you are on your honour to have no squabbling or fighting of +any kind while Rosamond is with you.'</p> + +<p>The trio set off. Rosamond between the boys, holding a hand of each. +Aunt Mattie smiling and nodding encouragingly, for there was still a +half-frightened look on the little face.</p> + +<p>'It is best,' thought she, 'to test them, for they are not bad boys at +heart, and she is far from childish for her age. But if they are really +too rough, our plan must be given up. I am very much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> afraid that Miss +Ward is not a success. Patrick,' she said aloud, 'I didn't want to keep +on finding fault this first time of Rosamond's seeing you all, but I +must say to you, now that we are alone, that I am surprised at your not +knowing that it is not polite to go on reading in a corner when any one +comes to see you. It is not polite even to <i>me</i>.'</p> + +<p>'I didn't know you'd come to see <i>me</i>,' said Pat gruffly, 'and I don't +like girls.'</p> + +<p>'I really don't care whether you like them or not,' said his aunt, +getting rather angry in spite of herself, 'and that is not the question. +The point is that you should and must behave like a gentleman to any +visitors in your father's house, and I shall certainly insist on your +doing so to any <i>I</i> bring here.'</p> + +<p>Pat did not reply. He had left off reading, but he sat still, with the +book open on his knees and a far from amiable look on his face.</p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie felt troubled. Of all the boys, Pat, she well knew, was the +most difficult to understand, but during the years that her home had +been with her sister, Mrs. Hervey, she had come to be like a second +mother to the children, and Pat, every one said, was more manageable by +'Miss Mattie' than by any one else. And now he was as sulky and +disagreeable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> to her as ever he had been to old nurse, whom he was +always fighting with, or to any one.</p> + +<p>'Pat,' she said suddenly, 'come over here. Hec, you and Ger can go back +to your own corner,' for there was one specially counted 'the kids',' +where the old toy cupboard stood, and where the elder ones were not +allowed to interfere with them, on the principle that an Englishman's +house is his castle, I suppose.</p> + +<p>'Us diddun want to play with Jus and Pat,' said Ger, 'but they made us +be "'orses."'</p> + +<p>'Never mind,' said Hector, 'Aunt Mattie won't let us be teased any more. +We was tidyin' the cupboard,' he went on; 'it wanted tidyin' awful bad.' +Hec was that very uncommon thing, a neat little boy.</p> + +<p>So Mrs. Mattie and her nephew were as good as alone.</p> + +<p>'Pat,' she began again, 'why are you so surly to me?'</p> + +<p>Pat got red and mumbled something about 'not meaning.'</p> + +<p>'But you must mean the words you say,' said his aunt. 'It wasn't kind or +nice to tell me you hated—or "didn't like"—girls, when I had brought +my little niece to make friends with you all.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>Pat stood silent, but his face had softened a little.</p> + +<p>'She'd not make friends with me,' he said,' nobody does. She can make +friends with Jus and Archie. Besides, what does it matter—she's not +going to live here.'</p> + +<p>'No, not exactly. But we have been thinking of planning for her to come +here every day to have lessons with Miss Ward. And of course it would be +nice for her to be friends with you all if she was so much here. On +half-holidays, for instance, Justin and you could sometimes let her be +with you and take part in your pleasures. There are lots of things that +a little girl can join in, and she is a very sensible little girl as +well as a sweet one.'</p> + +<p>Pat shuffled about, first on one foot, then on the other. He did not +want to vex his aunt, and he was rather pleased by her talking to him in +this way, but he did not care to make friends with Miss Mouse, and he +wanted to get back to his book.</p> + +<p>'I'm not going to hurt her,' he said. 'I don't want to be rude to her, +but it's no good humbugging. I don't like girls and I don't think I like +anybody—not much. She'll be all right with Jus and Archie. Why don't +you tell them to be nice to her?'</p> + +<p>'Because,' said Aunt Mattie slowly, 'I want you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> all to be nice to her, +and in some ways I had thought you would suit her the best, Pat. You are +quieter than Jus and Archie, and little Rosamond has not been used to +boys, or indeed to playfellows at all. And she is fond of reading, like +you.'</p> + +<p>'I'm always being scolded for reading,' grumbled Pat. 'It's often that +that Jus and I fight about, and then mamma takes for granted it's all my +fault, and they call me surly and ill-natured and all that. And it's +like that at school too—only——'</p> + +<p>'Only what?' asked his aunt, delighted to get him to speak out to her in +the old way.</p> + +<p>'I— I didn't mind so much when—when <i>you</i> were here and I could tell +you things,' said Pat. 'I've nobody now—nobody who cares. O auntie, I +do so wish you hadn't gone and got married.'</p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie's face had grown very kind and gentle. She had sometimes +fancied that, little though he said about it, Pat really did care for +her.</p> + +<p>'I'm not so far away after all,' she said, 'and I'm sure you know that +I'm always ready to talk to you, or to help you in any way I can.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, but it's different,' said Pat. 'It's not like living in the house, +and taking my part a little, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> explaining to them—oh! it's quite +different, and then—there's Uncle Ted——'</p> + +<p>A little smile crept into Mattie's eyes at this; she had suspected more +than once that Pat was rather jealous of his new uncle.</p> + +<p>'Of course,' she said, 'I know it can't be quite the same, but it might +be a good deal worse; I might have had to go to India, like Rosamond's +father and mother. And if you knew Uncle Ted better, you would find him +awfully kind and understanding about boys.'</p> + +<p>Pat grunted.</p> + +<p>'He likes the others, I know,' he said gloomily.</p> + +<p>His aunt's face grew graver again. This touch of jealousy in Pat made +her anxious about him.</p> + +<p>'It is such a pity,' she said, 'that you get these ideas into your +head—of people not liking you or liking the others better, and +uncomfortable fancies of that kind.'</p> + +<p>'They are <i>not</i> fancies,' said Pat; 'they are true.'</p> + +<p>'Well, if they are true, make them not true,' was the reply. 'Try to be +a little brighter and pleasanter to other people, especially to your own +people, and see if that doesn't make a difference. Just <i>try</i>, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> my +sake, and as far as Rosamond is concerned I am sure you won't find the +trying difficult.'</p> + +<p>Pat did not speak. He stood there looking before him gravely. But the +hard gloomy expression had gone, and after a while he said quietly,</p> + +<p>'I <i>will</i> try, but, auntie— I'm not made right, somehow— I don't care +for their animals and things like that, and I don't care much for games, +and I <i>hate</i> ferreting!'</p> + +<p>'You care for dogs,' said his aunt.</p> + +<p>'Some,' he replied. 'I like clever, affectionate dogs. I don't care for +those that think about nothing except hunting and chasing cats and +making a row. I like a dog like your Flip, that sits beside you and +understands when you want to be quiet.'</p> + +<p>'Flip <i>is</i> a dear,' Aunt Mattie agreed. 'But, O Hec! what are you +doing?' for at that moment a pile of toys came clattering down within an +ace of Ger's head, from the top shelf of the cupboard, whereupon Ger set +up a scream, though he was not the least hurt, and the toys, being +principally wooden bricks, were not hurt either.</p> + +<p>Still peace was destroyed between the two little boys, and their aunt +proposed that they should get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> their hats and go out with her and Pat to +meet the others.</p> + +<p>These 'others,' in the meantime, had been enjoying themselves more or +less—very much as regarded the boys, Justin especially, for there was +nothing he liked better than showing off his animals, and Archie's +pleasure was only damped by his noticing signs of fear every now and +then on Rosamond's part. She did her best to hide them, poor little +girl, and to trust Justin's loud assurances that the growls of the +puppies' mother were only meant for 'how do you do? so pleased to see +you. Aren't the little people looking well?' or civil speeches of that +kind, translated into dog-language, though these assurances were not +quite in keeping with the quick way in which he pulled back her hand +when she timidly stooped down to stroke one of the black-and-tan babies.</p> + +<p>'I'll pick it up for you,' he said, and so he did, taking care first to +shut the stable door on the anxious mother.</p> + +<p>'It <i>is</i> a nice soft little thing,' said Miss Mouse, when she had got it +safe in her arms, 'but—oh it's going to bite me,' and but for fear of +hurting it, she would have got rid of master puppy in double-quick +time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>'He won't really hurt you—it's only little snaps that do no harm,' said +Archie; 'but I'll put him back again, and then p'raps we'd better show +her the rabbits and the pigeons—<i>they're</i> not frightening.'</p> + +<p>'No,' agreed Rosamond,' I'd like to see them very much.'</p> + +<p>'And,' said Justin, forgetting his promise to his aunt, 'the ferrets— +Tom Brick has got his ferrets here to-day, you know, Archie. They are +going to have a good rat hunt to-morrow morning.'</p> + +<p>'Ferrets,' said Rosamond innocently, 'what are they? I never heard of +them. Are they nice and tame and pretty?'</p> + +<p>'Oh lovely,' said Justin, beginning to laugh. 'They're the hideousest +things there are. And if you get one up your sleeve—ugh—it does feel +horrid. All the same they're splendid chaps for rats. I'd give anything +to have a pair of my own, I can tell you.'</p> + +<p>'I don't want to see them, thank you,' said the little girl. 'Do they +eat rats? I don't like pets that eat each other.'</p> + +<p>Justin laughed more loudly.</p> + +<p>'Eat each other,' he repeated. 'Rats and ferrets<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> don't eat each other. +Besides, ferrets aren't like foxes—they're not fierce; they're jolly +little beggars. I only wish I had a couple.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I say, Justin,' exclaimed Archie, 'I wouldn't call them not fierce. +Why does Bob Crag muzzle his when he's going to catch rabbits with +them?'</p> + +<p>'Because they would eat rabbits if they were hungry. Rabbits would be +nicer to eat than rats, I should think, though I daresay they'd eat rats +too if they were ravenous—and they have to be ravenous when they're +used for ratting, to make them eager, for when they've had lots to eat +they are sad lazy little beggars.'</p> + +<p>'That's like snakes,' said Rosamond, with a small shudder. 'I'm sure I +shouldn't like ferrets, Justin. Don't let's talk about them any more. +Who is Bob Crag?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, he's a boy,' said Justin, with some slight hesitation. 'He lives +out on the moor with his grandmother.'</p> + +<p>'You can see their cottage,' said Archie, 'from the top of the mound +behind the paddock, such a queer, wild sort of place; we pass it on our +way to the vicarage, when it's a fine day.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>'I'd like to see the moor,' said Rosamond, her eyes brightening.</p> + +<p>'Come along then,' said Justin, 'it won't take us two minutes to run up +the mound,' and off they set.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>GUESTS AT TEA</h3> + +<p>Rosamond drew a long breath as they reached the top of the mound.</p> + +<p>'Oh!' she said. 'I never saw a moor before. What a long, long way you +can see!' and her eyes, full of wonder and pleasure, gazed before them +over the brown expanse, broken here and there by patches of green or by +the still remaining purple of the fast-fading heather; here and there, +too, gleams of lingering gorse faintly golden, and the little +thread-like white paths, sometimes almost widening into roads, crossing +in all directions, brightened the effect of the whole. For it was autumn +now—late autumn indeed—and the sun was well down on his evening +journey.</p> + +<p>The breeze blew freshly in the little girl's face.</p> + +<p>'It's rather cold,' she said, 'but I like it.'</p> + +<p>'You might have brought your muff,' said Archie;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> 'though <i>I</i> thought +people only had muffs when it was real winter.'</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse reddened a little.</p> + +<p>'So they do,' she said, 'but mine is such a dear little one, so light +and fluffy, and it was mamma's last present, so Aunt Mattie lets me take +it out in the pony-carriage.'</p> + +<p>Justin and Archie had, like all boys, a horror of tears, and the sad +tone in Rosamond's voice made them quickly change the subject.</p> + +<p>'Has Aunt Mattie never driven you round by the moor before?' said +Justin. 'She's so fond of it.'</p> + +<p>'But I only came the day before yesterday, and her house is quite on the +other side, not wild-looking like here.'</p> + +<p>'Of course I know that,' said Justin. 'I think it's ever so much jollier +up here. Indeed, <i>I</i> would like to live in a cottage on the moor itself. +Fancy what fun it would be to race right out first thing in the morning +when you woke up, and see all the creatures waking up too—rabbits +scuttering about, and the wild birds, and the frogs, and rummy creatures +like that, that live about the marshy bits!'</p> + +<p>Rosamond looked up at him with some surprise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> and more sympathy in her +eyes than she had yet felt for the eldest of her newly-adopted cousins.</p> + +<p>'I know,' she said, 'it's like some fairy stories I've read.'</p> + +<p>'Oh rubbish,' said Justin. 'If you want fairy stories you must go to Pat +for them. His head's full of them.'</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse felt a little hurt at Justin's rough way of speaking. Archie, +always inclined to make peace, came to the rescue.</p> + +<p>'You were asking about Bob Crag,' he said. 'That's where he lives.'</p> + +<p>He pointed to a spot where a clump of bushes or stunted trees stood a +little way back from one of the wider tracks which ran like white tapes +across the moor. No house or cottage was to be seen, but a thin waft of +smoke rose slowly from the middle of the little planting.</p> + +<p>'It's the queerest place you ever saw,' Archie went on. 'Papa says it's +something like an Irish cabin, only cleaner and tidier, for Bob's old +granny isn't dirty, though she's extremely queer, like her house. People +say she's a gipsy, but she's lived there so long that no one is sure +where she comes from.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> She's as old as old! I shouldn't wonder if she +were really Bob's great-grandmother.'</p> + +<p>'Has <i>he</i> always lived with her?' asked Rosamond. 'Fancy! +<i>great</i>-grandmother.'</p> + +<p>'I don't know,' said Archie; 'he's been there as long as I can +remember.'</p> + +<p>'And that's not very long,' said Justin, with the superiority of his +four more years of life. '<i>You</i> can't remember more than six or seven +years back at most, Archie! I can remember ten good, if not eleven. And +Bob's two years older than I am. I should think he was about four or +five when I first remember him. Nurse wouldn't let Pat and me stop to +talk to him when we passed the cottage going a walk, he was such a +queer, black-looking little creature. Old Nancy went away once for ever +so long, and when she came back she brought this rum little chap with +her, and the people about said he was as uncanny as she. Nobody's very +kind to them, even now.'</p> + +<p>'Poor things,' said Miss Mouse. 'They must be very dull and lonely.'</p> + +<p>'They don't mind,' said Justin. 'Nance says she wouldn't stay if they +had neighbours, and she's jolly glad to have no rent. Once they tried to +make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> her pay for her cottage, but papa got her off, and ever since then +she'd do anything for us, and she always smiles and curtsies and blesses +us in her way when we pass. Yes, she'd do anything for us, and so would +poor old Bob.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, but——' began Archie, but stopped short, for Justin's eye was +upon him.</p> + +<p>'You're not to begin abusing Bob,' he said. 'It's not fair, <i>I</i> count +him a friend of mine, whatever you do.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond looked puzzled.</p> + +<p>'Is he a naughty boy?' she said half timidly.</p> + +<p>'No,' said Justin, 'I say he's not. He gets blamed for lots of things he +doesn't deserve, just because he and old Nancy are strange and queer.'</p> + +<p>'I'd like to see them,' said Rosamond. 'It <i>does</i> sound like a fairy +story, and it looks like one. Won't you take me to their cottage some +day?'</p> + +<p>But before either Justin or Archie had time to reply, there came an +interruption.</p> + +<p>'They're whistling for us,' exclaimed Archie. 'Yes, it's Pat and Aunt +Mattie coming across the paddock—and the little ones too. Isn't it nice +to hear Aunt Mattie whistling just like she used to, when she lived +here? Let's go back and meet them.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<p>'No,' said Justin, 'I'll stay here with Miss Mouse, and you run down to +them, Archie. Most likely Aunt Mattie wants to come up here too. She +always says there's a breeze up here almost as good as the sea.'</p> + +<p>'I wish Aunt Mattie's house was near the moor too,' said Miss Mouse. +'Where is it you go to school, Justin, and how do you mean you only pass +the Crags' house on fine days?'</p> + +<p>'Because when it's <i>awfully</i> rainy or snowy, or anything out of the +common, we go in the pony-cart by the proper road, and when it's +middling we go half-way by the moor, turning into the road a good bit +before we come to Bob's. It's rather boggy land about there, and we get +all muddy and wet unless it's really dry weather. We don't go to school, +we go to Mr. Pierce's—at Whitcrow—two miles off—the <i>road</i> to +Whitcrow crosses the road to Aunt Mattie's, farther on. You look out on +your way home, and you'll see a signpost with Whitcrow on one of the +spokes.'</p> + +<p>'I'll ask auntie to show it me,' said Miss Mouse. 'O auntie,' she +exclaimed, as the newcomers came within speaking distance, 'it <i>is</i> so +nice up here looking over the moor.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her little face had got quite rosy. Aunt Mattie was pleased to see it, +pleased too that Rosamond had evidently already begun to make friends +with Justin—girl-despiser though he was.</p> + +<p>'Yes, dear,' she said, 'I love the moor, and I am very glad you do. I +love it all the year round, though it's pretty cold up here in winter, +isn't it, boys?'</p> + +<p>Pat came forward a little. He wanted to please his aunt by being nicer +to Rosamond.</p> + +<p>'It's <i>awfully</i> cold going to the vicarage some mornings,' he agreed, +'but there's some nice things in winter. Can you skate, Miss Mouse?'</p> + +<p>The little girl shook her head.</p> + +<p>'No, but I'd like very much to learn,' she replied.</p> + +<p>'Then I'll teach you,' said Pat, his face getting a little red, for it +was not certainly his way to put himself about to be amiable. And he had +to suffer for it.</p> + +<p>'How polite we are growing all of a sudden,' said Justin, with a laugh. +But he could not mock at Pat's offer, for skating was the one thing of +outdoor exercises in which the younger brother outshone the elder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie was quick to scent any approach to a quarrel.</p> + +<p>'It must be getting near tea-time,' she said. 'Are you going to invite +us to your schoolroom tea, Justin?'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes, of course, if you like,' he answered, in a rather off-hand +tone, 'or we could bring you a cup into the drawing-room; mamma often +has it like that.'</p> + +<p>For it was rather before the days of regular drawing-room 'afternoon' +teas.</p> + +<p>'Thank you,' replied his aunt. 'I should much rather have it in the +schoolroom, and if Miss Ward isn't better, I can pour it out for you.'</p> + +<p>'She's sure to be better by tea-time,' said Hec. 'She always +is'—without much satisfaction in his voice.</p> + +<p>But this did not alter Aunt Mattie's choice. To tell the truth, she +thought it a good opportunity to see how things were going on in the +schoolroom in her sister's absence.</p> + +<p>Just then a bell sounded.</p> + +<p>'That is the tea-bell,' said Archie. 'Come along. The first in the +schoolroom to sit beside auntie.'</p> + +<p>Off they set, all except little Gervais, but they had not gone many +paces before Pat turned back again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>'What's the matter?' said his aunt, and then she felt sorry that she had +said anything, when she saw it was an effort on the boy's part to behave +politely to the ladies of the party.</p> + +<p>'Oh,' he replied, rather gruffly, 'I think I had better carry Ger down +till we get to the paddock.'</p> + +<p>'No, you <i>san't</i>' said Ger ungratefully. 'Auntie, tell him he's not to,' +for Pat was preparing to pick him up willy-nilly, and a roar would no +doubt have been the consequence.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 313px;"><a name="ILL_003" id="ILL_003"></a> +<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="313" height="500" alt="'I'LL TAKE ONE HAND AND PAT ONE, AND THEN WE'LL ALL RUN DOWN TOGETHER.'" title="" /> +<span class="caption">'I'LL TAKE ONE HAND AND PAT ONE, AND THEN WE'LL ALL RUN DOWN TOGETHER.'</span> +</div> + +<p>'I'll tell you what, Ger,' said Rosamond quickly, 'I'll take one hand +and Pat one, and then we'll all run down together, and wait for auntie +at the bottom.'</p> + +<p>To this arrangement Ger condescended, and Aunt Mattie, as she followed +the three more slowly, gave a little sigh of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>'It's all quite true that her mother said of her,' she thought to +herself. 'She's a dear little soul, full of tact and good feeling. I +wonder why our boys are so very tiresome?'</p> + +<p>For it was new to her to think of them as not <i>hers</i> as much as their +parents'.</p> + +<p>'I wonder if it's just that they <i>are</i> boys, or have we mismanaged them +somehow or other? I did so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> hope that my being with Harriet since I +grew up had been a real help to her, but it scarcely looks like it. +These boys are very troublesome.'</p> + +<p>Tea was ready when they all got back to the house—tea and the dispenser +of it, in the shape of Miss Ward, very meek and evidently rather sorry +for herself, though her face brightened as she caught sight of Aunt +Mattie and rose to greet her.</p> + +<p>'I am sorry you have got a headache, Miss Ward,' said the young lady, +'I'm afraid you are rather subject to them.'</p> + +<p>'N—no, I can't say that I am, or rather I never used to be, and I am +particularly sorry to have had one to-day when Mrs. Hervey was away. But +I daresay a cup of tea will put it all right—it often does,' replied +the governess.</p> + +<p>'Then why didn't you ask for one early in the day; I'm sure you could +get it at any time,' said Aunt Mattie a little coldly. She was feeling +rather irritated with Miss Ward for seeming so doleful, for she had come +to them with the recommendation of being specially clever in managing +boys. She was no longer very young, but active and capable, at least so +she had appeared at first. She grew a little red as she replied,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Oh! I don't want to give in to these headaches or to make any fuss +about them.'</p> + +<p>'Poor Mith Ward,' said little Ger, 'all-bodies would have headaches if +naughty Jus throwed books at them!'</p> + +<p>'Ger, Ger,' exclaimed Miss Ward; while up started Justin in a fury.</p> + +<p>'I throw books at Miss Ward; what do you mean, you sneaking little +tell-tale?' he exclaimed. 'No, you're worse than that, you are a +right-down story-teller.'</p> + +<p>'He's not,' said Hec. 'You've done it <i>twicet</i>, Jus, you know you have.'</p> + +<p>Justin was on the point of rushing off from his place to seize Hec, when +Aunt Mattie turned to him.</p> + +<p>'Be quiet, Justin,' she said, 'and behave like a gentleman. If not, you +must leave the room.'</p> + +<p>The old habit of obedience to his young aunt told, and Justin sat down +again, though not without mutterings to himself.</p> + +<p>'I don't want to spoil our tea-time,' said Aunt Mattie quietly, turning +to Miss Ward,' but I think it would be best for you to explain what the +little boys mean, and—what <i>you</i> mean, Justin.'</p> + +<p>'I didn't mean to hurt Miss Ward,' said Justin,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> 'and it was settled +that nothing more was to be said about it.'</p> + +<p>'I don't think Hec and Ger were in the room when we settled that,' said +Miss Ward, smiling a little. 'The facts are these, Mrs. Caryll. Justin +meant to play a trick on Pat, some days ago—what they call a +"book-trap"—some volumes balanced on the top of a door—you have heard +of it, I daresay?—so that they fall on the head of the first person who +goes into the room. Unluckily for me, I was that person, as I had to go +into Pat's room unexpectedly. I did get a bad blow, but Justin was very +sorry and promised never to do it again.'</p> + +<p>'But you say that was some days ago,' said Aunt Mattie.</p> + +<p>'Well, yes,' the governess allowed. 'This morning it was quite a +different thing. Pat was not ready to go out when Justin wanted him, or +something of that kind, and Justin threw a book <i>at</i> his door, to make +him hurry, I suppose, and again it hit <i>me</i>, as I was crossing the +passage. And—and—somehow a very little thing seems to make my head +ache lately.'</p> + +<p>In her heart Aunt Mattie did not feel surprised.</p> + +<p>'If what I have seen to-day goes on from morning till night, I am sure I +don't wonder,' she thought to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> herself, as she turned again to Justin. +But he stopped her before she had time to speak.</p> + +<p>'Auntie,' he said, looking, and it is to be hoped, still more <i>feeling</i>, +very much ashamed of himself—'auntie, I <i>was</i> very sorry the books hit +Miss Ward, especially this morning. But I didn't in the least mean it +for her——'</p> + +<p>'I should hope not, indeed,' interrupted Mrs. Caryll.</p> + +<p>'And,' continued Justin, 'Miss Ward knows I didn't, and we had made it +all up and nothing more would have been heard about it but for that +little sneak, Hec.'</p> + +<p>'You meant to have told your father and mother about it when they came +home, surely?' said his aunt.</p> + +<p>Justin reddened again, and muttered something about getting into scrapes +enough without needing to <i>put</i> himself into them; remarks which Mrs. +Caryll thought it wiser not to hear.</p> + +<p>'Please don't say anything more about it,' said Miss Ward, speaking more +decidedly than she had yet done. 'It is not often we have the pleasure +of visitors at tea, and my head is really much better now. I am <i>sure</i> +nothing of the kind will happen again, and—and—little Miss——'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Mouth,' said Gervais quite gravely.</p> + +<p>'Mouth?' repeated Miss Ward, looking very puzzled.</p> + +<p>'No,' Hec corrected, '<i>Mouse</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Miss Mouse,' she went on, 'will think us a party of——'</p> + +<p>'Wild cats,' interrupted Archie.</p> + +<p>And at this everybody burst out laughing, Miss Ward included, for she +<i>was</i> very good-natured—and on the whole perhaps the laughing was the +best thing that could have happened. Then Aunt Mattie had to explain +that her little niece's name was not really 'Miss Mouse,' but +Rosamond—Rosamond Caryll, as her father was Uncle Ted's brother—though +the boys all joined, for once, in saying that <i>they</i> were always going +to call her Miss Mouse, 'it suited her so well,' in which their +governess agreed.</p> + +<p>And tea went on peacefully and pleasantly on the whole, though Miss +Mouse's eyes grew very round with surprise more than once at the pushes +and thumps that passed between the boys, and the growls and snaps and +mutterings, even though the five were decidedly on their best behaviour. +Aunt Mattie did her utmost quietly to keep things smooth, and so did +Miss Ward. But Aunt Mattie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> was feeling sorry and disappointed, though +she tried not to show it.</p> + +<p>'I think Pat might do so much to make things better,' she thought to +herself. 'He is cleverer than Justin, who is just a great, rough, clumsy +schoolboy, not bad at heart, but awfully careless and thoughtless. Pat +is not thoughtless, but he keeps himself far too apart from his +brothers; if he would try to interest himself in their pleasures a +little, he might get to have far more influence. I must speak to him +again.'</p> + +<p>And so she did. There was an opportunity for a little more talk when tea +was over and before the pony-carriage came round. Pat was quick at +noticing things, and he saw that his aunt's sweet face was less cheerful +than usual.</p> + +<p>'You're not vexed with me now, auntie,' he said, half wistfully. 'I know +it was rather disgusting, that row at tea-time. Miss Mouse won't want to +come much to see us.'</p> + +<p>'I hope she will,' said Mrs. Caryll. 'Of course I was ashamed for her to +hear of those quarrels between you and Justin, Pat. How is it you can't +get on better with him? Archie does.'</p> + +<p>'Archie's better tempered than me, I suppose,'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> said Pat, 'and then he +daren't check Jus; he's a good bit younger, you see. And then they care +for the same sort of things'——</p> + +<p>'Ah yes, there's a good deal in that,' she said. 'If you could manage to +show some interest in Justin's games and animals and all these things, +instead of reading quite so much, you might win him by sympathy and +really make home life happier.'</p> + +<p>'It hasn't been very happy, lately, I know. And it worries mamma,' said +Pat gruffly. 'Aunt Mattie, I'll try. But I wish you were here again.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>WANTED—A SISTER</h3> + +<p>Aunt Mattie seemed rather absent-minded during the drive back—quite +different from what she had been on their way to Moor Edge, which was +the name of the boys' home. <i>Then</i> she had talked brightly and +cheerfully, pointing out the places they passed—here a wood famed for +the earliest primroses, there a cottage burnt down so long ago that no +one could remember how it happened, though the dreary, blackened remains +still stood, and amusing Rosamond as well with stories of 'the boys' and +all their doings.</p> + +<p>But the little girl was not sorry that now it was different. She was +feeling tired and very puzzled. In one way the afternoon's visit had +brought her a good deal of disappointment—her new friends were not at +all what she had pictured them—at least—and then her mind went on to +what it was that had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> disappointed and almost shocked her. She was too +sensible a little woman to mind their being noisy and even rather rough. +But—'it wasn't a nice kind of noisiness,' she thought, 'they all seemed +against each other, as if they were going to begin quarrelling every +minute, even though they didn't quite. I'm very glad I live with Uncle +Ted and Aunt Mattie. I'd rather have no one to play with than be always +afraid of quarrelling.'</p> + +<p>Suddenly Mrs. Caryll glanced at her little companion, and it struck her +that Rosamond's face was pale and that she was very silent.</p> + +<p>'My dear,' she said, 'I don't mind the boys calling you Miss Mouse—it +is a nice, funny little name—but I don't want you to grow <i>quite</i> into +a mouse. I have not heard the faintest, tiniest squeak from you since we +left Moor Edge.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond smiled a little, but it was not a very bright smile.</p> + +<p>'I— I thought you were thinking, auntie,' she said, 'and p'raps you +were tired.'</p> + +<p>'Just a scrap tired, I daresay,' said Aunt Mattie, 'and—yes I <i>was</i> +thinking, but I shouldn't have forgotten you, my pet. Are <i>you</i> not +tired?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know, auntie,' the little girl replied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> 'My head feels rather +buzzy, I think. It gets like that sometimes when I've been in the +railway and coming to see places and—and— I never played with such a +lot of boys before, you see, auntie. I'm not becustomed to them yet,' +and she could not keep back a tiny sigh.</p> + +<p>It was repeated, though not to be heard, in Aunt Mattie's heart.</p> + +<p>'I am dreadfully afraid I have made a great mistake,' thought the young +lady to herself, 'in believing she could get on with them and be happy +there. She is too delicate and fragile for them. I must arrange +something different and not attempt her going there for lessons.'</p> + +<p>But just as she was saying this to herself with a good deal of +disappointment, Rosamond called out eagerly, with quite a different tone +in her voice.</p> + +<p>'Auntie, auntie,' she said, 'is that the signpost with "Whitcrow" on one +of the spokes? Justin told me to look out for it. They pass by here when +they go to their lessons on rainy days. I mean they turn off here +instead of going on to your house. Yes'—as her aunt drew in the pony +and passed the signpost at a walk, to let the little girl have a good +look at it, and at the road beyond—'yes, that's it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> "To W, h, i, t,— +Whitcrow," quite plain. I wonder if Whitcrow once was White Crow, +auntie? Do you think so? I'd like to see the house they go to school +at—at least to lessons to. Can we drive that way some day?'</p> + +<p>She was in a little flutter of interest and excitement. Mrs. Caryll +looked at her with a smile.</p> + +<p>'What funny creatures children are,' she thought to herself. 'A moment +ago Rosamond was quite melancholy and depressed, as if the boys had +really overwhelmed her, and now she is as bright as anything about them +again.'</p> + +<p>'Certainly, dear,' she said, her own spirits rising, 'I can show you Mr. +Pierce's vicarage any day. What were you asking about Whitcrow? I don't +think it ever struck me before that it may have come from White Crow. +But a <i>white crow</i>, Rosamond, that would be a funny thing!'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said the little girl, laughing, 'when we always say "as black as +a crow." But— I think I <i>have</i> heard of a white crow—or was it perhaps +in a fairy story? I can't think.'</p> + +<p>'We must ask Uncle Ted,' said her aunt. 'He knows all about curious +things like that—all about wild birds and country things. But why do +you say<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> when they go to their lessons on rainy days? They go every +day.'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes, of course,' Rosamond replied. 'But it's only on rainy days they +go by the road,' and she explained to her aunt the different plans that +Justin had explained to her.</p> + +<p>'That is new since my time,' said Mrs. Caryll. 'They used to drive to +Whitcrow every morning and walk back if it was fine—and on rainy days +the pony-cart was put up at the rectory. On fine days the stable boy +went with them and brought it back. I used very often to go to meet them +in the afternoons across the moor.'</p> + +<p>'Oh then,' said Rosamond eagerly, 'you know the cottage where Bob Crag +lives and the queer old woman. I do so want to see her. Will you take me +there some day?'</p> + +<p>Her aunt hesitated.</p> + +<p>'What have they been telling you about Bob and his grandmother?' she +asked.</p> + +<p>'Oh, only just about how queer they are, and that people aren't very +kind to them, because they don't know where they come from and things +like that, and I was wondering— I couldn't help wondering'—the little +girl went on in a somewhat awe-struck<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> tone of voice—'if perhaps the +old woman is a sort of a witch. I've never seen a witch, but I've read +about them in fairy stories.'</p> + +<p>'And is that why you so much want to go to see old Mrs. Crag,' said her +aunt, half laughing.</p> + +<p>'I don't quite know,' said Rosamond. 'Yes, I think it is partly. It's a +little frightening to think of, but frightening things are rather nice +too sometimes—in a sort of fancying way, I mean. For there aren't +really any witches now, are there, auntie?'</p> + +<p>She was not quite sure of this all the same, for as she spoke, she crept +a little closer to Mrs. Caryll. It was beginning to get dusk, and the +part of the road along which they were then passing ran through a wood; +at all times it was rather gloomy just here.</p> + +<p>'Real witches,' repeated her aunt; 'of course not, though I daresay Pat +could tell you stories by the dozen about them, and no doubt Bob's +grandmother is a curious old body. Long ago I daresay she would have +been called a witch. I don't think she is <i>quite</i> right in her head, and +Bob is a wild, gipsy-like creature. I don't think their father and +mother care for the boys to see much of him, though both he and his +grandmother are devoted to them. Some day——' but before Mrs. Caryll +had time to say more,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> the sound of some one whistling in a peculiar +way, two or three notes almost like a bird call, made her stop short.</p> + +<p>'Why, that must be your uncle,' she exclaimed, 'coming to meet us,' and +she whipped up the pony to make him go faster.</p> + +<p>They were not far from home by this time, and when Uncle Ted, for he it +was, got into the pony-cart beside them, there was no more talk between +Aunt Mattie and her little niece.</p> + +<p>'How are they all getting on at Moor Edge?' was the first thing he +asked.</p> + +<p>'Oh—all right—at least well enough,' Mrs. Caryll replied, 'though I'm +not sorry that their father and mother are coming back to-morrow,' and +by something in her tone Uncle Ted understood that she was not quite +happy about her five nephews, but that she did not want to say any more +at present.</p> + +<p>So he went on talking about other things—he had been away all +day—which did not interest Rosamond, and the little girl fell back into +her own thoughts, companions she was well accustomed to.</p> + +<p>Aunt Mattie's house was quite a contrast to Moor Edge. It stood in the +midst of a small but pretty park. Everything about it was peaceful and +sheltered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> and charming. The flower gardens were the pride of the +neighbourhood. There was a great variety of rare shrubs and plants, +which could not have stood the keen blasts that blew over Moor Edge, +perched up as it was on high ground. The trees grew luxuriantly at +Caryll Place, and there was a little lake famed for the great variety of +water-birds who found their home on its borders. This lake, I believe, +was the one thing which made the Hervey boys envious. For everything +else they much preferred their own home, which they described as 'ever +so much jollier,' with the moor close at hand, and the fresh breezes +that blew across it at almost all times of the year.</p> + +<p>But in Rosamond's eyes, though she had felt the charm of the moorland +also, her aunt's home seemed perfection. All about it was in such +perfect order, and Rosamond dearly loved order. The Moor Edge schoolroom +had been a real trial to her, and as she ran upstairs to her own dainty +little bedroom, she gave a great sigh of content.</p> + +<p>'I am glad,' she thought to herself, 'to live here, instead of with all +those boys. Though I <i>like</i> them very much. At least I <i>would</i> like them +if they were just a little quieter, and not quite so squabbly. I wonder +if I had had brothers if they'd have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> like that? Perhaps I'm a +little spoilt with being an only child, and I'm afraid I don't want to +have brothers or sisters. All I do want is my own mamma, and that's just +what I can't have. O mamma, mamma, if only you hadn't had to go away and +leave me;' and the tears began to creep up again, as they had got sadly +into the way of doing during the last few weeks, into her pretty grey +eyes.</p> + +<p>But she bravely brushed them away again, for she knew that nothing would +have distressed her dear mother more than for her to give way to +unhappiness about a trouble which could not be helped. And after all she +had a great deal to be glad about. Many children, as her mother had +often told her, whose parents were in India, had no home in England but +school, or perhaps with relations who cared little about them, and took +small trouble to make their lives happy. How different from Caryll, and +dear Uncle Ted and Aunt Mattie, and as she reached this point in her +thoughts she heard her aunt's voice calling her, as she passed along the +passage on her way downstairs.</p> + +<p>Rosamond ran after her and slipped her hand through Mrs. Caryll's arm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>'You don't feel cold after our drive, do you, darling?' said Aunt +Mattie.</p> + +<p>'No, not the least, thank you, auntie,' the little girl replied, and +something in her voice told Mrs. Caryll that Rosamond had cheered up +again.</p> + +<p>'Uncle Ted says he would like a cup of tea after his journey,' her aunt +went on, 'and I have a letter I want to send this evening, so you must +pour it out for him while I write.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond was only too pleased to do so; they found her uncle waiting in +the drawing-room, where some tea had just been brought in. It was a +pretty sight, so at least thought Uncle Ted, to watch the little girl's +neat and careful ways, as she handled the tea-things with her tiny +fingers, looking as important as if it were a very serious affair +indeed.</p> + +<p>'I suppose you've often made tea for your father and mother; you seem +quite at home about it,' said her uncle, as she brought him his cup.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' Rosamond replied, 'I used to have breakfast alone with papa +sometimes when mamma was tired and didn't get up early. What pretty cups +these are, Uncle Ted! I do love pretty things, and you and Aunt Mattie +have so many.'</p> + +<p>These cups are very old,' said Mr. Caryll, 'they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> belonged to our—your +father's and my great grandmother—your great, great grandmother that +would be, so they are rather precious.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond looked at the cups with still greater admiration.</p> + +<p>'I'll be <i>very</i> careful of them,' she said; then, after a pause—'the +cups at Moor Edge were <i>so</i> thick. I never saw such thick cups.'</p> + +<p>There came a little laugh from Aunt Mattie in her corner at the +writing-table.</p> + +<p>'Things need to be pretty strong at Moor Edge,' she said.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Uncle Ted, 'the young men there do a good deal of knocking +about, I fancy. How did you get on with them, my little Rose? You are +not accustomed to racketty boys. I hope they didn't startle you?'</p> + +<p>Rosamond's quiet little face grew rather pink.</p> + +<p>'N—no,' she said slowly, 'I like them very much, Uncle Ted—and— I +don't mind them being noisy, but'—here she broke off—'they didn't +think <i>me</i> noisy,' she went on with a twinkle of fun in her eyes. 'They +made a new name for me; they call me "Miss Mouse."'</p> + +<p>'A very good name too,' said her uncle. 'I didn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> think they had so +much imagination, except perhaps Pat, who's got rather too much; he +seems always in a dream. Was it he who thought of the name?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no,' Rosamond replied, 'it was the littlest one, Ger they call him. +He's a dear, fat little boy. I don't <i>think</i>——' and again she +hesitated.</p> + +<p>'Don't be afraid of speaking out about them,' said Uncle Ted. 'I saw you +had something more in your little head when you stopped short before.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond grew redder.</p> + +<p>'I don't want to seem unkind,' she said, 'but are boys always like that, +Uncle Ted? I don't mean noisy, but so <i>fighting</i>. The big ones teach it +to the little ones. I was going to say that I'm sure Ger would be very +good-tempered if they didn't tease him so. They all seemed to be teasing +each other the whole time.'</p> + +<p>'It's boy nature, I'm afraid, to some extent,' said Uncle Ted, +'especially where there are only boys together. It's a pity they haven't +a sister or two to soften them down a bit.'</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse's eyes grew bright.</p> + +<p>'I don't mind their not having a sister,' she said, 'if they'd let me be +like one. Do you think they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> would, uncle? They were all very nice to +<i>me</i>, though they squabbled with each other.'</p> + +<p>'They're not bad boys,' said Uncle Ted, 'in many ways. And boys must +fight among themselves more or less, though I think our English ideas +about this go rather too far. I can't stand anything like bullying, and +there's a little of it about Justin.'</p> + +<p>'I <i>think</i> I like Archie best of the big ones,' said Rosamond. 'But I'm +not frightened of any of them, though I was a little at first.'</p> + +<p>Uncle Ted looked pleased at this.</p> + +<p>'That's right, my little girl,' he said kindly. 'It never does any good +to be frightened. And you may be of a great deal of use to Aunt Mattie's +nephews while you're here. I can never forget how much <i>I</i> owed to a +dear little girl cousin of ours when I was a small boy with a lot of +brothers like the Herveys—a very rough set we were too.'</p> + +<p>'How nice,' said Rosamond, looking very interested. 'Do I know her, +Uncle Ted?'</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>'I don't think so,' he replied. 'She's never been in our part of the +world since she married. But, oddly enough, you rather remind me of her +sometimes, Miss Mouse.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>And when Miss Mouse went to bed that night, her thoughts about Moor Edge +and the five boys there were all very bright and pleasant. It <i>would</i> be +so nice if she could be 'of use to them all,' like that cousin of Uncle +Ted's long ago.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>Bob</h3> + +<p>When the boys had watched their aunt and Rosamond drive away, Justin +turned to Archie.</p> + +<p>'Come along,' he said, 'I want to go and ask Griffith about the ferrets. +I wonder if Tom Brick has brought them.'</p> + +<p>The two walked off together, but they had not gone far before they were +overtaken by Pat, who came running after them.</p> + +<p>'What do <i>you</i> want?' said Justin, not too amiably. 'I didn't ask you to +come.'</p> + +<p>'You're not my——' began Pat, but checked himself. 'Why shouldn't I +come?' he went on in a pleasanter tone. 'I should like to see the +ferrets too.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' put in Archie, 'why shouldn't he, Justin, if he wants to?'</p> + +<p>'I suppose you've finished your story,' said Justin gruffly, 'and then +when you've nothing better to do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> you condescend to give <i>us</i> your +company. But I warn you, if you come with us, I won't have any sneaking +or tell-taleing about anything we do.'</p> + +<p>Pat opened his eyes—they were large dark eyes with a rather sad +expression, quite unlike any of his brothers'—with a look of great +surprise.</p> + +<p>'What on earth could there be for me to tell-tale about,' he said, 'in +just going to look at Tom Brick's ferrets? And what's more,' he added, +with some indignation in his voice, 'it'll be time enough for you to +speak to me like that when you do find me tell-taleing.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' chimed in peace-loving Archie, who was struck by Pat's unusual +gentleness, 'I think so too, Jus. You're rather difficult to please, for +you're always going on at Pat for not joining in with us, and when he +does come you slang him for that.'</p> + +<p>Apparently Justin found self-defence rather difficult in the present +case, for he only muttered something to the effect that Pat might come +if he chose—it was all one to him.</p> + +<p>But Pat already felt rewarded for what he had tried to do by Archie's +taking his part. For though Archie was a most thoroughly good-natured +boy, he had come to be so entirely under Justin's influence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> that his +acting upon his own feelings could scarcely be counted upon. And he +himself was a little puzzled by what Justin had said. There could not be +anything to sneak or tale-tell about if old Griffith had to do with it— +Griffith had been with their father long before they were born, and Mr. +Hervey trusted him completely.</p> + +<p>Justin led the way to the stable-yard, which was at some little distance +from the house. There was no one to be seen there, though the boys +called and whistled.</p> + +<p>'Griffith may be in the paddock,' said Archie, 'looking after mamma's +pony,' for Mrs. Hervey's pony had not been driven lately, having got +slightly lame.</p> + +<p>The paddock was some way farther off, but as the boys ran along the +little lane leading to it, they heard voices in its direction which +showed that Archie's guess was correct, and soon they saw a little group +of men and boys, old Griffith in the middle of them.</p> + +<p>Justin ran up to them eagerly.</p> + +<p>'I say,' he began, in his usual rather masterful tone, 'has Tom——' and +then he stopped, for Tom Brick, a labourer on a neighbouring farm, was +there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> to answer for himself. 'Have you brought the ferrets?' the boy +went on, turning to him. 'I suppose it's too late to do anything with +them this afternoon?'</p> + +<p>Tom Brick touched his cap, looking rather sheepish.</p> + +<p>'I've not brought 'em, sir,' he replied; 'fact is, I've not got 'em to +bring. I just stepped over to tell Master Griffith here as I've sold +'em—for a good price too; so I hope you'll ex—cuse it. I didn't want +to keep 'em, as they're nasty things to have about a little place like +mine with the children and the fowls, and my missus as can't abide 'em.'</p> + +<p>'I certainly think you should have kept your promise to us before you +parted with them,' said Justin, in his lordly way. 'I think it's a great +shame. What's to be done now, Griffith?' he went on, to the coachman. +'The place will be overrun with rats.'</p> + +<p>But Griffith was just then absorbed by the pony, for the third man in +the group was the 'vet' from the nearest town, who had come over to +examine its leg again, and, before replying to Justin, he turned to the +stable-boy, bidding him fetch something or other from the house which +the horse-doctor had asked for.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Griffith!' repeated Justin impatiently, 'don't you hear what I say?'</p> + +<p>Griffith looked up, his face had a worried expression.</p> + +<p>'Is it about these ferrets?' he said. 'I can't be troubled about them +just now, Master Justin. It's this here pony needs attending to. We'll +get rid of the rats, no fear, somehow or other.'</p> + +<p>Justin was too proud to begin any discussion with the coachman before +the 'vet,' who was an important person in his way. So he walked off, +looking rather black, followed by his brothers, Pat, to tell the truth, +by no means sorry at the turn that things had taken.</p> + +<p>'Griffith is getting too cheeky by half,' said Justin at last, in a +sullen tone.</p> + +<p>'He's in a fuss about mamma's pony, I suppose,' said Archie. 'But it is +rather too bad of that Tom Brick, only——'</p> + +<p>'What?' said Justin. 'Why don't you finish what you've got to say?'</p> + +<p>'It's only that I don't know if papa and mamma care much about our +ferreting; at least mamma doesn't, I know,' said Archie. 'I've heard her +say it's cruel and ugly.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>'All women think like that,' said Justin; 'my goodness, if you listen to +them you'd have a pretty dull time of it. I don't see anything cruel +about it when they're just muzzled, and as for killing the rats!—they +<i>have</i> to be killed.'</p> + +<p>'All the same,' said Pat, 'it must be rather horrid to see.'</p> + +<p>'It's no horrider than heaps of other things that are awfully jolly +too,' said Justin. 'I suppose when you're a man you won't hunt, Pat, for +fear you should be in at the death.'</p> + +<p>'Hunting's different,' said Pat. 'There's all the jolliness of the +riding. And shooting's different. There's the cleverness of aiming well, +and papa says that when a bird's killed straight off, it's the easiest +death it could have.'</p> + +<p>'It's bad shots that make them suffer most,' said Archie. 'But I say, +Jus, where are you going to. It must be nearly six. Have you finished +your lessons?'</p> + +<p>'Mind your own business,' said Justin, 'I'm not going in just yet, to be +mewed up with Miss Ward in the schoolroom. I want a run across the moor +first.'</p> + +<p>To this neither of his brothers made any objection.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> There was one point +in common among all the Hervey boys, and that was love, enthusiastic +love, of their moor—its great stretch, its delicious, breezy air, the +thousand and one interests they found in it, from its ever-changing +colouring, its curious varieties of moss, and heather, and strange +little creeping plants, to be found nowhere else, to the dark, silent +pools on its borders, with their quaint frequenters; everything in and +about and above the moor—for where were such sunsets, or marvellous +cloud visions to be seen as here?—had a charm and fascination never +equalled to them in later life by other scenes, however striking and +beautiful.</p> + +<p>Pat felt all this the most deeply perhaps, but all the others too, even +careless Archie, and Justin, rough schoolboy though he was, loved the +moor as a sailor loves the sea.</p> + +<p>This evening the sunset had been very beautiful, and the colours were +still lingering about the horizon as the boys ran along one of the +little white paths towards the west.</p> + +<p>'It's a pity Miss Mouse can't see it just now,' said Archie suddenly. +'She's a jolly little girl. I liked her for liking the moor. The next +time she comes we can take her a good way across it, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> far as Bob +Crag's; she'd like to see the queer cottage.'</p> + +<p>'I bet you she'd be frightened of old Nance,' said Justin, with some +contempt, 'she'd think her a witch; girls are always so fanciful.'</p> + +<p>'<i>You</i> can't know much about girls,' said Pat. 'I'm sure Miss Mouse +isn't silly. If she did think Nance a witch she'd like her all the +better. You heard what she said about fairy stories.'</p> + +<p>'Fairy rubbish,' said Justin. 'I believe you were meant to be a girl +yourself, Pat.'</p> + +<p>Pat reddened, but, wonderful to say, did not lose his temper, and before +Justin had time to aggravate him still more, there came an interruption +in the shape of a boy who suddenly appeared a few paces off, as if he +had sprung up out of the earth. He had, in fact, been lying at full +length among the heather.</p> + +<p>'Master Justin!' he exclaimed. 'I heard you coming along and I've been +waiting for you. I were going home from Maxter's,' and he nodded his +head backwards, as if to point out the direction whence he had come.</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Justin, 'and what about it?'</p> + +<p>'I axed about them there ferrets as I was telling you about t'other +day,' said the boy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>Justin threw a doubtful glance over his shoulder at his brothers. Bob, +for Bob Crag it was, caught it at once.</p> + +<p>'It was just when we was talking about what they cost,' he said +carelessly, 'I thought maybe you'd like to know.'</p> + +<p>'Tom Brick has sold his, did you know that?' said Pat, by way of showing +interest in the subject.</p> + +<p>'He's been talkin' about it for a long time,' said Bob. 'But <i>his</i> +weren't up to much. Those I've been told about are—why, just +tip-toppers!' and out of his black eyes flashed a quick dart to Justin.</p> + +<p>He was a striking-looking boy, with the unmistakable signs of gipsyhood +about him, sunburnt and freckled, as if his whole life had been spent +out of doors, which indeed it mostly had. His features were good, his +eyes especially fine, though with an expression which at times +approached cunning. His teeth, white as ivory, gleamed out when he +smiled, and in his smile there was something very charming. It was +curiously sweet for such a rough boy, and with a touch of sadness about +it, as is often to be seen in those of his strange race. He was strong +and active and graceful, like a beautiful wild creature of the woods. +Nevertheless it was not to be wondered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> at, that, in spite of his +devotion to the boys, to Justin especially, Mr. Hervey had often warned +his sons against making too much of a companion of old Nance's grandson, +for hitherto no one had succeeded in taming him—clergyman, +schoolmaster, kind-hearted ladies of the country-side had all tried +their hands at it and failed. Bob was now thirteen, and did not even +know his letters! Yet in his own line he was extremely clever, too +clever by half in the opinion of many of his neighbours, though not +improbably it was a case of giving a dog a much worse name than he +deserved. Never was a piece of mischief discovered, which a boy could +have been the author of—from bird's nesting to orchard robbing—without +gipsy Bob, as he was called, getting the credit of it. And this sort of +thing was very bad for him. He knew he was not trusted and that he was +looked upon askance, and he gradually came to think that he might as +well act up to the character he by no means altogether deserved, and his +love of mischief, innocent enough as long as it was greatly mingled with +fun, came to have a touch of spite in it, which had not been in Bob's +nature to begin with.</p> + +<p>There were two things that saved him from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> growing worse. One was his +intense, though half-unconscious, love of nature and all living things, +with which he seemed to have a kind of sympathy, and to feel a +tenderness for, such as are not often to be found in a boy like him. The +second was his grateful devotion to the Hervey family, which his strange +old grandmother, or great-grandmother, maybe, had done her utmost to +foster.</p> + +<p>'Where are they to be seen?' said Justin, in a would-be off-hand tone. +'It would do no harm to have a look at them.'</p> + +<p>'In course not,' said Bob eagerly. 'It's a good bit off—the place where +they are—but I know what I could do— I could fetch 'em up to our place +to-morrow or next day, and you could see them there.'</p> + +<p>Justin glanced at his brothers, at Pat especially, but, rather to his +surprise, Pat's face expressed no disapproval, but, on the contrary, a +good deal of interest. It was from Archie that the objection came.</p> + +<p>'I don't see the good of Bob getting them, as we can't buy them,' he +said.</p> + +<p>'How do you know we can't buy them?' asked Justin sharply.</p> + +<p>'They cost a lot,' Archie replied, 'and, besides,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> I'm sure papa and +mamma wouldn't like us to have them. Mamma can't bear them, as you +know.'</p> + +<p>'She need never see them,' said Justin, whose spirit of contradiction +was aroused by Archie's unusual opposition, 'and as for what they +cost—how much <i>do</i> they cost, Bob?'</p> + +<p>'I couldn't say just exactly,' said Bob, 'but I can easy find out, and +I'd do my best to make a good bargain for you. Five to ten shillin' a +couple, any price between those they might be,' he went on, 'and if you +really fancied them—why, I daresay granny'd let me keep them for you, +and when there come a holiday I could fetch 'em to wherever you like.'</p> + +<p>'There's the old out-houses that papa thought of pulling down,' said +Justin. 'They're a nest of rats, I know, and we might be there a whole +afternoon without any one finding out, or we might use them for +rabbiting sometimes.'</p> + +<p>Bob's face grew rather serious.</p> + +<p>'That's not as good fun,' he said quickly. To tell the truth he had a +very soft corner in his heart for the poor little bunnies, with their +turned-up, tufty white tails, scampering about in their innocent +happiness. 'Rats is best, and a good riddance.'</p> + +<p>'Five to ten shillings a couple,' repeated Justin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> 'I have only got +two, if that. What are you good for, Archie?'</p> + +<p>'Precious little,' the younger boy replied. 'And I don't know that I +care about——'</p> + +<p>'You are a muff,' said Justin crossly, 'a muff and a turncoat. You were +hotter upon ferreting than I was.'</p> + +<p>'I'd be hot upon it still,' said Archie, 'if we could do it properly, +with Griffith at home. But I don't think it worth spending all our money +upon when very likely we wouldn't be allowed to keep them.'</p> + +<p>'We could keep them at Bob's place,' said Justin. 'But as we haven't got +the money there's no more to be said, I suppose.'</p> + +<p>'<i>I've</i> got some money,' said Pat. 'Why don't you ask me to join, +Justin?'</p> + +<p>'<i>You!</i>' said Justin, in a tone of mingled contempt and surprise. 'When +do you ever spend money on sensible things?— Would they want to be paid +the whole at once, do you think, Bob?' he went on, turning to him.</p> + +<p>'I shouldn't think so,' the boy replied, 'anyway I could see about +that.'</p> + +<p>'How much have you got, Pat?' Justin now condescended to ask. Pat +considered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Three shillings, or about that,' he answered.</p> + +<p>'Three and two, and something to make up another shilling with +Archie's,' said Justin. 'Well we shouldn't be far short. I think you may +as well fetch them, Bob, and let us know. You can look out for us on our +way home to-morrow afternoon.'</p> + +<p>They had not been standing still all this time. The ground was a little +clearer where they had met, and they had been able to stroll on abreast, +though scarcely noticing they were moving. And now they were but a short +way from Bob's home.</p> + +<p>He was always eager to show such hospitality as was in his power to 'his +young gentlemen,' as he called them, and he knew that few things pleased +his granny more than to have a word with them.</p> + +<p>'I'll show you the corner where I could put up a box for the ferrets, if +you'll step our way,' he said, and in a minute or two the four boys had +reached the cottage, if cottage such a queer erection could be called.</p> + +<p>Justin and his brothers knew it well by sight, but they had very seldom +gone inside, and, to Pat especially, there was a good deal of +fascination about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Crags' dwelling-place. He was not sorry, as they +came near to it, to see old Nance herself standing in the doorway, a +smile of welcome lighting up her brown wrinkled face, and showing off +her still strong even white teeth and bright black eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>FERRETS AND FAIRIES</h3> + +<p>Old Nance's way of speaking, like everything else about her, was +peculiar to herself. Nobody could tell by it from what part of the +country she had come, all that they could say was, that her talk was +quite unlike that of her neighbours. Neighbours, in the common sense of +the word, the Crags had none, for their cottage was very isolated. Moor +Edge was the only house within a couple of miles, and except for the +Herveys themselves, its nearness would have been no good to the old +woman, for the servants were all full of prejudice against her and her +grandson. This she well knew, but she did not seem to mind it.</p> + +<p>'Good-day, Master Justin,' she said, as the boys came within speaking +distance. 'I <i>am</i> pleased to see you. You won't be on your way to school +just now, so you'll spare the old woman a few minutes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> won't you? and +give her some news of your dear papa and mamma, bless them, and Miss +Mattie that was, and the little young lady that's biding with her, and +is going to have her lessons with the little young gentlemen at the +house.'</p> + +<p>The three Hervey boys stared.</p> + +<p>'Who told you so, Nance?' said Archie, the readiest with his tongue. +'There is a little girl at Aunt Mattie's, but we never saw her till this +afternoon, and nobody has said anything about her having lessons at our +house.'</p> + +<p>'How do you hear things?' added Pat, looking the old woman straight in +the face, for he had had, before this, experience of old Nance's +extraordinary power of picking up news. 'Is she really a witch?' he +added to himself, though he would not have dared to say it aloud.</p> + +<p>Nance smiled, but did not reply.</p> + +<p>'Won't you step in?' she said, pushing the door of the cottage wider +open. 'I've just tidied up, and I was fetching in a handful of bracken. +It flames up so brightly.'</p> + +<p>It was chilly outside, and Nance's fire was very inviting. Pat stepped +forward to it, and stood warming his hands over the blaze.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>'And so your papa and mamma are away?' continued the old woman. 'You'll +be missing them, though it's not for long.'</p> + +<p>'There you are again!' said Pat. 'You know more about us than we do +ourselves. <i>We</i> have not heard for certain when they're coming back.'</p> + +<p>'<i>I</i> don't mind if they stay away a little longer,' said Justin. 'It's +rather fine being alone for a bit. If only we had holidays just now, and +Miss Ward was away too, it would be very jolly.'</p> + +<p>Nance patted his shoulder with her thin brown hand.</p> + +<p>'Book learning's all very well,' she said. 'Young gentlemen like you +must have it. But it do seem against nature for young things to be +cooped up the best part of the day. There's my Bob now, there's no +getting him to stay indoors an hour at a time, be the weather what it +will,' and she glanced at her grandson with a certain pride.</p> + +<p>Bob laughed, and in the dancing firelight his teeth glistened like +pearls.</p> + +<p>'I think we mustn't stay longer,' said Archie suddenly. He meant what he +said, but, besides this, somehow or other, he always felt a little +afraid of Nance, and this evening the feeling was stronger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> than usual. +The growing darkness outside, the peculiar radiance of the fire, for the +flames were dancing up the chimney like live things, and, above all, the +old woman's strange knowledge of matters which it was difficult to +account for her having heard, all added to this creepy feeling. And +added to this, Archie had a tender conscience, and he knew that though +they had never been actually forbidden to speak to the Crags, their +father and mother did not care about their doing so, more than was +called for in a kindly, neighbourly way.</p> + +<p>Justin and Patrick had consciences too, though Justin was very clever at +'answering his back,' and trying to silence its remarks, while Pat was +so often in a kind of dreamland of his own fancy, that he slipped into +many things without quite realising what he was about. Just now he was +enjoying himself very much. He loved the queerness and fascination of +old Nance and her belongings. It was like living in a fairy-story to +him, and he felt rather cross at Archie for interrupting it, though he +said nothing.</p> + +<p>'I'm not going,' said Justin, 'till I've seen the corner where Bob means +to keep our ferrets if we get them.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>'To be sure,' said Bob eagerly. 'I'll show you where in a minute if +you'll come with me, Master Justin.'</p> + +<p>And the two went out together. Archie got up to follow them, but stopped +short in the doorway, for, in spite of his fears, he was really more +interested in Nance than in the ferrets. Her first remark surprised him +again exceedingly.</p> + +<p>'And you'll bring the little young lady to see me some day soon, Master +Pat, won't you?' she said. 'She'd like to come, I know, for she's heard +tell of me, and she loves the moor.'</p> + +<p>'Nance,' said Pat gravely, 'I do believe you heard us talking on the +mound this afternoon, when Miss Mouse was with us, and that's how you +know all these things.'</p> + +<p>Nance only laughed.</p> + +<p>'Think what you're saying, Master Pat,' she replied. 'Could I have been +near you and you not see me? Unless I had the hiding-cap that the +fairies left behind them on the moor many a year ago, but that nobody's +found yet, though many have looked for it.'</p> + +<p>'Then how do you know they left it,' said Pat quickly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>''Tis just an old tale,' she said carelessly. 'These days are past and +gone—worse luck. It was fine times when the good people came +about—fine times for those they took a fancy to, at least. Why, there +was my own great-grandmother had many a tale to tell, when I was a +child, of what they did for her and hers to help them through troubles +and bring them good luck.'</p> + +<p>'Your great-grandmother,' repeated Pat, 'why what an awfully long time +ago that must have been! For I suppose you are very old yourself, Nance, +aren't you?'</p> + +<p>She did not seem at all offended at this remark. On the contrary she +nodded her head as if rather pleased, as she replied,</p> + +<p>'You're in the right there, Master Pat,' she said. 'I've lived a good +while; longer than you'd think for, perhaps, and I've seen strange +things in my time. And my great-grandmother was a very old woman when I +remember her. And yet it was seldom, even in those days, that the good +people showed themselves.'</p> + +<p>'Do they <i>never</i> come now?' inquired Archie, from the doorway. 'Not even +in wild, lonely places like this,' for he was gazing out upon the moor, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> the fast-falling darkness added to the mysterious loneliness of the +far-stretching prospect before him.</p> + +<p>His words gave Pat a new idea.</p> + +<p>'Your stories can't have to do with this moor, Nance,' he said. 'You +didn't live here when you were young, I know.'</p> + +<p>Nance shook her head.</p> + +<p>'Deed no,' she replied. 'Many a long mile away from here. The place I +first remember <i>was</i> lonesome, if you like. There's not many such places +to be found now, and they're getting fewer and fewer. No wonder the good +people are frightened away with the railways coming all over the +country. Why, the stage-coaches were bad enough, and some folks say +there'll be no more of them,' and again Nance shook her head.</p> + +<p>'Was your old home a moor too?' asked Pat. 'Was that why you came to +live here?'</p> + +<p>'You've guessed true,' replied the old woman. 'The moorland air is +native air to me, though this is a small place compared to where I was +born. It'll last my time, however, and yours too for that matter. +There'll be no railroads across it till the world's a good many years +older.'</p> + +<p>'How do you know that?' asked Pat, with increasing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> curiosity. 'Do you +know things that are going to happen as well as things that have +happened? I wish you'd tell me how you find them out!'</p> + +<p>'That I can't do,' was the reply. 'There's some as has the gift, though +how it comes they can't tell. It's like music, there's some as it speaks +to more than any words, and others to whom one note of it is like +another. And who can say why!' She ended, drawing a deep breath.</p> + +<p>This talk was growing rather beyond Archie. He strolled into the little +kitchen again towards his brother, who was still seated by the fire, +where Nance had by this time settled herself opposite him. The flames +were still dancing gaily up the chimney. It almost seemed to Pat as if +they leaped and frolicked with increased life as the old woman held out +her hands to their pleasant warmth. But then of course Pat was very +fanciful.</p> + +<p>'Tell us a story of the fairies and your great-grandmother,' said +Archie. 'What was it they did to help her?'</p> + +<p>'There's not time for it now,' Nance replied. 'There's Master Justin and +Bob at the door,' and, sure enough, as Archie looked round the two +other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> boys made their appearance, though not the slightest sound of +their footsteps had been heard.</p> + +<p>Certainly, old as she was, Nance's hearing seemed as quick as that of +the fairy Five-Ears.</p> + +<p>'I don't want to keep you longer,' she went on, 'or your folk wouldn't +be best pleased with me. You must come another day, and bring the little +young lady, and old Nance will have some pretty stories ready for you.'</p> + +<p>So the three boys bade her good evening and set off homewards, Bob +accompanying them a part of the way, talking eagerly to Justin about the +ferret scheme they were so full of.</p> + +<p>Pat was very silent.</p> + +<p>'What are you thinking about?' said Justin, when Bob had left them. 'You +seem half asleep, both you and Archie.'</p> + +<p>'I was thinking about old Nance,' said Pat; 'she's awfully queer.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' Archie agreed. 'I like her and I don't like her. At least I felt +to-night as if I were a little afraid of her.'</p> + +<p>'Rubbish,' said Justin. 'That's Pat putting nonsense in your head. If +you're going to stuff him with all your fancies, Pat, I'd rather you +didn't come with us.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>Archie turned upon him.</p> + +<p>'That's not fair of you, Jus,' he said indignantly. '<i>I</i> think Pat's +been very good-natured this evening. And if I were he I wouldn't give +you any money for those ferrets if you spoke like that.'</p> + +<p>This reminder was not lost upon Justin.</p> + +<p>'Pat's all right,' he said. 'He wants the little beasts too, don't you, +Pat?' turning to him.</p> + +<p>Pat murmured something, though not very clearly, to the effect that he +didn't mind, Jus was welcome to the money. Then another thought struck +Archie.</p> + +<p>'I say!' he exclaimed. 'I wonder if it's true about Miss Mouse coming to +have lessons with Miss Ward? That'd mean her being at our house every +day.'</p> + +<p>'<i>We</i> shouldn't see much of her,' said Justin, 'we'd be at the vicarage. +So we needn't bother about it. It wouldn't interfere with us.'</p> + +<p>'Bother about it!' repeated Archie. 'I think it would be rather nice. I +like her. But we'd have to leave off racketing about so, I suppose. She +<i>did</i> look frightened once or twice this afternoon.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps it would be a good thing,' said Pat. 'I don't think we were +like what we are now, when Aunt Mattie was with us, and yet nobody could +say that she would like boys to be muffs.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Speak for yourself,' said Justin. 'There's always been one muff among +us, and that's you!'</p> + +<p>It was too dark for Pat's face to be seen, and he controlled himself not +to reply. It was easier to do so as he was, to confess the truth, +feeling not a little pleased with himself for his good-nature to his +elder brother.</p> + +<p>'I'm sure Aunt Mattie would think I'd done my best this evening,' he +thought; 'Justin hasn't been a bit nicer and I've not answered him back +once, and I really will give him the money for the ferrets, though I'm +sure I never want to see the nasty little beasts. I don't mind them so +much if they're kept down at old Nance's, for then when Justin goes to +see them I can go too and make old Nance tell me some of her queer +stories.'</p> + +<p>For Pat was very much fascinated by the old woman and her talk—more +than he quite knew indeed. He put down the whole of his amiability to +Justin to his wish to follow his aunt's good advice.</p> + +<p>Justin was struck by Pat's forbearance.</p> + +<p>'What's coming over him?' he said to himself, 'I've never known him so +good-tempered before.'</p> + +<p>Archie noticed it too, as he had already done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> earlier in the afternoon, +and he was not afraid to say so.</p> + +<p>'You're really too bad, Jus,' he exclaimed. 'Pat's far too patient. If I +were he I wouldn't stand it.'</p> + +<p>This gave Pat great satisfaction, for though he seemed unsociable and +morose he was really very sensitive to other people's opinion of him, +and eager for approval.</p> + +<p>'Don't you meddle,' said Justin. 'Pat and I can manage our affairs +without you. We're both older than you, remember.'</p> + +<p>But before Archie had made up his mind what to reply, the threatening +quarrel was put a stop to by an unexpected diversion. They had by this +time left the moor and were making their way home by a little lane which +skirted their own fields, across which it was not always easy to make +one's way in the dark. A few yards ahead of them this lane ran into the +road, and just at this moment, to their surprise, they caught sight of a +carriage driving slowly away from Moor Edge.</p> + +<p>'What can that be?' said Justin. 'It's the fly from the station, I'm +almost sure. I know it by the heavy way it trundles along.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>'I do believe,' said Archie joyfully, 'that it's papa and mamma come +back without warning!'</p> + +<p>His brothers did not seem equally pleased.</p> + +<p>'If it is,' said Justin, 'we'll get into a nice scrape for being out so +late. Run on, Archie, you're mamma's pet, and tell her we're just +behind.'</p> + +<p>Archie made no objection to this, he was not unused to being employed in +this way, and when a few minutes later the elder boys entered the house, +they found that their pioneer had done his work well.</p> + +<p>Their mother was crossing the hall on her way upstairs when she caught +sight of them coming in by a side door; Archie was beside her, laden +with bags and rugs.</p> + +<p>'My dear boys,' said Mrs. Hervey, 'you shouldn't be out so late. I was +just beginning to wonder what had become of you when Archie ran in.'</p> + +<p>'We never thought you'd come back to-night,' said Justin, as he kissed +her, 'or we'd have been in, or gone along the road to meet you.'</p> + +<p>'That's not the question,' said their father's voice from the other side +of the hall, where he was looking over some letters that had come for +him. 'I'm afraid it's a case of "when the cat's away,"' but by the tone +of his voice they knew he was not very vexed. 'So,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> Pat,' he went on, +'you were out too. I'm glad of that, it's better than being always +cooped up indoors. What have you all been after? Archie says you weren't +far off—were you with Griffith?'</p> + +<p>'Part of the time,' said Justin. 'The vet came over to look at mamma's +pony.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, by the bye, how is it?' asked Mr. Hervey quickly, but Justin could +not say.</p> + +<p>'I'll run out and ask Griffith now,' he volunteered, and off he ran.</p> + +<p>Pat followed his mother and Archie upstairs. He did not quite own it to +himself, but he had a strong feeling of not wishing his father to know +that they had been for some time at the Crags' cottage.</p> + +<p>On the landing upstairs, Mrs. Hervey and the boys were met by the two +nursery children. Hec kissed his mother in a rather off-hand way—there +was a good deal of Justin about Hec—but fat little Ger ran forward with +outstretched arms.</p> + +<p>'Mamma, mamma!' he cried. 'I am <i>so</i> glad you've comed home. And Mith +Mouse has been here, did you know? Aunt Mattie brought her.'</p> + +<p>'My darling, what are you talking about?' said his mother. 'Pat— +Archie, what does he mean?'</p> + +<p>'The little girl,' said Archie, 'Aunt Mattie's own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> little girl. Didn't +you know she was coming, mamma?'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hervey's face cleared.</p> + +<p>'Do you mean little Rosamond Caryll?' she said. 'Oh yes, of course I +knew she was expected to stay with your Aunt Mattie. But I forgot she +was coming so soon. And so she has been to see you already? That is very +nice. She must be a dear little girl, I am sure.'</p> + +<p>'Hers <i>juth</i> like a mouse,' said Ger, 'all tho thoft and juth the right +colour—greyey, you know!'</p> + +<p>His mother laughed.</p> + +<p>'You funny boy,' she said. 'When are you going to leave off lisping +altogether? You can say S's quite well if you like. Did she mind your +calling her "Miss Mouse"?' she went on, turning to the elder boys.</p> + +<p>'No, not a bit,' said Archie. 'I think she liked it.'</p> + +<p>'And so did Aunt Mattie,' added Pat. 'She said it suited her. Is it true +that she's coming here to have lessons, mamma?'</p> + +<p>'Who told you so?' asked his mother, with some surprise. 'There's +nothing settled about it.'</p> + +<p>Pat and Archie glanced at each other, but neither replied. Their mother, +however, did not notice their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> silence, for just then Miss Ward made her +appearance. She was all smiles and cheerfulness now, for Mr. and Mrs. +Hervey's return was the greatest possible relief to her.</p> + +<p>'I hope everything has been all right while we were away?' said the +boys' mother kindly.</p> + +<p>'Yes, thank you,' said Miss Ward, 'at least everything is quite right +now. I had just a little trouble, but it was really accidental, and Mrs. +Caryll's coming this afternoon was such a pleasure.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hervey saw that Miss Ward did not wish to say any more before the +children. Her face fell a little.</p> + +<p>'I am afraid,' she thought to herself, 'that Justin may have been +unmanageable, but I shall hear about it afterwards if there is anything +that must be told. Pat,' she went on to herself, 'looks wonderfully +bright and cheerful, more like what he used to be when Mattie was here. +I do hope it will turn out nicely about little Rosamond coming.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>NANCE'S STORY</h3> + +<p>The next day Mrs. Hervey drove over to Caryll Place, where she had a +long talk with her sister, and made acquaintance with little Rosamond.</p> + +<p>'She is a sweet little girl,' she said, when she and Aunt Mattie were by +themselves. 'I do hope it will answer for her to come over to us, as we +had thought of. Even though she would be mostly with the little ones, +you could let her spend a day now and then with all the boys, I hope, +Mattie? It would be so good for them, and I <i>think</i>, I <i>hope</i> they would +not be too rough for her. They must have been unusually unruly +yesterday.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Caryll hesitated. She was anxious not to disappoint her sister, as +she looked up in her face with her gentle, pleading brown eyes—eyes so +like Archie's. Mrs. Hervey was several years older than Aunt Mattie, and +yet in some ways she seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> younger. There was something almost +child-like about her which made it difficult to believe that she was the +mother of the five sturdy boys. And to tell the truth, she often felt +overwhelmed by them. 'If only one of them had been a girl!' she used to +say to herself. 'She would have had such a softening influence upon the +others!' and she had hailed with delight the prospect of little Rosamond +making one of the Moor Edge party to some extent for a time.</p> + +<p>'You're not thinking of giving it up?' she went on anxiously.</p> + +<p>'No,' replied Aunt Mattie. 'I think now that Rosamond herself would be +very disappointed. Her uncle said something to her last night which I +see has made a great impression upon her. She really wants to be a +sister to them all, for the time. But I think it <i>will</i> be necessary for +you—or his father rather—to speak very seriously to Justin. I am +afraid there is a touch of the bully about him which seems to have got +worse of late, and it is such a bad example for the younger ones.'</p> + +<p>'Of course it is,' Mrs. Hervey agreed. 'We have been speaking to him +this morning about his rudeness to Miss Ward while we were away. We +made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> her tell about it, poor thing—and on the whole I must say he took +it well. He didn't attempt any excuses. And Pat has been <i>very</i> nice, +much brighter than usual. I can't help hoping that the thought of Miss +Mouse'—she smiled as she said the name-'is going to put them all on +their mettle.'</p> + +<p>'I shall be very glad indeed if it is so,' said Mrs. Caryll, and when +her sister went home again, she carried with her, to her houseful of +boys, the news that the little stranger was to join the schoolroom party +the next day but one, for to-day was Saturday.</p> + +<p>They were all more or less pleased. Justin the least so perhaps, unless +it were that he thought it rather beneath him to seem to care one way or +another about a thing of the kind, and he repeated that it would make no +difference to <i>him</i>, as Miss Mouse's companions were to be the two +little boys.</p> + +<p>'Oh, but she's going to be with us on half-holidays, very often,' said +Archie.</p> + +<p>'What a nuisance!' said Justin, but in his heart he was not ill-pleased. +There was a good deal of love of show-off about him, and a little girl, +especially a quiet, gentle child like Rosamond, seemed to him very well +suited to fill the place of admirer to his important self.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>'We must take her to see old Nance, the first chance we get,' said Pat. +'We almost promised we would, you remember?'</p> + +<p>'Do you think Aunt Mattie wouldn't mind,' said Archie doubtfully.</p> + +<p>'<i>Mind</i>,' repeated Pat, 'of course not. We've never been told we're not +to speak to the Crags. All papa said was that he didn't want us to have +Bob too much about the place. And I daresay that was partly because the +servants are nasty to him, and might get him into trouble somehow or +other.</p> + +<p>'Oh well yes,' said Archie, who was always inclined to see things in the +pleasantest light, 'I daresay it was for that, and Miss Mouse does want +very much to go to see their queer cottage.'</p> + +<p>And on Monday morning little Rosamond made her appearance for the second +time at Moor Edge. She had come over in her aunt's pony-cart, which was +to fetch her again in the afternoon, Mrs. Caryll intending very often to +drive over for this purpose herself.</p> + +<p>Things promised very well in the schoolroom. Miss Ward was a good +teacher, and Rosamond was a pleasant child to teach. Three days in the +week she was alone with the little ones, the three other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> days Archie +and she did several of their lessons together, for it was only on +alternate mornings that he went with his brothers to the vicarage for +Latin and Greek, which Miss Ward did not undertake. So a week or more +passed quietly and uneventfully. The two first half-holidays were not +spent by Rosamond at Moor Edge, as her aunt thought it better not to +throw the little girl too much with the elder boys till she had grown +more accustomed to being among so many, for a change of this kind is +often rather trying to an only child.</p> + +<p>But on the second Wednesday, when the little girl was starting in the +morning, she asked her aunt if she might spend that afternoon with 'the +boys,' and not come home till later.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Caryll was pleased at her expressing this wish.</p> + +<p>'Certainly, dear,' she said. 'I shall very likely drive over myself to +bring you back. I have not seen Aunt Flora,'—for so Rosamond had been +told to call Mrs. Hervey—'for some days. Have you made some plan for +this afternoon?'</p> + +<p>'Only to go for a walk with the big ones,' Miss Mouse replied. 'I +daresay we'll go on the moor, for I've hardly been there at all.' And +after the early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> dinner at Moor Edge the children set off for their +ramble, having informed Miss Ward that they had no intention of coming +home till tea-time.</p> + +<p>'Aunt Mattie's coming to fetch me herself,' said Rosamond, 'and now the +evenings are rather cold and get so soon dark, she is sure to come in a +close carriage, so mightn't we have tea a <i>little</i> later, Miss Ward, so +as to be able to stay out as long as it's light?'</p> + +<p>She looked up coaxingly in Miss Ward's face.</p> + +<p>'I don't think it would do to change the hour,' the governess replied. +'But I won't mind if you're not in just to the minute.'</p> + +<p>Miss Ward's not often so good-natured as that,' said Justin. 'I suppose +she "favours" you because you're a girl, Miss Mouse.'</p> + +<p>'I think she's very kind to everybody,' said Rosamond.</p> + +<p>'I'm sure she's had nothing to complain of lately,' said Justin. 'We've +been as good as good. I'm getting rather tired of it.'</p> + +<p>They were close to the moor by this time. It was a mild day for the time +of year, and the sky was very clear.</p> + +<p>'We might go a good long walk,' said Archie.</p> + +<p>'Humph,' said Justin, 'I don't call that much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> fun. Anyway I mean to go +first to Bob Crag's. I don't know what he's doing about those ferrets. +He's had time enough to find out about them by now.'</p> + +<p>'What was there to find out?' asked Archie. 'He told us ever so long ago +that he could get them at Maxter's.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, but you didn't hear,' said Pat. 'It was one morning you weren't +with us. He ran after us to say that these ones were sold too. And he +had heard of some other place farther off. I don't believe we'll ever +get any.'</p> + +<p>'Is that the boy whose old grandmother lives in the queer hut on the +moor?' asked Rosamond eagerly. 'I remember the first time I came here +you said you'd take me to see it some day. Can't we go that way now?'</p> + +<p>'We <i>are</i> going that way,' said Justin. 'You're sure you won't be +frightened of the old granny? For if you were, Aunt Mattie wouldn't let +you come with us again.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond opened her eyes very wide.</p> + +<p>'Frightened of her,' she repeated. 'Why should I be? Isn't she a kind +old woman?'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Pat, 'but she's very queer. If you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> don't like her, you need +never come back to see her again.'</p> + +<p>'And in that case you needn't say anything about it to Aunt Mattie,' +added Justin.</p> + +<p>'But <i>of course</i> I won't be frightened,' said Rosamond, a little +indignantly. 'I've never been easily frightened. Even when I was only +two, mamma said I laughed at the niggers singing and dancing at the +seaside. Aunt Mattie would think me very silly if I were frightened.'</p> + +<p>'She'd be more vexed with us than with you,' said Justin. 'I think on +the whole you needn't say anything about the Crags to her. You see you +don't quite understand being with boys. <i>We</i> don't go in and tell every +little tiny thing we've done. Miss Ward would be sure to find fault with +<i>something</i>. And <i>we</i> hate tell-taleing; girls don't think of it the +same way.'</p> + +<p>'<i>I</i> do,' said Rosamond, flushing a little. 'If you think I'd be a +tell-tale I'd rather not go with you.'</p> + +<p>'Oh nonsense,' said Archie. 'I'm sure Jus can't think that. Anybody can +see you're not that sort of a girl.'</p> + +<p>All these remarks put the little girl on her mettle, and, besides this, +she was most anxious to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> gain the good opinion of the two elder boys +and to get on happily with them as her aunt had so much wished. Nor was +she by nature in the least a cowardly child.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 312px;"><a name="ILL_004" id="ILL_004"></a> +<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="312" height="500" alt="NANCE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">NANCE.</span> +</div> + +<p>Still when they reached the little cottage on the moor, and she caught +sight of Nance standing in the doorway as if looking out for them, she +could not help giving a tiny start, for no doubt the old woman <i>was</i> a +very strange-looking person.</p> + +<p>'She really does look like one of the witches in my picture fairy-book,' +thought Rosamond.</p> + +<p>But with the first words that fell from Nance's lips, the slight touch +of fear faded away. There was something singularly sweet in the old +woman's voice when it suited her to make it so, and she was evidently +very pleased to see the little stranger.</p> + +<p>'Welcome, missie dear,' she said. 'I was thinking you'd be coming +to-day, and proud I am to see you all.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond felt a little surprised at finding herself expected, but no +doubt, she thought to herself, the boys had told the old woman that they +would bring her.</p> + +<p>'Thank you,' she said, in her pretty, half-shy way. 'I wanted to come +very much. I think it must be so nice to live on the moor as you do.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Nance has always lived on a moor,' said Archie, 'ever since she was +quite a little girl. That's why she came here instead of going to the +village.'</p> + +<p>'Aye, Master Archie,' said the old woman, 'I'd choke in a village, let +alone a town, but there was a time that I was far away from moorland, +though my life began on one and 'twill end on one too. But won't you +come in, my dears. I was baking this morning—there's some little cakes +maybe you'd like a taste of, and some nice fresh milk.'</p> + +<p>None of the children had any objection to an afternoon luncheon of this +kind, and Nance's little cakes were certainly very good. Miss Mouse felt +exceedingly happy. The inside of the cottage was beautifully clean, and +uncommon-looking in some ways, for Nance had trained a creeping plant so +well that one side of the room was nearly covered by it, and, besides +this, there was a kind of rockery in one corner with smaller plants +growing in its crannies. The furniture, though plain and strong, was of +quaint, uncommon shapes, and on the high mantelshelf stood some queer +pieces of china, more rarely to be seen in those days than now, when the +curiosities of the East can be bought by any one for very little. +Rosamond knew more about such things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> than the boys, as her father had +been so much in India, and she thought to herself that perhaps the old +woman had had sons or brothers who were sailors.</p> + +<p>The little room was pleasantly warm without being too hot; indeed Nance +loved fresh air so much that it was rarely her door was shut closely +even in winter. The fire was dancing brightly, and there was a peculiar +fragrance which seemed to come from it.</p> + +<p>'I've been burning pine-cones and other sweet-smelling things,' said +Nance.</p> + +<p>Rosamond gave a sigh of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>'It's perfectly lovely in here every way,' she said. 'It's like a +fairy-house.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, that reminds me,' said Pat, 'you promised to tell us a fairy story, +Nance, at least I think it was to be a fairy one. Anyway it was about +the great big moor where you lived when you were a little child.'</p> + +<p>Pat had seated himself comfortably in his favourite corner near the +fire, Miss Mouse and Archie opposite him, but Justin was fidgeting about +in his usual way; he was the most restless boy possible.</p> + +<p>'I say, where is Bob?' he asked suddenly.</p> + +<p>Nance stepped to the door and looked out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>'He should be coming by now,' she said. 'He went about your ferrets to +another place, Master Justin. He's been in a fine way at not getting +them for you before. Ah! yes, there he is,' and she pointed to a black +speck appearing on one of the little white paths at some distance.</p> + +<p>'I'll go and meet him,' exclaimed Justin, 'perhaps he's bringing them +with him. <i>I</i> don't care about fairy stories. So when you're ready to +go,' he went on, turning to his brothers, 'you can call me. I'll be +somewhere about with Bob,' and he ran off.</p> + +<p>Nance stood looking after him for a moment. Then she came in, +half-closing the door.</p> + +<p>'That's right,' said Archie, 'now we'll be very comfortable without Jus +fidgetting about. Go on, Nance, we're all ready.'</p> + +<p>Nance drew forward a stool, and seated herself upon it, between the +children, in front of the fire. She had a pleasant, rather dreamy smile +upon her face.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 309px;"><a name="ILL_005" id="ILL_005"></a> +<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="309" height="500" alt="'I'VE PLENTY OF STORIES IN MY HEAD,' SHE SAID." title="" /> +<span class="caption">'I'VE PLENTY OF STORIES IN MY HEAD,' SHE SAID.</span> +</div> + +<p>'I've plenty of stories in my head,' she said. 'The one I was going to +tell you the other day was an old one of my grandmother's. It was about +a moor, though I can't say for certain if it was the one I remember best +myself. It was told her by the one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> that was best able to tell it, and +that was the very man it had happened to many years before, when he was +a boy. They were poor folk, very poor folk, and they had hard work to +keep the wolf from the door. The father was dead, and there were several +little ones. This boy, Robin was his name, was the eldest, and the only +one fit for regular work, and he was but twelve. He must have been a +right-down good boy, though he didn't say so of himself, for he worked +early and late and brought every penny home to his mother. Well, one +night, 'twas the beginning of winter too, like it is now, he was going +home from the farm where he worked, right across the moor. It was a good +long way to the farm, for it was a lonely place where his home was, but +there was no rent to pay for the bit of a place, so they stayed there, +lonesome as it was, and worse than that sometimes, for the children were +delicate, from want of good food most likely, and more than once the +poor mother had had a sad fright, thinking the baby, the frailest of +them all, would have died before the doctor could come to them. In the +summer-time they got on better, and, putting one thing with another, +they'd have been sorry to move.</p> + +<p>'This winter promised to be a very hard one—all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> the wise folk had said +so, and they weren't often mistaken. There were signs they could read +better than people can nowadays, and Robin's heart was heavy. For if the +snow came his work might stop, or it might be almost impossible to go +backwards and forwards to it. There had been times when for days +together the moor could not be crossed. The boy was tired too, and +hungry, and he knew well there was not much of a meal waiting for him at +home. But at least there would be shelter and warmth, for there was no +lack of fuel ready to hand—same as we have it here. The wind whistled +and moaned, and felt as if it cut him. More than once he put his hands +up to his ears, just to feel like if they were still there and to shut +out the dreary sound for a moment. And one time after doing so, it +seemed to him that he heard a new sound mixing with the wind's wail. A +cry, with more in it than the wind was telling: for it sounded like the +cry of a living being. He hurried on, feeling a little frightened as +well as troubled——'</p> + +<p>'Were there wolves about that place then, do you think, Nance?' Archie +interrupted eagerly. 'I have read in stories that they make a sort of a +cry—a baying cry. Perhaps the boy thought it was wolves?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nance shook her head.</p> + +<p>'There's been no wolves in this country, Master Archie, since much +farther back than my grandmother's time. No, it wasn't that sort of a +cry. He heard it again and again. And each time it grew plainer and +plainer to him that it was some creature in trouble, and bit by bit it +came stronger upon him that he must seek it out whatever it was; that he +would be a cruel boy if he didn't. So he stood quite still to listen, +and through and above the wind he heard it still clearer, and then he +turned to the side where it seemed to come from, though it was hard to +make his way. But strange to say he hadn't gone many steps before he +felt he was on a path, and, stranger still, all of a sudden the moon +came out from behind the clouds, and he heard the cry almost at his +feet, though before then it had seemed a good way off. He went on a few +steps, peering at the ground, and soon he saw a little white shape lying +huddled up among the withered heather, and sobbing fit to break your +heart to hear. It was a little girl; she seemed about two years old, and +when she felt him trying to lift her up, she stopped crying and wound +her tiny arms about his neck, so that, if he had wanted to set her down +again, he could scarce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> have done so. And before he knew where he was +there she had settled herself in his arms as content as could be. He +spoke to her, thinking she might understand.</p> + +<p>'"Who are you, baby?" he said, "and where have you come from? And what +am I to do with you?"</p> + +<p>'It was half like speaking to himself, and no answer did he get, except +that she cuddled herself closer into his arms, and it came over him that +take her home he must, whatever came of it, and in less than a minute +she seemed to have fallen asleep. He drew what he could of his coat over +her, for it was bitter cold, and it was hard work fighting against the +wind, tired as he was too, and misdoubting him sorely as to what his +poor mother would say, and small blame to her, when she saw what he had +brought with him. But queer things happened during that walk; whenever +his heart went down the most, he'd feel her little hand patting at his +cheek, or one of her fair curls would blow across his lips, as if it was +kissing him, and with that he'd cheer up again and his feet would feel +new spring in them. So they came at last to his home, and there was his +mother peeping out, wild night though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> it was, and listening for his +coming, for she had been getting very frightened.</p> + +<p>'"Is it you, Robin?" she called out, and sad as her heart was that +evening, it gave a leap of joy when she heard her boy's voice in return.</p> + +<p>'But it was as he had been fearing, when he came in and she saw by the +firelight what he was carrying.</p> + +<p>'"I couldn't help it, mother," he said, "nobody could have helped it," +and he told his story.</p> + +<p>'"No," said the poor woman, "you couldn't have left the baby to die all +alone out on the moor a night like this. Though it's little but shelter +and warmth we can give her. There's but a crust for your own supper, my +poor Robin."</p> + +<p>'She took the child from him and laid it down on the settle by the fire, +and as she did so it opened its eyes and smiled at her, and for a minute +her heart felt lightened, just as it had been with Robin. And the baby +shook its pretty curls, and sat straight up, looking about it quite +bright and cheery-like, and then it made signs that it was hungry, and +Robin took the piece of bread waiting for him on the table, and give the +biggest half to the little creature, who ate it eagerly. His two next +brothers stood staring at her—the little sisters were in bed and +asleep, his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> mother told him. They were so hungry, she said, 'twas the +best place for them.</p> + +<p>'"And how we're to get food for to-morrow, heaven only knows," she went +on. "I've not a penny left, and if this wind brings the snow there'll be +no getting across the moor even to beg a loaf for charity," and her +tears fell fast.</p> + +<p>'Robin felt half wild. Hungry as he was he couldn't bear to think of the +little ones in bed without a proper meal, and he was half angry when he +heard his little brothers give a shout of laughter.</p> + +<p>'"Be quiet, can't you?" he was going to say. But what he saw made him +stop short. There was the little stranger, as grave as a judge, taking +turn about with the two boys at the crust of bread, and they were +laughing with pleasure at her feeding them, and calling out that the +bread had honey on it.</p> + +<p>"They must be hungry to think that," said the mother; "but the little +one has a kind heart, and maybe she's not very hungry herself, though +she's so poorly clad," and both she and Robin felt happier to see how +pleased the boys were.</p> + +<p>'The good woman undressed the little child and put her to bed with her +own, and with no supper but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> his half crust, Robin fell asleep that +night, feeling, all the same, cheerier than might have been.</p> + +<p>'"I'll be up betimes, mother," were his last words, "whatever the +weather is. I must make sure of some food for you and the children +before I go to work."</p> + +<p>'He woke early the next morning, earlier than usual, tired though he +was, and the moon was shining so brightly in at the little window that +at first he thought it was daylight. And when he looked round the +kitchen, for he slept in a corner of it, he could scarce believe it +wasn't, for it was all tidied up, the fire burning beautiful, and +everything spick and span as his mother loved to have it. "Poor mother," +thought Robin, "why has she got up so early? and how sound I must have +been sleeping not to hear her!"</p> + +<p>'He called out to her, but there was no answer, and when he got up and +peeped into the inner room, why! there they were all fast asleep, and as +he turned back again, he saw something still stranger, for there was the +table all spread ready for breakfast—better than that indeed, for the +breakfast itself was ready. There was a beautiful, big, wheaten loaf, +and a roll of butter, a treat they seldom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> tasted, and a great bowl full +of milk, and on the hob by the fire stood the coffee-pot, and it was +many a day since that had been used, with the steam coming out at its +spout, and the nice smell of fresh ground berries fit to make your mouth +water.</p> + +<p>'There was no thought of going to bed again for Robin when he had seen +all this, though he'd been half wishing he could, he was that tired from +the night before, and by the clock he now saw that it was half-past six. +He gave a cry of joy which awoke his mother, and brought her and the +children in to see what had happened.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>NANCE'S STORY (<i>continued</i>)</h3> + +<p>'At the first glance,' continued Nance, 'the poor woman thought that it +was all Robin's doing, but in another moment she saw that was +impossible. The boy was only half-dressed and had plainly not been +outside, and he was looking quite as surprised as the rest.</p> + +<p>'"Mother, mother," cried Robin, "where has it all come from? Did you get +up in the night? Has any one been here?"</p> + +<p>'His mother was too surprised herself to know what to say. She glanced +round at the children.</p> + +<p>'"Let us get dressed quick and have some of this beautiful breakfast," +said the little girls, "we are so hungry;" and the baby held out its +arms and crowed, and then the mother bethought herself of the little +visitor of the night before. She was the only one who had not been +awakened by Robin's cry of joy—there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> she was still sleeping soundly, +with a smile on her little fair face.</p> + +<p>'"She has brought us good luck," said Robin and his mother, "whoever she +is, and wherever she came from."</p> + +<p>'But wonderful as it was they were too hungry to keep on thinking about +it, and soon they were all seated round the table, enjoying themselves +as they hadn't done for many a day.</p> + +<p>'And that wasn't the end of it either. When the good woman carried the +remains of the breakfast into the lean-to where their food was kept, +when they had any, what did she find but a beautiful cut of bacon and a +bowl full of eggs.</p> + +<p>'"Why, Robin," she said, "there'd be no fear of our starving now, even +if we couldn't cross the moor," and she looked out as she spoke, but the +weather had taken a turn for the better, and Robin was able to go to his +work with a light heart, feeling strong and fresh after his good night's +rest and his good meal.</p> + +<p>'"And you'll ask all about," said his mother, "if any one has lost their +child. There must be sore hearts somewhere, I'm afraid," and she lifted +the tiny waif for Robin to kiss her before he set off.</p> + +<p>'But ask as he might there was nothing to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> heard of a strayed child, +and as the day went on the boy felt more and more puzzled. He had plenty +to think of that day, for, to his great surprise, the farmer for whom he +worked told him that he was so pleased with his industry and good-nature +that, be the weather what it would that winter through, he might count +on regular work and better wages.</p> + +<p>'Robin was so eager to carry this news to his mother that he could +scarce wait till the time came for him to go home, and once he set off +'twas more like dancing across the moor than walking, so happy did he +feel.</p> + +<p>'"And even if we can't find the baby's friends," he thought to himself, +"mother'll be able to keep her, and glad to do it too, seeing the good +luck she's brought us."</p> + +<p>'As this passed through his mind he stopped short and looked about him. +'Twas just about the place where he had heard the cry the night before, +but the evening was mild and clear, and though the sun had set it was +not cloudy, and as the moon came sailing up he could see a long way +round him, and what breeze there was, was soft and gentle compared to +the storm wind of yesterday. And just then a sudden sound reached him. +No cry of trouble this time,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> but a burst of pretty laughter, ringing +and joyous as if it came from some little child bubbling over with +fun—and mischief too! It seemed to be just in front of him, then just +behind, then just at one side, then at the other. Wherever he turned it +came from a different point, till he felt half-provoked to be so +tricked. So he ran on at last all the faster, thinking he was bewitched, +till he got within sight of his home, and there, coming to meet him, was +his mother, with a look on her face half-pleased, half-vexed.</p> + +<p>"She's gone, Robin," she called out, "the pretty baby's gone. But +there's no call to be afraid for her. She ran off when she was playing +with your little sisters in front of the house, and chase her as we +might, we couldn't catch her. She danced away like a will-o'-the-wisp, +laughing as I've never heard a child laugh, so fine and pretty and +mischievous it was. And I've bethought me what it means. 'Twas the day +for the moor-fairies to show themselves, it comes but once in seven +years, and we've been in luck indeed."</p> + +<p>'Then Robin told her of the laughing he, too, had heard, and of the good +news he was bringing, and together they went on to the cottage, thankful +that they had not missed the chance which had come to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> them by fear or +selfishness. And from that day for seven years to come anyhow it did +seem as if they were specially befriended, everything went well with +them, and so far as I remember what my grandmother said, this good turn +helped Robin on through his life. He was a grandfather himself when he +told the story, much respected through the country-side—a good, kind +man, as he had been a good, kind boy.'</p> + +<p>Nance stopped. Rosamond gave a sigh of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>'What a pretty story,' she said, 'and how nicely you've told it—Mrs. +Crag,' for she did not quite know what to call the old woman.</p> + +<p>Nance smiled, well pleased. It was true; she had a real gift for +story-telling, and though her accent sounded strange, her words were so +correctly chosen, and her whole tone had so much charm about it, that it +was almost difficult to believe that she had not at some time of her +life been in a much better position than now.</p> + +<p>'I'm right glad that you've liked my old story,' she said. 'But don't +call me Mrs. Crag, missie dear; it doesn't suit me. Say "Nance," like +the young gentlemen. I've plenty more stories packed away<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> somewhere in +my head that I can get out for you if you care to hear them.'</p> + +<p>'I wonder,' said Pat, 'if the fairies were seen again ever? Do you think +they kept coming back every seven years, Nance?'</p> + +<p>The old woman shook her head.</p> + +<p>'I can't say, Master Pat,' she replied, 'but I'm afraid those days are +over now, the world's too changed, and all the new-fangled ways frighten +the good people away.'</p> + +<p>'Do you think there were ever fairies on <i>this</i> moor?' said Archie. 'It +says in our story-books that there are ever so many different kinds, +some in forests, some in brooks and rivers, but I never heard of moor +ones before. Are you sure, Nance, that if we sat up all night, or got up +very, very early in the morning some particular day, we mightn't see +something queer, or hear something? Like the boy, Johnnie— Somebody? +who climbed up the mountain on Midsummer's eve.'</p> + +<p>'No, no, Master Archie,' said Nance. 'Times are changed, as I told you. +You'd catch nothing but a bad cold. You mustn't try any of those tricks, +my dear, or you'll be getting old Nance into trouble for filling your +head with nonsense, and then you'd not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> be let come to see me, which +would be sad for me,' and she gave a little sigh. 'Promise me, you'll +never do anything your dear papa and mamma wouldn't like.'</p> + +<p>Archie laughed.</p> + +<p>'I was really half joking,' he said. 'I know there aren't really any +fairies, nowadays anyway. Pat, don't you go and tell Justin what I was +saying, or he'd make fun of me.'</p> + +<p>'I'm not going to,' said Pat. 'Jus doesn't care about things like that.'</p> + +<p>'I think they're lovely,' said Miss Mouse. 'Fancying about pretty things +is almost as nice as having them really, don't you think?'</p> + +<p>There was no time, however, for any more talk, for at that moment +Justin, followed by Bob, made his appearance at the door.</p> + +<p>'I say,' he called out, 'I'm going home, and you'd better all come with +me.'</p> + +<p>'It's not late,' objected Pat, who was feeling very comfortable and +disinclined to move, 'and we had leave to stay out later.'</p> + +<p>'I can't help it,' said Justin. '<i>I</i> want to go back now. I've a reason +for it. I'll tell you about it as we go.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>The others had to give in to him, as was generally the case. They all +said good-bye to their old friend, Rosamond holding up her little face +to be kissed as she thanked Nance again, for which she was rewarded by a +hearty—'Bless you, my sweet,' and then the whole party of children set +off for Moor Edge, Bob making one of them.</p> + +<p>'Why is he coming?' said Pat in a low voice to Justin, nodding his head +backwards towards Bob, who was walking behind them.</p> + +<p>'That's what I've got to tell you about,' said Justin in the same tone. +'It's about the ferrets. He's found a splendid pair after a lot of +bother, but he must have the money. You've got yours ready, I suppose?'</p> + +<p>'Bother,' said Pat. 'I don't care about the nasty little beasts. I did +hope you'd give them up.'</p> + +<p>'But you promised,' said Justin, ready to be angry. 'I've never spoken +of giving them up, and you offered the money at the first. You seemed as +if you wanted to have them as much as I did.'</p> + +<p>'I'm not going back from my promise,' said Pat, half-sulkily, +remembering his Aunt Mattie's advice to try to show more interest in the +things Justin cared for. 'You can have the money whenever you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> like,' he +went on in a brighter tone, as he remembered also that the ferrets, +being kept at Bob's, would be a certain reason for frequent visits to +the cottage, and more of Nance's stories; 'but do you mean,' he added, +'that we've got money enough to pay for them?'</p> + +<p>Justin hesitated.</p> + +<p>'No, of course not,' he said at last, 'your own sense might tell you +that. We've not got much more than half.'</p> + +<p>'Then they must be dearer than you thought at first,' said Pat sturdily. +'I remember quite well you counting that you'd have nearly enough.'</p> + +<p>'But these are far better ones,' said Justin. 'You must expect to pay +more for a better thing. They won't hurry about the rest of the money +once they've got half, or rather more than half.'</p> + +<p>'You'll have to pay up some time or other though,' said Pat. 'And I +don't know where you'll get it from. <i>I</i> can't go on giving you all my +pocket-money. There are other things I want to get.'</p> + +<p>'Wait till you're asked,' said Justin sharply. 'I can manage my own +affairs.'</p> + +<p>Pat thought it better to say no more, though in his heart he did not +think Justin's talk of independence was very well-timed. He did grudge +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> money now that the first feeling of generosity had had time to cool +down. But he felt there was no help for it.</p> + +<p>When they got to their own gate Justin told Bob to wait about outside +till he came back again. This surprised Rosamond a little; it struck her +as scarcely kind to the boy, who on his side had been so hospitable. But +she said nothing, only when bidding Bob good-bye, she held out her hand +to him, repeating how much she had liked her visit to the cottage. And +from that moment Bob's wild, warm heart was completely won by the little +lady.</p> + +<p>They were not as late as Miss Ward had laid her account to their perhaps +being, still, schoolroom tea was half over before Justin and Pat made +their appearance, and both came in looking rather cross. Miss Ward +glanced at them, seeming slightly annoyed.</p> + +<p>'As you came in in good time,' she said, 'you should have come to tea +punctually. Rosamond and Archie have been here for ten minutes at least. +What have you been doing?'</p> + +<p>The boys sat down without replying.</p> + +<p>'Has Bob gone?' asked Miss Mouse innocently.</p> + +<p>Justin glanced at her with a frown, and Pat, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> was seated next to +her, touched her foot under the table with his. She looked up in +surprise, but nothing more was said, Miss Ward not having noticed the +little girl's question. Tea was proceeding peacefully, though rather +more silently than usual, when the door opened and Mrs. Caryll looked +in.</p> + +<p>'Are you nearly ready, dear?' she said to Rosamond, after a word of +greeting to Miss Ward and the elder boys, whom she had not seen before +that day. 'It's getting rather late.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond jumped up.</p> + +<p>'I can come now, auntie,' she said. 'I've had quite enough tea.' But +this Mrs. Caryll would not allow.</p> + +<p>'I can wait five or ten minutes longer,' she said, looking at her watch. +'Perhaps Miss Ward can spare me a cup of tea.'</p> + +<p>Miss Ward was delighted to do so, and Archie was on his feet in an +instant, ringing the bell and then running out into the passage to save +time by meeting the servant and asking for another cup and saucer.</p> + +<p>'And have you had a pleasant afternoon?' said Aunt Mattie, when she was +seated at the table. 'Have you no adventures to tell me about, Jus? or +you, Pat?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>She looked at the two boys a little curiously, for she had noticed that +they were silent and rather gloomy.</p> + +<p>'It was all right,' said Justin in his somewhat surly way. 'We didn't +keep together all the time. I don't know what the others were doing.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! it was lovely,' exclaimed Rosamond, 'Pat and Archie and I were——'</p> + +<p>'Miss Mouse does so like the moor,' interrupted Pat, 'though there +wasn't any sunset to speak of this evening.'</p> + +<p>And again Rosamond felt a warning touch on her foot as Pat went on +talking rather eagerly about the sunsets that were sometimes to be seen, +which interested his aunt, and turned the conversation from what the +children had been about that special afternoon.</p> + +<p>The little girl felt uneasy and perplexed. Were the boys afraid of her +'tale-telling,' as they called it? And even if she had told everything +that had happened that afternoon, what harm would it have done, or who +could have found fault with it? Nothing could have been prettier or +nicer than Nance's story, and Rosamond felt sure that she was a good old +woman. She had been so afraid of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> doing anything that Mr. and Mrs. +Hervey might not like too, and her whole manner showed how much respect +she felt for the boys' parents.</p> + +<p>'I'm <i>sure</i>,' thought Miss Mouse, 'nobody could think it wasn't nice for +us to go there. I don't understand what the boys mean. I suppose it's +just that they've different ways from girls, and like to be very +independent. And I promised them I wouldn't tell things over if they'd +rather I didn't. So I won't, unless of course it was anything <i>wrong</i>, +and then I'd have to, but I'd first tell them what I meant to do.'</p> + +<p>And with this decision in her mind the little girl's face cleared, and +she felt quite happy again.</p> + +<p>She was bright and cheerful during the drive home, so that the very +slight misgiving which the elder boys' manner had caused Mrs. Caryll +quite faded away, and she talked happily to her little niece of plans +for other half-holidays. It would be nice sometimes, she said, to invite +the Moor Edge party to Caryll for a change, 'though,' as she added with +a smile, 'they all say they don't care for anything there half as much +as for running wild on their dear moor.'</p> + +<p>'The moor <i>is</i> nice, isn't it, auntie?' said Rosamond.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> 'Such a +beautiful place for fancying things, with its being so wild and lonely.'</p> + +<p>'You mustn't get your little head too full of fancies,' said her aunt. +'Has Pat been entertaining you with his pet stories? It is a pity that +he and Justin cannot be mixed up together, one is so much too dreamy, +and the other too rough and ready. But I hoped they were getting on +better together lately, though I was rather disappointed this evening, +Justin looked so cross.'</p> + +<p>'I think Pat tries to be very nice to Justin,' said Miss Mouse. 'And +Justin wasn't at all cross when we were out.'</p> + +<p>'I'm glad to hear it,' said her aunt. 'There is certainly room for +improvement in him. But I trust it is beginning. He has never been rude +or unkind to you, dear, I hope?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no, auntie, though of course I've not seen much of him till to-day,' +answered Rosamond. 'I like him quite well—though not so much as Archie, +or—' with a little hesitation—'or Pat.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>MISS MOUSE 'AT HOME'</h3> + +<p>The next half-holiday came on a Saturday—the Saturday of that same +week—and as the weather was lovely just then, Aunt Mattie begged her +sister to allow the three elder boys to spend it at Caryll, as she had +planned with Rosamond.</p> + +<p>So it was arranged that, as soon as morning lessons were over, the four +children should walk back together in time for early dinner at +Rosamond's home. In one sense it was scarcely correct to call Saturday a +half-holiday, as the boys did not go to the vicarage at all that day, +though they were supposed to spend two hours at home in preparation of +Monday's lessons.</p> + +<p>By twelve o'clock they were all under way, Rosamond feeling not a little +important at the prospect of acting hostess to the Hervey boys.</p> + +<p>'How shall we go?' said Archie, as they stood on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> the drive for a moment +or two looking about them.</p> + +<p>'By the moor, of course,' said Justin at once, 'turning down the path +that brings us out near the cross-roads—the way we go on middling days, +you know,' he added to Rosamond.</p> + +<p>'<i>I</i> think it would be more of a change to go all the way by the road,' +said Pat. 'We've gone so much by the moor lately with its being so fine. +You can't be wanting to see Bob again to-day, you'd quite a long talk +with him on our way home yesterday.'</p> + +<p>'As it happens,' said Justin, 'I do want to see him, and he'll be on the +look-out for us,' and without saying more he turned towards the kitchen +garden, from which a door in the wall opened on to the fields, beyond +which lay the moor.</p> + +<p>The others followed without saying anything more; cool determination to +have your own way reminds one of the old saying that 'possession is nine +points of the law'—it generally carries the day, as Justin had learnt +by experience.</p> + +<p>Rosamond did not care particularly which way they went, but she did mind +Justin's masterful manner of settling things according to his own +wishes, so there was a slight cloud over the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> party following +him, and some half-muttered 'too bads' and 'never lets us choose,' from +Pat and Archie. But once out on the moorland the bright sunshine and +fresh bracing air blew away all cobwebs of discontent.</p> + +<p>'How very pretty it is to-day!' said Miss Mouse eagerly, 'I've never +seen it like this—the sunshine makes all the colours different, but, +oh! how cold it must be in winter when it snows! I couldn't help +thinking ever so many times of old Nance's story of the poor boy +crossing it that winter night. I do so want to hear some more of her +stories. Of course we can't stop at the cottage to-day, but don't you +think we might next Wednesday perhaps?'</p> + +<p>'That depends on those horrid little beasts of Justin's,' said Pat +crossly, 'if Bob's got them by then Justin will always be wanting to go +there.'</p> + +<p>'Hasn't he got them yet?' asked Rosamond in surprise. 'I thought it was +all settled about them.'</p> + +<p>'Settled enough if we'd got the rest of the money,' said Justin gruffly. +'But the people won't give Bob credit. You see he hasn't told whom he's +getting them for, or they'd add on to the price thinking papa would pay. +But he was to see them again this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> morning and try to get them to say +they'd wait a week or two for the rest of it.'</p> + +<p>'How much are you short?' asked Miss Mouse.</p> + +<p>'Half, or as good as half,' answered Justin. 'They cost twelve +shillings, and we've only got six and fourpence, or fivepence, I forget +exactly.'</p> + +<p>'Nearly six shillings,' repeated the little girl; 'that's a lot of +money. I've never had as much at a time, except——'</p> + +<p>'Except when?' asked Justin, eyeing her rather curiously.</p> + +<p>'Except when I was collecting for something,' she replied, 'for papa's +or mamma's birthday, or something like that.'</p> + +<p>'Are you collecting just now?' asked Justin.</p> + +<p>Rosamond's little face grew pink.</p> + +<p>'I'd rather——' she began, 'rather not——' and then again she +hesitated. 'It's a sort of a secret.'</p> + +<p>'Well, you might as well tell us about it,' said Justin. Rosamond looked +distressed.</p> + +<p>'I think it's not fair of you to tease her, Justin,' said Archie +indignantly. 'You don't like people prying into your secrets, I know +that,' and Justin looked a little ashamed of himself, while Miss Mouse +gave Archie's hand a grateful squeeze.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>They had been walking fast all this time as well as talking, and they +were now within sight of the cottage, but no Bob was to be seen, and +when they came nearer they saw to their surprise that the door was shut, +and the usually open window closed also.</p> + +<p>'Where can they be?' said Justin, stopping short in front of the hut. 'I +told Bob we'd be passing about now, and he said he'd be sure to be back. +I wonder if the old woman knows?' and he was preparing to knock at the +door when Pat stopped him.</p> + +<p>'It's no good, Jus,' he said, 'there's no one there. I know how it is, +it's Saturday morning, and Nance has gone to buy her marketings for the +week. You see we never come by on Saturdays, so we've not noticed it +before.'</p> + +<p>'It's too bad of Bob,' said Justin, falling back. 'I'll come home this +way, for I must see him to-day.'</p> + +<p>'You can come by yourself then,' said Pat. 'I wish to goodness I hadn't +given you my money. You worry one's life out when you take a thing in +your head.'</p> + +<p>Justin was about to make an angry reply, pretty sure to be followed by a +quarrel, when Rosamond interposed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Much the best thing would be to make some plan for getting more money,' +she said, 'and then it would be all right, wouldn't it? I'm sure poor +Bob has done his best. If you want the ferrets so very much why don't +you ask your papa to lend it to you, and you would pay it back by +degrees out of your pocket-money?'</p> + +<p>'He'd never do that,' said Justin,' at least not to help me to get +ferrets.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond opened her eyes very wide.</p> + +<p>'Why, he doesn't mind you having them, does he?' she said.</p> + +<p>'He doesn't want us to have them at home,' the boy replied. 'You see +mamma doesn't like them, but there's no reason why we shouldn't keep +them somewhere else; besides——' but here he stopped and began talking +of other things.</p> + +<p>They had a pleasant walk to Caryll Place, and a pleasant afternoon +followed. Uncle Ted was at home, and both he and Aunt Mattie did their +utmost to make the children happy. And there were plenty of nice things +at Caryll to make up to the boys for its being farther away from the +moor. First and foremost among these was a little boat on the lake, +which the boys were allowed, to their great delight,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> to row about in +two at a time. This boat was a novelty, as their uncle had only just got +it, and as the lake was shallow there was no danger of anything worse +than a good wetting even if it did capsize, and when the afternoon began +to get chilly, and Aunt Mattie was afraid of Rosamond's remaining out +any longer, she brought them into the hall, which was a big square one, +and let them have a capital game of blind man's buff, in which even +Justin did not think it beneath him to join, as Uncle Ted proved the +best blind man of them all.</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse had never seen Justin to such advantage. He was really quite +pleasant and hearty, and she began to think him a much nicer boy than +she had yet done. No doubt the improvement was greatly owing to his +uncle's presence, but this did not strike the kind-hearted little girl, +and Aunt Mattie was very pleased to see the two on such good terms. For +it was on Justin and Pat especially that she hoped much, in different +ways, from her little niece's good influence.</p> + +<p>So it was with very cheerful feelings that their aunt watched the three +boys set off on their return home.</p> + +<p>For some distance there was no question as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> which way they should +choose, so they walked on very friendlily.</p> + +<p>'I say, we have had a jolly afternoon at Caryll for once, haven't we?' +said Archie.</p> + +<p>'Not so bad,' Justin allowed; 'I'm glad Uncle Ted's had the sense to get +a boat at last.'</p> + +<p>'I have always liked Caryll awfully,' said Pat, 'even when you two +thought it dull. Everything about it is so pretty, and there are such +jolly books in the library too. Rosamond's got some very nice ones of +her own; she took me up to her room to see them just before tea, while +you and Archie were still in the boat. She's got a splendid <i>Hans +Andersen</i>, for one; she's going to lend it to me. It's got ever so many +more stories in it than ours.'</p> + +<p>'She's a spoilt little thing,' said Justin, rather crossly. 'I don't +suppose she's ever wanted anything that she didn't get.'</p> + +<p>'She's not spoilt,' said Pat. 'Several of the books she bought with her +own money, that she'd saved up on purpose. She told me so.'</p> + +<p>'I wonder if it's something like that she's saving for now,' said Justin +quickly. 'I've a good mind to ask her. It wouldn't hurt her to wait a +little while to buy a book, and then she could lend me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> the money. She +might have done worse than offer it already, when she heard that we were +short of some.'</p> + +<p>'Don't say "we," if you please,' replied Pat. 'I don't want to have +anything more to do with your nasty animals, and I think it would be +horribly mean to borrow from a girl.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' chimed in Archie, 'I wonder you can think of such a thing, Jus.'</p> + +<p>'I'd pay her interest,' said Justin indignantly, 'a penny a month on +each shilling. That would be awfully high interest, I know.'</p> + +<p>'She wouldn't want your interest,' said Pat. 'She'd want her own money, +and I'd be ashamed of you if you borrowed it from her.'</p> + +<p>Justin made no reply, and they walked on in silence till they came to +the point at which they had to choose their way home.</p> + +<p>'I'm going back by the moor,' said Justin abruptly.</p> + +<p>'I'm not then,' said Pat, marching straight on as he spoke, Archie, as +often happened, standing wavering between the two, for he loved to keep +on good terms with everybody. But this time his sympathy was decidedly +with Pat, and he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> much relieved when Justin called out to him, not +too amiably, that he didn't want him.</p> + +<p>'I'd rather go by myself, and manage my own affairs,' he called out, +walking off without replying to Archie's good-natured reminder not to be +very long, and then the younger boy ran on to overtake Pat.</p> + +<p>The two boys were glad they had kept to the road, for when they reached +their own door they were met by Hec, who told them that their mother had +been wondering why they were so late.</p> + +<p>'Where's Jus?' he added. 'Papa wanted him for something or other.'</p> + +<p>'He's coming round the other way,' said Archie, and as he spoke his +father looked out of his study door, and caught the words. He looked +annoyed.</p> + +<p>'When you go out together, I expect you to come home together,' he said. +'How did you two come?'</p> + +<p>'By the road,' said Pat.</p> + +<p>'Then that means that Justin is coming by the moor. I hope he doesn't +see too much of that Crag boy; I don't hear any too good an account of +him. I must speak to Justin about it,' said Mr. Hervey, as he turned +back into his room again.</p> + +<p>Archie followed him before he shut the door,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> feeling somehow a little +guilty for having deserted Justin, and a little uneasy too at what his +father had said of poor Bob.</p> + +<p>'Hec said there was something you wanted one of us to do for you, papa,' +he began. 'Can I do it?'</p> + +<p>Mr. Hervey, already seated at his writing-table, looked up.</p> + +<p>'Well, yes,' he said, 'I want a message taken out to Griffith. Tell him +he must keep your mother's pony in the stables altogether, till the +second vet has seen it on Monday.'</p> + +<p>'Is it worse?' asked Archie. 'Is that why you are going to get another +vet, papa?'</p> + +<p>'Never mind,' said Mr. Hervey, rather sharply. He had been annoyed at +several things that afternoon, and the best of papas cannot <i>always</i> be +perfectly gentle. 'Run off with my message, and when Justin comes in +tell him—no, don't tell him anything,' for their father knew by +experience that messages through one boy to another were very apt to +'grow' on their way.</p> + +<p>Off ran Archie, stopping some minutes to chatter about the pony with +Griffith after executing his errand, in consequence of which he came +across Justin making his way in by the back gate from the fields.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>'I say, Jus,' he began, 'you'd better look sharp. Papa didn't tell me to +say so, but I know he's vexed at you for not coming back with Pat and +me.'</p> + +<p>'You needn't have put yourselves in the way then,' said Justin.</p> + +<p>'We didn't—he was in the hall, or at least he looked out of his door +when we came in. And— I say, Jus——'</p> + +<p>'Well—what next? Why don't you go on?'</p> + +<p>'I was thinking if I should tell you or not. I mean whether I've any +right to,' said Archie, who was very honest and truthful, 'for papa did +say "don't tell Justin anything." But that was after he'd said it.'</p> + +<p>'It,' repeated Justin, growing impatient. '<i>What?</i>'</p> + +<p>'Something about not wanting you to see much of Bob—people aren't +speaking too well of him.'</p> + +<p>'Is that all?' said his elder brother with some contempt. 'People never +have spoken too well of him. But papa has always known that, and I can't +be horrid to Bob just when he's been taking a lot of trouble to please +me. He needn't ever come about here if papa doesn't want him to. And I +don't suppose <i>he</i> wants to. Our servants are beastly to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> him. But I can +go to see him if I choose— I've never been told not to. And he's not a +bad fellow at all.'</p> + +<p>'No, I don't think he is,' Archie agreed. 'But if papa orders you not to +go there?'</p> + +<p>'He won't, unless somebody tells tales or meddles,' said Justin. 'If I +catch you or Pat at that sort of thing, I'll——' but he said no more. +It was best to let sleeping dogs lie. 'Papa won't think any more about +it, I don't suppose.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps not,' said Archie, not feeling quite easy in his mind all the +same. 'Were you there just now, Jus?' he added, for he had rather a big +bump of curiosity.</p> + +<p>'Only for a minute. I didn't go in. Bob was looking out for me,' and +here Justin's tone became very friendly and confidential. 'You needn't +go talking about it,' he said, 'but, Archie, Bob's <i>got them</i>. He's to +fetch them on Monday morning. Isn't it splendacious?'</p> + +<p>'You mean the ferrets,' said Archie, growing excited in spite of +himself, for both he and Pat had been getting rather tired of the +subject. 'He's actshally <i>got</i> them!'</p> + +<p>Justin nodded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>'And what about the money—the rest of it—what's short, you know?' +Archie went on.</p> + +<p>'Oh—that'll be all right. We'll manage it somehow. The people'll wait a +week or two. Don't you tell any one. Where's Pat? I want to tell him +myself.'</p> + +<p>'He went upstairs to look for mamma and the little ones,' said Archie. +'Mamma was wondering why we were so late.'</p> + +<p>'It isn't late,' said Justin, 'anyway I've not finished my Monday +lessons,' and he went off to the schoolroom, turning back to say to +Archie that if he heard their father asking for him again he was to +reply,'Oh yes, Jus has been in some time.'</p> + +<p>Archie made no promise, but he resolved to keep out of the way, for +though there was no actual untruth in what Jus denoted, he felt that his +brother's motive rather savoured of wishing to mislead, and anything of +that kind went against his own instincts.</p> + +<p>But no more inquiries about Justin reached him. Mr. Hervey, as Justin +had thought probable, seemed to have forgotten all about the matter—as +often happened, he was absorbed by his own reading and writing, and the +warnings he had received about Bob Crag went out of his head for the +time being.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sunday morning broke clear and bright, but increasingly cold.</p> + +<p>'It might really be Christmas already,' said the boys' mother at +breakfast-time. 'I am afraid it looks like a very severe winter, the +cold beginning so early.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' Mr. Hervey agreed, 'I fancy we shall have it pretty sharp this +year.'</p> + +<p>'All the better,' said Justin, 'if it gives us lots of skating,' which +put it into Hector's head to ask if <i>he</i> mightn't have skates this +winter. Hec always wanted to do whatever Justin did.</p> + +<p>'It wouldn't matter if they got too small for me soon,' he added, 'for +they'd do for Ger after me.'</p> + +<p>'I don't never want to thkate,' said Gervais—all five boys had +breakfast downstairs on Sunday morning—'you have to go so fast.'</p> + +<p>Ger was fat and round and slow in his movements.</p> + +<p>'Oh you lazy boy,' said his mother, laughing, as she kissed his firm, +plump cheeks. Ger <i>was</i> rather spoilt, but then of course he was the +baby.</p> + +<p>She got up as she spoke.</p> + +<p>'Now don't be late any of you this morning,' she said. 'A quarter past +ten punctually. And Hec and Ger, take care that you are warmly wrapped +up,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> for you know you are going to dine at Caryll, and very likely +auntie will send you home in the pony-cart, which will be colder than +walking.'</p> + +<p>'How nice for you,' said Archie to the little ones. 'I didn't know you +were going home from church with Aunt Mattie.'</p> + +<p>'Well, you were there yesterday,' said Hec. 'It's only fair we should +have our turn. Miss Mouse asked for us—to make up, you know, for our +not going with you on Saturday.'</p> + +<p>'Mith Mouse is very kind,' said Ger.</p> + +<p>And so she was. Rosamond loved children younger than herself. Her face +was all over smiles when, after church, she stood waiting for the two +little boys in the porch with her aunt, and set off with a small +cavalier at each side to walk home to Caryll Place.</p> + +<p>It was the first visit Hec and Ger had paid there since Miss Mouse's +arrival, and they had lots of things to see and ask about. Several of +their little friend's treasures made them rather envious, especially a +new kind of ball, an india-rubber one—and india-rubber or gutta-percha +toys were then something quite new—as round and plump as his own +cheeks, filled Ger's heart with great longing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<p>'It <i>is</i> a beauty,' he said. 'Hec, if anybody asks you what you think +I'd like for a Chrithiemuss present, just you tell them a ball like Mith +Mouse's, only p'raps even a little bigger. Do you think, Mith Mouse, +that they cost a great lot of money?'</p> + +<p>Rosamond shook her head.</p> + +<p>'Not such a very great lot, I don't think,' she replied. 'When I was in +London with papa and mamma, just before I came here, I saw balls like +that in several of the toyshops, and I <i>think</i>, but I'm not quite sure, +that the other day when I was out with auntie, and I was waiting for her +in the carriage at Crowley— I <i>think</i> I saw some like it in that shop +opposite the church. It's not exactly a toyshop, you know, but they have +toys in one window.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I know where you mean,' said Hec. 'It's Friendly's—it's a mixty +sort of shop.'</p> + +<p>'Do look again, Mith Mouse,' said Gervais, 'the venny first time you go +that way, and <i>p'raps</i> somebody will give me one at Chrithiemuss.'</p> + +<p>He heaved a deep sigh of hope and anxiety in one. And Rosamond smiled to +herself as she made a little plan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE STORY OF THE LUCKY PENNY</h3> + +<p>The winter was not going to set in just yet after all. That bright, +clear, cold Sunday was followed by a week or two of milder but very +disagreeable weather—almost constant rain and very few glimpses indeed +of blue sky or sunshine. Miss Mouse arrived every morning muffled up +almost to her eyes to keep her dry in the pony-cart, and most afternoons +the close carriage was sent from Caryll to fetch her.</p> + +<p>There was no question of the boys going to the vicarage across the moor, +and even by the road, which dried quickly, every time they walked home +they could not help getting very muddy and splashed, and they could not +have their own pony cart as much as usual, as their mother's pony was +laid up, and old Bobbin had extra work on this account.</p> + +<p>On the first half-holiday of this rainy weather the three elder boys +went off after dinner and did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> come in till tea-time, in consequence +of which Pat woke next morning with a bad cold, and Archie with a slight +one. So orders were issued that there were to be no more expeditions or +long walks till the wet days were over—indeed, Pat had to stay indoors +altogether for nearly a week, as he had a delicate throat, which was apt +to get very sore when he caught cold.</p> + +<p>'And if you go out, Justin,' said his mother, 'you must be in early, and +not hang about with damp things on.'</p> + +<p>She knew that a 'whole half-holiday,' as the boys called it, in the +house would be a terrible trouble to Justin, and even worse for other +people, and as he was very strong and had never had a cold in his life, +there was not much fear of his getting any harm.</p> + +<p>'All right, mamma,' he replied. 'I'll take care of myself. I don't want +to get soaked, it's so uncomfortable— I can amuse myself about the +out-houses. But mayn't Archie come with me?'</p> + +<p>This was on the first Wednesday.</p> + +<p>No—Mrs. Hervey shook her head—Archie must not go out again to-day, as +the walk to Whitcrow in the morning had been a wet one. But if Saturday +was finer he might go out with Justin as usual.</p> + +<p>'I really think Justin is improving,' she thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> to herself with +satisfaction, 'he gives in so much more readily, instead of arguing and +discussing.'</p> + +<p>The truth was that Justin was very much afraid of a talk with his +father, which would probably have put him under orders to keep away from +Bob Crag altogether, and this would not have suited Master Justin at +all, now that the ferrets had arrived and were comfortably installed at +the Moor Cottage.</p> + +<p>So for one or two half-holidays Justin went off on his own account, +returning home in good time, and as no complaints reached Mr. Hervey +about him, I suppose his father took for granted that everything was +right. Very likely, for Mr. Hervey was rather absent-minded at times; he +thought that he <i>had</i> warned Justin, forgetting that it had been Archie +and not his eldest brother to whom he had spoken of Bob that Saturday +evening.</p> + +<p>After a time the weather 'took up again,' as the country folk say. Pat's +cold got better, and then came a Wednesday morning on which Rosamond +asked and received leave to spend the afternoon with the big boys, her +aunt saying she herself would drive over to fetch her, as she had not +seen her sister, Mrs. Hervey, for some days.</p> + +<p>There was no discussion between the four children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> as to where the +afternoon should be spent. Almost without a word they all turned in the +direction of the moor.</p> + +<p>'Justin will be off with Bob and the ferrets, of course,' said Pat to +Rosamond. 'So you and I can have a jolly time with old Nance and make +her tell us some more stories.'</p> + +<p>'And Archie?' inquired the little girl.</p> + +<p>'Oh, he can do whichever he likes,' said Pat. 'I daresay he'll stay with +us. He's been once or twice with Jus while my throat was bad, you know, +but I don't think he cared about it much.'</p> + +<p>And so it proved. When they got to the Crags', Bob, as well as his +grandmother, was on the look-out for them, old Nance's face lighting up +with pleasure.</p> + +<p>'Are you glad to see us again?' asked Archie. 'I hope you've got some +stories for us. If you know so much about fairy things, Nance, why don't +you manage to get us nice fine days for our half-holidays?'</p> + +<p>The old woman smiled.</p> + +<p>'It's a fine day for me when I see your faces, Master Archie,' she +replied, 'and that you know well enough. But to be sure the weather has +been contrary the last week or two. Come in, come in, missie +dear—there's some of my little cakes all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> ready. Won't you come in too, +Master Justin, before you go off with Bob? I've been fearing you might +have got cold when you were here last week; it was such a very wet day.'</p> + +<p>'No fear,' said Justin amiably. 'Bob and I aren't made of sugar or salt, +are we, Bob? I'll come in for a minute, thank you, Nance, but we mustn't +be long, or we'll have no fun. It gets so soon dark now, and papa's +vexed if we don't all go home together.'</p> + +<p>'To be sure,' said the old woman, 'and quite right too. You'll never +find me wanting you to do anything your dear papa and mamma wouldn't +like, my dears.'</p> + +<p>So saying she led the way into her quaint little kitchen, all tidied up +and bright as the children always found it—the cakes and a large jug of +milk set out as before on a small table near the pleasantly glowing +fire.</p> + +<p>'Are you coming with Bob and me, Archie?' Justin inquired. 'Pat's a +donkey—no use asking him.'</p> + +<p>Pat took this uncomplimentary speech very calmly. Archie hesitated.</p> + +<p>'Come along,' said Justin, 'that's to say if you're coming,' for having +made away with at least three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> of the tempting little cakes, he was now +in a hurry to be off.</p> + +<p>'Don't go, Archie,' said Rosamond, speaking low, so that the elder boys +could not hear, and her words decided Archie.</p> + +<p>'I'd rather stay here, thank you, Jus,' he said. 'You've got Bob, so you +don't really need me.'</p> + +<p>'You are a softy,' said Justin as he ran off, but Archie, backed by Pat +and Rosamond, did not care.</p> + +<p>'Now, Nance,' said Pat, when most of the cakes and milk were disposed +of, 'we're ready for your stories.'</p> + +<p>The old woman had drawn a stool to the fire and was sitting there facing +it, the reflection casting a pleasant glow on her sunburnt cheeks and +keen bright eyes. She was always a nice-looking old woman, but just now +she really looked quite pretty.</p> + +<p>'How fond you are of the fire, Nance,' said Archie; 'do you have one all +the year round?'</p> + +<p>'Mostly so, Master Archie,' she replied. 'You see old folk like me grow +chilly. It's not often I feel too hot, even in the midsummer days. And +here on the moorside there's always a breeze more or less. Yes, I love +my bit o' fire, Master Archie—you're about right there, but all the +same I'd rather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> face cold than be choked in a town and have no fresh +air, like some poor things have to bear their lives.'</p> + +<p>'Nance,' said Miss Mouse suddenly; she had been sitting silent watching +Bob's granny, 'it's so funny, it seems to me that when you stretch out +your hands to the flames they give a little jump towards you and then +dance up the chimney ever so much higher than before. Are you a sort of +a fairy, dear Nance?'</p> + +<p>Pat glanced at the little girl half uneasily. He knew that some of the +people about called Mrs. Crag a witch, and 'uncanny,' and words like +that, just because she was a stranger and different in her ways and +looks from her present neighbours, and he was afraid that Nance's +feelings might be hurt by little Rosamond's question.</p> + +<p>But it was not so—on the contrary the old woman seemed pleased, and +smiled brightly.</p> + +<p>'You must have a bit of the fairy knowing yourself, missie dear, to have +noticed it,' she said. 'I've been told I get it from my grandmother, who +had fairy ways, there's no denying. And no harm in them either, if one +doesn't think too much of them, or fancy oneself more than one is. But +I've always had a kind of luck, hand-in-hand with troubles, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +troubles I've had, and many of them, in my long life. More than once +when I've thought they'd be too much for me there's come a turn I had +little hope of. Maybe the good people aren't gone so far as we think, +after all,' and old Nance smiled at the idea.</p> + +<p>'Tell us some story of your good luck,' said Pat suddenly. 'It's always +so nice to hear a story from the person it really happened to.'</p> + +<p>Nance considered. Then she suddenly slipped her hand inside the front of +her bodice and drew out a tiny little chain; it was only a steel chain, +but very finely worked, so that it looked more like a silver thread, and +on it hung a tiny coin with a hole in it through which a ring had been +passed. She held it out for the children to see.</p> + +<p>'Oh what a weeny, weeny little sixpenny, or threepenny—which is it?' +exclaimed Rosamond.</p> + +<p>'It's neither, missie dear,' the old woman replied. 'It's a lucky penny, +and if you like I'll tell you the story of how I came by it.'</p> + +<p>'Oh do, do,' said all three together; Archie adding, 'Did you really get +it from the fairies, Nance?'</p> + +<p>'You shall hear,' she replied, smiling, and then they all settled +themselves to listen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>'When I was a little girl,' she began, 'you'll remember, my dears, that +my home was on the edge of a moor, something like this, but wilder and +far larger and farther away from any village or town—railways I needn't +speak of, for such a thing hadn't even been dreamt of in these long-ago +days,' and the far-away look came into the old woman's eyes as she +stopped speaking for a moment.</p> + +<p>'Is it a hundred years ago since you were a little girl?' asked Miss +Mouse.</p> + +<p>Nance smiled again.</p> + +<p>'Not quite,' she replied, 'though none so far off it either. But long +ago as it is, I remember that first part of my life so well, so clear +and distinct it seems sometimes that I could fancy it much nearer than +things that happened a few years back only. I was an orphan, like my +poor Bob now, and I lived with my granny, same as Bob lives along wi' +me. 'My granny had come of——' here Nance hesitated, but went on +again—'after all there's no shame in it,' she said—'she'd come of +gipsy-folk, and when her husband died—he was a steady, settled sort of +man, a gardener at some big house, but he died young—she was that +lonely and lost-like, she went back to her own people with her little +son, and he married<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> among them, so I'm three parts gipsy, you may say. +Both father and mother of mine died too—there's many that dies young +among our people, and some that lives on and on till you'd think death +had forgotten them, and that was the way with my granny. But she wasn't +so very old when the feel took her that she'd like to settle down again, +she'd got into the habit of a home of her own while her husband lived. +So one time when the vans were passing near by where had been her little +place, she takes a sudden thought that she'd like to see the fam'ly +again, and what did she do but she carried me in her arms and walked +some miles to the big house. The Squire was dead, but his lady was +living in the Dower House hard by, and the young Squire—none so young +by now—was at the hall with his wife and children. And they were +pleased to see her and kindly sorry for her troubles, and the Squire +said she should have a cottage if there was one to be had, if she'd +settle down near them. For my grandmother, for all her gipsying, was a +clever, useful woman, as good as a doctor for the cures and comforts she +could make with her knowledge of herbs and wild growing things, and +where she once gave her faithfulness she'd never draw it back again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> So +it was fixed that she should make her home there again, though her own +folk were none best pleased to lose her.</p> + +<p>'At first we lived in two rooms in the village, but granny felt choked +like, and she found a bit of a place on the moorside which had once been +used for the gentry to eat their lunch in when they were out shooting, +and the Squire was very kind and did it up for us quite tidy, and there +we lived, though it was sometimes harder than any one knew; for all we +had was what granny made by odd days' work here and there, and by +selling her dried herbs and drinks she made of them. But as I got bigger +the quality at the big house were very kind to me—it was seldom granny +needed to buy clothes for me, and the housekeeper taught me nice ways +about a house, so that when the time came I was ready for a good +service. That's neither here nor there, though, that came afterwards; +the time I got my lucky penny I was still a slip of a child, nine or ten +at most.</p> + +<p>''Twas haymaking—a beautiful dry haymaking, hot and sunny, I remember +well. Granny was out with the best of them, hard at work early and late. +I went to school in the village, but there wasn't much schooling that +week or two. 'Twasn't so strict<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> as now—an hour or two in the morning +and then we'd be told we might all run home, to help while the splendid +weather lasted. Grandmother worked for the Squire; I was always sure to +find her about the fields and have my bite of dinner with her, and then +the little ladies and gentlemen would have me play with them at what +<i>they</i> called "haymaking," though it was a funny kind enough—more +tossing and tumbling and laughing and shouting than any help to the +haymakers. But we did enjoy it.</p> + +<p>'Well there came an afternoon that my granny was off working in a field +a good bit farther away than usual. She told me in the morning not to go +after her, for she didn't care for me to walk so far in the hot sun—she +was very careful of me, poor dear—and she'd asked the housekeeper if I +might have a bit of dinner at the big house, seeing that the young +ladies and gentlemen wanted me to make hay with them in what they called +their own field, a paddock just outside the kitchen garden. And there I +found them, and a rare good play we had that afternoon, finishing up +with a nice treat of cakes and milk when we were too tired and hot to +play any more.'</p> + +<p>'Were the cakes like those you make for us?' asked Rosamond.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nance nodded, well pleased.</p> + +<p>'You've guessed it, missie,' she said. 'They're the very same. 'Twas +there I learnt to make them. And then I was starting to go home when I +heard a cry from Miss Hetty, the youngest and sweetest, to my thinking, +of all the young ladies. "My ring, oh my ring, with the blue stone," she +called out. "My birthday ring! I've lost it. I pulled it off and was +trying if it would swing on a blade of grass—oh, do help me to find +it—my dear little ring."</p> + +<p>'Poor Miss Hetty—she'd only had the ring since her birthday the week +before, when her mamma had given it her, telling her to be sure not to +lose it, for it was one that had been a long time in the family. So no +wonder she was vexed about it. How we did hunt for it—we searched and +we searched where we had been playing, though feeling all the time there +was scarce any use looking for so small a thing in such a place. And +Miss Hetty cried till her eyes were all swollen at the thought of having +to go home to tell her mamma. And when I went back to my granny and told +her about it, it was all I could do not to cry too.</p> + +<p>'Granny had her own thoughts about most things.</p> + +<p>'"Go to bed, lovey," she said, "and I'll wish a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> wish for you into your +pillow and see what'll come of it."</p> + +<p>'And sure enough the next morning I'd a strange dream to tell her.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 315px;"><a name="ILL_006" id="ILL_006"></a> +<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="315" height="500" alt="'ALL OF A SUDDEN HE STOOD STRAIGHT UP AND BEGAN THROWING +THINGS AT ME FOR ME TO CATCH—IT WAS THE LITTLE SUNS!'" title="" /> +<span class="caption">'ALL OF A SUDDEN HE STOOD STRAIGHT UP AND BEGAN THROWING +THINGS AT ME FOR ME TO CATCH—IT WAS THE LITTLE SUNS!'</span> +</div> + +<p>'"Granny," I said, "this was the dream that came out of my pillow. I +thought I was standing on the moor watching the sun set, and I kept +looking at it and the beautiful colours in the sky till my eyes seemed +to be full of them, and whichever way I turned there was little suns +dancing about—on the ground and everywhere. And then I caught sight of +an odd-looking figure stooping down as if looking for something. It was +a little old hunch-backed man, and I knew without being told that he was +one of the good people. All of a sudden he stood straight up and began +throwing things at me for me to catch—it was the little suns! They came +flying towards me, red and yellow and all colours, but like soap-bubbles +they melted before I could catch them, till at last, to my great +delight, I did catch one and held it tight in my hand, when it felt firm +and hard, like a round coin.</p> + +<p>'"'I've got it,' I cried, and the old man laughed.</p> + +<p>'"'Keep it,' he said, 'it's not everybody that catches a lucky penny. +And maybe it'll help you to get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> back missie's ring for her,' and with +that I awoke. But oh, granny," I went on, "it can't be all a dream, for +look here," and I held out my hand to her, "I <i>have</i> got something—see +I've got a real little piece of money."</p> + +<p>'And that very coin is the one I've worn round my neck for all these +many, many years.'</p> + +<p>'What <i>did</i> your granny say?' asked the children breathlessly.</p> + +<p>'Not very much,' Nance went on, 'she smiled and told me I was a lucky +girl, and I must think on what I'd been told by the old man in my dream. +And so I did. Before the sun was any height in the sky, long before the +young ladies at the big house would be stirring, I was up at the paddock +again searching for the ring. And granny told me what to do. I was to +put the lucky penny as near as I could guess in the very centre of the +field and then to walk round it in widening circles, always looking +carefully downwards while I said this rhyme to the good people—</p> + +<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="3" summary=""><tr><td align="left"> +<p>Here's my lucky penny, take it an ye will,<br /> +But give me back the treasure hidden by you still.</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>All this I did, and——'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>'What? do say quick,' cried the children.</p> + +<p>'Before I had made many circles I saw something glittering, and stooping +down there it was—the tiny ring with the blue stone, sparkling in the +morning sunshine. You can fancy how pleased I was, and how I hurried up +to the house with the good news for Miss Hetty, who had just awakened. +The ring was really hanging on a blade of grass, just as she said. Oh, +she <i>was</i> delighted!'</p> + +<p>'And how did you get the silver penny back again?' asked Pat. 'You +couldn't have looked for it, for you see you had promised it to the +fairies, hadn't you?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, of course, and one must always keep to their bargain with the +fairies,' said Nance. 'No, I didn't look for it, but late that evening +when granny was closing the shutters, she called me to look at something +sparkling in the moonlight on the window-sill. It was my lucky penny. +And from that day to this I've never been without it, and many a time +it's seemed to give me fresh courage and spirit in the midst of +troubles, and one thing is true—all my life through I've never been +brought to such a pass as to have to part with it, though now and then +the need has come very near. But something's always turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> up just in +the nick of time to save it; I've always pulled through, though I had an +ailing husband for many a year, and the father of poor Bob there, my +only son, was cut down in the prime of life, he and his young wife, +leaving me another young boy to bring up when I was more fit myself to +be sleeping quiet and peaceful in the old churchyard.'</p> + +<p>And old Nance wiped away a gentle tear or two that were struggling down +her brown cheeks.</p> + +<p>Little Rosamond stole her hand into Nance's.</p> + +<p>'You've got friends now, haven't you? And I'm sure Uncle Ted or Mr. +Hervey would help you about Bob any time if you needed help.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, missie dear, I've much to be thankful for, and I hope and trust +poor Bob'll take to steady ways like his father and grandfather before +him, though there's times I worry about him a bit—he's a loving boy, +but he's got the gipsy restlessness in him too.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>A GREAT SACRIFICE</h3> + +<p>Nance's story had taken longer to tell than might seem the case. For she +had stopped now and then, and the children had asked questions and made +remarks. So they were all a little startled when, glancing out of doors, +they saw how fast the daylight was fading and the twilight creeping on.</p> + +<p>'We must be going,' said Pat, starting up, 'and there's Justin not back, +and if he's late we'll <i>all</i> be scolded. Papa has made a regular rule +that we're all to come in together.'</p> + +<p>Nance looked anxious.</p> + +<p>'Bob's that feather-brained,' she said, for she never liked to blame the +Hervey boys. 'But you'd best start, my dearies, and I'll whistle. It'll +bring them back if they're anywhere near, and I don't fancy they're +farther off than one of the farms straight across from here. And will it +be next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> holiday you'll come for some more of old Nance's little cakes +and long tongue?'</p> + +<p>'Not next half-holiday,' said Miss Mouse with some regret,' for Auntie +Mattie is going to take me to—the town—where there are shops, you +know—there's something I want to buy, <i>very</i> particular.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, well, you'll always be welcome—welcome as the flowers in May +whenever you do come,' said their old friend, and she stood at the door +whistling, a curious clear whistle which carried far, as the three set +off for home.</p> + +<p>'I do hope Justin will overtake us,' said Miss Mouse. 'It would be such +a pity if your papa was vexed, for then he might say we mustn't go to +old Nance's any more. Wasn't it queer about the lucky penny? Do you +think the fairy man really brought it back or that it was a sort of +little trick of her granny's?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know,' said Pat. 'I was wondering about it, but I wouldn't have +liked to say to her that perhaps it was a trick.'</p> + +<p>'I'll tell you what,' said Archie, with the tone of one who has quite +settled the question, '<i>I</i> believe the grandmother herself was partly a +fairy—gipsies are a little like fairies, you know.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>Neither Pat nor Rosamond laughed at this, for in their hearts they had a +feeling that Nance herself had something—I won't say 'uncanny,' for the +old woman was too sweet and kind for that word quite to suit her—but +something not quite like other people about her. But none of the three +would have hinted at anything of the kind before Justin—he would only +have made fun of it. And there was no time to say more, for almost as +Archie left off speaking, they heard rapid footsteps behind them, and +then a whistle and then Justin's voice, calling to them to stop till he +came up to them.</p> + +<p>'It's a good thing you've come,' said Pat. 'I don't know what we could +have said to papa—he'd have been sure to ask why we hadn't kept all +together. What have you done with Bob?'</p> + +<p>'He's looking after the ferrets, of course,' said Justin. 'We were only +at Bream's farm, and Bob heard Nance's whistle. We did have a jolly good +rat-hunt,' and he was beginning a description, when the others stopped +him.</p> + +<p>'Archie and I don't want to hear about it,' said Pat, 'and I'm sure Miss +Mouse doesn't.'</p> + +<p>'She has a fellow-feeling for rats perhaps,' said Justin, laughing at +what he thought his own wit.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>'No girl would like horrid things like ratting,' said Pat, 'and if papa +knew——' he stopped short.</p> + +<p>'Doesn't Mr. Hervey know that you've got ferrets?' asked Rosamond.</p> + +<p>'I don't suppose he's ever thought about it,' said Justin; 'he's never +said we weren't to have them. It's our own money—the only thing was +that mamma doesn't like them kept at home.'</p> + +<p>'Oh then,' said Miss Mouse, 'you've managed to pay them, have you?'</p> + +<p>'Not <i>all</i> the money,' said Justin, hesitating a little,' and indeed Bob +was saying to-day we'll have to be thinking about it. He's had rather to +keep out of the way of the place where he got them, for fear of the +people bothering.'</p> + +<p>'You won't let poor Bob get into any trouble, will you?' said Rosamond +anxiously.</p> + +<p>'Of course not,' said Justin; 'all the same it was he that made the +bargain, and he knew we hadn't got all the money ready. Of course I +don't <i>want</i> him to get into any bother.'</p> + +<p>'You'd better take care,' said Archie, 'papa was saying that Bob's +getting spoken against a good deal, though he didn't exactly say how. I +don't believe the least bit that he's a naughty boy, but it would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> be +too bad to let him get into a scrape for us—or for you, rather, +Justin.'</p> + +<p>'It's no more for me than for you,' said Justin. 'You're a turncoat, as +I've told you, Archie. You were just as pleased about the ferrets as I +was, at the beginning.'</p> + +<p>Archie did not reply; and it certainly would not have been a good time +to begin a quarrel—if <i>ever</i> there is a good time for a bad thing?—for +they were just at home by now, and Hec and Ger met them on their way in +with the news that Aunt Mattie had come for Miss Mouse and that +schoolroom tea was quite ready. Rosamond had to hurry over her tea, as +Mrs. Caryll did not think it worth while to 'put up,' and yet it was too +chilly to keep the horse standing long.</p> + +<p>'You shall have a little extra supper to-night, dear, to make up,' she +said. 'You shall come in to pudding with Uncle Ted and me, instead of +only to dessert.'</p> + +<p>'Thank you, auntie,' said the little girl. 'I wasn't very hungry at +tea-time, for I had two cakes at old Nance's and some beautiful milk.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Caryll turned round in some surprise—they were in the brougham on +their way home—'Cakes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> and milk at old Nance's,' she repeated. 'I +didn't know the boys were allowed to go there. Why have you never told +me about it before, or is this the first time you have been?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no,' Miss Mouse replied, for she had no thought of concealment or +deception, beyond her wish not to chatter about the Hervey children's +affairs unnecessarily—what Justin called 'tell-taleing'—'oh no, +auntie. I think it's the third time we've been there. The boys often +go—old Nance is very good and kind, and she tells us such pretty +stories.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Caryll felt a little perplexed. It seemed curious that Rosamond +should never have spoken of these visits before—and yet—it was so +impossible to think of the little girl as anything but frank and +truthful that her aunt did not even like to repeat her question as to +why she had kept silence about the cottage on the moor. It would seem +like doubting Rosamond. So for a moment or two Aunt Mattie sat thinking +without speaking.</p> + +<p>She had not long to wait.</p> + +<p>'Auntie,' said Rosamond, in a puzzled tone, 'it wasn't wrong of me not +to tell you before about our going to see Nance, was it? It was only +that Justin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> explained to me that boys are different from girls—they +don't like every little thing they do to be told over at home, and I +have seen for myself that Miss Ward is rather fussy. Justin and Pat call +it "tell-taleing," so I thought I just wouldn't talk about them <i>unless</i> +they did anything naughty, and even then I wouldn't have told without +telling <i>them</i> I was going to tell, though I'm sure they wouldn't do +anything naughty, not Pat and Archie, anyway. And I really don't see +much of Jus—he doesn't care for stories, and he goes off with Bob and +the ferrets.'</p> + +<p>'Ferrets,' repeated Mrs. Caryll, 'have they got ferrets?'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' Rosamond replied. 'I've not seen them, but I know they've got +them. And they don't keep them at Moor Edge, because Mrs. Hervey doesn't +like them. It isn't tell-taleing of me to have told you about them, is +it, auntie?' she asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Caryll felt distressed at the little girl's rather troubled tone.</p> + +<p>'Of course not, dearie,' she said lightly. 'You may trust me not to make +mischief. I quite see that it has been a little difficult for you.'</p> + +<p>In her own mind she decided, however, that she would take measures to +find out quietly, without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> involving little Rosamond, something more as +to these very independent doings of her nephews, especially Justin.</p> + +<p>'They had no right to take her to the Crags' cottage without special and +distinct leave,' she thought to herself, 'though I feel pretty sure no +harm would come to them through old Nance.'</p> + +<p>For Aunt Mattie had often seen and talked to the old woman, and had a +high opinion of her, though she thought it a pity that Nance kept on +such distant terms with her neighbours, and she feared too that his +grandmother was not quite strict enough with Bob, as there was no doubt +that the prejudice against the boy's wild, untameable ways was doing him +harm, and would do him still more harm in the future unless it could be +got rid of.</p> + +<p>'I will talk it over with Ted,' she said to herself. 'He always sees +ways out of difficulties. Now it would be the very making of the boy if +we could find a place for him in our stables under Peterson.'</p> + +<p>Peterson was Mr. Caryll's coachman, and a very superior man, for he had +travelled with his master at one time—not like Griffiths at Moor Edge, +who, though most trustworthy in every way, had never been very many +miles distant from home in his life,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> and was full of all the prejudices +and even superstitions of that part of the country.</p> + +<p>But Aunt Mattie kept all these thoughts in her own mind, and after a +minute or two's silence she began to talk to Rosamond about other +things, as she did not want the little girl to trouble herself about +what she had told or not told of the boys' affairs.</p> + +<p>'Next Saturday,' said Mrs. Caryll, 'I shall have to drive to +Weadmere—there is a better toyshop there than at Crowley. Would you +like to go with me and try if we can get a ball for little Ger like +yours? And you have never been at Weadmere, I think—it would be a +little change for you.'</p> + +<p>Rosamond's face brightened up at once.</p> + +<p>'Oh, thank you, auntie,' she said; 'yes, I should like very much to go +and to see the toyshop, because, you know, there'll soon be Christmas +presents to think about, and it would be a very good thing to find out +in plenty of time where I could get them best. I did tell the boys I +didn't think I could spend next half-holiday with them, because I was +sure you wouldn't forget about the ball for Ger, auntie. I've got the +money quite ready.'</p> + +<p>She was again her own bright womanly little self,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> eager and delighted +in the thought of doing something or anything for others.</p> + +<p>'And I'm getting on nicely with my savings for Christmas,' she chattered +on happily; 'you know, auntie, I don't wear out nearly so many gloves +here as when I was with mamma in London and Paris, so I really can save +a lot.'</p> + +<p>'All right, darling,' said her aunt, 'we shall go to Weadmere on +Saturday and you shall have a good look round. It is wise to prepare in +plenty of time, for I shall be sending a box to your mother very soon, +and the Christmas presents can go in it. By the bye, how is the lamp-mat +you are making for her getting on?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, quite well,' Miss Mouse replied. 'Miss Ward lets me do a little +every day while we're reading aloud. It'll be finished very soon.'</p> + +<p>'That's a good thing,' said Mrs. Caryll, and by her tone Rosamond felt +satisfied that her aunt was quite pleased with her, and it was a very +contented and light-hearted Miss Mouse who fell asleep that evening at +Caryll after her usual pleasant half-hour or so with her uncle and aunt +before bed-time.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Caryll did not forget to talk over things with her husband when +they were alone, and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> listened attentively, as he knew Aunt Mattie +was too sensible to imagine or exaggerate such matters, and he was +really interested in the Hervey boys.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' he said, 'it might be, as you say, the making of Bob Crag to get +him into some good steady place where there would be no prejudice +against him, and yet where he would be looked after with some +strictness. I don't myself believe there's any harm in him. To tell you +the truth,' and here he hesitated a little—'to tell you the truth I +feel more anxious about Justin. There is a touch of the bully in him +that I don't like, and— I don't feel sure that he is always quite +straightforward and truthful.'</p> + +<p>'That would be worse than anything,' said Aunt Mattie, rather sadly. 'I +have tried to draw him and Pat more together, and I think Pat <i>has</i> been +more companionable. But I don't feel happy about Justin, either. I don't +like his trying to stop little Rosamond's innocent chatter—it is a pity +to put it into a child's head that there <i>can</i> be such a thing as +"tell-taleing" when children are simple and obedient.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said her husband, 'I agree with you. I will think it over, and +perhaps I may manage to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> some talk with Justin one of these days. +He will soon be going away to school, and if he has been getting out of +good habits at home in any way, it will not be a strengthening +preparation for the new trials and temptations of school life.'</p> + +<p>And as Mrs. Caryll knew that she could depend upon Uncle Ted always to +do more rather than less of anything he promised, she too went to bed +that night with an easier mind, little thinking that a shock was on its +way to startle selfish Justin far more than any words, however serious +and earnest, of his uncle's.</p> + +<p>On Saturday afternoon, as it was a fairly good day, though cold and not +without signs of snow not very far away, Mrs. Caryll and Rosamond set +off, as had been planned, for Weadmere, the other little town for +shopping in the neighbourhood. It was rather a larger place than +Crowley, though not so prettily placed, but Rosamond enjoyed the drive +in a new direction, and was eager to pay a visit to the +'toy-and-fancy-shop,' as it was called.</p> + +<p>In those days a half-holiday once a week for shop-keepers was not as +generally the rule as it is now, but at Weadmere it had for long been +the custom to close on Thursday afternoons. And Saturday was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> quite a +lively day in the little town, as the country folk came in to make their +purchases for the following week. So Rosamond found it very amusing; +even at the draper's, where she went in with her aunt—and a draper's is +not usually counted an interesting kind of shop by children—she was +much entertained by watching and listening to the conversation of the +farmers' wives and others over their purchases. The way they tugged at +merino, and rubbed calico between their fingers to see that there was +not too much 'dressing' in it, made her feel as if it would be very +difficult indeed to be sure of a 'genuine article,' as the shopman +called all his stuffs in turn.</p> + +<p>At this shop and at the toyshop, where, to her great delight, Rosamond +found just the kind and size of ball she had set her heart on for little +Gervais, the proprietor made one of his boys go out to hold the pony. +But after this Mrs. Caryll had to drive to a less busy part of the town, +to order some wire baskets to hang ferns in, at a working tinsmith's. +And here there was no odd boy in the shop. She did not like to leave +Rosamond alone outside, as she was afraid of the pony starting, but just +as she was looking about her what to do, she caught sight of a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +fellow sauntering down the street, and called out to him. He ran up at +once.</p> + +<p>'Will you hold the pony for a few minutes?' she was saying, when +Rosamond interrupted her.</p> + +<p>'It's Bob, auntie,' she said, 'Bob Crag. Of course he'll hold Tony, and +may I stay out? I'm quite warm, and I've got the parcels all nicely +packed under the rug.'</p> + +<p>'Very well,' replied Mrs. Caryll, for she knew the tinsmith's would not +be interesting to her little niece, and with a friendly nod to Bob, who +was tugging at his cap, she went into the shop, or workroom, for it was +scarcely like a shop.</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse was quite excited at meeting Bob.</p> + +<p>'How funny for you to be here,' she said. 'Have you come to do some +messages for your grandmother?'</p> + +<p>'No thank you, miss,' said the boy, meaning to be very polite. 'Granny +buys all she wants at Crowley; no, I didn't come here for no messages of +hers.'</p> + +<p>Something in the sound of his voice made the little girl look at him +more closely, and she saw that he had been crying, though he turned away +quickly and began fiddling at the pony's harness as an excuse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> for +hiding his face. But Miss Mouse was not going to be put off like that.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 309px;"><a name="ILL_007" id="ILL_007"></a> +<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="309" height="500" alt="'BOB,' SHE SAID, HE PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR HER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">'BOB,' SHE SAID, HE PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR HER.</span> +</div> + +<p>'Bob,' she said. He pretended not to hear her.</p> + +<p>'Bob,' again more loudly and determinedly this time.</p> + +<p>'Beg pardon, miss, did you speak?' said the boy.</p> + +<p>'Yes, Bob, I did, and you heard me. You were only pretending not to, +because you didn't want me to see that there's something the matter with +you. Look at me, Bob,' and he dared not disobey. When Rosamond spoke in +that queenly way she was very awe-inspiring.</p> + +<p>'I see,' she said, 'you have been crying, Bob. Now what is the matter? +Have you been doing anything naughty, or what is it?'</p> + +<p>He brushed his coat sleeve across his eyes, and tried to choke down a +sob.</p> + +<p>'No, miss,' he managed at last to get out; 'leastways I never meant to +do anything wrong— I never did, for certain sure, I never did. And I +dursn't tell you, miss, for fear of worser trouble— I really dursn't, +unless——' he looked up, his eyes brimming over—his sweet, pathetic +dark eyes; and Rosamond's tender heart grew very sore.</p> + +<p>'Unless what?' she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>''Twouldn't be right to say it, I don't think,' he replied hesitatingly; +''twas only if you'd not mind promising not to tell—it'd make such a +trouble up to Moor Edge. I dursn't try to see Master Justin, and I don't +believe he can do aught to put it right. But poor granny, she'd be that +worrited, and I know she's a bit short just now.'</p> + +<p>'Short of what? What do you mean?' asked the little girl.</p> + +<p>'Short of money, miss, to be sure,' replied Bob. 'I dursn't ask her for +it—it'd put her about so, and she'd worry terrible about it all.'</p> + +<p>'But I don't understand what it is,' said Rosamond. 'I do wish you'd +explain quickly.' Then, as a sudden idea flashed into her mind—'Oh,' +she exclaimed, 'can it be about the ferrets? Have you got into trouble +about them? If you have, it's all Justin's fault, and he should get you +out of it.'</p> + +<p>Again Bob brushed his sleeve across his eyes.</p> + +<p>'He's done all he could, he has indeed, miss,' he said. 'It's them I +bought the creatures from that's making all the trouble—there's stories +about, you see, again' me—that I've been ferreting for rabbits—and +that'd be <i>stealing</i>; and the man who sold them to me says he'll have me +up for it if I don't pay all that's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> still owing very first thing +to-morrow morning. And he's put on to the price—he has for sure, though +he says he hasn't. It's six shilling still to pay, and how or where I'm +to get it, goodness only knows,' and here Bob's feelings entirely +overcame him, and he burst into tears.</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse had hard work to keep back her own—she could not bear to see +the change in the poor boy, who had always before seemed so full of life +and spirits. And she knew that all he had done and risked had been out +of his unselfish devotion to Justin. Half unconsciously her hand went +into her pocket, where, safely nestling, was her little purse; but she +did not draw it out, for she remembered that it only contained sixpence. +Miss Mouse was a careful little person; she kept her money in a tiny +cash-box, and only took out what she needed to use. The ball for Gervais +had cost a shilling, and she had brought eighteenpence with her.</p> + +<p>'Six shillings,' she repeated, 'it's a lot of money!'</p> + +<p>'That it is,' said Bob, with despair in his voice.</p> + +<p>Miss Mouse considered. She had been hoping to have ten shillings for her +Christmas presents. There was still to come her December pocket-money, +out of which she was expected to buy her gloves, and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> the country, as +she had told Aunt Mattie, gloves last much longer, so that she was not +far off her goal. But six shillings! That would leave her at most only +four. It was something very like a sob that the little maiden choked +down before she spoke again.</p> + +<p>'Bob,' she said, 'I'll— I'll lend it you—or give it you, for I don't +see how you can ever pay it me back, unless—unless Justin does,' and, +to tell the truth, she had small hopes of Justin. He was selfish and +thoughtless.</p> + +<p>Bob looked up at her with brimming over eyes.</p> + +<p>'Miss— O miss!' was all he could say.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' she repeated, 'I'll give it you. I couldn't bear you to get into +trouble, or for poor Nance to be unhappy. She's been so good to us. I +haven't got the money with me. We must plan how you can fetch it, for I +suppose you must have it to-night?'</p> + +<p>'Or to-morrow morning, miss, so early that I couldn't disturb you. Yes, +to-night would be best, and I <i>will</i> pay it you back, miss, first +earnings as ever I get. You'll see—but—but won't your folk—beg +pardon—won't the lady and gentleman at Caryll Place be angry with you, +miss?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rosamond considered.</p> + +<p>'No,' she replied, 'it's my very own money. But don't trouble about that +part of it, Bob. I'll take care not to get you into any fresh trouble, +nor,' with a little smile, 'myself either.'</p> + +<p>And in her own mind Miss Mouse decided that once she was sure poor Bob +was safe, she would tell Aunt Mattie 'all about it.' 'I don't think that +would be a wrong kind of tell-taleing,' she decided. 'It wouldn't be +right not to tell, for Justin shouldn't have risked poor Bob's getting +into trouble. I'll tell auntie <i>everything</i>, and then she'll know how to +do without making Justin angry with Bob.'</p> + +<p>And when Mrs. Caryll came out of the tinsmith's Bob was standing quietly +by the pony's head—he had quite left off crying. She thanked him with a +pleasant nod and smile, and hoped she had not kept him waiting too long.</p> + +<p>'I didn't give him anything for holding Tony,' she said to Rosamond. 'I +think perhaps it would have hurt his feelings.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I'm sure he'd rather do it for nothing, auntie,' answered the +little girl.</p> + +<p>But she said no more about Bob. She meant to do right, and she thought +she was doing right, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> yet it gave her a rather unhappy feeling not +to be able at once to tell her aunt the whole story.</p> + +<p>She had planned with Bob to meet him that very evening with the money, +so she was glad that Mrs. Caryll, finding it a little later than she +thought, drove home at a good pace.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>OUT ON THE MOOR</h3> + +<p>Uncle Ted was on the look-out for them when they got home.</p> + +<p>'It's cold, isn't it?' he said. 'Still I don't think we shall have snow +just yet,' and he glanced up at the sky. 'I want you, as soon as you can +spare me a few minutes, Mattie, to look over these letters we were +speaking about.'</p> + +<p>'I shall be down directly,' said Mrs. Caryll. 'Run off, Rosamond dear, +and get ready for your tea. It is pretty sure to be ready for you.'</p> + +<p>And so it was. Everything seemed to fit in for the little girl's plans. +The maid who waited on her was not in Rosamond's own room when she went +upstairs, so Miss Mouse contented herself with taking off her hat and +jacket, keeping on her boots to be ready for her expedition to meet Bob. +She also got out a fur-lined cloak, which had been put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> away as too +shabby for anything but a wrap, and a little close-fitting fur cap to +match. These she carried downstairs and hid them in a corner of the sofa +in the small breakfast-room which was considered her own quarters. And +safe in her pocket nestled her oldest purse—Miss Mouse liked to have +'best' and 'common' among nearly all her possessions—containing the +exact sum, six shillings, which she had promised Bob.</p> + +<p>She ate her tea quickly; her little heart was beating faster than usual +with excitement, some fear, and a good deal of real regret at having to +part with her precious savings, though, on the other hand, there was a +feeling of great pleasure at being able to get poor Bob out of trouble, +and to save his kind old grandmother the distress of mind she would +certainly have felt.</p> + +<p>For, as I have said before, Miss Mouse was a very sensible little girl. +She quite understood that any trouble of the kind would have done +special harm to poor Nance and her grandson, on account of the prejudice +already felt against them.</p> + +<p>Her heart began to beat still more quickly when she found herself out of +doors, and though she was so warmly wrapped up, a queer cold feeling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +ran down her back, and her arms seemed all shivery.</p> + +<p>'I'll take a good run,' she thought. 'That will make me feel better, and +I've scarcely walked or run at all to-day.'</p> + +<p>So it did. She was a strong little girl in many ways, and accustomed to +plenty of exercise, and the keen fresh air soon made her glow all over, +as she ran along the smooth, hard road.</p> + +<p>Bob had fixed on a certain corner as the best meeting-place. This was +the end of a short lane, which led on to the moor at a point Rosamond +had never come out at. But it was easy to find, and a short distance +farther on, by following one of the small paths in a line with the lane, +the boy had explained to her that she would soon come to a sort of dip +in the ground, where there was a thick clump of shrubs.</p> + +<p>'And there, missie, if I don't meet you before, you'll be certain sure +to see me a-comin' over from the other side, as fast as I can get along. +It won't be dark by then—and p'raps it'll be a moonlight night, unless +the clouds thicken up for snow.'</p> + +<p>It did seem, all the same, rather gloomy in the lane—'because of the +trees and the hedges,' thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> Miss Mouse—and certainly when she got +to the end and came out on the moor, it looked a little lighter.</p> + +<p>She stood still and looked about her, drawing a deep breath. But she +felt a little disappointed; the moor here seemed quite different from up +at Moor Edge—it was so much lower, more like a rough field.</p> + +<p>'I don't care for it a bit down here,' she thought. 'And then it's so +much, much farther to get to, than at the boys'. Why, there you run +almost straight out of the garden on to the dear real moor. I quite know +the way Archie and the others feel about it.'</p> + +<p>She trotted on—straight on, as Bob had directed, and before very long +she came to the little hollow with the clump of bushes in the centre +which he had described. But there was no Bob there, and at first her +heart went down a little—supposing he had not been able to come, +supposing the people he owed the money to had refused after all to wait +till to-morrow morning, and had done something dreadful—put him in +prison, perhaps, for Miss Mouse's ideas as to what might or might not be +done to people, poor boys especially, who owed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> money, were very vague, +or gone to frighten old Nance—oh dear, dear, what a pity it was, +thought the little girl, that she had not taken her purse and all her +riches with her to Weadmere that afternoon. Then she might have given +Bob the six shillings at once, and not run any risk of delay, or have +needed to come out to meet him in the—yes, it was almost getting to be +the dark—and Rosamond gave a little shiver. But at that moment a +welcome sound fell on her ears—the sound of rapidly running feet. She +heard the boy before she saw him, but he it was. A small dark figure, +darker than the dusky ground, soon became visible, running as fast as he +could, and, as soon as he caught sight of her, calling out breathlessly, +'O miss, O miss, have you been waiting long?' and as soon as he came +nearer, out poured a torrent of explanations as to how they had kept him +waiting and waiting for the things he had been at Weadmere to fetch for +the 'missus' at the farm where he worked.</p> + +<p>'Well, never mind now,' said sensible Miss Mouse, 'I've got the money +all right. Here it is, Bob, just exactly six shillings. I did it up into +a little packet inside my purse, but you can count it if you like.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>'No, no, thank you, miss,' said the boy. 'I'm sure it's all right, and +as like's not if we undid it, it'd drop out, and we'd have hard work to +find it again in this brushwood. No, it's sure to be all right—and I'll +never be able to thank you enough, that I won't, not if I live to be as +old as gran herself.'</p> + +<p>He was intensely grateful, there was no mistake about that, and already +the little girl felt rewarded for the sacrifice she had made. Bob was +evidently anxious too to get off, as he was still carrying the packages +he had been to fetch, having come by this very roundabout way from the +town, and he was anxious, too, to get 'miss' home, for fear of her being +'scolded' through what she had so kindly done for him.</p> + +<p>They turned to go.</p> + +<p>'I wish you could come home with me, Bob,' said Rosamond, 'it does look +so dark. I don't mind here or on the road. It's the bit of lane that's +so dark.'</p> + +<p>Bob looked about and considered.</p> + +<p>'I'm afraid I just dursn't go round by your place, miss,' he said. 'I +must run all the way or the missus'll be terrible put out, though——'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>'No, no,' interrupted the little lady. 'I wouldn't let you. Why, it +would be worse than owing the money for the ferrets if you got scolded +and lost your place perhaps——'</p> + +<p>'I have it,' exclaimed the boy. 'If you don't mind comin' out a bit +farther up the road, you needn't have no lane at all. And I daresay +it'll be quicker in the end, for you'd almost have to <i>feel</i> your way +along the lane by now—it is a very dark bit, I know. And I can run with +you till I put you on the straight path to the road.'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes,' said Rosamond gladly, 'I'd far rather do that. Come along +quick then, Bob.'</p> + +<p>He set off, running, though not nearly as fast as before, in front of +her, looking back every moment or two to see if she was following all +right. Neither spoke, as Rosamond did not want to waste either her own +or her companion's breath.</p> + +<p>'I shall have to run as fast as ever I can when I get on to the smooth +road,' she thought.</p> + +<p>So for upwards of a quarter of a mile the two trotted on in silence, +till Bob pulled up.</p> + +<p>'Miss,' he said, 'this is where I have to turn.' As a matter of fact he +had been out of his way till now. 'If you go straight on, you can't miss +now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> See,' and he pointed before him in the gloom, 'the hedge stops a +bit farther on, and there's a clear piece of grass on to the road.'</p> + +<p>'Ye-es,' said Miss Mouse, peering before her, 'I think I see.'</p> + +<p>'Anyway you'll see it all right as soon as you come to it, and you go +straight till then.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, yes,' said Rosamond, anxious to see him off. 'Take care of the +money, Bob, and the first time we go to see your grandmother I shall +expect to hear from you that it's all right. Now, run off as fast as you +can and I will too.'</p> + +<p>He started at a good pace, and as Miss Mouse trotted in the opposite +direction, from time to time she looked over her shoulder, till the +ever-lessening black speck that she knew to be Bob had altogether melted +into the gloom. Bob's eyes were keener than hers; as he ran, he too kept +glancing backwards to watch the little figure of the child towards whom +his wild but true heart was bursting with gratitude. He distinguished +her for some distance, and when he lost sight of her it seemed to be +rather suddenly, and for a moment or two, hurried though he was, he +stood still with a slight misgiving.</p> + +<p>'I saw her half a minute ago,' he thought. 'She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> must have set to +running very fast. I hope nothing's wrong. She can't have fallen and +hurt herself,' and at the mere idea he had to put force on himself not +to rush back again to see. 'Oh no, it can't be that—why, if she'd hurt +herself, she'd have called out and I'd have heard her. It's got so +still—and oh, my, it's cold. I shouldn't wonder if it started snowing +before morning.'</p> + +<p>And off set Bob again, with a lighter heart than if he had yielded to +his impulse and run back, setting his 'missus's' scolding at defiance, +to see that no misadventure had happened to his generous little lady.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 318px;"><a name="ILL_008" id="ILL_008"></a> +<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="318" height="500" alt="AND—WERE THOSE SNOW-FLAKES AGAIN?" title="" /> +<span class="caption">AND—WERE THOSE SNOW-FLAKES AGAIN?</span> +</div> + +<p>Alas! this was what had happened—in the gloom, fast turning into night, +even out here on the open ground it was impossible to see clearly where +one was going. It was even more dangerous in a sense than if it had been +quite dark, for then Miss Mouse would have stepped more cautiously. But +as all was open before her she ran fearlessly, forgetting that here and +there across the white sandy path the low-growing little plants which +mingled with the heather and bracken sent a trail across to the other +side, in which nothing was easier than to catch one's foot. Once or +twice she nearly did so, but no harm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> coming of it, she paid no +attention to the momentary trip up, and ran on again fearlessly, even +faster than before. So that when a worse catch came—a long, sturdy +branch sprawling right across, which clutched at the dainty little foot, +refusing to let it go—she fell, poor darling, with a good deal of +violence, twisting her ankle as she did so in a way which hurt her +terribly. At first she thought she had broken her leg, but the pain went +off a little after she had lain still for a few minutes, and she began +to take heart again and managed to get up. It was really not a bad +sprain—scarcely a sprain at all—but she was tired and cold and a +little frightened, for it was now so dark, and the fall had jarred her +all over; her head felt giddy and confused.</p> + +<p>What happened was not, I think, to be wondered at—poor Miss Mouse took +a wrong path, and instead of keeping straight on in the line Bob had +started her, she turned, without knowing it, almost directly sideways. +For two of the little paths crossed each other, as ill-luck would have +it, close to where she had fallen.</p> + +<p>Her ankle was not so very painful; with care not to turn her foot in one +particular way, she found she could hobble on pretty well. But, oh dear, +how far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> off the road seemed! And Bob had told her she would reach it +in a few minutes. And <i>how</i> cold it was—were those flakes of snow +falling on her face? She wished now that she had called out very loudly +when she fell— Bob might have heard her; but she had been afraid of +getting him into great trouble at the farm if he had run back to her and +made himself so late. Now she began to feel as if that wouldn't have +mattered—Uncle Ted would have put it right somehow for him—nothing +would matter much if she <i>could</i> but get to the road and know that home +was straight before her. Perhaps some cart would come past and she would +get the man to stop and take her in—for oh, she <i>was</i> so tired! She +walked more and more slowly, and at last—</p> + +<p>'I <i>must</i> sit down and rest for a minute,' she thought, 'even if it is +cold, and p'raps if I can unfasten my boot, it wouldn't hurt so.' +Yes—it was delicious to sit still, even for a minute, and—were those +snow-flakes again, or leaves? No—it couldn't be leaves; there were no +trees about here—how stupid of her to think—to think what? Of course +it couldn't be leaves, or flakes—she was in bed. They—they couldn't +get in through the window, could they? She must be dreaming—how silly +she was—how—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>—</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>'What is the matter? What do you say?' asked Mr. Hervey that evening +about eight o'clock, when, with a startled face, the footman came into +the drawing-room, where he and Mrs. Hervey and the three elder boys were +sitting.</p> + +<p>'It's a groom from Caryll Place, if you please, sir,' the man replied. +'They've sent over to say as Miss Rosamond, little Miss Caryll, can't be +found, and do the young gentlemen know anything about it?'</p> + +<p>All the Herveys started to their feet, with different exclamations of +distress.</p> + +<p>'<i>Rosamond</i>, little Rosamond,' cried Mrs. Hervey.</p> + +<p>'Miss Mouse <i>lost</i>!' exclaimed the boys, while Mr. Hervey went to the +door, and called to the Caryll Place groom, who was standing, anxious +and uneasy, at the door which led to the offices.</p> + +<p>'What's all this?' he inquired.</p> + +<p>The man came forward and told all there was to tell. Miss Rosamond had +been at Weadmere with Mrs. Caryll that afternoon, had driven home, had +her tea as usual, etc. All that we know already. But when the time came +for her to be dressed to go down to the dining-room, she was not to be +found. They had searched the house through, thinking she might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> be +playing some trick, though it wasn't like her to do so; then the +grounds, making inquiries at the cottages about—all in vain; and now he +had been sent off here with some hope—what, he did not know—that at +Moor Edge he might hear something.</p> + +<p>'Of course not,' Mr. Hervey replied impatiently, for he was very +troubled and it made him cross, 'we should not have kept her here +without sending word at once.'</p> + +<p>He glanced at the boys—they were all three standing there, pale-faced +and open-mouthed, Archie on the point of tears.</p> + +<p>'Go back at once, and say we know nothing,' Mr. Hervey went on, 'but +that I am following with Mr. Justin to help in the search.'</p> + +<p>'Papa, papa, mayn't we come too?' Pat and Archie entreated, but their +father shook his head, and in five minutes he and Jus were off in the +dog-cart to Caryll.</p> + +<p>Justin was very silent.</p> + +<p>'Can you think of anywhere she can be?' asked his father, 'or any +explanation? The child can't be stolen—what good would it do any one to +steal her?'</p> + +<p>Justin was in some ways a slow-witted boy.</p> + +<p>'I can't think of anything, I'm sure,' he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> But a confused feeling +was working at the back of his mind. <i>Could</i> it have anything to do with +Bob and the ferrets? He knew that Bob was getting anxious as to paying +the rest of the money, though he did not know how bad this anxiety had +become—he knew, too, that he himself had been selfish and to some +extent deceitful in the matter. But he could not see clearly how the two +troubles could be mixed up, so he put the idea out of his mind, not +sorry to do so—that was Justin's way.</p> + +<p>'No, I can't think of anything,' he repeated.</p> + +<p>It had been snowing lightly, and now again a few flakes began to fall.</p> + +<p>'Do you think it's coming on to snow, papa?' he inquired, partly to +change the subject, partly because it came into his mind—for he was not +a heartless boy—that <i>if</i> Miss Mouse was lost anywhere out of doors a +snowstorm would certainly not mend matters.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hervey looked up with some anxiety.</p> + +<p>'No,' he said, 'I think not, and I certainly hope not if that poor child +is by any chance out of doors.'</p> + +<p>They were soon at Caryll Place. Here all was miserable anxiety, for so +far no traces of the poor little girl were to be found, though there +were men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> out in all directions. Mr. Caryll had been out some distance +himself, but had just come back for a moment to see Aunt Mattie before +driving off to Weadmere to speak to the police. Aunt Mattie, choking +down her tears, repeated to Justin's father all there was to tell—how +Miss Mouse must have gone out of her own accord, as her warm cloak and +cap were missing, and how she had evidently not wanted any one to know, +adding, 'The <i>only</i> thing at all unusual to-day was our meeting Bob Crag +in the town, and Rosamond may have been talking to him while I was in +the shop. <i>Can</i> he have anything to do with it? Justin, you know him +well?'</p> + +<p>She looked keenly at Justin, and she fancied he grew red. He hesitated +before answering.</p> + +<p>'I— I don't see how, auntie,' he said at last. Then he went on more +courageously. 'Bob is quite a good boy—he really is, though people +speak against him. I'm sure he <i>never</i> would have tried to get money +from—from Miss Mouse, in any naughty way, or anything like that,' and, +in spite of himself, his voice faltered as he uttered the pet name of +their little friend.</p> + +<p>His father turned upon him sharply.</p> + +<p>'Get money from her,' he repeated. 'What do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> you mean? What put such a +thing in your head?'</p> + +<p>'I— I don't——' Justin was beginning, when Uncle Ted interrupted.</p> + +<p>'I think we are wasting time,' he said; 'the whys and wherefores can be +gone into afterwards—the thing to do first is to find our poor darling. +If there is the least chance of the Crags knowing anything about her +some one had better go there at once. Mattie, I wonder you did not +mention the boy, Bob, having spoken to her this afternoon, before?'</p> + +<p>'It only now came into my mind,' she replied gently. She was too unhappy +to feel hurt at Uncle Ted's tone; she knew he was so terribly unhappy +himself. Justin felt himself growing more and more miserable.</p> + +<p>'Uncle Ted,' he exclaimed, 'may I go to the Crags? I can run very +quickly, and——.' But his uncle and father had already left the hall, +where they had all been standing, and had gone off again, probably to +give fresh orders in the stables. Only Aunt Mattie was still there, and +she had sat down on a chair by the large fire and was shading her eyes +with her hand. She was feeling dreadfully tired and more and more +wretched.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + +<p>'If the darling has been out in the cold all this time,' she was saying +to herself, 'it is enough to kill her, even if no accident has happened +to her,' and all sorts of miserable thoughts came into her mind—of the +letters that might have to be written to Rosamond's father and mother, +telling—oh, it was too dreadful to think of <i>what</i> might not have to be +told! She sat there motionless, except that now and then she shivered, +though not with cold. Justin saw that she was not thinking of or +noticing him at all, and he suddenly made up his mind to wait no longer. +He crossed the hall softly, and in another moment was out in the dark +drive in front of the house, unseen by any one. But once there, he +turned quickly, and ran, at the top of his speed, his eyes, as he went, +growing accustomed to the gloom, in the direction of the bit of lane +leading towards the moor, which Miss Mouse had traversed a few hours +earlier. Thence—as Justin knew well, even by the little light there +was—he could, by careful noticing of some landmarks, make his way to +the 'real' moor, as the boys called it, for the more or less grassy part +nearer Caryll Place they did not think worthy of the name, and reach the +Crags' cottage more quickly than it could be got to by the road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>He ran, steadily and not too fast, for he had a good deal of common +sense and did not want to exhaust his 'wind' before he had reached his +goal. And well it was that he kept his pace moderate and was able to +look about him as he ran, for it was lighter out here and he had good +eyes. What was that? A dark thick clump of—of what? No, there was +something different about this object, and, eager as he was to get to +his destination, the boy slackened his pace, hesitated, then dashed off, +at full speed this time, in the direction of the something that had +caught his sight.</p> + +<p>Some snow had fallen, and now again flakes began to show themselves on +his jacket. There were white dashes, too, on the strange, motionless +shape he was making for. Was it setting in for a snowstorm? the boy +asked himself with a curious anxiety, for there are times at which our +thoughts seem to run before our reason. If so—and if—no, he would not +think of such dreadful things; he would first—he was running now too +fast to think—and—a minute more and he was stooping over the silent, +dead-still figure of the faithful little girl. For it was Miss Mouse, +her face as white as the snow, which, had it fallen already, as it was +now beginning to do, would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> have covered her more completely than the +robins covered the long-ago baby pair in the old forest; would have +hidden her till it was indeed too late.</p> + +<p>'Thank God,' whispered Justin, as he thought this; and perhaps it was +the very first time he had <i>felt</i> what these two words mean. But then +terror seized him again, was it already too late?</p> + +<p>He rubbed her little hands, he called her by name, his hot boy's tears +fell on her cold white face. He did not yet understand how it had all +come about, but something seemed to tell him that his selfish +thoughtlessness had to do with it. But there was no answer, no movement.</p> + +<p>'She will die,' he thought, 'if she is not dead. I must carry her.'</p> + +<p>He lifted her, though with difficulty, and glanced about him. Oh, joy! +they were nearer Bob's cottage than he had thought; he stood still and +whistled, the peculiar 'call' his brothers and he used for each other, +and that Bob, too, knew. Then he moved on again, though but slowly—now +and then it seemed scarcely more than a totter, his legs trembled so, +and Rosamond was so strangely heavy. But it was not for long in reality, +though it seemed to him hours,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> before help reached him. A figure came +rushing across the moor, and a voice called out loudly,</p> + +<p>'Who is it? What is the matter? It's not—oh, Master Justin, is it you? +And—no, no, don't say it's the little lady— I've killed her, I've +killed her. It's all my fault.'</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>It was in kind old Nance's cottage that the little girl came back to +consciousness. Bob's grandmother was clever and skilful, and, though +sadly alarmed at first, soon saw that the two boys' very natural terror +was greater than need be. The child was in a sort of stupor from cold +and fright and pain too, for her ankle had swelled badly by this time, +from the pressure of her boot. But careful management brought her round, +and she was soon able to look about her and to drink the wonderful herb +tea of some kind which Nance prepared. And then she sat up and explained +what she could of how the misadventure had come to pass, helped by Bob, +whom she glanced at doubtfully, till he said out manfully,</p> + +<p>'Tell it all, miss, tell it all. It's me that's to blame, only me.'</p> + +<p>But no, it was not only at poor Bob's door that lay the blame, and so +Justin well knew, and so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> Justin had the honesty to confess when the +anxiety and distress were to some extent past, though for a few days +great care had to be taken of little Rosamond.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to describe the joy with which Uncle Ted carried +her off to the carriage waiting at the nearest point on the road, +wrapped up in his strong arms so that she <i>couldn't</i> get chilled again, +or Aunt Mattie and the Herveys' delight at the happy news of the little +lost one being found. These things are more difficult to <i>tell</i> than to +picture to oneself.</p> + +<p>So, too, it would be difficult to relate the change in Justin which +those who cared for him always dated from the night on which Miss Mouse +was lost—the night of which, had worse come of it to the kind little +girl, he would never have been able to think without misery beyond +words.</p> + +<p>The ferrets were paid for, of course, though not with Rosamond's money, +which was now happily spent on her Christmas presents. But though paid +for, Justin's pets were soon sold again, and replaced by some more +lovable and attractive creatures, whom his mother and Miss Mouse and +everybody could take pleasure in too. I rather think the new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> treasures +were some particularly pretty guinea-pigs—curly-haired ones; though to +be quite sure of this I should have to apply to some boys and girls of +my acquaintance whose grandfather has often told them the long-ago story +of Miss Mouse and the good that came of her gentle influence on him and +his brothers when they were all children together.</p> + +<p>And dear Miss Mouse herself—what of her? Where is she now? It is so +many years ago, is she still alive?</p> + +<p>Yes. I have nothing sad with which to end my little story. She is now, +what most of you, I daresay, would consider a very old lady, for her +hair is quite white, though her pretty gray eyes are as clear as ever. +Not that they have not known tears, those kind eyes, many tears, I +daresay, for the sorrows of others more than for her own, perhaps. Life +would not be what it has to be, what God means it to be, without tears +as well as smiles.</p> + +<p>And Bob Crag. You will not be surprised to hear that Uncle Ted took him +thoroughly in hand, and that the wild but affectionate boy grew up to be +a good and useful man.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>MACMILLAN AND CO.'S BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.</h2> + +<h3>By Mrs. MOLESWORTH.</h3> + +<p>THE ORIEL WINDOW. With Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Leslie Brooke</span>. Crown 8vo. 4s. +6d.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Also Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Leslie Brooke</span>. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. each.</i></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>SHEILA'S MYSTERY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE CARVED LIONS.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MARY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MY NEW HOME.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>NURSE HEATHERDALE'S STORY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS AND I.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Walter Crane</span>. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. each.</i></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>A CHRISTMAS POSY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"CARROTS," JUST A LITTLE BOY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A CHRISTMAS CHILD.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE CUCKOO CLOCK.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FOUR WINDS FARM.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>GRANDMOTHER DEAR.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HERR BABY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>LITTLE MISS PEGGY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE RECTORY CHILDREN.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ROSY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE TAPESTRY ROOM.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>TELL ME A STORY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>TWO LITTLE WAIFS.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"US": <span class="smcap">an Old-Fashioned Story</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHILDREN OF THE CASTLE.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h3>By Miss ROSSETTI.</h3> + +<p>GOBLIN MARKET. 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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: Miss Mouse and Her Boys + +Author: Mrs. Molesworth + +Illustrator: L. Leslie Brooke + +Release Date: January 14, 2010 [EBook #30966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print project. + + + + + + + + + +MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS + + + + +[Illustration: 'OH, WHAT A _LOT_ OF BOYS!'--p. 2. _Front._] + + + + +MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS + + * * * * * + +BY MRS. MOLESWORTH + + * * * * * + +ILLUSTRATED BY L. LESLIE BROOKE + + +[Illustration] + + +LONDON: MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD +NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1897 + + +To the dear memory of +MY BROTHER-IN-LAW +SIR CRAVEN CHARLES GORING, BART. +WHOSE UNFAILING INTEREST IN MY WORK +HAS BEEN AN ENCOURAGEMENT THROUGH MANY YEARS +19 SUMNER PLACE, S.W., +_May_ 1897. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I + + 'WHAT A LOT OF BOYS!' 1 + + CHAPTER II + + PAT AND PETS 16 + + CHAPTER III + + GUESTS AT TEA 28 + + CHAPTER IV + + WANTED--A SISTER 44 + + CHAPTER V + + BOB 58 + + CHAPTER VI + + FERRETS AND FAIRIES 73 + + CHAPTER VII + + NANCE'S STORY 89 + + CHAPTER VIII + + NANCE'S STORY (_Continued_) 109 + + CHAPTER IX + + MISS MOUSE 'AT HOME' 123 + + CHAPTER X + + THE STORY OF THE LUCKY PENNY 140 + + CHAPTER XI + + A GREAT SACRIFICE 157 + + CHAPTER XII + + OUT ON THE MOOR 177 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + FACE PAGE + + 'OH, WHAT A _LOT_ OF BOYS!'--_Frontispiece_ + + 'I'LL TAKE ONE HAND AND PAT ONE, AND THEN WE'LL ALL RUN DOWN + TOGETHER' 36 + + NANCE 97 + + 'I'VE PLENTY OF STORIES IN MY HEAD,' SHE SAID 100 + + 'ALL OF A SUDDEN HE STOOD STRAIGHT UP AND BEGAN THROWING + THINGS AT ME FOR ME TO CATCH--IT WAS THE LITTLE SUNS!' 153 + + 'BOB,' SHE SAID. HE PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR HER 171 + + AND--WERE THOSE SNOW-FLAKES AGAIN? 187 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +'WHAT A LOT OF BOYS!' + + +It was before the days of sailor suits and knickerbockers. Nowadays boys +would make great fun of the quaint little men in tight-fitting jackets, +and trousers buttoning on above them, that many people still living can +remember well, for it is not so very long ago after all. + +And whatever the difference in their clothes, the boys of then were in +themselves very like the boys of now--queer, merry, thoughtless fellows +for the most part, living in the pleasant present, caring much less for +the past or the future than their girl-companions, seldom taking trouble +of any kind to heart, or if they did, up again like a cork at the first +chance. But yet how dull the world, now as then, would be without them +and their bats and balls, and pockets full of rubbish, and everlasting +scrapes and mischief, and honest old hearts! + +I always like to hear any one, young or old, man or woman or girl, say, +as one often does hear said, 'I do love boys.' + +There were five of them--of the Hervey boys. They began at thirteen and +ended at three, or began at three and ended at thirteen, if you like to +put it that way. But when they were all together in the nursery, or +playroom as they called it more often--to see them, still more to hear +them, you would certainly have said there were at least ten--above all +if a scrimmage of any kind was going on, for then the number of legs and +arms all belonging to everybody apparently, seemed to be multiplied in +an astonishing manner. + +You would, I think, have sympathised with a small person, almost as +small as three-years-old Ger, whose first word's when the door was +opened were, in an awe-struck whisper, + +'Oh, what a _lot_ of boys.' + +She was dressed in pale grey, grey all over, made rather long in the +skirt, and she had a little drawn bonnet of the same colour--a quaint +little figure; but we are used to quaint little figures of _her_ kind +now--fashions repeat themselves, wise people say; and so they do in some +cases, though not in all. I cannot believe that boys will ever again be +buttoned up and choked as they used to be, above all in summer, when +their hot, red faces seemed on the point of bursting out of their +'nankeen' suits, held together by brass buttons. + +But the little grey figure standing at the doorway of the Herveys' +playroom was pretty as well as quaint, though the small face was pale, +and the eyes just a quiet grey like the colour of her clothes, and her +dark-brown hair cropped quite short. + +She was holding on tightly to the hand of a young lady, and as one of +the scrimmagers caught sight of this same young lady, and immediately +broke into a shout of welcome--'Aunt Mattie--boys, don't you see Aunt +Mattie?' and the noise became really deafening, our little girl squeezed +the fingers she held still more firmly, and an _almost_ frightened look +crept into her eyes. + +'Boys, boys,' exclaimed Aunt Mattie in turn, 'don't _you_ see +that--somebody you have never seen before is here? Do disentangle +yourselves if you can--Archie, Hector--I can't tell which is which of +you--and Ger, dear old Ger, as plump as ever, and--yes, that's right, +Justin--you and Pat really should keep the pickles in order.' + +Justin got red--redder even than he was already--as he pushed his way +out of the scramble. + +'If you knew what it was, auntie,' he said, in a tone half of despair, +half of apology. 'The pickles get worse every day, and Pat's always +asleep or nearly asleep over his books and plans. I really----' + +'Well, never mind about that just now,' said his aunt. 'I must introduce +you all properly,' and she led the little girl gently forward into the +room, looking round for a seat, which was not so easy to find, as every +chair was either upside down or else hoisted on to the top of another. + +'I'll get you one down,' Archie called out when he saw the state of +things. 'Get out of the way, Hec and Ger, can't you?' + +But in getting out of the way, Hec tumbled over Ger, and Ger, who was +really only a baby, though a very independent one, kicked out at Hec, +which he thought more manly than crying, though one or other he must +have done, of course, to relieve his feelings. Whereupon Aunt Mattie, +not seeming very surprised, though in her heart she was startled at the +look in the big grey eyes under the shade of the grey bonnet, picked him +up, still kicking, and plumped him down between herself and the little +grey person, who by this time was seated beside her, two chairs having +somehow been got at. + +Ger was too surprised to go on kicking, _or_ to cry. He just opened his +mouth wide and stared. Then 'Aunt-ie,' he began slowly, in a tone of +reproach, 'thoo----' + +But he got no further. + +'Ger,' said auntie gravely, 'I'm ashamed of you. You haven't even said +"How do you do?" or shaken hands with this young lady. She isn't +accustomed to see little boys fighting and kicking each other.' + +'I diddun fight,' said Ger, 'I on'y kicked. Hec begunned.' + +'I!' exclaimed Hec, ready to swell up with indignation like an angry +turkey-cock, '_I_-- I were fetchin' a chair and----' + +'Stop, boys,' said Aunt Mattie again. 'Now let's go on nicely. This is +Ger, and he wants to be very polite now and shake hands--eh, Ger?' + +Ger's round blue eyes were fixed on the small stranger. + +'Her's not a young lady,' he said at last. 'Ger 'ud rather kith her.' + +The little girl leaned forward at once, and kissed his firm, plump +cheek. + +'Thoo ith tho thoft,' he said, and he stroked her cape and the +chinchilla muff she was holding. 'I know--thoo's a _mouse_.' + +He said the 's' quite plainly, for his lisp was a very changeable one, +and already he was on the way to lose it altogether. + +Everybody laughed. Ger liked the sound of the laugh--it was not making +fun of him. + +'Yeth,' he went on, 'uth'll call thoo'--with some effort--'Mith Mouse.' + +Miss Mouse leant forward a second time and kissed him again. + +'You funny little boy,' she said. 'You may call me "Miss Mouse" if you +please, but wouldn't you like to know my proper name?' + +Ger shook his head. + +'No thank thoo. I like Mith Mouse best.' + +'But _we'd_ like to know your real name,' said Archie. 'Wouldn't +we--Justin and Hec, and--oh Pat's asleep over a book again, I suppose.' + +'I'm not,' growled a voice from an opposite corner. + +'Well then, behave properly. Come out of there, can't you? Aunt Mattie, +make him.' + +'Patrick,' said Aunt Mattie, and Pat got up and came slowly forward. He +was not like Justin, and Hec, and Ger, who were all fair and ruddy; he +was dark-haired and dark-eyed and pale, while Archie, the best-looking +of the five, came between the two, for he had bright brown hair and +merry hazel eyes. + +'Now,' said Aunt Mattie, 'now, dear, you see them all-- Ger, you have +shaken hands with, or rather, kissed. Ger is three and three quarters, +and his real name is Gervais. Hector is--let me see--six and a half--no, +seven, just struck. Shake hands, Hec, if you're too big to be kissed.' + +'I'm not,' said Hec, and he stretched up his rosy mouth to Miss Mouse, +and then, like Ger, he stroked her chinchilla muff softly. + +'And Archie,' Aunt Mattie proceeded. Archibald is nearly ten,' and +Archie held out a rather grimy paw and shook hands heartily. 'Next comes +Patrick, eleven past.' Pat's mouth was shut tight, and he only just +touched the little girl's fingers. '_And_, last and eldest, Justin, who +is thirteen and----' she hesitated. + +'Thirteen and a quarter,' said Justin cheerily. + +'Then,' said Miss Mouse, speaking almost for the first time, '_I_ come +between Pat and Archie. I'm nine--nine past, my birthday was last +Christmas.' + +'Are you staying with Aunt Mattie?' asked Justin. 'When did you come? +You weren't there on Sunday.' + +The little girl turned to the young lady with a puzzled look. + +'Don't they know?' she said in a half whisper. + +Aunt Mattie smiled and shook her head slightly. + +'Didn't your mother tell you that I was expecting a visitor, Justin?' +she asked, turning to the eldest boy, who was now employing the time of +waiting for his question to be answered by tilting another unfortunate +chair as far back as he could get it to go without tumbling over. + +'Expecting a visitor,' he repeated. 'Oh yes, she said something +about--about--a girl, but I thought she meant somebody like you used to +be, auntie, before you were married--a grown-up girl. And I forgot about +it with her being away. Papa and mamma went away yesterday, you know, +and----' Over went the chair, its patience at an end, with a good +clatter. The chairs in the playroom were pretty stout, as they needed to +be. + +'O Justin,' said Aunt Mattie, 'do be quiet for a minute and leave the +chairs alone. How is it that you and Pat and Archie aren't at school +this afternoon?' + +'Half-holiday,' said Justin. + +'Of course-- I forgot,' Aunt Mattie replied, thinking to herself that if +she had remembered what day it was, she would have chosen some quieter +time for introducing her little guest to the Herveys. She had expected +only to find the two younger ones with their nursery governess. 'Where +is Miss Ward?' she went on. + +'Got a headache,' said Hector. 'Leave off, Ger,' he went on. 'It's my +turn,' for the two had been stroking the chinchilla muff with great +satisfaction while Aunt Mattie had been speaking to the elder boys. + +Ger gave a yell. Hec had nipped his fingers to make him give up his +share of the muff. Miss Mouse's face grew red, and she very quietly took +her hands out of the muff, and put it behind her, between her shoulders +at the back of her chair, though without speaking. Aunt Mattie saw what +she did and smiled to herself. Hector and Gervais only stared. + +'If you will be quiet, Justin--you and Pat and Archie, I will explain +about Rosamond,' and she put her arm round the little girl +affectionately. + +'Her's Mith Mouse, not Lotha--wubbish,' said Ger. + +'Hold your----' began Justin. + +Ger shut his mouth up tight. + +'Miss Mouse then,' said Aunt Mattie, 'is my niece, just as you are my +nephews, only she's not your cousin.' + +'Why not?' said Pat, suddenly waking up. This sounded rather like a +riddle, or a puzzle of some kind, and Pat loved puzzles. + +'Because she is Uncle Ted's niece--she is my niece now because I am +married to Uncle Ted, but that doesn't make her your cousin.' + +'Then she _isn't_ your niece the same as we're your nephews,' said Pat, +preparing for a good argument. + +'Well, no, not exactly. But still she _is_ my niece, just as much as +Uncle Ted is your uncle, and you wouldn't like any one to say he is not +your proper uncle, would you, for I know you are very fond of him?' + +There was no reply to this for a moment or two. The boys _were_ very +fond of Uncle Ted, but yet the relationship was a little perplexing. +They had never thought of it before, and even Pat felt that it might +seem rude if he did not agree that Uncle Ted was as much an uncle as +Aunt Mattie was an aunt. + +It was Miss Mouse who came to the rescue. + +'I know what,' she said, and her voice was very clear indeed, 'I know +what, boys--we'll settle that I _am_ to be your cousin, and that'll make +it all right. Uncle Ted and Aunt Mattie will be our uncle and aunt to +all of us just the same, once we're cousins.' + +'All right,' said Justin and Archie, who were longing to begin another +scrimmage of some kind. 'All right,' said Pat, not quite so heartily, +for he was disappointed of his argument with Aunt Mattie. 'All zight,' +said Hec and Ger--Ger adding, 'but thoo'll be Mith Mouse _always_. Are +thoo goin' to live here in thit houth?' + +All the boys stopped short at this. It had never struck them till this +moment that such a thing was possible. They had only thought of the +little girl as just coming in to see them for a short time, as other +children did now and then, and Rosamond herself looked up at her aunt in +surprise at their not understanding. For she herself was an only child +accustomed to hear a good deal more of the family plans than were the +Hervey boys. + +'Oh no,' she began to say, 'oh no, Ger, dear. I'm not going to live in +your house. I've come to stay with Uncle Ted and Aunt Mattie for a--for +a long time,' and there was a slight tremble in her voice at the last +words. + +Aunt Mattie felt a little vexed at having to speak of what she knew must +be sad for her young guest. + +'I thought your mother had told you something,' she said, turning to +Justin. 'Most likely she did, and that it was you who did not listen. +You are so very scatter-brained. Rosamond's father and mother have gone +to India, a few weeks ago, and she is going to stay with Uncle Ted and +me till they come back again.' + +The little girl's face had grown red while Aunt Mattie was speaking, and +at the last few words she squeezed tightly the kind hand she had managed +to get hold of. + +'Oh,' said the boys, two or three of them at once, in a tone of some +awe, and looking at Miss Mouse with increased respect. For India, and +goings-to and comings-from there, were not nearly such every-day matters +forty or fifty years ago as they are now. + +'Will they come back thoon?' asked Ger, looking up in Rosamond's face +with his innocent baby-blue eyes. 'I don't want them to, 'cos----' and +here he suddenly stopped. 'Her's c'ying,' he announced to his brothers +in a half whisper. + +'No, I'm not,' said Miss Mouse in her clear voice. 'At least I'm not +going to cry. I've promised I wouldn't.' + +'Dear,' said Aunt Mattie, 'you can't help it a little, sometimes. No,' +she went on, 'her papa and mamma can't come home for a good while. India +is a long way off, you know. Why don't you want them to come back, Ger? +It isn't very kind to say that.' + +'Yeth, it is', said Ger, 'it's 'cos I want her to stay here. I like Mith +Mouse.' + +This made Rosamond smile through the tears which had nearly dried up +already. + +'I am glad of that,' said Aunt Mattie. 'For I want you all to be very +kind to Rosamond, and make up to her for her papa and mamma being away.' + +'Does she mind so much?' said Hec, poking his curly head very close +under the grey bonnet. 'I don't think I would--not so very much.' + +''Cos you've got no feelings,' said Archie, pulling him back, 'and +you're as rude as rude too. I say, Miss Mouse,' he went on, 'would you +like to come out and see some of the animals?' + +'What?' said Rosamond; 'do you mean Noah's Ark animals?' + +Justin and Pat, though Pat was again in his corner with a book, both +began to laugh, and Archie's indignation was now turned on them. + +'You're ruder than Hec,' he said, ''cos he's little and you're big.' + +'None of your impertinence,' began Justin, seconded by a growl from Pat. +'I'll teach you to meddle with----' + +Aunt Mattie rose to her full height, and she was tall. Somehow her +nephews struck her to-day in a new light. She had known they were wild +and unruly, but the waves of expression that followed each other over +Rosamond's face almost startled her--the child had never seen this rough +side of boy-life, if indeed boy-life at all. Aunt Mattie felt as if she +had made a mistake in bringing her into it, and almost ashamed of Justin +and his brothers. + +'Boys,' she said, speaking to the two elder ones, 'you may not like +Archie's interfering, but what he says is perfectly true; you are both +very rude, though perhaps you don't mean it. But you know very well how +angry you'd be if any one laughed at _you_. I tell you plainly that +unless you can be gentle and more polite I will take Rosamond away, and +find other playfellows for her while she is living with your uncle and +me.' + +Pat said nothing, but Justin got red. + +'Oh come now, auntie,' he said. 'You know very well we didn't mean it, +and I don't believe Miss Mouse minds. Do you?' he went on, turning to +Rosamond. + +The little girl hesitated. + +'I-- I don't know,' she began, 'but,' as a bright idea struck her, 'I'd +like to see your animals and then I'd understand.' + +Justin turned to his aunt in triumph. + +'There now,' he exclaimed, 'I told you so! Can't she come out with us +now? You needn't _all_ come,' he added to the others; 'I don't want the +kids, but they'd get into mischief if we leave them here alone,' and he +glanced at Hec and Ger doubtfully. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +PAT AND PETS + + +Aunt Mattie smiled again to herself at Justin's last words. She felt +very much inclined to say that in _her_ opinion the two youngest boys +were much less likely to get into mischief if left by themselves than +under the elders' care. But just now, for Rosamond's sake, she thought +it better to say nothing which would lead to any more discussions. So +after a moment's thought she turned again to Justin. + +'I will stay here with the little ones,' she said, 'if you take Rosamond +out to see your pets----' + +'Oh!' interrupted Miss Mouse. 'It's _pets_ you mean! I didn't think of +pets when you said "animals."' + +"Pets" is a girl's word, you see,' said Justin loftily, for he was +already quite getting over his aunt's snub. + +'Now, Justin,' said Aunt Mattie quietly, 'I haven't finished. If you +take Rosamond out, she is under your charge, you understand? You mustn't +let the dogs jump on her, or let her be teased or frightened in any +way.' + +'All right,' said Justin. 'Come along, Miss Mouse.' + +Rosamond got up and half timidly took the hand which the boy held out to +her. + +'I'm coming too,' said Archie, at which the little girl's face +brightened up. + +'Don't till----' began Justin, stopping short, however, when he caught +his aunt's eye, for Aunt Mattie's control over the boys was no new +thing. + +'Yes,' she said. 'Archie may go too, certainly, and remember, both of +you, that you are on your honour to have no squabbling or fighting of +any kind while Rosamond is with you.' + +The trio set off. Rosamond between the boys, holding a hand of each. +Aunt Mattie smiling and nodding encouragingly, for there was still a +half-frightened look on the little face. + +'It is best,' thought she, 'to test them, for they are not bad boys at +heart, and she is far from childish for her age. But if they are really +too rough, our plan must be given up. I am very much afraid that Miss +Ward is not a success. Patrick,' she said aloud, 'I didn't want to keep +on finding fault this first time of Rosamond's seeing you all, but I +must say to you, now that we are alone, that I am surprised at your not +knowing that it is not polite to go on reading in a corner when any one +comes to see you. It is not polite even to _me_.' + +'I didn't know you'd come to see _me_,' said Pat gruffly, 'and I don't +like girls.' + +'I really don't care whether you like them or not,' said his aunt, +getting rather angry in spite of herself, 'and that is not the question. +The point is that you should and must behave like a gentleman to any +visitors in your father's house, and I shall certainly insist on your +doing so to any _I_ bring here.' + +Pat did not reply. He had left off reading, but he sat still, with the +book open on his knees and a far from amiable look on his face. + +Aunt Mattie felt troubled. Of all the boys, Pat, she well knew, was the +most difficult to understand, but during the years that her home had +been with her sister, Mrs. Hervey, she had come to be like a second +mother to the children, and Pat, every one said, was more manageable by +'Miss Mattie' than by any one else. And now he was as sulky and +disagreeable to her as ever he had been to old nurse, whom he was +always fighting with, or to any one. + +'Pat,' she said suddenly, 'come over here. Hec, you and Ger can go back +to your own corner,' for there was one specially counted 'the kids',' +where the old toy cupboard stood, and where the elder ones were not +allowed to interfere with them, on the principle that an Englishman's +house is his castle, I suppose. + +'Us diddun want to play with Jus and Pat,' said Ger, 'but they made us +be "'orses."' + +'Never mind,' said Hector, 'Aunt Mattie won't let us be teased any more. +We was tidyin' the cupboard,' he went on; 'it wanted tidyin' awful bad.' +Hec was that very uncommon thing, a neat little boy. + +So Mrs. Mattie and her nephew were as good as alone. + +'Pat,' she began again, 'why are you so surly to me?' + +Pat got red and mumbled something about 'not meaning.' + +'But you must mean the words you say,' said his aunt. 'It wasn't kind or +nice to tell me you hated--or "didn't like"--girls, when I had brought +my little niece to make friends with you all.' + +Pat stood silent, but his face had softened a little. + +'She'd not make friends with me,' he said,' nobody does. She can make +friends with Jus and Archie. Besides, what does it matter--she's not +going to live here.' + +'No, not exactly. But we have been thinking of planning for her to come +here every day to have lessons with Miss Ward. And of course it would be +nice for her to be friends with you all if she was so much here. On +half-holidays, for instance, Justin and you could sometimes let her be +with you and take part in your pleasures. There are lots of things that +a little girl can join in, and she is a very sensible little girl as +well as a sweet one.' + +Pat shuffled about, first on one foot, then on the other. He did not +want to vex his aunt, and he was rather pleased by her talking to him in +this way, but he did not care to make friends with Miss Mouse, and he +wanted to get back to his book. + +'I'm not going to hurt her,' he said. 'I don't want to be rude to her, +but it's no good humbugging. I don't like girls and I don't think I like +anybody--not much. She'll be all right with Jus and Archie. Why don't +you tell them to be nice to her?' + +'Because,' said Aunt Mattie slowly, 'I want you all to be nice to her, +and in some ways I had thought you would suit her the best, Pat. You are +quieter than Jus and Archie, and little Rosamond has not been used to +boys, or indeed to playfellows at all. And she is fond of reading, like +you.' + +'I'm always being scolded for reading,' grumbled Pat. 'It's often that +that Jus and I fight about, and then mamma takes for granted it's all my +fault, and they call me surly and ill-natured and all that. And it's +like that at school too--only----' + +'Only what?' asked his aunt, delighted to get him to speak out to her in +the old way. + +'I-- I didn't mind so much when--when _you_ were here and I could tell +you things,' said Pat. 'I've nobody now--nobody who cares. O auntie, I +do so wish you hadn't gone and got married.' + +Aunt Mattie's face had grown very kind and gentle. She had sometimes +fancied that, little though he said about it, Pat really did care for +her. + +'I'm not so far away after all,' she said, 'and I'm sure you know that +I'm always ready to talk to you, or to help you in any way I can.' + +'Oh, but it's different,' said Pat. 'It's not like living in the house, +and taking my part a little, and explaining to them--oh! it's quite +different, and then--there's Uncle Ted----' + +A little smile crept into Mattie's eyes at this; she had suspected more +than once that Pat was rather jealous of his new uncle. + +'Of course,' she said, 'I know it can't be quite the same, but it might +be a good deal worse; I might have had to go to India, like Rosamond's +father and mother. And if you knew Uncle Ted better, you would find him +awfully kind and understanding about boys.' + +Pat grunted. + +'He likes the others, I know,' he said gloomily. + +His aunt's face grew graver again. This touch of jealousy in Pat made +her anxious about him. + +'It is such a pity,' she said, 'that you get these ideas into your +head--of people not liking you or liking the others better, and +uncomfortable fancies of that kind.' + +'They are _not_ fancies,' said Pat; 'they are true.' + +'Well, if they are true, make them not true,' was the reply. 'Try to be +a little brighter and pleasanter to other people, especially to your own +people, and see if that doesn't make a difference. Just _try_, for my +sake, and as far as Rosamond is concerned I am sure you won't find the +trying difficult.' + +Pat did not speak. He stood there looking before him gravely. But the +hard gloomy expression had gone, and after a while he said quietly, + +'I _will_ try, but, auntie-- I'm not made right, somehow-- I don't care +for their animals and things like that, and I don't care much for games, +and I _hate_ ferreting!' + +'You care for dogs,' said his aunt. + +'Some,' he replied. 'I like clever, affectionate dogs. I don't care for +those that think about nothing except hunting and chasing cats and +making a row. I like a dog like your Flip, that sits beside you and +understands when you want to be quiet.' + +'Flip _is_ a dear,' Aunt Mattie agreed. 'But, O Hec! what are you +doing?' for at that moment a pile of toys came clattering down within an +ace of Ger's head, from the top shelf of the cupboard, whereupon Ger set +up a scream, though he was not the least hurt, and the toys, being +principally wooden bricks, were not hurt either. + +Still peace was destroyed between the two little boys, and their aunt +proposed that they should get their hats and go out with her and Pat to +meet the others. + +These 'others,' in the meantime, had been enjoying themselves more or +less--very much as regarded the boys, Justin especially, for there was +nothing he liked better than showing off his animals, and Archie's +pleasure was only damped by his noticing signs of fear every now and +then on Rosamond's part. She did her best to hide them, poor little +girl, and to trust Justin's loud assurances that the growls of the +puppies' mother were only meant for 'how do you do? so pleased to see +you. Aren't the little people looking well?' or civil speeches of that +kind, translated into dog-language, though these assurances were not +quite in keeping with the quick way in which he pulled back her hand +when she timidly stooped down to stroke one of the black-and-tan babies. + +'I'll pick it up for you,' he said, and so he did, taking care first to +shut the stable door on the anxious mother. + +'It _is_ a nice soft little thing,' said Miss Mouse, when she had got it +safe in her arms, 'but--oh it's going to bite me,' and but for fear of +hurting it, she would have got rid of master puppy in double-quick +time. + +'He won't really hurt you--it's only little snaps that do no harm,' said +Archie; 'but I'll put him back again, and then p'raps we'd better show +her the rabbits and the pigeons--_they're_ not frightening.' + +'No,' agreed Rosamond,' I'd like to see them very much.' + +'And,' said Justin, forgetting his promise to his aunt, 'the ferrets-- +Tom Brick has got his ferrets here to-day, you know, Archie. They are +going to have a good rat hunt to-morrow morning.' + +'Ferrets,' said Rosamond innocently, 'what are they? I never heard of +them. Are they nice and tame and pretty?' + +'Oh lovely,' said Justin, beginning to laugh. 'They're the hideousest +things there are. And if you get one up your sleeve--ugh--it does feel +horrid. All the same they're splendid chaps for rats. I'd give anything +to have a pair of my own, I can tell you.' + +'I don't want to see them, thank you,' said the little girl. 'Do they +eat rats? I don't like pets that eat each other.' + +Justin laughed more loudly. + +'Eat each other,' he repeated. 'Rats and ferrets don't eat each other. +Besides, ferrets aren't like foxes--they're not fierce; they're jolly +little beggars. I only wish I had a couple.' + +'Oh, I say, Justin,' exclaimed Archie, 'I wouldn't call them not fierce. +Why does Bob Crag muzzle his when he's going to catch rabbits with +them?' + +'Because they would eat rabbits if they were hungry. Rabbits would be +nicer to eat than rats, I should think, though I daresay they'd eat rats +too if they were ravenous--and they have to be ravenous when they're +used for ratting, to make them eager, for when they've had lots to eat +they are sad lazy little beggars.' + +'That's like snakes,' said Rosamond, with a small shudder. 'I'm sure I +shouldn't like ferrets, Justin. Don't let's talk about them any more. +Who is Bob Crag?' + +'Oh, he's a boy,' said Justin, with some slight hesitation. 'He lives +out on the moor with his grandmother.' + +'You can see their cottage,' said Archie, 'from the top of the mound +behind the paddock, such a queer, wild sort of place; we pass it on our +way to the vicarage, when it's a fine day.' + +'I'd like to see the moor,' said Rosamond, her eyes brightening. + +'Come along then,' said Justin, 'it won't take us two minutes to run up +the mound,' and off they set. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +GUESTS AT TEA + + +Rosamond drew a long breath as they reached the top of the mound. + +'Oh!' she said. 'I never saw a moor before. What a long, long way you +can see!' and her eyes, full of wonder and pleasure, gazed before them +over the brown expanse, broken here and there by patches of green or by +the still remaining purple of the fast-fading heather; here and there, +too, gleams of lingering gorse faintly golden, and the little +thread-like white paths, sometimes almost widening into roads, crossing +in all directions, brightened the effect of the whole. For it was autumn +now--late autumn indeed--and the sun was well down on his evening +journey. + +The breeze blew freshly in the little girl's face. + +'It's rather cold,' she said, 'but I like it.' + +'You might have brought your muff,' said Archie; 'though _I_ thought +people only had muffs when it was real winter.' + +Miss Mouse reddened a little. + +'So they do,' she said, 'but mine is such a dear little one, so light +and fluffy, and it was mamma's last present, so Aunt Mattie lets me take +it out in the pony-carriage.' + +Justin and Archie had, like all boys, a horror of tears, and the sad +tone in Rosamond's voice made them quickly change the subject. + +'Has Aunt Mattie never driven you round by the moor before?' said +Justin. 'She's so fond of it.' + +'But I only came the day before yesterday, and her house is quite on the +other side, not wild-looking like here.' + +'Of course I know that,' said Justin. 'I think it's ever so much jollier +up here. Indeed, _I_ would like to live in a cottage on the moor itself. +Fancy what fun it would be to race right out first thing in the morning +when you woke up, and see all the creatures waking up too--rabbits +scuttering about, and the wild birds, and the frogs, and rummy creatures +like that, that live about the marshy bits!' + +Rosamond looked up at him with some surprise and more sympathy in her +eyes than she had yet felt for the eldest of her newly-adopted cousins. + +'I know,' she said, 'it's like some fairy stories I've read.' + +'Oh rubbish,' said Justin. 'If you want fairy stories you must go to Pat +for them. His head's full of them.' + +Miss Mouse felt a little hurt at Justin's rough way of speaking. Archie, +always inclined to make peace, came to the rescue. + +'You were asking about Bob Crag,' he said. 'That's where he lives.' + +He pointed to a spot where a clump of bushes or stunted trees stood a +little way back from one of the wider tracks which ran like white tapes +across the moor. No house or cottage was to be seen, but a thin waft of +smoke rose slowly from the middle of the little planting. + +'It's the queerest place you ever saw,' Archie went on. 'Papa says it's +something like an Irish cabin, only cleaner and tidier, for Bob's old +granny isn't dirty, though she's extremely queer, like her house. People +say she's a gipsy, but she's lived there so long that no one is sure +where she comes from. She's as old as old! I shouldn't wonder if she +were really Bob's great-grandmother.' + +'Has _he_ always lived with her?' asked Rosamond. 'Fancy! +_great_-grandmother.' + +'I don't know,' said Archie; 'he's been there as long as I can +remember.' + +'And that's not very long,' said Justin, with the superiority of his +four more years of life. '_You_ can't remember more than six or seven +years back at most, Archie! I can remember ten good, if not eleven. And +Bob's two years older than I am. I should think he was about four or +five when I first remember him. Nurse wouldn't let Pat and me stop to +talk to him when we passed the cottage going a walk, he was such a +queer, black-looking little creature. Old Nancy went away once for ever +so long, and when she came back she brought this rum little chap with +her, and the people about said he was as uncanny as she. Nobody's very +kind to them, even now.' + +'Poor things,' said Miss Mouse. 'They must be very dull and lonely.' + +'They don't mind,' said Justin. 'Nance says she wouldn't stay if they +had neighbours, and she's jolly glad to have no rent. Once they tried to +make her pay for her cottage, but papa got her off, and ever since then +she'd do anything for us, and she always smiles and curtsies and blesses +us in her way when we pass. Yes, she'd do anything for us, and so would +poor old Bob.' + +'Yes, but----' began Archie, but stopped short, for Justin's eye was +upon him. + +'You're not to begin abusing Bob,' he said. 'It's not fair, _I_ count +him a friend of mine, whatever you do.' + +Rosamond looked puzzled. + +'Is he a naughty boy?' she said half timidly. + +'No,' said Justin, 'I say he's not. He gets blamed for lots of things he +doesn't deserve, just because he and old Nancy are strange and queer.' + +'I'd like to see them,' said Rosamond. 'It _does_ sound like a fairy +story, and it looks like one. Won't you take me to their cottage some +day?' + +But before either Justin or Archie had time to reply, there came an +interruption. + +'They're whistling for us,' exclaimed Archie. 'Yes, it's Pat and Aunt +Mattie coming across the paddock--and the little ones too. Isn't it nice +to hear Aunt Mattie whistling just like she used to, when she lived +here? Let's go back and meet them.' + +'No,' said Justin, 'I'll stay here with Miss Mouse, and you run down to +them, Archie. Most likely Aunt Mattie wants to come up here too. She +always says there's a breeze up here almost as good as the sea.' + +'I wish Aunt Mattie's house was near the moor too,' said Miss Mouse. +'Where is it you go to school, Justin, and how do you mean you only pass +the Crags' house on fine days?' + +'Because when it's _awfully_ rainy or snowy, or anything out of the +common, we go in the pony-cart by the proper road, and when it's +middling we go half-way by the moor, turning into the road a good bit +before we come to Bob's. It's rather boggy land about there, and we get +all muddy and wet unless it's really dry weather. We don't go to school, +we go to Mr. Pierce's--at Whitcrow--two miles off--the _road_ to +Whitcrow crosses the road to Aunt Mattie's, farther on. You look out on +your way home, and you'll see a signpost with Whitcrow on one of the +spokes.' + +'I'll ask auntie to show it me,' said Miss Mouse. 'O auntie,' she +exclaimed, as the newcomers came within speaking distance, 'it _is_ so +nice up here looking over the moor.' + +Her little face had got quite rosy. Aunt Mattie was pleased to see it, +pleased too that Rosamond had evidently already begun to make friends +with Justin--girl-despiser though he was. + +'Yes, dear,' she said, 'I love the moor, and I am very glad you do. I +love it all the year round, though it's pretty cold up here in winter, +isn't it, boys?' + +Pat came forward a little. He wanted to please his aunt by being nicer +to Rosamond. + +'It's _awfully_ cold going to the vicarage some mornings,' he agreed, +'but there's some nice things in winter. Can you skate, Miss Mouse?' + +The little girl shook her head. + +'No, but I'd like very much to learn,' she replied. + +'Then I'll teach you,' said Pat, his face getting a little red, for it +was not certainly his way to put himself about to be amiable. And he had +to suffer for it. + +'How polite we are growing all of a sudden,' said Justin, with a laugh. +But he could not mock at Pat's offer, for skating was the one thing of +outdoor exercises in which the younger brother outshone the elder. + +Aunt Mattie was quick to scent any approach to a quarrel. + +'It must be getting near tea-time,' she said. 'Are you going to invite +us to your schoolroom tea, Justin?' + +'Oh yes, of course, if you like,' he answered, in a rather off-hand +tone, 'or we could bring you a cup into the drawing-room; mamma often +has it like that.' + +For it was rather before the days of regular drawing-room 'afternoon' +teas. + +'Thank you,' replied his aunt. 'I should much rather have it in the +schoolroom, and if Miss Ward isn't better, I can pour it out for you.' + +'She's sure to be better by tea-time,' said Hec. 'She always +is'--without much satisfaction in his voice. + +But this did not alter Aunt Mattie's choice. To tell the truth, she +thought it a good opportunity to see how things were going on in the +schoolroom in her sister's absence. + +Just then a bell sounded. + +'That is the tea-bell,' said Archie. 'Come along. The first in the +schoolroom to sit beside auntie.' + +Off they set, all except little Gervais, but they had not gone many +paces before Pat turned back again. + +'What's the matter?' said his aunt, and then she felt sorry that she had +said anything, when she saw it was an effort on the boy's part to behave +politely to the ladies of the party. + +'Oh,' he replied, rather gruffly, 'I think I had better carry Ger down +till we get to the paddock.' + +'No, you _san't_' said Ger ungratefully. 'Auntie, tell him he's not to,' +for Pat was preparing to pick him up willy-nilly, and a roar would no +doubt have been the consequence. + +[Illustration: 'I'LL TAKE ONE HAND AND PAT ONE, AND THEN WE'LL ALL RUN +DOWN TOGETHER.'] + +'I'll tell you what, Ger,' said Rosamond quickly, 'I'll take one hand +and Pat one, and then we'll all run down together, and wait for auntie +at the bottom.' + +To this arrangement Ger condescended, and Aunt Mattie, as she followed +the three more slowly, gave a little sigh of satisfaction. + +'It's all quite true that her mother said of her,' she thought to +herself. 'She's a dear little soul, full of tact and good feeling. I +wonder why our boys are so very tiresome?' + +For it was new to her to think of them as not _hers_ as much as their +parents'. + +'I wonder if it's just that they _are_ boys, or have we mismanaged them +somehow or other? I did so hope that my being with Harriet since I +grew up had been a real help to her, but it scarcely looks like it. +These boys are very troublesome.' + +Tea was ready when they all got back to the house--tea and the dispenser +of it, in the shape of Miss Ward, very meek and evidently rather sorry +for herself, though her face brightened as she caught sight of Aunt +Mattie and rose to greet her. + +'I am sorry you have got a headache, Miss Ward,' said the young lady, +'I'm afraid you are rather subject to them.' + +'N--no, I can't say that I am, or rather I never used to be, and I am +particularly sorry to have had one to-day when Mrs. Hervey was away. But +I daresay a cup of tea will put it all right--it often does,' replied +the governess. + +'Then why didn't you ask for one early in the day; I'm sure you could +get it at any time,' said Aunt Mattie a little coldly. She was feeling +rather irritated with Miss Ward for seeming so doleful, for she had come +to them with the recommendation of being specially clever in managing +boys. She was no longer very young, but active and capable, at least so +she had appeared at first. She grew a little red as she replied, + +'Oh! I don't want to give in to these headaches or to make any fuss +about them.' + +'Poor Mith Ward,' said little Ger, 'all-bodies would have headaches if +naughty Jus throwed books at them!' + +'Ger, Ger,' exclaimed Miss Ward; while up started Justin in a fury. + +'I throw books at Miss Ward; what do you mean, you sneaking little +tell-tale?' he exclaimed. 'No, you're worse than that, you are a +right-down story-teller.' + +'He's not,' said Hec. 'You've done it _twicet_, Jus, you know you have.' + +Justin was on the point of rushing off from his place to seize Hec, when +Aunt Mattie turned to him. + +'Be quiet, Justin,' she said, 'and behave like a gentleman. If not, you +must leave the room.' + +The old habit of obedience to his young aunt told, and Justin sat down +again, though not without mutterings to himself. + +'I don't want to spoil our tea-time,' said Aunt Mattie quietly, turning +to Miss Ward,' but I think it would be best for you to explain what the +little boys mean, and--what _you_ mean, Justin.' + +'I didn't mean to hurt Miss Ward,' said Justin, 'and it was settled +that nothing more was to be said about it.' + +'I don't think Hec and Ger were in the room when we settled that,' said +Miss Ward, smiling a little. 'The facts are these, Mrs. Caryll. Justin +meant to play a trick on Pat, some days ago--what they call a +"book-trap"--some volumes balanced on the top of a door--you have heard +of it, I daresay?--so that they fall on the head of the first person who +goes into the room. Unluckily for me, I was that person, as I had to go +into Pat's room unexpectedly. I did get a bad blow, but Justin was very +sorry and promised never to do it again.' + +'But you say that was some days ago,' said Aunt Mattie. + +'Well, yes,' the governess allowed. 'This morning it was quite a +different thing. Pat was not ready to go out when Justin wanted him, or +something of that kind, and Justin threw a book _at_ his door, to make +him hurry, I suppose, and again it hit _me_, as I was crossing the +passage. And--and--somehow a very little thing seems to make my head +ache lately.' + +In her heart Aunt Mattie did not feel surprised. + +'If what I have seen to-day goes on from morning till night, I am sure I +don't wonder,' she thought to herself, as she turned again to Justin. +But he stopped her before she had time to speak. + +'Auntie,' he said, looking, and it is to be hoped, still more _feeling_, +very much ashamed of himself--'auntie, I _was_ very sorry the books hit +Miss Ward, especially this morning. But I didn't in the least mean it +for her----' + +'I should hope not, indeed,' interrupted Mrs. Caryll. + +'And,' continued Justin, 'Miss Ward knows I didn't, and we had made it +all up and nothing more would have been heard about it but for that +little sneak, Hec.' + +'You meant to have told your father and mother about it when they came +home, surely?' said his aunt. + +Justin reddened again, and muttered something about getting into scrapes +enough without needing to _put_ himself into them; remarks which Mrs. +Caryll thought it wiser not to hear. + +'Please don't say anything more about it,' said Miss Ward, speaking more +decidedly than she had yet done. 'It is not often we have the pleasure +of visitors at tea, and my head is really much better now. I am _sure_ +nothing of the kind will happen again, and--and--little Miss----' + +'Mouth,' said Gervais quite gravely. + +'Mouth?' repeated Miss Ward, looking very puzzled. + +'No,' Hec corrected, '_Mouse_.' + +'Miss Mouse,' she went on, 'will think us a party of----' + +'Wild cats,' interrupted Archie. + +And at this everybody burst out laughing, Miss Ward included, for she +_was_ very good-natured--and on the whole perhaps the laughing was the +best thing that could have happened. Then Aunt Mattie had to explain +that her little niece's name was not really 'Miss Mouse,' but +Rosamond--Rosamond Caryll, as her father was Uncle Ted's brother--though +the boys all joined, for once, in saying that _they_ were always going +to call her Miss Mouse, 'it suited her so well,' in which their +governess agreed. + +And tea went on peacefully and pleasantly on the whole, though Miss +Mouse's eyes grew very round with surprise more than once at the pushes +and thumps that passed between the boys, and the growls and snaps and +mutterings, even though the five were decidedly on their best behaviour. +Aunt Mattie did her utmost quietly to keep things smooth, and so did +Miss Ward. But Aunt Mattie was feeling sorry and disappointed, though +she tried not to show it. + +'I think Pat might do so much to make things better,' she thought to +herself. 'He is cleverer than Justin, who is just a great, rough, clumsy +schoolboy, not bad at heart, but awfully careless and thoughtless. Pat +is not thoughtless, but he keeps himself far too apart from his +brothers; if he would try to interest himself in their pleasures a +little, he might get to have far more influence. I must speak to him +again.' + +And so she did. There was an opportunity for a little more talk when tea +was over and before the pony-carriage came round. Pat was quick at +noticing things, and he saw that his aunt's sweet face was less cheerful +than usual. + +'You're not vexed with me now, auntie,' he said, half wistfully. 'I know +it was rather disgusting, that row at tea-time. Miss Mouse won't want to +come much to see us.' + +'I hope she will,' said Mrs. Caryll. 'Of course I was ashamed for her to +hear of those quarrels between you and Justin, Pat. How is it you can't +get on better with him? Archie does.' + +'Archie's better tempered than me, I suppose,' said Pat, 'and then he +daren't check Jus; he's a good bit younger, you see. And then they care +for the same sort of things'---- + +'Ah yes, there's a good deal in that,' she said. 'If you could manage to +show some interest in Justin's games and animals and all these things, +instead of reading quite so much, you might win him by sympathy and +really make home life happier.' + +'It hasn't been very happy, lately, I know. And it worries mamma,' said +Pat gruffly. 'Aunt Mattie, I'll try. But I wish you were here again.' + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +WANTED--A SISTER + + +Aunt Mattie seemed rather absent-minded during the drive back--quite +different from what she had been on their way to Moor Edge, which was +the name of the boys' home. _Then_ she had talked brightly and +cheerfully, pointing out the places they passed--here a wood famed for +the earliest primroses, there a cottage burnt down so long ago that no +one could remember how it happened, though the dreary, blackened remains +still stood, and amusing Rosamond as well with stories of 'the boys' and +all their doings. + +But the little girl was not sorry that now it was different. She was +feeling tired and very puzzled. In one way the afternoon's visit had +brought her a good deal of disappointment--her new friends were not at +all what she had pictured them--at least--and then her mind went on to +what it was that had disappointed and almost shocked her. She was too +sensible a little woman to mind their being noisy and even rather rough. +But--'it wasn't a nice kind of noisiness,' she thought, 'they all seemed +against each other, as if they were going to begin quarrelling every +minute, even though they didn't quite. I'm very glad I live with Uncle +Ted and Aunt Mattie. I'd rather have no one to play with than be always +afraid of quarrelling.' + +Suddenly Mrs. Caryll glanced at her little companion, and it struck her +that Rosamond's face was pale and that she was very silent. + +'My dear,' she said, 'I don't mind the boys calling you Miss Mouse--it +is a nice, funny little name--but I don't want you to grow _quite_ into +a mouse. I have not heard the faintest, tiniest squeak from you since we +left Moor Edge.' + +Rosamond smiled a little, but it was not a very bright smile. + +'I-- I thought you were thinking, auntie,' she said, 'and p'raps you +were tired.' + +'Just a scrap tired, I daresay,' said Aunt Mattie, 'and--yes I _was_ +thinking, but I shouldn't have forgotten you, my pet. Are _you_ not +tired?' + +'I don't know, auntie,' the little girl replied. 'My head feels rather +buzzy, I think. It gets like that sometimes when I've been in the +railway and coming to see places and--and-- I never played with such a +lot of boys before, you see, auntie. I'm not becustomed to them yet,' +and she could not keep back a tiny sigh. + +It was repeated, though not to be heard, in Aunt Mattie's heart. + +'I am dreadfully afraid I have made a great mistake,' thought the young +lady to herself, 'in believing she could get on with them and be happy +there. She is too delicate and fragile for them. I must arrange +something different and not attempt her going there for lessons.' + +But just as she was saying this to herself with a good deal of +disappointment, Rosamond called out eagerly, with quite a different tone +in her voice. + +'Auntie, auntie,' she said, 'is that the signpost with "Whitcrow" on one +of the spokes? Justin told me to look out for it. They pass by here when +they go to their lessons on rainy days. I mean they turn off here +instead of going on to your house. Yes'--as her aunt drew in the pony +and passed the signpost at a walk, to let the little girl have a good +look at it, and at the road beyond--'yes, that's it, "To W, h, i, t,-- +Whitcrow," quite plain. I wonder if Whitcrow once was White Crow, +auntie? Do you think so? I'd like to see the house they go to school +at--at least to lessons to. Can we drive that way some day?' + +She was in a little flutter of interest and excitement. Mrs. Caryll +looked at her with a smile. + +'What funny creatures children are,' she thought to herself. 'A moment +ago Rosamond was quite melancholy and depressed, as if the boys had +really overwhelmed her, and now she is as bright as anything about them +again.' + +'Certainly, dear,' she said, her own spirits rising, 'I can show you Mr. +Pierce's vicarage any day. What were you asking about Whitcrow? I don't +think it ever struck me before that it may have come from White Crow. +But a _white crow_, Rosamond, that would be a funny thing!' + +'Yes,' said the little girl, laughing, 'when we always say "as black as +a crow." But-- I think I _have_ heard of a white crow--or was it perhaps +in a fairy story? I can't think.' + +'We must ask Uncle Ted,' said her aunt. 'He knows all about curious +things like that--all about wild birds and country things. But why do +you say when they go to their lessons on rainy days? They go every +day.' + +'Oh yes, of course,' Rosamond replied. 'But it's only on rainy days they +go by the road,' and she explained to her aunt the different plans that +Justin had explained to her. + +'That is new since my time,' said Mrs. Caryll. 'They used to drive to +Whitcrow every morning and walk back if it was fine--and on rainy days +the pony-cart was put up at the rectory. On fine days the stable boy +went with them and brought it back. I used very often to go to meet them +in the afternoons across the moor.' + +'Oh then,' said Rosamond eagerly, 'you know the cottage where Bob Crag +lives and the queer old woman. I do so want to see her. Will you take me +there some day?' + +Her aunt hesitated. + +'What have they been telling you about Bob and his grandmother?' she +asked. + +'Oh, only just about how queer they are, and that people aren't very +kind to them, because they don't know where they come from and things +like that, and I was wondering-- I couldn't help wondering'--the little +girl went on in a somewhat awe-struck tone of voice--'if perhaps the +old woman is a sort of a witch. I've never seen a witch, but I've read +about them in fairy stories.' + +'And is that why you so much want to go to see old Mrs. Crag,' said her +aunt, half laughing. + +'I don't quite know,' said Rosamond. 'Yes, I think it is partly. It's a +little frightening to think of, but frightening things are rather nice +too sometimes--in a sort of fancying way, I mean. For there aren't +really any witches now, are there, auntie?' + +She was not quite sure of this all the same, for as she spoke, she crept +a little closer to Mrs. Caryll. It was beginning to get dusk, and the +part of the road along which they were then passing ran through a wood; +at all times it was rather gloomy just here. + +'Real witches,' repeated her aunt; 'of course not, though I daresay Pat +could tell you stories by the dozen about them, and no doubt Bob's +grandmother is a curious old body. Long ago I daresay she would have +been called a witch. I don't think she is _quite_ right in her head, and +Bob is a wild, gipsy-like creature. I don't think their father and +mother care for the boys to see much of him, though both he and his +grandmother are devoted to them. Some day----' but before Mrs. Caryll +had time to say more, the sound of some one whistling in a peculiar +way, two or three notes almost like a bird call, made her stop short. + +'Why, that must be your uncle,' she exclaimed, 'coming to meet us,' and +she whipped up the pony to make him go faster. + +They were not far from home by this time, and when Uncle Ted, for he it +was, got into the pony-cart beside them, there was no more talk between +Aunt Mattie and her little niece. + +'How are they all getting on at Moor Edge?' was the first thing he +asked. + +'Oh--all right--at least well enough,' Mrs. Caryll replied, 'though I'm +not sorry that their father and mother are coming back to-morrow,' and +by something in her tone Uncle Ted understood that she was not quite +happy about her five nephews, but that she did not want to say any more +at present. + +So he went on talking about other things--he had been away all +day--which did not interest Rosamond, and the little girl fell back into +her own thoughts, companions she was well accustomed to. + +Aunt Mattie's house was quite a contrast to Moor Edge. It stood in the +midst of a small but pretty park. Everything about it was peaceful and +sheltered and charming. The flower gardens were the pride of the +neighbourhood. There was a great variety of rare shrubs and plants, +which could not have stood the keen blasts that blew over Moor Edge, +perched up as it was on high ground. The trees grew luxuriantly at +Caryll Place, and there was a little lake famed for the great variety of +water-birds who found their home on its borders. This lake, I believe, +was the one thing which made the Hervey boys envious. For everything +else they much preferred their own home, which they described as 'ever +so much jollier,' with the moor close at hand, and the fresh breezes +that blew across it at almost all times of the year. + +But in Rosamond's eyes, though she had felt the charm of the moorland +also, her aunt's home seemed perfection. All about it was in such +perfect order, and Rosamond dearly loved order. The Moor Edge schoolroom +had been a real trial to her, and as she ran upstairs to her own dainty +little bedroom, she gave a great sigh of content. + +'I am glad,' she thought to herself, 'to live here, instead of with all +those boys. Though I _like_ them very much. At least I _would_ like them +if they were just a little quieter, and not quite so squabbly. I wonder +if I had had brothers if they'd have been like that? Perhaps I'm a +little spoilt with being an only child, and I'm afraid I don't want to +have brothers or sisters. All I do want is my own mamma, and that's just +what I can't have. O mamma, mamma, if only you hadn't had to go away and +leave me;' and the tears began to creep up again, as they had got sadly +into the way of doing during the last few weeks, into her pretty grey +eyes. + +But she bravely brushed them away again, for she knew that nothing would +have distressed her dear mother more than for her to give way to +unhappiness about a trouble which could not be helped. And after all she +had a great deal to be glad about. Many children, as her mother had +often told her, whose parents were in India, had no home in England but +school, or perhaps with relations who cared little about them, and took +small trouble to make their lives happy. How different from Caryll, and +dear Uncle Ted and Aunt Mattie, and as she reached this point in her +thoughts she heard her aunt's voice calling her, as she passed along the +passage on her way downstairs. + +Rosamond ran after her and slipped her hand through Mrs. Caryll's arm. + +'You don't feel cold after our drive, do you, darling?' said Aunt +Mattie. + +'No, not the least, thank you, auntie,' the little girl replied, and +something in her voice told Mrs. Caryll that Rosamond had cheered up +again. + +'Uncle Ted says he would like a cup of tea after his journey,' her aunt +went on, 'and I have a letter I want to send this evening, so you must +pour it out for him while I write.' + +Rosamond was only too pleased to do so; they found her uncle waiting in +the drawing-room, where some tea had just been brought in. It was a +pretty sight, so at least thought Uncle Ted, to watch the little girl's +neat and careful ways, as she handled the tea-things with her tiny +fingers, looking as important as if it were a very serious affair +indeed. + +'I suppose you've often made tea for your father and mother; you seem +quite at home about it,' said her uncle, as she brought him his cup. + +'Yes,' Rosamond replied, 'I used to have breakfast alone with papa +sometimes when mamma was tired and didn't get up early. What pretty cups +these are, Uncle Ted! I do love pretty things, and you and Aunt Mattie +have so many.' + +These cups are very old,' said Mr. Caryll, 'they belonged to our--your +father's and my great grandmother--your great, great grandmother that +would be, so they are rather precious.' + +Rosamond looked at the cups with still greater admiration. + +'I'll be _very_ careful of them,' she said; then, after a pause--'the +cups at Moor Edge were _so_ thick. I never saw such thick cups.' + +There came a little laugh from Aunt Mattie in her corner at the +writing-table. + +'Things need to be pretty strong at Moor Edge,' she said. + +'Yes,' said Uncle Ted, 'the young men there do a good deal of knocking +about, I fancy. How did you get on with them, my little Rose? You are +not accustomed to racketty boys. I hope they didn't startle you?' + +Rosamond's quiet little face grew rather pink. + +'N--no,' she said slowly, 'I like them very much, Uncle Ted--and-- I +don't mind them being noisy, but'--here she broke off--'they didn't +think _me_ noisy,' she went on with a twinkle of fun in her eyes. 'They +made a new name for me; they call me "Miss Mouse."' + +'A very good name too,' said her uncle. 'I didn't think they had so +much imagination, except perhaps Pat, who's got rather too much; he +seems always in a dream. Was it he who thought of the name?' + +'Oh no,' Rosamond replied, 'it was the littlest one, Ger they call him. +He's a dear, fat little boy. I don't _think_----' and again she +hesitated. + +'Don't be afraid of speaking out about them,' said Uncle Ted. 'I saw you +had something more in your little head when you stopped short before.' + +Rosamond grew redder. + +'I don't want to seem unkind,' she said, 'but are boys always like that, +Uncle Ted? I don't mean noisy, but so _fighting_. The big ones teach it +to the little ones. I was going to say that I'm sure Ger would be very +good-tempered if they didn't tease him so. They all seemed to be teasing +each other the whole time.' + +'It's boy nature, I'm afraid, to some extent,' said Uncle Ted, +'especially where there are only boys together. It's a pity they haven't +a sister or two to soften them down a bit.' + +Miss Mouse's eyes grew bright. + +'I don't mind their not having a sister,' she said, 'if they'd let me be +like one. Do you think they would, uncle? They were all very nice to +_me_, though they squabbled with each other.' + +'They're not bad boys,' said Uncle Ted, 'in many ways. And boys must +fight among themselves more or less, though I think our English ideas +about this go rather too far. I can't stand anything like bullying, and +there's a little of it about Justin.' + +'I _think_ I like Archie best of the big ones,' said Rosamond. 'But I'm +not frightened of any of them, though I was a little at first.' + +Uncle Ted looked pleased at this. + +'That's right, my little girl,' he said kindly. 'It never does any good +to be frightened. And you may be of a great deal of use to Aunt Mattie's +nephews while you're here. I can never forget how much _I_ owed to a +dear little girl cousin of ours when I was a small boy with a lot of +brothers like the Herveys--a very rough set we were too.' + +'How nice,' said Rosamond, looking very interested. 'Do I know her, +Uncle Ted?' + +He shook his head. + +'I don't think so,' he replied. 'She's never been in our part of the +world since she married. But, oddly enough, you rather remind me of her +sometimes, Miss Mouse.' + +And when Miss Mouse went to bed that night, her thoughts about Moor Edge +and the five boys there were all very bright and pleasant. It _would_ be +so nice if she could be 'of use to them all,' like that cousin of Uncle +Ted's long ago. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +Bob + + +When the boys had watched their aunt and Rosamond drive away, Justin +turned to Archie. + +'Come along,' he said, 'I want to go and ask Griffith about the ferrets. +I wonder if Tom Brick has brought them.' + +The two walked off together, but they had not gone far before they were +overtaken by Pat, who came running after them. + +'What do _you_ want?' said Justin, not too amiably. 'I didn't ask you to +come.' + +'You're not my----' began Pat, but checked himself. 'Why shouldn't I +come?' he went on in a pleasanter tone. 'I should like to see the +ferrets too.' + +'Yes,' put in Archie, 'why shouldn't he, Justin, if he wants to?' + +'I suppose you've finished your story,' said Justin gruffly, 'and then +when you've nothing better to do you condescend to give _us_ your +company. But I warn you, if you come with us, I won't have any sneaking +or tell-taleing about anything we do.' + +Pat opened his eyes--they were large dark eyes with a rather sad +expression, quite unlike any of his brothers'--with a look of great +surprise. + +'What on earth could there be for me to tell-tale about,' he said, 'in +just going to look at Tom Brick's ferrets? And what's more,' he added, +with some indignation in his voice, 'it'll be time enough for you to +speak to me like that when you do find me tell-taleing.' + +'Yes,' chimed in peace-loving Archie, who was struck by Pat's unusual +gentleness, 'I think so too, Jus. You're rather difficult to please, for +you're always going on at Pat for not joining in with us, and when he +does come you slang him for that.' + +Apparently Justin found self-defence rather difficult in the present +case, for he only muttered something to the effect that Pat might come +if he chose--it was all one to him. + +But Pat already felt rewarded for what he had tried to do by Archie's +taking his part. For though Archie was a most thoroughly good-natured +boy, he had come to be so entirely under Justin's influence that his +acting upon his own feelings could scarcely be counted upon. And he +himself was a little puzzled by what Justin had said. There could not be +anything to sneak or tale-tell about if old Griffith had to do with it-- +Griffith had been with their father long before they were born, and Mr. +Hervey trusted him completely. + +Justin led the way to the stable-yard, which was at some little distance +from the house. There was no one to be seen there, though the boys +called and whistled. + +'Griffith may be in the paddock,' said Archie, 'looking after mamma's +pony,' for Mrs. Hervey's pony had not been driven lately, having got +slightly lame. + +The paddock was some way farther off, but as the boys ran along the +little lane leading to it, they heard voices in its direction which +showed that Archie's guess was correct, and soon they saw a little group +of men and boys, old Griffith in the middle of them. + +Justin ran up to them eagerly. + +'I say,' he began, in his usual rather masterful tone, 'has Tom----' and +then he stopped, for Tom Brick, a labourer on a neighbouring farm, was +there to answer for himself. 'Have you brought the ferrets?' the boy +went on, turning to him. 'I suppose it's too late to do anything with +them this afternoon?' + +Tom Brick touched his cap, looking rather sheepish. + +'I've not brought 'em, sir,' he replied; 'fact is, I've not got 'em to +bring. I just stepped over to tell Master Griffith here as I've sold +'em--for a good price too; so I hope you'll ex--cuse it. I didn't want +to keep 'em, as they're nasty things to have about a little place like +mine with the children and the fowls, and my missus as can't abide 'em.' + +'I certainly think you should have kept your promise to us before you +parted with them,' said Justin, in his lordly way. 'I think it's a great +shame. What's to be done now, Griffith?' he went on, to the coachman. +'The place will be overrun with rats.' + +But Griffith was just then absorbed by the pony, for the third man in +the group was the 'vet' from the nearest town, who had come over to +examine its leg again, and, before replying to Justin, he turned to the +stable-boy, bidding him fetch something or other from the house which +the horse-doctor had asked for. + +'Griffith!' repeated Justin impatiently, 'don't you hear what I say?' + +Griffith looked up, his face had a worried expression. + +'Is it about these ferrets?' he said. 'I can't be troubled about them +just now, Master Justin. It's this here pony needs attending to. We'll +get rid of the rats, no fear, somehow or other.' + +Justin was too proud to begin any discussion with the coachman before +the 'vet,' who was an important person in his way. So he walked off, +looking rather black, followed by his brothers, Pat, to tell the truth, +by no means sorry at the turn that things had taken. + +'Griffith is getting too cheeky by half,' said Justin at last, in a +sullen tone. + +'He's in a fuss about mamma's pony, I suppose,' said Archie. 'But it is +rather too bad of that Tom Brick, only----' + +'What?' said Justin. 'Why don't you finish what you've got to say?' + +'It's only that I don't know if papa and mamma care much about our +ferreting; at least mamma doesn't, I know,' said Archie. 'I've heard her +say it's cruel and ugly.' + +'All women think like that,' said Justin; 'my goodness, if you listen to +them you'd have a pretty dull time of it. I don't see anything cruel +about it when they're just muzzled, and as for killing the rats!--they +_have_ to be killed.' + +'All the same,' said Pat, 'it must be rather horrid to see.' + +'It's no horrider than heaps of other things that are awfully jolly +too,' said Justin. 'I suppose when you're a man you won't hunt, Pat, for +fear you should be in at the death.' + +'Hunting's different,' said Pat. 'There's all the jolliness of the +riding. And shooting's different. There's the cleverness of aiming well, +and papa says that when a bird's killed straight off, it's the easiest +death it could have.' + +'It's bad shots that make them suffer most,' said Archie. 'But I say, +Jus, where are you going to. It must be nearly six. Have you finished +your lessons?' + +'Mind your own business,' said Justin, 'I'm not going in just yet, to be +mewed up with Miss Ward in the schoolroom. I want a run across the moor +first.' + +To this neither of his brothers made any objection. There was one point +in common among all the Hervey boys, and that was love, enthusiastic +love, of their moor--its great stretch, its delicious, breezy air, the +thousand and one interests they found in it, from its ever-changing +colouring, its curious varieties of moss, and heather, and strange +little creeping plants, to be found nowhere else, to the dark, silent +pools on its borders, with their quaint frequenters; everything in and +about and above the moor--for where were such sunsets, or marvellous +cloud visions to be seen as here?--had a charm and fascination never +equalled to them in later life by other scenes, however striking and +beautiful. + +Pat felt all this the most deeply perhaps, but all the others too, even +careless Archie, and Justin, rough schoolboy though he was, loved the +moor as a sailor loves the sea. + +This evening the sunset had been very beautiful, and the colours were +still lingering about the horizon as the boys ran along one of the +little white paths towards the west. + +'It's a pity Miss Mouse can't see it just now,' said Archie suddenly. +'She's a jolly little girl. I liked her for liking the moor. The next +time she comes we can take her a good way across it, as far as Bob +Crag's; she'd like to see the queer cottage.' + +'I bet you she'd be frightened of old Nance,' said Justin, with some +contempt, 'she'd think her a witch; girls are always so fanciful.' + +'_You_ can't know much about girls,' said Pat. 'I'm sure Miss Mouse +isn't silly. If she did think Nance a witch she'd like her all the +better. You heard what she said about fairy stories.' + +'Fairy rubbish,' said Justin. 'I believe you were meant to be a girl +yourself, Pat.' + +Pat reddened, but, wonderful to say, did not lose his temper, and before +Justin had time to aggravate him still more, there came an interruption +in the shape of a boy who suddenly appeared a few paces off, as if he +had sprung up out of the earth. He had, in fact, been lying at full +length among the heather. + +'Master Justin!' he exclaimed. 'I heard you coming along and I've been +waiting for you. I were going home from Maxter's,' and he nodded his +head backwards, as if to point out the direction whence he had come. + +'Well,' said Justin, 'and what about it?' + +'I axed about them there ferrets as I was telling you about t'other +day,' said the boy. + +Justin threw a doubtful glance over his shoulder at his brothers. Bob, +for Bob Crag it was, caught it at once. + +'It was just when we was talking about what they cost,' he said +carelessly, 'I thought maybe you'd like to know.' + +'Tom Brick has sold his, did you know that?' said Pat, by way of showing +interest in the subject. + +'He's been talkin' about it for a long time,' said Bob. 'But _his_ +weren't up to much. Those I've been told about are--why, just +tip-toppers!' and out of his black eyes flashed a quick dart to Justin. + +He was a striking-looking boy, with the unmistakable signs of gipsyhood +about him, sunburnt and freckled, as if his whole life had been spent +out of doors, which indeed it mostly had. His features were good, his +eyes especially fine, though with an expression which at times +approached cunning. His teeth, white as ivory, gleamed out when he +smiled, and in his smile there was something very charming. It was +curiously sweet for such a rough boy, and with a touch of sadness about +it, as is often to be seen in those of his strange race. He was strong +and active and graceful, like a beautiful wild creature of the woods. +Nevertheless it was not to be wondered at, that, in spite of his +devotion to the boys, to Justin especially, Mr. Hervey had often warned +his sons against making too much of a companion of old Nance's grandson, +for hitherto no one had succeeded in taming him--clergyman, +schoolmaster, kind-hearted ladies of the country-side had all tried +their hands at it and failed. Bob was now thirteen, and did not even +know his letters! Yet in his own line he was extremely clever, too +clever by half in the opinion of many of his neighbours, though not +improbably it was a case of giving a dog a much worse name than he +deserved. Never was a piece of mischief discovered, which a boy could +have been the author of--from bird's nesting to orchard robbing--without +gipsy Bob, as he was called, getting the credit of it. And this sort of +thing was very bad for him. He knew he was not trusted and that he was +looked upon askance, and he gradually came to think that he might as +well act up to the character he by no means altogether deserved, and his +love of mischief, innocent enough as long as it was greatly mingled with +fun, came to have a touch of spite in it, which had not been in Bob's +nature to begin with. + +There were two things that saved him from growing worse. One was his +intense, though half-unconscious, love of nature and all living things, +with which he seemed to have a kind of sympathy, and to feel a +tenderness for, such as are not often to be found in a boy like him. The +second was his grateful devotion to the Hervey family, which his strange +old grandmother, or great-grandmother, maybe, had done her utmost to +foster. + +'Where are they to be seen?' said Justin, in a would-be off-hand tone. +'It would do no harm to have a look at them.' + +'In course not,' said Bob eagerly. 'It's a good bit off--the place where +they are--but I know what I could do-- I could fetch 'em up to our place +to-morrow or next day, and you could see them there.' + +Justin glanced at his brothers, at Pat especially, but, rather to his +surprise, Pat's face expressed no disapproval, but, on the contrary, a +good deal of interest. It was from Archie that the objection came. + +'I don't see the good of Bob getting them, as we can't buy them,' he +said. + +'How do you know we can't buy them?' asked Justin sharply. + +'They cost a lot,' Archie replied, 'and, besides, I'm sure papa and +mamma wouldn't like us to have them. Mamma can't bear them, as you +know.' + +'She need never see them,' said Justin, whose spirit of contradiction +was aroused by Archie's unusual opposition, 'and as for what they +cost--how much _do_ they cost, Bob?' + +'I couldn't say just exactly,' said Bob, 'but I can easy find out, and +I'd do my best to make a good bargain for you. Five to ten shillin' a +couple, any price between those they might be,' he went on, 'and if you +really fancied them--why, I daresay granny'd let me keep them for you, +and when there come a holiday I could fetch 'em to wherever you like.' + +'There's the old out-houses that papa thought of pulling down,' said +Justin. 'They're a nest of rats, I know, and we might be there a whole +afternoon without any one finding out, or we might use them for +rabbiting sometimes.' + +Bob's face grew rather serious. + +'That's not as good fun,' he said quickly. To tell the truth he had a +very soft corner in his heart for the poor little bunnies, with their +turned-up, tufty white tails, scampering about in their innocent +happiness. 'Rats is best, and a good riddance.' + +'Five to ten shillings a couple,' repeated Justin. 'I have only got +two, if that. What are you good for, Archie?' + +'Precious little,' the younger boy replied. 'And I don't know that I +care about----' + +'You are a muff,' said Justin crossly, 'a muff and a turncoat. You were +hotter upon ferreting than I was.' + +'I'd be hot upon it still,' said Archie, 'if we could do it properly, +with Griffith at home. But I don't think it worth spending all our money +upon when very likely we wouldn't be allowed to keep them.' + +'We could keep them at Bob's place,' said Justin. 'But as we haven't got +the money there's no more to be said, I suppose.' + +'_I've_ got some money,' said Pat. 'Why don't you ask me to join, +Justin?' + +'_You!_' said Justin, in a tone of mingled contempt and surprise. 'When +do you ever spend money on sensible things?-- Would they want to be paid +the whole at once, do you think, Bob?' he went on, turning to him. + +'I shouldn't think so,' the boy replied, 'anyway I could see about +that.' + +'How much have you got, Pat?' Justin now condescended to ask. Pat +considered. + +'Three shillings, or about that,' he answered. + +'Three and two, and something to make up another shilling with +Archie's,' said Justin. 'Well we shouldn't be far short. I think you may +as well fetch them, Bob, and let us know. You can look out for us on our +way home to-morrow afternoon.' + +They had not been standing still all this time. The ground was a little +clearer where they had met, and they had been able to stroll on abreast, +though scarcely noticing they were moving. And now they were but a short +way from Bob's home. + +He was always eager to show such hospitality as was in his power to 'his +young gentlemen,' as he called them, and he knew that few things pleased +his granny more than to have a word with them. + +'I'll show you the corner where I could put up a box for the ferrets, if +you'll step our way,' he said, and in a minute or two the four boys had +reached the cottage, if cottage such a queer erection could be called. + +Justin and his brothers knew it well by sight, but they had very seldom +gone inside, and, to Pat especially, there was a good deal of +fascination about the Crags' dwelling-place. He was not sorry, as they +came near to it, to see old Nance herself standing in the doorway, a +smile of welcome lighting up her brown wrinkled face, and showing off +her still strong even white teeth and bright black eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FERRETS AND FAIRIES + + +Old Nance's way of speaking, like everything else about her, was +peculiar to herself. Nobody could tell by it from what part of the +country she had come, all that they could say was, that her talk was +quite unlike that of her neighbours. Neighbours, in the common sense of +the word, the Crags had none, for their cottage was very isolated. Moor +Edge was the only house within a couple of miles, and except for the +Herveys themselves, its nearness would have been no good to the old +woman, for the servants were all full of prejudice against her and her +grandson. This she well knew, but she did not seem to mind it. + +'Good-day, Master Justin,' she said, as the boys came within speaking +distance. 'I _am_ pleased to see you. You won't be on your way to school +just now, so you'll spare the old woman a few minutes, won't you? and +give her some news of your dear papa and mamma, bless them, and Miss +Mattie that was, and the little young lady that's biding with her, and +is going to have her lessons with the little young gentlemen at the +house.' + +The three Hervey boys stared. + +'Who told you so, Nance?' said Archie, the readiest with his tongue. +'There is a little girl at Aunt Mattie's, but we never saw her till this +afternoon, and nobody has said anything about her having lessons at our +house.' + +'How do you hear things?' added Pat, looking the old woman straight in +the face, for he had had, before this, experience of old Nance's +extraordinary power of picking up news. 'Is she really a witch?' he +added to himself, though he would not have dared to say it aloud. + +Nance smiled, but did not reply. + +'Won't you step in?' she said, pushing the door of the cottage wider +open. 'I've just tidied up, and I was fetching in a handful of bracken. +It flames up so brightly.' + +It was chilly outside, and Nance's fire was very inviting. Pat stepped +forward to it, and stood warming his hands over the blaze. + +'And so your papa and mamma are away?' continued the old woman. 'You'll +be missing them, though it's not for long.' + +'There you are again!' said Pat. 'You know more about us than we do +ourselves. _We_ have not heard for certain when they're coming back.' + +'_I_ don't mind if they stay away a little longer,' said Justin. 'It's +rather fine being alone for a bit. If only we had holidays just now, and +Miss Ward was away too, it would be very jolly.' + +Nance patted his shoulder with her thin brown hand. + +'Book learning's all very well,' she said. 'Young gentlemen like you +must have it. But it do seem against nature for young things to be +cooped up the best part of the day. There's my Bob now, there's no +getting him to stay indoors an hour at a time, be the weather what it +will,' and she glanced at her grandson with a certain pride. + +Bob laughed, and in the dancing firelight his teeth glistened like +pearls. + +'I think we mustn't stay longer,' said Archie suddenly. He meant what he +said, but, besides this, somehow or other, he always felt a little +afraid of Nance, and this evening the feeling was stronger than usual. +The growing darkness outside, the peculiar radiance of the fire, for the +flames were dancing up the chimney like live things, and, above all, the +old woman's strange knowledge of matters which it was difficult to +account for her having heard, all added to this creepy feeling. And +added to this, Archie had a tender conscience, and he knew that though +they had never been actually forbidden to speak to the Crags, their +father and mother did not care about their doing so, more than was +called for in a kindly, neighbourly way. + +Justin and Patrick had consciences too, though Justin was very clever at +'answering his back,' and trying to silence its remarks, while Pat was +so often in a kind of dreamland of his own fancy, that he slipped into +many things without quite realising what he was about. Just now he was +enjoying himself very much. He loved the queerness and fascination of +old Nance and her belongings. It was like living in a fairy-story to +him, and he felt rather cross at Archie for interrupting it, though he +said nothing. + +'I'm not going,' said Justin, 'till I've seen the corner where Bob means +to keep our ferrets if we get them.' + +'To be sure,' said Bob eagerly. 'I'll show you where in a minute if +you'll come with me, Master Justin.' + +And the two went out together. Archie got up to follow them, but stopped +short in the doorway, for, in spite of his fears, he was really more +interested in Nance than in the ferrets. Her first remark surprised him +again exceedingly. + +'And you'll bring the little young lady to see me some day soon, Master +Pat, won't you?' she said. 'She'd like to come, I know, for she's heard +tell of me, and she loves the moor.' + +'Nance,' said Pat gravely, 'I do believe you heard us talking on the +mound this afternoon, when Miss Mouse was with us, and that's how you +know all these things.' + +Nance only laughed. + +'Think what you're saying, Master Pat,' she replied. 'Could I have been +near you and you not see me? Unless I had the hiding-cap that the +fairies left behind them on the moor many a year ago, but that nobody's +found yet, though many have looked for it.' + +'Then how do you know they left it,' said Pat quickly. + +''Tis just an old tale,' she said carelessly. 'These days are past and +gone--worse luck. It was fine times when the good people came +about--fine times for those they took a fancy to, at least. Why, there +was my own great-grandmother had many a tale to tell, when I was a +child, of what they did for her and hers to help them through troubles +and bring them good luck.' + +'Your great-grandmother,' repeated Pat, 'why what an awfully long time +ago that must have been! For I suppose you are very old yourself, Nance, +aren't you?' + +She did not seem at all offended at this remark. On the contrary she +nodded her head as if rather pleased, as she replied, + +'You're in the right there, Master Pat,' she said. 'I've lived a good +while; longer than you'd think for, perhaps, and I've seen strange +things in my time. And my great-grandmother was a very old woman when I +remember her. And yet it was seldom, even in those days, that the good +people showed themselves.' + +'Do they _never_ come now?' inquired Archie, from the doorway. 'Not even +in wild, lonely places like this,' for he was gazing out upon the moor, +and the fast-falling darkness added to the mysterious loneliness of the +far-stretching prospect before him. + +His words gave Pat a new idea. + +'Your stories can't have to do with this moor, Nance,' he said. 'You +didn't live here when you were young, I know.' + +Nance shook her head. + +'Deed no,' she replied. 'Many a long mile away from here. The place I +first remember _was_ lonesome, if you like. There's not many such places +to be found now, and they're getting fewer and fewer. No wonder the good +people are frightened away with the railways coming all over the +country. Why, the stage-coaches were bad enough, and some folks say +there'll be no more of them,' and again Nance shook her head. + +'Was your old home a moor too?' asked Pat. 'Was that why you came to +live here?' + +'You've guessed true,' replied the old woman. 'The moorland air is +native air to me, though this is a small place compared to where I was +born. It'll last my time, however, and yours too for that matter. +There'll be no railroads across it till the world's a good many years +older.' + +'How do you know that?' asked Pat, with increasing curiosity. 'Do you +know things that are going to happen as well as things that have +happened? I wish you'd tell me how you find them out!' + +'That I can't do,' was the reply. 'There's some as has the gift, though +how it comes they can't tell. It's like music, there's some as it speaks +to more than any words, and others to whom one note of it is like +another. And who can say why!' She ended, drawing a deep breath. + +This talk was growing rather beyond Archie. He strolled into the little +kitchen again towards his brother, who was still seated by the fire, +where Nance had by this time settled herself opposite him. The flames +were still dancing gaily up the chimney. It almost seemed to Pat as if +they leaped and frolicked with increased life as the old woman held out +her hands to their pleasant warmth. But then of course Pat was very +fanciful. + +'Tell us a story of the fairies and your great-grandmother,' said +Archie. 'What was it they did to help her?' + +'There's not time for it now,' Nance replied. 'There's Master Justin and +Bob at the door,' and, sure enough, as Archie looked round the two +other boys made their appearance, though not the slightest sound of +their footsteps had been heard. + +Certainly, old as she was, Nance's hearing seemed as quick as that of +the fairy Five-Ears. + +'I don't want to keep you longer,' she went on, 'or your folk wouldn't +be best pleased with me. You must come another day, and bring the little +young lady, and old Nance will have some pretty stories ready for you.' + +So the three boys bade her good evening and set off homewards, Bob +accompanying them a part of the way, talking eagerly to Justin about the +ferret scheme they were so full of. + +Pat was very silent. + +'What are you thinking about?' said Justin, when Bob had left them. 'You +seem half asleep, both you and Archie.' + +'I was thinking about old Nance,' said Pat; 'she's awfully queer.' + +'Yes,' Archie agreed. 'I like her and I don't like her. At least I felt +to-night as if I were a little afraid of her.' + +'Rubbish,' said Justin. 'That's Pat putting nonsense in your head. If +you're going to stuff him with all your fancies, Pat, I'd rather you +didn't come with us.' + +Archie turned upon him. + +'That's not fair of you, Jus,' he said indignantly. '_I_ think Pat's +been very good-natured this evening. And if I were he I wouldn't give +you any money for those ferrets if you spoke like that.' + +This reminder was not lost upon Justin. + +'Pat's all right,' he said. 'He wants the little beasts too, don't you, +Pat?' turning to him. + +Pat murmured something, though not very clearly, to the effect that he +didn't mind, Jus was welcome to the money. Then another thought struck +Archie. + +'I say!' he exclaimed. 'I wonder if it's true about Miss Mouse coming to +have lessons with Miss Ward? That'd mean her being at our house every +day.' + +'_We_ shouldn't see much of her,' said Justin, 'we'd be at the vicarage. +So we needn't bother about it. It wouldn't interfere with us.' + +'Bother about it!' repeated Archie. 'I think it would be rather nice. I +like her. But we'd have to leave off racketing about so, I suppose. She +_did_ look frightened once or twice this afternoon.' + +'Perhaps it would be a good thing,' said Pat. 'I don't think we were +like what we are now, when Aunt Mattie was with us, and yet nobody could +say that she would like boys to be muffs.' + +'Speak for yourself,' said Justin. 'There's always been one muff among +us, and that's you!' + +It was too dark for Pat's face to be seen, and he controlled himself not +to reply. It was easier to do so as he was, to confess the truth, +feeling not a little pleased with himself for his good-nature to his +elder brother. + +'I'm sure Aunt Mattie would think I'd done my best this evening,' he +thought; 'Justin hasn't been a bit nicer and I've not answered him back +once, and I really will give him the money for the ferrets, though I'm +sure I never want to see the nasty little beasts. I don't mind them so +much if they're kept down at old Nance's, for then when Justin goes to +see them I can go too and make old Nance tell me some of her queer +stories.' + +For Pat was very much fascinated by the old woman and her talk--more +than he quite knew indeed. He put down the whole of his amiability to +Justin to his wish to follow his aunt's good advice. + +Justin was struck by Pat's forbearance. + +'What's coming over him?' he said to himself, 'I've never known him so +good-tempered before.' + +Archie noticed it too, as he had already done earlier in the afternoon, +and he was not afraid to say so. + +'You're really too bad, Jus,' he exclaimed. 'Pat's far too patient. If I +were he I wouldn't stand it.' + +This gave Pat great satisfaction, for though he seemed unsociable and +morose he was really very sensitive to other people's opinion of him, +and eager for approval. + +'Don't you meddle,' said Justin. 'Pat and I can manage our affairs +without you. We're both older than you, remember.' + +But before Archie had made up his mind what to reply, the threatening +quarrel was put a stop to by an unexpected diversion. They had by this +time left the moor and were making their way home by a little lane which +skirted their own fields, across which it was not always easy to make +one's way in the dark. A few yards ahead of them this lane ran into the +road, and just at this moment, to their surprise, they caught sight of a +carriage driving slowly away from Moor Edge. + +'What can that be?' said Justin. 'It's the fly from the station, I'm +almost sure. I know it by the heavy way it trundles along.' + +'I do believe,' said Archie joyfully, 'that it's papa and mamma come +back without warning!' + +His brothers did not seem equally pleased. + +'If it is,' said Justin, 'we'll get into a nice scrape for being out so +late. Run on, Archie, you're mamma's pet, and tell her we're just +behind.' + +Archie made no objection to this, he was not unused to being employed in +this way, and when a few minutes later the elder boys entered the house, +they found that their pioneer had done his work well. + +Their mother was crossing the hall on her way upstairs when she caught +sight of them coming in by a side door; Archie was beside her, laden +with bags and rugs. + +'My dear boys,' said Mrs. Hervey, 'you shouldn't be out so late. I was +just beginning to wonder what had become of you when Archie ran in.' + +'We never thought you'd come back to-night,' said Justin, as he kissed +her, 'or we'd have been in, or gone along the road to meet you.' + +'That's not the question,' said their father's voice from the other side +of the hall, where he was looking over some letters that had come for +him. 'I'm afraid it's a case of "when the cat's away,"' but by the tone +of his voice they knew he was not very vexed. 'So, Pat,' he went on, +'you were out too. I'm glad of that, it's better than being always +cooped up indoors. What have you all been after? Archie says you weren't +far off--were you with Griffith?' + +'Part of the time,' said Justin. 'The vet came over to look at mamma's +pony.' + +'Oh, by the bye, how is it?' asked Mr. Hervey quickly, but Justin could +not say. + +'I'll run out and ask Griffith now,' he volunteered, and off he ran. + +Pat followed his mother and Archie upstairs. He did not quite own it to +himself, but he had a strong feeling of not wishing his father to know +that they had been for some time at the Crags' cottage. + +On the landing upstairs, Mrs. Hervey and the boys were met by the two +nursery children. Hec kissed his mother in a rather off-hand way--there +was a good deal of Justin about Hec--but fat little Ger ran forward with +outstretched arms. + +'Mamma, mamma!' he cried. 'I am _so_ glad you've comed home. And Mith +Mouse has been here, did you know? Aunt Mattie brought her.' + +'My darling, what are you talking about?' said his mother. 'Pat-- +Archie, what does he mean?' + +'The little girl,' said Archie, 'Aunt Mattie's own little girl. Didn't +you know she was coming, mamma?' + +Mrs. Hervey's face cleared. + +'Do you mean little Rosamond Caryll?' she said. 'Oh yes, of course I +knew she was expected to stay with your Aunt Mattie. But I forgot she +was coming so soon. And so she has been to see you already? That is very +nice. She must be a dear little girl, I am sure.' + +'Hers _juth_ like a mouse,' said Ger, 'all tho thoft and juth the right +colour--greyey, you know!' + +His mother laughed. + +'You funny boy,' she said. 'When are you going to leave off lisping +altogether? You can say S's quite well if you like. Did she mind your +calling her "Miss Mouse"?' she went on, turning to the elder boys. + +'No, not a bit,' said Archie. 'I think she liked it.' + +'And so did Aunt Mattie,' added Pat. 'She said it suited her. Is it true +that she's coming here to have lessons, mamma?' + +'Who told you so?' asked his mother, with some surprise. 'There's +nothing settled about it.' + +Pat and Archie glanced at each other, but neither replied. Their mother, +however, did not notice their silence, for just then Miss Ward made her +appearance. She was all smiles and cheerfulness now, for Mr. and Mrs. +Hervey's return was the greatest possible relief to her. + +'I hope everything has been all right while we were away?' said the +boys' mother kindly. + +'Yes, thank you,' said Miss Ward, 'at least everything is quite right +now. I had just a little trouble, but it was really accidental, and Mrs. +Caryll's coming this afternoon was such a pleasure.' + +Mrs. Hervey saw that Miss Ward did not wish to say any more before the +children. Her face fell a little. + +'I am afraid,' she thought to herself, 'that Justin may have been +unmanageable, but I shall hear about it afterwards if there is anything +that must be told. Pat,' she went on to herself, 'looks wonderfully +bright and cheerful, more like what he used to be when Mattie was here. +I do hope it will turn out nicely about little Rosamond coming.' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +NANCE'S STORY + + +The next day Mrs. Hervey drove over to Caryll Place, where she had a +long talk with her sister, and made acquaintance with little Rosamond. + +'She is a sweet little girl,' she said, when she and Aunt Mattie were by +themselves. 'I do hope it will answer for her to come over to us, as we +had thought of. Even though she would be mostly with the little ones, +you could let her spend a day now and then with all the boys, I hope, +Mattie? It would be so good for them, and I _think_, I _hope_ they would +not be too rough for her. They must have been unusually unruly +yesterday.' + +Mrs. Caryll hesitated. She was anxious not to disappoint her sister, as +she looked up in her face with her gentle, pleading brown eyes--eyes so +like Archie's. Mrs. Hervey was several years older than Aunt Mattie, and +yet in some ways she seemed younger. There was something almost +child-like about her which made it difficult to believe that she was the +mother of the five sturdy boys. And to tell the truth, she often felt +overwhelmed by them. 'If only one of them had been a girl!' she used to +say to herself. 'She would have had such a softening influence upon the +others!' and she had hailed with delight the prospect of little Rosamond +making one of the Moor Edge party to some extent for a time. + +'You're not thinking of giving it up?' she went on anxiously. + +'No,' replied Aunt Mattie. 'I think now that Rosamond herself would be +very disappointed. Her uncle said something to her last night which I +see has made a great impression upon her. She really wants to be a +sister to them all, for the time. But I think it _will_ be necessary for +you--or his father rather--to speak very seriously to Justin. I am +afraid there is a touch of the bully about him which seems to have got +worse of late, and it is such a bad example for the younger ones.' + +'Of course it is,' Mrs. Hervey agreed. 'We have been speaking to him +this morning about his rudeness to Miss Ward while we were away. We +made her tell about it, poor thing--and on the whole I must say he took +it well. He didn't attempt any excuses. And Pat has been _very_ nice, +much brighter than usual. I can't help hoping that the thought of Miss +Mouse'--she smiled as she said the name-'is going to put them all on +their mettle.' + +'I shall be very glad indeed if it is so,' said Mrs. Caryll, and when +her sister went home again, she carried with her, to her houseful of +boys, the news that the little stranger was to join the schoolroom party +the next day but one, for to-day was Saturday. + +They were all more or less pleased. Justin the least so perhaps, unless +it were that he thought it rather beneath him to seem to care one way or +another about a thing of the kind, and he repeated that it would make no +difference to _him_, as Miss Mouse's companions were to be the two +little boys. + +'Oh, but she's going to be with us on half-holidays, very often,' said +Archie. + +'What a nuisance!' said Justin, but in his heart he was not ill-pleased. +There was a good deal of love of show-off about him, and a little girl, +especially a quiet, gentle child like Rosamond, seemed to him very well +suited to fill the place of admirer to his important self. + +'We must take her to see old Nance, the first chance we get,' said Pat. +'We almost promised we would, you remember?' + +'Do you think Aunt Mattie wouldn't mind,' said Archie doubtfully. + +'_Mind_,' repeated Pat, 'of course not. We've never been told we're not +to speak to the Crags. All papa said was that he didn't want us to have +Bob too much about the place. And I daresay that was partly because the +servants are nasty to him, and might get him into trouble somehow or +other. + +'Oh well yes,' said Archie, who was always inclined to see things in the +pleasantest light, 'I daresay it was for that, and Miss Mouse does want +very much to go to see their queer cottage.' + +And on Monday morning little Rosamond made her appearance for the second +time at Moor Edge. She had come over in her aunt's pony-cart, which was +to fetch her again in the afternoon, Mrs. Caryll intending very often to +drive over for this purpose herself. + +Things promised very well in the schoolroom. Miss Ward was a good +teacher, and Rosamond was a pleasant child to teach. Three days in the +week she was alone with the little ones, the three other days Archie +and she did several of their lessons together, for it was only on +alternate mornings that he went with his brothers to the vicarage for +Latin and Greek, which Miss Ward did not undertake. So a week or more +passed quietly and uneventfully. The two first half-holidays were not +spent by Rosamond at Moor Edge, as her aunt thought it better not to +throw the little girl too much with the elder boys till she had grown +more accustomed to being among so many, for a change of this kind is +often rather trying to an only child. + +But on the second Wednesday, when the little girl was starting in the +morning, she asked her aunt if she might spend that afternoon with 'the +boys,' and not come home till later. + +Mrs. Caryll was pleased at her expressing this wish. + +'Certainly, dear,' she said. 'I shall very likely drive over myself to +bring you back. I have not seen Aunt Flora,'--for so Rosamond had been +told to call Mrs. Hervey--'for some days. Have you made some plan for +this afternoon?' + +'Only to go for a walk with the big ones,' Miss Mouse replied. 'I +daresay we'll go on the moor, for I've hardly been there at all.' And +after the early dinner at Moor Edge the children set off for their +ramble, having informed Miss Ward that they had no intention of coming +home till tea-time. + +'Aunt Mattie's coming to fetch me herself,' said Rosamond, 'and now the +evenings are rather cold and get so soon dark, she is sure to come in a +close carriage, so mightn't we have tea a _little_ later, Miss Ward, so +as to be able to stay out as long as it's light?' + +She looked up coaxingly in Miss Ward's face. + +'I don't think it would do to change the hour,' the governess replied. +'But I won't mind if you're not in just to the minute.' + +Miss Ward's not often so good-natured as that,' said Justin. 'I suppose +she "favours" you because you're a girl, Miss Mouse.' + +'I think she's very kind to everybody,' said Rosamond. + +'I'm sure she's had nothing to complain of lately,' said Justin. 'We've +been as good as good. I'm getting rather tired of it.' + +They were close to the moor by this time. It was a mild day for the time +of year, and the sky was very clear. + +'We might go a good long walk,' said Archie. + +'Humph,' said Justin, 'I don't call that much fun. Anyway I mean to go +first to Bob Crag's. I don't know what he's doing about those ferrets. +He's had time enough to find out about them by now.' + +'What was there to find out?' asked Archie. 'He told us ever so long ago +that he could get them at Maxter's.' + +'Oh, but you didn't hear,' said Pat. 'It was one morning you weren't +with us. He ran after us to say that these ones were sold too. And he +had heard of some other place farther off. I don't believe we'll ever +get any.' + +'Is that the boy whose old grandmother lives in the queer hut on the +moor?' asked Rosamond eagerly. 'I remember the first time I came here +you said you'd take me to see it some day. Can't we go that way now?' + +'We _are_ going that way,' said Justin. 'You're sure you won't be +frightened of the old granny? For if you were, Aunt Mattie wouldn't let +you come with us again.' + +Rosamond opened her eyes very wide. + +'Frightened of her,' she repeated. 'Why should I be? Isn't she a kind +old woman?' + +'Yes,' said Pat, 'but she's very queer. If you don't like her, you need +never come back to see her again.' + +'And in that case you needn't say anything about it to Aunt Mattie,' +added Justin. + +'But _of course_ I won't be frightened,' said Rosamond, a little +indignantly. 'I've never been easily frightened. Even when I was only +two, mamma said I laughed at the niggers singing and dancing at the +seaside. Aunt Mattie would think me very silly if I were frightened.' + +'She'd be more vexed with us than with you,' said Justin. 'I think on +the whole you needn't say anything about the Crags to her. You see you +don't quite understand being with boys. _We_ don't go in and tell every +little tiny thing we've done. Miss Ward would be sure to find fault with +_something_. And _we_ hate tell-taleing; girls don't think of it the +same way.' + +'_I_ do,' said Rosamond, flushing a little. 'If you think I'd be a +tell-tale I'd rather not go with you.' + +'Oh nonsense,' said Archie. 'I'm sure Jus can't think that. Anybody can +see you're not that sort of a girl.' + +All these remarks put the little girl on her mettle, and, besides this, +she was most anxious to gain the good opinion of the two elder boys +and to get on happily with them as her aunt had so much wished. Nor was +she by nature in the least a cowardly child. + +[Illustration: NANCE.] + +Still when they reached the little cottage on the moor, and she caught +sight of Nance standing in the doorway as if looking out for them, she +could not help giving a tiny start, for no doubt the old woman _was_ a +very strange-looking person. + +'She really does look like one of the witches in my picture fairy-book,' +thought Rosamond. + +But with the first words that fell from Nance's lips, the slight touch +of fear faded away. There was something singularly sweet in the old +woman's voice when it suited her to make it so, and she was evidently +very pleased to see the little stranger. + +'Welcome, missie dear,' she said. 'I was thinking you'd be coming +to-day, and proud I am to see you all.' + +Rosamond felt a little surprised at finding herself expected, but no +doubt, she thought to herself, the boys had told the old woman that they +would bring her. + +'Thank you,' she said, in her pretty, half-shy way. 'I wanted to come +very much. I think it must be so nice to live on the moor as you do.' + +'Nance has always lived on a moor,' said Archie, 'ever since she was +quite a little girl. That's why she came here instead of going to the +village.' + +'Aye, Master Archie,' said the old woman, 'I'd choke in a village, let +alone a town, but there was a time that I was far away from moorland, +though my life began on one and 'twill end on one too. But won't you +come in, my dears. I was baking this morning--there's some little cakes +maybe you'd like a taste of, and some nice fresh milk.' + +None of the children had any objection to an afternoon luncheon of this +kind, and Nance's little cakes were certainly very good. Miss Mouse felt +exceedingly happy. The inside of the cottage was beautifully clean, and +uncommon-looking in some ways, for Nance had trained a creeping plant so +well that one side of the room was nearly covered by it, and, besides +this, there was a kind of rockery in one corner with smaller plants +growing in its crannies. The furniture, though plain and strong, was of +quaint, uncommon shapes, and on the high mantelshelf stood some queer +pieces of china, more rarely to be seen in those days than now, when the +curiosities of the East can be bought by any one for very little. +Rosamond knew more about such things than the boys, as her father had +been so much in India, and she thought to herself that perhaps the old +woman had had sons or brothers who were sailors. + +The little room was pleasantly warm without being too hot; indeed Nance +loved fresh air so much that it was rarely her door was shut closely +even in winter. The fire was dancing brightly, and there was a peculiar +fragrance which seemed to come from it. + +'I've been burning pine-cones and other sweet-smelling things,' said +Nance. + +Rosamond gave a sigh of satisfaction. + +'It's perfectly lovely in here every way,' she said. 'It's like a +fairy-house.' + +'Oh, that reminds me,' said Pat, 'you promised to tell us a fairy story, +Nance, at least I think it was to be a fairy one. Anyway it was about +the great big moor where you lived when you were a little child.' + +Pat had seated himself comfortably in his favourite corner near the +fire, Miss Mouse and Archie opposite him, but Justin was fidgeting about +in his usual way; he was the most restless boy possible. + +'I say, where is Bob?' he asked suddenly. + +Nance stepped to the door and looked out. + +'He should be coming by now,' she said. 'He went about your ferrets to +another place, Master Justin. He's been in a fine way at not getting +them for you before. Ah! yes, there he is,' and she pointed to a black +speck appearing on one of the little white paths at some distance. + +'I'll go and meet him,' exclaimed Justin, 'perhaps he's bringing them +with him. _I_ don't care about fairy stories. So when you're ready to +go,' he went on, turning to his brothers, 'you can call me. I'll be +somewhere about with Bob,' and he ran off. + +Nance stood looking after him for a moment. Then she came in, +half-closing the door. + +'That's right,' said Archie, 'now we'll be very comfortable without Jus +fidgetting about. Go on, Nance, we're all ready.' + +Nance drew forward a stool, and seated herself upon it, between the +children, in front of the fire. She had a pleasant, rather dreamy smile +upon her face. + +[Illustration: 'I'VE PLENTY OF STORIES IN MY HEAD,' SHE SAID.] + +'I've plenty of stories in my head,' she said. 'The one I was going to +tell you the other day was an old one of my grandmother's. It was about +a moor, though I can't say for certain if it was the one I remember best +myself. It was told her by the one that was best able to tell it, and +that was the very man it had happened to many years before, when he was +a boy. They were poor folk, very poor folk, and they had hard work to +keep the wolf from the door. The father was dead, and there were several +little ones. This boy, Robin was his name, was the eldest, and the only +one fit for regular work, and he was but twelve. He must have been a +right-down good boy, though he didn't say so of himself, for he worked +early and late and brought every penny home to his mother. Well, one +night, 'twas the beginning of winter too, like it is now, he was going +home from the farm where he worked, right across the moor. It was a good +long way to the farm, for it was a lonely place where his home was, but +there was no rent to pay for the bit of a place, so they stayed there, +lonesome as it was, and worse than that sometimes, for the children were +delicate, from want of good food most likely, and more than once the +poor mother had had a sad fright, thinking the baby, the frailest of +them all, would have died before the doctor could come to them. In the +summer-time they got on better, and, putting one thing with another, +they'd have been sorry to move. + +'This winter promised to be a very hard one--all the wise folk had said +so, and they weren't often mistaken. There were signs they could read +better than people can nowadays, and Robin's heart was heavy. For if the +snow came his work might stop, or it might be almost impossible to go +backwards and forwards to it. There had been times when for days +together the moor could not be crossed. The boy was tired too, and +hungry, and he knew well there was not much of a meal waiting for him at +home. But at least there would be shelter and warmth, for there was no +lack of fuel ready to hand--same as we have it here. The wind whistled +and moaned, and felt as if it cut him. More than once he put his hands +up to his ears, just to feel like if they were still there and to shut +out the dreary sound for a moment. And one time after doing so, it +seemed to him that he heard a new sound mixing with the wind's wail. A +cry, with more in it than the wind was telling: for it sounded like the +cry of a living being. He hurried on, feeling a little frightened as +well as troubled----' + +'Were there wolves about that place then, do you think, Nance?' Archie +interrupted eagerly. 'I have read in stories that they make a sort of a +cry--a baying cry. Perhaps the boy thought it was wolves?' + +Nance shook her head. + +'There's been no wolves in this country, Master Archie, since much +farther back than my grandmother's time. No, it wasn't that sort of a +cry. He heard it again and again. And each time it grew plainer and +plainer to him that it was some creature in trouble, and bit by bit it +came stronger upon him that he must seek it out whatever it was; that he +would be a cruel boy if he didn't. So he stood quite still to listen, +and through and above the wind he heard it still clearer, and then he +turned to the side where it seemed to come from, though it was hard to +make his way. But strange to say he hadn't gone many steps before he +felt he was on a path, and, stranger still, all of a sudden the moon +came out from behind the clouds, and he heard the cry almost at his +feet, though before then it had seemed a good way off. He went on a few +steps, peering at the ground, and soon he saw a little white shape lying +huddled up among the withered heather, and sobbing fit to break your +heart to hear. It was a little girl; she seemed about two years old, and +when she felt him trying to lift her up, she stopped crying and wound +her tiny arms about his neck, so that, if he had wanted to set her down +again, he could scarce have done so. And before he knew where he was +there she had settled herself in his arms as content as could be. He +spoke to her, thinking she might understand. + +'"Who are you, baby?" he said, "and where have you come from? And what +am I to do with you?" + +'It was half like speaking to himself, and no answer did he get, except +that she cuddled herself closer into his arms, and it came over him that +take her home he must, whatever came of it, and in less than a minute +she seemed to have fallen asleep. He drew what he could of his coat over +her, for it was bitter cold, and it was hard work fighting against the +wind, tired as he was too, and misdoubting him sorely as to what his +poor mother would say, and small blame to her, when she saw what he had +brought with him. But queer things happened during that walk; whenever +his heart went down the most, he'd feel her little hand patting at his +cheek, or one of her fair curls would blow across his lips, as if it was +kissing him, and with that he'd cheer up again and his feet would feel +new spring in them. So they came at last to his home, and there was his +mother peeping out, wild night though it was, and listening for his +coming, for she had been getting very frightened. + +'"Is it you, Robin?" she called out, and sad as her heart was that +evening, it gave a leap of joy when she heard her boy's voice in return. + +'But it was as he had been fearing, when he came in and she saw by the +firelight what he was carrying. + +'"I couldn't help it, mother," he said, "nobody could have helped it," +and he told his story. + +'"No," said the poor woman, "you couldn't have left the baby to die all +alone out on the moor a night like this. Though it's little but shelter +and warmth we can give her. There's but a crust for your own supper, my +poor Robin." + +'She took the child from him and laid it down on the settle by the fire, +and as she did so it opened its eyes and smiled at her, and for a minute +her heart felt lightened, just as it had been with Robin. And the baby +shook its pretty curls, and sat straight up, looking about it quite +bright and cheery-like, and then it made signs that it was hungry, and +Robin took the piece of bread waiting for him on the table, and give the +biggest half to the little creature, who ate it eagerly. His two next +brothers stood staring at her--the little sisters were in bed and +asleep, his mother told him. They were so hungry, she said, 'twas the +best place for them. + +'"And how we're to get food for to-morrow, heaven only knows," she went +on. "I've not a penny left, and if this wind brings the snow there'll be +no getting across the moor even to beg a loaf for charity," and her +tears fell fast. + +'Robin felt half wild. Hungry as he was he couldn't bear to think of the +little ones in bed without a proper meal, and he was half angry when he +heard his little brothers give a shout of laughter. + +'"Be quiet, can't you?" he was going to say. But what he saw made him +stop short. There was the little stranger, as grave as a judge, taking +turn about with the two boys at the crust of bread, and they were +laughing with pleasure at her feeding them, and calling out that the +bread had honey on it. + +"They must be hungry to think that," said the mother; "but the little +one has a kind heart, and maybe she's not very hungry herself, though +she's so poorly clad," and both she and Robin felt happier to see how +pleased the boys were. + +'The good woman undressed the little child and put her to bed with her +own, and with no supper but his half crust, Robin fell asleep that +night, feeling, all the same, cheerier than might have been. + +'"I'll be up betimes, mother," were his last words, "whatever the +weather is. I must make sure of some food for you and the children +before I go to work." + +'He woke early the next morning, earlier than usual, tired though he +was, and the moon was shining so brightly in at the little window that +at first he thought it was daylight. And when he looked round the +kitchen, for he slept in a corner of it, he could scarce believe it +wasn't, for it was all tidied up, the fire burning beautiful, and +everything spick and span as his mother loved to have it. "Poor mother," +thought Robin, "why has she got up so early? and how sound I must have +been sleeping not to hear her!" + +'He called out to her, but there was no answer, and when he got up and +peeped into the inner room, why! there they were all fast asleep, and as +he turned back again, he saw something still stranger, for there was the +table all spread ready for breakfast--better than that indeed, for the +breakfast itself was ready. There was a beautiful, big, wheaten loaf, +and a roll of butter, a treat they seldom tasted, and a great bowl full +of milk, and on the hob by the fire stood the coffee-pot, and it was +many a day since that had been used, with the steam coming out at its +spout, and the nice smell of fresh ground berries fit to make your mouth +water. + +'There was no thought of going to bed again for Robin when he had seen +all this, though he'd been half wishing he could, he was that tired from +the night before, and by the clock he now saw that it was half-past six. +He gave a cry of joy which awoke his mother, and brought her and the +children in to see what had happened.' + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +NANCE'S STORY (_continued_) + + +'At the first glance,' continued Nance, 'the poor woman thought that it +was all Robin's doing, but in another moment she saw that was +impossible. The boy was only half-dressed and had plainly not been +outside, and he was looking quite as surprised as the rest. + +'"Mother, mother," cried Robin, "where has it all come from? Did you get +up in the night? Has any one been here?" + +'His mother was too surprised herself to know what to say. She glanced +round at the children. + +'"Let us get dressed quick and have some of this beautiful breakfast," +said the little girls, "we are so hungry;" and the baby held out its +arms and crowed, and then the mother bethought herself of the little +visitor of the night before. She was the only one who had not been +awakened by Robin's cry of joy--there she was still sleeping soundly, +with a smile on her little fair face. + +'"She has brought us good luck," said Robin and his mother, "whoever she +is, and wherever she came from." + +'But wonderful as it was they were too hungry to keep on thinking about +it, and soon they were all seated round the table, enjoying themselves +as they hadn't done for many a day. + +'And that wasn't the end of it either. When the good woman carried the +remains of the breakfast into the lean-to where their food was kept, +when they had any, what did she find but a beautiful cut of bacon and a +bowl full of eggs. + +'"Why, Robin," she said, "there'd be no fear of our starving now, even +if we couldn't cross the moor," and she looked out as she spoke, but the +weather had taken a turn for the better, and Robin was able to go to his +work with a light heart, feeling strong and fresh after his good night's +rest and his good meal. + +'"And you'll ask all about," said his mother, "if any one has lost their +child. There must be sore hearts somewhere, I'm afraid," and she lifted +the tiny waif for Robin to kiss her before he set off. + +'But ask as he might there was nothing to be heard of a strayed child, +and as the day went on the boy felt more and more puzzled. He had plenty +to think of that day, for, to his great surprise, the farmer for whom he +worked told him that he was so pleased with his industry and good-nature +that, be the weather what it would that winter through, he might count +on regular work and better wages. + +'Robin was so eager to carry this news to his mother that he could +scarce wait till the time came for him to go home, and once he set off +'twas more like dancing across the moor than walking, so happy did he +feel. + +'"And even if we can't find the baby's friends," he thought to himself, +"mother'll be able to keep her, and glad to do it too, seeing the good +luck she's brought us." + +'As this passed through his mind he stopped short and looked about him. +'Twas just about the place where he had heard the cry the night before, +but the evening was mild and clear, and though the sun had set it was +not cloudy, and as the moon came sailing up he could see a long way +round him, and what breeze there was, was soft and gentle compared to +the storm wind of yesterday. And just then a sudden sound reached him. +No cry of trouble this time, but a burst of pretty laughter, ringing +and joyous as if it came from some little child bubbling over with +fun--and mischief too! It seemed to be just in front of him, then just +behind, then just at one side, then at the other. Wherever he turned it +came from a different point, till he felt half-provoked to be so +tricked. So he ran on at last all the faster, thinking he was bewitched, +till he got within sight of his home, and there, coming to meet him, was +his mother, with a look on her face half-pleased, half-vexed. + +"She's gone, Robin," she called out, "the pretty baby's gone. But +there's no call to be afraid for her. She ran off when she was playing +with your little sisters in front of the house, and chase her as we +might, we couldn't catch her. She danced away like a will-o'-the-wisp, +laughing as I've never heard a child laugh, so fine and pretty and +mischievous it was. And I've bethought me what it means. 'Twas the day +for the moor-fairies to show themselves, it comes but once in seven +years, and we've been in luck indeed." + +'Then Robin told her of the laughing he, too, had heard, and of the good +news he was bringing, and together they went on to the cottage, thankful +that they had not missed the chance which had come to them by fear or +selfishness. And from that day for seven years to come anyhow it did +seem as if they were specially befriended, everything went well with +them, and so far as I remember what my grandmother said, this good turn +helped Robin on through his life. He was a grandfather himself when he +told the story, much respected through the country-side--a good, kind +man, as he had been a good, kind boy.' + +Nance stopped. Rosamond gave a sigh of satisfaction. + +'What a pretty story,' she said, 'and how nicely you've told it--Mrs. +Crag,' for she did not quite know what to call the old woman. + +Nance smiled, well pleased. It was true; she had a real gift for +story-telling, and though her accent sounded strange, her words were so +correctly chosen, and her whole tone had so much charm about it, that it +was almost difficult to believe that she had not at some time of her +life been in a much better position than now. + +'I'm right glad that you've liked my old story,' she said. 'But don't +call me Mrs. Crag, missie dear; it doesn't suit me. Say "Nance," like +the young gentlemen. I've plenty more stories packed away somewhere in +my head that I can get out for you if you care to hear them.' + +'I wonder,' said Pat, 'if the fairies were seen again ever? Do you think +they kept coming back every seven years, Nance?' + +The old woman shook her head. + +'I can't say, Master Pat,' she replied, 'but I'm afraid those days are +over now, the world's too changed, and all the new-fangled ways frighten +the good people away.' + +'Do you think there were ever fairies on _this_ moor?' said Archie. 'It +says in our story-books that there are ever so many different kinds, +some in forests, some in brooks and rivers, but I never heard of moor +ones before. Are you sure, Nance, that if we sat up all night, or got up +very, very early in the morning some particular day, we mightn't see +something queer, or hear something? Like the boy, Johnnie-- Somebody? +who climbed up the mountain on Midsummer's eve.' + +'No, no, Master Archie,' said Nance. 'Times are changed, as I told you. +You'd catch nothing but a bad cold. You mustn't try any of those tricks, +my dear, or you'll be getting old Nance into trouble for filling your +head with nonsense, and then you'd not be let come to see me, which +would be sad for me,' and she gave a little sigh. 'Promise me, you'll +never do anything your dear papa and mamma wouldn't like.' + +Archie laughed. + +'I was really half joking,' he said. 'I know there aren't really any +fairies, nowadays anyway. Pat, don't you go and tell Justin what I was +saying, or he'd make fun of me.' + +'I'm not going to,' said Pat. 'Jus doesn't care about things like that.' + +'I think they're lovely,' said Miss Mouse. 'Fancying about pretty things +is almost as nice as having them really, don't you think?' + +There was no time, however, for any more talk, for at that moment +Justin, followed by Bob, made his appearance at the door. + +'I say,' he called out, 'I'm going home, and you'd better all come with +me.' + +'It's not late,' objected Pat, who was feeling very comfortable and +disinclined to move, 'and we had leave to stay out later.' + +'I can't help it,' said Justin. '_I_ want to go back now. I've a reason +for it. I'll tell you about it as we go.' + +The others had to give in to him, as was generally the case. They all +said good-bye to their old friend, Rosamond holding up her little face +to be kissed as she thanked Nance again, for which she was rewarded by a +hearty--'Bless you, my sweet,' and then the whole party of children set +off for Moor Edge, Bob making one of them. + +'Why is he coming?' said Pat in a low voice to Justin, nodding his head +backwards towards Bob, who was walking behind them. + +'That's what I've got to tell you about,' said Justin in the same tone. +'It's about the ferrets. He's found a splendid pair after a lot of +bother, but he must have the money. You've got yours ready, I suppose?' + +'Bother,' said Pat. 'I don't care about the nasty little beasts. I did +hope you'd give them up.' + +'But you promised,' said Justin, ready to be angry. 'I've never spoken +of giving them up, and you offered the money at the first. You seemed as +if you wanted to have them as much as I did.' + +'I'm not going back from my promise,' said Pat, half-sulkily, +remembering his Aunt Mattie's advice to try to show more interest in the +things Justin cared for. 'You can have the money whenever you like,' he +went on in a brighter tone, as he remembered also that the ferrets, +being kept at Bob's, would be a certain reason for frequent visits to +the cottage, and more of Nance's stories; 'but do you mean,' he added, +'that we've got money enough to pay for them?' + +Justin hesitated. + +'No, of course not,' he said at last, 'your own sense might tell you +that. We've not got much more than half.' + +'Then they must be dearer than you thought at first,' said Pat sturdily. +'I remember quite well you counting that you'd have nearly enough.' + +'But these are far better ones,' said Justin. 'You must expect to pay +more for a better thing. They won't hurry about the rest of the money +once they've got half, or rather more than half.' + +'You'll have to pay up some time or other though,' said Pat. 'And I +don't know where you'll get it from. _I_ can't go on giving you all my +pocket-money. There are other things I want to get.' + +'Wait till you're asked,' said Justin sharply. 'I can manage my own +affairs.' + +Pat thought it better to say no more, though in his heart he did not +think Justin's talk of independence was very well-timed. He did grudge +the money now that the first feeling of generosity had had time to cool +down. But he felt there was no help for it. + +When they got to their own gate Justin told Bob to wait about outside +till he came back again. This surprised Rosamond a little; it struck her +as scarcely kind to the boy, who on his side had been so hospitable. But +she said nothing, only when bidding Bob good-bye, she held out her hand +to him, repeating how much she had liked her visit to the cottage. And +from that moment Bob's wild, warm heart was completely won by the little +lady. + +They were not as late as Miss Ward had laid her account to their perhaps +being, still, schoolroom tea was half over before Justin and Pat made +their appearance, and both came in looking rather cross. Miss Ward +glanced at them, seeming slightly annoyed. + +'As you came in in good time,' she said, 'you should have come to tea +punctually. Rosamond and Archie have been here for ten minutes at least. +What have you been doing?' + +The boys sat down without replying. + +'Has Bob gone?' asked Miss Mouse innocently. + +Justin glanced at her with a frown, and Pat, who was seated next to +her, touched her foot under the table with his. She looked up in +surprise, but nothing more was said, Miss Ward not having noticed the +little girl's question. Tea was proceeding peacefully, though rather +more silently than usual, when the door opened and Mrs. Caryll looked +in. + +'Are you nearly ready, dear?' she said to Rosamond, after a word of +greeting to Miss Ward and the elder boys, whom she had not seen before +that day. 'It's getting rather late.' + +Rosamond jumped up. + +'I can come now, auntie,' she said. 'I've had quite enough tea.' But +this Mrs. Caryll would not allow. + +'I can wait five or ten minutes longer,' she said, looking at her watch. +'Perhaps Miss Ward can spare me a cup of tea.' + +Miss Ward was delighted to do so, and Archie was on his feet in an +instant, ringing the bell and then running out into the passage to save +time by meeting the servant and asking for another cup and saucer. + +'And have you had a pleasant afternoon?' said Aunt Mattie, when she was +seated at the table. 'Have you no adventures to tell me about, Jus? or +you, Pat?' + +She looked at the two boys a little curiously, for she had noticed that +they were silent and rather gloomy. + +'It was all right,' said Justin in his somewhat surly way. 'We didn't +keep together all the time. I don't know what the others were doing.' + +'Oh! it was lovely,' exclaimed Rosamond, 'Pat and Archie and I were----' + +'Miss Mouse does so like the moor,' interrupted Pat, 'though there +wasn't any sunset to speak of this evening.' + +And again Rosamond felt a warning touch on her foot as Pat went on +talking rather eagerly about the sunsets that were sometimes to be seen, +which interested his aunt, and turned the conversation from what the +children had been about that special afternoon. + +The little girl felt uneasy and perplexed. Were the boys afraid of her +'tale-telling,' as they called it? And even if she had told everything +that had happened that afternoon, what harm would it have done, or who +could have found fault with it? Nothing could have been prettier or +nicer than Nance's story, and Rosamond felt sure that she was a good old +woman. She had been so afraid of their doing anything that Mr. and Mrs. +Hervey might not like too, and her whole manner showed how much respect +she felt for the boys' parents. + +'I'm _sure_,' thought Miss Mouse, 'nobody could think it wasn't nice for +us to go there. I don't understand what the boys mean. I suppose it's +just that they've different ways from girls, and like to be very +independent. And I promised them I wouldn't tell things over if they'd +rather I didn't. So I won't, unless of course it was anything _wrong_, +and then I'd have to, but I'd first tell them what I meant to do.' + +And with this decision in her mind the little girl's face cleared, and +she felt quite happy again. + +She was bright and cheerful during the drive home, so that the very +slight misgiving which the elder boys' manner had caused Mrs. Caryll +quite faded away, and she talked happily to her little niece of plans +for other half-holidays. It would be nice sometimes, she said, to invite +the Moor Edge party to Caryll for a change, 'though,' as she added with +a smile, 'they all say they don't care for anything there half as much +as for running wild on their dear moor.' + +'The moor _is_ nice, isn't it, auntie?' said Rosamond. 'Such a +beautiful place for fancying things, with its being so wild and lonely.' + +'You mustn't get your little head too full of fancies,' said her aunt. +'Has Pat been entertaining you with his pet stories? It is a pity that +he and Justin cannot be mixed up together, one is so much too dreamy, +and the other too rough and ready. But I hoped they were getting on +better together lately, though I was rather disappointed this evening, +Justin looked so cross.' + +'I think Pat tries to be very nice to Justin,' said Miss Mouse. 'And +Justin wasn't at all cross when we were out.' + +'I'm glad to hear it,' said her aunt. 'There is certainly room for +improvement in him. But I trust it is beginning. He has never been rude +or unkind to you, dear, I hope?' + +'Oh no, auntie, though of course I've not seen much of him till to-day,' +answered Rosamond. 'I like him quite well--though not so much as Archie, +or--' with a little hesitation--'or Pat.' + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MISS MOUSE 'AT HOME' + + +The next half-holiday came on a Saturday--the Saturday of that same +week--and as the weather was lovely just then, Aunt Mattie begged her +sister to allow the three elder boys to spend it at Caryll, as she had +planned with Rosamond. + +So it was arranged that, as soon as morning lessons were over, the four +children should walk back together in time for early dinner at +Rosamond's home. In one sense it was scarcely correct to call Saturday a +half-holiday, as the boys did not go to the vicarage at all that day, +though they were supposed to spend two hours at home in preparation of +Monday's lessons. + +By twelve o'clock they were all under way, Rosamond feeling not a little +important at the prospect of acting hostess to the Hervey boys. + +'How shall we go?' said Archie, as they stood on the drive for a moment +or two looking about them. + +'By the moor, of course,' said Justin at once, 'turning down the path +that brings us out near the cross-roads--the way we go on middling days, +you know,' he added to Rosamond. + +'_I_ think it would be more of a change to go all the way by the road,' +said Pat. 'We've gone so much by the moor lately with its being so fine. +You can't be wanting to see Bob again to-day, you'd quite a long talk +with him on our way home yesterday.' + +'As it happens,' said Justin, 'I do want to see him, and he'll be on the +look-out for us,' and without saying more he turned towards the kitchen +garden, from which a door in the wall opened on to the fields, beyond +which lay the moor. + +The others followed without saying anything more; cool determination to +have your own way reminds one of the old saying that 'possession is nine +points of the law'--it generally carries the day, as Justin had learnt +by experience. + +Rosamond did not care particularly which way they went, but she did mind +Justin's masterful manner of settling things according to his own +wishes, so there was a slight cloud over the little party following +him, and some half-muttered 'too bads' and 'never lets us choose,' from +Pat and Archie. But once out on the moorland the bright sunshine and +fresh bracing air blew away all cobwebs of discontent. + +'How very pretty it is to-day!' said Miss Mouse eagerly, 'I've never +seen it like this--the sunshine makes all the colours different, but, +oh! how cold it must be in winter when it snows! I couldn't help +thinking ever so many times of old Nance's story of the poor boy +crossing it that winter night. I do so want to hear some more of her +stories. Of course we can't stop at the cottage to-day, but don't you +think we might next Wednesday perhaps?' + +'That depends on those horrid little beasts of Justin's,' said Pat +crossly, 'if Bob's got them by then Justin will always be wanting to go +there.' + +'Hasn't he got them yet?' asked Rosamond in surprise. 'I thought it was +all settled about them.' + +'Settled enough if we'd got the rest of the money,' said Justin gruffly. +'But the people won't give Bob credit. You see he hasn't told whom he's +getting them for, or they'd add on to the price thinking papa would pay. +But he was to see them again this morning and try to get them to say +they'd wait a week or two for the rest of it.' + +'How much are you short?' asked Miss Mouse. + +'Half, or as good as half,' answered Justin. 'They cost twelve +shillings, and we've only got six and fourpence, or fivepence, I forget +exactly.' + +'Nearly six shillings,' repeated the little girl; 'that's a lot of +money. I've never had as much at a time, except----' + +'Except when?' asked Justin, eyeing her rather curiously. + +'Except when I was collecting for something,' she replied, 'for papa's +or mamma's birthday, or something like that.' + +'Are you collecting just now?' asked Justin. + +Rosamond's little face grew pink. + +'I'd rather----' she began, 'rather not----' and then again she +hesitated. 'It's a sort of a secret.' + +'Well, you might as well tell us about it,' said Justin. Rosamond looked +distressed. + +'I think it's not fair of you to tease her, Justin,' said Archie +indignantly. 'You don't like people prying into your secrets, I know +that,' and Justin looked a little ashamed of himself, while Miss Mouse +gave Archie's hand a grateful squeeze. + +They had been walking fast all this time as well as talking, and they +were now within sight of the cottage, but no Bob was to be seen, and +when they came nearer they saw to their surprise that the door was shut, +and the usually open window closed also. + +'Where can they be?' said Justin, stopping short in front of the hut. 'I +told Bob we'd be passing about now, and he said he'd be sure to be back. +I wonder if the old woman knows?' and he was preparing to knock at the +door when Pat stopped him. + +'It's no good, Jus,' he said, 'there's no one there. I know how it is, +it's Saturday morning, and Nance has gone to buy her marketings for the +week. You see we never come by on Saturdays, so we've not noticed it +before.' + +'It's too bad of Bob,' said Justin, falling back. 'I'll come home this +way, for I must see him to-day.' + +'You can come by yourself then,' said Pat. 'I wish to goodness I hadn't +given you my money. You worry one's life out when you take a thing in +your head.' + +Justin was about to make an angry reply, pretty sure to be followed by a +quarrel, when Rosamond interposed. + +'Much the best thing would be to make some plan for getting more money,' +she said, 'and then it would be all right, wouldn't it? I'm sure poor +Bob has done his best. If you want the ferrets so very much why don't +you ask your papa to lend it to you, and you would pay it back by +degrees out of your pocket-money?' + +'He'd never do that,' said Justin,' at least not to help me to get +ferrets.' + +Rosamond opened her eyes very wide. + +'Why, he doesn't mind you having them, does he?' she said. + +'He doesn't want us to have them at home,' the boy replied. 'You see +mamma doesn't like them, but there's no reason why we shouldn't keep +them somewhere else; besides----' but here he stopped and began talking +of other things. + +They had a pleasant walk to Caryll Place, and a pleasant afternoon +followed. Uncle Ted was at home, and both he and Aunt Mattie did their +utmost to make the children happy. And there were plenty of nice things +at Caryll to make up to the boys for its being farther away from the +moor. First and foremost among these was a little boat on the lake, +which the boys were allowed, to their great delight, to row about in +two at a time. This boat was a novelty, as their uncle had only just got +it, and as the lake was shallow there was no danger of anything worse +than a good wetting even if it did capsize, and when the afternoon began +to get chilly, and Aunt Mattie was afraid of Rosamond's remaining out +any longer, she brought them into the hall, which was a big square one, +and let them have a capital game of blind man's buff, in which even +Justin did not think it beneath him to join, as Uncle Ted proved the +best blind man of them all. + +Miss Mouse had never seen Justin to such advantage. He was really quite +pleasant and hearty, and she began to think him a much nicer boy than +she had yet done. No doubt the improvement was greatly owing to his +uncle's presence, but this did not strike the kind-hearted little girl, +and Aunt Mattie was very pleased to see the two on such good terms. For +it was on Justin and Pat especially that she hoped much, in different +ways, from her little niece's good influence. + +So it was with very cheerful feelings that their aunt watched the three +boys set off on their return home. + +For some distance there was no question as to which way they should +choose, so they walked on very friendlily. + +'I say, we have had a jolly afternoon at Caryll for once, haven't we?' +said Archie. + +'Not so bad,' Justin allowed; 'I'm glad Uncle Ted's had the sense to get +a boat at last.' + +'I have always liked Caryll awfully,' said Pat, 'even when you two +thought it dull. Everything about it is so pretty, and there are such +jolly books in the library too. Rosamond's got some very nice ones of +her own; she took me up to her room to see them just before tea, while +you and Archie were still in the boat. She's got a splendid _Hans +Andersen_, for one; she's going to lend it to me. It's got ever so many +more stories in it than ours.' + +'She's a spoilt little thing,' said Justin, rather crossly. 'I don't +suppose she's ever wanted anything that she didn't get.' + +'She's not spoilt,' said Pat. 'Several of the books she bought with her +own money, that she'd saved up on purpose. She told me so.' + +'I wonder if it's something like that she's saving for now,' said Justin +quickly. 'I've a good mind to ask her. It wouldn't hurt her to wait a +little while to buy a book, and then she could lend me the money. She +might have done worse than offer it already, when she heard that we were +short of some.' + +'Don't say "we," if you please,' replied Pat. 'I don't want to have +anything more to do with your nasty animals, and I think it would be +horribly mean to borrow from a girl.' + +'Yes,' chimed in Archie, 'I wonder you can think of such a thing, Jus.' + +'I'd pay her interest,' said Justin indignantly, 'a penny a month on +each shilling. That would be awfully high interest, I know.' + +'She wouldn't want your interest,' said Pat. 'She'd want her own money, +and I'd be ashamed of you if you borrowed it from her.' + +Justin made no reply, and they walked on in silence till they came to +the point at which they had to choose their way home. + +'I'm going back by the moor,' said Justin abruptly. + +'I'm not then,' said Pat, marching straight on as he spoke, Archie, as +often happened, standing wavering between the two, for he loved to keep +on good terms with everybody. But this time his sympathy was decidedly +with Pat, and he was much relieved when Justin called out to him, not +too amiably, that he didn't want him. + +'I'd rather go by myself, and manage my own affairs,' he called out, +walking off without replying to Archie's good-natured reminder not to be +very long, and then the younger boy ran on to overtake Pat. + +The two boys were glad they had kept to the road, for when they reached +their own door they were met by Hec, who told them that their mother had +been wondering why they were so late. + +'Where's Jus?' he added. 'Papa wanted him for something or other.' + +'He's coming round the other way,' said Archie, and as he spoke his +father looked out of his study door, and caught the words. He looked +annoyed. + +'When you go out together, I expect you to come home together,' he said. +'How did you two come?' + +'By the road,' said Pat. + +'Then that means that Justin is coming by the moor. I hope he doesn't +see too much of that Crag boy; I don't hear any too good an account of +him. I must speak to Justin about it,' said Mr. Hervey, as he turned +back into his room again. + +Archie followed him before he shut the door, feeling somehow a little +guilty for having deserted Justin, and a little uneasy too at what his +father had said of poor Bob. + +'Hec said there was something you wanted one of us to do for you, papa,' +he began. 'Can I do it?' + +Mr. Hervey, already seated at his writing-table, looked up. + +'Well, yes,' he said, 'I want a message taken out to Griffith. Tell him +he must keep your mother's pony in the stables altogether, till the +second vet has seen it on Monday.' + +'Is it worse?' asked Archie. 'Is that why you are going to get another +vet, papa?' + +'Never mind,' said Mr. Hervey, rather sharply. He had been annoyed at +several things that afternoon, and the best of papas cannot _always_ be +perfectly gentle. 'Run off with my message, and when Justin comes in +tell him--no, don't tell him anything,' for their father knew by +experience that messages through one boy to another were very apt to +'grow' on their way. + +Off ran Archie, stopping some minutes to chatter about the pony with +Griffith after executing his errand, in consequence of which he came +across Justin making his way in by the back gate from the fields. + +'I say, Jus,' he began, 'you'd better look sharp. Papa didn't tell me to +say so, but I know he's vexed at you for not coming back with Pat and +me.' + +'You needn't have put yourselves in the way then,' said Justin. + +'We didn't--he was in the hall, or at least he looked out of his door +when we came in. And-- I say, Jus----' + +'Well--what next? Why don't you go on?' + +'I was thinking if I should tell you or not. I mean whether I've any +right to,' said Archie, who was very honest and truthful, 'for papa did +say "don't tell Justin anything." But that was after he'd said it.' + +'It,' repeated Justin, growing impatient. '_What?_' + +'Something about not wanting you to see much of Bob--people aren't +speaking too well of him.' + +'Is that all?' said his elder brother with some contempt. 'People never +have spoken too well of him. But papa has always known that, and I can't +be horrid to Bob just when he's been taking a lot of trouble to please +me. He needn't ever come about here if papa doesn't want him to. And I +don't suppose _he_ wants to. Our servants are beastly to him. But I can +go to see him if I choose-- I've never been told not to. And he's not a +bad fellow at all.' + +'No, I don't think he is,' Archie agreed. 'But if papa orders you not to +go there?' + +'He won't, unless somebody tells tales or meddles,' said Justin. 'If I +catch you or Pat at that sort of thing, I'll----' but he said no more. +It was best to let sleeping dogs lie. 'Papa won't think any more about +it, I don't suppose.' + +'Perhaps not,' said Archie, not feeling quite easy in his mind all the +same. 'Were you there just now, Jus?' he added, for he had rather a big +bump of curiosity. + +'Only for a minute. I didn't go in. Bob was looking out for me,' and +here Justin's tone became very friendly and confidential. 'You needn't +go talking about it,' he said, 'but, Archie, Bob's _got them_. He's to +fetch them on Monday morning. Isn't it splendacious?' + +'You mean the ferrets,' said Archie, growing excited in spite of +himself, for both he and Pat had been getting rather tired of the +subject. 'He's actshally _got_ them!' + +Justin nodded. + +'And what about the money--the rest of it--what's short, you know?' +Archie went on. + +'Oh--that'll be all right. We'll manage it somehow. The people'll wait a +week or two. Don't you tell any one. Where's Pat? I want to tell him +myself.' + +'He went upstairs to look for mamma and the little ones,' said Archie. +'Mamma was wondering why we were so late.' + +'It isn't late,' said Justin, 'anyway I've not finished my Monday +lessons,' and he went off to the schoolroom, turning back to say to +Archie that if he heard their father asking for him again he was to +reply,'Oh yes, Jus has been in some time.' + +Archie made no promise, but he resolved to keep out of the way, for +though there was no actual untruth in what Jus denoted, he felt that his +brother's motive rather savoured of wishing to mislead, and anything of +that kind went against his own instincts. + +But no more inquiries about Justin reached him. Mr. Hervey, as Justin +had thought probable, seemed to have forgotten all about the matter--as +often happened, he was absorbed by his own reading and writing, and the +warnings he had received about Bob Crag went out of his head for the +time being. + +Sunday morning broke clear and bright, but increasingly cold. + +'It might really be Christmas already,' said the boys' mother at +breakfast-time. 'I am afraid it looks like a very severe winter, the +cold beginning so early.' + +'Yes,' Mr. Hervey agreed, 'I fancy we shall have it pretty sharp this +year.' + +'All the better,' said Justin, 'if it gives us lots of skating,' which +put it into Hector's head to ask if _he_ mightn't have skates this +winter. Hec always wanted to do whatever Justin did. + +'It wouldn't matter if they got too small for me soon,' he added, 'for +they'd do for Ger after me.' + +'I don't never want to thkate,' said Gervais--all five boys had +breakfast downstairs on Sunday morning--'you have to go so fast.' + +Ger was fat and round and slow in his movements. + +'Oh you lazy boy,' said his mother, laughing, as she kissed his firm, +plump cheeks. Ger _was_ rather spoilt, but then of course he was the +baby. + +She got up as she spoke. + +'Now don't be late any of you this morning,' she said. 'A quarter past +ten punctually. And Hec and Ger, take care that you are warmly wrapped +up, for you know you are going to dine at Caryll, and very likely +auntie will send you home in the pony-cart, which will be colder than +walking.' + +'How nice for you,' said Archie to the little ones. 'I didn't know you +were going home from church with Aunt Mattie.' + +'Well, you were there yesterday,' said Hec. 'It's only fair we should +have our turn. Miss Mouse asked for us--to make up, you know, for our +not going with you on Saturday.' + +'Mith Mouse is very kind,' said Ger. + +And so she was. Rosamond loved children younger than herself. Her face +was all over smiles when, after church, she stood waiting for the two +little boys in the porch with her aunt, and set off with a small +cavalier at each side to walk home to Caryll Place. + +It was the first visit Hec and Ger had paid there since Miss Mouse's +arrival, and they had lots of things to see and ask about. Several of +their little friend's treasures made them rather envious, especially a +new kind of ball, an india-rubber one--and india-rubber or gutta-percha +toys were then something quite new--as round and plump as his own +cheeks, filled Ger's heart with great longing. + +'It _is_ a beauty,' he said. 'Hec, if anybody asks you what you think +I'd like for a Chrithiemuss present, just you tell them a ball like Mith +Mouse's, only p'raps even a little bigger. Do you think, Mith Mouse, +that they cost a great lot of money?' + +Rosamond shook her head. + +'Not such a very great lot, I don't think,' she replied. 'When I was in +London with papa and mamma, just before I came here, I saw balls like +that in several of the toyshops, and I _think_, but I'm not quite sure, +that the other day when I was out with auntie, and I was waiting for her +in the carriage at Crowley-- I _think_ I saw some like it in that shop +opposite the church. It's not exactly a toyshop, you know, but they have +toys in one window.' + +'Oh, I know where you mean,' said Hec. 'It's Friendly's--it's a mixty +sort of shop.' + +'Do look again, Mith Mouse,' said Gervais, 'the venny first time you go +that way, and _p'raps_ somebody will give me one at Chrithiemuss.' + +He heaved a deep sigh of hope and anxiety in one. And Rosamond smiled to +herself as she made a little plan. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE STORY OF THE LUCKY PENNY + + +The winter was not going to set in just yet after all. That bright, +clear, cold Sunday was followed by a week or two of milder but very +disagreeable weather--almost constant rain and very few glimpses indeed +of blue sky or sunshine. Miss Mouse arrived every morning muffled up +almost to her eyes to keep her dry in the pony-cart, and most afternoons +the close carriage was sent from Caryll to fetch her. + +There was no question of the boys going to the vicarage across the moor, +and even by the road, which dried quickly, every time they walked home +they could not help getting very muddy and splashed, and they could not +have their own pony cart as much as usual, as their mother's pony was +laid up, and old Bobbin had extra work on this account. + +On the first half-holiday of this rainy weather the three elder boys +went off after dinner and did not come in till tea-time, in consequence +of which Pat woke next morning with a bad cold, and Archie with a slight +one. So orders were issued that there were to be no more expeditions or +long walks till the wet days were over--indeed, Pat had to stay indoors +altogether for nearly a week, as he had a delicate throat, which was apt +to get very sore when he caught cold. + +'And if you go out, Justin,' said his mother, 'you must be in early, and +not hang about with damp things on.' + +She knew that a 'whole half-holiday,' as the boys called it, in the +house would be a terrible trouble to Justin, and even worse for other +people, and as he was very strong and had never had a cold in his life, +there was not much fear of his getting any harm. + +'All right, mamma,' he replied. 'I'll take care of myself. I don't want +to get soaked, it's so uncomfortable-- I can amuse myself about the +out-houses. But mayn't Archie come with me?' + +This was on the first Wednesday. + +No--Mrs. Hervey shook her head--Archie must not go out again to-day, as +the walk to Whitcrow in the morning had been a wet one. But if Saturday +was finer he might go out with Justin as usual. + +'I really think Justin is improving,' she thought to herself with +satisfaction, 'he gives in so much more readily, instead of arguing and +discussing.' + +The truth was that Justin was very much afraid of a talk with his +father, which would probably have put him under orders to keep away from +Bob Crag altogether, and this would not have suited Master Justin at +all, now that the ferrets had arrived and were comfortably installed at +the Moor Cottage. + +So for one or two half-holidays Justin went off on his own account, +returning home in good time, and as no complaints reached Mr. Hervey +about him, I suppose his father took for granted that everything was +right. Very likely, for Mr. Hervey was rather absent-minded at times; he +thought that he _had_ warned Justin, forgetting that it had been Archie +and not his eldest brother to whom he had spoken of Bob that Saturday +evening. + +After a time the weather 'took up again,' as the country folk say. Pat's +cold got better, and then came a Wednesday morning on which Rosamond +asked and received leave to spend the afternoon with the big boys, her +aunt saying she herself would drive over to fetch her, as she had not +seen her sister, Mrs. Hervey, for some days. + +There was no discussion between the four children as to where the +afternoon should be spent. Almost without a word they all turned in the +direction of the moor. + +'Justin will be off with Bob and the ferrets, of course,' said Pat to +Rosamond. 'So you and I can have a jolly time with old Nance and make +her tell us some more stories.' + +'And Archie?' inquired the little girl. + +'Oh, he can do whichever he likes,' said Pat. 'I daresay he'll stay with +us. He's been once or twice with Jus while my throat was bad, you know, +but I don't think he cared about it much.' + +And so it proved. When they got to the Crags', Bob, as well as his +grandmother, was on the look-out for them, old Nance's face lighting up +with pleasure. + +'Are you glad to see us again?' asked Archie. 'I hope you've got some +stories for us. If you know so much about fairy things, Nance, why don't +you manage to get us nice fine days for our half-holidays?' + +The old woman smiled. + +'It's a fine day for me when I see your faces, Master Archie,' she +replied, 'and that you know well enough. But to be sure the weather has +been contrary the last week or two. Come in, come in, missie +dear--there's some of my little cakes all ready. Won't you come in too, +Master Justin, before you go off with Bob? I've been fearing you might +have got cold when you were here last week; it was such a very wet day.' + +'No fear,' said Justin amiably. 'Bob and I aren't made of sugar or salt, +are we, Bob? I'll come in for a minute, thank you, Nance, but we mustn't +be long, or we'll have no fun. It gets so soon dark now, and papa's +vexed if we don't all go home together.' + +'To be sure,' said the old woman, 'and quite right too. You'll never +find me wanting you to do anything your dear papa and mamma wouldn't +like, my dears.' + +So saying she led the way into her quaint little kitchen, all tidied up +and bright as the children always found it--the cakes and a large jug of +milk set out as before on a small table near the pleasantly glowing +fire. + +'Are you coming with Bob and me, Archie?' Justin inquired. 'Pat's a +donkey--no use asking him.' + +Pat took this uncomplimentary speech very calmly. Archie hesitated. + +'Come along,' said Justin, 'that's to say if you're coming,' for having +made away with at least three of the tempting little cakes, he was now +in a hurry to be off. + +'Don't go, Archie,' said Rosamond, speaking low, so that the elder boys +could not hear, and her words decided Archie. + +'I'd rather stay here, thank you, Jus,' he said. 'You've got Bob, so you +don't really need me.' + +'You are a softy,' said Justin as he ran off, but Archie, backed by Pat +and Rosamond, did not care. + +'Now, Nance,' said Pat, when most of the cakes and milk were disposed +of, 'we're ready for your stories.' + +The old woman had drawn a stool to the fire and was sitting there facing +it, the reflection casting a pleasant glow on her sunburnt cheeks and +keen bright eyes. She was always a nice-looking old woman, but just now +she really looked quite pretty. + +'How fond you are of the fire, Nance,' said Archie; 'do you have one all +the year round?' + +'Mostly so, Master Archie,' she replied. 'You see old folk like me grow +chilly. It's not often I feel too hot, even in the midsummer days. And +here on the moorside there's always a breeze more or less. Yes, I love +my bit o' fire, Master Archie--you're about right there, but all the +same I'd rather face cold than be choked in a town and have no fresh +air, like some poor things have to bear their lives.' + +'Nance,' said Miss Mouse suddenly; she had been sitting silent watching +Bob's granny, 'it's so funny, it seems to me that when you stretch out +your hands to the flames they give a little jump towards you and then +dance up the chimney ever so much higher than before. Are you a sort of +a fairy, dear Nance?' + +Pat glanced at the little girl half uneasily. He knew that some of the +people about called Mrs. Crag a witch, and 'uncanny,' and words like +that, just because she was a stranger and different in her ways and +looks from her present neighbours, and he was afraid that Nance's +feelings might be hurt by little Rosamond's question. + +But it was not so--on the contrary the old woman seemed pleased, and +smiled brightly. + +'You must have a bit of the fairy knowing yourself, missie dear, to have +noticed it,' she said. 'I've been told I get it from my grandmother, who +had fairy ways, there's no denying. And no harm in them either, if one +doesn't think too much of them, or fancy oneself more than one is. But +I've always had a kind of luck, hand-in-hand with troubles, for +troubles I've had, and many of them, in my long life. More than once +when I've thought they'd be too much for me there's come a turn I had +little hope of. Maybe the good people aren't gone so far as we think, +after all,' and old Nance smiled at the idea. + +'Tell us some story of your good luck,' said Pat suddenly. 'It's always +so nice to hear a story from the person it really happened to.' + +Nance considered. Then she suddenly slipped her hand inside the front of +her bodice and drew out a tiny little chain; it was only a steel chain, +but very finely worked, so that it looked more like a silver thread, and +on it hung a tiny coin with a hole in it through which a ring had been +passed. She held it out for the children to see. + +'Oh what a weeny, weeny little sixpenny, or threepenny--which is it?' +exclaimed Rosamond. + +'It's neither, missie dear,' the old woman replied. 'It's a lucky penny, +and if you like I'll tell you the story of how I came by it.' + +'Oh do, do,' said all three together; Archie adding, 'Did you really get +it from the fairies, Nance?' + +'You shall hear,' she replied, smiling, and then they all settled +themselves to listen. + +'When I was a little girl,' she began, 'you'll remember, my dears, that +my home was on the edge of a moor, something like this, but wilder and +far larger and farther away from any village or town--railways I needn't +speak of, for such a thing hadn't even been dreamt of in these long-ago +days,' and the far-away look came into the old woman's eyes as she +stopped speaking for a moment. + +'Is it a hundred years ago since you were a little girl?' asked Miss +Mouse. + +Nance smiled again. + +'Not quite,' she replied, 'though none so far off it either. But long +ago as it is, I remember that first part of my life so well, so clear +and distinct it seems sometimes that I could fancy it much nearer than +things that happened a few years back only. I was an orphan, like my +poor Bob now, and I lived with my granny, same as Bob lives along wi' +me. 'My granny had come of----' here Nance hesitated, but went on +again--'after all there's no shame in it,' she said--'she'd come of +gipsy-folk, and when her husband died--he was a steady, settled sort of +man, a gardener at some big house, but he died young--she was that +lonely and lost-like, she went back to her own people with her little +son, and he married among them, so I'm three parts gipsy, you may say. +Both father and mother of mine died too--there's many that dies young +among our people, and some that lives on and on till you'd think death +had forgotten them, and that was the way with my granny. But she wasn't +so very old when the feel took her that she'd like to settle down again, +she'd got into the habit of a home of her own while her husband lived. +So one time when the vans were passing near by where had been her little +place, she takes a sudden thought that she'd like to see the fam'ly +again, and what did she do but she carried me in her arms and walked +some miles to the big house. The Squire was dead, but his lady was +living in the Dower House hard by, and the young Squire--none so young +by now--was at the hall with his wife and children. And they were +pleased to see her and kindly sorry for her troubles, and the Squire +said she should have a cottage if there was one to be had, if she'd +settle down near them. For my grandmother, for all her gipsying, was a +clever, useful woman, as good as a doctor for the cures and comforts she +could make with her knowledge of herbs and wild growing things, and +where she once gave her faithfulness she'd never draw it back again. So +it was fixed that she should make her home there again, though her own +folk were none best pleased to lose her. + +'At first we lived in two rooms in the village, but granny felt choked +like, and she found a bit of a place on the moorside which had once been +used for the gentry to eat their lunch in when they were out shooting, +and the Squire was very kind and did it up for us quite tidy, and there +we lived, though it was sometimes harder than any one knew; for all we +had was what granny made by odd days' work here and there, and by +selling her dried herbs and drinks she made of them. But as I got bigger +the quality at the big house were very kind to me--it was seldom granny +needed to buy clothes for me, and the housekeeper taught me nice ways +about a house, so that when the time came I was ready for a good +service. That's neither here nor there, though, that came afterwards; +the time I got my lucky penny I was still a slip of a child, nine or ten +at most. + +''Twas haymaking--a beautiful dry haymaking, hot and sunny, I remember +well. Granny was out with the best of them, hard at work early and late. +I went to school in the village, but there wasn't much schooling that +week or two. 'Twasn't so strict as now--an hour or two in the morning +and then we'd be told we might all run home, to help while the splendid +weather lasted. Grandmother worked for the Squire; I was always sure to +find her about the fields and have my bite of dinner with her, and then +the little ladies and gentlemen would have me play with them at what +_they_ called "haymaking," though it was a funny kind enough--more +tossing and tumbling and laughing and shouting than any help to the +haymakers. But we did enjoy it. + +'Well there came an afternoon that my granny was off working in a field +a good bit farther away than usual. She told me in the morning not to go +after her, for she didn't care for me to walk so far in the hot sun--she +was very careful of me, poor dear--and she'd asked the housekeeper if I +might have a bit of dinner at the big house, seeing that the young +ladies and gentlemen wanted me to make hay with them in what they called +their own field, a paddock just outside the kitchen garden. And there I +found them, and a rare good play we had that afternoon, finishing up +with a nice treat of cakes and milk when we were too tired and hot to +play any more.' + +'Were the cakes like those you make for us?' asked Rosamond. + +Nance nodded, well pleased. + +'You've guessed it, missie,' she said. 'They're the very same. 'Twas +there I learnt to make them. And then I was starting to go home when I +heard a cry from Miss Hetty, the youngest and sweetest, to my thinking, +of all the young ladies. "My ring, oh my ring, with the blue stone," she +called out. "My birthday ring! I've lost it. I pulled it off and was +trying if it would swing on a blade of grass--oh, do help me to find +it--my dear little ring." + +'Poor Miss Hetty--she'd only had the ring since her birthday the week +before, when her mamma had given it her, telling her to be sure not to +lose it, for it was one that had been a long time in the family. So no +wonder she was vexed about it. How we did hunt for it--we searched and +we searched where we had been playing, though feeling all the time there +was scarce any use looking for so small a thing in such a place. And +Miss Hetty cried till her eyes were all swollen at the thought of having +to go home to tell her mamma. And when I went back to my granny and told +her about it, it was all I could do not to cry too. + +'Granny had her own thoughts about most things. + +'"Go to bed, lovey," she said, "and I'll wish a wish for you into your +pillow and see what'll come of it." + +'And sure enough the next morning I'd a strange dream to tell her. + +[Illustration: 'ALL OF A SUDDEN HE STOOD STRAIGHT UP AND BEGAN THROWING +THINGS AT ME FOR ME TO CATCH--IT WAS THE LITTLE SUNS!'] + +'"Granny," I said, "this was the dream that came out of my pillow. I +thought I was standing on the moor watching the sun set, and I kept +looking at it and the beautiful colours in the sky till my eyes seemed +to be full of them, and whichever way I turned there was little suns +dancing about--on the ground and everywhere. And then I caught sight of +an odd-looking figure stooping down as if looking for something. It was +a little old hunch-backed man, and I knew without being told that he was +one of the good people. All of a sudden he stood straight up and began +throwing things at me for me to catch--it was the little suns! They came +flying towards me, red and yellow and all colours, but like soap-bubbles +they melted before I could catch them, till at last, to my great +delight, I did catch one and held it tight in my hand, when it felt firm +and hard, like a round coin. + +'"'I've got it,' I cried, and the old man laughed. + +'"'Keep it,' he said, 'it's not everybody that catches a lucky penny. +And maybe it'll help you to get back missie's ring for her,' and with +that I awoke. But oh, granny," I went on, "it can't be all a dream, for +look here," and I held out my hand to her, "I _have_ got something--see +I've got a real little piece of money." + +'And that very coin is the one I've worn round my neck for all these +many, many years.' + +'What _did_ your granny say?' asked the children breathlessly. + +'Not very much,' Nance went on, 'she smiled and told me I was a lucky +girl, and I must think on what I'd been told by the old man in my dream. +And so I did. Before the sun was any height in the sky, long before the +young ladies at the big house would be stirring, I was up at the paddock +again searching for the ring. And granny told me what to do. I was to +put the lucky penny as near as I could guess in the very centre of the +field and then to walk round it in widening circles, always looking +carefully downwards while I said this rhyme to the good people-- + + Here's my lucky penny, take it an ye will, + But give me back the treasure hidden by you still. + +All this I did, and----' + +'What? do say quick,' cried the children. + +'Before I had made many circles I saw something glittering, and stooping +down there it was--the tiny ring with the blue stone, sparkling in the +morning sunshine. You can fancy how pleased I was, and how I hurried up +to the house with the good news for Miss Hetty, who had just awakened. +The ring was really hanging on a blade of grass, just as she said. Oh, +she _was_ delighted!' + +'And how did you get the silver penny back again?' asked Pat. 'You +couldn't have looked for it, for you see you had promised it to the +fairies, hadn't you?' + +'Yes, of course, and one must always keep to their bargain with the +fairies,' said Nance. 'No, I didn't look for it, but late that evening +when granny was closing the shutters, she called me to look at something +sparkling in the moonlight on the window-sill. It was my lucky penny. +And from that day to this I've never been without it, and many a time +it's seemed to give me fresh courage and spirit in the midst of +troubles, and one thing is true--all my life through I've never been +brought to such a pass as to have to part with it, though now and then +the need has come very near. But something's always turned up just in +the nick of time to save it; I've always pulled through, though I had an +ailing husband for many a year, and the father of poor Bob there, my +only son, was cut down in the prime of life, he and his young wife, +leaving me another young boy to bring up when I was more fit myself to +be sleeping quiet and peaceful in the old churchyard.' + +And old Nance wiped away a gentle tear or two that were struggling down +her brown cheeks. + +Little Rosamond stole her hand into Nance's. + +'You've got friends now, haven't you? And I'm sure Uncle Ted or Mr. +Hervey would help you about Bob any time if you needed help.' + +'Yes, missie dear, I've much to be thankful for, and I hope and trust +poor Bob'll take to steady ways like his father and grandfather before +him, though there's times I worry about him a bit--he's a loving boy, +but he's got the gipsy restlessness in him too.' + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A GREAT SACRIFICE + + +Nance's story had taken longer to tell than might seem the case. For she +had stopped now and then, and the children had asked questions and made +remarks. So they were all a little startled when, glancing out of doors, +they saw how fast the daylight was fading and the twilight creeping on. + +'We must be going,' said Pat, starting up, 'and there's Justin not back, +and if he's late we'll _all_ be scolded. Papa has made a regular rule +that we're all to come in together.' + +Nance looked anxious. + +'Bob's that feather-brained,' she said, for she never liked to blame the +Hervey boys. 'But you'd best start, my dearies, and I'll whistle. It'll +bring them back if they're anywhere near, and I don't fancy they're +farther off than one of the farms straight across from here. And will it +be next holiday you'll come for some more of old Nance's little cakes +and long tongue?' + +'Not next half-holiday,' said Miss Mouse with some regret,' for Auntie +Mattie is going to take me to--the town--where there are shops, you +know--there's something I want to buy, _very_ particular.' + +'Ah, well, you'll always be welcome--welcome as the flowers in May +whenever you do come,' said their old friend, and she stood at the door +whistling, a curious clear whistle which carried far, as the three set +off for home. + +'I do hope Justin will overtake us,' said Miss Mouse. 'It would be such +a pity if your papa was vexed, for then he might say we mustn't go to +old Nance's any more. Wasn't it queer about the lucky penny? Do you +think the fairy man really brought it back or that it was a sort of +little trick of her granny's?' + +'I don't know,' said Pat. 'I was wondering about it, but I wouldn't have +liked to say to her that perhaps it was a trick.' + +'I'll tell you what,' said Archie, with the tone of one who has quite +settled the question, '_I_ believe the grandmother herself was partly a +fairy--gipsies are a little like fairies, you know.' + +Neither Pat nor Rosamond laughed at this, for in their hearts they had a +feeling that Nance herself had something--I won't say 'uncanny,' for the +old woman was too sweet and kind for that word quite to suit her--but +something not quite like other people about her. But none of the three +would have hinted at anything of the kind before Justin--he would only +have made fun of it. And there was no time to say more, for almost as +Archie left off speaking, they heard rapid footsteps behind them, and +then a whistle and then Justin's voice, calling to them to stop till he +came up to them. + +'It's a good thing you've come,' said Pat. 'I don't know what we could +have said to papa--he'd have been sure to ask why we hadn't kept all +together. What have you done with Bob?' + +'He's looking after the ferrets, of course,' said Justin. 'We were only +at Bream's farm, and Bob heard Nance's whistle. We did have a jolly good +rat-hunt,' and he was beginning a description, when the others stopped +him. + +'Archie and I don't want to hear about it,' said Pat, 'and I'm sure Miss +Mouse doesn't.' + +'She has a fellow-feeling for rats perhaps,' said Justin, laughing at +what he thought his own wit. + +'No girl would like horrid things like ratting,' said Pat, 'and if papa +knew----' he stopped short. + +'Doesn't Mr. Hervey know that you've got ferrets?' asked Rosamond. + +'I don't suppose he's ever thought about it,' said Justin; 'he's never +said we weren't to have them. It's our own money--the only thing was +that mamma doesn't like them kept at home.' + +'Oh then,' said Miss Mouse, 'you've managed to pay them, have you?' + +'Not _all_ the money,' said Justin, hesitating a little,' and indeed Bob +was saying to-day we'll have to be thinking about it. He's had rather to +keep out of the way of the place where he got them, for fear of the +people bothering.' + +'You won't let poor Bob get into any trouble, will you?' said Rosamond +anxiously. + +'Of course not,' said Justin; 'all the same it was he that made the +bargain, and he knew we hadn't got all the money ready. Of course I +don't _want_ him to get into any bother.' + +'You'd better take care,' said Archie, 'papa was saying that Bob's +getting spoken against a good deal, though he didn't exactly say how. I +don't believe the least bit that he's a naughty boy, but it would be +too bad to let him get into a scrape for us--or for you, rather, +Justin.' + +'It's no more for me than for you,' said Justin. 'You're a turncoat, as +I've told you, Archie. You were just as pleased about the ferrets as I +was, at the beginning.' + +Archie did not reply; and it certainly would not have been a good time +to begin a quarrel--if _ever_ there is a good time for a bad thing?--for +they were just at home by now, and Hec and Ger met them on their way in +with the news that Aunt Mattie had come for Miss Mouse and that +schoolroom tea was quite ready. Rosamond had to hurry over her tea, as +Mrs. Caryll did not think it worth while to 'put up,' and yet it was too +chilly to keep the horse standing long. + +'You shall have a little extra supper to-night, dear, to make up,' she +said. 'You shall come in to pudding with Uncle Ted and me, instead of +only to dessert.' + +'Thank you, auntie,' said the little girl. 'I wasn't very hungry at +tea-time, for I had two cakes at old Nance's and some beautiful milk.' + +Mrs. Caryll turned round in some surprise--they were in the brougham on +their way home--'Cakes and milk at old Nance's,' she repeated. 'I +didn't know the boys were allowed to go there. Why have you never told +me about it before, or is this the first time you have been?' + +'Oh no,' Miss Mouse replied, for she had no thought of concealment or +deception, beyond her wish not to chatter about the Hervey children's +affairs unnecessarily--what Justin called 'tell-taleing'--'oh no, +auntie. I think it's the third time we've been there. The boys often +go--old Nance is very good and kind, and she tells us such pretty +stories.' + +Mrs. Caryll felt a little perplexed. It seemed curious that Rosamond +should never have spoken of these visits before--and yet--it was so +impossible to think of the little girl as anything but frank and +truthful that her aunt did not even like to repeat her question as to +why she had kept silence about the cottage on the moor. It would seem +like doubting Rosamond. So for a moment or two Aunt Mattie sat thinking +without speaking. + +She had not long to wait. + +'Auntie,' said Rosamond, in a puzzled tone, 'it wasn't wrong of me not +to tell you before about our going to see Nance, was it? It was only +that Justin explained to me that boys are different from girls--they +don't like every little thing they do to be told over at home, and I +have seen for myself that Miss Ward is rather fussy. Justin and Pat call +it "tell-taleing," so I thought I just wouldn't talk about them _unless_ +they did anything naughty, and even then I wouldn't have told without +telling _them_ I was going to tell, though I'm sure they wouldn't do +anything naughty, not Pat and Archie, anyway. And I really don't see +much of Jus--he doesn't care for stories, and he goes off with Bob and +the ferrets.' + +'Ferrets,' repeated Mrs. Caryll, 'have they got ferrets?' + +'Yes,' Rosamond replied. 'I've not seen them, but I know they've got +them. And they don't keep them at Moor Edge, because Mrs. Hervey doesn't +like them. It isn't tell-taleing of me to have told you about them, is +it, auntie?' she asked anxiously. + +Mrs. Caryll felt distressed at the little girl's rather troubled tone. + +'Of course not, dearie,' she said lightly. 'You may trust me not to make +mischief. I quite see that it has been a little difficult for you.' + +In her own mind she decided, however, that she would take measures to +find out quietly, without involving little Rosamond, something more as +to these very independent doings of her nephews, especially Justin. + +'They had no right to take her to the Crags' cottage without special and +distinct leave,' she thought to herself, 'though I feel pretty sure no +harm would come to them through old Nance.' + +For Aunt Mattie had often seen and talked to the old woman, and had a +high opinion of her, though she thought it a pity that Nance kept on +such distant terms with her neighbours, and she feared too that his +grandmother was not quite strict enough with Bob, as there was no doubt +that the prejudice against the boy's wild, untameable ways was doing him +harm, and would do him still more harm in the future unless it could be +got rid of. + +'I will talk it over with Ted,' she said to herself. 'He always sees +ways out of difficulties. Now it would be the very making of the boy if +we could find a place for him in our stables under Peterson.' + +Peterson was Mr. Caryll's coachman, and a very superior man, for he had +travelled with his master at one time--not like Griffiths at Moor Edge, +who, though most trustworthy in every way, had never been very many +miles distant from home in his life, and was full of all the prejudices +and even superstitions of that part of the country. + +But Aunt Mattie kept all these thoughts in her own mind, and after a +minute or two's silence she began to talk to Rosamond about other +things, as she did not want the little girl to trouble herself about +what she had told or not told of the boys' affairs. + +'Next Saturday,' said Mrs. Caryll, 'I shall have to drive to +Weadmere--there is a better toyshop there than at Crowley. Would you +like to go with me and try if we can get a ball for little Ger like +yours? And you have never been at Weadmere, I think--it would be a +little change for you.' + +Rosamond's face brightened up at once. + +'Oh, thank you, auntie,' she said; 'yes, I should like very much to go +and to see the toyshop, because, you know, there'll soon be Christmas +presents to think about, and it would be a very good thing to find out +in plenty of time where I could get them best. I did tell the boys I +didn't think I could spend next half-holiday with them, because I was +sure you wouldn't forget about the ball for Ger, auntie. I've got the +money quite ready.' + +She was again her own bright womanly little self, eager and delighted +in the thought of doing something or anything for others. + +'And I'm getting on nicely with my savings for Christmas,' she chattered +on happily; 'you know, auntie, I don't wear out nearly so many gloves +here as when I was with mamma in London and Paris, so I really can save +a lot.' + +'All right, darling,' said her aunt, 'we shall go to Weadmere on +Saturday and you shall have a good look round. It is wise to prepare in +plenty of time, for I shall be sending a box to your mother very soon, +and the Christmas presents can go in it. By the bye, how is the lamp-mat +you are making for her getting on?' + +'Oh, quite well,' Miss Mouse replied. 'Miss Ward lets me do a little +every day while we're reading aloud. It'll be finished very soon.' + +'That's a good thing,' said Mrs. Caryll, and by her tone Rosamond felt +satisfied that her aunt was quite pleased with her, and it was a very +contented and light-hearted Miss Mouse who fell asleep that evening at +Caryll after her usual pleasant half-hour or so with her uncle and aunt +before bed-time. + +Mrs. Caryll did not forget to talk over things with her husband when +they were alone, and he listened attentively, as he knew Aunt Mattie +was too sensible to imagine or exaggerate such matters, and he was +really interested in the Hervey boys. + +'Yes,' he said, 'it might be, as you say, the making of Bob Crag to get +him into some good steady place where there would be no prejudice +against him, and yet where he would be looked after with some +strictness. I don't myself believe there's any harm in him. To tell you +the truth,' and here he hesitated a little--'to tell you the truth I +feel more anxious about Justin. There is a touch of the bully in him +that I don't like, and-- I don't feel sure that he is always quite +straightforward and truthful.' + +'That would be worse than anything,' said Aunt Mattie, rather sadly. 'I +have tried to draw him and Pat more together, and I think Pat _has_ been +more companionable. But I don't feel happy about Justin, either. I don't +like his trying to stop little Rosamond's innocent chatter--it is a pity +to put it into a child's head that there _can_ be such a thing as +"tell-taleing" when children are simple and obedient.' + +'Yes,' said her husband, 'I agree with you. I will think it over, and +perhaps I may manage to have some talk with Justin one of these days. +He will soon be going away to school, and if he has been getting out of +good habits at home in any way, it will not be a strengthening +preparation for the new trials and temptations of school life.' + +And as Mrs. Caryll knew that she could depend upon Uncle Ted always to +do more rather than less of anything he promised, she too went to bed +that night with an easier mind, little thinking that a shock was on its +way to startle selfish Justin far more than any words, however serious +and earnest, of his uncle's. + +On Saturday afternoon, as it was a fairly good day, though cold and not +without signs of snow not very far away, Mrs. Caryll and Rosamond set +off, as had been planned, for Weadmere, the other little town for +shopping in the neighbourhood. It was rather a larger place than +Crowley, though not so prettily placed, but Rosamond enjoyed the drive +in a new direction, and was eager to pay a visit to the +'toy-and-fancy-shop,' as it was called. + +In those days a half-holiday once a week for shop-keepers was not as +generally the rule as it is now, but at Weadmere it had for long been +the custom to close on Thursday afternoons. And Saturday was quite a +lively day in the little town, as the country folk came in to make their +purchases for the following week. So Rosamond found it very amusing; +even at the draper's, where she went in with her aunt--and a draper's is +not usually counted an interesting kind of shop by children--she was +much entertained by watching and listening to the conversation of the +farmers' wives and others over their purchases. The way they tugged at +merino, and rubbed calico between their fingers to see that there was +not too much 'dressing' in it, made her feel as if it would be very +difficult indeed to be sure of a 'genuine article,' as the shopman +called all his stuffs in turn. + +At this shop and at the toyshop, where, to her great delight, Rosamond +found just the kind and size of ball she had set her heart on for little +Gervais, the proprietor made one of his boys go out to hold the pony. +But after this Mrs. Caryll had to drive to a less busy part of the town, +to order some wire baskets to hang ferns in, at a working tinsmith's. +And here there was no odd boy in the shop. She did not like to leave +Rosamond alone outside, as she was afraid of the pony starting, but just +as she was looking about her what to do, she caught sight of a little +fellow sauntering down the street, and called out to him. He ran up at +once. + +'Will you hold the pony for a few minutes?' she was saying, when +Rosamond interrupted her. + +'It's Bob, auntie,' she said, 'Bob Crag. Of course he'll hold Tony, and +may I stay out? I'm quite warm, and I've got the parcels all nicely +packed under the rug.' + +'Very well,' replied Mrs. Caryll, for she knew the tinsmith's would not +be interesting to her little niece, and with a friendly nod to Bob, who +was tugging at his cap, she went into the shop, or workroom, for it was +scarcely like a shop. + +Miss Mouse was quite excited at meeting Bob. + +'How funny for you to be here,' she said. 'Have you come to do some +messages for your grandmother?' + +'No thank you, miss,' said the boy, meaning to be very polite. 'Granny +buys all she wants at Crowley; no, I didn't come here for no messages of +hers.' + +Something in the sound of his voice made the little girl look at him +more closely, and she saw that he had been crying, though he turned away +quickly and began fiddling at the pony's harness as an excuse for +hiding his face. But Miss Mouse was not going to be put off like that. + +[Illustration: 'BOB,' SHE SAID, HE PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR HER.] + +'Bob,' she said. He pretended not to hear her. + +'Bob,' again more loudly and determinedly this time. + +'Beg pardon, miss, did you speak?' said the boy. + +'Yes, Bob, I did, and you heard me. You were only pretending not to, +because you didn't want me to see that there's something the matter with +you. Look at me, Bob,' and he dared not disobey. When Rosamond spoke in +that queenly way she was very awe-inspiring. + +'I see,' she said, 'you have been crying, Bob. Now what is the matter? +Have you been doing anything naughty, or what is it?' + +He brushed his coat sleeve across his eyes, and tried to choke down a +sob. + +'No, miss,' he managed at last to get out; 'leastways I never meant to +do anything wrong-- I never did, for certain sure, I never did. And I +dursn't tell you, miss, for fear of worser trouble-- I really dursn't, +unless----' he looked up, his eyes brimming over--his sweet, pathetic +dark eyes; and Rosamond's tender heart grew very sore. + +'Unless what?' she said. + +''Twouldn't be right to say it, I don't think,' he replied hesitatingly; +''twas only if you'd not mind promising not to tell--it'd make such a +trouble up to Moor Edge. I dursn't try to see Master Justin, and I don't +believe he can do aught to put it right. But poor granny, she'd be that +worrited, and I know she's a bit short just now.' + +'Short of what? What do you mean?' asked the little girl. + +'Short of money, miss, to be sure,' replied Bob. 'I dursn't ask her for +it--it'd put her about so, and she'd worry terrible about it all.' + +'But I don't understand what it is,' said Rosamond. 'I do wish you'd +explain quickly.' Then, as a sudden idea flashed into her mind--'Oh,' +she exclaimed, 'can it be about the ferrets? Have you got into trouble +about them? If you have, it's all Justin's fault, and he should get you +out of it.' + +Again Bob brushed his sleeve across his eyes. + +'He's done all he could, he has indeed, miss,' he said. 'It's them I +bought the creatures from that's making all the trouble--there's stories +about, you see, again' me--that I've been ferreting for rabbits--and +that'd be _stealing_; and the man who sold them to me says he'll have me +up for it if I don't pay all that's still owing very first thing +to-morrow morning. And he's put on to the price--he has for sure, though +he says he hasn't. It's six shilling still to pay, and how or where I'm +to get it, goodness only knows,' and here Bob's feelings entirely +overcame him, and he burst into tears. + +Miss Mouse had hard work to keep back her own--she could not bear to see +the change in the poor boy, who had always before seemed so full of life +and spirits. And she knew that all he had done and risked had been out +of his unselfish devotion to Justin. Half unconsciously her hand went +into her pocket, where, safely nestling, was her little purse; but she +did not draw it out, for she remembered that it only contained sixpence. +Miss Mouse was a careful little person; she kept her money in a tiny +cash-box, and only took out what she needed to use. The ball for Gervais +had cost a shilling, and she had brought eighteenpence with her. + +'Six shillings,' she repeated, 'it's a lot of money!' + +'That it is,' said Bob, with despair in his voice. + +Miss Mouse considered. She had been hoping to have ten shillings for her +Christmas presents. There was still to come her December pocket-money, +out of which she was expected to buy her gloves, and in the country, as +she had told Aunt Mattie, gloves last much longer, so that she was not +far off her goal. But six shillings! That would leave her at most only +four. It was something very like a sob that the little maiden choked +down before she spoke again. + +'Bob,' she said, 'I'll-- I'll lend it you--or give it you, for I don't +see how you can ever pay it me back, unless--unless Justin does,' and, +to tell the truth, she had small hopes of Justin. He was selfish and +thoughtless. + +Bob looked up at her with brimming over eyes. + +'Miss-- O miss!' was all he could say. + +'Yes,' she repeated, 'I'll give it you. I couldn't bear you to get into +trouble, or for poor Nance to be unhappy. She's been so good to us. I +haven't got the money with me. We must plan how you can fetch it, for I +suppose you must have it to-night?' + +'Or to-morrow morning, miss, so early that I couldn't disturb you. Yes, +to-night would be best, and I _will_ pay it you back, miss, first +earnings as ever I get. You'll see--but--but won't your folk--beg +pardon--won't the lady and gentleman at Caryll Place be angry with you, +miss?' + +Rosamond considered. + +'No,' she replied, 'it's my very own money. But don't trouble about that +part of it, Bob. I'll take care not to get you into any fresh trouble, +nor,' with a little smile, 'myself either.' + +And in her own mind Miss Mouse decided that once she was sure poor Bob +was safe, she would tell Aunt Mattie 'all about it.' 'I don't think that +would be a wrong kind of tell-taleing,' she decided. 'It wouldn't be +right not to tell, for Justin shouldn't have risked poor Bob's getting +into trouble. I'll tell auntie _everything_, and then she'll know how to +do without making Justin angry with Bob.' + +And when Mrs. Caryll came out of the tinsmith's Bob was standing quietly +by the pony's head--he had quite left off crying. She thanked him with a +pleasant nod and smile, and hoped she had not kept him waiting too long. + +'I didn't give him anything for holding Tony,' she said to Rosamond. 'I +think perhaps it would have hurt his feelings.' + +'Oh, I'm sure he'd rather do it for nothing, auntie,' answered the +little girl. + +But she said no more about Bob. She meant to do right, and she thought +she was doing right, but yet it gave her a rather unhappy feeling not +to be able at once to tell her aunt the whole story. + +She had planned with Bob to meet him that very evening with the money, +so she was glad that Mrs. Caryll, finding it a little later than she +thought, drove home at a good pace. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +OUT ON THE MOOR + + +Uncle Ted was on the look-out for them when they got home. + +'It's cold, isn't it?' he said. 'Still I don't think we shall have snow +just yet,' and he glanced up at the sky. 'I want you, as soon as you can +spare me a few minutes, Mattie, to look over these letters we were +speaking about.' + +'I shall be down directly,' said Mrs. Caryll. 'Run off, Rosamond dear, +and get ready for your tea. It is pretty sure to be ready for you.' + +And so it was. Everything seemed to fit in for the little girl's plans. +The maid who waited on her was not in Rosamond's own room when she went +upstairs, so Miss Mouse contented herself with taking off her hat and +jacket, keeping on her boots to be ready for her expedition to meet Bob. +She also got out a fur-lined cloak, which had been put away as too +shabby for anything but a wrap, and a little close-fitting fur cap to +match. These she carried downstairs and hid them in a corner of the sofa +in the small breakfast-room which was considered her own quarters. And +safe in her pocket nestled her oldest purse--Miss Mouse liked to have +'best' and 'common' among nearly all her possessions--containing the +exact sum, six shillings, which she had promised Bob. + +She ate her tea quickly; her little heart was beating faster than usual +with excitement, some fear, and a good deal of real regret at having to +part with her precious savings, though, on the other hand, there was a +feeling of great pleasure at being able to get poor Bob out of trouble, +and to save his kind old grandmother the distress of mind she would +certainly have felt. + +For, as I have said before, Miss Mouse was a very sensible little girl. +She quite understood that any trouble of the kind would have done +special harm to poor Nance and her grandson, on account of the prejudice +already felt against them. + +Her heart began to beat still more quickly when she found herself out of +doors, and though she was so warmly wrapped up, a queer cold feeling +ran down her back, and her arms seemed all shivery. + +'I'll take a good run,' she thought. 'That will make me feel better, and +I've scarcely walked or run at all to-day.' + +So it did. She was a strong little girl in many ways, and accustomed to +plenty of exercise, and the keen fresh air soon made her glow all over, +as she ran along the smooth, hard road. + +Bob had fixed on a certain corner as the best meeting-place. This was +the end of a short lane, which led on to the moor at a point Rosamond +had never come out at. But it was easy to find, and a short distance +farther on, by following one of the small paths in a line with the lane, +the boy had explained to her that she would soon come to a sort of dip +in the ground, where there was a thick clump of shrubs. + +'And there, missie, if I don't meet you before, you'll be certain sure +to see me a-comin' over from the other side, as fast as I can get along. +It won't be dark by then--and p'raps it'll be a moonlight night, unless +the clouds thicken up for snow.' + +It did seem, all the same, rather gloomy in the lane--'because of the +trees and the hedges,' thought Miss Mouse--and certainly when she got +to the end and came out on the moor, it looked a little lighter. + +She stood still and looked about her, drawing a deep breath. But she +felt a little disappointed; the moor here seemed quite different from up +at Moor Edge--it was so much lower, more like a rough field. + +'I don't care for it a bit down here,' she thought. 'And then it's so +much, much farther to get to, than at the boys'. Why, there you run +almost straight out of the garden on to the dear real moor. I quite know +the way Archie and the others feel about it.' + +She trotted on--straight on, as Bob had directed, and before very long +she came to the little hollow with the clump of bushes in the centre +which he had described. But there was no Bob there, and at first her +heart went down a little--supposing he had not been able to come, +supposing the people he owed the money to had refused after all to wait +till to-morrow morning, and had done something dreadful--put him in +prison, perhaps, for Miss Mouse's ideas as to what might or might not be +done to people, poor boys especially, who owed money, were very vague, +or gone to frighten old Nance--oh dear, dear, what a pity it was, +thought the little girl, that she had not taken her purse and all her +riches with her to Weadmere that afternoon. Then she might have given +Bob the six shillings at once, and not run any risk of delay, or have +needed to come out to meet him in the--yes, it was almost getting to be +the dark--and Rosamond gave a little shiver. But at that moment a +welcome sound fell on her ears--the sound of rapidly running feet. She +heard the boy before she saw him, but he it was. A small dark figure, +darker than the dusky ground, soon became visible, running as fast as he +could, and, as soon as he caught sight of her, calling out breathlessly, +'O miss, O miss, have you been waiting long?' and as soon as he came +nearer, out poured a torrent of explanations as to how they had kept him +waiting and waiting for the things he had been at Weadmere to fetch for +the 'missus' at the farm where he worked. + +'Well, never mind now,' said sensible Miss Mouse, 'I've got the money +all right. Here it is, Bob, just exactly six shillings. I did it up into +a little packet inside my purse, but you can count it if you like.' + +'No, no, thank you, miss,' said the boy. 'I'm sure it's all right, and +as like's not if we undid it, it'd drop out, and we'd have hard work to +find it again in this brushwood. No, it's sure to be all right--and I'll +never be able to thank you enough, that I won't, not if I live to be as +old as gran herself.' + +He was intensely grateful, there was no mistake about that, and already +the little girl felt rewarded for the sacrifice she had made. Bob was +evidently anxious too to get off, as he was still carrying the packages +he had been to fetch, having come by this very roundabout way from the +town, and he was anxious, too, to get 'miss' home, for fear of her being +'scolded' through what she had so kindly done for him. + +They turned to go. + +'I wish you could come home with me, Bob,' said Rosamond, 'it does look +so dark. I don't mind here or on the road. It's the bit of lane that's +so dark.' + +Bob looked about and considered. + +'I'm afraid I just dursn't go round by your place, miss,' he said. 'I +must run all the way or the missus'll be terrible put out, though----' + +'No, no,' interrupted the little lady. 'I wouldn't let you. Why, it +would be worse than owing the money for the ferrets if you got scolded +and lost your place perhaps----' + +'I have it,' exclaimed the boy. 'If you don't mind comin' out a bit +farther up the road, you needn't have no lane at all. And I daresay +it'll be quicker in the end, for you'd almost have to _feel_ your way +along the lane by now--it is a very dark bit, I know. And I can run with +you till I put you on the straight path to the road.' + +'Oh yes,' said Rosamond gladly, 'I'd far rather do that. Come along +quick then, Bob.' + +He set off, running, though not nearly as fast as before, in front of +her, looking back every moment or two to see if she was following all +right. Neither spoke, as Rosamond did not want to waste either her own +or her companion's breath. + +'I shall have to run as fast as ever I can when I get on to the smooth +road,' she thought. + +So for upwards of a quarter of a mile the two trotted on in silence, +till Bob pulled up. + +'Miss,' he said, 'this is where I have to turn.' As a matter of fact he +had been out of his way till now. 'If you go straight on, you can't miss +now. See,' and he pointed before him in the gloom, 'the hedge stops a +bit farther on, and there's a clear piece of grass on to the road.' + +'Ye-es,' said Miss Mouse, peering before her, 'I think I see.' + +'Anyway you'll see it all right as soon as you come to it, and you go +straight till then.' + +'Yes, yes,' said Rosamond, anxious to see him off. 'Take care of the +money, Bob, and the first time we go to see your grandmother I shall +expect to hear from you that it's all right. Now, run off as fast as you +can and I will too.' + +He started at a good pace, and as Miss Mouse trotted in the opposite +direction, from time to time she looked over her shoulder, till the +ever-lessening black speck that she knew to be Bob had altogether melted +into the gloom. Bob's eyes were keener than hers; as he ran, he too kept +glancing backwards to watch the little figure of the child towards whom +his wild but true heart was bursting with gratitude. He distinguished +her for some distance, and when he lost sight of her it seemed to be +rather suddenly, and for a moment or two, hurried though he was, he +stood still with a slight misgiving. + +'I saw her half a minute ago,' he thought. 'She must have set to +running very fast. I hope nothing's wrong. She can't have fallen and +hurt herself,' and at the mere idea he had to put force on himself not +to rush back again to see. 'Oh no, it can't be that--why, if she'd hurt +herself, she'd have called out and I'd have heard her. It's got so +still--and oh, my, it's cold. I shouldn't wonder if it started snowing +before morning.' + +And off set Bob again, with a lighter heart than if he had yielded to +his impulse and run back, setting his 'missus's' scolding at defiance, +to see that no misadventure had happened to his generous little lady. + +Alas! this was what had happened--in the gloom, fast turning into night, +even out here on the open ground it was impossible to see clearly where +one was going. It was even more dangerous in a sense than if it had been +quite dark, for then Miss Mouse would have stepped more cautiously. But +as all was open before her she ran fearlessly, forgetting that here and +there across the white sandy path the low-growing little plants which +mingled with the heather and bracken sent a trail across to the other +side, in which nothing was easier than to catch one's foot. Once or +twice she nearly did so, but no harm coming of it, she paid no +attention to the momentary trip up, and ran on again fearlessly, even +faster than before. So that when a worse catch came--a long, sturdy +branch sprawling right across, which clutched at the dainty little foot, +refusing to let it go--she fell, poor darling, with a good deal of +violence, twisting her ankle as she did so in a way which hurt her +terribly. At first she thought she had broken her leg, but the pain went +off a little after she had lain still for a few minutes, and she began +to take heart again and managed to get up. It was really not a bad +sprain--scarcely a sprain at all--but she was tired and cold and a +little frightened, for it was now so dark, and the fall had jarred her +all over; her head felt giddy and confused. + +What happened was not, I think, to be wondered at--poor Miss Mouse took +a wrong path, and instead of keeping straight on in the line Bob had +started her, she turned, without knowing it, almost directly sideways. +For two of the little paths crossed each other, as ill-luck would have +it, close to where she had fallen. + +Her ankle was not so very painful; with care not to turn her foot in one +particular way, she found she could hobble on pretty well. But, oh dear, +how far off the road seemed! And Bob had told her she would reach it +in a few minutes. And _how_ cold it was--were those flakes of snow +falling on her face? She wished now that she had called out very loudly +when she fell-- Bob might have heard her; but she had been afraid of +getting him into great trouble at the farm if he had run back to her and +made himself so late. Now she began to feel as if that wouldn't have +mattered--Uncle Ted would have put it right somehow for him--nothing +would matter much if she _could_ but get to the road and know that home +was straight before her. Perhaps some cart would come past and she would +get the man to stop and take her in--for oh, she _was_ so tired! She +walked more and more slowly, and at last-- + +[Illustration: AND--WERE THOSE SNOW-FLAKES AGAIN?] + +'I _must_ sit down and rest for a minute,' she thought, 'even if it is +cold, and p'raps if I can unfasten my boot, it wouldn't hurt so.' +Yes--it was delicious to sit still, even for a minute, and--were those +snow-flakes again, or leaves? No--it couldn't be leaves; there were no +trees about here--how stupid of her to think--to think what? Of course +it couldn't be leaves, or flakes--she was in bed. They--they couldn't +get in through the window, could they? She must be dreaming--how silly +she was--how---- + + * * * * * + +'What is the matter? What do you say?' asked Mr. Hervey that evening +about eight o'clock, when, with a startled face, the footman came into +the drawing-room, where he and Mrs. Hervey and the three elder boys were +sitting. + +'It's a groom from Caryll Place, if you please, sir,' the man replied. +'They've sent over to say as Miss Rosamond, little Miss Caryll, can't be +found, and do the young gentlemen know anything about it?' + +All the Herveys started to their feet, with different exclamations of +distress. + +'_Rosamond_, little Rosamond,' cried Mrs. Hervey. + +'Miss Mouse _lost_!' exclaimed the boys, while Mr. Hervey went to the +door, and called to the Caryll Place groom, who was standing, anxious +and uneasy, at the door which led to the offices. + +'What's all this?' he inquired. + +The man came forward and told all there was to tell. Miss Rosamond had +been at Weadmere with Mrs. Caryll that afternoon, had driven home, had +her tea as usual, etc. All that we know already. But when the time came +for her to be dressed to go down to the dining-room, she was not to be +found. They had searched the house through, thinking she might be +playing some trick, though it wasn't like her to do so; then the +grounds, making inquiries at the cottages about--all in vain; and now he +had been sent off here with some hope--what, he did not know--that at +Moor Edge he might hear something. + +'Of course not,' Mr. Hervey replied impatiently, for he was very +troubled and it made him cross, 'we should not have kept her here +without sending word at once.' + +He glanced at the boys--they were all three standing there, pale-faced +and open-mouthed, Archie on the point of tears. + +'Go back at once, and say we know nothing,' Mr. Hervey went on, 'but +that I am following with Mr. Justin to help in the search.' + +'Papa, papa, mayn't we come too?' Pat and Archie entreated, but their +father shook his head, and in five minutes he and Jus were off in the +dog-cart to Caryll. + +Justin was very silent. + +'Can you think of anywhere she can be?' asked his father, 'or any +explanation? The child can't be stolen--what good would it do any one to +steal her?' + +Justin was in some ways a slow-witted boy. + +'I can't think of anything, I'm sure,' he said. But a confused feeling +was working at the back of his mind. _Could_ it have anything to do with +Bob and the ferrets? He knew that Bob was getting anxious as to paying +the rest of the money, though he did not know how bad this anxiety had +become--he knew, too, that he himself had been selfish and to some +extent deceitful in the matter. But he could not see clearly how the two +troubles could be mixed up, so he put the idea out of his mind, not +sorry to do so--that was Justin's way. + +'No, I can't think of anything,' he repeated. + +It had been snowing lightly, and now again a few flakes began to fall. + +'Do you think it's coming on to snow, papa?' he inquired, partly to +change the subject, partly because it came into his mind--for he was not +a heartless boy--that _if_ Miss Mouse was lost anywhere out of doors a +snowstorm would certainly not mend matters. + +Mr. Hervey looked up with some anxiety. + +'No,' he said, 'I think not, and I certainly hope not if that poor child +is by any chance out of doors.' + +They were soon at Caryll Place. Here all was miserable anxiety, for so +far no traces of the poor little girl were to be found, though there +were men out in all directions. Mr. Caryll had been out some distance +himself, but had just come back for a moment to see Aunt Mattie before +driving off to Weadmere to speak to the police. Aunt Mattie, choking +down her tears, repeated to Justin's father all there was to tell--how +Miss Mouse must have gone out of her own accord, as her warm cloak and +cap were missing, and how she had evidently not wanted any one to know, +adding, 'The _only_ thing at all unusual to-day was our meeting Bob Crag +in the town, and Rosamond may have been talking to him while I was in +the shop. _Can_ he have anything to do with it? Justin, you know him +well?' + +She looked keenly at Justin, and she fancied he grew red. He hesitated +before answering. + +'I-- I don't see how, auntie,' he said at last. Then he went on more +courageously. 'Bob is quite a good boy--he really is, though people +speak against him. I'm sure he _never_ would have tried to get money +from--from Miss Mouse, in any naughty way, or anything like that,' and, +in spite of himself, his voice faltered as he uttered the pet name of +their little friend. + +His father turned upon him sharply. + +'Get money from her,' he repeated. 'What do you mean? What put such a +thing in your head?' + +'I-- I don't----' Justin was beginning, when Uncle Ted interrupted. + +'I think we are wasting time,' he said; 'the whys and wherefores can be +gone into afterwards--the thing to do first is to find our poor darling. +If there is the least chance of the Crags knowing anything about her +some one had better go there at once. Mattie, I wonder you did not +mention the boy, Bob, having spoken to her this afternoon, before?' + +'It only now came into my mind,' she replied gently. She was too unhappy +to feel hurt at Uncle Ted's tone; she knew he was so terribly unhappy +himself. Justin felt himself growing more and more miserable. + +'Uncle Ted,' he exclaimed, 'may I go to the Crags? I can run very +quickly, and----.' But his uncle and father had already left the hall, +where they had all been standing, and had gone off again, probably to +give fresh orders in the stables. Only Aunt Mattie was still there, and +she had sat down on a chair by the large fire and was shading her eyes +with her hand. She was feeling dreadfully tired and more and more +wretched. + +'If the darling has been out in the cold all this time,' she was saying +to herself, 'it is enough to kill her, even if no accident has happened +to her,' and all sorts of miserable thoughts came into her mind--of the +letters that might have to be written to Rosamond's father and mother, +telling--oh, it was too dreadful to think of _what_ might not have to be +told! She sat there motionless, except that now and then she shivered, +though not with cold. Justin saw that she was not thinking of or +noticing him at all, and he suddenly made up his mind to wait no longer. +He crossed the hall softly, and in another moment was out in the dark +drive in front of the house, unseen by any one. But once there, he +turned quickly, and ran, at the top of his speed, his eyes, as he went, +growing accustomed to the gloom, in the direction of the bit of lane +leading towards the moor, which Miss Mouse had traversed a few hours +earlier. Thence--as Justin knew well, even by the little light there +was--he could, by careful noticing of some landmarks, make his way to +the 'real' moor, as the boys called it, for the more or less grassy part +nearer Caryll Place they did not think worthy of the name, and reach the +Crags' cottage more quickly than it could be got to by the road. + +He ran, steadily and not too fast, for he had a good deal of common +sense and did not want to exhaust his 'wind' before he had reached his +goal. And well it was that he kept his pace moderate and was able to +look about him as he ran, for it was lighter out here and he had good +eyes. What was that? A dark thick clump of--of what? No, there was +something different about this object, and, eager as he was to get to +his destination, the boy slackened his pace, hesitated, then dashed off, +at full speed this time, in the direction of the something that had +caught his sight. + +Some snow had fallen, and now again flakes began to show themselves on +his jacket. There were white dashes, too, on the strange, motionless +shape he was making for. Was it setting in for a snowstorm? the boy +asked himself with a curious anxiety, for there are times at which our +thoughts seem to run before our reason. If so--and if--no, he would not +think of such dreadful things; he would first--he was running now too +fast to think--and--a minute more and he was stooping over the silent, +dead-still figure of the faithful little girl. For it was Miss Mouse, +her face as white as the snow, which, had it fallen already, as it was +now beginning to do, would have covered her more completely than the +robins covered the long-ago baby pair in the old forest; would have +hidden her till it was indeed too late. + +'Thank God,' whispered Justin, as he thought this; and perhaps it was +the very first time he had _felt_ what these two words mean. But then +terror seized him again, was it already too late? + +He rubbed her little hands, he called her by name, his hot boy's tears +fell on her cold white face. He did not yet understand how it had all +come about, but something seemed to tell him that his selfish +thoughtlessness had to do with it. But there was no answer, no movement. + +'She will die,' he thought, 'if she is not dead. I must carry her.' + +He lifted her, though with difficulty, and glanced about him. Oh, joy! +they were nearer Bob's cottage than he had thought; he stood still and +whistled, the peculiar 'call' his brothers and he used for each other, +and that Bob, too, knew. Then he moved on again, though but slowly--now +and then it seemed scarcely more than a totter, his legs trembled so, +and Rosamond was so strangely heavy. But it was not for long in reality, +though it seemed to him hours, before help reached him. A figure came +rushing across the moor, and a voice called out loudly, + +'Who is it? What is the matter? It's not--oh, Master Justin, is it you? +And--no, no, don't say it's the little lady-- I've killed her, I've +killed her. It's all my fault.' + + * * * * * + +It was in kind old Nance's cottage that the little girl came back to +consciousness. Bob's grandmother was clever and skilful, and, though +sadly alarmed at first, soon saw that the two boys' very natural terror +was greater than need be. The child was in a sort of stupor from cold +and fright and pain too, for her ankle had swelled badly by this time, +from the pressure of her boot. But careful management brought her round, +and she was soon able to look about her and to drink the wonderful herb +tea of some kind which Nance prepared. And then she sat up and explained +what she could of how the misadventure had come to pass, helped by Bob, +whom she glanced at doubtfully, till he said out manfully, + +'Tell it all, miss, tell it all. It's me that's to blame, only me.' + +But no, it was not only at poor Bob's door that lay the blame, and so +Justin well knew, and so Justin had the honesty to confess when the +anxiety and distress were to some extent past, though for a few days +great care had to be taken of little Rosamond. + +It would be difficult to describe the joy with which Uncle Ted carried +her off to the carriage waiting at the nearest point on the road, +wrapped up in his strong arms so that she _couldn't_ get chilled again, +or Aunt Mattie and the Herveys' delight at the happy news of the little +lost one being found. These things are more difficult to _tell_ than to +picture to oneself. + +So, too, it would be difficult to relate the change in Justin which +those who cared for him always dated from the night on which Miss Mouse +was lost--the night of which, had worse come of it to the kind little +girl, he would never have been able to think without misery beyond +words. + +The ferrets were paid for, of course, though not with Rosamond's money, +which was now happily spent on her Christmas presents. But though paid +for, Justin's pets were soon sold again, and replaced by some more +lovable and attractive creatures, whom his mother and Miss Mouse and +everybody could take pleasure in too. I rather think the new treasures +were some particularly pretty guinea-pigs--curly-haired ones; though to +be quite sure of this I should have to apply to some boys and girls of +my acquaintance whose grandfather has often told them the long-ago story +of Miss Mouse and the good that came of her gentle influence on him and +his brothers when they were all children together. + +And dear Miss Mouse herself--what of her? Where is she now? It is so +many years ago, is she still alive? + +Yes. I have nothing sad with which to end my little story. She is now, +what most of you, I daresay, would consider a very old lady, for her +hair is quite white, though her pretty gray eyes are as clear as ever. +Not that they have not known tears, those kind eyes, many tears, I +daresay, for the sorrows of others more than for her own, perhaps. Life +would not be what it has to be, what God means it to be, without tears +as well as smiles. + +And Bob Crag. You will not be surprised to hear that Uncle Ted took him +thoroughly in hand, and that the wild but affectionate boy grew up to be +a good and useful man. + + + + +MACMILLAN AND CO.'S BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. + + +By Mrs. MOLESWORTH. + +THE ORIEL WINDOW. With Illustrations by LESLIE BROOKE. Crown 8vo. 4s. +6d. + + +_Also Illustrated by LESLIE BROOKE. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. each._ + + SHEILA'S MYSTERY. + THE CARVED LIONS. + MARY. + MY NEW HOME. + NURSE HEATHERDALE'S STORY. + THE GIRLS AND I. + + +_Illustrated by WALTER CRANE. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. each._ + + A CHRISTMAS POSY. + "CARROTS," JUST A LITTLE BOY. + A CHRISTMAS CHILD. + CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND. + THE CUCKOO CLOCK. + FOUR WINDS FARM. + GRANDMOTHER DEAR. + HERR BABY. + LITTLE MISS PEGGY. + THE RECTORY CHILDREN. + ROSY. + THE TAPESTRY ROOM. + TELL ME A STORY. + TWO LITTLE WAIFS. + "US": AN OLD-FASHIONED STORY. + CHILDREN OF THE CASTLE. + + +By Miss ROSSETTI. + +GOBLIN MARKET. By CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI. With 18 Page Illustrations and +other Decorations by LAURENCE HOUSMAN. Cloth, elegant. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. + +SING-SONG: A NURSERY RHYME BOOK. By CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI. With 120 +Illustrations by ARTHUR HUGHES, engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. Small +4to. 4s. 6d. + + +By Mrs. CRAIK. + +THE FAIRY BOOK. The Best Popular Fairy Stories selected and rendered +anew. Pott 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. + +THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE AND HIS TRAVELLING CLOAK. A Parable for Young and +Old. With Twenty-four Illustrations by J. M'L. RALSTON. New Edition. +Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. + +LITTLE SUNSHINE'S HOLIDAY: a Picture from Life. New Edition. Globe 8vo. +2s. 6d. + +OUR YEAR: a Child's Book, in Prose and Verse. Illustrated by CLARENCE +DOBELL. Super royal 16mo. 2s. 6d. + +CHILDREN'S POETRY. Extra Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. + +SONGS OF OUR YOUTH. Set to music 4to. 5s. + +THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE, AS TOLD TO MY CHILD. Illustrated by MRS. +ALLINGHAM. New Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. + +ALICE LEARMONT: a Fairy Tale. With Illustrations by JAMES GODWIN. New +Edition revised by the Author. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. + + * * * * * + +THE WHITE RAT, and some other Stories. By Lady BARKER. With +Illustrations by W. J. HENNESSY. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. + +ANYHOW STORIES FOR CHILDREN. By Mrs. W. K. CLIFFORD, with Illustrations +by DOROTHY TENNANT. Crown 8vo. 1s. 6d. Sewed, 1s. + +THE END OF ELFINTOWN. By JANE BARLOW, Author of "Irish Idylls." With +Illustrations and Decorations by LAURENCE HOUSMAN. 5s. + +MADAME TABBY'S ESTABLISHMENT. By KARI. Illustrated by L. WAIN. Crown +8vo. 4s. 6d. + +HOUSEHOLD STORIES, from the collection of the Bros. GRIMM. Translated +from the German by LUCY CRANE, and done into pictures by WALTER CRANE. +Crown 8vo. 6s. Also with uncut edges, paper label. 6s. + +WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL. By the Author of "St. Olave's." Globe 8vo. 2s. +6d. + +NINE YEARS OLD. By the Author of "When I was a Little Girl," etc. Globe +8vo. 2s. 6d. + +A STOREHOUSE OF STORIES. Edited by C. M. YONGE. Two vols. Globe 8vo. 2s. +6d. each vol. + +AGNES HOPETOUN'S SCHOOLS AND HOLIDAYS. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. Globe 8vo. 2s. +6d. + +THE STORY OF A FELLOW-SOLDIER. By FRANCES AWDRY. (A Life of Bishop +Patteson for the Young.) Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. + + +MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Miss Mouse and Her Boys, by Mrs. Molesworth + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS MOUSE AND HER BOYS *** + +***** This file should be named 30966.txt or 30966.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/9/6/30966/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. 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